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May 19th, 1862
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Home North North February 3, 1862 - Who is Nathaniel Gordon?

February 3, 1862 - Who is Nathaniel Gordon?

Rachael Loxston
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slave_cargoCaptain Nathaniel Gordon is the slave trader captured and imprisoned for practising the illegal traditon. He was caught in the act in November by a vigilant and similarly named Captain Sylvanus Gordon, while plying his despicable trade on the oceans.

As a result Gordon is sentenced to be hanged on 7 February with little chance of a pardon from the president, the only man with the power to save him. International slave trading is a capital crime under an 1820 federal piracy law Despite the 42 year old law being largely unenforced in the past the political tide has now turned and despite some protestations the 28 -year-old Gordon’s fate is doomed.

Last summer Nathaniel Gordon took on a crew in Havana, telling them they were on a legitimate trading voyage on his ship named the Erie. When some of the crewman found the real purpose of the voyage they confronted the cold-hearted Captain. Captain Gordon told them to hold their peace, do their jobs, and he would pay them for their trouble.

The other Captain Gordon was on the USS Mohican, a new steam-powered warship sent to patrol African waters for slave ships when he spotted the Erie. Lieutenant Henry D. Todd, USN, boarded the Erie and he and his men eventually discovered 897 unwashed and neglected Negro men, women, and children in foul conditions. The surroundings were so crowded that the sailors couldn’t walk on the main deck without stepping on someone.

After inspecting the boat, Captain Gordon of the Mohican wrote the Secretary of the Navy that he had found the slaves and "a large number of persons on board claiming to be passengers" - but nobody admitted to being the Erie's captain or mate.

Several of captain Gordon's crewmen testified that the Negroes had been loaded the day before, and that Captain Gordon had treated them brutally and inhumanly. The Mohican’s crew took the surviving Negroes to Monrovia, Liberia, and arrested Captain Gordon.  When Gordon had sailed two years earlier to take Africans in chains from the Congo, he had no reason to fear hanging. Although his crime had been a hanging offense for more than forty years, no one had ever bothered to enforce it.

In those two years however, there has been a new Republican president voted into power and a bloody civil war taking place between those who wish to end slavery on the one hand and those who perpetrate the slave trade in the south who want it preserved- the people who are supporting this ignominious trade.

So Captain Gordon, in the wrong place at the wrong time, has to be made an example of and those in pursuit of his just desserts are some very tenacious characters. President Lincoln is one, who has so far ignored pleas for his pardoning and he has appointed a steely character named E. Delafield Smith as the new US District Attorney for the region covering New York City, the traditional trading center for slaves in the US. Smith has only dropped one charge against Captain Gordon and that is of serving on board of a slave ship but instead has charged him with forcible detention of the Africans. Smith feels strongly that the slave trade is "against humanity, unjust and impolitic.” In his opening statement to the jury he called for the death penalty as a deterrent to others in the slave trade. The trial ended in a hung jury. It was found that during recess, some of the jury were being bribed by slave trade supporters. Gordon’s second trial took place from November 6-8, 1861. District Attorney E. Delafield Smith brought witnesses to testify against Captain Gordon from as far away as the West Indies. Ex-Judges Beebe and Bean defended Captain Gordon, arguing that he was an innocent man being sacrificed to a fanatical idea. But the new jury had no difficulty coming to a guilty verdict.

So who is Captain Nathaniel Gordon who, as have many others, hoped to profit from the lucrative business of trading human souls? He was born in Portland, Maine, and went to sea as a cabin boy at an early age. Slight of stature enabling him to disguise himself as a woman to sometimes escape capture he was nicknamed “Lucky Nat” due to his elusive dodges enabling him to enjoy a profitable but short-lived career. His luck ran out last year during the summer when Captain Gordon sailed the little ship Erie to about fifty miles off the Congo River on the West Coast of Africa and loaded over 900 slaves aboard. On August 8, 1860, she stood to the northward with all sails set and flying the American flag when a gun from the United States Navy Ship Mohican stopped her.

The slave trade has since the sixteenth century has snatched between 9.4 and 12 million central and western Africans from their homes and sold them to European slave traders.  The slave traders have loaded their captives on ships and transported them to provide free, life time labor in North and South America working on coffee, cocoa and cotton plantations, in gold and silver mines, rice fields, timber and shipping or construction, or in the homes of their masters.

Although President Thomas Jefferson signed a law in 1807 that banned the transatlantic slave trade in America, the law didn’t stop the buying and selling of slaves within the United States. The banning of the importation of slaves also made slave smuggling and underwriting slave ships a more lucrative business for both North and South.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

May 6, 1862 - Songs Tell the Story

It is common knowledge that world events have long been recorded in song or prose.  People, in general, rely on song to praise the Lord, to soothe themselves, inspire others, express their anger, to tell the details or simply to enjoy.  Songs are a symbol of what people are all about, who and what they love--or hate; how they suffer; how they learn.  Since this war began, songs have taken over as the means to relate the 'bare bones truth' beneath those horrors and sorrows our minds want to deny.  New songs are being written every day while old songs are being upgraded to involve events as they unfold. For instance, since the battle of Shiloh a song has emerged about a dying drummer boy, The Drummer Boy of Shiloh'.  People are beginning to realize the real horrors of this war.  It is ironic, perhaps, that 'Shiloh' is a Hebrew word meaning 'place of peace' when total casualties of that two day battle exceeded the number of casualties in the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War.  23,748 were killed, wounded, captured or reported missing. Before 'The Drummer Boy of Shiloh', songs tended to glorify whatever person they were about.  'Beauregard's Bull Run Quick Step', calls on P.G. T. Beauregard, the Confederate hero after the Battles of Fort Sumter and Bull Run, to save the city of New Orleans. 'The Battle of Fort Donelson' tells of General Ulysses S. Grant's successes in capturing Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.  Likewise, The Battle of Roanoke Island' tells of General Burnsides' success in North Carolina. As Grand Marches go, while General McClellan's reputation has waned some in recent weeks when this war began he was the respected leader of the Army and 'General McCellan's Grand March' was dedicated to him in the northern United States. In the South the 'Grand Secession March' of 1860 is dedicated to the Charleston Delegation who led the secession of southern states from the Union. Some marching tunes are given as a manner of gaining conventional order such as 'Our Dress Parade'.  According to the Regulations for the Army of the Confederate States one dress parade is to be achieved daily at morning or evening with the commanding officer directing. The Yankees have chosen a new marching song, The Battle Hymn of the Republic' recently written by Julia Ward Howe, as their anthem while the Rebs cling to several forms of an extremely popular song, Dixie, to remind them why they decided to fight this war in the first place. The original version of 'Dixie' was written in 1858 by Daniel Decatur Emmett of Ohio as a portion of a minstrel show where actors portrayed southern slaves in black face. Some believe the reference to 'Dixie' refers to the Mason-Dixon Line (named for the two men who created the imaginary border between the north and south, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon).  Others claim 'Dixie' or 'Dixieland' is a term for a farm in the state of New York owned by a man named John Dixie who befriended so many slaves his farm, 'Dixie's Land' has been considered paradise by runaway slaves.  Still others claim 'Dixie' refers to 'Dix Notes' a common term for the ten dollar note in Louisana. In March of 1860 Rumsey and Newcomb Minstrels brought 'Dixie' to New Orleans as part of their show.  The song seemed unlikely for a southern hit because it was composed by a northerner, starred a black protagonist andwas intended as a dance song. Yet, in the midst of the sectionalism atmosphere in which the song was presented, it became an immediate hit throughout the southern states.  So popular, in fact, it was played at the inaugeration of Jefferson Davis and has become recognized as the Confederate Anthem  of choice. While general verses of the song change according to where one is, what one is about, one's personal sentiment and religious beliefs, the chorus of the song always remains the same and holds the most defining words of the song's purpose and message. I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten, Look away, Look away, Dixieland.  In Dixieland whre I was born, early on a frosty morn', Look away, Look away, look away Dixieland.  Then I wish I was in Dixie, hooray, hooray!  In Dixieland I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie, Away, away,away down South in Dixie, Away, away, away down south in Dixie.' While there appears to be an abundance of patriotic songs reinstating the original enthusiasm of the first months after secession when most believed the war would end in a few months, there are also a number of songs about the strife of war, death caused by war or homesickness caused by long months of being seperated from loved ones and family. 'The Bonnie Blue Flag'  written by Harry Macarthy after the Battle of Manassas in July, 1861, was successful in fueling the optimism of the south.  There are songs about soldiers' camp life, battlefield or prison.  One story claims that a nurse sang 'Just Before the Battle, Mother' and brought an entire hospital ward to tears.  E. Walter Lowe of the New York Ninth Calvary wrote 'My Loved One'  comparing the admiration of a beloved to the thunder of canons.  'A Mother's Hymn' speaks of a mother's pride in her soldier son while another, 'The Southern Girl with the Home-spun Dress',  commeerates the pride of the women who have given up their fine clothing and jewelry as a cause to raise money for the war effort. Another song that has reached the same heighth of popularity as 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' and 'Dixie' is the 'Battle Cry of Freedom'.  Only recently written by composer George E. Root, the patriotic song has two versions which advocate causes of the Union as well as the Confederacy. The Union Version: chorus: Yes, we rally round the flag, boys, we'll rally once again, shouting the battle cry of freedom, We will rally from the hillside, we'll gather from the plain, shouting the battle cry of freedom. The Union forever, Hurrah, boys, hurrah!  Down with the traitor, up with the star; While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, Shouting the battle cry of freedom. We are springing to the call of our brothers gone before, shouting the battle cry of freedom! And we'll fill our vacant ranks with a million freemen more, shouting the battle cry of freedom! We will become our numbers the loyal, true and brave, shouting the battle cry of freedom!  And although they may be poor, not a man shall be a slave, shouting the battle cry of freedom! The Confederate Version: chorus: Our flay is proudly floating on the land and on the main, Shout, shout the battle cry of Freedom!  Beneath it oft we've conquered, and we'll conquer oft again! Shout, shout the battle cry of Freedom. Our Dixie forever!  She's never at a loss! Down with the eagle and up with the cross! (albatross)  We'll rally 'round the bonny flag, we'll rally once again, Shout, shout, the battle cry of Freedom! Our gallant boys have marched to the rolling of the drums,  Shout, shout the battle cry of Freedom, And the leaders in charge cry out,  "Come, boys, come!"  Shout, shout the battle cry of Freedom! chorus They have laid down their lives on the bloody battle field.  Shout, shout the battle cry of Freedom!  Their motto is resistance--"To the tyrants never yield!" Shout, shout the battle cry of Freedom. chorus While our boys have responded and to the fields have gone, Shout, shout the battle cry of Freedom!  Our noble women also have  aided them at home.  Shout, shout the battle cry of freedom.

 

May 9, 1862 – Weapons of War: Howitzer Artillery

It is important to notice what sort of weapons are being used in this massive war we now find ourselves embroiled in.  Both sides have large stores of weapons and the training to use them.  But what are these weapons, and how are they utilized in battle?  This ongoing special report will explore the various weapons that are being used and developed for the war effort on both sides.  Today we will examine a weapon used effectively in sieges and attacks on forts, howitzer artillery. Howitzers are used both as field artillery, meaning they travel with the armies, dragged by horses, and as siege weapons, meaning they are too large to travel with an army, and instead are either permanent fixtures in a fort or a ship, or, as McClellan did, travel by rail to a position from which they are set into place and fire. Howitzer artillery fires a unique trajectory from other weapons.  Instead of firing directly at a target, it fires indirectly, lobbing its shells into the air so they can come back down on top of an enemy who may be behind cover or inside fortifications.  These rounds explode behind the walls, making their cover useless, and getting at enemies that direct fires cannot hit. The howitzer artillery concept originated in Sweden near the end of the 17th century.  These cannon were characterized by a shorter trail than other guns, meaning they had less stability when firing.  Crews could not use as much gun powder inside these weapons, and so they had to fire from a higher elevation to cause the cannonball to fall into the enemy’s position.  This allowed for a curve in the trajectory so the ball would land inside the entrenchments rather than hammer at the fortifications. As the weapon evolved, so did its uses.  Most were explosive, blowing up a whole section of men at a time.  Many armies filled them with incendiary materials to cause the building the enemy was hiding in to burn.  Even if it didn’t kill the target, it made his cover quickly useless. These weapons are not to be confused with mortars, which date their history back to at least the 15th century.  Mortars also fire in an arc to go over the cover or fortifications of the enemy only to come back down on top of the men and explode.  The difference between these clever weapons and the howitzer is that the howitzer is more flexible.  It can still be lowered to fire as a low velocity direct fire weapon.  Some, like the mountain howitzers, often see service as direct fire weapons as much, if not more, than as indirect ones. What artillery crews value most about howitzers is their explosive shell which lobs behind enemy forces where they can’t normally get without an all-out assault that would sustain many casualties.  This strategy is used both on the attack and the defense. In defense, some forts use them to have an extra line of fire when all windows have been filled with direct-fire weapons.  In these cases, the howitzers and mortars are placed in the middle of the fort from where they can turn and fire in any direction.  Of course, their shots are blind, and they rely on commanders at the front of the fort who can give them corrected directions. On the attack, such as when Pope took Island Number 10, or McClellan lined up his weapons to fire on Yorktown, the howitzers are used to overwhelm the defenders who thought they were safe, and possibly even pin them down while infantry storms in.  Sometimes the weight of the projectiles is so great and the explosives so massive that the howitzer shells can destroy the fortifications themselves. It was because of these heavy howitzers and mortars which could do a similar job that Johnston abandoned the works at Yorktown.  These same guns had been used at Island Number 10 last month to reduce the fortifications to the point where the garrison had to surrender. In western Virginia, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson hopes to use a different kind of howitzer on his enemy in the mountainous terrain.  The mountain howitzer is a smaller gun which is disassembled and carried on pack animals rather than drug by horses.  When in combat, it is quickly assembled and used on the go.  Though not a large gun, it is fast and flexible.  It was used effectively in the rugged terrain of Mexico, and it should prove interesting to see how well it stands up against today’s modern weapons.

 

March 18, 1862 – Weapons of War: The Ironclad

It is important to notice what sort of weapons are being used in this massive war we now find ourselves embroiled in.  Both sides have large stores of weapons and the training to use them.  But what are these weapons, and how are they utilized in battle?  This ongoing special report will explore the various weapons that are being used and developed for the war effort on both sides.  Today, we will explore a new invention, one that will change the face of naval warfare forever, the ironclad. The dramatic conflict at Hampton Roads showed what sort of pounding ironclads can take.  On the first day, despite receiving the fire of three major Federal warships, the ironclad CSS Virginia remained almost entirely unharmed.  When the Union USS monitor, also an ironclad, showed up, neither ship could damage the other, and both pulled away, each believing the other had retreated and neither believing they could deal a killing blow. Though this was the first clash of iron ships, it is not the first time they have been built.  The French are the fist credited country building an ironclad battleship, having completed the La Gloire in November of 1859.  This was followed by the British Admiralty last year, in 1861.  They had been developing one since 1856, but had only now finished it. La Gloire was built after the Crimean War in response to the development of Paixhan and rifled guns.  These powerful artillery pieces fired heavily explosive shells which burned wooden ships to a crisp.  The French knew that something had to be done before the next war, and so they set about cutting down one of their battleships by one deck to save weight, then attached massive iron plates over the hull structure.  The plates are 12 centimeters thick, and are backed by 43 centimeters of timber.  This structure could resist the largest French and British shells, 50 pounder and 68 pounder rifled cannons. The French invention was followed by the British doing the same thing, but they designed an iron ship from its construction rather than attaching iron to the hull of already existing ships.  By the outbreak of the American Civil War, they already had a pair of ironclads under construction. The ironclads of the United States and the Confederate States have undergone much the same development.  The Confederacy, building theirs first, attached iron plating to an already existing ship.  Unlike La Gloire, which has both steam and sail power, CSS Virginia has only steam power to give it a smaller profile.  The Union, meanwhile, designed their ironclad from scratch and built it completely of iron, bypassing the entire step of creating a wooden ship first. The CSS Virginia has 14 gun ports, three each in the bow and stern, one firing directly along the ship’s centerline, and the two others angled at 45 degree angles from the center.  The broadsides have four gunports on each side.  The battery consists of four single-banded Brooke rifles, and six smoothbore 9-inch Dahlgren guns.  The bow and stern pivot guns are 7-inch caliber and fire 104-pound shells.  The other two are 6.4 inch cannons, one on each broadside. By comparison, the USS Monitor has only two guns, both 11 inch Dahlgrens side by side on a heavy, revolving turret.  This turret is about all that’s seen over the waterline, the rest of it being seed-shaped, floating just over the waterline, and powered entirely by steam power.  Only a pilot house and smokestack rise above this short hull.  The design at first looked comical, one sailor comparing it to a “cheesebox on a raft.”  However, it proved to be useful when the Merrimack had difficulty hitting it. The benefit the US now has is that, like Britain, now that they have a prototype to work from, they can build more very quickly, while the Confederate navy will have to sacrifice a wooden ship in order to build another, and there are not too many more Yankee ships our army can capture.

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