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Courage is fear holding on a minute longer. -- General George Patton Jr |
CSS Virginia (1862-1862), Miscellaneous Actions & Activities(306 total words in this text)(2248 Reads) The first of these attempts happened on 11 April 1862, when Confederate ships advanced into Hampton Roads. CSS Jamestown and CSS Raleigh steamed ahead and seized three exposed transports, while Virginia covered their movements. Since the Southern ironclad did not directly threaten the principal Union positions, USS Monitor refused the challenge and no general action ensued. Just short of a month later, on 8 May, Monitor and other Federal ships shelled Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point to test their strength, and, hopefully, provoke Virginia to come out far enough to be ambushed. This time, the Confederates chose the path of caution. However, by early May Southern commanders had decided to evacuate Norfolk. This was tardily reported to the local Confederate Navy leader, Captain Josiah Tattnall, leaving him with few options concerning Virginia's future. If her considerable draft could be reduced by several feet, she might be able to steam out of Norfolk and up the James far enough to help protect Richmond. If not, she would have to be destroyed to avoid capture. As it turned out, the ship could not be lightened enough in the short time available, and on 11 May, CSS Virginia was run aground near the entrance to the Elizabeth River, abandoned and set afire. She was destroyed when the flames reached her gunpowder supplies. |
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1808:
Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of U.S. ships.
1864: General Grant bans the trading of prisoners. 1864: Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina, in an attempt to recapture ports lost to the Union two years before. 1941: The Yugoslav army, encircled in Bosnia, surrenders to Germany and signs a formal capitulation in Belgrade. 1945: U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash commandeers over half a ton of uranium at Strassfut, Germany. 1951: Operation DAUNTLESS continued to advance against weakened communist resistance in the 24th and 25th Infantry Division zones. 1961: The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA financed and trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. 1975: Khmer Rouge forces capture the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. |