1.
Brown County, Ohio
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Brown County is a county located in the U. S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 44,846, the county was created in 1818 and is named for Major General Jacob Brown, an officer in the War of 1812 who was wounded at the Battle of Lundys Lane. Brown County is part of the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, among the early settlers to Brown County was Jesse Root Grant, father of Ulysses S. Grant, who built a home and set up a tannery in Georgetown where Ulysses grew up. He noticed it yielded a different type of light leaf shaded from white to yellow, by 1866, he harvested 20,000 pounds of Burley tobacco and sold it in 1867 at the St. Louis Fair for $58 per hundred pounds. By 1883, the market for this tobacco was Cincinnati. Later the type referred to as burley tobacco, and it was air-cured. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 493 square miles. The population density was 86 people per square mile, there were 17,193 housing units at an average density of 35 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 98. 08% White,0. 92% Black or African American,0. 18% Native American,0. 13% Asian,0. 08% from other races,0. 44% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 29. 5% were of American,28. 2% German,10. 7% English and 10. 2% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 20. 20% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.09. In the county, the population was out with 27. 60% under the age of 18,8. 10% from 18 to 24,30. 30% from 25 to 44,22. 40% from 45 to 64. The median age was 35 years, for every 100 females there were 96.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.80 males, the median income for a household in the county was $38,303, and the median income for a family was $43,040. Males had an income of $32,647 versus $22,483 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,100, about 8. 80% of families and 11. 60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15. 20% of those under age 18 and 9. 40% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 44,846 people,17,014 households, the population density was 91.5 inhabitants per square mile. There were 19,301 housing units at a density of 39.4 per square mile
2.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
3.
Arlington National Cemetery
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The United States Department of the Army, a component of the United States Department of Defense, controls the cemetery. The national cemetery was established during the Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, like nearly all federal installations in Arlington County, it has a Washington, D. C. mailing address. George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington, acquired the land now is Arlington National Cemetery in 1802. The estate passed to Custis daughter, Mary Anna, who had married United States Army officer Robert E. Lee. Custis will gave an inheritance to Mary Lee, allowing her to live at and run Arlington Estate for the rest of her life. Upon her death, the Arlington estate passed to her eldest son, on May 7, troops of the Virginia militia occupied Arlington and Arlington House. With Confederate forces occupying Arlingtons high ground, the capital of the Union was left in a military position. Although unwilling to leave Arlington House, Mary Lee believed her estate would soon be infested with federal soldiers, so she buried many of her family treasures on the grounds and left for her sisters estate at Ravensworth in Fairfax County, Virginia, on May 14. On May 3, General Winfield Scott ordered Brigadier General Irvin McDowell to clear Arlington, McDowell occupied Arlington without opposition on May 24. In May 1864, Union forces suffered large numbers of dead in the Battle of the Wilderness, Meigs ordered that an examination of eligible sites be made for the establishment for a large new national military cemetery. Within weeks, his staff reported that Arlington Estate was the most suitable property in the area, the property was high and free from floods, it had a view of the District of Columbia, and it was aesthetically pleasing. It was also the home of the leader of the forces of the Confederate States of America. The first military burial at Arlington, for William Henry Christman, was made on May 13,1864, however, Meigs did not formally authorize establishment of burials until June 15,1864. Arlington did not desegregate its burial practices until President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 on July 26,1948, the government acquired Arlington at a tax sale in 1864 for $26,800, equal to $410,000 today. Mrs. Lee had not appeared in person but rather had sent an agent, the government turned away her agent, refusing to accept the tendered payment. In 1874, Custis Lee, heir under his grandfathers will passing the estate in trust to his mother, sued the United States claiming ownership of Arlington. In December,1882, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Lees favor in United States v. Lee, deciding that Arlington had been confiscated without due process. After that decision, Congress returned the estate to him, and on March 3,1883, the land then became a military reservation
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
6.
Rear admiral (United States)
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Rear admiral in the United States refers to two different ranks of commissioned officers — one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most nations, the rear admiral refers to an officer of two-star rank. The abbreviation for personnel from the USN, USCG, and NOAA is RDML, whereas for the USPHS, Rear admiral ranks above captain and below rear admiral. Rear admiral is equivalent to the rank of general in the other uniformed services. In the United States uniformed services, rear admiral replaced the rank of commodore in 1985, Rear admiral ranks above rear admiral and below vice admiral. Rear admiral is equivalent to the rank of general in the other uniformed services. It is the highest permanent rank during peacetime in the uniformed services, all higher ranks are temporary ranks and linked to their specific commands or office and expire with the expiration of their term of command or office. Before the American Civil War, the American Navy had resisted creating the rank of admiral, instead, they preferred the term flag officer, in order to distinguish the rank from the traditions of the European navies. During the American Civil War, The US Congress honored David Glasgow Farraguts successful assault on the city of New Orleans by creating the rank of admiral on July 16,1862. During World War II, the U. S. Navy, by the end of the war, all incumbents had been advanced to the rank of two-star rear admiral and the commodore rank was eliminated in both services. Lower-half rear admirals were promoted to full rear admirals, or upper half status. However, both categories of rear admiral wore two-star insignia, an issue that was a source of consternation to the other services. Although not flag officers, these officers were entitled to a blue and white command pennant containing the initials. 97–86 expanded commodore from a title to a permanent grade by creating the one-star rank of commodore admiral. After only 11 months, the rank was reverted to just commodore, however, this caused issues with the Navy due to the difficulty in discriminating those commodores who were flag officers from commodores who were senior captains in certain command positions. 99–145 renamed commodore to the current grade of rear admiral effective on November 8,1985, up until 1981, all rear admirals wore two stars on their shoulder bars and rank insignia. Since then, rear admirals wear one star while rear admirals wear two, verbal address remains rear admiral for both ranks, on correspondence, where the rear admirals rank is spelled out, the acronym and follows the rear admirals rank title to distinguish between one and two stars. The flags of restricted line officers and staff officers have blue stars on a white field
7.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
8.
Battle of Port Royal
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The sound was guarded by two forts on opposite sides of the entrance, Fort Walker on Hilton Head Island to the south and Fort Beauregard on Phillips Island to the north. A small force of four gunboats supported the forts, but did not materially affect the battle, the attacking force assembled outside of the sound beginning on November 3 after being battered by a storm during their journey down the coast. Because of losses in the storm, the army was not able to land, the fleet moved to the attack on November 7, after more delays caused by the weather during which additional troops were brought into Fort Walker. His plan soon broke down, however, and most ships took enfilading positions that exploited a weakness in Fort Walker, the Confederate gunboats put in a token appearance, but fled up a nearby creek when challenged. Early in the afternoon, most of the guns in the fort were out of action, a landing party from the flagship took possession of the fort. When Fort Walker fell, the commander of Fort Beauregard across the sound feared that his soldiers would soon be cut off with no way to escape, another landing party took possession of the fort and raised the Union flag the next day. Despite the heavy volume of fire, loss of life on both sides was low, at least by standards set later in the Civil War, only eight were killed in the fleet and eleven on shore, with four other Southerners missing. Total casualties came to less than 100, the problems of the blockade were considered by a commission appointed by Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. Chairman of the commission was Capt. Samuel Francis Du Pont, the commission stated its views of the South Carolina coast in its second report, dated July 13. In order to improve the blockade of Charleston, they considered seizing a nearby port and they gave particular attention to three, Bulls Bay to the north of Charleston, and St. Helena Sound and Port Royal Sound to the south. The latter two would also be useful in the blockade of Savannah and they considered Port Royal to be the best harbor, but believed that it would be strongly defended and therefore were reluctant to recommend that it be taken. Shortly after the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor had started the war, Beauregard did not believe that Port Royal Sound could be adequately defended, as forts on opposite sides of the sound would be too far apart for mutual support. Overruled by South Carolina Governor Francis Pickens, he drew up plans for two forts at the entrance. Soon called away to serve the Confederate Army in Virginia, he turned the task of implementing his plans over to Maj. Francis D. Lee of the South Carolina Army Engineers, before the war, Lee had been an architect, and had designed several churches in Charleston. Work on the two began in July 1861, but progressed only slowly. Labor for the construction was obtained by requisitions of slave labor from local plantations, construction was not complete when the attack came. Beauregards plan was altered because the heavy guns he wanted were not available. Fitting the increased number into the space required that the traverses be eliminated
9.
Battle of Fort McAllister (1863)
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The First Battle of Fort McAllister was a series of naval attacks that took place from January 27 to March 3,1863, in Bryan County, Georgia, during the American Civil War. The commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron Rear Adm. Samuel F, Du Pont decided to test operation of new monitors against Fort McAllister before conducting a major naval operation against Charleston, South Carolina. Fort McAllister was an earthen fort located along Genesis Point and armed with several heavy cannon to defend the Great Ogeechee River approach south of Savannah. It was expanded repeatedly by adding more guns, traverses and bombproofs, obstructions and eventually torpedoes completed the riverine defenses. In July 1862 the blockade runner Nashville ran up the river to escape blockaders, learning that the Nashville was lying near the fort, Adm. Du Pont ordered Commander Charles Steedman to make a reconnaissance in force and to destroy the fort if possible. At this time the garrison was commanded by Capt. Alfred L. Hartridge of Co. A, 1st Georgia Volunteer Infantry, the DeKalb Riflemen. The main battery consisted of five 32-pounder and one 42-pounder smoothbore, on July 29, Steedman led the wooden gunboats USS Paul Jones, Unadilla, Huron and Madgie against the work in a 90-minute long-range exchange. Steedman found that approaching the fort would cause unacceptable losses and withdrew, an 8 Columbiad was added to the fort in August and the garrison was replaced with the Emmett Rifles and the Republican Blues. John L. Davis the Federal gunboats USS Wissahickon and Dawn, the fort did not reply to the initial long-range bombardment and waited until the warships ascended the river to the guns effective range. When the lead vessels reached 3,000 yards the garrison opened fire and immediately scored a hit, damage to the fort was minor and readily repaired and only three men were slightly wounded in the fortifications. Adm. Du Pont dispatched an ironclad in an attempt to capture the fort, sink the Nashville and burn the Atlantic and Gulf railway bridge farther up the river. This would provide the first test of the new Passaic class of ironclad monitor armed with the massive new 15 Dahlgren cannon, the single turret of the new class contained one 11 Dahlgren in addition to the 15. On January 27,1863 the monitor USS Montauk, three gunboats, and a mortar schooner engaged the fort. Commander John L. Worden of the Montauk shelled the fort for five hours at a range of 1, 500-1,800 yards, penetrating and tearing up the parapets, but causing no lasting damage or casualties. Likewise, thirteen hits scored by the artillery did little beside denting the monitors plate. The defenders simply repaired the damaged earthworks during the night, on February 1, Worden tried again to silence the fort. The prior night Federal scouts had removed several mines from the channel so that the vessels could more closely approach, the Montauk spent another five hours bombarding at only 600 yards distance. The garrison commander, Maj. John B, Gallie, was killed and seven were wounded
10.
Second Battle of Fort Sumter
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The Second Battle of Fort Sumter was fought on September 8,1863, in Charleston Harbor. Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard, who had commanded the defenses of Charleston, in the battle, Union forces under Major General Quincy Gillmore attempted to retake the fort at the mouth of the harbor. Union gunners pummeled the fort from their batteries on Morris Island, after a severe bombing of the fort, Beauregard suspecting an attack replaced the artillerymen and all but one of the forts guns with 320 infantrymen, who repulsed the naval landing party. Gillmore had reduced Fort Sumter to a pile of rubble, the attack was unsuccessful, the Unions best ship, USS New Ironsides never effectively engaged, and the ironclads fired only 154 rounds, while receiving 2,209 from the Confederate defenders. Due to damage received in the attack, the USS Keokuk sank the day,1,400 yards off the southern tip of Morris Island. Over the next month, working at night to avoid the attention of the Federal squadron, one of the Dahlgren guns was promptly placed in Fort Sumter. The Confederates, in the meantime, were strengthening Fort Sumter, some of Fort Sumters artillery had been removed, but 40 pieces still were mounted. Fort Sumters heaviest guns were mounted on the barbette, the forts highest level, the barbette was also more exposed to enemy gunfire than the casemates in the two lower levels of the fort. Gillmore and Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, now commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, cooperation between the Army and Navy was poor. Dahlgren refused to place his sailors and marines under the command of an army officer, the army flotilla was detained off Morris Island by the low tide. By the time they could proceed, the assault had already been defeated. The navys assault involved 400 sailors and marines in 25 boats, the operation was a fiasco from beginning to end. Poor reconnaissance, planning and communication all characterized the operation, Commander Thomas H. Stevens, Jr. commanding the monitor Patapsco, was placed in charge of the assault. When Commander Stevens protested that he knew nothing of organization and made some remonstrances on this grounds, Dahlgren replied There is nothing but a corporals guard in the fort, and all we have to do is go and take possession. This underestimation of the Confederate forces on Dahlgrens part may explain why he was hostile to a joint operation wishing to reserve the credit for the victory to the navy, less than half of the boats landed. Most of the boats that did land landed on the flank or right gorge angle. The Union sailors and marines who did land could not scale the wall, the Confederates fired upon the landing party and as well as throwing hand grenades and loose bricks. The men in the boats that had not landed fired muskets and revolvers blindly at the fort, the landing party took shelter in shell holes in the wall of the fort
11.
First Battle of Fort Fisher
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The First Battle of Fort Fisher was a naval siege in the American Civil War, when the Union tried to capture the fort guarding Wilmington, North Carolina, the Souths last major Atlantic port. Led by Major General Benjamin Butler, it lasted from December 23–27,1864, on the second day, the Union army started landing troops in order to begin the siege. But Butler got news of enemy reinforcements approaching, and in the weather conditions, he aborted the operation. To his embarrassment, he was relieved two weeks later by Major General Alfred H. Terry, after the failed Bermuda Hundred Campaign, Major General Benjamin Butler and his Army of the James were assigned to an amphibious expedition against Fort Fisher. Comstock from Grants staff went along to serve as chief engineer, the Union naval expedition under Rear Admiral David D. Porter comprised the largest Union fleet of the war, nearly 60 warships along with the transports to carry the army troops. Although many in the Union high command doubted the plan would work, the final Union plan was for the ships to gather at Hampton Roads, where the army troops would board the transports. Because the monitors used in the attack had to be towed to Fort Fisher, the warships would refuel at Beaufort, then meet the transports at Fort Fisher, when the Louisiana would be detonated and the troops landed under the fire of the warships. Fort Fisher, on Confederate Point, nicknamed the Gibraltar of the Confederacy, was a formidable target commanding the Cape Fear River. It encompassed 14,500 ft. ² and was surrounded by a 10-foot parapet, many obstructions were laid around it, including land mines, abatis, and deep ditches. There were more than 50 heavy cannon, including 15 Columbiads, the forts garrison of 1,400 men was commanded by Colonel William Lamb. Additional reinforcements were available from General Braxton Bragg at Sugar Loaf,4 miles away and this force consisted of Major General Robert F. Hokes division from the Army of Northern Virginia, which arrived on December 23. Benjamin F. Butler, MG Godfrey Weitzel 2nd Division - BG, Adelbert Ames 1st Brigade - Brevet BG. Newton M. Curtis 3rd New York - Cpt. George W. Warren 112th New York - Ltc, John W. Smith 117th New York - Col. Rufus Daggett 142nd New York - Ltc. Albert M. Barney 2nd Brigade - Col. Galusha Pennypacker 47th New York - Cpt, mcDonald 48th New York - Ltc. Coan 76th Pennsylvania - Col. John S. Littell 97th Pennsylvania - Lt. John Wainwright 203rd Pennsylvania - Col. John W. Moore 3rd Brigade - Col. Louis Bell 13th Indiana - Cpt, Samuel M. Zent 4th New Hampshire - Cpt. John H. Roberts 115th New York - Maj Ezra L. Walrath 169th New York - Col. Alonzo Alden Artillery 16th Independent Battery New York Light Artillery - Cpt, richard H. Lee Naval Brigade - BG Charles K. Charles J. Paine 2nd Brigade - Col. John W. Ames 4th USCT - Ltc, george Rogers 6th USCT - Ltc. Clark Royce 30th USCT - Ltc. Hiram A. Oakman 39th USCT - Col. Ozora P. Stearns 3rd Brigade - Col. Elias Wright 1st USCT - Ltc, rich 5th USCT - Col. Giles W. Shurtleff 10th USCT - Ltc
12.
Second Battle of Fort Fisher
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Wilmington was the last major port open to the Confederacy on the Atlantic seacoast. Ships leaving Wilmington via the Cape Fear River and setting sail for the Bahamas, Bermuda or Nova Scotia to trade cotton, based on the design of the Malakoff redoubt in Sevastopol, Russian Empire, Fort Fisher was constructed mostly of earth and sand. This made it able to absorb the pounding of heavy fire from Union ships than older fortifications constructed of mortar. Twenty-two guns faced the ocean, while twenty-five faced the land, the sea face guns were mounted on 12-foot-high batteries with larger, 45-and-60-foot batteries at the southern end of the fort. Underground passageways and bombproof rooms existed below the giant earthen mounds of the fort, the fortifications kept Union ships from attacking the port of Wilmington and the Cape Fear River. On December 23,1864, Union ships under Rear Admiral David D. Porter commenced a bombardment of the fort. On December 25, Union troops under Major General Benjamin F. Butler began landing in preparation for a ground assault, the Union Army returned in January, this time under Major General Alfred Terry. Terry was chosen by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant to lead a corps of 9,000 troops from the Army of the James. Rear Admiral David D. Porter returned with almost 60 vessels of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron to the North Carolina coast after the failed December attempt, Whiting commanded the District of Cape Fear and pleaded with the department commander, General Braxton Bragg to send reinforcements. Bragg was unwilling to reduce his forces, which he felt were necessary to defend Wilmington and he finally sent reinforcements from Hagoods brigade to Colonel William Lambs garrison bringing the total at Fort Fisher to 1,900. A division of 6,400 troops under Major General Robert Hoke was stationed on the north of the fort. Whiting personally arrived at the fort and told the commander, Lamb my boy and you and your garrison are to be sacrificed. Alfred Terry had previously commanded troops during the Second Battle of Charleston Harbor and he and Admiral Porter made well laid out plans for the joint attack. Terry would send one division of United States Colored Troops under Charles J. Paine to hold off Hokes division on the peninsula. Porter organized a force of 2,000 sailors and marines to land and attack the forts sea face. On January 13, Terry landed his troops in between Hoke and Fort Fisher, Hoke was unwilling to risk opening the route to Wilmington and remained unengaged while the entire Union force landed safely ashore. The next day Terry moved south towards the fort to reconnoiter the fort, on January 15, Porters gunboats opened fire on the sea face of the fort and by noon they succeeded in silencing all but four guns. During this bombardment Hoke sent about 1,000 troops from his line to Fort Fisher, however only about 400 were able to land, General Whiting personally led the defense and routed the assault, with heavy casualties in the naval force
13.
Reconstruction Era
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Johnson followed a lenient policy toward ex-Confederates. Lincolns last speeches show that he was leaning toward supporting the enfranchisement of all freedmen, whereas Johnson was opposed to this. A Republican coalition came to power in all the southern states and set out to transform the society by setting up a free labor economy, using the U. S. Army. The Bureau protected the rights of freedmen, negotiated labor contracts. Thousands of Northerners came South as missionaries, teachers, businessmen, rebuilding the rundown railroad system was a major strategy, but it collapsed when a nationwide depression struck the economy. The Radicals in the House of Representatives, frustrated by Johnsons opposition to Congressional Reconstruction, filed impeachment charges, in early 1866, Congress passed the Freedmens Bureau and Civil Rights Bills and sent them to Johnson for his signature. Meanwhile, self-styled Conservatives strongly opposed reconstruction and they alleged widespread corruption by the Carpetbaggers, excessive state spending and ruinous taxes. Southern democrats and conservatives violently counterattacked and had regained power in each redeemed Southern state by 1877, meanwhile, public support for Reconstruction policies, requiring continued supervision of the South, faded in the North, as voters decided that the Civil War and years of conflict should stop. Reconstruction was a significant chapter in the history of civil rights in the United States, in the different states Reconstruction began and ended at different times, federal Reconstruction ended with the Compromise of 1877. In recent decades most historians follow Foner in dating the Reconstruction of the south as starting in 1863 rather than 1865, Reconstruction policies were debated in the North when the war began, and commenced in earnest after Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1,1863. As Confederate states came back under control of the US Army, President Abraham Lincoln set up reconstructed governments in Tennessee, Arkansas and he experimented by giving land to blacks in South Carolina. By fall 1865, the new President Andrew Johnson declared the war goals of national unity, Republicans in Congress, refusing to accept Johnsons lenient terms, rejected new members of Congress, some of whom had been high-ranking Confederate officials a few months before. Johnson broke with the Republicans after vetoing two key bills that supported the Freedmens Bureau and provided federal civil rights to the freedmen and that same year, Congress removed civilian governments in the South, and placed the former Confederacy under the rule of the U. S. Army. In ten states, coalitions of freedmen, recent black and white arrivals from the North, Conservative opponents called the Republican regimes corrupt and instigated violence toward freedmen and whites who supported Reconstruction. Most of the violence was carried out by members of the Ku Klux Klan, Klan members attacked and intimidated blacks seeking to exercise their new civil rights, as well as Republican politicians in the south favoring those civil rights. One such politician murdered by the Klan on the eve of the 1868 presidential election was Republican Congressman James M. Hinds of Arkansas, widespread violence in the south led to federal intervention by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1871, which suppressed the Klan. Nevertheless, white Democrats, calling themselves Redeemers, regained control of the state by state, sometimes using fraud. The end of Reconstruction was a process, and the period of Republican control ended at different times in different states
14.
Jacob Ammen
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Jacob Ammen was a college professor, civil engineer, and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. His younger brother, Daniel Ammen, was an admiral in the United States Navy, Ammen was born in Fincastle, Virginia, but at a young age, his parents moved to Georgetown, Ohio, where Ammen attended school. He was an 1831 honors graduate of the United States Military Academy and he also served as a drill instructor and captain in the Georgetown militia. He was stationed in Charleston Harbor during the Nullification Crisis, resigning from the Army in 1837, Ammen taught mathematics at colleges in Kentucky and Missouri. From 1840 through 1843, he served as Chair of the Mathematics Department at Indiana University and he later taught again in Kentucky and Missouri, before moving in November 1855 to Ripley, Ohio, to work as a civil engineer. Within a week after the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Ammen rejoined the Federal army and he was soon commissioned as colonel of the 24th Ohio Infantry. After training at Camp Chase, Ammens regiment was sent in late July to serve in western Virginia, shipped to the Western Theater, Ammen led a brigade in the Army of the Ohio at the Battle of Shiloh and the Siege of Corinth. Ammen was promoted to general on July 16,1862. In August, Ammen assumed the division command vacated by William Bull Nelson, when his health deteriorated, Ammen then performed administrative duty for nearly a year, commanding Camp Douglas in Illinois in early 1863, as well as other Federal garrisons. In late 1863, he returned to the field and commanded the Fourth Division of the XXIII Corps, in September 1864, his 800-man force blocked the vital Virginia and Tennessee Railroad at Bulls Gap, Tennessee, during Stephen G. Burbridges Saltville raid. Shortly before the end of the war, he resigned in January 1865, Ammen was a surveyor and civil engineer in Hamilton County, Ohio, then he purchased a farm near Beltsville, Maryland, in 1872. Two years later, he was involved in determining possible routes for the proposed Panama Canal and he served on the board of visitors at West Point in 1875. He retired to Wyoming, Ohio, near Cincinnati, becoming blind in his elderly years, he moved in with his son in Lockland, Ohio, in 1891, where he died on February 6,1894. He was buried in the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, list of American Civil War generals Who Was Who, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue, Lives of the Union Commanders, baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press,1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7. USMA biography of Ammen Indian Hill Historical Society biography of General Ammen Jacob Ammen at Find a Grave
15.
Brigadier general (United States)
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In the United States Armed Forces, brigadier general is a one-star general officer with the pay grade of O-7 in the U. S. Army, U. S. Marine Corps, and U. S. Air Force. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general, the rank of brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed services. The rank of brigadier general has existed in the U. S. military since the inception of the Continental Army in June 1775, later, on June 18,1780, it was prescribed that brigadier generals would instead wear a single silver star on each epaulette. At first, brigadier generals were infantry officers who commanded a brigade, however, over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, the responsibilities of the rank expanded significantly. During the period from March 16,1802, to January 11,1812, foreseeing the need for an expanded general staff in case of war, which seemed imminent, Congress restored the rank of major general in January 1812. The first brigadier general in the U. S. Marine Corps was Commandant Archibald Henderson, the insignia for a brigadier general is one silver star worn on the shoulder or collar, and has not changed since the creation of the rank two centuries ago. Since the Mexican-American War, however, the rank of colonel has been the normal rank appointed to command a brigade that is organic to a division. In an infantry brigade not organic to a division, a brigadier general serves as the units commander, an Air Force brigadier general typically commands a large wing. Additionally, one-star officers of all services may serve as staff officers in large military organizations. U. S. Code of law explicitly limits the number of general officers who may be on active duty. The total of active duty general officers is capped at 230 for the Army,60 for the Marine Corps, the President or Secretary of Defense may increase the number of general slots in one branch, so long as they subtract an equal number from another. Some of these slots are reserved by statute, for promotion to the permanent grade of brigadier general, eligible officers are screened by a promotion board consisting of general officers from their branch of service. This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to general rank and this list is then sent to the service secretary and the joint chiefs for review before it can be sent to the President, through the defense secretary, for consideration. The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the secretary, and if applicable. The President may nominate any eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if it serves in the interest of the nation, the Senate must then confirm the nominee by a majority vote before the officer can be promoted. Once the nominee is confirmed, they are promoted to that once they assume or hold an office that requires or allows an officer of that rank. For positions of office reserved by statute, the President nominates an officer for appointment to fill that position, for all three uniformed services, because the grade of brigadier general is a permanent rank, the nominee may still be screened by an in-service promotion board. The rank does not expire when the officer vacates a one-star position, tour length varies depending on the position, by statute, or when the officer receives a new assignment
16.
Union Army
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The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War,1861 to 1865. It included the permanent regular army of the United States, which was augmented by numbers of temporary units consisting of volunteers as well as conscripts. The Union Army fought and eventually defeated the Confederate Army during the war, at least two and a half million men served in the Union Army, almost all were volunteers. About 360,000 Union soldiers died from all causes,280,000 were wounded and 200,000 deserted. When the American Civil War began in April 1861, there were only 16,000 men in the U. S. Army, and of these many Southern officers resigned and joined the Confederate army. The U. S. Army consisted of ten regiments of infantry, four of artillery, Lincolns call forced the border states to choose sides, and four seceded, making the Confederacy eleven states strong. The war proved to be longer and more extensive than anyone North or South had expected, the call for volunteers initially was easily met by patriotic Northerners, abolitionists, and even immigrants who enlisted for a steady income and meals. Over 10,000 Germans in New York and Pennsylvania immediately responded to Lincolns call, as more men were needed, however, the number of volunteers fell and both money bounties and forced conscription had to be turned to. Nevertheless, between April 1861 and April 1865, at least two and a million men served in the Union Army, of whom the majority were volunteers. It is a misconception that the South held an advantage because of the percentage of professional officers who resigned to join the Confederate army. At the start of the war, there were 824 graduates of the U. S, Military Academy on the active list, of these,296 resigned or were dismissed, and 184 of those became Confederate officers. Of the approximately 900 West Point graduates who were civilians,400 returned to the Union Army and 99 to the Confederate. Therefore, the ratio of Union to Confederate professional officers was 642 to 283, the South did have the advantage of other military colleges, such as The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute, but they produced fewer officers. The Union Army was composed of numerous organizations, which were generally organized geographically, Military Division A collection of Departments reporting to one commander. Military Divisions were similar to the modern term Theater, and were modeled close to, though not synonymous with. Department An organization that covered a region, including responsibilities for the Federal installations therein. Those named for states usually referred to Southern states that had been occupied and it was more common to name departments for rivers or regions. District A subdivision of a Department, there were also Subdistricts for smaller regions
17.
Ulysses S. Grant
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Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States. As Commanding General, Grant worked closely with President Abraham Lincoln to lead the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy in the American Civil War and he implemented Congressional Reconstruction, often at odds with President Andrew Johnson. His presidency has often criticized for tolerating corruption and for the severe economic depression in his second term. Grant graduated in 1843 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, after the war he married Julia Boggs Dent in 1848, their marriage producing four children. Grant initially retired from the Army in 1854 and he struggled financially in civilian life. When the Civil War began in 1861, he rejoined the U. S. Army, in 1862, Grant took control of Kentucky and most of Tennessee, and led Union forces to victory in the Battle of Shiloh, earning a reputation as an aggressive commander. He incorporated displaced African American slaves into the Union war effort, in July 1863, after a series of coordinated battles, Grant defeated Confederate armies and seized Vicksburg, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and dividing the Confederacy in two. After his victories in the Chattanooga Campaign, Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant general, Grant confronted Robert E. Lee in a series of bloody battles, trapping Lees army in their defense of Richmond. Grant coordinated a series of devastating campaigns in other theaters, as well, in April 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, effectively ending the war. Historians have hailed Grants military genius, and his strategies are featured in history textbooks. After the Civil War, Grant led the armys supervision of Reconstruction in the former Confederate states and he also used the army to build the Republican Party in the South. After the disenfranchisement of some former Confederates, Republicans gained majorities, in his second term, the Republican coalitions in the South splintered and were defeated one by one as redeemers regained control using coercion and violence. In May 1875, Grant authorized his Secretary of Treasury Benjamin Bristow to shut down and his peace policy with the Indians initially reduced frontier violence, but is best known for the Great Sioux War of 1876. Grant responded to charges of corruption in executive offices more than any other 19th Century president and he appointed the first Civil Service Commission and signed legislation ending the corrupt moiety system. In foreign policy, Grant sought to trade and influence while remaining at peace with the world. His administration successfully resolved the Alabama claims by the Treaty of Washington with Great Britain, Grant avoided war with Spain over the Virginius Affair, but Congress rejected his attempted annexation of the Dominican Republic. His administration implemented a standard and sought to strengthen the dollar. Grant left office in 1877 and embarked on a two-year diplomatic world tour that captured the nations attention, in 1880, Grant was unsuccessful in obtaining the Republican presidential nomination for a third term
18.
Midshipman
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A midshipman is an officer cadet or a commissioned officer candidate of the junior-most rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. Beginning in the 18th century, an officer candidate was rated as a midshipman. After serving at least three years as a midshipman or masters mate, he was eligible to take the examination for lieutenant, promotion to lieutenant was not automatic, and many midshipmen took positions as masters mates for an increase in pay and responsibility aboard ship. Midshipman began to mean an officer cadet at a naval college, trainees now spent around four years in a college and two years at sea prior to promotion to commissioned officer rank. Between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries, time at sea declined to less than a year as the age was increased from 12 to 18. Ranks equivalent to midshipman exist in other navies. Using US midshipman or pre-fleet board UK midshipman as the basis for comparison, using post-fleet board UK midshipman for comparison, the rank would be the most junior commissioned officer in the rank structure, and similar to a US ensign in role and responsibility. Today, these ranks all refer to cadets, but historically they were selected by the monarchy. The first published use of the term midshipman was in 1662, the word derives from an area aboard a ship, amidships, but it refers either to the location where midshipmen worked on the ship, or the location where midshipmen were berthed. By the 18th century, four types of midshipman existed, midshipman, midshipman extraordinary, midshipman, by 1794, all midshipmen were considered officer candidates, and the original rating was phased out. Beginning in 1661, boys who aspired to become officers were sent by their families to serve on ships with a letter of service from the crown, and were paid at the same rate as midshipmen. Their official rating was volunteer-per-order, but they were known as Kings letter boys. Beginning in 1677, Royal Navy regulations for promotion to lieutenant required service as a midshipman, by the Napoleonic era, the regulations required at least three years of services as a midshipman or masters mate and six years of total sea time. Sea time was earned in various ways, most boys served this period at sea in any lower rating, either as a servant of one of the ships officers, a volunteer, or a seaman. By the 1730s, the rating volunteer-per-order was phased out and replaced with a system where prospective midshipmen served as servants for officers. For example, a captain was allowed four servants for every 100 men aboard his ship, the school was unpopular in the Navy, because officers enjoyed the privilege of having servants and preferred the traditional method of training officers via apprenticeship. Volunteers were paid £6 per year, by 1816, the rating of midshipman ordinary was phased out, and all apprentice officers were rated as midshipmen
19.
USS Vandalia (1828)
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The first Vandalia was an 18-gun sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Second Seminole War and the American Civil War. She was named for the city of Vandalia, Illinois, Vandalia was laid down at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1825, launched in 1828, and commissioned on 6 November of that year, Commander John Gallagher in command. Vandalia left Philadelphia on 16 December 1828, bound for duty with the Brazil Squadron off the eastern seaboard of South America and she remained off the coasts of Brazil and Argentina for the next three years, during a period of political unrest on the continent of South America. She returned to Norfolk, Virginia, on 18 December 1831, was decommissioned the next day, Vandalia remained inactive until 4 October 1832 when she was recommissioned for service with the West Indies Squadron. Vandalia again put into Norfolk in August 1834 and was decommissioned there on the 24th for major repairs, after almost three months laid up undergoing repairs from 30 August to 24 November, the ship was reactivated and returned to duty for a year in the Caribbean. Nearing five years in its current service, and now being unseaworthy, it returned to Hampton Roads, Virginia, during a visit to Haiti in the early spring of 1845, an epidemic of yellow fever broke out in the ship. She returned immediately to Norfolk, was decommissioned on 30 April, during the sloops period in ordinary which lasted until 1849, she was lengthened by 13 feet in 1848. She made several visits to the Hawaiian Islands in 1851 before returning to the New York Navy Yard on 6 October 1852, Vandalias rest ended on 14 February 1853, and the ship soon joined Commodore Matthew C. She was present as part of Perrys forces during his visit to Japan on 13 February 1854. In 1855 she helped to protect American interests in China during the Taiping Rebellion, Vandalia was decommissioned at the Portsmouth Navy Yard on 30 September 1856. Vandalia was recommissioned on 11 November 1857 for duty with the Pacific Squadron, Vandalia returned to the New York Navy Yard early in 1860 and was decommissioned on 6 January of that year. Perry, leader of the East Indies Squadron died on 4 March 1858 a year after his return to the U. S. The last known survivor of the Vandalias crew to have been present at the Taiping Rebellion, mcFadden, a native of Ireland, he died in Canton, Illinois 16 February 1901. Vandalia was recommissioned on 8 November 1860 and assigned to duty with the East Indies Squadron, there, she captured the schooner Henry Middleton on 21 August and assisted in the capture of the sailing ship Thomas Watson on 15 October. The vessel also participated in the amphibious assault upon Roanoke Island, North Carolina. This victory closed the lines to Confederate-held Norfolk Navy Yard and was largely responsible for the evacuation of that vital naval facility six months later. Vandalia put into New York on 24 November to deliver the officers, Vandalia soon returned to duty with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and was deployed off Tybee Roads, Georgia, in December. She remained at Tybee until April 1862, at which time she was ordered to proceed to the blockade at Wassaw Sound, the sloop returned to Port Royal, South Carolina, in late June and took up blockade duty off Charleston in July
20.
San Francisco
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San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. It is the birthplace of the United Nations, the California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856, after three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, San Francisco was a port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. Politically, the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines, San Francisco is also the headquarters of five major banking institutions and various other companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. Dolby, Airbnb, Weebly, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Yelp, Pinterest, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Mozilla, Wikimedia Foundation, as of 2016, San Francisco is ranked high on world liveability rankings. The earliest archaeological evidence of habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC. Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead, together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7,1846, during the Mexican–American War, montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers, with their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia, raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships, saloons and hotels, many were left to rot, by 1851 the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870 Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land, buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850 and the U. S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate, silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further drove rapid population growth. With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush
21.
Gunboat
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In the age of sail, a gunboat was usually a small undecked vessel carrying a single smoothbore cannon in the bow, or just two or three such cannons. A gunboat could carry one or two masts or be oar-powered only, but the version of about 15 m length was most typical. Some types of gunboat carried two cannons, or else mounted a number of guns on the railings. The gun that such boats carried could be heavy, a 32-pounder for instance. For example, in the Battle of Alvøen during the Gunboat War of 1807-1814, Gunboats used in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain during the American Revolutionary War were mostly built on the spot, attesting to the speed of their construction. All navies of the era kept a number of gunboats on hand. Gunboats saw extensive use in the Baltic Sea during the late 18th century as they were well-suited for the extensive coastal skerries and archipelagoes of Sweden, Finland and Russia. The rivalry between Sweden and Russia in particular led to an expansion of gunboat fleets and the development of new gunboat types. The majority of these were developed from the 1770s and onwards by the naval architect Fredrik Henrik af Chapman for the Swedish archipelago fleet. The designs, copied and refined by the rival Danish and Russian navies, spread to the Mediterranean, British ships engaged larger 22 m Russian gunboats off Turku in southeast Finland in 1854 during the Crimean War. The Russian vessels had the distinction of being the last oared vessels of war in history to fire their guns in anger, Gunboats played a key role in Napoleon Bonapartes plan for the invasion of England in 1804. Denmark-Norway used them heavily in the Gunboat War, between 1803 and 1812 the United States Navy had a policy of basing its navy on coastal gunboats, experimenting with a variety of designs. President Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican Party opposed a strong navy and they proved useless against the British blockade during the War of 1812. With the introduction of power in the early 19th century. Initially, these vessels retained full sailing rigs and used steam engines for auxiliary propulsion, the British Royal Navy deployed two wooden paddle-gunboats in the Lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River during the Rebellions of 1837 in Upper and Lower Canada. The United States Navy deployed an iron-hulled paddle gunboat, the USS Michigan, the Von der Tann became the first propeller-driven gunboat in the world. Conradi shipyards in Kiel built the steam-powered 120 long tons gunboat in 1849 for the navy of Schleswig-Holstein. 1, Von der Tann was the most modern ship in the navy and she participated successfully in the First Schleswig War of 1848-1851
22.
USS Seneca (1861)
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USS Seneca was a Unadilla-class gunboat built on behalf of the United States Navy for service during the American Civil War. Seneca was outfitted with guns for horizontal fire as well as two howitzers for bombardment of shore targets. With her crew of 84, she was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America. One of the “Ninety-day gunboats”, Seneca — the first United States Navy ship to be so named – was built at New York City by Jeremiah Simonson and she was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 14 October 1861, Lieutenant Daniel Ammen in command. Her executive officer was John G. Sproston of Maryland, from the 9th–12th, she took part in the expedition which took possession of Beaufort, South Carolina. On 5 December, she participated in the operations about Tybee Sound to help seal off Savannah, the next day, she was in sight during the capture of schooner Cheshire, entitling her crew to share in prize money. From January 1862 – January 1863, Senecas area of operations extended from Wilmington, on 27 January 1863, she took part in the attack on Fort McAllister, and on 1 February she participated in a second attack. On 28 February, in the Ogeechee River, she supported USS Montauk in the destruction of privateer Rattlesnake, in July 1863, she was one of the vessels in the attack on Fort Wagner. She later returned via Port Royal to the New York Navy Yard where she was decommissioned on 15 January 1864 and she was recommissioned on 3 October, Commander George Belknap in command, and was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. One of her crewmen, Chief Boatswains Mate Othniel Tripp, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in that battle, on 17 February, she was in the force which attacked Fort Anderson and captured it two days later. At the end of the war, Seneca returned to Norfolk, Virginia, the ship was sold on 10 September 1868 at Norfolk to Purvis and Company. United States Navy List of United States Navy ships This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, the entry can be found here
23.
Union blockade
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The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. Those blockade runners fast enough to evade the Union Navy could only carry a fraction of the supplies needed. They were operated largely by British citizens, making use of ports such as Havana, Nassau. The Union commissioned around 500 ships, which destroyed or captured about 1,500 blockade runners over the course of the war, for this purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, done at the City of Washington, this nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-fifth. The British proclamation also formally gave Britain the diplomatic right to discuss openly which side, if any, to support. A joint Union military-navy commission, known as the Blockade Strategy Board, was formed to make plans for seizing major Southern ports to utilize as Union bases of operations to expand the blockade. It first met in June 1861 in Washington, D. C. under the leadership of Captain Samuel F, in the initial phase of the blockade, Union forces concentrated on the Atlantic Coast. The November 1861 capture of Port Royal in South Carolina provided the Federals with an ocean port and repair. It became a base of operations for further expansion of the blockade along the Atlantic coastline. Apalachicola, Florida, received Confederate goods traveling down the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Georgia, another early prize was Ship Island, which gave the Navy a base from which to patrol the entrances to both the Mississippi River and Mobile Bay. The Navy gradually extended its reach throughout the Gulf of Mexico to the Texas coastline, including Galveston, with 3,500 miles of Confederate coastline and 180 possible ports of entry to patrol, the blockade would be the largest such effort ever attempted. The United States Navy had 42 ships in service, and another 48 laid up. At the time of the declaration of the blockade, the Union only had three ships suitable for blockade duty, the Navy Department, under the leadership of Navy Secretary Gideon Welles, quickly moved to expand the fleet. In 1861, nearly 80 steamers and 60 sailing ships were added to the fleet, some 52 more warships were under construction by the end of the year. By November 1862, there were 282 steamers and 102 sailing ships, by the end of the war, the Union Navy had grown to a size of 671 ships, making it the largest navy in the world. By the end of 1861, the Navy had grown to 24,000 officers and enlisted men, four squadrons of ships were deployed, two in the Atlantic and two in the Gulf of Mexico. Blockade service was attractive to Federal seamen and landsmen alike, Blockade station service was considered the most boring job in the war but also the most attractive in terms of potential financial gain
24.
Samuel Francis Du Pont
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Samuel Francis Du Pont was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, and a member of the prominent Du Pont family. In the Mexican–American War, Du Pont captured San Diego, and was commander of the California naval blockade. Through the 1850s, he promoted engineering studies at the United States Naval Academy, to more mobile. In the American Civil War, he played a role in making the Union blockade effective. Du Pont was born at Goodstay, his home at Bergen Point, New Jersey. His uncle was Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, the founder of E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company, which began as a gunpowder factory and today is a multinational chemical corporation. Du Pont spent his childhood at his fathers home, Louviers, across the Brandywine Creek from his uncles estate and gunpowder factory, Eleutherian Mills, just north of Wilmington and he was enrolled at Mount Airy Academy in Germantown, Pennsylvania, at age 9. However, his father was unable to fund his education because of his failing wool mill and he then served aboard the frigate Congress in the West Indies and off the coast of Brazil. After returning from the Ontario in June 1833, Du Pont married Sophie Madeleine du Pont, his first cousin as the daughter of his uncle, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. As he never kept a journal, his voluminous correspondence with Sophie serves as the main documentation of his operations and observations throughout the rest of his naval career. From 1835 until 1838, he was the officer of the frigate Constellation. In 1838 he joined the ship Ohio in the Mediterranean until 1841, the following year he was promoted to Commander and set sail for China aboard the brig Perry, but was forced to return home and give up his command because of severe illness. Du Pont transported Major John Fremonts troops to San Diego, where they captured the city, Du Pont then continued operations along the Baja coast, including the capture of La Paz, and burnt two enemy gunboats in the harbor of Guaymas under heavy fire. He was given command of the California naval blockade in the last months of the war and, Du Pont served most of the next decade on shore assignment, and his efforts during this time are credited with helping to modernize the U. S. Navy. He studied the possibilities of steam power, and emphasized engineering and he was appointed superintendent of the Academy, but resigned after four months because he believed it was a post more appropriate for someone closer to retirement age. He was an advocate for a mobile and offensive Navy, rather than the harbor defense function that much of it was then relegated to. After being appointed to the board of the United States Lighthouse Service, in 1853, Du Pont was made general superintendent over what is typically considered the first Worlds Fair in the United States—the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, held in New York City. Despite international praise, low attendance caused the venture to go into heavy debt, Du Pont became an enthusiastic supporter of naval reform, writing in support of the 1855 congressional act to Promote the Efficiency of the Navy
25.
Georgia (U.S. state)
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Georgia is a state in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1733, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies, named after King George II of Great Britain, Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2,1788. It declared its secession from the Union on January 19,1861 and it was the last state to be restored to the Union, on July 15,1870. Georgia is the 24th largest and the 8th most populous of the 50 United States, from 2007 to 2008,14 of Georgias counties ranked among the nations 100 fastest-growing, second only to Texas. Georgia is known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South, Atlanta is the states capital, its most populous city and has been named a global city. Georgia is bordered to the south by Florida, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina, to the west by Alabama, the states northern part is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains system. Georgias highest point is Brasstown Bald at 4,784 feet above sea level, Georgia is the largest state entirely east of the Mississippi River in land area. Before settlement by Europeans, Georgia was inhabited by the mound building cultures, the British colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe on February 12,1733. The colony was administered by the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America under a charter issued by King George II. The Trustees implemented a plan for the colonys settlement, known as the Oglethorpe Plan. In 1742 the colony was invaded by the Spanish during the War of Jenkins Ear, in 1752, after the government failed to renew subsidies that had helped support the colony, the Trustees turned over control to the crown. Georgia became a colony, with a governor appointed by the king. The Province of Georgia was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution by signing the 1776 Declaration of Independence, the State of Georgias first constitution was ratified in February 1777. Georgia was the 10th state to ratify the Articles of Confederation on July 24,1778, in 1829, gold was discovered in the North Georgia mountains, which led to the Georgia Gold Rush and an established federal mint in Dahlonega, which continued its operation until 1861. The subsequent influx of white settlers put pressure on the government to land from the Cherokee Nation. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law, sending many eastern Native American nations to reservations in present-day Oklahoma, including all of Georgias tribes. Despite the Supreme Courts ruling in Worcester v. Georgia that ruled U. S. states were not permitted to redraw the Indian boundaries, President Jackson and the state of Georgia ignored the ruling. In 1838, his successor, Martin Van Buren, dispatched troops to gather the Cherokee
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Florida
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Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
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Fort McAllister
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Fort McAllister was a Confederate earthen-work fort used to defend Savannah, Georgia during the American Civil War. It was the southernmost of the forts defending Savannah and was involved in the most battles and it was located on the Ogeechee River in Bryan County. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Fort McAllister was one of three forts protecting Savannah, the others being Fort Pulaski and Fort James Jackson standing in Confederate defiance of the Union naval blockade. The southeast coast of the United States was the place where both combatants tested the latest in naval artillery and coastal defenses, Fort McAllister was the key to unlocking the defenses around Savannah, one of the most important Confederate ports on the Atlantic Ocean. The fort was designed by Capt, in 1861 Gen. Robert E. Lee inspected the fort and recommended making it stronger. McCrady made the changes recommended by Lee and the walls were better able to withstand bombardment from artillery fire. The fort had seven cannon emplacements, the bombproof area in the center housed a hospital, supply area, barracks, officers quarters, gun power, and additional guns. A 10-inch mortar was kept outside the fort to keep it from shaking the dirt off the walls when it was fired, the fort was attacked seven times by ships over the next two years. The fort withstood all of these attacks with minimal damage. There were four attacks in 1862. Union ironclad monitors began to attack the fort on January 27,1863, starting with the Montauk and later with the Passaic, Nahant, the Montauk had an 11-inch and a 15-inch cannon, the largest size used in the war. The ironclad bombarded the fort for 5 hours but caused no casualties and little damage because the earth absorbed the artillery shells, similarly, the forts cannons hit the ironclad 15 times but caused no significant damage. The Montauk made another attack on February 1, except that fort commander Maj. John B. A 7-hour bombardment on March 3 also failed to damage the fort, the fort was the site of the sinking of the CSS Nashville on February 28,1863. On December 13,1864, Gen. William T. Sherman reached the fort on his March to the Sea, hazens infantry division attacked the fort, defended by Maj. George Wayne Anderson and some 230 troops. The Union force overpowered the defenders in about 15 minutes of battle. Fort McAllister was the last fort defending Savannah, after it fell, Gen. William J. Hardee withdrew his 10,000 troops that were defending Savannah and Sherman captured the city without resistance. Shermans army abandoned the fort and burned its bunkers, during the evening that the fort fell, Anderson was being held at the McAllister family home, the new headquarters of General William Babcock Hazen
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Fort Sumter
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Fort Sumter is a sea fort in Charleston, South Carolina, notable for two battles of the American Civil War. It was one of a number of forts planned after the War of 1812, combining high walls and heavy masonry. Work started in 1829, but was incomplete by 1860, when South Carolina seceded from the Union, the First Battle of Fort Sumter opened on April 12,1861, when Confederate artillery fired on the Union garrison. These were the first shots of the war, and continued all day, the fort had been cut off from its supply line and surrendered the next day. The Second Battle of Fort Sumter was an attempt by the Union to retake the fort. Although the fort was reduced to rubble, it remained in Confederate hands until it was evacuated as General Sherman marched through South Carolina in February 1865, Fort Sumter is open for public tours as part of the Fort Sumter National Monument operated by the National Park Service. Named after General Thomas Sumter, Revolutionary War hero, Fort Sumter was built following the War of 1812, construction began in 1829, and the structure was still unfinished in 1861, when the Civil War began. Seventy thousand tons of granite were imported from New England to build up a bar in the entrance to Charleston Harbor. The fort was a brick structure,170 to 190 feet long, with walls five feet thick. It was designed to house 650 men and 135 guns in three tiers of gun emplacements, although it was never filled near its full capacity and he secretly relocated companies E and H of the 1st U. S. Artillery to Fort Sumter on his own initiative, without orders from his superiors and he thought that providing a stronger defense would delay an attack by South Carolina militia. The fort was not yet complete at the time and fewer than half of the cannons that should have been available were in place, due to military downsizing by President James Buchanan. Over the next few months repeated calls for evacuation of Fort Sumter from the government of South Carolina, artillery, and three hired tug boats with added protection against small arms fire to be used to tow troop and supply barges directly to Fort Sumter. By April 6,1861 the first ships began to set sail for their rendezvous off the Charleston Bar, the first to arrive was Harriet Lane, the evening of April 11,1861. On Thursday, April 11,1861, Beauregard sent three aides, Colonel James Chesnut, Jr, captain Stephen D. Lee, and Lieutenant A. R. Chisolm to demand the surrender of the fort. Anderson declined, and the returned to report to Beauregard. After Beauregard had consulted the Confederate Secretary of War, Leroy Walker, he sent the aides back to the fort, the aides waited for hours while Anderson considered his alternatives and played for time. The aides then left the fort and proceeded to the nearby Fort Johnson, There, Chesnut ordered the fort to open fire on Fort Sumter
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Monitor (warship)
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A monitor was a relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s, during the First World War, during the Vietnam War they were used by the United States Navy. The Brazilian Navys Parnaíba is the last monitor in service, the original monitor was designed by John Ericsson in 1861 who named it USS Monitor. They were designed for waters and served as coastal ships. The term monitor also encompassed more flexible breastwork monitors, and was used as a generic term for any turreted ship. The term monitor also encompasses the strongest of riverine warcraft, known as river monitors, the Lord Clive vessels were scrapped in the 1920s. In Latin, a monitor is someone who admonishes—that is, reminds others of their duties—which is how USS Monitor was given its name. She was designed by John Ericsson for emergency service in the Federal navy during the American Civil War to blockade the Confederate States from supply at sea. Ericsson designed her to operate in water and to present as small a target as possible. Nathaniel Hawthorne described Monitor thus, At no great distance from the Minnesota lay the strangest-looking craft I ever saw, going on board, we were surprised at the extent and convenience of her interior accommodations. Forward, or aft, the crew are relatively quite as well provided for as the officers and it was like finding a palace, with all its conveniences, under the sea. A storm of cannon-shot damages them no more than a handful of dried peas, nothing, however, can exceed the confidence of the officers in this new craft. Yet even this will not long be the last and most terrible improvement in the science of war, the Battle of Hampton Roads, between Monitor and CSS Virginia, was the first engagement between ironclad vessels. Several such battles took place during the course of the American Civil War, however, fortification bombardment was another critical role that the early monitors played, though one that these early designs were much less capable in performing. She was followed by 14 more monitors, one of them, Kanonbåten Sölve, served until 1922 and is today preserved at the Maritiman marine museum in Gothenburg. Ericsson and others experimented greatly during the years of the American Civil War, vessels constructed included a triple-turreted monitor, a class of paddlewheel-propelled monitors, a class of semi-submersible monitors, and a class of monitors armed with spar torpedoes. In the 1860s and 1870s several nations built monitors that were used for coastal defense and those that were directly modelled on Monitor were low-freeboard, mastless, steam-powered vessels with one or two rotating, armoured turrets. The low freeboard meant that ships were unsuitable for ocean-going duties and were always at risk of swamping, flooding
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USS Patapsco (1862)
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USS Patapsco was a Passaic-class ironclad monitor in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the Patapsco River in Maryland, Patapsco was the fourth U. S. Navy ship to bear that name. She was built by Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware, launched on 27 September 1862, assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, she took part in a bombardment of Fort McAllister on 3 March. On 7 April, Patapsco joined eight other ironclads in an attack on Fort Sumter. Beginning in mid-July, she began her participation in a bombardment campaign against Charlestons defending fortifications. This led to the capture of Fort Wagner in early September, Fort Sumter was reduced to a pile of rubble, but remained a formidable opponent. In November 1863, Patapsco tested a large obstruction-clearing explosive device that had been devised by John Ericsson, on 15 January 1865, while participating in obstruction clearance operations in Charleston Harbor, Patapsco struck a Confederate mine and sank, with heavy loss of life. This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, the entry can be found here. Additional technical data from Gardiner, Robert, conways All The Worlds Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Navsource. org, USS Patapsco hazegray. org, USS Patapsco
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Fort Fisher
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Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, the fort was located on one of Cape Fear Rivers two outlets to the Atlantic Ocean on what was then known as Federal Point or Confederate Point and today is known as Pleasure Island. The strength of Fort Fisher led to its being called the Southern Gibraltar, the battle of Fort Fisher was the most decisive one of the Civil War fought in North Carolina. The city of Wilmington is located 29 miles upstream from the mouth of the Cape Fear River, during the war, Wilmington was one of the most important points of entry for supplies for the Confederacy. Its port traded cotton and tobacco in exchange for goods, like munitions, clothing. This nourished both the states in general and General Robert E. Lees forces in Virginia. Trade was based on the coming and going of steamer ships of British smugglers and these vessels were called blockade runners because they had to avoid the Unions imposed maritime barricade. Mostly, the runners came indirectly from British colonies, such as Bermuda. Often, they were forced to fly the Confederate insignia since the Union had imposed the penalty on British pirates captured in the region. After the fall of Norfolk, Virginia in May 1862, the importance of Wilmington was further increased and it became the main Confederate port on the Atlantic Ocean. Considering the Atlantic seashore, Wilmingtons defenses were so sturdy that they were surpassed by Charlestons. Wilmington resisted for a time, mainly because of Fort Fishers presence. South of Wilmington, along the Cape Fear Rivers last 20 miles, also, the channel had been purposely jammed with loads of wreckage and aquatic mines, which were called torpedoes. The Confederate officers conducted each ship cautiously through this barrier, particularly at Cape Fears outlet to the Atlantic, the area was enclosed by a half dozen Confederate positions. The river flowed to the sea through two relatively shallow inlets, which were partitioned by Smith Island now Bald Head Island, the existence of two inlets resulted in a crucial advantage, guided by the Confederates, the blockade runners were capable of avoiding the Union ships. They simply had to change course unexpectedly, alternatively between the two inlets, near the beginning of the war, the Confederacy occupied the Federal Point peninsula, which was located at an advantaged location upon Cape Fears New Inlet. The first artillery batteries were placed in the spring of 1861, Maj. Charles Pattison Bolles supervised the works. The regional command was conformed by Gen. Theophilus H. Holmes, Whiting, as chief inspector of North Carolinas defenses
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United States Naval Observatory
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The USNO operates the Master Clock, which provides precise time to the GPS satellite constellation run by the United States Air Force. The USNO performs radio VLBI-based positions of quasars with numerous global collaborators, aside from its scientific mission, a house located within the Naval Observatory complex serves as the official residence of the Vice President of the United States. President John Quincy Adams, who in 1825 signed the bill for the creation of an observatory just before leaving presidential office, had intended for it to be called the National Observatory. The names National Observatory and Naval Observatory were both used for 10 years, until a ruling was passed to use the latter. Adams had made protracted efforts to bring astronomy to a level at that time. He spent many nights at the observatory, watching and charting the stars, established by the order of the United States Secretary of the Navy John Branch on 6 December 1830 as the Depot of Charts and Instruments, the Observatory rose from humble beginnings. Placed under the command of Lieutenant Louis M. Goldsborough, with an budget of $330, its primary function was the restoration, repair. It was made into an observatory in 1842 via a federal law. Lieutenant James Melville Gilliss was put in charge of obtaining the instruments needed, lt. Gilliss visited the principal observatories of Europe with the mission to purchase telescopes and scientific devices and books. The observatorys primary mission was to care for the United States Navys marine chronometers, charts and it calibrated ships chronometers by timing the transit of stars across the meridian. These facilities were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017, the first superintendent was Navy Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury. Maury had the worlds first vulcanized time ball, created to his specifications by Charles Goodyear for the U. S. Observatory and it was the first time ball in the United States, being placed into service in 1845, and the 12th in the world. Maury kept accurate time by the stars and planets, the time ball was dropped every day except Sunday precisely at the astronomically defined moment of Mean Solar Noon, enabling all ships and civilians to know the exact time. Time was also sold to the railroads and was used in conjunction with railroad chronometers to schedule American rail transport, early in the 20th century, the Arlington Time Signal broadcast this service to wireless receivers. In 1849 the Nautical Almanac Office was established in Cambridge, Massachusetts as a separate organization and it was moved to Washington, D. C. in 1866, colocating with the U. S. Naval Observatory in 1893. On September 20,1894, the NAO became a branch of USNO, the astronomical measurements taken of the transit of Venus by a number of countries since 1639 resulted in a progressively more accurate definition of the AU. Relying heavily on methods, the naval observers returned 350 photographic plates in 1874. This calculated distance was a significant improvement over several previous estimates, the telescope used for the discovery of the Moons of Mars was the 26-inch refractor, then located at Foggy Bottom
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Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
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USS Katahdin (1893)
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USS Katahdin, a harbor-defense ram of innovative design, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Mount Katahdin, a mountain peak in Maine. The inspiration behind Katahdin was Rear Admiral Daniel Ammen, an advocate of a coastal defense navy, Ammen was impressed by the British torpedo ram HMS Polyphemus. Unlike Polyphemus, which was primarily a torpedo boat, with ramming a secondary function, katahdins design was a new departure in naval architecture, built to ride extremely low in the water with her bow awash while under way. Her hull embodied several new features later used in early submarines, an order was placed for construction of a prototype armored ram in 1889. Her keel was laid down by the Bath Iron Works of Bath, conditions aboard the ship were extremely uncomfortable, as it was cramped and had very poor ventilation, leading to almost intolerable temperatures being recorded. A year later, with the Navy preparing for a war with Spain. She was attached to the North Atlantic Squadron and operated along the Atlantic Coast from New England to Norfolk protecting the nations seaboard cities from possible attack. After decisive American naval victories at Manila Bay and Santiago Harbor eliminated this threat, Katahdin was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 July 1909 and designated Ballistic Experimental Target A. Katahdin was sunk by gunfire at Rappahannock Spit, Virginia, that September. Chesneau, Roger, Kolesnik, Eugene M. Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1860–1905 and this article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here, media related to USS Katahdin at Wikimedia Commons
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Public domain
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The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival
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Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
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The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships is the official reference work for the basic facts about ships used by the United States Navy. When the writing project was developed the parameters for this series were designed to cover only commissioned US Navy ships with assigned names, if the ship was not assigned a name it was not included in the histories written for the series. In addition to the entries, DANFS and the online links have been expanded to include appendices on small craft, histories of Confederate Navy ships. DANFS was published in print by the Naval Historical Center as bound volumes, ordered by ship name. Several volumes subsequently went out of print, in 1991 a revised Volume I Part A, covering only ship names beginning with A, was released. Work continues on revisions of the remaining volumes, volunteers at the Hazegray website undertook to transcribe the DANFS and make it available on the World Wide Web. The project goal is a transcription of the DANFS, with changes limited to correcting typographical errors. In 2008 the NHC was re-designated as the Naval History and Heritage Command and it has developed an online version of DANFS through a combination of optical character recognition and hand transcription. The NHHC is slowly updating its online DANFS to correct errors, the NHHC has begun a related project to place Ship History and Command Operations Reports online at their DANFS site. As the DANFS is a work of the U. S. government, its content is in the domain. Many websites organized by former and active members of U. S. Navy vessels include a copy of their ships DANFS entries. The Dictionary limits itself largely to basic descriptions and brief operational notes, and includes almost no analysis or historical context
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Internet Archive
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The Internet Archive is a San Francisco–based nonprofit digital library with the stated mission of universal access to all knowledge. As of October 2016, its collection topped 15 petabytes, in addition to its archiving function, the Archive is an activist organization, advocating for a free and open Internet. Its web archive, the Wayback Machine, contains over 150 billion web captures, the Archive also oversees one of the worlds largest book digitization projects. Founded by Brewster Kahle in May 1996, the Archive is a 501 nonprofit operating in the United States. It has a budget of $10 million, derived from a variety of sources, revenue from its Web crawling services, various partnerships, grants, donations. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California, where about 30 of its 200 employees work, Most of its staff work in its book-scanning centers. The Archive has data centers in three Californian cities, San Francisco, Redwood City, and Richmond, the Archive is a member of the International Internet Preservation Consortium and was officially designated as a library by the State of California in 2007. Brewster Kahle founded the Archive in 1996 at around the time that he began the for-profit web crawling company Alexa Internet. In October 1996, the Internet Archive had begun to archive and preserve the World Wide Web in large quantities, the archived content wasnt available to the general public until 2001, when it developed the Wayback Machine. In late 1999, the Archive expanded its collections beyond the Web archive, Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software. It hosts a number of projects, the NASA Images Archive, the contract crawling service Archive-It. According to its web site, Most societies place importance on preserving artifacts of their culture, without such artifacts, civilization has no memory and no mechanism to learn from its successes and failures. Our culture now produces more and more artifacts in digital form, the Archives mission is to help preserve those artifacts and create an Internet library for researchers, historians, and scholars. In August 2012, the Archive announced that it has added BitTorrent to its file download options for over 1.3 million existing files, on November 6,2013, the Internet Archives headquarters in San Franciscos Richmond District caught fire, destroying equipment and damaging some nearby apartments. The nonprofit Archive sought donations to cover the estimated $600,000 in damage, in November 2016, Kahle announced that the Internet Archive was building the Internet Archive of Canada, a copy of the archive to be based somewhere in the country of Canada. The announcement received widespread coverage due to the implication that the decision to build an archive in a foreign country was because of the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump. Kahle was quoted as saying that on November 9th in America and it was a firm reminder that institutions like ours, built for the long-term, need to design for change. For us, it means keeping our cultural materials safe, private and it means preparing for a Web that may face greater restrictions
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National Archives and Records Administration
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The NARA also transmits votes of the Electoral College to Congress. The chief administrator of NARA is the Archivist of the United States, the Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. The Archivist not only maintains the official documentation of the passage of amendments to the U. S, Constitution by state legislatures, but has the authority to declare when the constitutional threshold for passage has been reached, and therefore when an act has become an amendment. The Office of the Federal Register publishes the Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations and it also administers the Electoral College. Since 1964, the NHPRC has awarded some 4,500 grants, the Office of Government Information Services is a Freedom of Information Act resource for the public and the government. Congress has charged NARA with reviewing FOIA policies, procedures and compliance of Federal agencies, NARAs mission also includes resolving FOIA disputes between Federal agencies and requesters. Originally, each branch and agency of the U. S. government was responsible for maintaining its own documents, Congress established the National Archives Establishment in 1934 to centralize federal record keeping, with the Archivist of the United States as chief administrator. The National Archives was incorporated with GSA in 1949, in 1985 it became an independent agency as NARA, connor, began serving in 1934, when the National Archives was established by Congress. As a result of a first Hoover Commission recommendation, in 1949 the National Archives was placed within the newly formed General Services Administration. The Archivist served as an official to the GSA Administrator until the National Archives. An audit indicated that more than one third withdrawn since 1999 did not contain sensitive information, the program was originally scheduled to end in 2007. In 2011, a retired employee pleaded guilty to stealing original sound recordings from the archives, Archival Recovery Teams investigate the theft of records. NARAs holdings are classed into record groups reflecting the governmental department or agency from which they originated, Records include paper documents, microfilm, still pictures, motion pictures, and electronic media. Archival descriptions of the permanent holdings of the government in the custody of NARA are stored in the National Archives Catalog. The archival descriptions include information on traditional paper holdings, electronic records, as of December 2012, the catalog consisted of about 10 billion logical data records describing 527,000 artifacts and encompassing 81% of NARAs records. There are also 922,000 digital copies of already digitized materials, most records at NARA are in the public domain, as works of the federal government are excluded from copyright protection. However, records from other sources may still be protected by copyright or donor agreements and its Information Security Oversight Office monitors and sets policy for the U. S. governments security classification system. Many of NARAs most requested records are used for genealogy research
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Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
United States of America
United States Navy
Rear Admiral
