The heavily armed Confederate ironclad C.S.S. Stonewall, with Capt. T. J. Page, sailed from Ferrol, Spain on March 24, 1865, after two abortive attempts to leave. The Stonewall had been forced into Spain by a storm. She challenged the two wooden Union frigates U.S.S. Niagara and Sacramento under command of Commodore Thomas T. Craven. Craven explained the situation to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles: “At this time the odds in her favor were too great and too certain, in my humble judgement, to admit of the slightest hope of being able to inflict upon her even the most trifling injury, whereas, if we had gone out, the Niagara would most undoubtedly have been easily and promptly destroyed. So thoroughly a one-sided combat I did not consider myself called upon to engage in.” Craven would later be court-martialed for not engaging the Stonewall. Sitting as President of the Court was Vice Admiral David G. Farragut and sitting as a member of the Court was Commodore John A. Winslow, the destroyer of the C.S.S. Alabama. Craven was sentenced to two years suspension on leave pay. Welles, refusing what he called a “paid vacation”, restored Craven to active duty. (Pictured below are Commodore Craven and the CSS Stonewall.)
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 17:04:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015