Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of Rebellion, Series I, Volume 8 by United States Department of the Navy

Author:United States Department of the Navy
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Official Records, Civil War
Publisher: United States Department of the Navy
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Not necessary to publish

Page 473

NORTH ATLANTIC BLOCKADING SQUADRON. 473

Order of the Secret((ry of the Navy to Commander Crosby, U. S. Navy, to proceed to duty in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, January 24, 1863.

SIR: You are hereby detached from the command of the Sangamon, and you will proceed to Hampton Roads, Virginia, without delay and report to Acting Rear-Admiral S. P. Lee for duty as captain of the ifeet of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy. Commander PEIRCE CROSBY, U. S. Navy, Chester, Pa. Reported February 3, 1863. S. P. LEE, Actg. Rear-Admiral, Comdg. North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

Report of Acting Rear-Admiral Lee, U. S. Navy, regarding the ine~lciency of the blockade in Chesapeake Bay.

U. S. FLAGSHIP MiNNESOTA, Off Newport News, Va., January 2-1, 1863.

SIR: I referred to the senior officer in Yorktown a copy of the letter from Amos Tnck, esq., enclosed in your communication of the 17th, the receipt of which I acknowledged in my No. 79, of January 19, and have received from him a reply (a copy of which I have the honor to enclose), from which it appears that the yawl boat of Captain Lewis Hudgins, therein alluded to as being actively employed in the contraband trade between Accomac Connty and the mainland, has been an object of sus- picioll and search with Commander 1~arker. I would again respectfully invite the attention of the Department to the want of swift, light-draft steamers, effectually to blockade the extent of indented coast on the Chesapeake below the Piankatank River, where the numerons creeks and inlets, watched only by the Crusader, must afford ample opportunity for smuggling operations in canoes and small boats. These steamers, together with the six asked for in my 92, of January 22, for this immediate vicinity, would enable me to give effect to the blockade of the waters of Virginia. I have ordered the U. S. schooner Samuel Rotan to report to the senior officer in York River for blockade duty. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, yours, S. P. LEE, Actg. Rear-Admiral, Comdg. North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Hon. GIDEON WELLES Secretary of the Nary, Washington, D. C. [Enclosure.] U. S. S. MAHASKA, Off Yorktown, Va., January 21, 1863. SIR: In relation to the letter of Amos Tuck, esq., to the President of the United States, I have to state that I have long been aware that a contraband trade is carried on between Baltimore and Richmond by way of Accomac County, and have used my best endeavors to put a stop to it

Page 474

474 NORTH ATLANTIC BLOCKADING SQUADRON.

Hearing about six weeks ago that the yawl boat of Captain Lewis Hudgins was in Horn Harbor, [sent a couple of boats there to cut her out, but when they reached the harbor she could not be found, having been hauled up in one of the many creeks in that vicinity. The smuggling is carried on principally iii large canoes, and is, I learn, on the increase.

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