“Reflect on your blessings, of which every person has many,
not on your past misfortunes, of which all people have some.”

- Charles Dickens
(07 Feb 1812 - 09 June 1870)

Monday, Nov. 25, 1861
ACCELERATED ARMOR ARRIVAL ACHIEVED

It was a race against time and the USS Monitor, and time was running out for Lt. Catesby ap Roger Jones of the Confederate navy. It was well known (at least in the higher reaches of the Confederate Navy Secretary’s office) that the Federal Navy was working on a revolutionary armor-plated warship. The South needed a counterpart, and the solution had been to refloat the partially-burned hulk of a ship called Merrimack which had been sunk in Norfolk Navy Yard when the Federal forces abandoned the area. The parts of the vessel damaged by fire were mostly areas that would have had to be removed to accommodate the new design anyway. The first load of armor plate was today received by Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory, and sent on to Jones to become the skin of the reborn CSS Virginia.

Tuesday, Nov. 25, 1862
ELLIS EXHIBITS ELABORATE EXPIRATION

The USS Ellis had done noble service on her recent expedition. Last week she had conveyed her crew to New Topsail Inlet, N.C., where they had destroyed a huge Confederate salt works. This facility, in the words of Ellis’s Captain Cushing, was so large it “could have furnished all of Wilmington with salt,” a considerable quantity indeed when it is remembered that salt was a vital preservative in the days before refrigeration. Today, however, Ellis had fallen on hard times, specifically a sand bar on which she was quite stuck. Cushing tried for two days to refloat her, but today gave up and ordered her set afire to keep her from the enemy. “Having seen that her battle flag was still flying,” he wrote, “[I] trained the gun on the enemy so that the vessel might fight herself after we had left her.”

Wednesday, Nov. 25, 1863
MASSIVE MILITARY MANEUVERS MAKE MISSIONARY MOVE

The Battle of Missionary Ridge opened today with William T. Sherman attacking the north end, and making no progress against the troops of Gen. Patrick Cleburne. Gen. Joseph Hooker was attacking the south end, the Confederate left wing, with a similar lack of success. Around 2 p.m. the true attack began: U.S. Grant ordered Gen. George Thomas’ men to attack the center. Fighting straight uphill should have been disastrous for the Federals--but in one of the great mysteries of the war, the artillery had been improperly placed and could only shoot over the heads of the attackers. It was anticipated that about half the hill could be taken today, but the blue-clad fighters, outrunning their commanders, simply didn’t stop till they took the top of the hill. Lt. Arthur MacArthur, who much later in life would have a son named Douglas, won the Medal of Honor for his part in this charge.

Friday, Nov. 25, 1864
AGGRESSIVE ARSON ATTACK ACHIEVES ASHES

It was what a later day would call a terrorist attack: a plot by a group of Confederate agents to firebomb New York City, intending to create an inferno so fierce as to burn the city to the ground. Infiltrating the city from Canada, the party led by R. C. Kennedy had contracted with a chemist to manufacture incendiary grenades. These were planted at almost a dozen prominent hotels as well as, peculiarly, Barnum’s Museum. None of the hotel bombs caused any significant damage, and even the one at Barnum’s was promptly put out. Rumors swept the city, including one that implied the chemist intentionally made the bombs defective. Kennedy was eventually arrested, tried and hanged for setting the Barnum’s blaze.

 

  Ricky Sturgis ('66) and my sister, Terry Sturgis ('70), both of whom graduated from NNHS. While I did not attend NNHS, I have some very fond memories of my brother and sister going to school there. While I was very little, I do remember the Turkey Day football games and the small footballs they threw up into the stands. As a child that was a big thing for me.

I have a request that I hope you can help me with. I am looking for pictures of Shackelford Dodge that was located in the 300 block of 25th Street. I have searched every site I can find but just cannot seem to locate any. I work for the City of NN and have asked Parks and Rec and have even placed a request through the Daily Press, none of which have produced anything. I have looked at the Old Stomping Grounds for some time now, so I decided to ask you if you or any of your colleagues may have any to share. Both my Father and Grandfather worked at Shackelford and over the years the pictures have seemed to disappear.

If you do not have any, I would ask if you could forward my request or point me in the direction of who may be able to assist me. I greatly appreciate your attention to this request and look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for everything. You can e-mail me at sturgiswt@nngov.com 

Thanks,

Trent Sturgis

Hi Trent,

Unless there is an extraordinarily rare snapshot hiding in someone’s attic … the best chance of finding an image is probably an advertisement in a high school annual … and not just NNHS. I would imagine that WHS, FHS, Huntington HS, or Hampton HS would also have solicited advertisements for their annuals.

A collection of those yearbooks, except for Hampton HS, is located in the Virginiana Room at the Hilton Main St. Library. Hampton HS annuals are located in the Hampton Library on Victoria Blvd. I can search through them the next time I visit Hilton.

Let’s ask Carol to put out the data call in upcoming newsletters and see what pops out. Fred Mays has a collection of NNHS yearbooks and may be able to do a quick check.

We are on the job …

Dave