Fort Fisher revisited part 2 - US briefing

 

The US Navy:  a raggle-taggle of wooden ships from junk shops, Playmobil plastic, two mdf ironclads and the nearest monitor lovingly hacked from balsa and insulation board.

The attack on Fort Fisher – 24 December 1864

Rear Admiral David Porter, US Navy

Brevet Brigadier General Newton M Curtis, US Army

Commander Alexander Rhind, US Navy

Forces:

1 Brigade, 2^nd Div, XXIV Corps

                                    3 New York Regiment

                                    112 New York Rgt

                                    117 New York Rgt

 

2 ships of the line:       USS Brooklyn (carrying half of 3 NY)

                                    USS Juanita (carrying half of 3 NY)

2 transport ships          Nyack (carrying 112 NY)

                                    Saucy Mary Todd* (carrying 117 NY)

1 Battery Ironclad       USS Ironsides

2 Monitors:                  USS Mahopac

                                    USS Saugus

1 Bomb ketch (towed by a ship)

Boats to land 1 regiment

USS Portland (aka ‘The Experiment’ – TOP SECRET

Portland is a captured screw-driven Confederate blockade runner which has been loaded with 300 tons of gunpowder.  It is intended that this be run aground near the fort and detonated.  The plan indicates that this will destroy the fort but it all sounds damn risky.  You may want to get rid of this vessel sooner rather than later!

 

Orders:

Bombard the fort into submission and then land troops to mop up survivors.  There is no time to spare and you have been allocated considerable resources.  The eyes of the President and the Union are on you.  Detonate the Portland by 1130 real time, land troops by 1330.

Ben Butler

Major General B F Butler

Expeditionary Corps (Army of the James)

The sneaky Yankee players refined the plan by re-flagging Portland with a spare CS flag.  It was then to sail towards the rover mouth pursued by two US warships.  The rotters!

Oh, and it it possible that not all of the ship names are entirely historically accurate.  

The Portland - a wooden ship found in a junk shop.  I removed the remains of the masts and added a couple of balsa funnels.  It bears - to my eyes at least - more than a passing resemblance to the Louisiana, on which the Portland nonsense is based.

The two US ships in hot pursuit.  More junk shop finds.  They're from a rather earlier era but a sailing ship is a sailing ship, right?

  

 * 100 Vanity Points if you can tell me in a comment who Mary Todd was. 200 if you can do it without Google.