The Battle of Mobile Bay-- "Buchanan"

CMWinkler

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The Battle of Mobile Bay-- "Buchanan"
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By Stan Ingold
All week long Alabama Public Radio is taking a look back at events during the War Between the States. One hundred fifty years ago plans were underway for federal forces to attack and capture Mobile Bay from the Confederacy. We remember the ensuing battle with someone with a unique vantage point…

“As far as my friends and people really knowing this information, very few of them do.”

Julia Hinson lives in Mobile. Her little secret is her family tree and the critical role it played in the history of the city and of the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864…

“Buchanan went to sea when he was fifteen years old,” she says.

There’s a hint of pride as Hinson talks about Franklin Buchanan. The Confederate Admiral is Hinson’s great, great, great grandfather…

More: http://apr.org/post/battle-mobile-bay-buchanan
 
Think I've mentioned this elsewhere, but even if Buchanan had died prior to the Civil War he'd still be worth remembering (although his fame would be considerably less)... he was the first commandant of the U.S. Naval Academy, captained one of the steamships in Commodore Perry's opening of Japan, and was a strong champion of reform in the antebellum Navy. He was one of the most experienced and effective officers that went South.

Oddly, Buchanan attempted to retract his resignation when he found that his native Maryland was not going to secede, but Secretary Welles wouldn't hear of it; so Buchanan threw his lot in with the Confederacy anyway.
 
Hi guys,
As I undestand it somehow Buchanan felt his state was leaving the Union so he resigned... When it did not he tried to stay with his state, so tried to rejoin. In the long run this was a major mistake by Wells, as said above, Buchanan was on of the better officers and one of only two southern admirals.

Grizz
 
I agree, he was as good officer, if an outspoken one on occasions, (nothing wrong with that, one of my annual appraisal;s said I should be more diplomatic), calling to Joseph Pierce as an old woman, while he was rebuilding the Tennessee. I would think he was a difficult man to serve under , but one who engendered loyalty from his officers and crews.
 
Difficult, absolutely. He had a very high set of standards and was very rigorous about it; 'martinet' is over-used, but you get the idea. One minor example is enforcing the Confederate Navy uniform regulations in the Mobile Squadron (despite the fact that the Confederate Navy, almost to a man, hated the gray uniforms with a passion-- including Buchanan, but rules were rules, and he was going to stick by them). It also comes through in Du Pont's notes during the 1855 Efficiency Board proceedings, in which Buchanan participated. "Old Buck" apparently never forgot and never forgave anything.
 
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