Trivia 5-4-17 Who am I

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Question: I was born in Maine and was an under sheriff in California,. When the war started, my outfit escorted big wheels Al and Lew almost 1500 miles across the hot dry desert so they could join the war effort.
I am buried in Tempe, Arizona. BTW, You can call me Al too. Who am I?

credit: @Reb

May the 4th be with you Bonus:
I'm a famous ship with a few aliases. I was first named for the river near where I was built by the US Navy, then I was reborn and renamed after the Yanks sank me. Ultimately I was ordered destroyed by my owners in the spring of 1862 when I became homeless. My battle ensign now resides in a major Northern city history museum.

What was my name before leaving the US Navy, what named was used during my Confederate service, and what was I referred to in my most famous battle...and what was wrong with that name?

credit: @1stMN
 
Credit for main

Bonus
The USS Merrimack, named after the Merrimack river, became the CSS Virginia. Her name is (and was) often misspelled Merrimac, as in the "battle of the Monitor and Merrimac". . Another Union nickname of the ship after Confederate refitting, was the "Rebel Monster". Early on the morning of May 11, 1862, she was destroyed by a great explosion. The CSS Virginia's thirteen-star Stars and Bars battle ensign was saved from destruction and today resides in the collection of the Chicago History Museum.



Although the Confederacy renamed the ship, it is still frequently referred to by its Union name. When she was first commissioned into the United States Navy in 1856, her name was Merrimack, with the K; the name was derived from the Merrimack River near where she was built.
After raising, restoration, and outfitting as an ironclad warship, the Confederacy bestowed on her the name Virginia. Nonetheless, the Union continued to refer to the Confederate ironclad by either its original name, Merrimack, or by the nickname "The Rebel Monster".
In the aftermath of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the names Virginia and Merrimack were used interchangeably by both sides, as attested to by various newspapers and correspondence of the day. Navy reports and pre-1900 historians frequently misspelled the name as "Merrimac", which was actually an unrelated ship. Hence "the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac". Both spellings are still in use in the Hampton Roads area. The CSS Virginia's thirteen-star Stars and Bars battle ensign was saved from destruction and today resides in the collection of the Chicago History Museum.-
from Wikitree
 
I love this part of American Civil War history. The far west is often over looked. I believe they formed the Los Angeles Rifles, as Southern California had a lot of secessionists and moved west to find better use. Lewis Armistead and Albert Sydney Johnston were of those members. What makes the far west so interesting is that geography was less concerning in the west, it was more so where you were born BEFORE you moved out west. Mining communities in Colorado for instance, were known to hold many Secessionists.

Anyways, sorry for rambling on. Your answer is: Alonzo Ridley

Bonus:

What was my name before leaving the US Navy?

the Merrimack

What named was used during my Confederate service, and what was I referred to in my most famous battle...and what was wrong with that name?

After raising, restoration, and outfitting as an ironclad warship, the Confederacy bestowed on her the name Virginia. Nonetheless, the Union continued to refer to the Confederate ironclad by either its original name, Merrimack, or by the nickname "The Rebel Monster". In the aftermath of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the names Virginia and Merrimack were used interchangeably by both sides, as attested to by various newspapers and correspondence of the day. Navy reports and pre-1900 historians frequently misspelled the name as "Merrimac", which was actually an unrelated ship.[11] Hence "the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac". Both spellings are still in use in the Hampton Roads area.

.
 
Question: Alonzo Ridley.

May 4 Bonus: USS Merrimack became the CSS Virginia. A number of reports and histories referred to the ship as the Merrimac (or the "Rebel Monster") which was incorrect as the ship had been commissioned in 1856 as the Merrimack. The US Navy would launch a different ship USS Merrimac in 1864.
 
Regular question:

My guess is that you are Alonzo Ridley, born 1826 in Bowdoin, Maine.

upload_2017-5-4_14-42-20.png

https://books.google.de/books?id=as8KfFBoEW0C&lpg=PA252&dq=alonzo ridley%
20california&pg=PA252#v=onepage&q&f=false


Bonus: (wow, a 4 parter )... let's see:
  • You were the USS Merrimack
  • As a Confederade ironclad battleship you were named CSS Virginia
So far so good. Unfortunately I don't quite know what to make of the next two parts of the question.

I found in Wikipedia that even after the Battle of Hampton Roads (which was the most important battle for her) the USS Virginia was still referred to as the Merrimack, often written as Merrimac (without the "K", but the Merrimac was a different ship that had nothing to do with the CSS Virginia). That could be what was wrong with the name ...

Or did the questions ask for the wrong in the fact that the battle was also dubbed "Battle of Monitor and Merrimack", for the pleasant alliteration of the two M's, although the "Merrimack" was already the "Virginia"?
(Btw, obviously someone in some naming commission loves alliterations, because when we travelled to the Outer Banks in 2013, we even used the Monitor-Merrimac (without the "K"!)-Memorial Bridge/Tunnel
)

So I will just answer that the wrong that was asked for in the question has something to do with the CSS Virginia still called the Merrimac(k).
I think that will be the essence - whether it be the old USS Merrimack or the USS Merrimac (named after the city, not the river and not at all related to the CSS Virginia) might be less important.

Here come the quotes for the wrongs I found:

"Although the Confederacy renamed the ship, it is still frequently referred to by its Union name. When she was first commissioned into the United States Navy in 1856, her name was Merrimack, with the K; the name was derived from the Merrimack River near where she was built [...] After raising, restoration, and outfitting as an ironclad warship, the Confederacy bestowed on her the name Virginia. Nonetheless, the Union continued to refer to the Confederate ironclad by either its original name, Merrimack, or by the nickname "The Rebel Monster". In the aftermath of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the names Virginia and Merrimack were used interchangeably by both sides, as attested to by various newspapers and correspondence of the day. Navy reports and pre-1900 historians frequently misspelled the name as "Merrimac", which was actually an unrelated ship".
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CSS_Virginia&oldid=774082014

"Despite the official name change, Union accounts persisted in calling Merrimack by her original name, while Confederate sources used either Virginia or Merrimac(k).[82] The alliteration of Monitor and Merrimack has persuaded most popular accounts to adopt the familiar name, even when it is acknowledged to be technically incorrect."
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Hampton_Roads&oldid=778523189

(or maybe the wrong lies in the use of the nickname "The Rebel Monster" for the CSS Virginia. Obviously she was no monster, but a vessel ,and she was built as a Yankee ship ...)
 
regular:

alonzo ridley

using the word big wheel is as farby as it gets, btw

bonus:


1. uss merrimack
2. css virginia
3. css merrimac
4. it was misspelled - wiki claims there actually was a ship called merrimac (i didn't find it anywhere) which got nothing to do with it

source

800px-The_Monitor_and_Merrimac.jpg


... btw, when i was 12 years old that picture fascinated me - asked my dad whether they had only deaf men in these ships :D i also thought it'd be just a C.
 
He was Alonzo Ridley. Born in Maine, buried in Tempe, escorted Armistead and Johnston east.

Tough question- this question frightened me. But I stared death in the face and found the answer. Whew!

Bonus.

Before leaving US Navy name USS Merrimack.

Confederate name CSS Virginia.
Most famous battle/name problem. The Battle of Hampton Roads
, often referred to as either the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack. The north continued to use the US Navy name Merrimack versus its Confederate name CSS Virginia. Also unusual was the fact that many pre 1900 historians misspelled the Merrimac forgetting the K. There was another ship called Merrimac.


It's ensign can be found today in the collection of the Chicago History Museum, formerly the Chicago Historical Society.
 
Question: I was born in Maine and was an under sheriff in California,. When the war started, my outfit escorted big wheels Al and Lew almost 1500 miles across the hot dry desert so they could join the war effort.
I am buried in Tempe, Arizona. BTW, You can call me Al too. Who am I?

credit: @Reb

May the 4th be with you Bonus:
I'm a famous ship with a few aliases. I was first named for the river near where I was built by the US Navy, then I was reborn and renamed after the Yanks sank me. Ultimately I was ordered destroyed by my owners in the spring of 1862 when I became homeless. My battle ensign now resides in a major Northern city history museum.

What was my name before leaving the US Navy, what named was used during my Confederate service, and what was I referred to in my most famous battle...and what was wrong with that name?

credit: @1stMN
CSS Virginia
 
Question 1:
Alonzo Ridley (although I hope the answer has a link to explain the Al/Lew clue)
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fri57

Question 2:
Name before leaving US Navy: USS Merrimack
Name used for Confederate Service: CSS Virginia
Referred to in most famous battle: Monitor vs “Merrimack”
What was wrong with name: the battle was the USS Monitor vs CSS Virginia (?)
http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime/expeditions/monitor.html
http://www.ducksters.com/history/civil_war/battle_of_ironclads.php
https://sites.google.com/site/290foundation/history/css-virginia
http://blogs.wit.edu/hist-415/monitor-vs-merrimac/
 
May Bouns

Us name is Merrimack , CSS is Virginia, !! The Rebel Monster !!

The name was misspelled

Historical names: Merrimack, Virginia, Merrimac[edit]

Although the Confederacy renamed the ship, it is still frequently referred to by its Union name. When she was first commissioned into the United States Navy in 1856, her name was Merrimack, with the K; the name was derived from the Merrimack River near where she was built. She was the second ship of the U. S. Navy to be named for the Merrimack River, which is formed by the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers at Franklin, New Hampshire. The Merrimack flows south across New Hampshire, then eastward across northeastern Massachusetts before finally emptying in the Atlantic at Newburyport, Massachusetts.

After raising, restoration, and outfitting as an ironclad warship, the Confederacy bestowed on her the name Virginia. Nonetheless, the Union continued to refer to the Confederate ironclad by either its original name, Merrimack, or by the nickname "The Rebel Monster". In the aftermath of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the names Virginia and Merrimack were used interchangeably by both sides, as attested to by various newspapers and correspondence of the day. Navy reports and pre-1900 historians frequently misspelled the name as "Merrimac", which was actually an unrelated ship.[11] Hence "the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac". Both spellings are still in use in the Hampton Roads area.
 
LTC Alonzo Ridley, CSA

Bonus: The only ship I can think of or find by searching online that fits most of this multi-part question is the USS Merrimack that was renamed the CSS Virginia. During the Battle of Hampton Roads, Union authorities referred to the Virginia as the "Merrimack," the "Merrimac," and the "Rebel Monster." She was scuttled by the Confederate Navy on May 11, 1862 because her home port of Norfolk was in Union possession. I cannot find anything that indicates there was something wrong with her name other than referring to her as the "Merrimac" was incorrect because that was the name of a town near the Merrimack River and also of a Union Navy side-wheel vessel. Also, I cannot find any source that shows the CSS Virginia's battle ensign, or any battle ensign from a Confederate ship destroyed during 1862, surviving to be displayed in a Northern museum. So, maybe after all of this, I might have the wrong ship and just plain can't find the correct answer.
 
Question: I was born in Maine and was an under sheriff in California,. When the war started, my outfit escorted big wheels Al and Lew almost 1500 miles across the hot dry desert so they could join the war effort.
I am buried in Tempe, Arizona. BTW, You can call me Al too. Who am I?

credit: @Reb
Alonzo Ridley

May the 4th be with you Bonus:
I'm a famous ship with a few aliases. I was first named for the river near where I was built by the US Navy, then I was reborn and renamed after the Yanks sank me. Ultimately I was ordered destroyed by my owners in the spring of 1862 when I became homeless. My battle ensign now resides in a major Northern city history museum.

What was my name before leaving the US Navy, what named was used during my Confederate service, and what was I referred to in my most famous battle...and what was wrong with that name?

credit: @1stMN
CWW Virginia
 
Alonzo Ridley/ CSS Virginia

Edit - Your answer to the main question is correct.

For the bonus question, your answer is correct for the second of four parts, but you needed to answer all four to get credit.

Hoosier
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thursday question: One occasion where it helps to have read the book version of Gods and Generals. "Al" (the big wheel) was Albert Sidney Johnston (although I understand he was called Sidney) and "Lew" was Lewis Armistead. This fascinating article details their expedition across the desert: http://www.militarymuseum.org/LosAngelesMountedRifles2.html, which was led by "me," the captain of the "Los Angeles Mounted Rifles," Alonzo Ridley. It's quite a story!

Bonus: I am the USS Merrimack, which, after being burned to the waterline, was rebuilt as an ironclad and was renamed CSS Virginia. "After raising, restoration, and outfitting as an ironclad warship, the Confederacy bestowed on her the name Virginia. Nonetheless, the Union continued to refer to the Confederate ironclad by either its original name, Merrimack, or by the nickname "The Rebel Monster". In the aftermath of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the names Virginia and Merrimack were used interchangeably by both sides, as attested to by various newspapers and correspondence of the day. Navy reports and pre-1900 historians frequently misspelled the name as "Merrimac", which was actually an unrelated ship.[11]Hence "the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac". Both spellings are still in use in the Hampton Roads area." (Wikipedia article, "CSS Virginia") This led to the anachronism of a Confederate ship, whose original hull and engines were intact but was otherwise of radically new design, being called after a (misspelled) river in New Hampshire.

Here I am in my most famous battle, with the USS Monitor:

battle-of-hampton-roads-hero-H.jpe

 
RIDLEY, ALONZO (1826–1909). Alonzo Ridley, trader, Indian agent, engineer, and Confederate officer, was born in Bowdoin, Sagadahoc County, Maine, on June 3, 1826, to Ambrose and Abigail (Nash) Ridley. Ridley was raised in the North until January 28, 1849, when he left Massachusetts bound for California aboard the steamship Pharsalia. In the early 1850s Ridley worked among the communities of southern California. In 1852 he established himself as an Indian subagent and trader along the Tule River near Fort Tejon. Around this time he pursued a relationship with a woman from the Tejon Indian tribe that produced one daughter. In 1856 Ridley led a company of militia in sporadic warfare with American Indians in Tulare and Kings counties. Later, he served as undersheriff for Los Angeles County.

In February 1861 a petition was circulated in Los Angeles County that called for the creation of a company of cavalry to be contributed to the Confederacy. Volunteers were abundant, and Ridley was elected captain of this unit, referred to as the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles. Ridley and the Mounted Rifles joined Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston's expedition across the Southwest desert to bring California troops to the Confederate Army. After reaching Texas in July 1861, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles disbanded. Ridley remained with Johnston and served as his bodyguard through the battle of Shiloh in April 1862. Following Shiloh, Ridley returned to Texas, where he received training as an engineer. In February 1863 Ridley joined the newly-formed Third Texas Cavalry Regiment, Arizona Brigade, as a major. He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel. On June 28, 1863, during the battle of Fort Butler, near Donaldsville, Louisiana, Ridley was captured. He spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner.

At the end of the war, Ridley refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Union. Instead, he traveled to Mexico and found employment building railroads and bridges for the Mexican government. Ridley remained in Mexico until 1877, whereupon he traveled to Cuba briefly before ending up in Tempe, Arizona, where he established himself as one of that city's prominent citizens. He also made occasional trips to California. Ridley died in Tempe, Maricopa County, Arizona, on March 25, 1909, and is buried at the city's Double Butte Cemetery.
 
In regards to the last 2 questions in the 2nd question - there also appears to be some disagreement in the correct spelling of the Merrimack/or Merrimac per this article so I don’t know if the answer is looking for the spelling correction - but I include this as part of my answer for what is worth - it makes interesting reading

"The misspelling continues today. The fact that the battle at Hampton Roads is often called the battle of “the Merrimack and the Monitor” rather than “the Virginia and the Monitor” may be because much of the press coverage (and hence history) was by Union newspapers and magazines who, along with the Union military, may have knowingly continued to use the prior name of the ship rather than her proper name. Throughout the Official Records, Federal sources referred to the ship as the “Merrimack” while Confederate sources refer to her as the “Virginia.” (It appears that the compilers of the Official Records would use the name “Merrimack” regardless of whether the original document had used “Merrimac” or “Merrimack.”) Harper’s Weekly refers to the ship as “Merrimac“. Some Southern sources did refer to the ship as the “Merrimac[k]." (cssvirginia.org)
https://www.navalhistory.org/2010/05/10/what’s-in-a-name-remembering-css-virginia
 
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