LilRhody
Private
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2018
- Location
- Bellingham, WA
As a former naval officer (drove destroyers in the 1980s and 1990s) I am embarrassed to confess the term "slip the chains" in reference to ships preparation to get underway is foreign to me; I don't know exactly what it means, but I assume that this is the Civil War equivalent term to "weighing anchor." I don't know for sure. It is found in primary sources all over the place, related to CW naval action. If anyone knows exactly what the term means please advise. I am writing a book about a young man from Saratoga Springs who went to USNA (Annapolis) starting December 1859, and in April 1861 was sent to sea after 1 1/2 yrs of training as a midshipman by Gideon Welles, along with his other classmates from the Class of 1863 and older classes. He fought at the Battle of the Head of the Passes Oct 12 1861, Port Hudson March 14, 1863, and he was with Farragut (aboard MONAGAHELA, not with Farragut aboard HARTFORD) at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Naval Academy library has 220 letters he sent home during the war. Pretty cool project.
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