Series 15. William R. Durand (1861-1865)
Scope and Content
The collection includes journals and diaries, some of which incorporate both written entries and pasted in clippings from the US Navy Journal. The 1862-1863 volume includes printed accounts of the battle between the Confederate steamship Virginia (originally Merrimack) and USS Monitor in 1862. The materials in this collection have been digitized and are available online to on-site researchers and to users affiliated with subscribing institutions via EBSCOhost.
Historical Note
Vessels in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron were responsible for preventing Confederate ships from supplying ships in Virginia and North Carolina, and for supporting Union troops. Those in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron operated between Cape Henry, North Carolina, and Key West, Florida.
Mystic assisted in the capture or destruction of four blockade runners off North Carolina in June-September 1862. In May 1863, it supported the Army during an expedition up the York River.
Mohawk joined the South Atlantic Blocking Squadron in June 1862, serving out of Port Royal from June, 1863, for the next year, until it underwent repairs in Philadelphia.
Both Philadelphia and John Adams served as flagships of the Squadron, the latter of the inner blockade off Morris Island (Charleston, NC).
Paul Jones had participated in attacks on Fort Wagner (Charleston, SC) in July 1863, returning to New York for repairs and rejoining the squadron in September. It continued coastal operations until August of that year and in 1865 joined the East Gulf Blockading Squadron.
Commissioned in January, 1865, Muscoota was at Norfolk, Virginia, in May, 1865, when it was ordered to Key West as part of an effort to prevent Confederate President Jefferson Davis escaping abroad. It remained in the Gulf of Mexico area at least until August, 1866, was decommissioned in 1869, and then sold as a merchant steamship.