8/23/10
Remembering the Confederate Raider CSS Alabama – in New Jersey? Find by NJ Civil War researcher locates long lost crew member of famed ship
The Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama, built in the English shipyard of John Laird and Sons in 1862, quickly became the scourge of the United States merchant fleet during the Civil War. A heavily armed, fast running ship equipped with both sail and steam propulsion, Alabama was commanded by Confederate navy officer Raphael Semmes, who led a crew mostly composed of British mercenaries who signed on to the Rebel cause with promises of double wages paid in gold and prize money for every federal ship they destroyed. The CSS Alabama never anchored in a Southern port during her entire term of service, during which she sank 65 US vessels. Her career ended on June 19, 1864, when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of France. In the postwar period the British government paid a large amount of claim money to Americans who had lost property to this British-built Confederate ship.
How, one may legitimately ask, did a footnote to the Alabama saga end up in New Jersey?
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4/1/10
New Jersey Goes to War - First Publication Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of New Jersey’s Role During the Civil War
New Jersey’s official Civil War 150th Anniversary Committee is proud to announce its first publication, New Jersey Goes to War: Biographies of 150 New Jerseyans Caught Up in the Struggle of the Civil War, including Soldiers, Civilians, Men, Women, Heroes, Scoundrels – and a Heroic Horse. The book, edited by Joseph G. Bilby, author/editor of ten previous books on New Jersey and Civil War history, and with selections from two dozen contributors, features brief biographies of a compelling cross section of New Jersey’s wartime generation, famous and obscure, whose lives were affected by the conflict and the events surrounding it.
3/21/09
NJ Civil War Heritage Association holds first meeting
The New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association (NJCWHA) will hold its 12th Annual Meeting at 10:00 AM on Saturday, March 21, 2009 at the New Jersey State Archives Building. The Archives Building is located at 225 West State Street in Trenton. (Corner of West State and Calhoun Streets).
1/5/09
Governor Corzine Proclaims
New Jersey Civil War Anniversary Committee
On December 12, 2008, Governor Jon S. Corzine issued an official proclamation commending the New Jersey Civil War 150 Committee, “a group of public spirited citizens with expertise in the history of our state’s role in the Civil War” for undertaking the task of creating and publicizing commemorative activities and educational programs around the state during the period of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, from 2011-2015.
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