A Marine Among the Secesh in Norfolk

    Among the first Federals to re-occupy Norfolk, Virginia in May 1862 was Lewis Abel of the U.S. Marine Corps. 

    Writing to his parents from "one of the hottest secesh holes in the Confederacy," Abel graphically described the destruction of the nearby Gosport Navy Yard. "We found the navy yard all destroyed, the different workshops were all burned with the exception of the foundries and the officers’ quarters. Most of the machinery was saved as they had taken it all out, packed it up, and marked it to be sent to Charlotte, North Carolina, but our troops pressed them so vigorously that they were compelled to abandon everything in order to make their own escape," he wrote. 

    Lewis Abel's letters were regularly shared by his parents with the editors of the Weekly Lancaster Gazette of Lancaster, Ohio. (His last name was variously spelled as Abel or Ebel.) This letter originally appeared in the June 12, 1862 edition. Letters from members of the Marine Corps, which only numbered a few thousand men during the war, are quite rare. 


An unidentified U.S. Marine in a CDV belonging to the Liljenquist Collection of the Library of Congress. 

Gosport Navy Yard, Norfolk, Virginia

June 3, 1862

 

Dear mother and father,

          Once more I have the pleasure of writing to you from the land of Dixie. I am again in the sunny South and in one of the hottest secesh holes in the Confederacy. Most of the inhabitants, the wealthy ones in particular, still have great hopes of gaining their independence and insist strongly that the Rebels will reoccupy the city in a very short time again. But their ideas are far from being correct, as our Navy alone can hold the place against any force they may bring against us.

          The question is why they did not hold it in the first place? There is no doubt they could have maintained their position with ease as it was remarkably well fortified. The fortifications which commanded the approaches by water were very strong indeed. The works erected on Sewall’s Point were found to mount some 40 guns, all of the heaviest caliber and commanding the entrance of the Elizabeth River. Two miles farther up the river we come to Craney Island where the Rebel monster Merrimac was destroyed. Upon this island they had upwards of 100 guns mounted and any vessel attempting to go up the river would certainly have been blown out of the water as the channel runs within 200 yards of the batteries.



          A half mile beyond this was still another obstruction; spiles were found to be driven in the river running from shore to shore leaving but a small opening in the center large enough to permit the passage of their own vessels. Near this entrance they had towed the hulk of the old frigate United States (which did such noble duty in the War of 1812) with the view of sinking it in this entrance in case of emergency. Still beyond this was another fort mounting 12 guns which they called old Fort Norfolk.

          We found the navy yard all destroyed, the different workshops were all burned with the exception of the foundries and the officers’ quarters. Most of the machinery was saved as they had taken it all out, packed it up, and marked it to be sent to Charlotte, North Carolina, but our troops pressed them so vigorously that they were compelled to abandon everything in order to make their own escape.

Ruins of the Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia. The Confederate forces pulled out on May 10, 1862, leaving the city to be surrendered to the army forces under General John Wool. The Gosport Navy Yard, the Navy's largest and oldest, was renamed the Norfolk Navy Yard upon its reconstruction in 1862 and has been known as such ever since. 

The work of rebuilding the yard has already commenced which will give work to a great many of the poor of this city and its environs. Most of the poorer class of people are in a starving condition on account of the remarkably high prices they were compelled to pay for provisions. Here are the market prices for a few different articles: tea is $6-8 a pound, coffee is $1.75-2 per pound, salt is $16 per sack, pork runs 40 cents per pound and for a pair of common calf skin boots you are obliged to pay $25-30. Specie is not to be had but any number of shinplasters can be seen. One would not believe these things until he sees them with his own eyes, then he becomes convinced how matters stand in the suffering Southern Confederacy.

Runaway soldiers from the Rebel army still continue to arrive in the city. They represent the Rebel army in a critical condition. They say the army is on half rations and half the Rebels would desert if they only had the chance. A great many of the people here, especially the females, were actually made to believe that we Yankees had horns growing out of our heads, the same as a cow or ox.   

Source:

Letter from Lewis Abel (or Ebel), U.S. Marine Corps, Weekly Lancaster Gazette (Ohio), June 12, 1862, pg. 3


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