The Frank Sisson Website
Email: franksisson@sbcglobal.net. TEL/FAX: 316-683-8877. Web: http://www.franksisson.net.
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The Frank Sisson Website
Email: franksisson@sbcglobal.net. TEL/FAX: 316-683-8877. Web: http://www.franksisson.net.
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The following maps show where the action took place around the world from New Bedford, Massachusetts, on the Whaleship Milo to the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, and from Liverpool, England, around the world on the CSS Shenandoah. Also shown are illustrations of ground battles during the close of the Civil War as well as the plan and flight of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. All of these are covered in the book.
The day before the Milo sailed out of New Bedford harbor on November 26, 1863, United States Army General William Tecumseh Sherman began his march into Georgia with the intent to show the South that they would be punished for starting the Civil War. He followed through on his word and caused enormous suffering and despair to all citizens of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The war was raging on November 25, 1863, and there was no end in sight.
In March of 1865, General Robert E. Lee had a strategic plan. It was to retreat from Richmond, head for Danville and then move south into North Carolina and join forces with General Joe Johnston in the vicinity of Raleigh. Together with Johnston, Lee bet that both armies could defeat General Sherman and following that, head north to defeat once and for all, General Grant.
Also in March 1865, the CSS Shenandoah had already departed a three week stay in Melbourne, Australia, for needed repairs on her propeller shaft, and was heading north toward the Canary Islands in the southern Pacific. She would arrive at Ponape Island on April 1, 1865, and destroy four whaleships.
General Lee's plans became known to General Grant and Grant went into a hot pursuit mode. There were several battles between Richmond and Appomattox, and Lee could not defend his army against the stronger army of Grant. He surrendered on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House. A week later, John Wilkes Booth planned the assassination of President Lincoln, Vice President Johnson and Secretary of State Seward. Only Lincoln was killed. Booth escaped, but was captured and killed in Virginia on April 26, 1865. Four other conspirators were executed by hanging in July 1865.
This is where the Shenandoah did most of her destruction, in the Bering Sea. She actually cruised up into the Arctic Ocean for a short spell, then Captain Waddell decided he had gone far enough and that danger from Federal warships lurked ahead. He destroyed 21 whalers, and ransomed 5 to take prisoners aboard and a safe harbor. The Shenandoah headed south on June 29 and learned from the English merchant ship Barracuda on August 22, that the Civil War was over. Following that, she took a course back to Liverpool and hoped to get there without confronting any Federal warships.
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This
map shows the departure of the Whaleship Milo from New Bedford harbor on
November 26, 1863, first heading southwest and upon clearance of the
Elizabeth Islands, heading southeast out onto the Atlantic Ocean where the
Confederate raiders were a danger to all Yankee shipping
This
map shows the voyage of the Whaleship Milo in its entirety. The voyage
began in New Bedford in 1863 and continued around Cape Horn after having escaped
detection by Confederate raiders. The Milo spent the next several years
whaling between the southern Pacific during the winter months and the Bering Sea
during the summer months, making routine stops in Honolulu for provisions and to
sell her harvests. San Francisco was visited two times, first to bring
prisoners from the Shenandoah back to safety, and second to make a stopover for
provisions prior to her return to New Bedford in 1869.
