Civil War

Commission Recommends Renaming Two Navy Ships with Confederate Ties

USS Chancellorsville (CG-62), USNS Maury (T-AGS-66) US Navy Photos

Two Navy ships christened with names tied to the Confederacy should be renamed, according to the commission tasked with purging Confederate names from the Department of Defense.

According to the latest report released on Tuesday, The Naming Commission recommended new names for Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) and the oceanographic survey ship USNS Maury (T-AGS-66).

The Japan-based cruiser...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/13/commission-recommends-renaming-two-navy-ships-with-confederate-ties

Military Naming Commission Report on U.S. Military Academies

The following is the Aug. 29, 2022, report from the Naming Commission on recommended changes to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy to rename assets named for those affiliated with the Confederacy.

From the report

This is Part II of the Naming Commission’s Final Report, which addresses assets on the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point and the United States Naval Academy (USNA) at Annapolis and fulfills the requirements mandated by the National...

https://news.usni.org/2022/08/30/military-naming-commission-report-on-u-s-military-academies

FreightWaves Classics/Pioneers: James Eads was a leading engineer of his time

The Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Louis. (Photo: distilledhistory.com)

Whether it was salvage ships on the Mississippi River, ironclads that helped the Union win the Civil War, a key bridge across the Mississippi or jetties at the mouth of that great river that spurred commerce, James B. Eads solved some of the major engineering problems of his time. That led deans of American colleges of engineering to name Eads one of the five greatest engineers of all time in July 1932.

Early life

James Buchanan Eads was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, on May 23, 1820 to Thomas...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicspioneers-james-eads-was-a-leading-engineer-of-his-time

FreightWaves Classics/Leaders: Abe Lincoln signed legislation that created the transcontinental railroad

President Lincoln. (Photo: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum)

February 12, 1809

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 – 213 years ago tomorrow.  Lincoln’s birthplace was in Kentucky, but the family eventually settled in Illinois. The future 16th president of the United States had little formal schooling; however, he was intelligent and sought knowledge and decided to become a lawyer.

Abraham Lincoln. (Photo: jsonline.com)Abraham Lincoln.
(Photo: jsonline.com)

Early career and legal work for railroads

Lincoln settled in New Salem, Illinois and began his law practice. In 1834 Lincoln...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsleaders-abe-lincoln-signed-legislation-that-created-the-transcontinental-railroad

FreightWaves Classics/Fallen Flags: The Katy served the southcentral region of the nation

Three Katy locomotives move a freight at the terminal and yard in Parsons, Kansas on August 3, 1975. (Photo: David Hawkins Collection/American-Rails.com)

There are many people interested in former transportation companies, whether they were trucking companies, railroads, airlines or ocean lines. These companies are called “fallen flags,” and the term describes companies whose corporate names have been dissolved through merger, bankruptcy or liquidation.

Today’s FreightWaves Classics profiles another fallen flag in the railroad industry – the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (reporting mark MKT), nicknamed “The Katy.”

An assortment of Katy power units is at NEY Yard in Fort Worth, Texas during March 1968. (Photo: David Hawkins collection/American-Rails.com).An assortment of Katy power...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsfallen-flags-the-katy-served-the-southcentral-region-of-the-nation

FreightWaves Classics/Leaders: Estévan Ochoa was a freight hauler and a public servant

Depending on the weight of the load, many teams of horses might be needed. (Photo: westernmininghistory.com)

Early life

Estévan Ochoa was born in Chihuahua, Mexico on March 17, 1831. His family had several businesses during his childhood and early teen years. Among the businesses was a freight hauling business that operated along the Santa Fe Trail. The Santa Fe Trail was a key transportation route between Santa Fe and Independence, Missouri. Santa Fe was the capital of the Mexican territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México until 1846.

Ochoa went along on his family’s wagon trains from Chihuahua to points...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-leaders-estevan-ochoa-was-a-freight-hauler-and-a-public-servant

Naming Commission Still Undecided How To Handle Ships with Confederate Ties

USS Chancellorsville (CG-62), USNS Maury (T-AGS-66) US Navy Photos

A commission tasked with identifying military assets with names tied to the Confederacy has not yet visited two ships that could be renamed.

The Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States of America, which goes by the shorthand “The Naming Commission,” spent the past summer visiting military...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/30/__trashed-10

Senate Bill to Purge Confederate Names from U.S. Military Could Affect Two Navy Ships

USS Chancellorsville (CG-62), USNS Maury (T-AGS-66) US Navy Photos

Two Navy ships with names tied to the Confederacy could be affected by new legislation from the Senate that seeks to purge those names from U.S. military bases and installations.

Prompted by the ongoing national unrest following the death of George Floyd, the Pentagon and Congress have launched new efforts to curb Confederate iconography in the military.

The bipartisan language in the Senate’s version of the National Defense...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/12/senate-bill-to-purge-confederate-names-from-u-s-military-could-affect-two-navy-ships

Graveyard Ceremony Commemorates When U.S., Russia Were the Closest of Allies   

Russian students listen to a Russian naval officer in the Annapolis National Cemetery, Md. USNI News Photo

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In the back corner of a cemetery, just down the road from the U.S. Naval Academy, is the grave of Nikolay Demidoff. He was a Russian sailor who died during a little-remembered episode more than 150 years ago when Russia was one of the only friends Washington had.

Last week, a contingent from the Embassy of the Russian Federation, including diplomats, representatives of the...

https://news.usni.org/2020/02/12/graveyard-ceremony-commemorates-when-u-s-russia-were-the-closest-of-allies