Chapter 55
The California headed north to prepare for the Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. Ashley knew that Bull Run was the second prong of the California’s role in the war effort, the first being the blockade duty and Operation Gray Ships. Bull Run had to be a success.
In her previous communications with Lincoln’s war staff, she suggested that a Union Colonel or General come aboard the California to help plan for the battle. The Union high command could count on naval support from its existing Navy, but, because of her weapons, the California would bring an entirely new dimension to battle planning. Also, for the first time, the Union Army would have air support. Lincoln ordered Brigadier General Irwin McDowell, the Commander of the Army of Northeastern Virginia, to report aboard the California. McDowell would bring his aide, Colonel James Burns.
On June 27, the California dropped anchor near the mouth of the Potomac. It was 0800 hours, and the motor launch was lowered over the side. It was a hot humid day with a temperature of 82 degrees Fahrenheit, even though it was early morning. When boat captain Donizzio saw Gen. McDowell and Col. Burns waiting on the pier, he couldn’t believe that they were wearing blue wool uniforms. They’re going to love the air conditioning on the California, he thought. Donizzio saluted his new guests and helped them aboard.
As McDowell stepped onto the ladder platform of the California, the boatswain’s pipe alerted the ship, “Army of Northeastern Virginia, arriving.”
The plan called for McDowell and Burns to stay aboard the California for three days of battle planning. After they were shown to their staterooms, they were escorted into Captain Patterson’s office at 0915. Because the subject of the meeting would be ground operations, Ashley invited SEAL Lieutenant Conroy and Marine Colonel Matthew Bingham to the meeting. Bingham would conduct the meeting. Blow-up photocopies of maps of the area around Manassas, Virginia were spread out on the table, as well as history books.
“Gentlemen,” said Colonel Bingham, “I’m sure that you have never been involved in a battle plan that included history books. But the simple fact is that we know what happened at Bull Run, and the books will help us to change the outcome.”
Both McDowell and Burns had been thoroughly briefed on the California’s technical abilities, so Col. Bingham got right down to details.
“The California’s role in the battle will have three components,” Bingham said. “We’ll provide air surveillance and ground combat support by our attack helicopter and drone helicopters. There will also be heavy weapons support from the ship itself. We will also make available small arms, rocket propelled grenades, regular hand grenades, and, perhaps most important of all, two-way radios.”
“Now I will show you our aerial capabilities, and to do that we’ll go to our Combat Information Center.”
The meeting moved to the CIC. Bingham introduced Lieutenants Andrew Cinque and Bob Nathan, the drone pilots. To save time, Nathan had already launched his drone and it flew over Bull Run Creek as they spoke. He turned on the screen. McDowell and Burns were amazed to see the real time video of what would soon be a battlefield.
“You can see, gentlemen,” said Bingham, “what this can mean for your troop movements. You will see the enemy’s moves as he makes them. The drone videos will remove the element of surprise from the battle, at least from the Union point of view. If the enemy begins a flanking maneuver, for example, we will see it, and the California can send in a missile to prevent it. We also have our Apache Attack Helicopter to provide gun and missile support.”
The meeting went on for another hour. Both Gen. McDowell and Col. Burns peppered Bingham with questions. McDowell especially wanted to know the quantity of weapons that would be taken ashore. Bingham replied, “There will be 50 automatic rifles; 100 rocket propelled grenades, 25 Colt 45 pistols. We also have a total of 2,000 rounds of ammunition for the rifles, and 750 rounds for the 45s.”
“It isn’t a lot in terms of quantity,” Conroy said, “but these weapons are deadly, especially the rocket propelled grenades.”
“We will move the weapons ashore in five days to give us time to train your troops in their use,” Bingham said. Neither Bingham nor Conroy were comfortable with sending such a large cache of weapons and ammunition into enemy territory, but it did make logistical sense.
“The major impact,” said Captain Patterson, “will come from the missiles that we fire from the ship. We have aboard twelve Tomahawk cruise missiles with over 1,000 pounds of explosives in their warheads. Our Harpoon missiles are used primarily against ships, but they can also be fired at land targets. You may recall that we sank the Confederate warship Chattanooga with one Harpoon missile.”
McDowell and Burns exchanged glances, both feeling like medieval warriors suddenly transported to the future.
Chapter 56
The worldwide newswires crackled with reports of the missing California. Daytime TV news shows covered little else. A news anchor earns his or her money with a story like this. How many ways are there to say, “They haven’t found the California yet.”? Most of the reports were background stories about other ships that went missing.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates was on the phone with President Obama.
“I recommend that you hold a press conference, Mr. President. TV anchors are running out of things to say, and they’re starting to speculate.”
“Bob, can you tell me anything, anything at all beyond what you’ve already said?”
“No, Sir.” said Gates.
“Okay, I’m going to hit the airwaves in one hour,” said the President. “That will give us a little more time to find something out.”
The California has been missing for 38 minutes.
Chapter 57
It was July 2, 1861, the date scheduled to move the large cache of weapons and ammunition ashore. Bradley was in charge of the operation. Four SEALs were assigned to the task, led by Petty Officer Giordano, as well as eight sailors who Bradley had personally picked for the job. All were dressed in the civilian clothes that the SEALs had obtained from Morton’s Dry Goods Store in Charleston.
Two Zodiacs and two inflatable life rafts were lowered into the water. The day was clear, the temperature in the low 80s, and, most important, there was no wind and the seas were calm. The objective was to motor up the Potomac River to the Occoquan River, a tributary that linked up with Bull Run Creek near Manassas. Bradley calculated that the trip would take four hours to the point of unloading.
The time was 2300 hours, 11 p.m. They left in darkness to avoid possible detection by Confederate forces.
Because they had no GPS availability they navigated by shore landmarks.
When they arrived at the unloading location at 0400, Giordano went ashore first to see if there was adequate cover. The spot was perfect, surrounded by trees and brush. Giordano looked for openings where they could string wire for perimeter security. They began to unload the weapons.
Two of the SEALs used their knives to chop down vegetation to use as camouflage cover. By 0500 they were done. Two of the SEALs stood watch while the others grabbed some sleep.
At 0900, after a few hours of sleep and breakfast consisting of MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat, Bradley announced that he was going to look around. Bradley had done his research in the ship’s library. He had discovered that General Beauregard’s camp headquarters was three miles from their location, which was exactly why he chose the spot. Before he left the camp, Bradley called Captain Patterson on his two-way radio. He told her that the mission had gone off without incident and that he would report back later. He then turned his radio off.