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Capt. Samuel Whiting, sailing from Charleston to New York, “dipped” the American flag — as a sign of deference to the Union — rather than the state flag of the recently seceded South Carolina.
The incident sparked a furor in Charleston and on a return trip in January, Whiting’s ship was confiscated.
Newspapers wrote about his courage in standing up for Old Glory, said Dr. Bill Crozier, an archivist and former history professor of 30 years at Saint Mary’s University.
“He was kind of a super-patriot,” Crozier said.
Crozier will detail the incident and Whiting’s life and involvement in the American Civil War during a special presentation at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum on Tuesday. He will discuss how international relations affected Civil War events and draw ties between the conflict and the newly founded Winona.
“(The audience) probably won’t expect what they’ll get,” Crozier said sitting in a cozy study in his home. “I’ll be talking about an obscure part of the Civil War.”
He said most history books usually only spend a chapter on international aspects of the war, but historians are now giving it much more thought. Crozier hopes to offer some insight on that Tuesday while pointing out local connections.
On Sunday, surrounded by old census maps of New York’s Lower East Side and books about Irish history, Crozier gave a synopsis of his presentation:
Samuel Whiting moved to Winona in 1855 when the population was a mere 800 people and wrote poetry about several topics and became assistant editor to the Winona Republican-Herald, now known as the Winona Daily News. He left town in 1860 when he became a sea captain, sailing between Charleston and New York.
After the flag-dipping incident in 1861, Whiting gained national attention and became “relatively famous,” Crozier said. He said Whiting was invited to bring the infamous flag to a large Union rally just as the war was breaking out and became a hero. His hero status, naval skills and some influential friends landed him the job of consul of Nassau, a tiny island in the Bahamas. Appointed by President Abraham Lincoln, Whiting was to be a representative of American commerce in the foreign nation but had no training or instruction on what to do and eventually resigned.
While there, he tried to prevent the arming of the CSS Florida, a ship built in England that was to be used as a raider by the Confederacy to sink Union ships. Whiting failed and the CSS Florida went on to sink almost 40 ships in the war.
One of the Florida’s first battles was with the gunner USS Winona, named for the Minnesota city, Crozier said. Eventually the Florida burst through a blockade around Mobile, Ala., but took such heavy damage, it took nearly four months to patch up.
When asked how he gathered all his information, Crozier was facetious.
“I make it all up,” he said, laughing.
A University of Nebraska alumnus, Crozier said he wrote his dissertation on Winona history and Whiting was a prominent person in his research. Crozier is an expert on Minnesota Company K, a Union infantry regiment, but spent two years specifically researching arcane books and the Winona State University’s Online Newspaper Project to learn about Whiting.
He’s been interested in history ever since he served in the Navy during the Korean War. While sailing the same seas as Whiting, he and his friends complained about how terrible and dull history teachers were.
“I hope I’m not like that,” he said.
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Contact Kevin Behr at kbehr@winonadailynews.com or at (507) 453-3524.
