Guidebook to
“The Navy in the Civil War”
Map
www.navyandmarine.org
“Guidebook to ‘The Navy in the Civil War’ Map” ©2007 Navy & Marine Living History Association.
The Navies in the Civil War
The role played by the Federal and Confederate navies in the Civil War is little-known beyond such salient episodes as the Battle of
Hampton Roads (Monitor and Virginia), the Battle of Mobile Bay (occasion of Farragut’s order to “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed
ahead!”), and, perhaps, the blockade or the passing of the forts at the mouth of the Mississippi. Yet the sailors and marines of both
navies played a far more critical role in the war—one that was recognized at the time, but forgotten over the ensuing years. The
reasons for this omission are varied, and explained in detail in the article “How the U.S. Navy Won the Civil War” at
http://usnlp.org/How_USN_Won.html.
The map on which are plotted the 540+ naval episodes described in the following pages shows the majority of episodes involving
the navies during the war. Several important points should be remembered. First, note that the Union Navy was heavily engaged in
maintaining Federal control of “conquered” areas long after the Yankee armies had moved on; “conquered” did not mean “subdued”
in the Confederacy. Without these Navy patrols, there simply would have been no way for the North to actually occupy and control
the entire South. Secondly, notice that the incredible reach of the Navy—an ability based on their adoption of shallow-draft gunboats
that drew only three feet of water and the ubiquity of landing parties of sailors and marines that, at times, moved up to twenty miles
inland from the coasts and rivers. Last, understand that the Civil War was definitely not a “one-navy war.” While very much
outnumbered, the Confederate Navy managed some singular successes and was never discounted by its Northern opponents.
Southern ironclads were as technologically advanced as Union warships and the Rebels excelled at underwater warfare in the form of
mines, obstructions, and submarines. The raiders that Richmond loosed upon the high seas drew scores of Union ships away from
the blockade and the front in often vain pursuits literally around the planet.
Chuck Veit
President, Navy & Marine LHA
president@navyandmarine.org
2
Guidebook to “The Navy in the Civil War” Map
NOTE: “Map approximate” means the location of an event plotted on the map is as nearly accurate as possible. Also, in the interest
of saving space on the map, initial zeros in dates, (e.g., “07”), appear as “7” and year dates, (e.g., “62”), all have the initial “6”
removed, so that, for example, “02.12.64” will be “2.12.4.”
October 1859
10.18.59 EXPED
1st Lt. Israel Greene and 86 United States Marines under the command of U.S. Army Col. Robert E. Lee
attack John Brown’s men at Harper’s Ferry, capturing him and rescuing his hostages.
January 1861
1.12.1
OTHER
A force of Florida and Alabama militia under the command of William Henry Chase, the man who had
overseen the construction of the forts around Pensacola before he had retired, headed for the Naval
Yard. At a pre-arranged time, secessionist naval officers forced the Marine guards at the gate to allow the
rebel force to enter the facility. Chase and his officers met with Captain James Armstrong, commander of
the base, who surrendered the facilities. Marine Captain Josiah Watson was summoned to Armstrong’s
office and was ordered to have his men surrender their weapons. The Marines were not in favor of
surrendering their weapons and accouterments and did so only after much persuasion and direct orders
from Armstrong. Eventually they stacked arms. The militia forces gathered on the parade deck after
securing the Marines in a warehouse. They had been advised to lock them up prior to lowering the U. S.
flag. Chief William Conway was ordered to lower the flag. However, when he was chastised by one of
the sailors for giving consideration to obeying that order he refused to do so. The militia raised a flag that
was described as “a yellow rag with one star”, which was replaced a few days later with a flag fashioned
from a U.S. flag. The blue field with stars was removed and replaced with a blue field with one large
white star.
For his action, Chief Conway was later honored for his refusal to lower the national colors. Conversely,
two months later, Commodore Armstrong was court-martialed for surrendering the Navy Yard. He was
convicted of neglect of duty, disobedience of orders, and conduct unbecoming an officer. He was
suspended from duty for five years with loss of pay for half of that period.
The next day, the Marines and sailors were permitted to leave on the U.S.S Supply which had been
transferring supplies from the Yard to Fort Pickens before the takeover. Captain Watson and his wife
departed for Mobile to take the land route to Washington DC, while his men went aboard the USS Supply
bound for Washington. Army Lt. Slemmer’s family was permitted to gather their belongings and board
the ship also. That same day, a deputation requested Lt. Slemmer to surrender Fort Pickens, which he
adamantly refused to do. Lt. Slemmer was in charge of the Army troops that were maintaining forts
McRee, Barrancas, the advanced redoubt around the naval yard, and Fort Pickens opposite the yard on
Santa Rosa Island. He had pulled his troops to Pickens on the 10th, when militia troops threatened
McRee. With the USS Wyandotte, the USS Brooklyn, and the USS Macedonian standing by, there was
enough force to prevent an armed attempt to take the fort.
President Buchanan and Florida Senator Stephen Mallory reached an agreement on January 21, 1861, to
prevent bloodshed. As long as the Federal government did not land troops on Santa Rosa Island to
reinforce Fort Pickens, no attempt would be made by the militia to take the fort by force. The situation
stayed amiable enough for the occupants of the fort to get supplies from the naval yard stores, and even
go into town for supplies, mail and to use the telegraph. The same agreement covered the re-supply of
Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
April 1861
4.12.1
OTHER
4.17.1
SUPPORT
After a flurry of contradictory orders, the Marines of the USS Brooklyn, USS Sabine, USS Wyandotte, and
the USS St. Louis, numbering about one hundred-twenty were ordered to go ashore to bolster the
defenders of Fort Pickens. In his exuberance to be the first ashore, Marine drummer George Gardner
stepped overboard when he thought they were in shallow water. Surprised to be in over his head, he held
his drum tight, used it as a float and as he kicked his way to shore.
USS Powhatan (Lt D. D. Porter) covers the landing of a thousand soldiers to garrison Ft Pickens in
Pensacola harbor, and the Marines are sent back to their ships—until 23 April, when the fort’s
commander, anticipating an attack, hastily summoned them ashore. The Marines stayed for a month
helping to improve the defenses of the garrison. Until May 27 th, they pitched in, each man having to fill
and place forty sandbags a day. A reporter from the New York Times present for the early days there
reported:
3
“The Marine Guard of the Wyandotte gunboat has been sent ashore on Rosas Island to do picket guard for the
tired-out garrison there. Let me here name one bright spot in the Navy. It is the Marine Corps. Extra loyalty in
trying times seems to be a characteristic--I had nearly said peculiarity--of Marines everywhere… America should call
them ‘National’ because when every other branch of the country’s service has black spots in it, the Marines loom out
in moral grandeur--true, irreproachable and brave. I am delighted to see the papers, and to learn from private letters
that the corps at home is just as its representatives are here. Oh, that we had ten thousand Marines!”
Federal forces abandon Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, VA, burning the facility to deny its use to the
Confederates. USS Pennsylvania, Germantown, Raritan. Columbia, and Dolphin are burned to the waterline and
USS Delaware, Columbus, Plymouth, and Merrimack burned and sunk. USS Cumberland, Pawnee, and tug Yankee
escape. USS Constitution (Lt George Rodgers) is towed from the Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD into
Chesapeake Bay to prevent her capture by the rebels. Four days later, carrying midshipmen from the
Academy, she heads for Newport, RI, arriving on 9 May. This will be the home of the Academy
throughout the war. Despite the destruction, the Yard provided the Confederates with a drydock and a
large number of guns—which soon appeared in the batteries and fortifications along the coast and rivers.
They were also able to salvage the hull and engines of the Merrimack—which soon became the ironclad
Virginia.
4.20.1
OTHER
4.21.1
OTHER
Steamers Baltimore, Mount Vernon, Philadelphia. and Powhatan are seized off Washington, D.C. and armed
for the defence of the capital. Confederate Navy officers erect batteries across the river at Aquia Creek-terminal point of railroad connection with Richmond.
5.10.1
OTHER
USS Niagara (Capt. William W. McKean) blockades Charleston, SC.
5.18.1
OTHER
Confederate President Jefferson Davis commissions schooner Savannah (Capt. Thomas H. Baker) as the
first privateer ("a private armed vessel in the service of the Confederate States on the high seas against the
United States of America, their ships, vessels, goods, and effects, and those of their citizens during the
pendency of the war now existing”)
5.19.1
BOMBARD
Rebel batteries at Sewall’s Point, VA are engaged by USS Monticello (Capt. Henry Eagle) and USS Thomas
Freeborn (Cdr Ward).
5.24.1
EXPED
Cdr Rowan (USS Pawnee) leads an amphibious expedition from the Washington Navy Yard and occupies
Alexandria, VA under cover of USS Thomas Freeborn, Anacostia, and Resolute. Navy Lt R. B. Lowry, in
charge of the landing party, raised the U.S. flag over the Customs House. This is the first landing of
Federal troops in Virginia.
5.26.1
OTHER
USS Brooklyn (Cdr Charles H. Poor) blockades New Orleans and mouth of Mississippi River.
5.26.1a
OTHER
USS Powhatan (Lt D. D. Porter) blockades Mobile, AL.
5.27.1
OTHER
USS Union (Cdr John R. Goldsborough) blockades Savannah, GA.
5.29.1
(29-1)
BOMBARD
The Confederate batteries at Aquia Creek engage the ships of the new Potomac Flotilla: USS Thomas
Freeborn (Cdr Ward), USS Anacostia (Lt Napoleon Collins), and USS Resolute (Act’g Master William Budd);
They are joined on the evening of May 31 by USS Pawnee (Cdr Rowan).
6.8.1
OTHER
USS Mississippi (Flag Officer Mervine) blockades Key West, FL
6.27.1
EXPED
Lt J.C. Chaplin of USS Pawnee lands a party at Mathias Point, VA to interdict Confederate forces which
had been firing at Union vessels in the Potomac. After erecting earthwork fortifications, he is ordered to
return to his ship in face of overwhelming enemy forces. USS Freeborn provides support.
MoH: J. Williams
7.7.1
OTHER
USS Resolute (Act’g Master William Budd) picks up two floating torpedoes (mines) in the Potomac River.
This is the earliest known use of torpedoes by the Confederates—which will account for 53 Union
vessels by the end of the war. (Map approximate)
7.21.1
SHIP2SHIP
First ship-to-ship combat of the war takes place in Oregon Inlet, NC as USS Albatross (Cdr Prentiss)
engages CSS Beaufort (Lt R. C. Duvall). Albatross’s heavier guns force Beaufort to withdraw.
7.21.1a
OTHER
Major John Reynolds, USMC leads the Marine battalion from the Washington Navy Yard at the Battle of
Bull Run. His force includes 12 officers and 353 enlisted men, most of which were in uniform less than
three weeks. They fought against Stonewall Jackson’s troops on Henry House Hill. There, along with the
Red-Shirted Fire Zouves from New York, and another militia unit, they assaulted and fell back from the
May 1861
June 1861
July 1861
4
hill twice before having to retreat when the other units ran. Jackson’s physician upon treating the
wounded noted that the Union troops drove the Virginians back into the woods, yet all dead and
wounded Union troops lay outside the wood line, however he found Marine dead and wounded inside
the wood line, proving they advanced further against Jackson than anyone. Casualties were nine dead
Marines, 19 wounded and 6 missing. The Marines fought a rear guard action at the Sudley-New Market
road and Warrenton Turnpike intersection for nearly an hour, allowing retreating soldiers to retreat to
Washington City. The Confederates also had a naval battery at Manassas.
7.24.1
OTHER
The Navy supplies 400 sailors and thirty Marines, with naval cannon and howitzers, to garrison Ft
Ellsworth, west of Alexandria, one of the ring of forts guarding Washington City. The seamen remain on
station until November, when the need for sailors on the Western Waters becomes acute, and they are
replaced by Army troops and transferred to Cairo.
August 1861
8.3.1
OTHER
John LaMountain makes the first ascent in a balloon from Union ship Fanny at Hampton Roads to
observe Confederate batteries on Sewell’s Point, VA.
8.18.1
SINKING
Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis (Capt. Coxetter) founders on the bar trying to enter St. Augustine,
FL, ending a most successful cruise.
8.27.1
JOINT
Hatteras Inlet was secured as Forts Hatteras and Clark surrendered to Flag Officer Silas Stringham’s
warships and Gen’l Ben Butler’s troops. This combined amphibious operation—the first of the war, and
including sailors and Marines as well as 900 Army troops—was conducted at the behest of the Navy to
close Pamlico Sound to blockade runners and commerce raiders, and involved USS Minnesota, Monticello,
Pawnee, Susquehanna, Cumberland, Revenue Cutter Harriet Lane, and the tug Fanny. The Marines were the
first to enter Fort Clark and raise the colors. Thus the first Union victory of the war was a naval one—
much needed after the battlefield reverses of the previous four months. MoH: B. Swearer
8.28.1
EXPED
Cdr Dahlgren, Commandant of Washington Navy Yard, sends 400 seamen to Alexandria, VA to help
defend Ft Ellsworth.
September 1861
9.6.1
JOINT
Gunboats USS Tyler (Cdr J. Rodgers) and USS Lexington. (Cdr Stembel) spearhead Gen’l Grants seizure of
strategic Paducah and Smithland, KY, at the mouths of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. This
operation prevented Confederate movement into the state and saved Kentucky for the Union.
9.10.1
SUPPORT
USS Conestoga (Lt S. L. Phelps) and USS Lexington (Cdr Stembel) cover the advance of Federal troops at
Lucas Bend, MO, silencing a Confederate battery and damaging the rebel gunboat CSS Yankee.
9.14.1
EXPED
Sailors and Marines from USS Colorado row into Pensacola harbor under cover of darkness, board and
burn Confederate privateering schooner Judah, and spike guns at Pensacola Navy Yard.
9.16.1
(16-17)
EXPED
Fortifications and guns in a fortification on Beacon Island are destroyed by a landing party from USS
Pawnee (Cdr Rowan), closing Ocracoke Inlet, NC.
9.17.1
EXPED
Landing party from USS Massachusetts occupies Ship Island, MS after its evacuation by Confederate
forces. Ship Island becomes the staging area for Union troops operating below New Orleans.
October 1861
10.1.1
CAPTURE
Confederate naval forces under flag Officer William F. Lynch, CSN, capture steamer Fanny in Pamlico
Sound with Union troops on board. This was the first Southern naval victory in the sounds, and
garnered two large rifled guns as well as a large quantity of army stores. (Map approximate)
10.9.1
SHIP2SHIP
First documented attempt to sink an enemy ship with a submarine in the Civil War. The target was the
USS Minnesota in Hampton Roads. The submarine became fouled in grappling hanging from the jib
boom (which its occupants thought was the anchor cable). The vessel escaped. A 12 October newspaper
report based upon testimony from a Confederate deserter claims the submarine employed an India
rubber suction plate to attach to its target and plant a timed bomb.
10.12.1
SHIP2SHIP
Confederate metal-sheathed ram CSS Manassas (Commodore Hollins) in company with armed steamer Ivy
and James L. Day, attacks USS Richmond, Vincennes, Water Witch, Nightingale, and Preble near Head of Passes,
Mississippi River. In this offensive and spirited action by the small Confederate force, Manassas rammed
Richmond, forced her and Vincennes aground under heavy fire before withdrawing. This action was the
culmination of running b attles he two forces had engaged in over the previous month.
10.14.1
OTHER
Lt A. Murray of USS Louisiana accepts the oath of allegiance to the United States from the citizens of
Chincoteague Island, VA, who present a petition claiming their "abhorrence of the secession heresy."
5
Fall 1861
Fall 61
SINKING
William Cheney’s submarine—either the model reported on by Mrs. Baker or a larger version—is sunk in
the James River while attempting to attack Union vessels. Navy pickets patrolling the river spotted the
camouflaged float and sliced the rubber hose to the craft.
November 1861
11.4.1
OTHER
Fearing further attacks by Confederate “infernal machines,” Capt. William Smith of the USS Congress in
Hampton Roads, devises the first anti-submarine nets of chains suspended from spars lashed in a frame
around his vessel. (Map approximate)
11.7.1
JOINT
After leaving Ft Monroe on 29 October, Flag Officer Du Pont’s 77-ship expedition (the largest US fleet
ever assembled to this date) captures Port Royal Sound, SC. Navy gunners poured an accurate and
withering fire into defending Fts Walker and Beauregard, forcing the defenders to withdraw. A small
Confederte naval squadron under Commodore Tatnall could not resist the mighty fleet, but ferried rebel
troops to the mainland. Marines and sailors under Commander John Rogers landed to occupy the forts
until 16,000 soldiers under Brigadier Gen’l Thomas Sherman got ashore. Port Royal was halfway between
Charleston and Savannah, and became a valuable supply point for Federal vessels.
MoH: W. Thompson, J. Williams
11.7.1a
SUPPORT
USS Tyler (Cdr Walke) and USS Lexington (Cdr Stembel) hold back Confederate troops and allow the
evacuation of Union forces under Gen’l U.S. Grant following the Battle of Belmont, MO. The
gunboats engaged rebel batteries and supported the Federal army during the engagement, and covered
their retreat when rebel reinforcements arrived.
11.7.1b
CAPTURE
USS Santee engages Confederate ship General Rusk; Marines and sailors seize and sink Royal Yacht off
Galveston, TX. Captain of the Afterguard George Bell, pilot of the Santee, earns the Navy Medal of
Honor for his coolness in passing the four forts and the General Rusk: “Although severely wounded in
the encounter, he displayed extraordinary courage under the most painful and trying circumstances.”
MoH: G. Bell
11.8.1
OTHER
A serious international incident is sparked when Capt. Wilkes (USS San Jacinto) stops British mail steamer
Trent and removes Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell, envoys to Britain and France. Initially
lauded in the North, the Lincoln administration was eventually forced to issue a (mild) rebuke to Wilkes
and censure his action to avoid a confrontation and possible war with England. Mason and Slidell were
released and given passage to Europe.
11.9.1
EXPED
Flag Officer Du Pont's gunboats take possession of Beaufort, SC, cutting communications along the
Broad River between Charleston and Savannah.
11.12.1
OTHER
Blockade runner Fingal--the first ship to run the blockade solely on Confederate government account -enters Savannah laden with military supplies. Fingal brought in the supplies that allow the Confederacy to
fight the Second Battle of Shiloh in April 1862.
11.24.1
EXPED
Landing party of sailors and Marines sent from USS Flag (Cdr John Rodgers) USS Augusta, Pocahontas,
Seneca, and Savannah take possession of Tybee Island in Savannah Harbor.
December 1861
12.10.1
EXPED
Lt James W. A. Nicholson (USS Isaac Smith) lands and occupies abandoned Confederate Ft Drayton on
Otter Island in the Ashpeoo River, SC. Nicholson later turned the fort over to the Army.
12.12.1
EXPED
USS Isaac Smith, Lt J. W. A. Nicholson, on a reconnaissance in the Ashepoo River, SC, disperses
Confederate troops with gunfire and lands Marines to destroy their quarters. (Map approximate)
12.17.1
OTHER
In an attempt to bottle up Savannah and Charleston, Federal forces collect a fleet of old whaling ships,
load them with stone, and sink them in the channels to the harbors. Seven such vessels of the “stone
fleet” are sunk off Savannah on this date and two batches off Charleston on 20 and 26 January. The
effort is not effective.
12.31.1
EXPED
Biloxi, MS surrendered to a landing party of seamen and Marines covered by USS Water Witch, New
London, and Henry Lewis
12.31.1a JOINT
(31-2)
Gunboats USS Ottawa, Pembina, and Seneca and four armed boats carrying howitzers support Union troops
in an amphibious assault on rebel positions at Port Royal Ferry and the Coosaw River. Navy guns
covered the advance inland and sailors with boat howitzers were landed for close support. This attack
disrupted Confederate plans to isolate Federal troops on Port Royal Island. (Map approximate)
January 1862
6
1.11.2
SHIP2 SHIP
Confederate gunboats engage in a running fight near Lucas Bend, MO with USS Essex (Cdr W. D.
Porter) and USS St. Louis (Lt Leonard Paulding) before withdrawing under cover of the rebel batteries at
Columbus.
1.13.2
EXPED
Marines from USS Hatteras (Crd Emmons) lands at Cedar Keys, FL, a critical Florida port for the
Confederacy, and destroys rebel war materiels.
1.16.2
EXPED
Another raid by USS Hatteras (Cdr Emmons) on Cedar Keys, FL destroys a Confederate battery, seven
small vessels loaded with cotton and turpentine ready to run the blockade, a railroad depot and wharf,
and the telegraph office, as well as capturing a small detachment of Confederate troops.
1.16.2a
OTHER
The seven gunboats built by Eads—Cairo, Carondelet, Cincinnati, Louisville, Mound City, Pittsburg, and St.
Louis—are commissioned. (Plotted on the map at St Louis, actually built in several cities.) At the end of the
month, the first contingent of United States Marines joins Grant’s Mississippi flotilla, and are assigned to
the flagship, St. Louis.
February 1862
2.6.2
EXPED
Flag Officer Foote leads the partially ironclad gunboats USS Essex, Carondelet, Cincinnati, St. Louis and
wooden gunboats USS Tyler, Conestoga, and Lexington in an attack on Ft Henry on the Tennessee River.
Planned as a joint expedition, Grant’s army is delayed by two days of heavy rains and the gunboats make
the assault alone. Confederate Gen’l Tilghman surrendered to Foote after losing all but four of his guns
to the Navy guns. MoH: M. Arther
2.10.2
SHIP2SHIP
In the wake of the capture of Roanoke Island, a squadron under Cdr Rowan pursued Flag Officer
Lynch’s retiring Confederate naval force up the Pasquotank River, engaging the gunboats and batteries at
Elizabeth City, NC. CSS Ellis was captured and CSS Seabird sunk; CSS Black Warrior, Fanny, and Forrest
were set on fire to avoid capture; the fort and batteries at Cobb's Point were destroyed. MoH: J. Davis
2.14.2
JOINT
Flag Officer Foote leads his flotilla of gunboats (USS St. Louis, Carondelet, Louisville, Pittsburg, Tyler, and
Conestoga) in a joint Navy-Army attack against Ft Donelson on the Cumberland River. After a renewed
attack the following day, rebel defenders surrendered to Gen’l Grant on the 16 th. In the South, loss of the
fort fell heavily upon Navy Secretary Mallory, who was blamed in the press because “we are so wretchedly helpless on the water.” The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson made Confederate positions in
Kentucky untenable and neither that state nor Nashville could be held by the Confederates, who fell back
to Island No. 10.
BOMB
2.19.2
EXPED
Federal forces under Flag Officer Foote occupy Ft Defiance and take possession of Clarksville, TN as
Confederates withdraw from the town. Foote urged an immediate move on Nashville while water in the
river was high.
2.19.2a
SUPPORT
USS Delaware (Cdr Rowan) and USS Commodore Perry (Lt Flusser) engage Confederate troops at Winton,
NC on the Chowan River. On the 20th Rowan's force covers the landing of Federal troops, who burn
the town to the ground (with the exception of a church and several homes belonging to Union
sympathizers). This was the first burning of a town anywhere during the Civil War. The destruction
evoked protests in the North that resulted in the denial of medals the offending regiment had earned for
earlier action and disgrace for its leader.
2.25.2
JOINT
Nashville, TN is occupied by Federal troops convoyed up the Cumberland River by USS Cairo (Lt
Nathaniel Bryant). A Nashville paper, referring to Confederate reverse at Forts Henry and Donelson, told
its readers, “We had nothing to fear from a land attack, but the gunboats are the devil."
March 1862
3.1.2
JOINT
Col. Alfred Mouton’s 18th Louisiana and the 2nd Mississippi Cavalry engage timberclad gunboats USS
Tyler (Lt Gwin) and Lexington (Lt Shirk) in the First Battle of Pittsburg Landing. Sent to fortify the
bluffs overlooking the landing—and potentially able from there to cut the river—Mouton’s men had but
a single day to dig into the frozen ground. Suspicious of activity on the hilltop, the Navy officers land a
force of fifty sailors and fifty Illinois infantry. Under fire from almost a thousand Louisianans, this force
manages to destroy what appeared to a blockhouse atop the hill and beats a retreat under covering fire
from the ships. More importantly, this small action alerted both sides to the importance of Pittsburg
Landing and drew forces from both sides to the site over the next month. Tyler and Lexington patrolled
the river almost daily to ensure Mouton could not resume his fortifications.
3.3.2
JOINT
Flag Officer Du Pont reports the successful occupation of Fernandina, and St Marys, FL, as well as
Cumberland Island and Sound. The landings were unopposed as the Confederates had decided to
withdraw the heavy guns from Ft Clinch and evacuate the town. Steam launches armed with boat
howitzers exchange musket and cannon fire with the last train out of Fernandina. A company of Marines
7
from USS Mohican occupies Ft Clinch—the first recapture of a Federal fort.
3.8.2
SHIP2SHIP
Ironclad CSS Virginia (Capt Franklin Buchanan) attacks Federal blockading fleet in Hampton Roads,
VA. She rams USS Cumberland, which sank rapidly, and set USS Congress ablaze with hot shot and
incendiary shells. USS Minnesota ran herself aground in the shallows to prevent the approach of the deepdraft rebel warship. Buchanan is wounded in the attack. After dark, USS Monitor (Lt Worden) arrived.
3.9.2
SHIP2SHIP
First engagement between iron warships as USS Monitor (Lt Worden) defends the wooden Union
blockading squadron in Hampton Roads, VA against CSS Virginia (now under Lt Catesby ap Jones).
The four-hour battle is indecisive and both ships withdraw—the blockade intact and the James River still
closed. Said Capt. Dahlgren: “Now comes the reign of iron and cased sloops are to take the place of
wooden ships.” MoH: P. Williams
3.9.2a
EXPED
USS Mohican, Pocahontas, and Potomska, under Cdr Godon, take possession of St. Simon's and Jekyl
Islands and land at Brunswick, GA--all abandoned in the Confederate withdrawal from the seacoast.
3.11.2
EXPED
Landing party from USS Wabash (Cdr C. R. P. Rodgers) occupies St. Augustine, FL--evacuated by
Confederate troops in the face of the naval threat. They are welcomed by the Unionist residents of the
area.
3.12.2
EXPED
Unopposed landing party from USS Ottawa (Lt Thomas H. Stevens) occupies Jacksonville, FL.
3.12.2a
OTHER
Baxter Watson and William McClintock launch Pioneer I in New Orleans.
3.14.2
JOINT
Having sailed from Hatteras Inlet on 12 March, a joint Navy-Army force under Cdr Rowan and Gen’l
Burnside attacks rebel batteries on the Neuse River and occupies New Bern, NC. Troops, Marines, and
a naval battery under Lt Roderick S. McCook landed on 13 March and, under cover of Navy guns,
advanced to take Fts Dixie, Ellis, Thompson, and Lane on 14 March.
3.14.2a
EXPED
Captain John Broome and 27 Marines land and occupy Pilot Town, LA.
3.16.2
BOMBRD
While Grant’s army converges on Pittsburg Landing, TN, Flag Officer Foote’s main force of gunboats
begins the bombardment of Island No. 10—the next major Confederate bastion on the Mississippi
River.
3.16.2a
SUPPORT
Gunboats of Flag Officer Foote’s squadron convoy a fleet of forty Army transports to Savannah, TN,
and continue on to patrol Pittsburg Landing. Lieutenants Gwin and Shirk of USS Tyler and Lexington had
maintained a careful watch over the landing since their encounter with the 18 th Louisiana on 1 March,
preventing the creation of any fortifications.
3.17.2a
OTHER
Confederate raider CSS Nashville (Lt Pegram) runs through the gunfire of USS Cambridge (Cdr W. A.
Parker) and USS Gemsbok (Lt Cavendy) off Beaufort, NC and breaks through the blockade. Assistant
Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Fox wrote Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough: "It is a terrible blow to our
naval prestige . . . It is a Bull Run of the Navy.''
3.22.2
OTHER
Sailing as British steamer Oreto, CSS Florida (Act’g Master John Low) departs Liverpool, England, for
Nassau to rendezvous with Bahama (which carries her four 7-inch rifled guns). Florida is the first ship built
in England for the Confederacy.
3.31.2
OTHER
Pioneer’s inventors are granted the first letter of marque for a submarine by the rebel government.
April 1862
4.1.2
JOINT
On the night of 1-2 April, a combined Navy-Army expedition under Master John V. Johnston (USS St.
Louis) lands and spikes guns of Fort No. 1 on the Tennessee shore above Island No. 10, Mississippi
River.
4.3.2
EXPED
Apalachicola, FL is captured without resistance by armed boats from USS Mercedita (Cdr Stellwagen)
and USS Sagamore (Lt Andrew J. Drake).
4.4.2a
SHIP2
SHIP
USS J. P. Jackson, New London, and Hatteras along with troops aboard steamer Lewis engage Confederate
gunboats CSS Carondelet (Lt Washington Gwathmey), CSS Pamlico and CSS Oregon in a successful landing
at Pass Christian, MS that resulted in the destruction of a rebel camp there.
4.6.2
SUPPORT
USS Tyler (Lt Gwin) and USS Lexington (Lt Shirk) save Gen’l Grant’s army from annihilation at the
Second Battle of Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh). After surprising the Union forces in the morning,
Confederates under Albert Sidney Johnson had steadily forced the Yankees back towards the landing,
hoping to gain the river bank and cut them off from their transports and supplies. The Navy timberclads
arrived at 12m, but were unable to open direct fire until 6pm. At that time, as the Federal left flank
withdrew towards the river, gunners aboard the warships could sight along Dill Branch at the advancing
rebel infantry. The ensuing barrage stopped the Confederate advance and allowed Grant to dig in for the
8
night. Until dawn, the Navy officers kept up a steady and random barrage of the Southern lines that
denied the exhausted rebels much-needed sleep. In the morning the graybacks faced, not a similarly worn
out enemy, but a fresh army brought over the Tennessee during the night. Grant was able to easily
complete the Southern defeat. Both he and Confederate Gen’l Beauregard ended their official reports in
almost identical language by crediting the gunboats for the outcome of the battle. When news of the
disaster reached New Orleans, the Daily Delta wrote what may pass for the epitaph of the entire
Southern war effort: “[The battle at Shiloh] has taught us that we have nothing to fear from a land
invasion of the enemy if he is unsupported by his naval armaments. It has taught us that the right arm of
his power in this war is in his gunboats on our seacoast; and that our only assurance of saving the
Mississippi from his grasp is to paralyze that arm upon its waters.”
4.7.2
EXPED
Naval forces under Flag Officer Foote accept the surrender of Island No. 10, described as “the key to
the Mississippi.” This opened the river to Union traffic south to Fort Pillow.
4.7.2a
CAPTURE
Following the surrender of Island No. 10, USS Mound City (Cdr Augustus H. Kiley) captures CSS Red
Rover. Taken to Cairo, Red Rover is converted to the Navy’s first hospital ship. Sisters of the Holy Cross
volunteered as her first nurses.
4.11.2
CAPTURE
Under the protection of CSS Virginia (Flag Officer Tattnall), CSS Jamestown (Lt Barney) and CSS Raleigh
(Lt Cdr Joseph W. Alexander) capture three Union transports in the James River.
4.11.2a
SUPPORT
Following an intense two-day bombardment, Ft Pulaski, GA surrenders to Federal forces. One battery
in the Union lines was manned by sailors from USS Wabash under Cdr C. R. P. Rodgers.
4.13.2
JOINT
Joint Navy-Army expedition to Chickasaw, AL involving USS Tyler, (Lt Gwin) and USS Lexington (Lt
Shirk) destroys the Memphis & Charleston Railroad bridge over Bear Creek—the object of the 1 March
attempt by the same vessels.
4.14.2
BOMBRD
Flag Officer Foote's mortar boats open bombardment of Ft Pillow, TN.
4.18.2
BOMBRD
Cdr David D. Porter’s mortar boats open a six day bombardment of Ft Jackson at Head of Passes on
the Mississippi River. Hidden by intervening woods, the mortars lobbed shells weighing up to 285
pounds into the fort.
4.19.2
SINKING
The defenders of Ft Jackson did not take Porter’s bombardment lying down. On this date, Confederate
guns sank mortar schooner USS Maria J. Canton (Act’g Master Charles E. Jack).
4.24.2
SHIP2
SHIP
Steaming through a breach in the obstructions opened by USS Pinola and Itasca, Flag Officer Farragut’s
fleet fights its way past Forts Jackson and Phillips at Head of Passes on the Mississippi River. Farragut
loses USS Varuna, which was rammed by two Confederate ships and sunk. The rebels lose CSS Warrior,
Stonewall Jackson, General Lovell, and Breckinridge, tender Phoenix, steamers Star and Belle Algerine, and
Louisiana gunboat General Quitman as well as the armored ram CSS Manassas; CSS Landis and W. Burton
surrender and Resolute and Governor Moore are destroyed to prevent capture. The forts hold out until 28
April, at which time the last three Confederate ships (CSS Louisiana, Defiance, and McRae) are destroyed
and the forts surrender. Overall casualties in the fleet were 37 killed and 149 wounded; among the rebels,
782 with 6,000 captured. (See 25th April 1862)
MoH: T. Bourne, A. Bradley, C. Brennan, J. Buck, E. Farrell, T. Flood, J. Frisbee, J. Greene, G. Hollat,
T. Lyons, W. Martin, J. McGowan, W. McKnight, J. McLeod, W. Parker, O. Peck, L. Richards, E. Wright,
W. Young, H. Shutes
4.25.2
EXPED
Captain Theophilus Bailey, leading Farragut’s gunboats up the Mississippi River in USS Cayuga
(Commodore George H. Perkins), discovers Confederate infantry of the Chalmette Regiment on the
nearby right bank as the sun comes up. Perkins orders them “to come on board and deliver up their
arms, or we would blow them all to pieces. It seemed rather odd for a regiment on shore to be
surrendering to a ship!”
4.25.2a
EXPED
Steaming up the Mississippi after passing the forts at Head of Passes in the night, Flag Officer Farragut’s
ships train their guns on New Orleans and demand its surrender. Having been advised by the military
that the city is indefensible, the Common Council “declare[s] that no resistance will be made to the forces
of the United States.” Under cover of a landing party of sailors and Marines with boat howitzers, Lt
Kautz and Captain Bell raised the national flag over the U.S. Mint. The rest of the fleet’s Marines formed
a 300 man battalion commanded by Marine Captain J. L. Broome. He led them through the narrow
streets and crowds, to the Custom House and City Hall, placing detachments at each after raising the
American flag at both. The Marines held the city until Army General Benjamin Butler and his troops
arrived to occupy the city on 1st May—and declared victory. With New Orleans went the Leeds Iron
Foundry—one of only two modern foundries in Dixie (the other being Tredegar in Richmond). While
the battle of Gettysburg a year later is traditionally considered the turning point of the war, the
Confederacy was far closer to European recognition before the capture of New Orleans than they would
9
be fifteen months later. And, although the fall of the city did not free the entire Mississippi River for the
Union, it both denied it to the South and also split the Confederacy in two. The battle at the Head of
Passes on the 24th was truly “the Night the War was Lost.”
4.25.2a
SINKING
Lacking a propeller shaft still under construction at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, CSS
Mississippi--described by Confederate naval officers as “the strongest . . . most formidable war vessel that
had ever been built”--is destroyed at New Orleans to prevent her capture. Submarine Pioneer is also
scuttled, and its inventors, Watson and McClintock, flee the city in company with Horace Hunley.
4.25.2b
SUPPORT
Gloucester and Yorktown, VA are shelled by USS Maratanza (Cdr George H. Scott) in support of Gen’l
McClellan's Peninsular Campaign.
4.26.2
JOINT
USS Daylight, State of Georgia, Chippewa, and Gemsbok bombard Ft Macon, NC, which surrenders to the
combined Navy-Army force under Cdr Lockwood and Brigadier Gen’l John Parke.
4.27.2
EXPED
Ft Livingston, Bastian Bay, LA surrenders to a landing party from USS Kittatinny.
4.29.2
EXPED
Expedition under Lt Alexander C. Rhind in USS E. B. Hale lands and destroys a Confederate battery at
Grimball's, Dawhoo River, SC.
5.2.2
OTHER
Brutus Villeroi’s submarine is launched in Philadelphia. The vessel is 40’ long, 6’ high, and 4’6” wide.
5.5.2
(5-10)
OTHER
For five days, President Lincoln acts as Commander-in-Chief in the field, personally directing operations
from USS Miami in an attempt to get the stalled Peninsular Campaign moving. At his orders, gunboats
USS Monitor, Dacotah, Naugatuck, Seminole, and Susquehanna shelled Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point,
VA on 8 May to test the Southern defenses. Rumors of the evacuation of Norfolk were confirmed when
a tug deserted the city and brought word to the Federals, but the works at Sewall’s Point, while reduced,
remained considerable. On 9 May, after discussion with pilots and studying charts, Lincoln himself
selected an unfortified landing site at Willoughby’s Point, where Army units landed the following
morning. The President ordered USS Monitor to reconnoiter the battery at Sewall’s point and, after
discovering they had been abandoned, instructed Gen’l Wool to move on Norfolk. On the afternoon of
10 May.
5.7.2
SUPPORT
USS Wachusett (Cdr W. Smith), USS Chocura, and Sebago escort Army transports up the York River,
support the landing at West Point, VA and counter a Confederate attack with accurate gunfire.
5.8.2
BOMBRD
With President Lincoln present, Marines and sailors of the USS Susquehanna, USS San Jacinto, USS
Seminole USS Dacotah, USS Naugatuck and USS Monitor bombard the enemy positions at Sewell’s Point,
VA into submission.
5.8.2a
EXPED
Orderly Sgt. Aaron Gilbert and the Marine Guard from USS Iroquois (Cdr James S. Palmer) raise the
national flag over the city arsenal and take possession of Baton Rouge, LA.
5.10.2
JOINT
Navy and Army elements reoccupy Pensacola, FL in the wake of its abandonment by Confederate
forces the day before. The retreating rebels destroyed the Navy Yard, Forts Barrancas and McRee, CSS
Fulton, and an ironclad under construction on the Escambia River. Confederate commander Col. Thomas
M. Jones, stripped of his heavy guns and ammunition for use against Farragut on the Mississippi, felt he
could no longer adequately defend Pensacola.
5.10.2a
SHIP2
SHIP
Capt. James E. Montgomery leads the Confederate River Defense Fleet (CSS General Bragg, General Sumter,
General Sterling Price, General Earl Van Dorn, General M. Jeff Thompson, General Lovell, General Beauregard, and
Little Rebel) in an attack on Union gunboats and mortar boats at Plum Point Bend, TN just above Ft
Pillow. USS Cincinnati and Mound City were rammed and sank in the shallows, but the deep draft of the
rebel ships prevented them from closing with the Yankee ships, which were soon raised and repaired.
5.10.2b
OTHER
Ironclad steamer USS New Ironsides is launched at Philadelphia.
5.11.2
SINKING
Flag Officer Tattnall orders CSS Virginia destroyed by her crew off Craney Island to avoid capture. The
fall of Norfolk denied Virginia her base and the ironclad drew too much water to escape up the James.
Destruction of Virginia opened the river to the Union fleet up to Drewry’s Bluff and removed a major
threat to McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign.
5.11.2a
EXPED
Goldsborough’s ships attack Confederate positions along the Elizabeth River advancing on the Gosport
Navy Yard. Marines of the USS San Jacinto led by 1st Lt. Robert Kidd land and occupy Fort Fairfax.
5.12.2
OTHER
Following the destruction of CSS Virginia the day before, its officers and crew are ordered to establish a
battery below Drewry’s Bluff to prevent the passage of Union gunboats. Lt Catesby ap R. Jones, CSN,
would command the battery.
May 1862
10
5.13.2
CAPTURE
Robert Smalls and an all-Negro crew run Confederate steamer Planter out of Charleston harbor while its
captain was ashore, and deliver it to the Federal blockading squadron. The press hailed Smalls as a
national hero for bringing this prize out of Charleston.
5.13.2a
EXPED
Landing parties from USS Iroquois (Cdr Palmer) and USS Oneida (Cdr S. P. Lee) occupy Natchez, MS, as
the Union fleet moves toward Vicksburg.
5.13.2b
CAPTURE
Boat crew from USS Calhoun (Lt DeHaven) captures gunboat CSS Cory in Bayou Bonfouca, LA.
5.13.2c
OTHER
William Cheney takes delivery of a submarine at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, VA. The craft
has a “false bow”—perhaps an airlock for a diver—several view ports, and may have used an electrically
detonated torpedo.
5.15.2
BOMBARD
Cdr John Rodgers leads the James River Flotilla (USS Monitor, Galena, Aroostook, Port Royal, and Naugatuck)
in an attack on Confederate defenses at Drewry’s Bluff on the James River, but is stopped by
obstructions planted in the river. The defending batteries are manned in part by Confederate sailors and
Marines. Corporal John B. Mackie of Galena takes over the aft gun and crew, clearing wreckage to keep
the gun in action and returns fire at the enemy with the 100pdr Parrott gun, and is awarded the first
Medal of Honor authorized a member of the Marine Corps for his part in the action. The Navy had
penetrated to within eight miles of Richmond.
MoH: C. Kenyon, J. Mackie, J. Regan.
5.20.2
EXPED
Union gunboats under Cdr Marchand (USS Unadilla, Pembina, and Ottawa) steam up the Stono River and
destroy Confederate fortifications across from Legareville, SC, thus securing the river for future
operations against Charleston.
6.2.2
(2-3)
SUPPORT
Union forces land on James Island, SC under cover of gunfire from USS Unadilla (Lt Collins), USS
Pembrine, E.B. Hale, Ellen, and Henry Andrew. (Due south and adjacent to Charleston; no separate dot on map)
6.4.2
BOMBARD
After prolonged bombardment by Navy gunboats and mortars, the Confederate evacuate Ft Pillow, TN,
during the night of 4-5 June. The following day, 5 June, Capt. Davis moves his fleet downstream to
within two miles of Memphis.
6.6.2
SHIP2SHIP
USS Benton, Louisville, Carondelet, St Louis, and Cairo under Capt. Davis and rams Queen of the West and
Monarch under Col. Charles Ellet, Jr., destroy the Confederate River Defense Fleet (CSS Earl Van Dorn,
General Beauregard, General M. Jeff Thompson, General Bragg, General Sumter, General Sterling Price, and Little
Rebel) under Capt. Montgomery in the Battle of Memphis. Only Van Dorn escapes, and Memphis
surrenders to the Union ships.
6.7.2
(7-10)
BOMBRD
Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, MS are attacked by USS Wissahickon (Cdr John DeCamp) and USS
Itasca (Lt Caldwell); three days later they are joined by USS Iroquois and Katahdin.
6.9.2
JOINT
Lt Charles Flusser leads USS Commodore Perry, Shawsheen, and Ceres in a joint expedition up the Roanoke to
Hamilton, NC, where they capture the steamer Wilson.
6.15.2
EXPED
USS Tahoma (Lt John C. Howell) and USS Somerset (Lt English) raid a Confederate fort near the
lighthouse at the mouth of St Marks River, FL. The rebel artillery company withdraws and the sailors
destroyed the fort and barracks.
6.17.2
JOINT
To open communications on the White River, Cdr Kilty in USS Mound City leads USS St Louis, Lexington,
and Conestoga against Confederate batteries at St. Charles, AR. Under cover of the gunboats, which
engage the rebel guns at close range, Union troops land and take the earthworks..
6.21.2
JOINT
USS Crusader and Planter ascend the Wadmelaw River to Simmons Bluff, SC in a joint operation led by
Navy Lt Rhind, who lands with the troops and destroys a Confederate camp.
6.24.2
OTHER
The first time in history that opposing naval forces had functioning submarines operating in the same
theater of war: Cheney’s submarine and Alligator, which is towed up the James River on this date.
6.26.2
(26-28)
EXPED
The majority of the Union’s James River flotilla under Cdr John Rodgers (USS Galena, Maratanza,
Aroostook, Monitor, Port Royal, Satellite, Jacob Bell, Island Belle, Southfield, Mahaska, Delaware, and Stepping Stones)
attempts to make an attack on the railroad bridge over Swift Creek, a tributary of Appomattox Creek, and
a feint attack on Petersburg. Shoal water stops the expedition and results in the loss of Island Belle, which
the Yankees burned to prevent her capture after grounding. The mission was undertaken at the express
wish of President Lincoln, who saw in the destruction of the bridge a way to cut Richmond off from her
Petersburg supply base. McClellan insisted the Army could not do it, but the Navy agreed to try. Had
Lee’s army not been focused on fighting the Seven Days’ Battles, and brought more force to bear on the
June 1862
11
dozen warships along the narrow, winding Appomattox River, the mission could have ended as did so
many others in similar situations in the course of the war—with the capture or destruction of the
gunboats. The “submarine propeller” Alligator was also assigned to the squadron, but was sent back by
Rodgers when he realized the shallow waters would prevent it submerging.
6.26.2a
REPRISAL
After receiving fire from Blake’s Plantation along the Santee River (north of Georgetown, SC), sailors and
Marines land and burn the plantation and destroy several thousand bushels of rice before being driven
back to the gunboats.
6.28.2
(28-29)
SUPPORT
USS Marblehead (Lt S. Nicholson) and USS Chocura (Lt Thomas H. Patterson) cover the withdrawal of
Federal troops from White House, VA on the Pamunkey River. Other Navy gunboats escort transports
on the James and Chickahominy Rivers in support of the Army.
7.1.2
SUPPORT
Gunboats of Cdr John Rodgers’ James River Flotilla provide critical supporting fire that drives back
Robert E. Lee’s Confederates advancing against Union positions atop Malvern Hill, VA. Said Lee after
the battle, “The great obstacle to operations here is the presence of the enemy’s gunboats . . .” Equally
strong opinions prevail on the Union side; said one captain, “Without the gunboats, McClellan’s Army
would have been annihilated.”
7.1.2a
OTHER
The Western Flotilla of Flag Officer Davis meets the deepwater fleet of Flag Officer Farragut above
Vicksburg. Farragut wrote: Said Farragut, “We have made the circuit (since we met at Port Royal)
around half the United States and met on the Mississippi.” Although of great psychological value to the
North, the river would not be truly under Federal control as long as the defenses of Vicksburg remained
in rebel hands.
7.4.2
CAPTURE
USS Maratanza (Lt Stevens) engages and captures CSS Teaser (Lt Davidson) at Haxall's Landing on the
James River. A shot from Maratanza exploded Teaser’s boiler and forced abandonment of the ship. Teaser
had been used as a minelayer and carried a balloon with which the Confederates had planned an aerial
reconnaissance of McClellan’s lines. The capture of Teaser made up for the recent loss of Island Belle
during the failed Union attempt to destroy the railroad bridge over Swift Creek.
7.9.2
JOINT
USS Commodore Pen (Lt Flusser), USS Shawsheen (Act’g Master Woodward), and USS Ceres (Act’g Master
John MacDiarmid) land a field piece and force of soldiers and sailors at Hamilton, NC on the Roanoke
River and capture steamer Wilson. MoH: J. Kelley, A. Hand
7.15.2
SHIP2
SHIP
CSS Arkansas (Lt Isaac N. Brown) sorties from the Yazoo River, surprising and setting to flight USS
Carondelet (Cdr Walke) USS Tyler (Lt Gwin), and ram Queen of the West. Arkansas partially disabled
Carondelet and Tyler and, entering the Mississippi, ran through fire of the Union fleet to safety under the
batteries at Vicksburg. Farragut's fleet chased the rebel ironclad, but lost her in the gathering darkness.
MoH: J. Morrison
7.17.2
(17-18)
EXPED
First Lt George W. Collier leads USS Potomac, New London and Grey Cloud up the Pascagoula River, MS,
capturing three ships and destroying telegraph lines between Pascagoula and Mobile.
7.18.2
BOMBRD
USS Mahaska bombards Fort Powhatan along the James River, then lands Marines under Orderly Sgt
James Buckner to fire the fortifications.
7.21.2
SINKING
Naval transport USS Sallie Woods is destroyed by Confederate artillery at Argyle Landing on the
Mississippi.
7.22.2
SHIP2
SHIP
USS Essex (Cdr W. D. Porter) and ram Queen of the West (Lt Col. Ellet) attack CSS Arkansas (Cdr I. N.
Brown) at anchor with a disabled engine at Vicksburg. Despite a crew reduced by injury and illness by
the action of 15 July, Brown fought off the two Yankee ships. Both tried to ram Arkansas, but failed, and
retreated through a barrage of projectiles from Confederate batteries on the bluffs. To show she was still
in the fight, Brown defiantly steamed Arkansas up and down the river in front of the city on the following
day.
July 1862
August 1862
8.6.2
SHIP2SHIP
Against the orders of the wounded Cdr Brown, Lt Henry Stevens advances CSS Arkansas in support of
Gen’l Van Dorn’s attack on Union-held Baton Rouge. Recognizing the need for critical repairs, Brown
had instructed Stevens not to move the ship away from Vicksburg until his return. Van Dorn ordered the
ironclad’s participation to ensure the success of his assault. Arkansas became unmanageable when her
engines failed, and fell prey to USS Essex (Cdr W. D. Porter). Knowing his ship to be helpless, Lt Stevens
ordered her scuttled to prevent her capture. (Map approximate)
8.6.2
SUPPORT
USS Sumter, Cayuga, Kineo, and Katahdin help repel Confederate attack on Baton Rouge.
12
8.8.2
SUPPORT
Sailors and Marines from USS Wabash and New Ironsides land and set up batteries on Morris Island to
bombard Charlestown, SC.
8.10.2
REPRISAL
Rebel partisans under Phillippe Landry continue to use Donaldsonville, LA as a spot from which to
ambush Union vessels on the Mississippi. On this date, Rear Adm Farragut reported to Secretary Welles
that he had partially destroyed the town in reprisal for the firing. Farragut had '”sent a message to the
inhabitants that if they did not discontinue this practice, I would destroy their town.” After warning the
citizens to evacuate their women and children, the Admiral burned down hotels, wharf facilities, and
private buildings belonging to Landry.
8.15.2
SUPPORT
USS Galena (Cdr J. Rodgers), USS Port Royal, and USS Satellite cover the withdrawal of the left wing of
General McClellan's army from Harrison's Landing on the James River.
8.16.2
JOINT
A combined force of Navy gunboats (USS Mound City, Benton, and Gen’l) under Lt Cdr S. L. Phelps, Army
rams under Col. Ellet, and troops led by Col. Charles R. Woods raids Confederate positions from
Helena, AR up the Yazoo River, landing at various points and dispersing rebel encampments, capturing
a steamer above Vicksburg, and destroying a battery twenty miles up the Yazoo.
8.16.2a
(16-18)
EXPED
USS Sachem, Reindeer, Belle Italia, and yacht Corypheus bombard Corpus Christi, TX. Under cover of the
ships’ guns, a landing party from Belle Italia tries to capture a rebel battery on the 18th, but is repulsed.
8.17.2
EXPED
Landing party from USS Ellis (Master Benjamin H. Porter) and Army boats destroy Confederate salt
works, battery, and barracks near Swansboro, NC.
8.23.2
OTHER
Captain David Cohen, USMC, leads Marines from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to suppress a riot among
Army recruits of General Spinola’s Empire Brigade.
8.29.2
SUPPORT
USS Pittsburg (Lt Thompson) escorts steamers White Cloud and Iatan with Army troops embarked to
Eunice, AR. The gunboat shelled Confederate forces above Carson's Landing and covered the troops as
they landed ashore.
September 1862
9.3.2
BOMBARD
A landing party from USS Essex (Commodore W. D. Porter) is fired on at Natchez, MS (evacuated by
Federal forces on 25 July) The mayor surrendered the town after an hour’s bombardment by Essex.
9.6.2
SUPPORT
USS Louisiana (Act’g Lt Richard T. Renshaw) helps repel a Confederate attack on Washington, NC.
9.8.2
EXPED
Landing party from USS Kingfisher destroys a 200 bushel-per-day salt works at St. Joseph's Bay, FL.
9.11.2a
EXPED
Landing party from USS Sagamore destroys salt works at St. Andrew’s Bay, FL.
9.25.2
BOMBARD
USS Kensington (Act’g Master Crocker), USS Rachel Seaman (Act’g Master Hooper), and mortar schooner
Henry James (Act’g Master Lewis Pennington) bombarded Confederate batteries at Sabine Pass, TX,
forcing the surrender of Sabine City the following day. Landing parties burned the railroad bridge to
Taylor’s Bayou, but the area could not be occupied for lack of troops.
October 1862
10.1.2
(1-3)
JOINT
USS Paul Jones and USS Cimarron land Marines to assault fortifications on the bluffs along the St John’s
River, supposedly in conjunction with a force of soldiers. The Marines marched through eight miles of
swamps, but the Army never showed up, and the Leathernecks returned to their ships. Going ashore
again, the Marines waited in vain for the soldiers to appear. When firing from the fortifications ceased,
the Marines advanced and found the works abandoned—the fleeing rebels not even taking the time to
spike their guns or destroy ammunition.
10.1.2a
(1-7)
CAPTURE
While patrolling the lower Mississippi River north to Baton Rouge, a squadron of Union gunboats under
Commander George Marcellus Ransom (USS Kineo) and including USS Katahdin (Lt Cdr Francis Roe),
Sciota (Lt Cdr Reigart Lowry), and Itasca (Charles Caldwell), comes upon a large drove of 1500 cattle on
the eastern bank of the river several miles above Donaldsonville. A check of the drovers’ papers
convinces Ransom that the herd is headed for Camp Moore, a, large rebel training facility in northern LA.
Rather than destroy such a valuable source of food, Ransom sends Katahdin to New Orleans to secure
army transports to bring the cattle within Union lines. By 4 October, all but 200 “very wild” Texas
longhorns are loaded. Ransom decides to drive the reduced herd along the river and bring in all 1500
head. Katahdin and her landing parties begin driving the herd as the other gunboats and transports
steamed south. A savage ambush at Pt Houma—involving up to 1500 rebels with masked batteries—
results in several deaths and much damage aboard the ships, but is beaten off with great loss among the
Confederates. Fearing for the slower-moving Katahdin’s safety, Ransom sends Itasca back to accompany
her through the guerilla-infested area; when he himself has safely brought the transports within Army
lines, he returns in Kineo as well. Amazingly, no attack was ever made upon the herding vessels, and the
13
remaining herd arrived in New Orleans on 7 October.
10.3.2
EXPED
In response to an Army request for support in a planned attack on Confederate forces gathering at
Franklin, VA, USS Commodore Perry, Hunchback, and Whitehead under Lt Cdr Flusser engage rebel troops
on the Blackwater River for six hours. Obstructions planted in the river keep the squadron from reaching
Franklin and Flusser orders the gunboats to return downstream when Confederates began felling trees to
block the channel behind them.
MoH: T. Barton, J. Breen, D. Lakin, A. Peterson, E. Smith, J. Williams
10.3.2a
JOINT
A joint expedition under Cdr Steedman occupies Jacksonville, FL.
10.3.2b
EXPED
Cdr William B. Renshaw leads USS Westfield, Harriet Lane, Owasco, Clifton, and mortar schooner Henry James
in the bombardment and capture of the defenses of the harbor and city of Galveston, which surrendered
on 9 October.
10.4.2
EXPED
A landing party from USS Somerset (Lt Cdr English) and USS Tahoma (Cdr John C. Howell), destroy
Confederate salt works at Depot Key, FL. (Due south of and same dot as Cedar Key, FL)
10.4.2a
EXPED
Sailors and Marines from USS Thomas Freeborn (Lt Cdr Magaw) raid Dumfries, VA, destroying the
telegraph office and wires to sever communications between Richmond and Occuquan.
10.9.2
EXPED
Marines from the USS Clifton, Westfield, Owasco, Harriett Lane, and Mortar Boat #19 land and capture
Galveston, TX, occupying the government buildings and barracks to guard against any attack from land.
10.15.2
EXPED
Boat crews from USS Rachel Seaman, and USS Kensington destroy Confederate railroad bridge by fire at
Taylor's Bayou, TX, preventing the transportation of heavy artillery to Sabine Pass, and burned
schooners Stonewall and Lone Star and barracks.
10.20.2
EXPED
Marines and sailors of the USS Cimarron transferred to the USS Governor Milton and went ashore at Cedar
Point, FL. They destroyed a large salt works including many large cast iron cauldrons, pans and a
seventeen foot boiler along with the furnaces.
10.21.2
REPRISAL
Lt Cdr Meade (USS Louisville) escorts steamer Meteor, from which Army troops land at and burn
Bledsoe’s Landing and Hamblin's Landing, AR in reprisal for attacks by Confederate guerrillas on
mail steamer Gladiator on 19 October.
10.22.2
JOINT
A naval battery consisting of three 12 pdr boat howitzers from USS Wabash provide artillery support for
Union infantry troops at the battle of Pocotaligo, SC. MoH: E. Ringold
10.24.2
EXPED
USS Baron De KaIb (Capt. Winslow) deploys a landing party at Hopefield, AR to engage a small
Confederate scouting party. When the rebels fled, the sailors “impressed” horses and engaged in a ninemile running fight that ended with the capture of the Confederates. (Uses Mound City dot)
10.29.2
EXPED
Landing party from USS Ellis (Lt Cushing) destroys large Confederate salt works at New Topsail Inlet,
NC.
10.29.2a EXPED
USS Dan shelled Confederate troops near Sabine Pass, TX. On 30 October a landing party burns a mill
and several buildings.
10.31.2
Confederate gun positions on Wormley’s Creek and at West Point, VA are attacked by a landing party
from USS Mahaska (Cdr Foxhall A. Parker). The sailors returned on 11 November to complete the
destruction.
EXPED
10.31.2a JOINT
(31-7)
Cdr Davenport leads USS Hetzel, Commodore Perry, Hunchback, Valley City, and Army gunboat Videttee on
an expedition up the Roanoke River. The ships fired on Confederate troops at Plymouth, NC, forcing
them to withdraw and steamed upriver to a point several miles above Hamilton, which was occupied by
Union troops. When the Federal Army proved unable to reach Tarboro, they reembarked and the force
returned to Williamston.
November 1862
11.2.2
OTHER
Col Ellet’s ram fleet is officially transferred to the Navy at the request of Rear Adm David D. Porter
and by order of the President. Porter had insisted that he would not permit “any naval organization on
the river besides the Mississippi Squadron.”
11.3.2
SHIP2SHIP
CSS Cotton (Lt Edward W. Fuller) and shore batteries engage USS Calhoun, Kinsman, Estrella, and Diana in
Berwick Bay, LA, causing considerable damage to the Union squadron until exhaustion of cartridges
forced Cotton to retire. (Map approximate)
11.7.2
JOINT
USS Potomska (Act’g Lt W. Budd) escorts Army transport Darlington up the Sapelo River, GA on a raid
that destroys salt works at Fairhope and engages rebel troops at Spaulding’s.
14
11.8.2
OTHER
A naval supply depot is established at Cairo, IL. A Marine detachment of four officers and eighty-eight
enlisted men transfers there from Marine Headquarters, Washington, DC.
11.9.2
JOINT
Second Assistant Engineer J. L. Lay of USS Louisiana leads a joint Navy-Army landing party that captures
Greenville, NC.
11.22.2
(22-24)
JOINT
Joint Navy-Army expedition to vicinity of Mathews Court House, VA, under Lt Farquhar and Act’g
Master's Mate Nathan W. Black of USS Mahaska destroys numerous salt works together with hundreds of
bushels of salt, as well as a number of boats.
11.23.2
EXPED
SINKING
Landing party from USS Ellis (Lt Cushing) captures arms, mail, and two schooners at Jacksonville, NC.
On 24 November, while under attack from Confederate artillery, Ellis grounds and is fired by her crew to
prevent capture.
EXPED
USS Monticello (Lt Cdr Braine) destroys two Confederate salt works near Little River Inlet, NC.
11.24.2
December 1862
12.7.2
CAPTURE
A company of Marines under Major Addison Garland on board the USS Ariel bound for Mare Island,
California are taken prisoner when the ship is captured by the CSS Alabama off Cuba. Garland had
formed up his Marines to repel boarders on the unarmed transport vessel, but conceded the futility of the
effort when the Alabama fired a shot that hit the foremast. To prevent the injury to women and children
on board, the vessel was surrendered. The ship was released after the surrender of all the Marines’
weapons and a bond was set for $261,000.00 to be paid to the Confederacy. The paroles signed for the
Marines not to take up arms against the Confederacy were considered void by Washington. The Marines
arrived at San Francisco on December 27
12.10.2
SUPPORT
USS Southfield (Lt Charles F. W. Behm) is disabled in action while providing close fire support to troops
under attack by Confederate forces at Plymouth, NC.
12.12.2
SINKING
Confederate torpedoes claims their first victim of the war when one explodes under USS Cairo (Lt Cdr
Thomas O. Selfridge) on an expedition up the Yazoo River--to destroy torpedoes.
12.27.2
SUPPORT
Porter's gunboats engage Ft Drumgould on the Yazoo as USS Benton (Lt Cdr Gwin) continues Cairo’s
work of removing torpedoes in the river. Benton was much cut up in the heavy exchange of fire, and Gwin
fatally wounded. Porter was able to report that the river was now clear of mines to within a half mile of
the battery. This ended the Yazoo River Expedition, which had begun on the 23 rd.
MoH: P. Cotton , P. Leon, W. Martin, J. McDonald, W. Moore, C. Morton, C. Robinson, R. Williams
12.28.2
(28-30)
SUPPORT
Rear Adm D. D. Porter's gunboats provide fire support for Gen’l Sherman's attempt to capture
Confederate-held Chickasaw Bluffs. Heavy rains and the arrival of Confederate reinforcements force
the Federals to withdraw.
12.31.2
SINKING
USS Monitor (Cdr Bankhead) founders in a storm off Cape Hatteras en route from Hampton Roads to
Beaufort, NC and is lost.
MoH: L. Griswold, L. Horton, J. Jones, H. Logan,* G. Moore, C. Smith,* M. Wagg
January 1863
1.1.3
SHIP2SHIP
Confederate Major Leon Smith, CSA, launches a fierce surprise attack on the Union troops and ships
defending Galveston, TX. The improvised cotton-clad gunboats CSS Bayou City and Neptune, with Army
sharpshooting boarding parties, and tenders John F. Carr and Lucy Gwin take USS Harriet Lane by boarding
and force the Yankees to destroy USS Westfield after she ran aground. The remainder of the blockading
force stood out to sea.
1.9.3
EXPED
Boat crews from USS Ethan Allen (Act’g Master Isaac A. Pennell) destroyed a very large salt manufactory
south of St. Joseph's, FL.
1.9.3a
(9-11)
JOINT
USS Baron de Kalb, Louisville, Cincinnati, Lexington, Rattler, and Black Hawk, under Rear Adm Porter in tug
Ivy, covers the landing of troops under Major Gen’l W. T. Sherman in the assault on Ft Hindman at
Arkansas Post, forcing the rebels from their trenches and allowing the soldiers to occupy the woods
below the fort. Until the Army was ready to make its attack on 10 January, Porter’s gunboats closed to
within 60 yards of the fort and blasted away at its walls. Renewed bombardment on 11 January succeeded
in dismounting or disabling all of the fort’s guns, and the bastion was taken by the Army troops. Among
the 6500 prisoners were 36 Confederate naval officers and sailors. Porter recorded one prisoner as saying,
“You can't expect men to stand up against the fire of those gunboats.” After the loss of Ft Hindman,
Confederates evacuated other positions on the White and St. Charles Rivers. MoH: W. Talbott
1.10.3
BOMBRD
Lacking shallow-draft gunboats and pilots—and therefore unable to cross the bar and navigate the
15
crooked, narrow channel, Commodore Henry H. Bell is forced to limit the reestablishment of the
blockade of Galveston to a bombardment.
1.10.3a
OTHER
Marine guard numbering 18 Marines of the USS Wachusett took charge of the captured Confederate ironclad steamer Virginia and sailed her from Jajores Island, Yucatan, Mexico to Key West Naval Station.
1.13.3
REPRISAL
Joint Navy-Army expedition from Memphis on board USS General Bragg (Lt Joshua Bishop) destroys
buildings at Mound City, AR, in reprisal for Confederate attacks on river steamers.
1.12.3
EXPED
USS Currituck (Act’g Master Linnekin) destroys the salt works at Dividing Creek, VA which had been
"extensively engaged" in supplying Richmond with salt
1.14.3
JOINT
USS Kinsman, Estrella, Calhoun, and Diana, under Lt Cdr Thomas Buchanan, engage Confederate defenses
in Bayou Teche, below Franklin, LA, in a combined Navy-Army expedition. Naval gunfire forces the
rebels to withdraw and allows removal of the formidable obstructions sunk in the river. Gunboat CSS
Cotton (Lt Edward W. Fuller) attacks the Union ships, but is forced to withdraw and is later burned to
prevent capture. Kinsman’s rudder is unshipped by a torpedo and Lt Cdr Buchanan is killed by shore fire.
1.16.3
EXPED
Lt Cdr J. G. Walker aboard USS Baron de Kalb lands a party at Devall's Bluff, AR, on the White River
and takes possession of all government property, including guns and ammunition. Walker withdrew his
men when Federal troops arrived.
1.17.3
EXPED
USS Baron de Kalb (Lt Cdr Walker) with USS Forest Rose and Romeo arrive off Des Arc, AR, where they
find a quantity of artillery ammunition and occupied the post office. Walker withdrew his men when
Army troops arrived an hour later.
1.21.3
SHIP2
SHIP
Major Oscar M. Watkins, CSA, leads CSS Josiah Bell and Uncle Ben, in an attack on blockaders off Sabine
Pass, capturing USS Morning Light (Act’g Master John Dillingham) and Velocity (Act’g Master Nathan W.
Hammond). They burn Morning Light two days later because she cannot be got over the bar.
1.27.3
BOMBARD
To test the endurance of ironclad USS Montauk, Cdr John L. Worden takes her up the Ogeechee River
with USS Seneca, Wissahickon, Dawn, and mortar schooner C. P. Williams and engages Confederate batteries
at Ft McAllister, GA, in preparation for an attack on Charleston. Montauk was struck fourteen times
with no damage.
1.30.3
CAPTURE
USS Isaac Smith (Act’g Lt Francis S. Conover) is caught in a heavy cross fire while conducting an
expedition up the Stono River above Legareville, SC, forced aground, and captured. MoH: J. Stout
1.30.3a
EXPED
Lt Cdr Charles W. Flusser lands men from USS Commodore Perry to accompany soldiers on an expedition
to Hertford, NC which destroys two bridges over the Perquimans River, interdicting the flow of
supplies from the Chowan River region to Richmond.
1.31.3
SHIP2
SHIP
Under cover of the morning fog, Flag Officer Duncan N. Ingraham leads rams CSS Chicora (Cdr John R.
Tucker) and CSS Palmetto State (Lt John Rutledge) in an attack on the Union blockading squadron off
Charleston harbor. Before withdrawing back into the harbor, the rams inflict significant damage on the
Yankee ships: USS Mercedita (Capt Stellwagen) stuck her colors after being rammed by Palmetto State; USS
Keystone State (Cdr William E. LeRoy), attacked by Chicora, lost all motive power after shellfire destroyed
her stacks and had to be towed away by USS Memphis (Capt Pendelton G. Watmough); USS Quaker City
took a hit that tore up her engine room; and USS Augusta narrowly missed disaster when a shell passed
within feet of her boiler. The Confederate Navy rams retired relatively unscathed.
February 1863
2.2.3
SHIP2
SHIP
Ram USS Queen of the West (Col. C. R. Ellet) attacks Confederate steamer City of Vicksburg, at anchor under
cover of the batteries at Vicksburg. Although successful in setting the rebel ship aflame (the fire was
quickly put out), Queen broke off the action when she herself caught fire. After extinguishing the blaze,
Queen headed won the Mississippi under orders to destroy all Confederate vessels encountered.
2.3.3
JOINT
Act’g Master G. W. Brown (USS Forest Rose) opens the combined Navy-Army operation against Ft
Pemberton in Greenwood, MS by lighting the fuse to a 50 pound can of black powder placed under the
levee at Yazoo Pass. This created a channel 70-75 yards wide that allows the gunboats and Army
transports to steam “overland” to enter Moon Lake and, according to the plan, from there proceed down
the Coldwater and Tallahatchie rivers to the Yazoo, capture Ft Pemberton and Yazoo City, and then
assault Vicksburg on its weaker flanks. In reality, it will be February 25 before the gunboats can actually
enter Yazoo Pass due to the need to clear obstructions in the channel.
2.3.3
SUPPORT
While on convoy duty in the Cumberland River with USS Lexington, Fairplay, St. Clair, Brilliant, Robb, and
Silver Lake, Lt Cdr Fitch receives word from Col. Abner C. Harding, commanding at Ft Donelson,
reporting an assault by Confederate forces and requesting assistance. Fitch pushed his ships ahead and
arrived that evening to find the Federal forces “out of ammunition and entirely surrounded by the rebels
16
in overwhelming numbers.” The gunboats opened fire on the rebels, who were so taken by surprise that
they did not pause to return fire, but immediately withdrew.
2.7.3
SINKING
Pioneer II is lost in Mobile Bay during trials.
2.12.3
REPRISAL
Having run below Vicksburg under orders to disrupt Confederate trade in the Red River area, USS Queen
of the West (Col. C. R. Ellet) steams up Red and Atchafalaya rivers. The ship is fired upon near
Simmesport, LA. On the following day, Ellet destroys all of the buildings on three plantations next to
the town in retaliation.
2.14.3
CAPTURE
While patrolling the Red River in search of reported Confederate vessels at Gordon’s Landing, USS
Queen of the West (Col. C. R. Ellet) runs aground as she attempts to back down the river away from the
heavy fire of a rebel battery. When her chief engineer reported that the steam pipe had been shot away,
Ellet orders the ship abandoned. The formidable Queen becomes a rebel warship.
2.23.3
SINKING
USS Kinsman (Act’g Lt Wiggen) strikes a snag while transporting troops in Berwick Bay and sinks.
2.24.3
SHIP2SHIP
A Confederate squadron under Major Joseph L. Brent, CSA, comprised of CSS William H. Webb and
Queen of the West, and CSS Beatty attacks and captures USS Indianola (Lt Cdr G. Brown) below Warrenton,
MS. After repeated rammings, Brown managed to delay surrendering long enough to allow Indianola to
fill with enough water to ensure her sinking, and ran her into the west bank of the river. Nonetheless, the
possibility of the Confederates raising the sunken ship and using her against the Federals was very real.
2.25.3
EXPED
After opening the levee at Yazoo Pass on 3 February, the lightdraft gunboat expedition to Greenwood,
MS finally entered the pass. It had taken three weeks for the soldiers to clear obstructions in the channel,
and these continued to bedevil the ships throughout the mission. Lt Cdr W. Smith reported to Adm
Porter that, although damage so far was not serious, “every vagrant log” had a “chance to foul our
wheels.” Because many did, delays were frequent.
2.28.3
SINKING
USS Montauk (Cdr Worden) with USS Wissahickon, Seneca, and Dawn, shells and destroys blockade runner
Rattlesnake (formerly raider CSS Nashville). The ship had lain under the guns of McAllister in the
Ogeechee River for eight months, poised to escape to sea. Realizing Rattlesnake was grounded, Worden
drew in range of her (as well as of the fort), and set her aflame with gunfire. Leaving the runner in flames,
Montauk dropped back down the river; Rattlesnake’s magazine exploded at 9:30 “with terrific violence,”
destroying what Worden called “a troublesome pest.”
March 1863
3.5.3
EXPED
USS Lockwood steams out of returned to New Bern, NC to destroy a bridge over the Pungo River.
Weapons, stores, and a small schooner are also captured.
3.10.3
EXPED
Confederates burn steamer Thirty-fifth Parallel in the Tallahatchie River as USS Chillicothe (Lt Cdr James
P. Forten) approaches on a mission to destroy a large bridge above Ft Pemberton, MS.
3.11.3
BOMBARD
The Yazoo Pass expedition’s first attack on Ft Pemberton, near Greenwood, MS, on the Tallahatchie
River, commences, but is forced to withdraw when it becomes apparent that only a single ship’s guns can
be brought to bear on the fort at one time due to obstructions sunk in the river. Lt Cdr W. Smith orders a
30-pound Parrot rifled gun sent ashore from USS Rattler “to annoy the rebel’s best gun at about 600
yards.”
3.13.3a
(13-14)
SUPPORT
Gunfire from USS Hunchback, Hetzel, Ceres, and Shawsheen under Cdr Henry K. Davenport repels a night
surprise attack by Confederate troops against Ft Anderson on the Neuse River, NC. Covering naval
fire also allows the landing of the 85th New York to relieve the fort’s defenders.
3.14.3
BOMBARD
Rear Adm Farragut attempts to pass the batteries at Port Hudson with a squadron of seven gunboats.
To counter the strong current at the bend in the river below the fort—and to provide support should one
vessel be damaged—the ships are lashed together in pairs side-by-side, with the heavier ships (USS
Hartford, Richmond, and Monongahela) on the fort side and lighter vessels outboard (Albatross, Genesee, and
Kineo); USS Mississippi brings up the rear. In the course of the action, all three pairs of ships must be cut
apart and only two of the gunboats—Hartford (with Farragut aboard) and Albatross—make it past the
rebel guns. The others return downstream and anchor, save for USS Mississippi, which grounds and is
destroyed. Port Hudson is one of the war’s fiercest naval engagements, and included an assault by a
landed force of Marines from USS Hartford, USS Richmond, USS Mississippi and the USS Monongahela.
MoH: A. Brinn, J. Hickman, P. Howard, M. McClelland, J. Rush, J. Vantine, P. Vaughn
3.14.3a
EXPED
The Steel’s Bayou, MS, expedition--aimed at gaining entrance to the Yazoo River via Deer Creek to
take Vicksburg from the rear—begins. USS Louisville, Cincinnati, Carondelet, Pittsburg, Mound City, four
mortars and four tugs make their way through dense forest on Black Bayou, gaining Deer Creek on 15
March. Support troops promised by Gen’l Sherman met the ships at Rolling Fork on 21 March, but
17
without provisions or artillery, and in numbers too few to ensure the success of the foray. Rear Adm
Porter therefore decided to abandon the expedition. When more troops did show up, Porter realized his
men were entirely too exhausted to retrace their steps after almost a week of clearing trees and sleeping at
their guns. The squadron arrived back at their starting point on 24 March, having destroyed all the
bridges leading to Vicksburg and confiscating large quantities of livestock, corn, and cotton.
MoH: M. Huskey
3.15.3
CAPTURE
Armed boats from USS Cyane (Lt Cdr Paul Shirley) seize schooner J.P. Chapman, preparing to get
underway from San Francisco, CA. Chapman was suspected of being outfitted as a Confederate
commerce raider, and was found to have, in addition to her crew of four, seventeen more men and a
cargo of guns, ammunition, and other military stores hidden below decks. The prisoners were confined
on Alcatraz.
3.25.3
SINKING
Col. Charles R. Ellet attempts to pass the batteries at Vicksburg in the pre-dawn darkness with rams
USS Switzerland and Lancaster, hoping to link up downstream with Adm Farragut with USS Hartford and
Albatross. The Confederates hear the chuffing of their stacks and fire flares to illuminate the river, then
bring both boats under a concentrated fire. Despite taking a shot that stopped her engines, Switzerland
floated past the batteries to safety; Lancaster succumbed to a plunging shot that tore a gaping hole in her
hull, sending her almost immediately to the bottom.
3.28.3
CAPTURE
Confederate infantry and artillery attack USS Diana (Act’g Master Thomas L. Peterson) in the
Atchafalaya River, LA. After a three-hour battle in which the gunboat’s engines were disabled, Diana
drifted ashore and was forced to surrender. (Map approximate)
3.31.3
(31-16)
SUPPORT
In a two-week siege of Federal positions at Washington, NC, gunboats under Cdr Davenport provided
close fire support and much-needed supplies to the garrison. Navy gunfire kept the rebels at bay and
Navy small boats ferried food and ammunition to the soldiers. Confederate Gen’l A.P. Hill blamed the
US Navy for his failure: “We were compelled to give up the siege of Washington, as the Yankee supply
boats ran the blockade. Two more days would have starved the garrison out.”
3.31.3a
(31-1)
JOINT
A joint expedition heads under Lt Cdr Gillis (USS Commodore Morris) up the Ware River in VA to
confiscate a large cache of grain stored at Patterson Smith’s plantation. The landing party of sailors and
soldiers is attacked on 1 April by a force of Confederate cavalry, but force them to retreat with a charge
of their own. The Federals destroyed 22,000 bushels of grain.
April 1863
4.2.3
SINKING
Alligator is lost at sea in a storm of Cape Hatteras, NC. Adm Du Pont’s ironclad attack against
Charleston will go on as planned--and get hung up on the obstructions that it was hoped the submarine
would remove.
4.3.3
REPRISAL
Lt Cdr Fitch, with USS Lexington, Brilliant, Robb, Silver Lake, and Springfield, destroys Palmyra, TN, in
retaliation for Confederate guerrillas firing on a Union convoy on 2 April.
4.7.3
BOMBARD
Rear Adm Du Pont sends nine ironclads into Charleston harbor in hopes of passing the forts and taking
the town under fire. The Confederates, however, had obstructed the channel and planted range markers
in addition to torpedoes, chains, and nets. USS Weehawken, equipped with a raft for clearing mines,
delayed the attack for an hour when the grapnels attached to the raft fouled. Shortly after 3pm, the
ironclads opened fire on Ft Sumter. Weehawken struck a torpedo, which “lifted the vessel a little,” but
seemed otherwise to do no real damage; Capt John Rodgers, seeing “formidable” obstructions ahead,
swung round and led the column back to sea. The incoming tide made many of the ships unmanageable,
and left them easy targets for the rebel gunners. In the forty-minute engagement, Weehawken was hit 53
times; Passaic was struck 35 times and her turret disabled; Patapsco—which lost headway and refused to
obey her helm when she tried to turn—took 47 hits; Catskill recorded 20 hits and began taking on water;
Nantucket was badly battered by 51 shots which jammed her turret; Nahant took 36 hits which disabled
her turret and tore up her steering machinery. USS Keokuk, following Nahant, was forced to steam past
her to avoid a collision; this maneuver brought her to within 600 yards of Ft Sumter—where she
remained for half an hour. The concentrated fire from the fort riddled her with 90 hits, eighteen of which
pierced at or below the waterline. With the approach of darkness, Du Pont broke off the action and
pulled back the battered ironclads. Keokuk—which had survived only because of calm seas—took on
water the following day and rapidly sank. MoH: R. Anderson
4.7.3
SINKING
USS Barataria (Act’g Ensign James F. Perkins) strikes a snag in Lake Maurepas, LA, and is destroyed by
her crew to prevent capture.
4.10.3
EXPED
An expedition led by Lt Cdr Selfridge (USS Conestoga) cuts a channel across Beulah Bend, near
Napoleon, MS, and destroys guerrilla stations that had harassed Union shipping on the river.
18
4.12.3
(12-14)
SUPPORT
In two days of heavy fighting near Suffolk, VA, Navy gunboats USS Mount Washington, Stepping Stones, and
Commodore Barney prevented Confederate forces from crossing the Nansemond River to surround Union
troops. MoH: R. Jordan, H. Thielberg, R. Wood, S. Woods
4.14.3
SHIP2
SHIP
While supporting Union Army troops ashore, USS Estrella (Lt Cdr Augustus P. Cooke), USS Arizona
(Act’g Lt Upton); and USS Calhoun (Act’g Master Meltiah Jordan), engage and destroy ram C.S.S Queen of
the West (Lt E. W. Fuller) in Grand Lake, LA. The Confederates destroy CSS Diana and Hart on 18 April
to prevent their capture.
4.20.3
JOINT
A joint Navy-Army attack captures a strong Confederate position at Hill's Point on the Nansemond
River, VA, taking five howitzers and 160 prisoners. Despite skirmishing that continues for two weeks,
this action signalled the end of the rebel offensive against Suffolk, VA.
4.20.3a
BOMBARD
USS Estrella (Lt Cdr Cooke) with USS Clifton, Arina, and Calhoun capture Ft Burton, Butte a la Rose,
LA, after a short but sharp engagement.
4.20.3b
EXPED
A landing party of the USS Port Royal led by Lt. Commander George Morris raids Apalachicola, FL,
capturing a large quantity of cotton, 25 canister shot, 30 chain shot, and 14 oblong iron bar shot which
Morris keeps for his 32-pdr. They also brought off a 90 foot long canal boat which they put to use for
coaling the gunboat.
4.21.3
EXPED
Lt Cushing leads a landing party of ninety sailors with one boat howitzer in an expedition to rescue
sailors taken prisoner from USS Stepping Stones. Approaching Chuckatuck Village, VA, the party is
attacked by forty Confederate cavalry. After discharging the howitzer, Cushing leads his own charge and
disperses the rebels. He remains in Chuckatuck for the balance of the day, learning that the prisoners had
earlier been moved further inland. Aware that 400 cavalry are stationed nearby, Cushing returns to his
boats. One hour later, Confederate Gen’l George Pickett arrives in town—unescorted, on an unapproved
furlough to spend time with his mistress. Had Cushing stayed in Chuckatuck, the final charge at
Gettysburg in July might have been known by a different name.
4.23.3
EXPED
USS Clifton and USS Westfield attack Fort Burton at Butte Ala Rosa, LA. The Marines are landed and
secure the fort.
4.29.3
JOINT
Formidable rebel batteries at Grand Gulf, MS are again engaged by Rear Adm Porter’s gunboats. The 51/2 hour battle results in the warships silencing the lower batteries, but not the upper ones. However,
this allows transports to take Gen’l Grant’s troops below the city. Grant lands and moves his force into
the country behind Grand Gulf, which forces a Confederate withdrawal on 3 May. MoH: J. Woon
4.29.3a
(29-1)
JOINT
USS Tyler, Choctaw, Baron de Kalb, Signal, Romeo, Linden, Petrel, Black Hawk, and three mortar boats under Lt
Cdr Breese participate in a joint Navy-Army expedition feigning attack on Confederate batteries at
Haynes’ Bluff on the Yazoo River intended to draw rebel troops away from Grand Gulf. Although only
a “demonstration,” Choctaw was struck 53 times by rebel shellfire.
5.7.3
EXPED
Following the capture of Grand Gulf on 3 May, Porter rendezvous with Farragut’s squadron off the
mouth of the Red River, resupplies, and steams up the Red to Alexandria, LA with USS Benton, Lafayette,
Pittsburg, Sterling Price, ram Switzerland, and tug Ivy (USS Estrella and Arina joining on the way). They pass a
deserted Ft De Russy en route and occupy Alexandria on 7 May. Unable to proceed further upstream due
to low water, Porter turns the town over to the Army and returns to De Russy to partially destroy it.
5.8.3
BOMBARD
Cdr Charles H. B. Caldwell’s mortar flotilla and USS Richmond (Capt. Alden) open bombardment of the
Confederate defenses at Port Hudson, LA.
5.10.3
SUPPORT
Gunboats under Lt Cdr S. L. Phelps support an Army assault on Confederate troops at Linden, TN.
5.18.3
BOMBARD
USS Linden (Act’g Lt T. E. Smith) engages a battery of rebel guns that had ambushed Linden’s convoy of
Army transports at Island No. 82 in the Mississippi. Fire from the gunboat drove the Confederates away
and troops landed from the transports burned buildings in the area in retaliation.
5.21.3
(21-30)
EXPED
Gunboats USS Baron de Kalb, Choctaw, Forest Rose, Linden, and Petrel under Lt Cdr J. G. Walker push up the
Yazoo River from Haynes’ Bluff to Yazoo City, MS. Their approach forces the destruction of the
Confederate Navy Yard in that city, including steamers Mobile, Republic, and ''a monster, 310 feet long and
70 feet beam” under construction. The gunboats continued up the river, but turned back in the face of
Confederate sharpshooters fifteen miles below Greenwood, MS. The squadron steamed up the Sunflower
River for 150 miles before returning to the Mississippi.
5.24.3
REPRISAL
Brigadier Gen’l A. Ellet orders his men to burn Austin, MS in reprisal for an attack by Confederates
upon the commissary and quartermaster boat of the Marine Brigade of the previous day. Landing before
May 1863
19
dawn, Ellet’s men fought a two battle with rebel cavalry outside of town. Forcing them to withdraw, Ellet
found evidence of smuggling in Austin and put it to the torch. The charge was true, as hidden weapons
discharged and powder exploded in the flames.
5.27.3
SINKING
While attacking Confederate entrenchments blocking the Army’s approach to Vicksburg, USS Cincinnati
(Lt Bache) comes under fire from rebel batteries on the overlooking hills. The plunging shot penetrated
to her magazine, and she went down rapidly. Suffering 25 killed and wounded and 15 probable
drownings, Cincinnati sank with her flag nailed to the mast.
5.27.3a
SINKING
CSS Chattahoochee (Lt John J. Guthrie) is destroyed at anchor at Chattahoochee, FL with “terrible loss of
life” by an explosion of her boilers. (Map approximate)
5.30.3
EXPED
Marines of the USS Brooklyn participated in a raid at Port Isabel, Texas to spike the guns in the battery
and capture what they could. Two ships were burned but no prizes taken.
5.31.63
SUPPORT
USS Carondelet (Lt Murphy) rescues Union troops isolated at Perkins Landing, MS, throwing a curtain
of gunfire around the troops until transport arrived. While boarding, Confederate troops surged forward,
but Carondelet’s guns forced them to break off their attack.
6.4.3
SUPPORT
USS Commodore McDonough (Lt Cdr Bacon) convoys Army troops in a raid on Bluffton, SC. Naval gunfire
allows the soldiers to overcome strong Confederate resistance and destroy the town.
6.4.3a
(4-5)
JOINT
Joint Navy-Amy expedition including USS Commodore Morris (Lt Cdr Gillis), Commodore Jones (Lt Cdr John
G. Mitchell), Army gunboat Smith Briggs, and transport Winnissimet up the Mattapony River to Walkerton,
VA destroys a foundry where Confederate ordnance was being manufactured.
6.6.3
CAPTURE
The brief but very successful career of CSS Clarence—a prize taken by CSS Florida (Capt Maffit)—
demonstrates how much damage a single rebel raider could do. On this date, Lt Read in Clarence took the
bark Whistling Wind carrying coal east of Cape Romain, SC. On 7 June Read captured schooner Alfred H.
Partridge bound for Matamoras, securing her captain’s bond of $5,000 to deliver his cargo of arms and
clothing to any port in the Confederacy. Two days later Clarence takes brig Mary Alvina loaded with
commissary stores. On 12 June Lt Read seizes brig Tacony and schooner M.A. Shindler off Cape Hatteras;
he also took schooner Kate Stewart, to which off-loaded his prisoners and bonded. Seeing that Tacony was
a better sailor than Clarence, Read transferred his command to her and burned Clarence and Shindler. He
than took brig Arabella, but, as she carried a neutral cargo, bonded her for $30,000 payable thirty days
after the end of the war. On 15 June, CSS Tacony captured and burned brig Umpire and her cargo of sugar
and molasses off the Virginia coast. By now, Read’s exploits were creating great concern in the North,
and a large force of warships were sent in search of him. On 20 June, Tacony stopped Isaac Webb, bound
from NY City to Liverpool carrying 759 passengers; with no room aboard his ship for so many people,
Read bonded the ship for $40,000. He then pounced on and burned fishing schooner Micawber at sea off
the New England coast. The following day the Confederate raider burned Byzantium and her cargo of coal
as well as bark Goodspeed (in ballast), again off New England. In the same area, he took fishing schooners
Florence, Marengo, E. Ann, R. Choate, and Ripple on 22 June, burning all but Florence, on which he loaded 75
prisoners, bonded, and released. More fishing schooners, Ada and Wanderer, followed these to the bottom
on 23 June. The next day Read stopped Shatemuc, bound from Liverpool to Boston carrying a large
number of immigrants; he bonder her for $150,000. Later he took fishing schooner Archer and, because
he knew the Yankees would have a description of Tacony by now, transferred his men to her. Read burned
Tacony on the morning of 25 June. On 26 June, CSS Archer picked up two fishermen who, believing the
rebels to be simply a “pleasure party,” agreed to take them into the harbor of Portland, ME, where, they
said, were anchored the revenue cutter Caleb Cushing, passenger steamer Chesapeake, and steamer Forest
City, as well as two gunboats under construction. Read took Archer into the harbor at sunset and calmly
anchored her for the evening. At 1:30am on 27 June, he led his men aboard Caleb Cushing and captured
her without noise or resistance. By midmorning, Read had his new prize twenty miles out to sea, but was
pursued by two large steamers and three tugs from Portland. Read fired on Forest City, but was
“mortified” to find after only five shots that there was no more ammunition for the gun! With the
steamers gaining, Read ordered his men into the lifeboats and, at 11:30, surrendered. His career as a
raider was not quite over, however, as Caleb Cushing blew up a half hour later. Lt read and his men had
taken 22 prizes in three weeks.
6.7.3
SUPPORT
USS Choctaw (Lt Cdr Ramsay) and USS Lexington (Lt Cdr Bache) defend Union troops at Milliken's
Bend, MS from the attack by a superior number of Confederates.
6.14.3
(14-15)
REPRISAL
In retaliation for attacks by Confederate guerillas on several Union transports and gunboats, Act’g Lt
Getty (USS Marmora) destroys Eunice, AR. The following day, landing parties from Marmora and Prairie
Bird (Act’g Lt Edward E. Brennand) mete out the same punishment to Gaines Landing.
June 1863
20
Orderly Sergeant Christopher Nugent of the USS Fort Henry, and his six men reconnoitered up Crystal
River, Florida in search of the blockade runner Frolic. Several miles up the river, he spotted a fortification
on the river bank. Nugent left the boat with two of his men, and with his other four men, attacked the
log breastworks. The attack surprised the occupants who ran into the swamp beyond the encampment.
There were eleven soldiers and one woman. When the Sergeant saw the woman, he kept his men from
firing at the retreating enemy, “His gallantry not permitting it as there was a woman among the fugitives.”
as the official report stated. The Confederate officer fired a shot at the attackers, which hit Nugent in his
cap box. The Marines confiscated all the weapons left behind, captured very important documents that
named several smugglers, and destroyed the camp equipage that they could not take into their boat.
Sergeant Nugent was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Crystal River. The following
month, he was noted for bravery again for the rescue one stormy night of three Unionists escaping from
Depot Key as their small boat was sinking.. MoH: C. Nugent
USS Weehawken (Capt. J. Rodgers) and USS Nahant (Cdr Downes) capture CSS Atlanta (Cdr Webb) in
Wassaw Sound. Atlanta, accompanied by wooden steamers Isondiga and Resolute, was attempting an attack
on Weehawken with a bow-mounted percussion torpedo, but ran repeatedly aground and refused to obey
her helm. With two of his gun crews out of action, two of three pilots severely injured, and his ship hard
aground, Webb surrendered.
6.15.3
EXPED
6.17.3
SHIP2SHIP
6.18.3
SUPPORT
Fearing that Confederate cavalry attacks upon two Army transports off Plaquemines, LA portended an
assault upon Union-occupied Donaldsonville, Rear Adm Farragut in USS Monongahela steams down river
from Port Hudson. Gunfire from USS Winona (Lt Cdr Aaron V. Weaver) drives the rebels out of town,
keeping the supply line from New Orleans open to the Federal forces around Port Hudson.
6.28.3
(28-30)
OTHER
Gen’l Robert E. Lee’s advance into Maryland and Pennsylvania to Gettysburg threatens the Navy’s
supply of anthracite coal, all of which moves down the Susquehanna Canal. Without this steady flow
from the Pennsylvania coal fields, the fleet would be unable to move within a few days. As Lee moved
north, the Navy Dept ordered ships moved to the defense of Washington and other major cities.
7.1.3
SHIP2SHIP
Col. E. H. Angamar claims to make an attack upon the Union blockaders off Mobile on this date with
his rocket-propelled submarine. There is no record of this from the Union side. Rocket propulsion is
being experimented with on the Union side as well. The previous December, inventor Pascal Plant
demonstrates a true self-propelled torpedo to interested naval officers along the banks of the Potomac
River, but guidance problems prevent its acceptance. (Map approximate for Angamar)
7.4.3
JOINT
Vicksburg, the “Sebastopol of Rebeldom,” surrenders to Federal forces. Adm Porter recorded that
thirteen naval guns had been used ashore (most manned by sailors) and that the Navy had lobbed 9,000
shells into the city and supplied the Army with 6,000 additional rounds. Grant wrote, “The Navy, under
Porter, was all it could be during the entire campaign. Without its assistance the campaign could not have
been successfully made with twice the number of men engaged.”
7.4.3a
SUPPORT
USS Tyler (Lt Cdr Prichett) repulses a Confederate attack on Helena, AR,. The Southerners had
penetrated the outposts of the outnumbered Union Army when Tyler steamed into action. Her heavy fire
halted the Confederate attack and forced a withdrawal. The Southern losses were heavy: 380 killed, 100
wounded, and 1,100 prisoners.
7.6.3
SUPPORT
A Marine battalion assembled from the ships of the South Atlantic Squadron reinforced Army troops on
Morris Island, SC in an unsuccessful attempt to take Fort Wagner.
7.9.3
JOINT
After prolonged attack by Union naval and land forces Port Hudson, LA, surrenders. The long drive to
regain control of the Mississippi River, beginning in the early in 1862 at Ft Henry in the north and south
at New Orleans, was over.
7.9.3a
BOMBARD
Farragut’s ships again attack Donaldsonville, LA in response to the continued guerilla attacks on passing
Union vessels. Marines of the USS Monongahela engage in a firefight with snipers on shore. The USS
Essex, USS Kineo and USS Tennessee exchange fire with the Confederate batteries on shore until the guns
are silenced.
7.10.3
SUPPORT
Ironclads USS Catskill (Cdr G.W. Rodgers); Montauk (Cdr Fairfax); Nahant (Cdr Downes), and Weehawken
(Cdr Colhoun) bombard Confederate defenses on Morris Island, Charleston harbor, in support of an
Army attack. Close-in support of the landing was provided by small boats armed with howitzers under Lt
Cdr Francis M. Bunce.
7.11.3
SUPPORT
Rear Adm Hiram Paulding, Commandant of the New York Navy Yard, stations gunboats around
Manhattan to assist in maintaining order during the Draft Riots. Contrary to the movie “Gangs of New
York,” the ships do not fire on the city. However, on 13 July, a Naval Brigade was organized at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard commanded by Lt. Commander R.W. Meade for the purpose of assisting in
July 1863
21
suppressing the massive disturbance. Captain Grayson, USMC led the 180-man Marine battalion portion
of the brigade. His Marines were spread out through the city in some of the more disorderly districts.
They put down the riots, maintained order and protected government buildings and private property.
Their service to the citizens of the city were highly praised and appreciated by all.
7.13.3
JOINT
A combined expedition up the Yazoo River captures Yazoo City, MS. USS Baron de Kalb struck a
torpedo and sank.
7.13.3a
EXPED
A landing party from USS Jacob Bell (Act’g Master Gerhard C. Schulze) destroys contraband goods
consisting of blockade running flatboats and cargo of alcohol, whisky, salt, and soda. near Union Wharf
on the Rappahannock River. (Map approximate)
7.14.3
EXPED
USS Sangamon, Lehigh, Mahaska, Morse, Commodore Barney, Commodore Jones, Shokokon, and Seymour, capture
Ft Powhatan on the James River, VA. This is the last Confederate defense below Chaffin's and
Drewry's Bluff.
7.15.3
EXPED
Boat crews from USS Stars and Stripes and Somerset land at Marsh's Island, FL, and destroy 60 bushels of
salt and 50 salt boilers.
7.15.3a
SUPPORT
Although compelled to drop down the Stono River out of range of rebel batteries at Grimball’s Landing,
USS Pawnee (Cdr Balch) and USS Marblehead (Lt Cdr Scott) nonetheless repel a Confederate attack on
Union troops on James Island.
7.16.3
SHIP2SHIP
Cdr David McDougal in USS Wyoming engages three Japanese warships and batteries on the bluffs over
the Straits of Shimonseki, Japan, sinking one vessel, grounding and burning a second, and sending the
third fleeing. McDougal was on station watching for CSS Alabama when word reached him from the
American ambassador that the Japanese warlord at Shimonseki had fired on an American merchant
steamer. Had the ensuing battle not taken place during the Civil War, McDougal’s handling of his ship
and guns against such odds would have earned him a place in the history books. As it was, McDougal was
congratulated by the navy Department—but not promoted.
7.19.3
JOINT
Following a ten-day chase of 500 miles along the Ohio River, gunboats USS Moose, Reindeer, Victory,
Springfield, Naumkeag, and steamer Alleghany Belle under Lt Cdr Leroy Fitch caught up with Gen’l John H.
Morgan’s 6000 Confederate raiders at Buffington Island, OH. As Union troops pressed in from the
rear, the rebels sought repeatedly to cross the river, but were forced back by naval gunfire each time.
Morgan’s men scattered into the hills, leaving their artillery on the beach and 3000 of their fellows
prisoners of the Yankees.
7.22.3
SUPPORT
In a move to bolster Union Army strength ashore, Rear Adm Dahlgren orders Cdr F. A. Parker to land
and command a four-gun naval battery to be placed on Morris Island “'for the work against Ft Sumter.”
Their deployment is intended to bolster Army strength ashore.
7.24.3
BOMBARD
In ongoing operations in Charleston harbor, Rear Adm Dahlgren's warships bombard Ft Wagner to
allow the Army to consolidate positions they had advanced into during the night.
7.28.3
EXPED
Lt Cdr English leads USS Beauregard and Oleander and boats from USS Sagamore and Para in an attack on
New Smyrna, FL. The naval force shells the town, captures or destroys several schooners, burns a large
quantity of cotton ashore, and destroys all of the buildings used by the Confederates.
August 1863
8.4.3
JOINT
A naval observation and signal station under Act’g Master John Haynes, USN, on Vincent’s Creek,
Morris Island, is captured after a sharp battle by four Confederate boat crews under Lts Alexander F.
Warley and John Payne from CSS Chicora and Palmetto State and a Confederate Army detachment
8.7.3
SUPPORT
USS Mound City (Lt Cdr Wilson) disperses Confederate cavalry making a raid on a Union encampment at
Lake Providence, LA.
8.13.3
(13-14)
EXPED
A naval force under Lt Bache comprised of USS Lexington, Cricket (Act’g Lt Langthorne), and Marmora
(Act’g Lt R. Getty) reconnoiters the White River above Clarendon, AR, in search of Confederate forces
under Gen’l Sterling Price. Penetrating as far upstream Augusta on the White and Searcy on the Little
Red rivers, the gunboats destroyed the telegraph and lines at Des Arc, captured two rebel steamers, and
destroyed an enemy pontoon bridge.
8.17.3
SINKING
USS Crocus (Act’g Ensign J. LeGrand Winton) runs aground and is wrecked at Bodie's Island, NC.
8.18.3
SINKING
CSS Oconee (Lt Oscar F. Johnston), founders in heavy seas near St. Catherine's Sound, GA, after
running the blockade out of Savannah the night before. Oconee is a government blockade runner and had
been loaded with cotton; all hands were saved.
22
8.21.3
SHIP2SHIP
Pilot James Carlin in Confederate torpedo boat Torch makes a daring attempt to sink USS New Ironsides
near Morris Island. An engine failure and loss of helm control at the last moment made Carlin miss the
warship. Spotted by the officer of the deck aboard New Ironsides—and actually conversing with him in
an attempt to bluff his way through—Carlin managed to start his engines again and quickly returned to
Charleston as shots from the Union vessel bracketed the torpedo boat.
8.22.3
EXPED
Two boat crews from USS Shokokon (Lt Cushing) under Act’g Ensign Joseph S. Cony land near New
Topsail Inlet, NC. The sailors shoulder a small dingy, carry it across a neck of land into the inlet, and
attack and burn blockade runner Alexander Cooper—behind the Confederate defenses. Lt. Robert Clifford
leads his men in a charge against the enemy camp—though outnumbered 3 to 1—and routs them. The
landing party burned the runner as well as extensive saltworks in the area and returned with three
prisoners. MoH: R. Clifford
8.23.3
(12-23)
CAPTURE
Lt Wood, CSN, departed Richmond on 12 August with 80 Confederates and four boats mounted on
wheels. On the night of 16 August, his men launched the small boats into the Piankatank River two
mile above its mouth and rowed downstream. For over a week, the rebels hid by day and searched by
night for vulnerable Union ships. Just after one in the morning on this date, Wood and his men
discovered USS Satellite (Act’g Master Robinson) and USS Reliance (Act’g Ensign Henry Walter) anchored
so closely in an exposed position that they decide to take them both—and do. The Federal vessels are
taken up the Rappahannock to Urbana.
8.30.3
EXPED
A detachment of the Marine Brigade assigned to Rear Adm Porter’s Mississippi Squadron, captures three
Confederate paymasters at Bolivar, MS, as well as their 35-man escort. The paymasters were carrying
$2,200,000 in Confederate currency to pay Gen’l Price’s soldiers at Little Rock.
September 1863
9.6.3
EXPED
Landing party from USS Argosy (Act’g Ensign John C. Morong) seizes Confederate ordnance supplies and
1,200 pounds of tobacco at Bruinsburg, MS.
9.8.3
JOINT
A joint Navy-Army attack under Commodore Bell on Sabine Pass fails when Confederates disable and
capture the gunboats Sachem and Clifton. Marines aboard the grounded Clifton kept up a steady fire until it
appeared she was about to explode, and were captured as they swam ashore. USS Arizona and Granite City
returned with two Army transports to New Orleans.
9.8.3a
EXPED
Acting on false intelligence that the fort was undermanned, Cdr Stevens leads a nighttime assault on Ft
Sumter with thirty boats and 300 sailors and 100 marines. Being fully aware of the coming attack after
recovering code books from USS Keokuk, the Confederates held their fire until the boats were nearly
ashore, then opened on the exposed Yankees with everything from hand grenades to the guns of CSS
Chicora. The Federal naval attack was repulsed, and 70 sailors and 30 marines were taken prisoner.
9.13.3
CAPTURE
Twenty crewmen from USS Rattler (Act’g Master Walter E. H. Fentress) are captured by Confederate
cavalry while attending church services at Rodney, MS.
9.14.3
EXPED
Marines and sailors of the USS Potomac and the Pensacola Naval Yard undertake a boat expedition up the
Blackwater River and destroyed a bridge and ferry at Milton, AL
9.19.3
(19-23)
EXPED CSN
Over the space of five days, Act’g Masters John Y. Beall, CSN, and Edward McGuire, CSN, lead a series
of small boat raids on Chesapeake Bay that result in the capture of schooner Alliance (loaded with
sutlers’ stores) on 19 September, schooner J.J. Houseman on the 21st, and schooners Samuel Pearsall and
Alexandria on the 22nd. Beall and McGuire cast three of the ships adrift at Wachapreague Inlet, intending
to run the blockade in Alliance. When she grounded at Milford Haven, the rebels burned her and escaped
to Richmond. Beall and his men continued raiding on the eastern shore of Maryland, destroying several
lighthouses, until finally captured on 15 November. (Map approximate)
9.22.3
EXPED
Having left Mobile several days earlier, Act’g Master David Nichols leads nineteen Confederate seamen
leave their small cutter, Teaser, in the marshes of South West Pass on the Mississippi River, and walk
overland to board and capture Army tug Leviathan. Finding her fully loaded with coal and provisions,
Nichols and his men make for the open ocean. Learning of the capture, Commodore Bell orders Navy
ships in pursuit, and the daring Southern sailors are themselves captured several hours later by USS De
Soto.
9.22.3a
EXPED
Expedition under Act’g Master George W. Ewer from USS Seneca destroys the Hudson Place Salt Works
near Darien, GA.
9.29.3
SUPPORT
USS Lafayette (Lt Cdr J.P. Foster) and USS Kenwood (Act’g Master John Swaney) arrive at Morganza, LA,
on Bayou Fordoche to protect 1500 Union troops from imminent attack by four brigades of
Confederates--who decline to attack.
23
October 1863
10.5.3
SHIP2SHIP
Lt Glassell in torpedo boat CSS David makes a night attack on USS New Ironsides. The 60-pound spar
torpedo did not sink the warship, but, as revealed by subsequent inspection, forced her withdrawal from
the blockade for repairs. Water thrown up by the explosion nearly swamped the David and put out her
fires; believing the boat lost, Glassell and Seaman James Sullivan leapt overboard and were captured. Her
engineer managed to rekindle the boiler fire and bring the boat back into Charleston.
10.7.3
EXPED
Act’g Lt Couthouy (USS Osage) orders Act’g Chief Engineer Thomas Doughty to take a landing party
overland from the Mississippi to the Red River, where they capture and burn steamers Robert Fulton and
Argus and take nine prisoners. (Map approximate)
10.11.3
SINKING
USS Madgie (Act’g Master Polleys) sinks in rough seas off Frying Pan Shoals, NC.
10.14.3
SUPPORT
USS Queen City (Act’g Lt G. W. Brown) makes a joint raid on Friar's Point, MS, where a search of the
warehouses turns up 200 bales of contraband cotton, which are seized.
10.15.3
EXPED
USS Commodore (Act’g Master John R. Hamilton) and USS Corypheus (Act’g Master Francis H. Grove)
destroy a Confederate tannery at Bay St. Louis, MS—including a stockpile of hides valued at $20,000.
10.16.3
(16-17)
EXPED
In a daring overland expedition, 100 sailors from USS Tahoma (Lt Cdr A. A. Semmes) and USS Adela
(Act’g Lt Louis N. Stodder) march fourteen miles from Old Tampa Bay to the Hillsboro River and
destroy blockade runners Scottish Chief and Kate Dale, loaded with cotton and preparing to run the
blockade. Tahoma and Adela shelled the fort at Tampa as a diversion, but crewmen from the blockade
runners alerted the garrison. In the running fight that ensued, five sailors were killed, ten wounded, and
five taken prisoner before they regained their ships.
November 1863
11.3.3
(3-4)
JOINT
Naval forces under Cdr Strong (USS Monongahela, Owasco, and Virginia) convoyed and supported troops
Army landings that captured Brazos Santiago, TX.
11.9.3
CAPTURE
USS James Adger (Cdr Patterson) captures blockade runner Robert E. Lee off Cape Lookout Shoals, NC.
Lee had been one of the most famous and successful runners, breaking through the blockade more than
twenty-one times.
11.14.3
CAPTURE
Master James Duke, CSN, in an unarmed boat, captures schooner Mary Campbell and Norman off
Pensacola, FL. USS Bermuda (Act’g Lt J.W. Smith) later recaptures Mary Campbell at the mouth of the
Perdido River, but Duke and his men escape in the Norman, which they beach and burn.
11.16.3
(16-17)
JOINT
USS Monongahela (Cdr Strong) escorts Army transports and covers landings on Mustang Island,
Aransas Pass, TX. Monongahela’s also landed two boat howitzers with crews, which accompany the
soldiers on a twenty-mile march to shell Confederate works into surrender.
11.16.3a OTHER
USS Lehigh grounds in Charleston Harbor under the guns of Fort Moultrie.. Under a heavy fire, and
after several attempts, her crew manages to free her by passing a hawser to USS Nahant.
MoH: F. Gile, T. Irving, G. Leland, W. Williams, H. Young
11.22.3
SUPPORT
USS Jacob Bell (Act’g Master Schulze) supports a troop landing at St. George's Island, MD, where some
30 Confederates were captured.
11.29.3
JOINT
USS Monongahela lands a crewed howitzer to support an Army attack on Pass Cavallo, TX.
December 1863
12.2.3
EXPED
Boat expedition from USS Restless, (Act’g Master William R. Browne) destroys saltworks at Lake Ocala,
FL, capable of producing 130 bushels a day, and takes seventeen prisoners.
12.6.3
SINKING
After taking on an extra load of heavy ammunition, USS Weehawken (Cdr Duncan) sinks inside the bar of
Charleston harbor when water floods down an open hatch.
12.7.3
CAPTURE
Capt. John Parker, former commander of the Confederate privateer Retribution, orders John Braine and
seventeen Confederate sympathizers from St John, New Brunswick to NY City, where the party arms
themselves and boards steamer Chesapeake. En route to Portland, ME, the rebels seize Chesapeake off
Cape Cod, and head for Nova Scotia, intending to recoal and then steam for Wilmington. The Navy
responded quickly, and ships from Philadelphia northward were sent in pursuit. On 17 December USS
Ella and Annie (Act’g Lt J. Frederick Nickels) recaptured Chesapeake in Sambro Harbor, Nova Scotia.
Taken to Halifax, she was restored to her owners by the Vice Admiralty Court. Most of the Confederate
raiders escaped. (Map approximate)
24
12.8.3
BOMBARD
USS Neosho (Act’g Ensign Edwin P. Brooks) and USS Signal (Act’g Ensign William P. Lee) silence a rebel
battery shelling the disabled steamer Henry Von Phul near Morganza, LA.
12.17.3
EXPED
Landing parties from USS Moose (Lt Cdr Fitch) destroy Confederate distilleries at Seven Mile Island and
Palmyra, TN.
12.19.3
EXPED
Raids upon the extensive Southern salt works in St Andrew’s Bay, FL continue as USS Restless, Bloomer,
and Caroline under Act’g Master W. R. Browne destroy 290 works, 33 wagons, 12 flatboats, 2 sloops, 6 ox
carts, 4000 bushels of salt, 268 buildings, 529 iron kettles (150 gallons apiece), and 103 iron boilers.
Browne believed the fleeing Confederates had destroyed as much to prevent it falling into Union hands.
12.25.3
BOMBARD
USS Marblehead (Lt Cdr Meade), USS Pawnee (Cdr Balch), and mortar schooner C.P. Williams (Act’g
Master Simeon N. Freeman) force the withdrawal of a Confederate battery that had opened fire on the
Marblehead from John’s Island near Legareville, SC, in the Stono River. Pawnee was struck twenty times
before the rebels broke off the battle. Lt Cdr Meade landed and seized two VIII-inch sea coast howitzers.
MoH: R. Blake, W. Farley, J. Miller, C. Moore
12.25.3a JOINT
USS Daylight (Act’g Lt Francis S. Wells) and USS Howquah (Act’g Lt MacDiarmid) transport troops from
Beaufort, NC, to Bear Inlet, where soldiers and sailors land and destroy four extensive saltworks along
the coast.
12.30.3
EXPED
Act’g Ensign Norman McLeod (USS Pursuit) destroys two salt works in St. Joseph's Bay, FL.
12.31.3
(31-1)
SUPPORT
USS Sciota (Lt Cdr Perkins) and USS Granite City (Act’g Master Lamson) transport, land, and support
Union troops on an expedition to the Gulf shore of the Matagorda Peninsula, protecting them from
attacks by Confederate cavalry and the Confederate gunboat CSS John F. Carr through a gale that
threatened to drive the ships ashore (which it did the Carr, which caught fire and was destroyed).
January 1864
1.1.4
SINKING
Thirty Marines and sailors from the South Atlantic Squadron landed at Murrell’s Inlet, Charleston, SC
and sank a Confederate blockade runner.
1.14.4
SINKING
Federal blockaders destroy USS Iron Age after attempts to pull her off the beach at Lockwood's Folly
Inlet fail.
1.21.4
SUPPORT
USS Sciota (Lt Cdr George H. Perkins) and USS Granite City (Act’g Master Charles W. Lamson)
accompany an Army reconnaissance from Smith’s Landing, TX down the Matagorda Peninsula.
1.31.4
JOINT
Lt Cdr Charles W. Flusser leads an expedition of 40 sailors and 350 soldiers inland from the Roanoke
River, NC, and occupies the town of Windsor for several hours.
February 1864
2.2.4
CAPTURE
In boats shipped by rail from Richmond to Kinston, NC, Cdr John Taylor Wood, CSN, leads a force of
sailors and Marines in an early morning attack on USS Underwriter (Act’g Master Jacob Westervelt),
anchored in the Neuse River near New Bern, NC. The Confederate raiders were so close to the
gunboat by the time they were spotted that Underwriter could not lower them enough to fire upon on the
rebels, who take the boat in hand-to-hand combat. Unable to move Underwriter because she did not have
steam up, Wood destroyed her.
2.2.4a
(2-22)
SUPPORT
At the request of Major Gen’l Quincy Gillmore for naval support, Rear Adm John Dahlgren sends USS
Ottawa, Norwich, Dai Ching, Mahaska and Water Witch up the St. John's River. Under cover of their guns,
the troops land at Jacksonville and capture artillery and seize quantities of cotton in a two week
expedition. When a strong Confederate counterattack forced the soldiers to fall back on Jacksonville on
20 February, the gunboats were there to defend them; boat howitzers crewed by sailors were also landed.
2.15.4
SUPPORT
USS Forest Rose (Act’g Lt John V. Johnson) opens a heavy bombardment upon Confederate troops
attacking Union soldiers at Waterproof, LA, forcing them to withdraw.
2.16.4
BOMBARD
The campaign against Confederate defenses on Mobile Bay begins with the bombardment of Ft Powell
by USS Octorara (Lt Cdr William W. Low, USS J. P. Jackson (Act’g Lt Miner B. Crowell), and six mortar
schooners.
2.17.4
SINKING
Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley (Lt George E. Dixon, CSA) sinks USS Housatonic (Capt. Charles W.
Pickering) off Charleston with a spar torpedo—the first submarine in history to sink an enemy ship.
Dixon and his daring crew perished with their submarine in the attack.
2.17.4a
(17-19)
EXPED
Act’g Ensign J. G. Koehler (USS Tahoma) leads a boat expedition ashore near St. Marks, FL and
destroys a large Confederate salt works and a supply of salt.
25
2.21.4
EXPED
The Marine Guards of the USS Mahaska and Pawnee under Orderly Sergeants E. Green and F.
Fredrickson (respectively) land with boat howitzers at Jacksonville, FL to guard the city against an
anticipated Confederate advance in the wake of Union Army General Seymour’s defeat and retreat from
Olustee; the Marines remain ashore—covered by the gunboats—until 4 April 1864.
2.26.4
(26-27)
EXPED
Boat expedition under the command of Act’g Master E. C. Weeks (USS Tahoma) destroys a large salt
work on Goose Creek, near St. Marks, FL.
2.29.4
EXPED
Lt William B. Cushing leads two boats from USS Monticello in a nighttime raid on Smithville, NC, in an
attempt to capture Gen’l Louis Hebert of the Confederate Army. Cushing manages to locate the general’s
quarters in the middle of town—and only fifty yards from the barracks—but is disappointed to find the
general absent at Wilmington. He returned to his ship with Capt Kelly, CSA, instead.
March 1864
3.1.4
(1-2)
SUPPORT
At the request of Brigadier Gen’l Henry W. Wessells, Lt Cdr Flusser in double-ender USS Southfield with
tinclad USS Whitehead provides covering fire that allows Army steamer Bombshell to escape a rebel battery
that had cut her off in the Chowan River above Petty Shore, NC.
3.2.4
BOMBARD
A squadron comprised of USS Fort Hindman, Ouachita, Osage, and Lexington steams up the Ouachita River
to Harrisonburg, LA, bombarding and, landing a party of sailors and Marines, burns the town. Fort
Hindman engages shore batteries below the town and is damaged in the action.
MoH: J. Duncan, W. Johnston, H. Molloy
3.5.4
EXPED
Cdr John Taylor Wood, CSN, with fifteen men in open barges, leads an early morning raid on the Unionheld telegraph station at Cherry Point, VA after crossing Chesapeake Bay in the night. Unaware that the
station had been taken, Union Army steamers AEolus and Titan, put into shore and are also captured.
Wood destroys the telegraph station, disables and bonds AEolus, and steams up the Piankatank River in
Titan.
3.5.4a
SUPPORT
Heavy gunfire from USS Petrel (Act’g Master Thomas McElroy) and Marmora (Act’g Master Thomas
Gibson) drives off a Confederate attack on Yazoo City, MS. The Navy’s contribution included a landed
boat howitzer, whose crew of sailors fought hand-to-hand to save their gun.
MoH: W. Franks, B. Laffey, J. Stoddard:
3.6.4
SHIP2SHIP
USS Memphis (Act’g Master Robert O. Patterson) is saved by a faulty torpedo when First Assistant
Engineer Tomb, CSN, attacks her in a “David” torpedo boat in the North Edisto River near
Charleston. Tomb made two passes at the warship, striking Memphis both times with the 95 pound spar
torpedo, but it failed to detonate on both attempts. Damaged by collision with Memphis in his second
attempt and under heavy fire, Tomb came about and returned to Charleston.
3.6.4a
SINKING
USS Peterhoff (Act’g Lt Thomas Pickering) sinks off New Inlet, NC after being accidentally rammed by
USS Mount Vernon.
3.12.4
JOINT
Rear Adm Porter’s gunboats move up the Red River to open a two-month campaign to gain a foothold
in Texas. On this day, the gunboats remove obstructions below Ft DeRussy and cover Army landings
along the Atchafalaya River at Simmesport, LA.
3.14.4
JOINT
Fort DeRussy on the Red River, LA falls to combined Union forces.
3.16.4
EXPED
USS Osage (Lt Cdr Selfridge) arrives off Alexandria, LA and occupies the town prior to the arrival of
Major Gen’l Banks' Army, which is delayed by heavy rains.
3.25.4
SUPPORT
USS Peosta (Act’g Lt Thomas E. Smith) and USS Paw Paw (Act’g Lt A. Frank O'Neil) halt a heavy
Confederate assault on Northern positions at Paducah, KY. After forcing the rebels to withdraw, the
gunboats also drove Southern sharpshooters from nearby buildings, where they had been sniping at
Union troops.
3.28.4
SINKING
USS Kingfisher (Act’g Master John C. Dutch) ran aground and was wrecked in St. Helena Sound, SC.
3.29.4
(29-30)
EXPED
A boat expedition led by Act’g Master James M. Williams (USS Commodore Barney) with a detachment of
sailors from USS Minnesota, ascends Chuckatuck Creek late at night, quietly surrounds a Confederate
headquarters at Cherry Grove, VA, and captures twenty prisoners.
April 1864
4.9.4
SHIP2SHIP
Confederate torpedo boat Squib (Lt Hunter Davidson) makes a successful attack against USS Minnesota
(Lt Cdr John H. Upshur) off Newport News, VA. The “tremendous explosion” of her spar torpedo and
the roll of Minnesota when it detonated made the Yankee sailors think she was going down; in reality, little
26
damage resulted.
4.12.4
BOMBARD
As Rear Adm Porter's gunboats retraced their course down the Red River from Springfield Landing, LA,
Confederate guns take them under heavy fire from the high bluffs overlooking the river. At Blair’s
Landing, dismounted cavalry supported by artillery, attacks the Union fleet for over an hour until Navy
gunfire drives them off. This engagement marks the first appearance of a unique device: the periscope.
Officers protected behind the iron walls of the gunboats found it almost impossible to target their ship’s
guns on the towering bluffs when sighting through the narrow view slits. Chief Engineer Thomas
Doughty of USS Osage solved this problem by designing the first periscope.
4.12.4a
SUPPORT
Gunboat USS New Era (Act’g Master James Marshall) attempts to stop Confederate Major Gen’l Nathan
B. Forrest’s assault on Ft Pillow, TN. Although initially successful, by afternoon the rebels mounted an
overwhelming attack and carried the fort. When the fort’s guns were turned on the small gunboat,
Marshall was forced to withdraw.
4.14.4
SUPPORT
A Confederate assault on the Union garrison at Paducah is repelled by gunboats USS Peosta (Lt Cdr
James W. Shirk), Key West (Act’g Lt Edward M. King), Fairplay (Act’g Master George J. Groves), and
Victory (Act’g Master Frederick Read).
4.15.4
SINKING
USS Eastport (Lt Cdr Phelps) strikes a Confederate torpedo in the Red River some miles below Grand
Ecore. Phelps immediately ran Eastport into shoal water where she grounded. For six days Phelps,
assisted by other gunboats in the river, attempted to bail and pump out the water. At last, 21 April, he
was able to get underway with carpenters working day and night to close the leak. In the next five days
Eastport moved 60 miles downstream while grounding eight times. Finally, on 26 April, with the ironclad
again grounded, Rear Adm Porter ordered Phelps to transfer his men to USS Ft Hindman and destroy
Eastport.
4.17.4
SUPPORT
Confederate troops launch a sustained land attack on Plymouth, NC, which is driven back with the help
of Union gunboats Southfield and Miami under Lt Cdr Flusser.
4.18.4
RAID
A landing party from the USS Commodore Reed destroys a Confederate supply depot at Circus Point on
the Rappahannock River, VA.
4.19.4
SHIP2
SHIP
CSS Albemarle (Cdr Cooke) attacks Union warships off Plymouth, NC, sinking USS Southfield by
ramming her and sending Miami, Ceres, and Whitehead steaming downstream under heavy fire. The Union
guns had been ineffective against the heavy iron plating on the sloping sides of the ram.
4.19.4a
SHIP2SHIP
Closing to 150 yards before being spotted, Engineer Tomb, CSN, makes another attack on the Yankee
blockaders off Charleston in his “David.” This time he attempts to sink USS Wabash, and manages to
get within 40 yards under a hail of musket fire before heavy swells force him to turn away.
4.22.4
CAPTURE
USS Petrel (Act’g Master McElroy) is fired upon by Confederate sharpshooters and artillery and disabled
in the Yazoo River while escorting transport Freestone to attack Yazoo City. Petrel is captured and burned
by the rebels after they remove her armament and stores. (Map approximate)
4.21.4a
EXPED
Act’g Lt Joseph B. Breck leads boat crews from USS Howquah, Ft Jackson, and Niphon to destroy
Confederate salt works on Masonboro Sound, NC. Landing after dark, the sailors approached
undetected and succeeded in demolishing the works and taking 160 prisoners.
4.21.4b
EXPED
Boat crews from USS Ethan Allan (Act’g Master Isaac A. Pennell) destroy an extensive saltwork and thirty
buildings at Cane Patch, near Murrell's Inlet, SC.
4.21.4c
EXPED
Boat expedition commanded by Act’g Master John K. Crosby from USS Cimarron destroyed a rice mill
and 5,000 bushels of rice stored at Winyah Bay, SC.
4.21.4d
EXPED
Boat expedition under Act’g Ensign Christopher Carven,(USS Sagamore) took over 100 bales of cotton
and destroyed 300 additional bales near Clay Landing, on the Suwannee River, FL.
4.22.4
CAPTURE
USS Petrel, lying near shore by Yazoo City, is attacked and captured by a section of artillery and a
detachment of sharpshooters under Colonel Griffith, CSA. Rebel fire drove the men from their guns and,
finally, forced them to abandon the vessel. The Confederates removed Petrel’s stores and eight 24-pdr
guns before burning her. John H. Nibbe, Quartermaster aboard the gunboat, stood his ground when a
shot came through the stern, raking the gun deck and entering and exploding the boilers. When all the
others had deserted the flag. Nibbe assisted in getting the wounded off the guard and proceeded to get
ready to fire the ship despite the escaping steam from the boilers at which time he was surrounded on all
sides by the rebels and forced to surrender. MoH: J. Nibbe
4.26.4
(26-27)
BOMBARD
Rear Adm Porter’s gunboats are attacked by Confederate infantry while preparing to blow up the
grounded USS Eastport. Withdrawing downstream on the afternoon of 26 April, Porter—in tinclad USS
Cricket (Act’g Master Henry Gorringe) with Ft Hindman (Act’g Lt John Pearce), Juliet (Act’g Master J. S.
27
Watson), and pump steamers, Champion No. 3 and No. 5—is ambushed at a bend in the river below
Deloges Bluff, LA by Confederate infantry with a battery of nineteen cannon. Struck 38 times, Cricket
drifts past the bend, and Ft Hindman and Juliet win through on the following day. Both pump boats are
lost, however—one burned and the other captured. Champion No. 3 had the sad distinction of receiving
the single most destructive cannon shot of the entire war when a 12-pdr round pierced her boiler. The
steamer was loaded with 150 fleeing slaves in addition to her crew, and the escaping superheated team
killed 100 of them immediately, with 87 more people succumbing soon thereafter.
4.29.4
BOMBARD
An expedition up the Rappahannock River including boats from USS Yankee (Act’g Lt Edward Hooker)
and USS Fuchsia, USS Freeborn and Tulip engage Confederate cavalry and destroy a camp under
construction at Carter's Creek, VA.
5.4
RAID
Lt. Henry Cochrane with his Mound City, IL Marine Guard leads several raids into Kentucky to capture
rebels and military supplies. They had intelligence that troops of Nathan Bedford Forrest were in the area
and intended on attacking the Naval Depot at Mound City.
5.2.4
(2-9)
OTHER
Rear Adm porter’s light-draft gunboats pass through the gap in a dam over rapids in the Red River at
Alexandria, LA. Falling water in the river trapped the navy squadron, but Army Colonel Bailey put
regiments from Maine and New York to work to build a wing dam that allowed water to rise above it and
afford a gap where the ships could pass over the rocks. Following eight days of heavy labor, the Navy
tinclads make their escape on this date. Pressure from the building water above the dam swept part of it
away, but Bailey renewed his efforts, built a second dam, and, with help from thousands of soldiers
pulling on tow ropes, all of Porter’s ships succeed in reaching deeper water by 13 May.
5.4.4
(4-7)
JOINT
USS Sunflower (Act’g Master Edward Van Sice), Honduras (Act’g Master John H. Platt), and J. L. Davis
(Act’g Master William Fales) participate in a combined operation to take Tampa, FL. The Union
gunboats transported soldiers and provided a naval landing party which joined in the assault.
5.5.4
SHIP2SHIP
A Confederate sortie out of Plymouth in support of a rebel army attack on New Bern, NC is blunted at
the Battle of Albemarle Sound. Although the gunfire of the Union squadron--comprised of USS
Sassacus (Lt Cdr Roe), Mattabesett (Capt. M. Smith), Wyalusing (Lt Cdr Walter W. Queen)—was ineffective
against the armor of CSS Albemarle (Cdr John W. Cooke), Sassacus managed to cause significant damage
by ramming the ironclad. The Yankees captured the steamer Bombshell (Lt Albert G. Hudgins) and
Albemarle returned to Plymouth, where she remained for several months of repairs. Confederate forces
made the planned attack on New Bern, but achieved nothing without naval support.
5.5.4a
SINKING
Confederate forces on the Red River continue their incessant attacks on Union ships below Alexandria,
taking advantage of the main body of Adm Porter’s squadron being stuck above the rapids. A large body
of rebel infantry with two pieces of artillery open fire on USS Covington (Act’g Lt George P. Lord), USS
Signal (Act’g Lt Edward Morgan), and transport Warner near Dunn's Bayou, LA. Warner, losing control
and running aground, was captured. Covington, after exhausting her ammunition, was burned; and Signal,
crippled and left on her own, surrendered. The rebels sunk her to block the channel.
MoH: C. Asten, G. Butts, J. Hyland, M. McCormack, T. O’Donoghue, P. Wilkes
May 1864
SINKING
5.6.4
SINKING
While dragging for torpedoes in the James River with USS Mackinaw and Commodore Morris, USS
Commodore Jones (Act’g Lt Thomas Wade) is blown up by a 2000-pound electric torpedo. The ship was
lifted entirely out of the water and 40 sailors killed in the explosion. (Map approximate)
5.6.4a
(6-7)
SHIP2
SHIP
CSS Raleigh (Flag Officer Lynch) steams out of New Inlet, NC early in the evening and engages USS
Britannia and Nansemond, forcing them to withdraw long enough for a blockade runner to escape. Early on
the morning of 7 May, Raleigh appeared again, trading shots with USS Howquah and Nansemond. When
USS Mount Vernon and Kansas also opened on the ram, Lynch broke off the action. Raleigh grounded while
attempting to cross the bar at the Cape Fear River and was severely damaged; Lynch ordered her
destroyed.
SINKING
5.6.4b
CAPTURE
After spending a week picking up refugees along the Calcasieu River, LA, USS Granite City (Act’g
Master C.W. Lamson) and USS Wave (Act’g Lt Benjamin A. Loring) are attacked by 350 rebel
sharpshooters with artillery, who overwhelm the Army pickets assigned to the expedition and open fire
on the boats. Granite City surrendered an hour later and Wave soon thereafter. (Map approximate)
5.6.4c
JOINT
USS Dawn (Act’g Lt John W. Simmons) lands soldiers to capture a signal station at Wilson's Wharf, VA.
When the soldiers are halted, a boat crew from Dawn spearheads the successful assault.
5.7.4
SINKING
USS Shawsheen (Act’g Ensign Charles Ringot) is disabled, captured and destroyed by Confederates in the
James River. (Map approximate)
28
5.12.4
EXPED
While on a boat expedition with Army troops looking for suspected Confederate forces around
Apalachicola, FL, Act’g Lt William Budd (USS Somerset) discovers a raiding party of Confederate sailors
about to embark on their own boat expedition to capture USS Adela. Having already landed the soldiers,
Budd and his sailors drive the rebel sailors into town and capture their boats and supplies.
5.13.4a
JOINT
USS Ceres (Act’g Master Henry H. Foster), with Army steamer Rockland and 100 embarked soldiers, raids
along the Alligator River, NC, capturing a Confederate schooner and disabling a corn mill supplying the
Southern armies. (Map approximate)
5.19.4
BOMBARD
USS General Price (Act’g Lt Richardson), forces the withdrawal of a Confederate battery on the banks of
the Mississippi River at Tunica Bend, LA, that was trying to destroy the transport Superior. Richardson
landed and burned buildings used as a headquarters by the rebels.
5.21.4
SUPPORT
USS Atlanta (Act’g Lt Thomas J. Woodward) and USS Dawn (Act’g Lt John W. Simmons) disperse
Confederate cavalry attacking Ft Powhatan on the James Rivet, VA. Dawn remained nearby through the
night to prevent another attack.
5.23.4
CAPTURE
USS Columbine (Act’g Ensign Sanborn), with soldiers aboard, is captured after a heated engagement with
rebel batteries and riflemen at Horse Landing, near Palatka, FL. The ship had lost steering control and
grounded on a mud bank, where she was an easy target for Confederate fire. The Southerners destroyed
her shortly afterward to avoid recapture.
5.24.4
SUPPORT
Accurate gunfire from wooden steamer USS Dawn (Act’g Lt Simmons) forces Confederate troops to
break off an attack on the Union Army position at Wilson's Wharf on the James River.
5.25.4
CAPTURE
Boat crew from USS Mattabesett, (Captain M. Smith), makes an unsuccessful attempt to destroy CSS
Albemarle in the Roanoke River near Plymouth, NC. After ascending the Middle River with two 100pound torpedoes, Charles Baldwin, coal heaver, and John W. Lloyd, coxswain, swam across the Roanoke
carrying a towline with which they hauled the torpedoes to the Plymouth shore. Baldwin planned to swim
down to the ram and position a torpedo on either side of her bow. Across the river, Alexander Crawford,
fireman, would then explode the weapons. However, Baldwin was discovered by a sentry when within a
few yards of Albemarle and the daring mission had to be abandoned. John Lloyd cut the guidelines and
swam back across the river to join John Laverty, fireman, who was guarding the far shore. They made
their way to the dinghy in which they had rowed upriver and, with Benjamin Lloyd, coal heaver, who had
acted as boatkeeper, made their way back to the Mattabesett. On 29 May Baldwin and Crawford,
exhausted, returned to the ship. Captain Smith reported: "I can not too highly commend this party for
their courage, zeal, and unwearied exertion in carrying out a project that had for some time been under
consideration. The plan of executing it was their own, except in some minor details. . . . As Smith
recommended, each of the five sailors was awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroic efforts. (Note:
MoH citations all list the men as serving aboard USS Wyalusing).
MoH: C. Baldwin, A. Crawford, J. Lafferty, B. Lloyd, J. Lloyd
5.25.4a
JOINT
A joint Navy-Army expedition advances up the Ashepoo and South Edisto Rivers, SC to cut the
Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Union naval forces under Lt Cdr Edward F. Stone (USS Commodore
McDonough, E.B. Hale, Dai Ching, and Vixen) push up the South Edisto and lands Marines and howitzers
that open fire on Willtown, SC. Unable to make contact with Army units that had moved up the
Ashepoo River, the landing party withdraws on the following morning.
6.2.4
EXPED
Landing party from USS Cowslip (Act’g Ensign Canfield) captures or destroys a number of sloops and
boats as well as four saltworks on a raid up Biloxi Bay, MS.
6.3.4
CAPTURE
Lt Thomas P. Pelot, CSN, leads a boat expedition of 130 officers and men that surprises and captures
USS Water Witch (Lt Cdr Austin Pendergrast) in an early morning raid off Ossabaw Island, GA. Water
Witch was taken into the Vernon River and moored above the obstructions guarding Savannah.
6.8.4
BOMBARD
Lt Cdr Ramsay (USS Chillicothe) with USS Neosho (Act’g Lt Howard) and USS Port Hindman (Act’g Lt
Pearce) engages a rebel battery above Simmesport, LA on the Atchafalaya River. A landing party
captured the guns after the Confederates were forced to withdraw.
6.9.4
OTHER
Thomas Harding served as captain of the forecastle on board the USS Dacotah on the occasion of the
destruction of the blockade runner Pevensey, near Beauford, N.C., 9 June 1864. "Learning that one of the
officers in the boat, which was in danger of being, and subsequently was, swamped, could not swim,
Harding remarked to him: 'If we are swamped, sir, I shall carry you to the beach or I will never go there
myself.' He did not succeed in carrying out his promise, but made desperate efforts to do so, while others
thought only of themselves. Such conduct is worthy of appreciation and admiration--a sailor risking his
own life to save that of an officer." MoH: T. Harding
June 1864
29
6.12.4
SINKING
USS Lavender (Act’g Master John H. Gleason) strikes a shoal off NC in a squall and sinks. (Approx.)
6.19.4
SHIP2SHIP
USS Kearsarge (Capt Winslow) sinks Confederate raider CSS Alabama (Capt Raphael Semmes) off
Cherbourg, France. Semmes and thirteen of his officers and 27 men are picked up in English yacht
Deerhound and make good their escape to England.
MoH: M. Aheam, J. Bickford, W. Bond, J. Haley, M. Ham, G. Harrison, J. Hayes, J. Lee, C. Moore, J.
Pease, T. Perry, W. Poole, C. Read, G. Read, J. Saunders, W. Smith, R. Strahan
6.20.4
SUPPORT
Union gunboats bombard and break up Confederate batteries and troop concentrations at White House
and Cumberland, VA, preventing them from harassing Union transports along the river.
6.20.4a
(20-24)
SUPPORT
USS Calypso (Act’g Master Frederick D. Stuart) and USS Nansemond (Act’g Ensign James H. Porter) land
Union troops near New River, NC on an expedition to cut the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad. The
rebels learned of the attempt, however, and the forced the withdrawal of the Federals under cover of the
Navy’s guns. (Map approximate)
6.21.4
JOINT
A joint Confederate Navy-Army long-range bombardment opens on the Union squadron in the James
River at Trent's and Varina Reaches. Engine problems aboard Virginia II delayed the deployment of
the James River Squadron and kept it from closing to effective range. Little damage was done to either
fleet, as the Federal vessels concentrated on the rebel shore batteries. The rebel fleet included Virginia II
(Flag Officer Mitchell), Fredericksburg (Cdr Rootes), Hampton (Lt John S. Maury), Nansemond (Lt Charles
W. Hayes), and Drewry (Lt William H. Hall), Roanoke (Lt Mortimer M. Beton), and tug Beaufort (Lt Joseph
Gardner). CSS Richmond (Lt W. H. Parker) was kept out of action due to mechanical failure.
6.23.4
(23-24)
EXPED
Lt Cushing leads seventeen men from USS Monticello on a reconnoissance up the Cape Fear River to
within three miles of Wilmington, NC, rowing past the batteries defending the river on the night of 23
June and hiding along the shore after dawn. The reconnaissance party remained in the area for two days
and two nights, cutting telegraph wires, intercepting mails, and capturing a large group of prisoners.
Cushing was able to verify that CSS Raleigh had, indeed, been wrecked as the result of the engagement on
6 May. MoH: J. Sullivan, D. Warren, W. Wright
6.24.4
SINKING
USS Queen City (Act’g Master Michael Hickey) is attacked and taken by Confederate cavalry while lying at
anchor off Clarendon, AR. The rebels destroyed her.
7.3.4
JOINT
Thirty Marines armed with two light howitzers aid the Army in their fight with Confederates on the
Dawho River, White Point, SC.
7.7.4
(7-12)
JOINT
USS Ariel (Act’g Master Russell), Sea Bird (Act’g Ensign Ezra L. Robbins), Stonewall (Act’g Master Henry
B. Carter), and Rosalie (Act’g Master Coffin), take part in joint operations against Brookville and
Bayport, FL.
7.11.4
EXPED
Landing party from USS James L. Davis (Act’g Master Griswold) destroys Confederate salt works near
Tampa, FL. (Map approximate)
7.12.4
JOINT
USS Whitehead (Act’g Ensign George W. Barrett) and USS Ceres (Act’g Master Foster) with transport
steamer Ella May conduct a joint expedition up the Scuppernong River to Columbia, NC, which
destroys a bridge and a quantity of grain.
7.22.4
EXPED
Lt Charles S. Cotton and Act’g Ensign John L. Hall lead a landing party from USS Oneida on a night raid
to capture a Confederate cavalry patrol near Ft Morgan, Mobile Bay. After taking the Confederate
prisoner, the sailors marched four miles inland and destroyed the patrol’s camp as well.
7.25.4
SINKING
USS Undine (Act’g Master John L. Bryant) strikes a snag and sinks in the Tennessee River near Clifton,
TN. Bryant removes the guns from his ship and places them ashore to help defend the city from
threatened attack. With the help of pump steamer Little Champion, Bryant is able to raise Undine on 31 July
and return her to service.
7.30.4
EXPED
Landing party from USS Potomska (Act’g Lt Robert P. Swann) destroys two large Confederate salt works
near the Back River, GA.
July 1864
August 1864
8.1.4
(1-4)
EXPED
Landing party of 115 officers and men under Cdr George M. Colvocoresses raids a meeting of civilians
forming a coastal guard at McIntosh Court House, GA. Colvocoresses marched his men overland after
coming ashore during the night of 2 August, destroyed a bridge to prevent being cut off by Confederate
cavalry, and captured some 26 prisoners and 22 horses before making his way safely back to USS Saratoga.
8.5.4
SHIP2
Rear Adm Farragut leads a squadron of eighteen ships (including four monitors) into heavily defended
30
SHIP
Mobile Bay. Forced to pass close by Ft Morgan, Farragut formed the monitors (USS Tecumseh,
Manhattan, Winnebago, and Chickasaw) in line between the fort and his wooden vessels. These were lashed
two-by-two, with the lighter ships to port. Adm Franklin Buchanan led a squadron of Confederate ships
against Farragut: the heavy ram Tennessee and smaller ships Gaines, Selma, and Morgan. Dashing straight for
Tennessee, USS Tecumseh (Cdr T.A.M. Craven) strikes a torpedo and sinks with 90 of its 114 officers and
men. Included among these is Cdr Craven, who gallantly pauses at the foot of the ladder leading to the
main deck to allow his pilot to precede him. Seeing this, Farragut—lashed in the rigging to better observe
the action—encourages his men to “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” His flagship, Hartford,
surged into the rows of mines—none of which detonated. For the next few hours, the smaller
Confederate ships are knocked out of the battle one by one: Selma (Lt Peter U. Murphey) surrendered,
Morgan (Cdr George W. Harrison) retreated under Ft Morgan’s guns, and Gaines (Lt John W. Bennett)
sunk. Adm Buchanan fought his ship until 10a.m., when it became apparent that he could not prevail
against the combined shelling and repeated ramming by the Union vessels, and surrendered. Farragut’s
attention then turned to the forts that defended the bay. Ft Powell was evacuated after a shelling from
USS Chickasaw (Lt Cdr George H. Perkins) and Gaines and Morgan would follow suit soon thereafter.
This action closed the last major Gulf port available to the Confederacy.
The Confederates might have had a submarine active during the Battle of Mobile Bay, the CSS Capt
Pierce. When the few survivors from Tecumseh were picked up, included among them was a trio of
Confederate sailors, who claimed to have been aboard the Pierce and targeting one of the surviving
ironclads. They believed they had missed--but maybe not. Beneath the wreck of the Tecumseh is
supposedly an unidentified mass of metal that might be the Pierce. The sailors said that the shock of the
explosion of their torpedo destroyed their submarine, evidently by exploding the boiler. This is borne out
by the fact that one of the men had scalded his legs. If true, this would be the second instance of a
Confederate submarine sinking an enemy surface ship in combat. It also means the rebels built a steampowered submarine. (Source: Submarine Warfare in the Civil War, M. Ragan)
MoH: T. Atkinson, J. Avery, C. Baker, W. Blagheen, J. Brazell, J. Brown, R. Brown, W. Brown, W.
Brown, J. Burns, W. Carr, M. Cassidy, J. Chandler, L. Chaput, J. Cooper, T. Cripps, C. Cronin, S. Davis,
C. Deakin, H. Denig, R. Dennis, W. Densmore, B. Diggins, J. Donnelly, W. Doolen, P. Dougherty, A.
Duncan, R. Dunphy, J. Edwards, T. Fitzpatrick, M. Freeman, W. Gardner, J. Garrison, W. Halstead, H.
Hamilton, J. Harris, T. Hayes, M. Hudson, J. Irlam, J. Irving, N. Irwin, J. James, H. Johnson, A. Jones, J.
Jones, W. Jones, T. Jordan, T. Kendrick, B. Kenna, S. Kinnaird, J. Lawson, J. Machon, A. Mack, W.
Madden, E. Martin, J. Martin, A. McCullock, J. McFarland, J. McIntosh, C. Melville, J. Mifflin, A. Miller,
J. Morgan, P. Murphy, D. Naylor, W. Newland, W. Nichols, D. Noble, T. O’Connell, M. Oviatt, G.
Parks, W. Pelham, W. Phinney, J. Preston, E. Price, J. Roantree, J. Seanor, H. Sharp, J. Sheridan, L.
Simkins, J. Smith, J. Smith, J. Smith, O. Smith, W. Smith, W. Smith, D. Sprowle, W. Stanley, J. Sterling,
G. Taylor, T. Taylor, S. Todd, A. Truett, J. Ward, W. Wells, D. Whitfield, C. Woram, E. Young
8.6.4
OTHER
CSS Tallahassee (Cdr Wood) runs out of Wilmington harbor, eluding the blockaders, and embarks on one
of the most destructive commerce raiding cruises of the war. In only two weeks, Wood will capture or
destroy thirty ships along the New England coast.
8.6.4a
OTHER
Brevet Lt. Colonel Charles Heywood and twenty-five Marines of the USS Hartford and USS Richmond
occupied Fort Powell, Mobile, AL.
8.8.4
BOMBARD
Col. Charles D. Anderson, CSA, surrenders Ft Gaines in Mobile Bay, explaining to Adm Farragut his
“inability to maintain my present position longer than you may see fit to open upon me with your fleet.”
8.8.4a
SINKING
USS Violet (Act’g Ensign Thomas Stothard) runs aground off the western bar at Cape Fear River, NC,
and is destroyed.
8.8.4a
EXPED CSN
John Maxwell and R. K. Dillard, members of the Confederate Torpedo Corps, plant a clockwork torpedo
containing twelve pounds of powder on a Union transport at City Point, VA. The resulting explosion
rocks the entire area and causes a chain reaction that spread the barges to the buildings onshore. Gen’l
Grant reported “Every part of the yard used as my headquarters is filled with splinters and fragments of
shell.” Maxwell and Dillard had simply walked through the Union supply base and convinced the guard
that they had been instructed to deliver a box aboard—which they had!
8.10.4
(10-11)
BOMBARD
USS Romeo (Act’g Master Thomas Baldwin) and USS Prairie Bird (Act’g Master Thomas Burns) engage a
secretly-erected Confederate battery near Gaines Landing, AR on the Mississippi. Transport Empress
was subjected to a withering fire that killed her captain and disabled the ship, at which point Romeo
opened fire and towed Empress to safety. On 11 August, the battery opened fire on Prairie Bird, which
was quickly joined by Romeo; together the ships forced the rebels to withdraw their guns—but not until
all three vessels involved had take severe damage: Empress alone was struck 63 times.
8.16.4
EXPED
Cdr George Colvocoresses (USS Saratoga) leads sailors and marines on a daring small boat raid into
McIntosh County, GA, destroying two saltworks, and burning the strategic bridge across the South
31
Newport River on the main road to Savannah. The party returned to Saratoga on the 19th, along with 107
prisoners.
8.17.4
SUPPORT
Ironclads CSS Virginia II (Lt Johnston) and CSS Richmond (Lt J. S. Maury) bombard Federal position on
Signal Hill along the James River at the request of Gen’l Robert E. Lee. The naval gunfire drives the
Yankees off and allows Lee’s men to occupy the hill.
8.22.4
(22-24)
EXPED
A raid on the Satilla and White rivers in GA by boats from USS Potomska (Act’g Lt Swann) captures
prisoners and destroys over 2,000 barrels of rosin and turpentine. (Map approximate)
8.23.4
BOMBARD
Having endured two weeks of naval bombardment, Ft Morgan—the last Confederate bastion in Mobile
Bay—surrenders.
8.25.4
OTHER
Confederate raider CSS Tallahassee (Cdr Wood) runs the blockade into Wilmington. In a cruise cut short
by lack of coal, Wood took some 31 prizes.
September 1864
9.8.4
(8-9)
EXPED
The magnitude and importance of coastal salt-distillation to the Confederacy may be gauged by a two-day
raid conducted by USS Rodolph and Stockdale on this date. Under orders from Adm Farragut, Act’g Lt
George Wiggin led the ships over the bar and up the Bon Secours River to Salt House Point. The
saltworks were so extensive that, even undefended, it took the sailors until late afternoon of the following
day. Wiggin reported that some of the works were very strong and well-constructed, and that two of
them cost $50,000 and $60,000 apiece. In all, there were 55 furnaces capable of supplying 2000 bushels of
salt per day.
9.9.4
EXPED
A landing party from the CSS Albemarle burns mail steamer Fawn on the Albemarle and Chesapeake
Canal. (Map approximate)
9.19.4
CUTTING
OUT CSN
Act’g Master John Yates Beall, CSN, leads 19 raiders in an attempt to capture USS Michigan (Cdr J. C.
Carter) on Lake Erie and free Confederate prisoners held on Johnson’s Island near Sandusky, OH. Beall
and his men boarded civilian steamer Philo Parsons in Detroit and seized her en route to Sandusky. Taking
the ship to Middle Bass Island to land the passengers and cargo, Beall captured steamer Island Queen when
she approached. He burned Queen and steamed for Sandusky in Parsons. Unbeknownst to Beall, the agent
sent to try and bribe the officers of Michigan (Capt. Charles H. Cole, CSA), had grown suspicious of him
and put him under arrest. Not seeing the prearranged signals from Cole, Beall and his men reluctantly but
wisely turned for Sandwich, Ontario, Canada, where Parsons was stripped and burned.
9.21.4
OTHER
On the night of 21 September, a fire broke out in a box of signal flares in the magazine lightroom of USS
Montauk, stationed off Charleston as part of the blockade squadron. While panic seized most of the crew,
Gunner’s Mate James Horton rushed into the cabin, obtained the magazine keys, sprang into the
lightroom and began passing out combustibles. First Class Fireman John Rountry forced his way through
the crowd of fleeing sailors with hose in hand and extinguished the flames. Captain of the Foretop
Charles H. Weeks “displayed great presence of mind and rendered valuable service in extinguishing the
flames which were imperiling the ship and the men on board.” MoH: J. Horton, J. Rountry, C. Weeks
9.23.4
SINKING
USS Antelope (Act’g Master John Ross) strikes a snag in the Mississippi River below New Orleans and
sinks. (Map approximate)
9.24.4
EXPED
Under tow of USS Mercury, Act’g Master William T. Street leads armed boats up Stutt’s Creek to Milford
Haven, VA to investigate reports of Confederate preparations to attack the blockading squadron at the
mouth of the Piankatank River. Three miles upstream a force of forty sailors was landed under Act’g
Master William A. Arthur and Act’g Ensign Philip Sheridan, who discover and destroy four rebel boats
and capture five others.
9.25.4
CAPTURE
Boatswain’s Mates William C. Connor and Alexander Robinson served on board the USS Howquah on the
occasion of the destruction of the blockade runner Lynx, off Wilmington, 25 September 1864.
Performing their duty faithfully under the most trying circumstances, they stood firmly at their posts in
the midst of a crossfire from the rebel shore batteries and from Navy vessels.
MoH: W. Connor, A. Robinson
9.29.4
CAPTURE
Act’g Master John C. Braine, CSN, seizes civilian steamer Roanoke, out of Havana bound for New York,
off the Cuban coast. Braine and his small band of Confederates take the ship to Bermuda, hoping to
smuggle supplies and coal off the island and into a Southern port. Deciding that they will not be able to
break through the blockade, Braine and his men burn Roanoke off the Bermuda coast. Although
detained by the British for infringing on neutral rights, Braine is later released to again fight the Union.
(Map approximate)
32
9.29.4a
(29-1)
SUPPORT
Confederate Flag Officer Mitchell’s James River Squadron support Southern troops in attacks against Ft
Harrison, Chaffin's Farm, James River, VA. Though the Confederates failed to retake Ft Harrison, the
gunfire from Mitchell's ships prevents Union soldiers from capturing Chaffin's Bluff.
October 1864
10.1.4
CAPTURE
Capt. W. F. Brown, CSMC, and Lt Marcus J. Beebee, CSN, lead ten sailors and marines dressed as
civilians aboard steamer Ike Davis and capture her off Brazos, TX. The Confederates take their prize into
Matagorda Bay, TX.
10.5.4
(5-6)
EXPED
Boat expedition from USS Restless (Act’g Ensign Henry Eason) destroys large salt works on St. Andrew's
Bay, FL, along with 150 buildings used to house the compound and its employees.
10.7.4
SHIP2SHIP
The career of Confederate raider CSS Florida (Lt Morris) comes to an end when Cdr Napoleon Collins
rams USS Wachusett into her while she rides at anchor in Bahia harbor, Brazil. Collins steamed past the
Brazilian batteries, the Marine guard exchanging musket fire with them, rammed the Confederate raider,
and fired two shots into her. Florida surrenders and, under fire from the shore batteries, Collins tows
Florida north to Hampton Roads, where he arrives on 12 November. Ordered returned to the Brazilian
government, the captured ship “mysteriously” sank.
10.10.4
JOINT
While on a joint expedition to occupy Eastport, MS and secure the Tennessee River against the crossing
of Gen’l Forrest’s rebel cavalry, USS Key West, (Act’g Lt King), USS Undine (Act’g Master Bryant), and
transports City of Pekin, Kenton, and Aurora, are ambushed by Confederate shore batteries as the Union
troops disembark. The gunboats returned fire while the infantry scrambled back into their transports and
the Federal force withdrew.
10.13.4
(13-15)
EXPED
Boat expedition from USS Braziliera (Act’g Master Gillespie) and USS Mary Sanford (Act’g Master
Zaccheus Kempton) free a number of slaves from a plantation on White Oak Creek, GA, and engage a
company of Confederate cavalry at Yellow Bluff.
10.19.4
(19-20)
EXPED
Boat expedition under Act’g Master George E. Hill (USS Stars and Stripes) destroys an extensive
Confederate fishery on Marsh’s Island in the Ocklockonee River in Western Florida, capturing a
detachment of soldiers assigned to guard the works.
10.25.4
REPRISAL
Houses, barns, and outbuildings used by the home guards of Northumberland County while firing on
vessels of the Potomac Flotilla are burned by an expedition from USS Don, (Cdr F. A. Parker), which
landed at Fleet's Point, in the Great Wicomico River, VA.
10.27.4
SINKING
Lt William Barker Cushing uses a spar torpedo deployed from the bow of Picket Boat No. 1 to destroy
CSS Albemarle at Plymouth, NC on the Roanoke River. Cushing had hoped to board and capture the
rebel ironclad, but, being spotted by sentries, bore in, rode over a protecting log boom, and exploded his
torpedo beneath the warship’s waterline. With a gaping hole in her port quarter, Albemarle sank rapidly.
Cushing and a single sailor escaped; the remainder of the crew were captured or killed.
MoH: L. Denning, D. George, R. Hamilton, B. Harley, E. Houghton, R. King, H. Wilkes
10.29.4
(29-31)
EXPED
Capitalizing on Lt Cushing's success in destroying CSS Albemarle, Cdr Macomb moves upon Plymouth,
NC, capturing the town and its defenses after a heated engagement. A landing party from USS Wyalusing
entered Ft Williams, captured prisoners, and raised the Stars and Stripes over Plymouth.
MoH: H. Brutsche, P. Colbert, R. Graham, H. Martin
10.30.4
CAPTURE
Confederate batteries on the Tennessee River near Johnsonville, TN, fire on and capture USS Undine
(Act’g Master Bryant) and transports Venus and Cheeseman, after a sharp engagement. The attacking
Southern troops, operating in territory long under Union control, were part of Gen’l Nathan B. Forrest's
cavalry, who were attempting to cross the Tennessee River and join forces with Gen’l Hood for the largescale Confederate assault on Tennessee.
November 1864
11.2.4
SHIP2
SHIP
Paddle-wheelers USS Key West (Act’g Lt King) and USS Tawah (Act’g Lt Jason Goudy), encounter CSS
Undine and Venus on the Tennessee River. Venus was retaken in the running engagement, but Undine
escaped to the protection of Confederate batteries at Reynoldsburg Island, near Johnsonville, TN.
11.4.4
SINKING
Paddle-wheelers USS Key West (Act’g Lt King), USS Tawah (Act’g Lt Goudy), and small steamer USS Elfin
(Act’g Master Augustus F. Thompson), are destroyed in an engagement with Confederate batteries off
Johnsonville, TN, along with several transport steamers and a large quantity of supplies. The
Confederates (under Nathan Bedford Forrest) lose the recently-captured Undine in the battle, as well as
failing to capture the union supply base intact.
33
11.11.4
CAPTURE
Cdr Henry K. Davenport (USS Lancaster) captures Confederates led by Act’g Master Thomas E. Hogg,
CSN, on board steamer Salvador, bound from Panama to California, after having been informed that
they intended to seize the ship at sea and convert her into a raider.
11.27.4
SUPPORT
USS Vindicator (Act’g Lt Gorringe) and USS Prairie Bird (Act’g Master Burns) transport and cover a Union
cavalry raid on Confederate communications in western Mississippi. Thirty miles of track and a railroad
bridge over the Big Black River east of Vicksburg are destroyed. (Map approximate)
11.28.64 CAPTURE
Coxswain Oliver O’Brien of the USS John Adams takes part in the boarding of the blockade runner
Beatrice while under heavy enemy fire from Fort Moultrie. O'Brien, who was in charge of one of the
boarding launches, carried out his duties with prompt and energetic conduct. This action resulted in the
firing of the Beatrice and the capture of a quantity of supplies from her. MoH: O. O’Brien
11.30.4
Naval Brigade under Cdr George H. Preble composed of 350 sailors and 150 Marines from ships of the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, join in an Army actions at Honey Hill and, on 5 December, at
Tulifinny Crossroads near Grahamville, SC. The joint operation is intended to cut the CharlestonSavannah Railroad and make contact with Gen’l Sherman. Preble’s force is divided into one artillery and
two infantry battalions, and operates ashore until 28 December. Although the expedition fails to cut the
Savannah-Charleston railroad, it succeeded in diverting Confederate troops opposing Sherman's march
across Georgia.
In the action of 30 November, the Fleet Brigade and Army clashed with Confederate cavalry and militia
units. They drove the Confederates back until they reached the enemy’s defensive line. The Marine
Battalion moved to the far right of the line along with the 55th Massachusetts, moving through swamps
and woods and relieved the 144th New York. There they engaged the Confederates for three hours. Late
that evening, the whole Federal force withdrew. The Marine Battalion provided cover for the withdrawal
of the forces.
On 5 December, the Naval Brigade fought at Tulifinny Crossroads. Army troops tried to cut the
Savannah-Charleston Railway and attempted to link up with General Sherman. The fleet’s gunboats fired
on the defensive works along the Coosawatachie River while the sailors and Marines fought a continuous
action against Confederate forces through rain and swamps.
EXPED
December 1864
12.2.4
(2-6)
JOINT
Joint Navy-Army expedition, including sailors from USS Chicopee (Cdr Abram D. Harrell), captures and
burns a large quantity of Confederate supplies at Pitch Landing on the Chowan River, NC.
12.3.4
EXPED
Boats from USS Nita, Stars and Stripes, Hendrick Hudson, Ariel, and Two Sisters under Act’g Lt Robert B.
Smith destroy a large salt work at Rocky Point, Tampa Bay, FL.
12.3.4a
(3-4)
BOMBARD
USS Moose (Lt Cdr Fitch), USS Carondelet (Act’g Master Charles W. Miller), USS Fairplay (Act’g Master
George J. Groves), USS Reindeer (Act’g Lt Henry A. Glassford), and USS Silver Lake (Act’g Master Joseph
C. Coyle) silence another of Major Gen’l Nathan Bedford Forrest’s field batteries at Bell’s Mills, TN,
and recapture the transports Prairie State, Prima Donna, and Magnet. In addition, Fitch was able to return to
Nashville with valuable intelligence on the composition and strength of Southern forces opposing
Thomas' right flank, information which was to prove vital in the coming battle for Nashville. (Note: Bell’s
Mills is just southwest of Nashville on the Cumberland River; so close, no separate dot)
12.5.4
CUTTING
OUT CSN
Act’g Master William A. Hines, CSN, leads a boarding party and takes tug Lizzie Freeman near Smithfield,
VA, shortly before midnight.
12.6.4
BOMBARD
Lt Cdr Fitch leads USS Neosho (Act’g Lt Howard) and steamers USS Fairplay, Silver Lake, and Moose and
several army transports against Confederate batteries near Bell's Mills, TN on the Cumberland River.
After two and a half hours—in which time ironclad Neosho was struck over a hundred times with no real
damage—Fitch disengaged as he could elevate his guns enough to do sufficient damage. Returning later
in the day and attacking from another angle, he dismounted several of the guns.
MoH: J. Ditzenback, J. Ferrel
12.7.4
SINKING
USS Narcissus (Act’g Ensign William G. Jones) strikes a Confederate torpedo off Mobile and sinks.
12.9.4
SINKING
While part of a major expedition from Plymouth, NC to attack fortifications at Rainbow Bluff on the
Roanoke River, USS Otsego (Lt Cdr Arnold) and tug Bazely are both sunk by mines near Jamesville, NC.
Lt Cdr Arnold and part of his crew remained on board the partially sunken Otsego to cover that portion of
the river with her guns that remained above water.
12.10.4
(10-12)
SUPPORT
Flag Officer Hunter leads CSS Macon (Lt Kennard), CSS Sampson (Lt William W. Carnes), and CSS Resolute
(Act’g Master's Mate William D. Oliveira) in a bombardment of Union shore batteries at Tweedside
(Colerain Plantation) on the Savannah River, which blocked his way to reach and aid in the defense of
34
Savannah, GA. On 12 December, CSS. Resolute, abandoned, and captured, and Hunter withdrew
upstream to Augusta.
12.14.4
(14-21)
SUPPORT
Union gunboats aid in the capture of Forts Beaulieu and Rose-dew in Ossabaw Sound, GA, the outer
defenses of Savannah, shelling them until they are abandoned by the Confederates.
12.15.4
EXPED
Act’g Master William G. Morris leads USS Coeur de Lion and USS Mercury in an expedition up the Coan
River, VA, seizing and burning more than thirty large boats which the Confederates had been massing
and driving off the defenders.
12.15.4a SUPPORT
(15-16)
In an unusual example of combined arms, seven gunboats under Lt Cdr Fitch coordinate with Union
cavalry in the Battle of Nashville, repeatedly shelling Confederate batteries to drive them into retreat
towards Federal cavalry or holding their attention while the Yankee cavalry encircled them.
12.19. 4
SINKING
The advance of Union Gen’l Sherman’s troops upon Savannah, GA forces the Confederates to burn CSS
Water Witch in the Vernon River to prevent her recapture by the Federals.
12.20.4
SINKING
Union expedition under Lt Cdr Macomb to attack fortifications at Rainbow Bluff (Ft Branch) in the
Roanoke River, NC, is abandoned in the face of rebel batteries on the bluffs and torpedoes in the river—
at times, up to forty mines were found at a single bend in the stream. USS Otsego (see 12.09.64) is
destroyed as the squadron withdraws.
12.23.4
BOMBARD
An all-volunteer crew from USS Agawam mans USS Louisiana, which had been packed with explosives
and turned into a powder boat, in an attempt to destroy Fort Fisher. Louisiana is towed by USS Wilderness
under cover of darkness and cast off to drift to within 250 yards of the beach. After setting fuses, the
men from Agawam set a short anchor by the bow (to ensure the boat would beach herself stern-first),
boarded Wilderness and proceeded a distance of 12 miles from shore. Less than two hours later the
explosion took place. Although fires were reportedly “still burning” at dawn on the 24 th, the explosion
caused no damage to the earthwork fortress. MoH: C. Bibber, D. Conlan, W. Garvin, C. Hawkins, W.
Hinnecan, R. Montgomery, J. Neil, C. Rice, J. Roberts, J. Sullivan
12.24.4
RAID
Lt. Church, USMC, USS Cincinnati, leads a raid and destroys a fort at Chickasaw, AL, north of Mobile.
12.25.4
SUPPORT
Naval forces under the command of Rear Adm Porter and Army units under Major Gen’l Butler launch
an unsuccessful attack against Ft Fisher. Porter’s ships had bombarded the fort the day before in
anticipation of the assault, but Army transports had arrived too late in the day. The Navy bombardment
resumes on Christmas Day and the troops land under cover of the guns. After approaching the fort,
however, Army commanders decide it is too strong to be taken with the 2000 men on hand—and
withdraw. Seven hundred men left stranded on the beach by worsening weather are closely protected by
Union gunboats until they can be taken off on 27 December.
12.27.4
CUTTING
OUT
Act’g Ensign N. A. Blume of USS Virginia cuts out blockade runner Belle in Galveston harbor shortly
after midnight, boldly sailing the cotton-laden schooner past the Confederate guard boat Lecompte
anchored only 400 yards away.
12.30.4
SINKING
USS Rattler (Act’g Master Willets) parted her cables in a gale, ran ashore, struck a snag and sank in the
Mississippi River near Grand Gulf, MS.
January 1865
1.1.5
SINKING
USS San Jacinto (Capt. Richard W. Meade) runs on a reef at Green Turtle Cay, Abaco, in the Bahamas,
and is abandoned.
1.5.5
EXPED
Act’g Ensign Michael Murphy (USS Winnebago) leads a boat expedition and seizes copper kettles used for
distilling turpentine, 1300 pounds of copper pipes, and four boats at Bon Secours Bay, AL.
1.13.5
(13-15)
JOINT
The second amphibious assault on Ft Fisher begins early in the morning on this date. Against 1,500
Confederate defenders under Col Lamb, the Union arrayed 59 warships and a landing force of 8,000
soldiers and 2,260 sailors and marines. The Union ships blasted the fort in an all-day bombardment, with
USS New Ironsides leading the monitors Saugus, Canonicus, Monadnock, and Mahopac to within 1000 yards of
the fort. Gen’l Terry landed his soldiers to the north of the fort unopposed and threw up a line of
defenses to guard against attack by the 6000 rebels in Wilmington. On the morning of 14 January, the
fleet reopened the bombardment, throwing 100 shells a minute into the rapidly-deteriorating fort in
another day-long bombardment. On 15 January the naval gunfire resumed until 3pm, when 4,000 Union
soldiers and the entire naval landing party attacked. Terry’s men assaulted the western face of the fort and
the sailors and marines the northeast corner—under orders from Adm Porter to “Board in a manly
fashion!” The Confederates—unable to see the Union infantry advancing through the woods (who were
late in their attack)—mistook the massive naval landing party approaching via the open beach to be the
main assault, and concentrated all their fire upon it. Eighty-one sailors and seven marines were killed and
35
271 wounded in the attack; only 60 men under Lt Cdr Thomas O. Selfridge reached and broke through
the palisade, but were repulsed. As the sailors fell back, the exultant defenders realized the price of their
short-lived victory as Terry’s men took the western end of the parapet. Porter’s warships opened a
devastating fire on Col. Lamb’s rebels as they launched a counterattack; other ships lifted their fire to
bombard the far river bank and prevent reinforcements. Lamb, who moments before had considered the
battle to have turned in his favor, reported that “the remorseless fleet came to the rescue of the faltering
Federals.” Fighting continued into the night, from traverse to traverse, until the Confederates finally
surrendered.
MoH: J. Angling, J. Barnum, G. Barter, D. Bass, P. Bazaar, A. Betham, R. Binder, R. Blair, E. Bowman,
A. Burton, W. Campbell, T. Connor, J. Dempster, W. Dunn, T. English, J. Erickson, C. Foy, I. Fry, J.
Griffiths, E. Haffee, T. Harcourt, J. Hayden, T. Jones, T. Kane, N. Lear, G. McWilliams, D Milliken, C.
Mills, G. Prance, G. Province, J. Rannahan, A. Savage, L. Shepard, W. Shipman, J. Shivers, D. Stevens, R.
Summers, J. Swanson, E. Swatton, J. Tallentlne,* W. Taylor, H. Thompson, A. Tomlin, O. Tripp, J.
Verney, H. Webster, J. White, F. Wilcox, A. Williams, A. Williams, R. Willis
01.15.5
SINKING
While searching for Confederate obstructions in the harbor of Charleston, USS Patapsco (Lt Cdr Stephen
P. Quackenbush) strikes a torpedo (mine) and sinks instantly with the loss of 64 officers and men, more
than half her crew.
1.17.5
JOINT
Naval forces under Lt Moreau Forrest cooperate with Army cavalry in an attack on Somerville, AL,
which captures 90 prisoners, 150 horses and one piece of artillery.
1.18.5
JOINT
Marines of the USS Pequot took part in the occupation of Smithville, NC, and Battery Holmes, Smith
Island.
1.26.5
SINKING
After a seven-hour battle with batteries on the Combahee River, the grounded USS Dai Ching (Lt Cdr J.
C. Chaplin)—her guns disabled—is abandoned and torched by her crew. (Map approximate)
1.28.5
SHIP2
SHIP
Confederate torpedo boat St. Patrick (Lt John T. Walker) struck USS Octorara (Lt Cdr William W. Low)
off Mobile Bay but her spar torpedo failed to explode. (Map approximate)
February 1865
2.1.5
(1-4)
EXPED
A boat expedition from USS Midnight (Act’g Master John C. Wells) lands and destroys extensive salt
works at St. Andrews Bay, FL.
2.4.5
(4-6)
EXPED
Lt Cdr Cushing (USS Monticello) conducts a series of small boat raids along the North/South Carolina
border. On this date he proceeded up Little River, SC, and captured a number of Confederate soldiers
at the small town of All Saints Parish. On the 5th Cushing destroy some $15,000 worth of cotton. The
next day he sent two boat crews under Act’g Master Charles A. Pettit to Shallotte Inlet, NC, where they
surprised a small force of Confederates and took them prisoner.
2.6.5
JOINT
Lt George W. Wood of USS Roanoke leads a joint Navy-Army boat expedition up Pagan and Jones
Creeks off the James River, VA, and captures Master William A. Hines, CSN, his torpedo boat, and a
torpedo with 75 pounds of powder.
2.9.5
BOMBARD
To disrupt Confederate defenses as Gen’l Sherman marched north, the Navy makes several attacks along
the South Carolina coast. On this date, USS Pawnee (Cdr George B. Balch), USS Sonoma (Lt Cdr Thomas
S. Fillebrown), and USS Daffodil (Act’g Master William H. Mallard) engage Confederate batteries on
Togodo Creek, near the North Edisto River, successfully silencing the rebel guns.
2.10.5
EXPED
On this date, the Confederate Navy begins its last bold attempt to wrest control of the James River from
the Federals. An expedition of 100 sailors under the audacious Lt Charles W. Read, CSN, marched
overland with four torpedo boats on wagons from Drewry’s Bluff for a spot below City Point, where
they were to launch the boats and use them to capture tugs and steamers. These in turn would be fitted
with spars and torpedoes and used against the Union ironclads. Once these were destroyed, the
Confederate James River Squadron would descend from Richmond and mop up any remaining Yankee
vessels in the river. Denied the James, Gen’l Grant would be forced to abandon his position around
Petersburg. Read’s party is betrayed, however, and narrowly escapes ambush. The long march in bitter
cold sent 75 of the 100 sailors into the Naval Hospital in Richmond.
2.10.5a
(10-14)
SUPPORT
Monitor USS Lehigh (Lt Cdr Alexander A. Semmes) and USS Commodore McDonough, Wissahickon, C. P.
Williams, Dan Smith, and Geranium, provide fire support Army operations in the Stono and Folly River,
SC, area as part of the final push on Charleston.
2.13.5
EXPED
With the imminent fall of Charleston to Gen’l Sherman, Commodore John R. Tucker dispatched 300
sailors from CSS Chicora, Palmetto State, Charleston, and the Navy Yard under command of Lt James H.
Rochelle to Wilmington to aid in its defense. The naval detachment served under Major Gen’l Hoke.
36
2.15.5
SINKING
USS Merrimac (Act’g Master William Earle) sinks in a gale off the coast of Florida in the Gulf Stream
2.16.5
(16-17)
BOMBARD
Monitor USS Montauk, (Lt Cdr Edward E. Stone) and four gunboats bombard Ft Anderson on the NC
mainland across from Ft Fisher and silence its guns in advance of an Army assault. The warships are
aided by “Old Bogey,” a bogus monitor built of timber and canvas atop an old scow, which, taking its place
in line nearest the fort, draws much of its fire.
2.16.5a
SUPPORT
Amphibious Army landing at Bull's Bay, SC is supported by the guns of USS Pawnee, Sonoma, Ottawa,
Winona, Potomska, Wando, and J.S. Chamber, as well as a naval landing party that helped drive the
Confederates from their positions. The thrust towards Andersonville and Mount Pleasant, SC is a
diversionary attack designed to draw rebel forces away from Gen’l Sherman’s route.
2.17.5
(17-18)
SINKING
Charleston, SC, is evacuated by Confederate troops after having endured 567 days of continuous attack
by land and sea. Ironclads CSS Palmetto State, Chicora, and Charleston were blown up prior to the
withdrawal, but CSS Columbia ran aground and was found abandoned near Ft Moultrie.
2.18.5
EXPED
After scuttling his ships Commodore John R. Tucker, CSN, boarded his remaining sailors on trains
headed out of Charleston for Wilmington, where he intended to join the naval detachment sent there
under Lt Rochelle. Fifty miles west of Wilmington, Tucker learns that Union forces have cut the rail line;
his men, unused to marching, set out on a 125-mile trek to Fayetteville, NC.
2.19.5
SINKING
The Confederate steamer A. H. Schultz, used as a flag-of-truce vessel to carry exchange prisoners between
Richmond and the Varina vicinity on the James River, is destroyed by a torpedo near Chaffin's Bluff on
the James River. Ironically, the torpedo was one laid by Lt Beverly Kennon of the Confederate Torpedo
Service, which had drifted from its original position. On her outbound voyage, Schultz had been loaded
with 400 Union prisoners; by mere chance, there were no rebel prisoners on the return trip when she was
struck.
2.20.5a
BOMBARD
Following the evacuation of Ft Anderson, Rear Adm Porter's gunboats steam seven miles up the Cape
Fear River to the obstructions at Big Island shallows and engage Ft Strong. On the night of the 20th, the
rebels released 200 floating torpedoes, which, although doing little real damage, kept the boats’ crews
busy through the night. “Old Bogey,” still afloat and accompanying the fleet, took little notice of the
torpedoes and was entirely unaffected by them. “Bogey” was let to sail across the river and ground behind
Confederate lines, causing the rebels to evacuate their position in the night. On the following day the
bogus monitor was again in the van, drawing fire from Southerners wondering why the ironclad never
fired back.
2.22.5
SUPPORT
Confederates evacuate Wilmington and its defenses with Union troops and gunboats in close pursuit.
Said Adm Raphael Semmes, CSN, “We had lost our last blockade-running port. The anaconda had, at
last, wound his fatal folds around us.”
2.23.5
(23-25)
EXPED
Ensign Allen K. Noyes with USS Catalpa and Mingoe steams up the Peedee River to accept the surrender
of the evacuated city of Georgetown. After raising the national flag, the landing party was attacked by a
force of Confederate cavalry. Additional sailors were landed in support and the bluejackets drove off the
rebel horsemen. Georgetown was garrisoned by five companies of Marines until relieved by Army forces
on 1 March.
2.25.5
SINKING
CSS Chickamauga is burned and sunk by her crew in the Northwest Fork of the Cape Fear River just
below Indian Wells, NC.
2.27.5
EXPED
Commodore Tucker and his 350 Confederate sailors from Charleston arrive safely in Fayetteville, NC,
where he receives orders to have Lt James H. Rochelle's naval detachment join his and to proceed to
Richmond with the entire Naval Brigade. From Richmond the brigade is sent to Drewry's Bluff to
garrison the formidable Confederate batteries positioned there.
2.28.5
SINKING
USS Arina is destroyed by fire in the Mississippi River below New Orleans. Her unlucky commander,
Lt Cdr George Brown, had also lost USS Indianola on February 24, 1863. (Map approx.)
March 1865
3.4.5
EXPED
Lt Moreau Forrest leads USS General Burnside and USS General Thomas (Master Gilbert Morton) up the
Tennessee River across the state of Alabama, breaking up a Confederate camp at Mussel Shoals,
destroying rebel communications and transportation facilities at Lamb’s Ferry, and penetrating deep into
Alabama on the Elk River.
3.6.5
EXPED
A squadron consisting of the steamers USS Mahaska, Fort Henry, Spirea, Stars and Stripes, Hibiscus, Honduras,
Magnolia, Britannia, and schooners Matthew Vassar, O.H. Lee, and Two Sisters (joined later by Proteus, Iuka,
Isonomia, and Hendrick Hudson) under Commander Shufeldt, makes a joint assault on St. Mark’s, FL. Boat
howitzers were landed in support of the army attack and a naval party under Acting Ensign Whitman
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held a bridge over which the army retreated, burning it thereafter to prevent pursuit.
MoH: J. Lann, G. Pyne, C. Read, G. Schutt, T. Smith
3.7.5
JOINT
Lt Cdr Hooker leads USS Commodore Read, Yankee, Delaware, and Heliotrope in a joint Navy-Army raid on
Hamilton's Crossing on the Rappahannock River six miles below Fredericksburg. The expedition
burned the railroad bridge, depot, a section of track, twenty-eight railroad cars, a Confederate Army
wagon train, and took forty prisoners.
3.12.5
EXPED
At the request of Brigadier Gen’l Schofield, Act’g Master H. Walton Grinnell, leads a detachment of four
sailors to deliver important Army dispatches to Gen’l Sherman near Fayetteville. Grinnell and his men
began their trip on 4 March in a dugout from Wilmington, went on foot through the marshes to
Whiteville, and impressed horses for their final dash through rebel lines to catch up with Sherman’s
columns--successfully completing what Grinnell termed “this rather novel naval scout.” USS Eolus (Lt
Cdr George W. Young) with boats from USS Maratanza, Lenapee, and Nyack also make contact with
Sherman at Fayetteville via the Cape Fear River on this date.
3.12.5a
SINKING
USS Althea (Act’g Ensign Frederic A. G. Bacon) is sunk by a torpedo in the Blakely River, AL. Althea is
the first of a series of ships that fall victim to torpedoes in the following weeks: 28 March, USS Milwaukee
(Lt Cdr James H. Gillis); 29 March, USS Osage (Lt Cdr William M. Gamble); 1 April, USS Rodolph; 13
April, USS Ida (Act’g Ensign Franklin Ellms); and 14 April, USS Sciota (Act’g Lt James W. Magune).
3.15.5
EXPED
Act’g Lt Robert P. Swann (USS Lodona) destroys an extensive salt work on Broro Neck, McIntosh
County, GA.
3.16. 5
(16-18)
EXPED
USS Don, Stepping Stones, Heliotrope and Resolute, under Lt Cdr Thomas H. Eastman destroy a supply base
near Montrose, VA. Landing parties from the naval expedition fended off attacks by Confederate
cavalry, sank several schooners, and destroyed contraband.
3.17.5
OTHER
While serving on a boat expedition up Mattox Creek, VA to clear mines in the stream, Landsman Aaron
Anderson and Boatswain’s Mate Patrick Mullen both distinguish themselves in combat. Anderson was
part of a boat’s crew that was subjected to the devastating fire of the enemy—which cut away half the
oars, pierced the launch repeatedly, and clew the barrel off a musket being aimed at the Rebels. Mullen
manned a boat howitzer, “returning fire so carefully as to kill and wound many Rebels, causing their
retreat.” MoH: A. Anderson, P. Mullen
3.21.5
SUPPORT
In a diversionary operation intended to draw rebel forces away from Mobile in preparation for an attack
upon that city, Union troops land at Dannelly's Mills on the Fish River, AL, under cover of Navy
gunboats.
3.26.5
(26-27)
JOINT
Act’g Ensign Peyton H. Randolph leads a detachment of sailors from USS Benton on a joint Navy-Army
raid on Trinity, LA, where they capture a number of Confederate soldiers as well as horses, arms and
stores.
3.27.5
(27-28)
JOINT
Combined Navy-Army operations commence against Spanish Fort, the key to the defenses of Mobile.
Six tinclads and supporting gunboats steamed up the Blakely River to cut the fort's communications
while the army moved against the fort's outworks. The river was thickly sown with torpedoes which,
despite sweeping that netted 150 of the devices, claimed three Union warships in the next five days.
April 1865
APR 65 OTHER
Confederate submarine St. Patrick is used to ferry supplies to the outlying garrison of Spanish Fort in
Mobile Bay, which is still holding out against Federal forces.
4.2.5
(2-4)
EXPED
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory orders the destruction of Adm Semmes’ James River
Squadron and instructs officers and men to join Gen’l Lee’s army in its withdrawal to Danville. Semmes
outfits his crews with weapons and field equipment and puts his ships to the torch. Finding themselves
on their own as far as transport goes, the sailors fire up a locomotive, attach several cars, and roll west
from Richmond. Arriving on 4 April, Semmes is commissioned a Brigadier Gen’l in the Army of
Northern Virginia and placed in command of the defenses around Danville. The sailors are organized
into an artillery brigade and man the Danville position along with two infantry battalions. Semmes retains
his command until Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
4.3.5
EXPED
Lieutenant William H. Parker, leading fifty Midshipmen of the Confederate Naval Academy, escorts the
government archives and specie and bullion of the Confederate Treasury from Richmond to Danville,
VA, and thence to Charlotte, arriving on 8 April. After depositing the money in the Confederate Mint,
Parker learned that Union cavalry was nearby and that the city was undefended. Adding the uniformed
personnel from the local Navy Yard to his force—now numbering 150 men—Parker removed the money
and headed south on 11 April. Accompanying him was First Lady Varina Davis, who had recently arrived
in Charlotte. On 17 April the group reached Washington, GA, where Mrs Davis was left behind in
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anticipation of a fight with Yankee patrols. Parker moved towards Augusta, GA, where he arrived on 19
April and deposited his cargo in bank vaults and posted guards. Parker remained in Augusta until 24
April, waiting for word from the surrender negotiations then taking place between Gen’l Sherman and
Gen’l Johnson. When he learned that the Federal government had rejected the terms, he withdrew the
records and funds and headed for Abbeville, SC, in hopes of finally locating Jefferson Davis and the
government. Parker and his sailors reached Abbeville on 29 April, where Davis appeared three days later.
4.3.5a
(3-6)
EXPED
Word of the evacuation of Richmond not having reached the sailors at Drewry’s Bluff, their
commander, Commodore John R. Tucker, learned of the withdrawal when he saw the smoke from the
burning ironclads. Tucker formed his Naval Brigade and joined Major Gen’l Custis Lee's division of Lt
Gen’l Richard S. Ewell's corps, participating Ewell's rear guard stand at Sailor's Creek on 6 April, where
the Brigade surrendered along with the entire corps.
4.4.5
EXPED
President Lincoln enters Richmond, VA—under escort of Rear Adm Porter, a dozen armed sailors, and
three aides (Capt. Penrose, Lincoln's military aide, Capt. Adams of the Navy, and Lt Clemens of the
Signal Corps). Lincoln had been aboard USS Malvern but, when obstructions blocked her path,
transferred with the admiral to Porter’s barge. Landing one block above Libby Prison, Porter left two
sailors to guard the launch and formed the remaining ten into a guard, six in front and four behind.
Porter reported to Secretary Welles, “We found that the rebel rams and gunboats had all been blown up,
with the exception of an unfinished ram, the Texas, and a small tug gun-boat, the Beaufort, mounting one
gun. The ships destroyed included the 4 gun ironclads Virginia No. 2, Richmond, and Fredericksburg; wooden
ships Nansemond, 2 guns; Hampton, 2 guns; Roanoke, 1 gun; Torpedo, Shrapnel, and school-ship Patrick
Henry.”
4.4.5a
EXPED
To aid in the bombardment of Spanish Fort in Mobile Bay, a naval battery of three 30-pdr Parrott rifles,
manned by sailors under Lt Cdr Gillis, is landed on the banks of the Blakely River.
4.8.5
BOMBARD
After prolonged naval bombardment, Spanish Fort and Ft Alexis (guarding Mobile), surrendered. The
forts had been supported during the siege by a squadron under Flag Officer Ebenezer Farrand, including
CSS Nashville, Morgan, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, and Baltic.
4.12.5
SINKING
Mobile’s mayor surrenders the undefended city to Federal forces. The fleeing rebels sank ironclads CSS
Huntsville and Tuscaloosa in the Spanish River; CSS Nashville, Baltic, and Morgan sped up the Tombigbee
River to avoid capture, with the Union squadron in pursuit.
4.17.5
SINKING
Federal forces moving into Columbus, GA capture and destroy the Confederate ironclad Jackson
(previously Muscogee) as well as the navy yard. A dozen miles below the city they also found the remains of
CSS Chattahoochee, which the Confederates themselves had destroyed.
SINKING
4.17.5b
(17-25)
OTHER
Four of the five Lincoln assassination suspects arrested on 17 April are imprisoned on the monitors USS
Montauk and Saugus, which had been prepared for this purpose and were anchored off the Washington
Navy Yard in the Anacostia River. By 27 April eight of them were manacled below decks under heavy
Marine guard. On 30 April they were transferred to the Arsenal Penitentiary in what is today Ft McNair.
4.19.5
OTHER
A Marine honor guard stands in at the White House for the funeral of the President. The Marine
Battalion and Marine Band were part of the funeral procession through Washington City (D.C.)
4.27.5a
SINKING
The Confederate coal torpedo possibly claims its last victim of the war, the river steamer Sultana, above
Memphis, TN. All but 550 of the ship’s 2000 passengers are killed in the conflagration.
4.29.5
EXPED
Act’g Master W. C. Coulson (USS Moose) launches a surprise attack on a Confederate raiding party of
about 200 men crossing the Cumberland River to burn Eddyville, KY. Coulson sank two troop laden
boats with battery gunfire and then put a landing party ashore which engaged the remaining
Confederates, killing six men, capturing twenty, and dispersing the remainder.
EXPED
In the last official act of the Civil War, a Navy expedition heads up the Red River north of Shreveport to
take possession of CSS Missouri and a small naval flotilla which included a number of submarines.
Warned of underwater activity in the area, the wary sailors arrive to find the Missouri and her crew waiting
for capture, and the submarines all scuttled and their crews escaped.
June 1865
JUNE
65
September 1865
9.9.5
OTHER
John Taylor was seaman in charge of the picket boat attached to the Navy Yard, New York. Acting with
promptness, coolness and good judgment, Taylor rescued from drowning Commander S. D. Trenchard,
of the U.S. Navy, who fell overboard in attempting to get on a ferryboat, which had collided with an
English steamer, and needed immediate assistance. MoH: J. Taylor
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