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” (February 12, 1864) will be “2.12.4.”

Word Document for Printing


1861 1862 1863 1864 1865
January January January January
February February February February
March March March March
April April April April April
May May May May
June June June June June
July July July July
August August August August
September September September September
October October October October
November November November November
December December December December

 

April 1861

4.17.1

SUPPORT

USS Powhatan (Lt D. D. Porter) covers the landing of 600 soldiers to garrison Ft Pickens in Pensacola harbor. This quick action denied the Confederates the use of the best harbor in the Gulf of Mexico for the entire war.

4.20.1

OTHER

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. 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.

4.20.1a

OTHER

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. This will be the home of the Academy throughout the war. She arrives on May 9.

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.

May 1861

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).

June 1861

6.8.1

OTHER

USS Mississippi (Flag Officer Mervine) blockades Key West, FL

July 1861

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

U.S. Marines commanded by Major Reynolds take part in the First Battle of Bull Run: 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.

8.28.1

EXPED

Cdr Dahlgren, Commandant of Washington Navy Yard, sends 400 seamen to Alexandria, VA to help defend Ft Ellsworth.

8.29.1

JOINT

Hatteras Inlet was secured as Forts Hatteras and Clark surrendered unconditionally to Flag Officer Silas Stringham’s warships and Gen’l Ben Butler’s troops. This combined amphibious operation—the first of the war—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, US tug Fanny, and two transports carrying the 900 troops. Thus the first Union victory of the war was a naval one—much needed after the battlefield reverses of the previous four months.

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.

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."

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 Confederate naval squadron under Commodore Tatnall could not resist the mighty fleet, but ferried rebel troops to the mainland. Marines and sailors landed to occupy the forts until 16,000 soldiers under Brigadier Gen’l Thomas Sherman land. Port Royal was halfway between Charleston and Savannah, and became a valuable supply point for Federal vessels.

11.7.1

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.

11.8.1

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.

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 sent from USS Flag (Cdr J. Rodgers) USS Augusta, Pocahontas, Seneca, and Savan­nah take possession of Tybee Island in Savannah Harbor.

December 1861

11.10.1

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.

11.12.1

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)

11.17.1

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.

11.31.1

EXPED

Biloxi, MS surrendered to a landing party of seamen and Marines covered by USS Water Witch, New London, and Henry Lewis

11.31.1a

(31-2)

JOINT

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

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.

1.16.2

EXPED

A 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.)

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.

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.

2.14.2

JOINT

BOMB

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 16th. 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.

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 de­stroy military stores and Confederate troop quarters.

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—the first fortification retaken by the Union. Steam launches armed with boat howitzers exchange musket and cannon fire with the last train out of Fernandina.

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 deep-draft 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.”

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.

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 were landed on 13 March and, under cover of Navy guns, advanced to take Fts Dixie, Ellis, Thompson, and Lane on 14 March.

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 18th 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 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.

4.25.2

EXPED

Captain Theophilus Bailey, leading Farragut’s gunboats 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." With New Orleans went the Leeds Iron Foundry—one of only two modern foundries in Dixie (the other being Tredegar in Richmond).

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.

May 1862

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.

5.8.2a

EXPED

Landing party from USS Iroquois (Cdr James S. Palmer) takes 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.

5.12.2

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.

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

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 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.

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.

June 1862

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.

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.

July 1862

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.

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.

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.

7.21.2

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.

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.

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 Adm 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 Gen’l 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.

8.29.2

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 saltworks 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
(1-7)

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 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 kept the squadron from reaching Franklin and Flusser ordered the gunboats to return downstream when Confederates began felling trees to block the channel behind them.

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

USS Thomas Freeborn (Lt Cdr Magaw) raids Dumfries, VA, destroying the telegraph office and wires.

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.

10.21.2

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 pounder boat howitzers from USS Wabash provide artillery support for Union infantry troops at the battle of Pocotaligo, SC.

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 nine-mile 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

EXPED

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.

10.31.2a

(31-7)

JOINT

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.

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.

11.24.2

EXPED

USS Monticello (Lt Cdr Braine) destroys two Confederate salt works near Little River Inlet, NC.

December 1862

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.

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.

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 rebel 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.

1.10.3

BOMBRD

Lacking shallow-draft gunboats and pilots—and therefore unable to cross the bar and navigate the crooked, narrow channel, Commodore Henry H. Bell is forced to limit the reestablishment of the blockade of Galveston to a bombardment.

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.

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 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