Still, the Confederate warship managed to dash by Britannia—the last blockader between her and the bar—and safely reached Wilmington.
|
|
She fired on the Ivy, and one other Confederate steamer, but both escaped.ORN I, v. 16, p. 724. Sloop Florida fell prey to the vigilant blockader on 11 December.
|
|
Assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron, she departed the Delaware River 20 December and reached Key West, Florida, 10 days later. An active blockader in the Gulf of Mexico, she shared in the capture of Major Barbour attempting to slip through the blockade with a cargo of gunpowder, niter, sulfur, percussion caps, and lead for the Confederate Army. She took schooner Julio near Barataria, Louisiana, 11 May and captured schooner Emma 27 September. Schooner Matilda fell prey to the vigilant Union blockader off Matagarda Bay, Texas, 25 November; and schooner Diana was taken the next day.
|
|
Throughout most of 1864, Hope remained off Charleston as a blockader, helping to tighten the noose which did so much to choke the rebellion. She also performed limited dispatch and supply boat duty. Hope captured sloop Racer, her second prize, off Bull's Bay 1 August.
|
|
The following morning men from James S. Chambers boarded the wreck, a schooner of pilot boat-build, and identified her as Ida. They removed several boatloads of cargo before setting her afire. A final prize came on 18 June 1863 when the vigilant blockader captured schooner Rebekah.
|
|
She continued her combination blockader-hospital ship service until mid-1865, when she took up lightship duties in the harbor. During this period, Home also sent members of her crew ashore on boat expeditions in the Charleston area, notably on 5 March 1865, when an important reconnaissance of Charleston harbor obstructions was effected.
|
|
Assigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron she served as a tug, dispatch boat, and blockader through the end of the Civil War. On 6 October Marigold shared in the capture of blockade runner, Last Trial, which was attempting to slip through the Union cordon of warships with salt for the South.
|
|
Slowly, the blockade runner lost way and lay dead in the water, an easy prey for Union sailors. A boarding party from Kansas rigged a towline to the prize, and the blockader towed her to Beaufort, North Carolina. The erstwhile blockade runner was then taken to Massachusetts where the Navy purchased her from the Boston, Massachusetts, Prize Court.
|
|
On March 6, 1864, Confederate torpedo boat CSS David attempted a run on the Union blockader. The spar torpedo struck Memphis port quarter but did not explode. After her second torpedo misfired, David retreated upstream out of range of her foe's heavy guns. Memphis, uninjured, continued her blockading duties to the end of the Civil War.
|
|
She remained off Charleston with periodic trips to Port Royal, South Carolina for repairs until July 1864, when she was assigned to act as a hospital ship inside the bar at Charleston. While serving as a combination blockader-hospital ship, her medical department was composed of Surgeons William Nicholas Pindell and Nelson Ingram, and the Surgeon Steward Frank Cook.
|
|
Repaired and converted to a gunboat at the Boston Navy Yard, the ship proceeded to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she was commissioned on 12 August 1864, Acting Vol. Lt. Edward F. Devens in command. Eleven days later, the ship arrived off Wilmington on 23 August and began duty as a blockader. On 7 September, her lookout sighted a strange ship.
|
|
Assigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, G. L. Brockenborough's shallow draft made her an ideal vessel to blockade the many inlets of the Florida coast. She served as a blockader and tender to steamers and in St. George's Sound and Apalachicola River, Florida. until she was abandoned after a severe gale had forced her aground in St. George's Sound 27 May 1863.
|
|
On March 6, 1864, David attacked in the North Edisto River. The torpedo boat struck the blockader first on the port quarter, but the torpedo did not explode. Memphis slipped her chain, at the same time firing ineffectively at David with small arms. Putting about, the torpedo boat struck Memphis again, this time a glancing blow on the starboard quarter; once more the torpedo misfired.
|
|
Unable to run the Federal blockade, the Nashville had been sold and converted into an armed commerce raider under Capt. Thomas H. Baker. It was renamed the Rattlesnake and on February 27 Baker attempted to make the open sea during rainy weather, but was deterred by a blockader. Returning, the raider ran aground on a bend upriver from the fort but still visible to the blockaders.
|
|
Eager for action, the determined Southerner continued her advance toward the fleeing blockader; but her consorts, the steam gunboat Equator and the tug Yadkin turned back. As Britannia retreated, she fired at Raleigh with her 24-pounder howitzer. Meanwhile the Southerner had opened fire and put out the blockader's binnacle lights with her first shot and came close to scoring again with subsequent rounds.
|
|
Torpedo Boat David at Charleston Dock, Oct. 25, 1863 by Conrad Wise Chapman On the night of October 5, 1863, David, commanded by Lieutenant William T. Glassell, CSN, left Charleston Harbor to attack the casemate ironclad steamer . The torpedo boat approached undetected until she was within of the blockader. Hailed by the watch on board New Ironsides, Glassell replied with a blast from a shotgun and David plunged ahead to strike.
|
|
The schooner Dart attempted to slip into Mobile from Havana, Cuba, on 1 May but fell prey to this vigilant blockader. A fortnight later the same fate befell British brig Comet some 20 miles east of Fort Morgan on Mobile Point. On 17 May Kanawha snared schooner Hunter, laden with cotton for Havana, running out of Mobile. The next day she caught schooner Ripple attempting the same feat.
|
|
Stars and Stripes returned to Norfolk, Virginia, on 4 June for repairs and sailed on the evening of the 10th for blockading duty off Wilmington, North Carolina. Shortly before dawn on the 27th, she helped destroy blockade-running steamer Modem Greece which that Union blockader had run aground. On 24 August, Stars and Stripes captured British ship Mary Elizabeth attempting to slip into Wilmington with a cargo of salt and fruit.
|
|
She left Bermuda five hours after her consort, CSS Cornubia, only to be run down a few hours after her by the same blockader, . The two runners were conceded to be easily "the most noted that ply between Bermuda and Wilmington." This ship was not the one immortalised in the American popular song Waiting for the Robert E. Lee (1912), which was based on a later Mississippi steamer of the same name.
|
|
After returning to New York from her last voyage on 20 July 1866, South Carolina was decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 17 August 1866 and was sold at public auction at New York on 5 October 1866. Redocumented Juniata on 24 December 1866, the former blockader remained long in merchant service. She was reduced to a schooner barge on 8 April 1893 and soon after vanished from maritime records.
|
|
However, they were spotted by Union blockader Governor Buckingham and captured by that steamer and the Federal tug Violet. Men from Aries and from several other Union ships remained on board Antonio, for the next few days laboring in vain to refloat the prize. When rising water in the grounded and damaged steamer's hull made it clear that the effort could not possibly succeed, the Federal sailors finally left the ship on Christmas Eve.
|
|
Since Memphis had now opened up with her heavy guns, David, having lost part of her stack when rammed, retreated up the river out of range. Memphis, uninjured, resumed her blockading station. Davids last confirmed action came on April 18, 1864 when she tried to sink the screw frigate . Alert lookouts on board the blockader sighted David in time to permit the frigate to slip her chain, avoid the attack, and open fire on the torpedo boat.
|
|
After delivering Ceres to Beaufort, Aries returned to blockade duty off Wilmington. At dawn on 20 December, men on board the ship sighted steam rising from a strange vessel, some four miles away to the east, southeast. Shortly thereafter, Union blockader , appeared, closing the potential prize while Aries joined in the pursuit. As she neared shoal waters, Aries anchored in four fathoms of water and sent an armed boat bearing a boarding party to the blockade runner.
|
|
Cornubia was purchased from the Boston Prize court and then commissioned in the Union Navy on 17 March 1864 and assigned to the role of blockading the waters around Mobile and Pensacola, before later being reassigned to the coast of Texas. The blockade runner had now become a blockader. On 21 April 1865, Cornubia captured the blockade-running schooner Chaos. On 24 May, Cornubia captured the guard boat Le Compt where a cache of arms was found.
|
|
Of these, Enchantress was recaptured, Alvarado was chased ashore and destroyed by a blockader, Windward, Mary E. Thompson, and Mary Goodell were released with prisoners, John Carver was burned at sea, and the black cook of S. J. Waring killed three sleeping members of the prize crew and sailed her to New York City, where he was received as a hero.New York Times, 22 July 1861. Only John Welsh and Santa Clara were taken into Southern ports for adjudication.Robinson, Confederate Privateers, pp.
|
|
Keystone State arrived at Port Royal, South Carolina for refit and replenishment on 18 March, getting underway again on 29 March. She chased a blockade runner and fired at another on 3 April, but both escaped. On 10 April, she chased schooner Liverpool of Nassau ashore where she was burned to the water's edge. Schooner Dixie fell prey to the vigilant blockader on 15 April, steamer Elizabeth then struck her colors on 29 May, and schooner Cora surrendered two days later.
|
|
Near the Chandeleur Islands, San Jacinto anchored in shoal water and sent her first cutter after the steamer. That evening shortly before twilight, the blockade runner—which happened to bear the name of the frigate's old adversary, Alabama—ran ashore and was abandoned. Before San Jacintos cutter could reach the prize, the Union blockader Eugenie arrived upon the scene and took possession of the blockade runner. On the 16th, San Jacinto captured the steamer Lizzie Davis after a two-hour chase.
|
|
Liverpool stood off the Delaware Capes preventing the American ships from escaping to sea. On 28 June Pennsylvania's brig Nancy arrived in the area with 386 barrels of powder in her hold and ran aground while attempting to elude British blockader Kingfisher. Barry ordered the precious powder rowed ashore during the night leaving only 100 barrels in Nancy at dawn. A delayed action fuse was left inside the brig, which exploded the powder just as a boatload of British seamen boarded Nancy.
|
|
She sailed back to Hampton Roads and took up station as a blockader, serving in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron until 8 March 1862. The sloop-of-war engaged Confederate forces in several minor actions in Hampton Roads and captured many small ships in the harbor. Additionally, Cumberland was a part of the expedition that captured the forts at Cape Hatteras. Cumberland was rammed and sunk in an engagement with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia (formerly ) at Newport News, Virginia on 8 March 1862.
|
|
The veteran blockader made two more captures in December 1863-January 1864, and later in 1864 moved north to join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, whose main attention was turned to Wilmington, North Carolina, and its powerful defender, Fort Fisher. During the first attack on the fort on 24–25 December 1864, Huron took part in the bombardment which was to cover the storming by Union Army troops. This first assault aborted, but preparations were quickly made for a second joint operation in January 1865.
|
|
The ship responded in kind, from time to time hitting the blockader. At 06:00, a shot ripped into Keystone States steam drum, scalding an officer and nineteen men to death and wounding another twenty. Later that morning, towed Keystone State to Port Royal for repairs. Ready for action again, she got underway on George Washington's Birthday (22 February) for blockading station off St. Simons Sound, Georgia, where she served until departing for Philadelphia on 2 June for repairs at the navy yard, where she decommissioned on 10 June.
|
|
Intended for use as a tug and offshore blockader, Honeysuckle departed New York 24 December 1863 and sailed by way of Hampton Roads, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina, to Key West, Florida, arriving about 8 January 1864. There she was assigned a blockading station in the Gulf of Mexico west of the Florida coast as part of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. In the next few months the ship was very active, tightening the noose of the blockade. She captured Fly 11 January, Florida 20 March, and Miriam 27 April 1864.
|
|
Zouave cut her towlines; backed up; and, upon pulling free, resumed her firing. Lookouts on the tug thus spotted a signal on Minnesota—which had also grounded but was still in the fight—asking for assistance. While the tug was heading for that plucky Union blockader, she was hit "by a shot which carried away our rudder- post and one of the blades of her propeller wheel." Unable to steer and moving straight toward Virginia, Zouave backed up and used her hawser "over our port quarter" to keep moving toward .
|
|
Shortly after midnight, lookouts on screw steamer Stettin — herself an erstwhile blockade runner now, following capture, turned blockader — spotted Aries off Bull's Bay, South Carolina, attempting to slip through the blockade with a cargo of liquor. The Union screw gunboat immediately weighed anchor and gave chase. When the runner was within range, Stettin opened fire on Aries and continued the pursuit until shoal water forced her to anchor. At daybreak, Stettin's commanding officer, Acting Master Edward F. Devens, saw that his quarry had run ashore on the south end of Petrel Bank.
|
|
On 10 June, after intelligence reports indicated that the ram was preparing to attack wooden blockader , Du Pont ordered Weehawken, Captain John Rodgers, and Nahant to Wassaw Sound, Georgia to await the powerful ironclad ram. Shortly before dawn, a week later, Atlanta, accompanied by stern wheel gunboat and ram , steamed down the Wilmington River and entered Wassaw Sound to attack the monitors. The Confederate flagship carried a torpedo projecting from her bow, hoping to explode it against one of the monitors before dispatching the other with her guns. Seeing the Southern ships approach, Weehawken and Nahant headed in to accept the challenge.
|
|
The replica was built using untreated lumber, and deteriorated over the years. It was determined to be unsalvageable and demolished in October 2019. The original Water Witch was stationed as a Union Navy blockader outside Savannah, Georgia during the war and was captured during a Confederate States Navy commando raid in 1864 and put into service for the Confederacy. The story of the Water Witch is compelling because she served the navies of both sides during the course of the war, and also because her capture was led in-part by an African-American Confederate pilot, Moses Dallas.
|
|
On April 7, 1776, off the Capes of Virginia, he fell in with the Edward, tender to the British man-of-war , and after a desperate fight of one hour and twenty minutes captured her and brought her into Philadelphia. On June 28, Pennsylvania's brig Nancy arrived in the area with 386 barrels of powder in her hold and ran aground while attempting to elude British blockader . Barry ordered the precious powder rowed ashore during the night, leaving only 100 barrels in Nancy at dawn. A delayed action fuse was left inside the brig, which exploded the powder just as a boatload of British seamen boarded Nancy.
|
|
For the remainder of the war, Jacob Bell was primarily concerned with the defense of Washington—alternately serving in the Potomac and the Rappahannock according to the ebb and flow of the titanic struggle between General Robert E. Lee and the Army of the Potomac. All the while, her duties as a blockader were discharged with skill and devotion. She captured C. F. Ward, a metal lifeboat with a contraband cargo 17 October and destroyed two schooners 4 November while on a reconnaissance mission up Nomini Creek, Virginia. On 23 August 1863, she caught schooner Golden Leaf trying to slip into Hosier's Creek, Virginia, with a cargo of sugar.
|
|
On the morning of 6 January 1863, the Union screw steamer Pocahontas sighted a ship in the Gulf of Mexico, steaming westward close to the Alabama shore and headed toward the entrance to Mobile Bay. Soon after the blockader had turned to intercept the stranger lest she reach the protection of the Southern guns at Fort Morgan—then some nine miles away—the unidentified steamer altered her own course in an effort to escape. Both vessels pushed their engines to their limits and broke out all possible sails. Pocahontas slowly gained on her quarry but the sun was close to the horizon before she was near enough to fire a shot at the fleeing ship.
|
|
With the advent of cruiser CSS Florida, she was renamed Selma in July 1862, Lieutenant Peter U. Murphey, CSN, assuming command. On February 5, 1863, while steaming down Mobile Bay with 100 extra men in search of a blockader to carry by boarding, Selma was bilged by a snag in crossing Dog River Bar, entrance to Mobile, and sank in 8 feet of water. Pumped out hastily, she was back in service February 13. By the following year, Selma, CSS Morgan and CSS Gaines, the only ships capable of defending lower Mobile Bay, were having a serious problem with deserting seamen, and intelligence reported Selma's crew as having fallen as low as 15 men about mid-February.
|
|
The Confederate States privateer Savannah captured off Charleston by the U.S. Brig Perry, Lieut. Parrott Perry remained inactive until the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, recommissioning on 23 April 1861. Under the command of Commander John J. Glasson she headed south the same day escorting three transports carrying some 3,000 troops to Annapolis, Maryland, where they landed on the 25th to reinforce the 7th Infantry Regiment then moving South to reinforce the nation's threatened capital. She then returned to New York City (where Glasson debarked for rendezvous duty) to prepare for duty as a blockader and steamed into Hampton Roads 18 May to join the newly established Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
|
|
Soon after her commissioning, Violet was dispatched to Newport News, Virginia, for duty as a tugboat with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. On 27 March, she received orders to proceed to the blockade off Cape Fear Inlet, near Wilmington, North Carolina, and finally arrived for duty in early April after a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, had forced her return to Hampton Roads, Virginia, in a sinking condition on 28 March. While off Wilmington, the vessel performed double duty as both a tug and a blockader. On the night of 11 April, she chased and fired upon an unidentified steamer and, in the company of Aries, discovered the blockade-running British steamer Ceres aground and burning at the mouth of the Cape Fear River on 6 December.
|
|
The bark joined the forces blockading Wilmington, North Carolina on 8 November; and, but for occasional runs back to Hampton Roads for provisions and water, she operated off that vital Confederate port through most of the winter. Then, somewhat the worse for wear after battling the constantly rough seas off the North Carolina coast, she headed for the Virginia Capes late in February 1862 and reached Hampton Roads on the evening of the 26th to receive repairs and to obtain fresh provisions. There, during a severe storm on the 3rd of March, she dragged anchor and fouled sister blockader , causing considerable harm to both ships. The need to patch the damage caused by this accident delayed Amandas, return to Wilmington and thus allowed the bark to play a minor, but important, role in the most memorable naval action of the Civil War.
|
|
Running out again, Robert E. Lee started to establish a near-legendary reputation for blockade running by leaving astern blockader . Lieutenant Richard H. Gayle, CSN, assumed command in May 1863, relieving Lieutenant John Wilkinson; but Wilkinson was conning the ship again out of the Cape Fear River from Smithville, North Carolina on October 7, 1863, as recounted by Lieutenant Robert D. Minor, CSN, in a letter to Admiral Franklin Buchanan dated February 2, 1864, detailing the first venture to capture and liberate 2,000 Confederate prisoners at Johnson's Island, Sandusky, Ohio. Robert E. Lee transported Wilkinson, Minor, Lieutenant Benjamin P. Loyall and 19 other naval officers to Halifax, Nova Scotia with $35,000 in gold and a cotton cargo "subsequently sold at Halifax for $76,000 (gold) by the War Department — in all some $111,000 in gold, as the sinews of the expedition." Thus Wilkinson was in Canada and Gayle commanding when Robert E. Lee's luck ran out on November 9, 1863, after 21 voyages in 10 months carrying out over 7,000 bales of cotton, returning with munitions invaluable to the Confederacy.
|
|