February 1861

9 USS Brooklyn, Captain Walker, arrived off Pensacola. Troops were not landed at Fort Pickens in compliance with the order of 29 January, based on an interim agreement with Florida officials in which the status quo would be maintained, (i.e., Forts Barrancas and McRee and Navy Yard remained in Confederate hands while the Union held Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island). Brooklyn, Sabine, Macedonia, and St Louis remained off the harbor, but reinforcements were not put ashore at Fort Pickens until April 17.

11 Commander Dahlgren urged Congress to approve the building of more gun sloops and an “iron-cased� ship.

14 Confederate Congress passed a resolution authorizing “the Committee on Naval Affairs to procure the attendance at Montgomery, of all such persons versed in naval affairs as they may deem it advisable to consult with.�

15 Raphael Semmes, later captain of CSS Sumter and Alabama, resigned his commission in the United States Navy.

18 In his inaugural address as President of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis said: “I . . . suggest that for the protection of our harbors and commerce on the high seas a Navy adapted to these objects will be required . . .�

20 Navy Department formally established by act of Confederate Congress.

21 Jefferson Davis appointed Stephen R. Mallory of Florida Secretary of the Confederate States Navy.

27 U.S. Congress authorized construction of seven steam sloops to augment existing naval strength. Gideon Welles, soon to be Secretary of the navy, noted, “for steam, as well as heavy ordnance, has become an indispensable element of the most efficient naval power.�

March 1861

2 U.S. Revenue Schooner Henry Dodge, First Lieutenant William F. Rogers, USRM, was seized at Galveston, as Texas joined the Confederacy.

4 Forty-two vessels were in commission in the United States Navy. Twelve of these ships were assigned duty with the Home Squadron, four of which were based on Northern ports. Beginning with the return of Powhatan to New York and Pocahontas to Hampton Roads on 12 March and Cumberland to Hampton Roads on 23 March, the Department moved to recall all but three ships from foreign sta¬tions, where they were badly needed, in order to meet the greater needs of the Nation in this hour of crisis.

7 Gideon Welles of Hartford, Connecticut, took office in Washington as Secretary of the Navy.

13 It was reported by Captain J. M. Brannon, USA, commanding Fort Taylor that "everything is quiet at Key West to this date"-a tribute to the firm policing of the area by Union naval vessels. Throughout the early months of 1861 the "showing of the flag" by the Fleet maintained a peaceful equilibrium in a situation fraught with tension. The much-feared attack, expected to accompany Florida's secession (10 January), did not materialize.

17 Confederate Navy Department sent Commander Lawrence RoUSSeau, Commander Ebenezer Farrand, and Lieutenant Robert T. Chapman to New Orleans to negotiate for the construction of gunboats.

18 Brigadier General Braxton Bragg, CSA, issued an order forbidding passage of supplies to Fort Pickens and the U.S. squadron off Pensacola.

20 U.S. sloop Isabella, carrying supplies for U.S. squadron at Pensacola, was seized at Mobile.

21 Gustavus V. Fox, ex-naval officer now a civilian, reconnoitered Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, as directed by President Lincoln, to determine the best means of relieving the Fort. Based on his observations, Fox recommended relieving Sumter by sea: "I propose to put the troops on board of a large, comfortable sea steamer and hire two powerful light draft New York tug boats, having the neces¬sary stores on board. These to be convoyed by the USS Pawnee . . . and the revenue cutter Harriet Lane . . . Arriving off the bar, I propose to examine by day the naval preparations and obstructions. If their vessels determine to oppose our entrance, and a feint or flag of truce would ascertain this, the armed ships must approach the bar and destroy or drive them on shore. Major Anderson would do the same upon any vessels within the range of his guns and would also prevent any naval succor being sent down from the city."

31 Secretary of the Navy Welles ordered 250 men transferred from New York to the Navy Yard at Nor¬folk, Virginia.

April 1861

2 President Lincoln visited the Washington Navy Yard. The President returned frequently to confer with Commander Dahlgren on the defense of the Capital and the far reaching strategy of sea power in general.

3 Confederate battery at Morris Island, Charleston, fired on American schooner Rhoda H. Shannon.
4 President Lincoln gave final approval to Gustavus Fox's plan to relieve Fort Sumter by sea.

5 USS Powhatan, Pawnee, Pocahontas, and Revenue Cutter Harriet Lane were ordered by Secretary of the Navy Welles to provision Fort Sumter; squadron commander was Captain Samuel Mercer in Powhatan.

6 Lieutenant David Dixon Porter, ordered to take command of USS Powhatan by President Lincoln and to reinforce Fort Pickens, Pensacola, instead of Fort Sumter, departed New York. The following day Lieutenant John L. Worden, USN, departed Washington, D.C., by rail with orders to Captain Henry A. Adams, commanding USS Sabine and senior officer present in the Pensacola area, to reinforce Fort Pickens.

8 Revenue Cutter Harriet Lane, Captain John Faunce, USRM, departed New York for relief of Fort Sumter.

9 Gustavus V. Fox sailed from New York in chartered steamer Baltic for the relief of Fort Sumter.

10 USS Pawnee, Commander Stephen C. Rowan, departed Hampton Roads for relief of Fort Sumter.

General P. G. T. Beauregard, CSA, commanding at Charleston, was instructed to demand evacuation of Fort Sumter and, if refused, to "proceed, in such manner as you may determine, to reduce it."

Secretary of the Navy Welles alerted Captain Charles S. McCauley, Commandant Norfolk Navy Yard, to condition USS Merrimack for a move to a Northern yard should it become necessary. At the same time Welles cautioned McCauley that, "There should be no steps taken to give needless alarm."

11 Commander James Alden was ordered to report to Captain McCauley to take command of Merrimack. The following day Chief Engineer Benjamin Isherwood was sent to Norfolk to put the ship's engines in work¬ing order as soon as possible.

General Beauregard's demand for evacuation of Fort Sumter refused by Major Anderson.

U.S. steamship Coatzacoalcos arrived in New York, returning Union troops from Texas.

12 Fort Sumter fired on by Confederate batteries-the conflict begins.

U.S. steamship Baltic, under Gustavus Fox, USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, and Harriet Lane, Captain Faunce, USRM, arrived off Charleston to reinforce Fort Sumter. But, as Fox observed, "war had com¬menced" and he was unable to carry out his mission.

Under secret orders from Secretary of the Navy Welles carried by Lieutenant Worden, Fort Pickens was reinforced by landing of troops under Captain Israel Vogdes, 1st U.S. Artillery, and Marines under First Lieutenant John C. Cash, from the squadron composed of USS Sabine, Captain H. A. Adams, Senior Officer Present, USS Brooklyn, Captain W. S. Walker, USS St. Louis, Commander Charles H. Poor, and USS Wyandotte, Lieutenant J. R. Madison Mullany.

13 Fort Sumter surrendered by Major Anderson. Troops were evacuated the next day by Fox's expedition. USS Sabine, Captain Adams, blockaded Pensacola Harbor.

Lieutenant Worden was seized near Montgomery, Alabama, and placed in prison, but his Pensacola mission had been accomplished.

14 Captain Du Pont wrote: "I hope those Southern gentlemen will declare war, for that will stop the shilly shallying, unite the North if it be not so already, and the line will have to be drawn by the strategic points involved, which for the defense of the Capital includes Maryland."

15 Seventeen vessels from Southern ports without U.S. clearances were seized at New York.

16 Secretary of the Navy Welles wrote Flag Officer Garrett J. Pendergrast, commanding USS Cumberland at Norfolk: "Until further orders the departure of the Cumberland to Vera Cruz will be deferred. In the meantime you will lend your assistance, and that of your command, towards putting the vessels now in the Yard in condition to be moved, placing the ordnance and ordnance stores on board for moving, and, in case of invasion, insurrection, or violence of any kind, to suppress it, repelling assault by force, if necessary."

17 USS Powhatan, Lieutenant D. D. Porter, arrived off Pensacola. Under her protecting guns, 600 troops on board steamer Atlantic were landed at Fort Pickens to complete its reinforcement. President Lincoln had stated "I want that fort saved at all hazards." The President's wish was fulfilled, and use of the best harbor on the Gulf was denied the Confederacy for the entire war, while serving the Union in¬dispensably in the blockade and the series of devastating assaults from the sea that divided and de¬stroyed the South.

Jefferson Davis' proclamation invited all interested in "service in private armed vessels on the high seas" to apply for Letters of Marque and Reprisal.

Confederates placed obstacles in the channel at Norfolk, attempting to prevent the sailing of U.S. naval vessels. The subsequent passage of the obstructions by Pawnee and Cumberland proved the effort ineffective.

18 USS Merrimack was reported ready for sea at Norfolk by Chief Engineer Isherwood.

Secretary of the Navy Welles wrote Captain Hiram Paulding: "You are directed to proceed forthwith to Norfolk and take command of all the naval forces there afloat On no account should the arms and munitions be permitted to fall into the hands of insurrectionists, or those who would wrest them from the custody of the government; and should it finally become necessary, you will, in order to pre¬vent that result, destroy the property."

U.S. schooner Buchanan (lighthouse tender), Master Thomas Cullen, was seized and taken to Richmond, Virginia.

19 President Lincoln issued proclamation declaring blockade of Southern ports from South Carolina to Texas Of the blockade Admiral David Dixon Porter was to later write: "So efficiently was the blockade maintained and so greatly was it strengthened from time to time, that foreign statesmen, who at the beginning of the war, did not hesitate to pronounce the blockade of nearly three thousand miles of coast a moral impossibility, twelve months after its establishment were forced to admit that the proofs of its efficiency were so comprehensive and conclusive that no objections to it could be made."

Washington having been cut off by rail from the North, Captain Du Pont and others embarked troops at Philadelphia and head of the Chesapeake Bay to proceed to the relief of the Capital. Steamer Boston departed Philadelphia with New York Seventh Regiment on board, and ferryboat Maryland em¬barked General Benjamin F. Butler's Massachusetts Eighth Regiment at Perryville for Annapolis.

U.S. steamer Star of the West was seized by Confederates at lndianola, Texas.

Captain David Glasgow Farragut, though born in the South and with a southern wife, chose to remain loyal to the Union and left his home in Norfolk, Virginia, to take up residence in New York City.

20 Norfolk Navy Yard partially destroyed to prevent Yard facilities from falling into Confederate hands and abandoned by Union forces. USS Pennsylvania, Germantown, Raritan. Columbia, and Dolphin were burned to water's edge. USS Delaware, Columbus, Plymouth, and Merrimack (later CSS Virginia) were burned and sunk. Old frigate USS United States was abandoned. USS Pawnee, Commodore Paulding, and tug Yankee. towing USS Cumberland, escaped; Pawnee returned to Washington to augment small defenses at the Capital. This major Yard was of prime importance to the South. The Confederacy had limited industrial capacity, and possession of the Norfolk Yard provided her with guns and other ordnance materiel, and, equally as important, gave her a drydock and an industrial plant in which to manufacture crucially needed items. In large measure, guns for the batteries and fortifications erected by the Confederates on the Atlantic coast and rivers during 1861 came from the Norfolk Yard.

USS Constitution, Lieutenant George Rodgers, moored in Severn River off Annapolis, was towed into Chesapeake Bay by steamer Maryland with General Butler's troops on board. This action, preceded by resolute measures by Naval Academy staff and midshipmen. prevented Confederates from seizing historic "Old Ironsides."

U.S. S. Anacostia, Lieutenant Thomas S. Fillebrown, was ordered to patrol off Kettle Bottom Shoals, Virginia, to prevent the obstruction 'of the channel at that point; the crew was augmented by 20 Marines from the Washington Navy Yard

Cornelius Vanderbilt offered the government the fast steamer Vanderbilt. Eventually the Navy acquired many private ships by charter or purchase to strengthen its blockade fleets.

U.S. coast survey schooner Twilight, Andrew C. Mitchell, was seized at Aransas, Texas.

21 Colonel Charles F. Smith. USA, reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles he had seized and placed under guard steamers Baltimore, Mount Vernon, Philadelphia. and Powhatan near Washington, D.C. Steamers plied between Aquia Creek and Washington; these were ordered to be outfitted at Washington Navy Yard for defense of the Capital. Aquia Creek, terminal point of railroad connection with Richmond, was the first location on the Potomac where Confederate naval officers erected batteries.

USS Saratoga, Commander Alfred Taylor, captured slave ship Nightingale with 961 slaves on board.

Secretary of the Navy Welles instructed Captain Du Pont, Commandant Philadelphia Navy Yard, to procure five staunch steamers from ten to twelve feet draught, having particular reference to strength and speed and capable of carrying a nine-inch pivot gun or coast service." Similar orders were sent to Commandants of the Navy Yards in New York and Boston.

22 Captain Franklin Buchanan, Commandant Washington Navy Yard, submitted his resignation and was relieved by Commander John A. Dahlgren; Buchanan joined the Confederate Navy and was promoted to Admiral, CSN, on 26 August 1862. Dahlgren spurred the buildup of Union ordnance and operation of ships for the defense of Washington and Potomac River. Of the ships (primarily chartered commercial steamers) assigned to Dahlgren's command at the Navy Yard, Secretary of the Navy Welles reported: "For several months the navy, without aid, succeeded, more effectually than could have been expected. in keeping open for commercial purposes, and restricting. to a great extent, communica¬tion between the opposite shores [Potomac]."

Steamer Boston arrived at Annapolis with New York 7th Regiment on board, found Maryland aground after towing USS Constitution into Chesapeake Bay, and got her off, troops from both ships disem¬barking. This timely arrival by water transport, recommended by Captain Du Pont at Philadelphia, was instrumental in defending Washington against possible Confederate seizure, and significant in keep¬ing Maryland in the Union. In the following days Butler's troops repaired the railroad and opened communications with Washington, which had been severed since the 19 April Baltimore riots. Com¬mander James H. Ward of USS North Carolina proposed to Secretary of the Navy Welles the organi¬zation of a "flying flotilla" of ships for service in Chesapeake Bay and tributaries. The proposal was approved, ships purchased and fitted out in New York, and on 20 May 1861, USS Freeborn, with two small craft in tow, Commander Ward in command, arrived at Washington Navy Yard.

Secretary of the Navy Welles ordered Commander William W. Hunter to move Receiving Ship Allegheny at Baltimore to Fort McHenry because of strong secessionist activity in the city.

23 USS Pawnee reached Washington where Commodore Paulding reported to the Navy Department on the loss of the Norfolk Navy Yard. Pawnee's arrival strengthened the Capital's defenses at a critical juncture.

24 USS Cumberland, Flag Officer Pendergrast, captured Confederate tug Young America and schooner George M. Smith with cargo of arms and ammunition in Hampton Roads.

USS Constitution, Lieutenant G. W. Rodgers, departed with midshipmen on board for New York and Newport, Rhode Island, under tow of USS R. R. Cuyler with Harriet Lane in company. to transfer U.S. Naval Academy.

26 USS Commerce. Lieutenant Peirce Crosby, captured steamer Lancaster at Havre de Grace, Maryland. He also pursued a steam tug "in obedience to the written orders that I had received from you [Com¬mander Charles Steedman] to seize all tugs south of Havre de Grace," but could not catch her.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory reported: "I propose to adopt a class of vessels hitherto unknown to naval services. The perfection of a warship would doubtless be a combination of the greatest known ocean speed with the greatest known floating battery and power of resistance . . . agents of the department have thus far purchased but two [steam vessels], which combine the requi¬site qualities. These, the Sumter and MacRae, are being fitted as cruisers . . . Vessels of this character and capacity cannot be found in this country, and must be constructed or purchased abroad." Mallory discussed naval ordnance: "Rifled cannon having attained a range and accuracy beyond any other form of ordnance . . . I propose to introduce them into the Navy . . . Small propeller ships, with great speed, lightly armed with these guns. must soon become as the light artillery and rifles of the deep, a most destructive element of naval warfare."

27 President Lincoln extended the blockade to ports of Virginia and North Carolina.

Secretary of the Navy Welles issued order for Union ships to seize Confederate privateers upon the high seas.

Steamer Helmick, loaded with powder and munitions of war for the Confederacy, was seized at Cairo, Illinois.

29 USS United States ordered commisioned as the first ship in the Virginia navy by Major General Rob¬ert E. Lee, Commander in Chief Military Forces of Virginia.

30 Flag Officer Pendergrast issued notice of the blockade of Virginia and North Carolina.

May 1861

1 USS Commerce, Lieutenant Crosby, seized steam tug Lioness off mouth of Patapsco River, Maryland.

2 General Winfield Scott wrote to President Lincoln suggesting a cordon capable of enveloping the seceded states and noted that "the transportation of men and all supplies by water is about a fifth of the land cost. besides the immense saving of time." On the next day Scott elaborated further to General George McClellan: "We rely greatly on the sure operation of a complete blockade of the Atlantic and Gulf ports soon to commence. In connection with such blockade, we propose a power¬ful movement down the Mississippi to the ocean, with a cordon of posts at proper points . . . the object being to clear out and keep open this great line of communication in connection with the strict blockade of the seaboard, so as to envelop the insurgent States and bring them to terms with less bloodshed than by any other plan." The heart of the celebrated Anaconda Plan which would strangle the Confederacy on all sides was control of the sea and inland waterways by the Union Navy; the strategy of victory was (a) strengthen the blockade, (b) split the Confederacy along the line of the Mississippi River, and (c) support land operations by amphibious assault, gunfire. and transport.

3 President Lincoln called for "the enlistment, for not less than one nor more than three years, of 18,000 sea¬men, in addition to the resent force, for the naval service of the United States."

President Lincoln's blockade proclamation published in London newspapers.

Captain Du Pont wrote: "I am anxious for the blockade to get established-that will squeeze the South more than anything."

Commander Dahlgren, Commandant Washington Navy Yard, noted: "Besides the Yard, I have to hold the bridge next above, so some howitzers and a guard are there. It is from this direction that the rebels of the eastern shore may come. This Yard is of great importance, not only because of its furnishing the Navy so largely with various stores, but also as a position in the general defences of the city.''

4 USS Cumberland, Flag Officer Pendergrast, seized schooner Mary and Virginia with cargo of coal, and reported the capture of schooner Theresa C., running the blockade off Fort Monroe, Virginia, with cot¬ton on board.

Steamship Star of the West commissioned as Receiving Ship of Confederate Navy at New Orleans.

5 USS Valley City, Acting Master John A. J. Brooks, captured schooner J. O'Neil near Pamlico River, North Carolina, after schooner was run aground by her crew.

6 Confederate Congress passed act recognizing state of war with the United States and authorized the issuing of Letters of Marque to private vessels. President Davis issued instructions to private armed vessels, in which he defined operational limits, directed "strictest regard to the rights of neutral powers." ordered privateers to proceed "With all ... justice and humanity" toward Union vessels and crews, out-lined procedure for bringing in a prize, directed that all property on board neutral ships be exempt from seizure "unless it be contraband," and defined contraband.

7 Union blockading force captured Confederate steamers Dick Keyes and Lewis near Mobile.

USS Yankee, Lieutenant Thomas O. Selfridge, fired on by Confederate batteries at Gloucester Point, Virginia.

8 Secretary of the Navy Welles informed Gustavus Fox: "You are appointed Chief Clerk of the Navy Department, and I shall be glad to have you enter upon the duties as soon as you conveniently can."

9 USS Constitution Lieutenant G. W. Rodgers, and U.S. steamer Baltic Lieutenant C.R.P. Rodgers, arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, with officers and midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy. The Naval Academy remained there for the duration of the war.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory, ordered Commander James D. Bulloch, CSN, to England to purchase ships, guns, and ammunition. In his instructions he said: ". . . provide as one of the conditions of payment for the delivery of the vessels under the British flag at one of our Southern ports, and, secondly, that the bonds of the Confederacy be taken in whole or in part payment. The class of vessel desired for immediate use is that which offers the greatest chances of success against the enemy's commerce . . . as side-wheel steamers can not be made general cruisers, and as from the enemy's force before our forts, our ships must be enabled to keep the sea, and to make extended cruises, propellers fast under both steam and canvas suggest themselves to us with special favor. Large ships are unnecessary for this service; our policy demands that they shall be no larger than may be sufficient to combine the requisite speed and power, a battery of one or two heavy pivot guns and two or more broadside guns, being sufficient against commerce. By getting small ships we can afford a greater number, an important consideration. The character of the coasts and harbors indicate atten¬tion to the draft of water of our vessels. Speed in a propeller and the protection of her machinery can not be obtained upon a, very light draft, but they should draw as little water as may be compatible with their efficiency otherwise."

10 Blockade of Charleston initiated by USS Niagara, Captain William W. McKean.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory farsightedly wrote the Committee on Naval Affairs of Congress regarding proposals for new warships: "I regard the possession of an iron-armored ship as a mat¬ter of the first necessity. Such a vessel at this time could traverse the entire coast of the United States, prevent all blockades, and encounter, with a fair prospect of success, their entire Navy. If to cope with them upon the sea we follow their example and build wooden ships, we shall have to construct several at one time; for one or two ships would fall an easy prey to their comparatively numerous steam frigates. But inequality of numbers may be compensated by invulnerability; and thus not only does economy but naval success dictate the wisdom and expediency of fighting with iron against wood, without regard to first cost. Naval engagements between wooden frigates, as they are now built and armed, will prove to be the forlorn hopes of the sea, simply contests in which the question, not of victory, but of who shall go to the bottom first, is to be solved."

Secret Act of Confederate Congress, signed by President Davis, authorized "the Navy Department to send an agent abroad to purchase six steam propellers, in addition to those heretofore authorized, to¬gether with rifled cannon, small arms, and other ordnance stores and munitions of war," and appropriated a million dollars for the purpose.

11 USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, ordered by Commander Dahlgren to proceed from Washington Navy Yard to Alexandria, Virginia, to protect vessels in the vicinity from attack by Confederate forces.

12 USS Niagara, Captain McKean, captured blockade runner General Parkhill, en route Liverpool to Charleston.

13 Queen Victoria proclaimed British neutrality and forbade British subjects to endeavor to break a block¬ade "lawfully and effectually established."

14 USS Minnesota, Flag Officer Silas H. Stringham, captured schooners Mary Willis, Delaware Farmer, and Emily Ann at Hampton Roads laden with tobacco for Baltimore. Argo, bound for Bremen from Rich¬mond, captured on same date.

15 Secretary of the Navy Welles appointed Lieutenant Thomas M. Brasher to command USS Bainbridge and ordered him to proceed to Aspinwall, New Granada (Panama), to protect California steamers against "vessels sailing under pretended letters of marque issued by the insurrectionary States." California steamers transported large quantities of gold from Aspinwall to New York. Confederate ships were constantly on the alert for these vessels as the blockade tightened and the need for specie became in¬creasingly desperate.

16 Commander John Rodgers ordered to report to the War Department to establish naval forces on the western rivers under the command of General John C. Fremont. The importance of controlling the Mississippi and its tributaries which pierced the interior in every direction was recognized immediately by the U.S. Government. This control was not only militarily strategic but was a vital factor in keep¬ing the northwestern states in the Union. Under Rodgers, three river steamers were purchased at Cin¬cinnati. Rodgers, overcoming no little difficulty in obtaining and training crews, getting guns and other equipment, converted the steamers to gunboats Tyler, Lexington, and Conestoga. These three gun¬boats, as stated by Alfred Thayer Mahan, were of inestimable service in keeping alive the attachment to the Union where it existed."

Brutus de Villeroi sails his submarine down the Delaware and is captured by the Philadelphia Harbor Police. The vessel is 33’ long and 4’ wide. De Villeroi claimed he was delivering the boat to the U.S. Navy, which disavowed any knowledge of such an appointment.

17 USS Minnesota, Flag Officer Stringham, captured bark Star en route Richmond to Bremen.

18 Confederate schooner Savannah, Captain Thomas H. Baker, was commissioned by President Davis as "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 between the said Confederate States and the said United States."

Commander Dahlgren suggested a plan for the erection of batteries on commanding points along the Potomac, and "the placing of vessels of some force at two or three intervals from the kettle bottoms to the Yard [Washington] near suspected positions, with communications kept up by some fast and light steamers.

19 USS Monticello, Captain Henry Eagle, and USS Thomas Freeborn, Commander Ward, engaged Con¬federate battery at Sewell's Point, Virginia.

CSS Lady Davis. Lieutenant Thomas P. Pelot, captured American ship A. B. Thompson off Charleston.

20 USS Crusader, Lieutenant T. A. Craven. captured Neptune near Fort Taylor, Florida.

21 USS Constellation, the oldest United States' warship afloat, Captain John S. Nicholas, captured slave brig Triton at mouth of the Congo River, Africa.

USS Pocahontas, Commander John P. Gillis, seized steamboat James Guy off Machodoc Creek, Virginia.

The Confederate government guaranteed right of patent for any invention beneficial to the war effort, reserving for the government the right to use it, and provided that, in addition to bounties otherwise provided, the government "will pay to any private armed vessel commissioned under said act 20 per centum on the value of each and every vessel of war belonging to the enemy that may be sunk or destroyed."

John A. Stevenson of New Orleans discussed with Secretary of the Navy Mallory a "plan by which the enemy's blockading navy might be driven from our coasts," and wrote President Davis, "We have no time, place, or means, to build an effective navy. Our ports are, or soon will be, all blockaded. On land we do not fear Lincoln, but what shall we do to cripple him at sea? In this emergency, and seeing that he is arming many poorly adapted vessels, I have two months past been entirely engaged in perfecting plans by which I could so alter and adapt some of our heavy and powerful tow-boats on the Mississippi as to make them comparatively safe against the heaviest guns afloat, and by preparing their bow in a peculiar manner, as my plans and model will show, render them capable of sinking by collision the heaviest vessels ever built - .

23 USS Mississippi. Flag Officer William Mervine, was compelled to put back into Boston for repairs because of sabotage damage to her condensers.

24 Commander Rowan, commanding USS Pawnee, demanded surrender of Alexandria, Virginia; amphibious expedition departed Washington Navy Yard, after embarking secretly at night under Commander Dahlgren's supervision, and occupied Alexandria. Admiral D. D. Porter later noted of this event: "The first landing of Northern troops upon the Virginia shores was under cover of these improvised gunboats [USS Thomas Freeborn, Anacostia, and Resolute at Alexandria . . . Alexandria was evacuated by the Confederates upon demand of a naval officer-Commander S. C. Rowan . . . and . . the American flag was hoisted on the Custom House and other prominent places by the officer in charge of a landing party of sailors-Lieutenant R. B. Lowry. This . . . gave indication of the feelings of the Navy, and how ready was the service to put down secession on the first opportunity offered."

Confederate States Marshal at New Orleans seized all ships from Northern states which had arrived after 6 May 1861.

25 Commander Dahlgren, Commandant Washington Navy Yard, reported capture of streamer Thomas Col¬yer by USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, at Alexandria.

USS Minnesota, Flag Officer Stringham, seized bark Winfred near Hampton Roads.

26 USS Brooklyn, Commander Charles H. Poor, set blockade of New Orleans and mouth of Mississippi River.

USS Powhatan, Lieutenant D. D. Porter, set blockade at Mobile.

2 USS Union. Commander John R. Goldsborough, initiated blockade of Savannah.

29 Confederate privateer J. C. Calhoun captured American brig Panama, which she took to New Orleans with two earlier prizes. American schooners Mermaid and John Adams.

USS Powhatan, Lieutenant D. D. Porter, captured schooner Mary Clinton attempting to run the block¬ade near Southwest Pass, Mississippi River.

29-1 June Potomac Flotilla, consisting of USS Thomas Freeborn, Commander Ward. USS Anacostia, Lieu¬tenant Napoleon Collins, and USS Resolute, Acting Master William Budd, engaged Confederate bat¬teries at Aquia Creek, Virginia. Flotilla joined by USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, evening of 31 May.

30 USS Merrimack, scuttled and burned at Norfolk Navy Yard, raised by Confederates.

USS Quaker City, Acting Master S. W. Mather, seized schooner Lynchburg, on route Richmond with cargo of coffee.

Captain Samuel F. Du Pont, Commandant Philadelphia Navy Yard, orders an examination of de Villeroi’s submarine.

31 USS Perry, Lieutenant Enoch G. Parrott, captured Confederate blockade runner Hannah M. Johnson.

June 1861

1 USS Union, Commander J. R. Goldsborough. captured Confederate schooner F. W. Johnson with cargo of railroad iron off the coast of North Carolina.

Captain Du Pont wrote: "I do not like the tone of things in England Lord Derby and Granville, etc., talk of two thousand miles of coast to be blockaded! They seem to forget so far as their rights and international interests are concerned we have only to blockade the ports of entry- from the Chesapeake to Galveston- any venture into any other harbors or inlets of any kind is liable to capture as a smuggler. It is the intention of the Government, I presume, to connect the shore between blockaded ports by light draft cruisers to prevent the ingress of arms and contraband, and the egress of privateers- but that is our business as a war measure- an effective blockade means the covering of the ports of entry- and this will be easily done in my judgment.

3 Confederate privateer Savannah Captain Baker, captured American brig Joseph with cargo of sugar; Savannah was then captured by USS Perry, Lieutenant Parrott.

5 Revenue Cutter Harriett Lane, Captain Faunce, USRM, engaged Confederate battery at Pig Point, Hampton Roads.

USS. Niagara. Captain MeKean, captured schooner Aid at Mobile.

Flag Officer Pendergrast reported the capture of bark General Green by USS Quaker City, Commander Overton Carr, at the Capes of the Chesapeake.

8 USS Mississippi, Flag Officer Mervine, set blockade at Key West.

USS Resolute, Acting Master W. Budd, having captured schooner Somerset at Breton's Bay, towed her close to the Virginia shore and burned her.

9 USS Massachusetts, Commander Melancton Smith, captured British blockade runner Perthshire with cargo of cotton near Pensacola.

10 USS Union, Commander J.R. Goldsborough, captured brig Hallie Jackson off Savannah with cargo of molasses.

Lieutenant John Mercer Brooke, CSN. ordered to design ironclad CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack).

Columbia Herald (Tennessee) published article by Reverend Franklin Smith seeking assistance from Southern citizens to build submarines. Smith is credited with at least one of the submarines built in Mobile during the war.

13 USS Mississippi, Flag Officer Mervine, captured schooner Forest King, at Key West.

14 American schooner Christiana Ken, grounded and was burned by Confederates near Upper Machodoc Creek, Virginia.

Is Major General Robert F. Lee wrote Virginia Governor John Fletcher regarding preparations for the de¬fense of the state: "The frigate United States has been prepared for a school ship, provided with a deck battery of nineteen guns, 32-pounders and 9-inch Columbiads, for harbor defense. The frigate Merrimack has been raised and is in for the dry dock, and arrangements are made for raising the Germantown and Plymouth.'' Lee, showing his understanding of the serious threat posed by Union naval op¬erations on the rivers, reported that: "Six batteries have been erected on the Elizabeth River, to guard the approaches to Norfolk and the Navy Yard... prevent ascent of the Nansemond River and the occupation of the railroad from Norfolk to Richmond, three batteries have been constructed ... Sites for batteries on the Potomac have also been selected, and arrangements were in progress for their construction, but the entire command of that river being in the possession of the U.S. Government, a larger force is required for their security than could be devoted to that purpose. The batteries at Aquia Creek have only been prepared . . . On the Rappahannock River a four-gun battery ... has been erected."

17 USS Massachusetts, Commander M. Smith, captured schooner Achilles near Ship Island, Mississippi.

18 USS Union, Commander J. R. Goldsborough, captured Confederate blockade runner Amelia at Charles¬ton with cargo of contraband from Liverpool.

Major General Robert E. Lee wrote Lieutenant Robert Randolph Carter, CSN, commander of CSS Teaser: 'It is desired that the C.S. steam tender Teaser shall unite with the batteries at Jamestown Is¬land in defense of James River, and be employed in obtaining intelligence of the movements of hostile vessels and the landing of troops either side of the river. It is suggested that you establish a system of signals as a means of communication with the troops, and take every precaution not to jeopardize the safety of your boat by proceeding too far beyond the protection of the guns of the batteries.

19 USS Massachusetts, Commander M. Smith, captured blockade running brig Nahum Stetson off Pass a l'Outre, Louisiana.

23 Confederate Navy began reconstruction of ex- USS Merrimack as ironclad CSS Virginia at Norfolk.

USS Massachusetts, Commander M. Smith, captured Mexican schooner Brilliant, with cargo of flour, and Confederate schooners Trois Freres, Olive Branch, Fanny, and Basile in the Gulf of Mexico.

24 USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, and USS Thomas Freeborn, Commander Ward, shelled Confederate batteries at Mathias Point, Virginia.

25 Secretary of the Navy Welles received a report that "the rebels in New Orleans are constructing an in¬fernal submarine vessel to destroy the Brooklyn, or any vessel blockading the mouth of the Missis¬sippi... a projectile with a sharp iron or steel pointed prow to perforate the bottom of the vessel and then explode." It was also reported that "a formidable floating battery [is] being built at Mobile, to be mounted with large guns of immense size and range to drive away or capture the ships, by en¬gaging them at long range.

U.S. Navy receives reports of New Orleans submarine—possibly built by the same team that later designed CSS Manassas. Sub supposedly had a three-man crew, was 19’6� long and 6’ high. The vessel was scuttled, probably around the time of the city’s capture by Admiral Farragut on 25 April 1863.

26 USS Minnesota, Flag Officer Stringham, captured bark Sally Magee off Hampton Roads.

27 Blockade Strategy Board met under the chairmanship of Captain Du Pont and included as members Commander Charles H. Davis, USN. Major John G. Barnard, USA Corps of Engineers, and Professor Alexander D. Bache, Superintendent U.S. Coast Survey, to consider and report on the major problems of the blockade and to plan amphibious operations to seize vital bases on the Southern coast. Recom¬mendations made by the Blockade Strategy Board, an early example of a "Joint Staff," had a profound effect on the course of the conflict and pointed the way to the successful naval actions at Hatteras Inlet, Port Royal, and New Orleans. The broad policies the Board early set forth were essentially fol¬lowed to their culmination at Appomattox.

USS Resolute, Acting Master W. Budd, burned a Confederate supply depot on Virginia shore of the Potomac River.

USS Thomas Freeborn, Commander Ward, USS Reliance. Acting Lieutenant Jared P. K. Mygatt, with two boats under Lieutenant James C. Chaplin, from USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, attacked Confederate forces at Mathias Point, Virginia. Commander Ward was killed in the action. Naval actions at Mathias Point, Aquia Creek, and elsewhere caused Admiral D.D. Porter to observe of these early operations on the Potomac and Chesapeake: "... the country was too busy watching the black clouds gathering in the South and West to note the ordinary events that were taking place on the Potomac, yet they formed the small links in the chain, which in the end, shackled the arms of the great rebellion.''

28 Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis, formerly slaver Echo, Captain Louis M. Coxetter, sailed from Charleston, later made numerous captures of Union ships along the coast, and caused much consterna¬tion on the Eastern seaboard.

Captain Du Pont, Chairman of the Blockade Strategy Board, wrote: "The order we received . . . set forth . . . the selection of two ports, one in South Carolina, another in the confines of Georgia and Florida, for coal depots . . . it seems impossible to supply the blockading fleet with coal without these depots."

28-29 Side-wheel steamer St. Nicholas, making scheduled run between Baltimore and Georgetown, D.C., was captured by Confederates who had boarded her posing as passengers at the steamer's various stop¬ping points on the Potomac River. Confederates were led by Captain George N. Hollins, CSN, who took command of St. Nicholas, and Colonel Richard Thomas, CSA, who boarded disguised as a woman. St. Nicholas then began search for USS Pawnee, but, not finding her, put out into the Chesapeake Bay, where she seized schooners Margaret and Mary Pierce and brig Monticello the following day, 29 June.

30 CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, ran the blockade at the mouth of Mississippi River and escaped to sea through Pass a I'Outre, eluding USS Brooklyn, whereupon the crew "gave three hearty cheers for the flag of the Confederate States, thus ... thrown to the breeze on the high seas by a ship of war, launching Semmes' famous career as a commerce raider.

USS Reliance, Lieutenant Mygatt, seized and destroyed sloop Passenger in the Potomac River.

July 1861

1 USS Minnesota, Flag Officer Stringham. captured schooner Sally Mears at Hampton Roads.

Confederate privateer Petrel evaded blockaders and put to sea from Charleston.

2 USS South Carolina, Commander James Alden, initiated blockade of Galveston.

3 CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured and burned American ship Golden Rocket near Isle of Pines, off the coast of Cuba.

4 USS South Carolina. Commander Alden, captured blockade running schooners Shark, Venus, Ann Ryan, McCanfield, Louisa. and Dart off Galveston.

5 USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, captured blockade running schooners Falcon and Coralia off Galveston.

USS Dana, Acting Master's Mate Robert B. Ely, captured sloop Teaser in Nanjemoy Creek, Maryland.

6 USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, captured blockade running schooner George G. Baker, off Galveston.

Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis captured American brig John Welsh and schooner Enchantress east of Cape Hatteras.

CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, arrived at Cienfuegos, Cuba, with seven U.S. vessels taken as prizes Cuba, Machias, Ben Dunning, Albert Adams, Naiad, West Wind, Lewis Kilham. Semmes appointed a Cuban agent for custody of the prizes, expressing to the Governor there that he had entered that port "with the expectation that Spain will extend to cruisers of the Confederate States the same friendly reception that in similar circumstances she would extend to the cruisers of the enemy.

7 USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, captured schooner Sam Houston off Galveston.

Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis captured American schooner S. J. Waring about 150 miles off Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

USS Pocahontas, Commander Benjamin M. Dove, fired on and damaged CSS George Page in Aquia Creek, Virginia.

Two floating torpedoes (mines) in the Potomac River were picked up by U. S. S. Resolute, Acting Master W. Budd the earliest known use of torpedoes by the Confederates. During the course of the war a variety of ingenious torpedoes destroyed or damaged some 40 Union ships, forecasting the vast growth to come in this aspect of underwater naval warfare.

Du Pont’s report on de Villeroi’s submarine is favorable, and the vessel is recommended to the Navy.

9 USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, seized and destroyed schooner Tom Hicks with cargo of lum¬ber off Galveston.

Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis captured American brig Mary E. Thompson of Bangor en route Antigua, and schooner Mary Goodell of New York en route Buenos Aires.

10 USS Minnesota, Flag Officer Stringham, captured Confederate brig Amy Warwick in Hampton Roads.

12 USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, captured Confederate schooner General T. J. Chambers off Galveston with cargo of lumber.

13 USS Massachusetts, Commander M. Smith, seized schooner Hiland near Ship Island, Mississippi.

14 USS Daylight, Commander Samuel Lockwood, initiated blockade of Wilmington, North Carolina.

15 Captain Du Pont wrote: "The Department are [sic] worried about the privateers increasing so. Lieutenant Semmes has sent . . . [vessels] into Cuba, but the Captain General ordered them to be imme¬diately restored to their commanders." Du Pont also noted that the privateer Jefferson Davis, "which has ventured so far north," was also causing concern. Confederate privateers struck out boldly against Northern commerce and generated distress among shipping interests. However, as the naval blockade tightened and ports and coastal havens were seized by amphibious assault and other naval actions, opera¬tions of Confederate raiders became increasingly difficult and restricted.

16 Blockade Strategy Board reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles on the necessity of halting Confederate commerce: ". . . it is an important object in the present war that this trade, home and foreign, should be interrupted . . . The most obvious method of accomplishing this object is by putting down material obstructions; and the most convenient form of obstruction, for transportation and use, is that of old vessels laden with ballast . . . sunk in the appropriate places." This was the first sug¬gestion for the "stone fleet". Elimination of water-borne trade by the Union Navy blockade (more ef¬fective than the "stone fleet" obstructions at harbor entrances), meant the economic ruination of the Confederacy.

USS St Lawrence, Captain Hugh Y. Purviance, captured British blockade runner Herald, bound from Beaufort, North Carolina, to Liverpool.

William Tilghman, a Negro, overwhelmed Confederate prize crew on board schooner S.J. Waring and took possession of the vessel, carrying her into New York on 22 July.

18 Confederate schooner Favorite was captured by USS Yankee, Commander T. T. Craven, on Yeocomico River; Favorite was sunk later at Piney Point on the Potomac River.

Commander Ridgely, U.S. Receiving Ship Allegheny, reported his ship had received a battery of guns from the Washington Navy Yard and was standing by in the harbor for the protection of Annapolis.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory reported: "The frigate Merrimack [later CSS Virginia] has been raised and docked at an expense of $6,000, and the necessary repairs to hull and machinery to place her in her former condition is estimated by experts at $450,000. The vessel would then be in the river, and by the blockade of the enemy's fleets and batteries rendered comparatively useless. It has therefore been determined to shield her completely with 3 inch iron [4-inch armor was used], placed at such angles as to render her ball-proof, to complete her at the earliest moment, to arm her with the heaviest ordnance, and to send her at once against the enemy's fleet. It is believed that thus prepared she will be able to contend successfully against the heaviest of the enemy's ships and to drive them from Hampton Roads and the ports of Virginia. The cost of this work is estimated by the con¬structor and engineer in charge at $172,523, and as time is of the first consequence in this enterprise I have not hesitated to commence the work and to ask Congress for the necessary appropriation."

19 Captain General of Cuba released all vessels brought into Cuban ports as prizes by CSS Sumter.

20 USS Mount Vernon, Commander Oliver S. Glisson, seized sloop Wild Pigeon on the Rappahannock River.

USS Albatross, Commander George A. Prentiss, recaptured Enchantress off Hatteras Inlet.

21 USS Albatross, Commander Prentiss, engaged CSS Beaufort, Lieutenant R. C. Duvall, in Oregon In¬let, North Carolina. Albatross, heavier gunned, forced Beaufort to withdraw.

Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis captured American bark Alvarado in Atlantic (25o 04' N, 50o 00' W).

U.S. Marines commanded by Major Reynolds took part in the First Battle of Bull Run: 9 Marines killed, 19 wounded, 16 missing in action. Commander Dahlgren wrote of the loss of two naval howitzers in the battle. The Confederates also had a naval battery at Manassas.

24 Congress approved bill authorizing the appointment of an Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

Act "to provide for the temporary increase of the Navy" passed by Congress; gave President authority to take vessels into the Navy and appoint officers for them, to any extent deemed necessary; this con¬firmed action that had been taken by President Lincoln since April.

25 John LaMountain began balloon reconnaissance ascensions at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured schooner Abby Bradford in the Caribbean Sea and, denied the right to enter Venezuela with Confederate prizes, dispatched her to a Southern port.

Confederate privateer Mariner, Captain W. B. Berry, captured American schooner Nathaniel Chase off Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina.

Confederate privateer Gordon captured American brig William McGlivery off Cape Hatteras with cargo of molasses.

Confederate privateer Dixie captured American schooner Mary Alice off the cast coast of Florida.

USS Resolute, Acting Master W. Budd, brought two schooners and one sloop as prizes into Washing¬ton, D.C.

27 CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured American bark Joseph Maxwell off Venezuela.

28 USS Union, Commander J. R. Goldsborough, destroyed former American brig B. T. Martin north of Cape Hatteras, where she had been run aground by Confederates. B. T Martin had been captured previously by Confederate privateer York.

Confederate privateer Gordon captured American schooner Protector off Cape Hatteras.

USS St Lawrence, Captain Purviance, sank Confederate privateer Petrel off Charleston.

29 USS Yankee, Commander T. T. Craven, and USS Reliance, Lieutenant Mygatt, engaged Confederate battery at Marlborough Point, Virginia.

Four U.S. steamers engaged Confederate battery at Aquia Creek, Virginia, for three hours.

31 Confederate privateer Dixie captured American bark Glenn and took her to Beaufort, North Carolina.

August 1861

1 President Lincoln appointed Gustavus V. Fox Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Fox, the energetic naval officer who had led the unsuccessful Fort Sumter expedition in April, became Secretary Welles’ right hand man in the Department. His large acquaintance among naval officers and forthright, “unofficial� style made him a useful troubleshooter. By the informal correspondence which he elicited from the chief naval commanders, the Navy Department was able to keep in intimate touch with problems in the several squadrons.

3 John LaMountain made first ascent in a balloon from Union ship Fanny at Hampton Roads to observe Confederate batteries on Sewell’s Point, Virginia—a small beginning for the potent aircraft carrier in the tri-dimensional Navy of the twentieth century.
Congress authorized Secretary of the navy Welles to “appoint a board of three skillful naval officers to investigate the plans and specifications that may be submitted for the construction or completing of iron or steel-clad steamships or steam batteries . . . there is hereby appointed . . . the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars.� Commodore Joseph Smith, Captain Hiram Paulding, Commander Charles H. Davis appointed to the Ironclad Board on 8 August.

USS Wabash, Captain Mercer, recaptured American schooner Mary Alice, which had been taken by Confederate ship Dixie, and captured brig Sarah Starr, a blockade runner, off Charleston.
USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, engaged Confederate batteries at Galveston.

4 Cutter from USS Thomas Freeborn, Lieutenant Eastman, captured schooner Pocahontas, loaded with wood, and sloop Mary Frey in Pohick Creek, Virginia.

5 USS Jamestown, Commander Charles Green, burned Confederate prize bark Alvarado near Fernandina, Florida.
Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis capture large American brig Santa Clara off Puerto Rico.

7 War Department contracted with J.B. Eads of St. Louis for construction of seven shallow-draft ironclad river gunboats. The Eads gunboats—Cairo, Carondolet, Cincinnati, Louisville, Mound City, Pittsburg, and St. Louis—were the core of the Union force on the western waters. Built with the aid of Naval Constructor Samuel M. Pooks, USN, they were the key to Grant’s great series of campaigns that, beginning in February 1862, ultimately split the South and had a decisive influence on the war.

USS Massachusetts, Commander M. Smith, captured blockade running sloop Charles Henry near Ship Island, Mississippi.

8 USS Santee, Captain Eagle, captured schooner C.P. Knapp in the Gulf of Mexico.

9 Confederate privateer York captured schooner George G. Baker. USS Union, Commander J.R. Goldsborough, recaptured George G. Baker. York was set afire off Cape Hatteras by her crew to prevent capture by Union.

11 Blockade runner Louisa, pursued by USS Penguin, Commander John L. Livingston, struck shoal near Cape Fear, North Carolina, and sank.

12 Gunboats USS Tyler, Lexington, and Conestoga, procured and fitted out by Commander J. Rodgers, arrived at Cairo, Illinois, to protect the strategic position at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and to scout the rivers for Confederate batteries and troop movements.

13Commander Bulloch, CSN, writing from London to Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory, said: “After careful examination of the shipping lists of England, and inspecting many vessels, I failed to find a single wooden steamer fit for war purposes, except one paddle steamer, too large and costly for our coast. Wood as a material for ships has almost entirely gone out of use in the British merchant service, an their iron ships, though fast, well built, and staunch enough for voyages of traffic, are too thin in the plates and light in the deck frames and stanchions to carry guns of much weight. I therefore made arrangements to contract with two eminent builders for a gun vessel each . . .�

USS Powhatan, Lieutenant D.D. Porter, recaptured schooner Abby Bradford off the mouth of the Mississippi River.

15 USS Tyler and Conestoga, Lieutenant S.L. Phelps, scouted the Mississippi for Confederate fortifications and movements as far south as New Madrid, Missouri, while USS Lexington, Lieutenant Roger N. Stembel, operating with the Army, made a similar reconnaissance of the river north to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

USS Resolute, Acting master W. Budd, while on a reconnaissance mission, engaged Confederate troops at Mathias Point, Virginia.

16 President Lincoln declared the inhabitants of the Confederate States to be in a state of insurrection and forbade all commercial intercourse with them.

17 Lieutenant Reigart B. Lowry wrote Assistant Secretary of the navy Fox regarding the progress for sinking a stone fleet to block the inlets to the North Carolina sounds: “We have nineteen schooners properly loaded with stone, and all our preparations are complete to divide them in two divisions and place them in tow of this steamer [Adelaide] and of the Governor Peabody. I think all arrangements are complete, as far as being prepared to ‘sink and obstruct’ . . . the obstructing party could place their vessels in position, secure them as we propose, by binding chains, spars on end in the sand to settle by action of the tide, anchors down, and finally sink them in such a way as to block the channel so effectually that there could be no navigation through them for several months to come, at least till by the aid of our new gunboats the outside blockade could be effectual.�

18 Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis, Captain Coxetter, wrecked on the bar trying to enter St. Augustine, Florida, ending a most successful cruise. Charleston Mercury (26 August 1861) said: “The name of the privateer Jefferson Davis has become a word of terror to the Yankees. The number of her prizes and the amount of merchandise which she captured have no parallel since the days of the Saucy Jack [1812 privateer].�

19-21 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox ordered 200 Marines to report to Commander Dahlgren at the Washington Navy Yard for duty on board ships of the Potomac Flotilla for the purpose of scouting the Maryland countryside—especially Port Tobacco—for locations suspected of being Confederate depots for provisions and arms to be used for invading Maryland.

21 USS Vandalia, Commander Samuel Phelps Lee, captured Confederate blockade runner Henry Middleton off Charleston with a cargo of spirits, turpentine, and rosin.

22 Commander J. Rodgers reported that six hundred Confederate troops occupying Commerce, Missouri, withdrew at the approach of the Union gunboats. This action prevented the erection of Confederate batteries at a location which would have effectively impeded navigation.

USS Lexington, Commander Stembel, seized steamer W.B. Terry at Paducah, Kentucky, for trading with Confederates.

Steamer Samuel Orr was seized by Confederates at Paducah, Kentucky, and taken up the Tennessee River.

23 USS Release and Yankee engaged Confederate batteries at the mouth of Potomac Creek, Virginia.

24 President Davis appointed James M. Mason Special Commissioner to the United Kingdom and John Slidell Special Commissioner to France.

26 Squadron under Flag Officer Stringham, USS Minnesota, Monticello, Pawnee, Revenue Cutter Harriet Lane, US tug Fanny, and two transports carrying about 900 troops under Major General Butler, departed Hampton Roads (later joined by USS Susquehanna and Cumberland) for Hatteras Inlet, NC, for first combined amphibious operation of the war. Hatteras Inlet was the main channel into Pamlico Sound and the most convenient entrance for blockade runners bringing supplies to the Confederate Army in Virginia. The Navy early recognized the strategic importance of the inlet and invited the Army to cooperate in its capture. The operation was designed to check Confederate privateering and to begin the relentless assault from the sea that would divert a large portion of Confederate manpower from the main armies.

Captain A.H. Foote ordered to relieve Commander J. Rodgers in command of the Army’s gunboat flotilla on the western rivers.

US tug Fanny, Lieutenant Crosby, reported the capture of the blockade running sloop Mary Emma at the headwaters of the Manokin River, Maryland.

USS Daylight, Commander Lockwood, recaptured brig Monticello in Rappahannock River.

27 Flag Officer Stringham’s squadron anchored off Hatteras Inlet and prepared to land the troops and take Forts Hatteras and Clark under attack.

28 Flag Officer Stringham’s squadron commenced bombardment of Forts Hatteras and Clark; Marines and troops were landed from surf boats above the forts under over of naval gunfire. The ships’ heavy cannonade forced the Confederates to evacuate Fort Clark. Commodore Samuel Baron, CSN, with two small vessels joined the defenders that evening.
Commander Dahlgren, Commandant of Washington Navy Yard, sent 400 seamen on steamboat Philadelphia to Alexandria, to report to Brigadier General William B. Franklin for the defense of Fort Ellsworth. This timely naval reinforcement strengthened the fort’s defenses and consequently that of the nation’s capital.

USS Yankee, Commander T.T. Craven, captured schooner Remittance near Piney Point, Virginia.

29 Hatteras Inlet was secured as Forts Hatteras and Clark surrendered unconditionally to Flag Officer Stringham and General Butler. The Union triumph sealed off commerce raiding and blockade running from Pamlico Sound. Hatteras Inlet became a coal and supply depot for the blockading ships. Of this most successful joint operation Admiral D.D. Porter later wrote: “This was our first naval victory, indeed our first victory of any kind, and should not be forgotten The Union cause was ten in a depressed condition, owing to the reverses it had experienced. The moral effect of this affair was very great, as it gave us a foothold on Southern soil and possession of the Sounds of North Carolina if we chose to occupy them. It was a death blow to blockade running in that vicinity, and ultimately proved one of the most important events of the war.�

USS R.R. Cuyler, Captain Francis B. Ellison, seized and burned Confederate ship Finland, which was prepared to receive cargo of cotton and run the blockade off Apalachicola, Florida.

30 Confederate tug Harmony attacked USS Savannah, Captain Joseph B. Hull, at Newport News, inflicting damage before withdrawing.

31 CSS Teaser shelled Newport News.

USS George Peabody, Lieutenant Lowry, captured brig Henry C. Brooks in Hatteras Inlet.

USS Jamestown, Commander Green, captured British blockade running schooner Aigburth off Florida coast.

September 1861

William Cheney’s three-man submarine nearing completion at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia. A demonstration of the vessel is witnessed by Mrs. Baker, a Union spy, who reports its existence—and effectiveness—to Allan Pinkerton and the Navy. The vessel was reported to have a three-man crew, one of whom was a diver who exited the craft through an airlock in order to attach a timed bomb to the hull of the target ship. Air was supplied via a rubber hose suspended on the surface by a camouflaged sea green float.

1 President Lincoln received news late at night from Secretary of the Navy Welles of Flag Officer Stringham's victory at Hatteras Inlet, in the initial Army- Navy expedition of the war. Coming shortly after the defeat at Bull Run, it electrified the North and greatly raised morale.

USS Dana, Acting Master's Mate Ely, captured blockade running schooner T.J. Evans off Clay Island, Maryland, with a cargo including blankets, surgical instruments, and ordnance supplies.

4 Captain Du Pont wrote: "The first fruits of the labors of [the Blockade Strategy Board] came out on the North Carolina coast [Hatteras lnlet] . . . we will secure the whole of those inland sounds and passages and hold all that coast by a flotilla the great morale effect and encouragement to the country are of incalculable service just now."

CSS Yankee (also known as CSS Jackson) and Confederate batteries at Hickman, Kentucky, fired on USSTyler, Commander J Rodgers, and Lexington. Commander Stembel, while the gunboats were reconnoitering Mississippi River south from Cairo.

USS Jamestown Commander Green, captured Confederate schooner Colonel Long. removed her cargo, and scuttled her off the coast of Georgia.

5 Captain A.H. Foote reported at St. Louis, Missouri, to relieve Commander J. Rodgers in command of naval operations on the western rivers.

6 Gunboats USS Tyler, Commander J. Rodgers, and USS Lexington. Commander Stembel, spearheaded operations by which General Grant, in his first move after taking command at Cairo, seized strategic Paducah and Smithland, Kentucky, at the mouths of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Captain Foote, newly designated naval commander in the west, participated in the operation. This initial use of strength afloat by Grant, aimed at countering a Confederate move into the State, helped preserve Kentucky for the Union, and foreshadowed the General's great reliance on naval mobility and support throughout the campaigns which divided the Confederacy and placed the entire Mississippi under Union control.

U.S. consul in London reported purchase by Confederates of steamers Bermuda, Adelaide, and Victoria.

9 USS Cambridge, Commander William A. Parker, captured schooner Louisa Agnes off Nova Scotia.

10 USS Conestoga, Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, and USS Lexington, Commander Stembel, covering a troop advance, silenced the guns of a Confederate battery and damaged gunboat CSS Yankee at Lucas Bend, Missouri.

USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, captured schooner Susan Jane in Hatteras Inlet. Other blockade runners, unaware that the Union Navy now controlled the inlet, were also taken as prizes.

USS Cambridge, Commander W. A. Parker, captured British blockade running schooner Revere off Beaufort, North Carolina, with cargo of salt and herring.

11 USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, captured Soledeid Cos with a cargo of coffee off Galveston.

13 USS Susquehanna, Captain John S. Chauncey, captured blockade running British schooner Argonaut, with cargo of fish, bound from Nova Scotia to Key West.

CSS Patrick Henry. Commander John R. Tucker, exchanged fire with USS Savannah, Captain Hull, and USS Louisiana, Lieutenant Alexander Murray, off Newport News; shot on both sides fell short.

14 In the early morning darkness sailors and Marines from USS Colorado, rowing in to Pensacola Har¬bor, boarded and burned Confederate privateering schooner Judah and spiked guns at Pensacola Navy Yard.

USS Albatross. Commander Prentiss, captured schooner Alabama near the mouth of the Potomac River.

16 Ironclad Board reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles: "For river and harbor service we consider ironclad vessels of light draught, or floating batteries thus shielded, as very important . . . Armored ships or batteries may be employed advantageously to pass fortifications on land for ulterior objects of attack, to run a blockade, or to reduce temporary batteries on the shores of rivers and the approaches to our harbors.'' The Board recommended construction of three ironclads (Monitor. Galena, and New Ironsides). These ships, and those that followed, revolutionized naval warfare.

USS Conestoga, Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, captured Confederate steamers V.R. Stephenson and Gazelle on Cumberland River, Kentucky.

16-17 Landing party from USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, destroyed guns and fortifications on Beacon Island, closing Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina. Admiral D. D. Porter later wrote: "The closing of these inlets [Hatteras and Ocracoke] to the Sounds of North Carolina sent the blockade runners elsewhere to find entrance to Southern markets, but as channel after channel was closed the smugglers' chance diminished. . ."

17 Confederates evacuated Ship Island, Mississippi; landing party from USS Massachusetts took possession. Ship Island eventually became the staging area for General Butler's troops in the amphibious opera¬tions below New Orleans.

18 USS Rescue, Master Edward L. Haines, captured Confederate schooner Hartford with cargo of wheat and tobacco on the Potomac River.

Flag Officer Du Pont was appointed Commander South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Du Pont wrote : "My appointment as a flag officer will be dated today . . . Things have taken an active turn, and this day is an epoch in naval history–seniority and rotation have seen their last day. Selection with as much regard to seniority as the good of the service will admit is now the order of the day.''

Secretary of the Navy Welles wrote Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough, appointed to command North Atlantic Blockading Squadron: "It is essentially necessary that the Navy should at this time put forth all its strength and demonstrate to the country and to foreign powers its usefulness and capa¬bility in protecting and supporting the Government and the Union. There must be no commercial intercourse with the ports that are in insurrection, and our Navy must, by its power, energy, and ac¬tivity, enforce the views of the President and the Government on this subject. Privateers to depredate on our commerce and rob our countrymen pursuing their peaceful avocations must not be permitted..."

19 USS Gemsbok, Acting Master Edward Cavendy, captured blockade running schooner Harmony, en route Nova Scotia to Ocracoke, North Carolina.

21 Boat under Midshipman Edward A. Walker from USS Seminole, Commander Gillis, captured sloop Maryland on the Potomac River.

22 USS Gemsbok, Acting Master Cavendy, captured schooner Mary E. Pindar off Federal Point, North Caro¬lina, attempting to run the blockade with cargo of lime.

Flag Officer McKean assumed command of the Gulf Blockading Squadron.

23 USS Lexington, Commander Stembel, proceeded to Owenshoro, Kentucky, "for the purpose of keeping the Ohio River open" and in order to protect Union interests in the area. Such expeditions deep into territory with Confederate sympathies were fundamental in containing Southern advances in the border states.

U.S S. Cambridge, Commander W.A. Parker, captured British schooner, Julia bound for Beaufort, North Carolina.

Flag Officer L.M. Goldsborough assumed command of North Atlantic Blockading Squadron including operations in the Chesapeake.

24 USS Dart, Acting Master William M. Wheeler, captured Confederate schooner Cecelia off Louisiana, thereafter fitted out as Union cruiser by USS Huntsville, Commander Cicero Price.

25 CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes. captured American ship Joseph Park off northeast coast of South America; three days later burned her at sea.

USS Jacob Bell, Lieutenant Edward P. McCrea, and USS Seminole, Lieutenant Charles S. Norton, engaged Confederate battery at Freestone Point, Virginia.

Secretary of the Navy Welles instructed Flag Officer Du Pont, commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron: "The Department finds it necessary to adopt a regulation with respect to the large and increasing number of persons of color, commonly known as 'contrabands.' now subsisted at the navy yards and on board ships-of-war. These can neither be expelled from the service, to which they have resorted, nor can they be maintained unemployed, and it is not proper that they should be compelled to render necessary and regular services without compensation. You are therefore authorized, when their services can be made useful, to enlist them for the naval service, under the same forms and regulations as apply to other enlistments. They will be allowed, however, no higher rating than 'boys,' at a com¬pensation of ten dollars per month and one ration per day."

28 USS Susquehanna, Captain Chauncey, captured Confederate schooner San Juan, bound for Elizabeth City, North Carolina, with cargo of salt, sugar, and gin.

29 USS Susquehanna, Captain Chauncey, captured schooner Baltimore off Hatteras Inlet.

30 USS Dart, Acting Master Wheeler, captured schooner Zavalla off Vermillion Bay, Louisiana.

USS Niagara, Captain John Pope, captured pilot boat Frolic at South West Pass of the Mississippi River.

Cecelia, prize and render to USS Huntsville, Commander Price, captured blockade running schooner Ranchero west of Vermillion

October 1861

1 Confederate naval forces, including CSS Curlew, Raleigh, and Junaluska. under flag Officer William F. Lynch, CSN, captured steamer Fanny in Pamlico Sound with Union troops on board. Colonel Claiborne Snead, CSA, reported: "The victory was important in more respects than one. It was our first naval success in North Carolina and the first capture made by our arms of an armed war- vessel of the enemy. and dispelled the gloom of recent disasters. The property captured [two rifled guns and large amount of army stores] was considerable, much needed, and highly esteemed. . ."

Secretary Welles, in a letter to Secretary Seward, opposed issuing letters of marque because it would be "a recognition of the assumption of the insurgents that they are a distinct and independent nationality."

3 Captain Eagle, commanding USS Santee, reported return of USS Sam Houston to Galveston with schooner Reindeer, captured off San Luis Pass, Texas. The schooner, deemed worthless, was sunk.

4 USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, captured Confederate schooners Ezilda and Joseph H. Toone off South West Pass of the Mississippi River with four to five thousand stand of arms.

5 Two boats from USS Louisiana, Lieutenant A. Murray, destroyed Confederate schooner being fitted out as a privateer at Chincoteague Inlet, Virginia.

USS Monticello, Lieutenant Daniel L. Braine, drove off Confederate troops and steamers attacking Union soldiers in the vicinity of Hatteras Inlet.

6 USS Flag, Commander Louis C. Sartori, captured Confederate blockade running schooner Alert near Charleston.

7 USS Tyler, Commander Walke, and USS Lexington, Commander Stembel, exchanged fire with Confederate batteries at Iron Bluffs, near Columbus, Kentucky.

USS Louisiana, Lieutenant A. Murray, captured schooner S.T. Garrison, with cargo of wood, near Wallops Island, Virginia.

9 Confederate steamer Ivy, Lieutenant Joseph Fry, attacked U.S. blockading vessels at Head of Passes, Mississippi River; no damage caused but long range of Ivy's guns concerned naval officers.

First documented attempt to sink an enemy ship with a submarine in the Civil War. The target was the U.S.S. 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 USS Daylight, Commander Lockwood, silenced Confederate battery attacking American ship John Clark anchored in Lynnhaven Bay, Virginia.

Confederate troops at Tampa Bay captured American sloop William Batty.

11 Lieutenant Abram D. Harrell of USS Union. with three boat crews cut out and burned Confederate schooner in Dumfries Creek on the Potomac River.

12 Confederate metal-sheathed ram Manassas, Commodore Hollins, CSN, in company with armed steamer Ivy and James L. Day, attacked 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. Acting Master Edward F. Devens of Vincennes observed: "From the appearance of the Richmond's side in the vicinity of the hole, I should say that the ram had claws or hooks attached to her . . . for the purpose of tearing out the plank from the ship's side, It is a most destructive invention . . . [Manassas] resembles in shape, a cigar cut lengthwise, and very low in the water. She must be covered with railroad iron as all the shells which struck her glanced off, some directly at right angles. You could hear the shot strike quite plainly. They did not appear to trouble her much as she ran up the river at a very fast rate."

Confederate ship Theodora ran the blockade at Charleston with Mason and Slidell, Commissioners to Eng¬land and France respectively, on board.

Confederate privateer Sallie captured American brig Granada in the Atlantic (33o N, 71o W):

USS Dale, Commander Edward M. Yard, captured schooner Specie east of Jacksonville, bound for Havana with large cargo of rice.

Secretary of the Navy Welles wrote Flag Officer Du Pont: "In examining the various points upon the coast, it has been ascertained that Bull's Bay, St. Helena, Port Royal, and Fernandina, are each and all accessible and desirable points for the purposes indicated [Fleet coaling and supply stations], and the Government has decided to take possession of at least two of them." Coaling and supply depots seized by the Navy on the Southern coast allowed blockaders to remain on station for longer periods without returning to Northern navy yards.

Warning given that Confederates had lined James River with powerful submarine batteries (mines).

13 USS Keystone State, Commander Gustavus H. Scott, captured Confederate steamer Salvor near the Tortugas Islands with cargo of coffee, cigars, and munitions.

14 In the presence of Lieutenant A. Murray of USS Louisiana, citizens of Chincoteague Island, Virginia, took the oath of allegiance to the United States and presented a petition in which they stated their "abhorrence of the secession heresy."

15 USS Roanoke, Flag, Monticello, and Vandalia captured and burned blockade runner Thomas Watson on Stono Reef, off Charleston.

16 USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, captured schooner Edward Barnard with cargo of turpentine on board at South West Pass, Mississippi River.

17 Flag Officer Du Pont wrote: 'There is no question that Port Royal is the most important point to strike, and the most desirable to have first and hold . . . Port Royal alone admits the large ships– and gives us such a naval position on the sea coast as our Army is holding across the Potomac." Sub¬sequently, the strategic importance of Port Royal to the Union Navy and the blockade substantiated this judgment.

Confederate privateer Sallie, Master Henry S. Lebby, captured American brig Betsey Ames opposite the Bahama Banks with cargo including machinery.

18 USS Gemsbok, Acting Master Cavendy, captured brig Ariel off Wilmington with cargo of salt.

19 USS Massachusetts, Commander M. Smith, engaged CSS Florida, Lieutenant Charles W. Hays, in Mississippi Sound. Though the battle was inconclusive, Captain Levin M. Powell of USS Potomac noted one result that could be bothersome to Union naval forces: "The caliber and long range of the rifled cannon [of Florida] . . . established the ability of these fast steam gunboats to keep out of the range of all broadside guns, and enables them to disregard the armament or magnitude of all ships thus armed, or indeed any number of them, when sheltered by shoal water."

21 Charles P. Leavitt, Second Virginia Regiment, wrote the Confederate Secretary of War: "I have in¬vented an instrument of war which for a better name I have called a submarine gunboat. . . My plan is simple. A vessel is built of boiler iron of about fifty tons burden . . . but made of an oval form with the propeller behind. This is for the purpose of having as little draft of water as possible for the purpose of passing over sand-bars without being observed by the enemy. The engines are of the latest and best style so as to use as little steam as possible in proportion to the power received. The boilers are so constructed as to generate steam without a supply of air. The air for respiration is kept in a fit condition for breathing by the gradual addition of oxygen, while the carbonic acid is absorbed by a shower of lime water . . . I propose to tow out my gun-boat to sea and when within range of the enemy's guns it sinks below the water's surface so as to leave no trace on the surface of its ap¬proach, a self-acting apparatus keeping it at any depth required. When within a few rods of the enemy it leaps to surface and the two vessels come in contact before the enemy can fire a gun. Placed in the bow of the gun-boat is a small mortar containing a self-exploding shell. As it strikes the engines are reversed, the gun-boat sinks below the surface and goes noiselessly on its way toward another ship. After a few ships are sunk the enemy can scarcely have the temerity to remain in our waters . . . I have written you on this subject in order to obtain an opportunity to draft out my invention, which with the means at command in Richmond can be done in a week . . ." Although Leavitt's scheme was not adopted, it was an interesting indication of early thinking about submarines in the South. Ultimately the Confederacy built H. L. Hunley, first submarine to be used successfully in combat.

22 Captain T. T. Craven, commanding Potomac River Flotilla, reported the Potomac River was com¬manded by Confederate batteries at all important points below Alexandria.

23 Officers and men of privateer Savannah went on trial in New York charged with "piracy."

25 John Ericcson began construction of single-turret, two-gun ironclad USS Monitor at Greenpoint, New York.

Flag Officer Du Pont wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox of the continuing importance of am¬phibious training: "Landing a brigade today to exercise Ferry boats and Surf boats-reaping immense advantages from the experiment by seeing the defects."

USS Rhode Island, Lieutenant Stephen D. Trenchard, captured schooner Aristides off Charlotte Harbor, Florida.

26 USS Conestoga, Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, transported Union troops to Eddyville, Kentucky, for attack on Confederate cavalry at Saratoga.

CSS Nashville, Lieutenant Pegram, ran the blockade out of Charleston.

27 USS Santee, Captain Eagle, captured brig Delta off Galveston.

CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured and burned American schooner Trowbridge in the Atlantic after removing a five months' supply of provisions.

27-28 Boat expedition from USS Louisiana led by Lieutenant Alfred Hopkins surprised and burned three Confederate vessels at Chincoteague Inlet, Virginia.

29 Large Union expedition to Port Royal, South Carolina, sailed from Fort Monroe, under command of Flag Officer Du Pont in USS Wabash. Comprising 77 vessels, it was the largest U.S. Fleet ever as¬sembled to that date. Army forces numbered about 16,000 men, commanded by Brigadier General Thomas W. Sherman. Port Royal Sound, about equidistant from Savannah and Charleston, was of recognized importance, and one of the first locations fortified by the Confederates against the entrance of Union ships.

30 Confederate privateer Sallie captured American brig B. K. Eaton.
Confederate forces sank stone-filled barges to obstruct Cumberland River near Fort Donelson, Ten¬nessee, against the advance of Union gunboats.

Fall
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

1 Violent storm struck the Port Royal Sound Expedition off the Carolina coast, widely scattering naval vessels, transports, and supply ships and jeopardizing the success of this major undertaking. However, the damage to the Fleet was less than could have been expected. All ships had been furnished with secret instructions to be opened at sea only in case of separation from the Fleet.

De Villeroi contracts with the shipyard of Neafle & Levy in Philadelphia for construction of “one iron submarine.� Total cost is to be under $14,000.

2 USS Sabine, Captain Cadwalader Ringgold, rescued Major John G. Reynolds and a battalion of U.S. Marines under his command from U.S. transport Governor, unit of the Port Royal Sound Expedition, sinking off Georgetown, South Carolina.

British steamer Bermuda ran the blockade at Charleston with 2000 bales of cotton.

4 Coast Survey Ship Vixen entered Port Royal Sound to sound channel escorted by USS Ottawa and Seneca. Confederate naval squadron under Commodore Tattnall took Union ships under fire.

Fearing further attacks by Confederate “infernal machines,� Captain William Smith of the U.S.S. Congress, devises the first anti-submarine nets of chains suspended from spars lashed in a frame around his vessel.

5 USS Ottawa, Pembina, Seneca, and Pawnee engaged and dispersed small Confederate squadron in Port Royal Sound, fired on Fort Beauregard and Fort Walker.

6 USS Rescue, Lieutenant William Gwin, captured and burned schooner Ada hard aground in Corroto¬man Creek, Virginia.

Captain Purviance, commander of USS St Lawrence, reported capture of British schooner Fanny Lee, running the blockade at Darien, Georgia, with cargo of rice and tobacco.

7 Naval forces under Flag Officer Du Pont captured Port Royal Sound. While Du Pont's ships steamed in boldly, the naval gunners poured a withering fire into the defending Forts Walker and Beauregard with extreme accuracy. The Confederate defenders abandoned the Forts, and the small Confederate naval squadron under Commodore Tattnall could offer only harassing resistance but did rescue troops by ferrying them to the mainland from Hilton Head. Marines and sailors were landed to occupy the Forts until turned over to Army troops under General T. W. Sherman. Careful planning and skillful execution had given Du Pont a great victory and the Union Navy an important base of operations. The Confederates were compelled to withdraw coastal defenses inland out of reach of naval gunfire. Du Pont wrote: "It is not my temper to rejoice over fallen foes, but this must be a gloomy night in Charleston."

USSTyler, Commander Walke, and USS Lexington, Commander Stembel, supported 3000 Union troops under General Grant at the Battle of Belmont, Missouri, and engaged Confederate batteries along the Mississippi River. The arrival of Confederate reinforcements compelled Grant to withdraw under pressure. Grape, canister, and shell from the gunboats scattered the Confederates, enabling Union troops to re-embark on their transports. Grant, with characteristic restraint, reported that the gunboats' service was "most efficient," having "protected our transports throughout."

8 USS San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes, stopped British mail steamer Trent in Old Bahama Channel and removed Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell. The action sparked a serious international incident.

Boat expedition under Lieutenant, James E. Jouett from USS Santee surprised and captured Confederate crew of schooner Royal Yacht, and burned the vessel at Galveston.

USS Rescue, Lieutenant Gwin, shelled Confederate battery at Urbana Creek, Virginia, and captured large schooner.

9 Gunboats of Flag Officer Du Pont's force took possession of Beaufort, South Carolina, and, by block¬ing the mouth of Broad River, cut off this communication link between Charleston and Savannah.

Major General Robert E. Lee wrote Confederate Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin regarding the effects of the Union Navy's victory at Port Royal: "The enemy having complete possession of the water and inland navigation, commands all the islands on the coast and threatens both Savannah and Charleston, and can come in his boats, within 4 miles of this place [Lee's headquarters, Coosawhatchie, South Carolina]. His sloops of war and large steamers can come up Broad River to Mackay's Point, the mouth of the Pocotaligo, and his gunboats can ascend some distance up the Coosawhatchie and Tulifinny. We have no guns that can resist their batteries, and have no resources but to prepare to meet them in the field."

11 Thaddeus Lowe made balloon observation of Confederate forces from Balloon-Boat G.W. Parke Custis anchored in Potomac River. G. W. Parke Custis was procured for $150, and readied for the service at the Washington Navy Yard. Lowe reported: "I left the navy-yard early Sunday morning, the 10th instant– . . . towed our by the steamer Coeur de Lion, having on board competent assistant aeronauts, together with my new gas generating apparatus, which, though used for the first time, worked admi¬rably. We located at the mouth of Mattawoman Creek, about three miles from the opposite or Vir¬ginia shore. Yesterday [11 November] proceeded to make observations accompanied in my ascensions by General Sickles and others. We had a fine view of the enemy's camp-fires during the evening, and saw the rebels constructing new batteries at Freestone Point."

12 Fingal (later CSS Atlanta ), purchased in England, entered Savannah laden with military supplies– the first ship to run the blockade solely on Confederate government account.

USS W.G. Anderson, Acting Lieutenant William C. Rogers, captured Confederate privateer Beauregard near Abaco.

13 USS Water Witch, Lieutenant Aaron K. Hughes, captured blockade running British brigantine Cornu¬copia off Mobile.

14 U.S. cutter Mary, Captain Pease, seized Confederate privateer Neva at San Francisco, California.

15 Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell disembarked from USS San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes, at Fort Monroe.

USS Dale, Commander Yard, captured British schooner Mabel east of Jacksonville.

16 Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory advertised for plans and bids for building four seagoing ironclads capable of carrying four heavy guns each.

17 U.S.S Connecticut, Commander Maxwell Woodhull, captured British schooner Adeline, loaded with mili¬tary stores and supplies off Cape Canaveral, Florida.

18 USS Monticello, Lieutenant Braine, engaged Confederate battery near New Inlet, North Carolina.

USS Conestoga, Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, on expedition up Cumberland River, dispersed Confederate forces and silenced battery at Canton, Kentucky.

19 CSS Nashville, Lieutenant Pegram, captured and burned American clipper ship Harvey Birch, bound from Le Havre to New York.

21 USS New London, Lieutenant Abner Read, with USS R. R. Cuyler and crew members of USS Massachusetts, captured Confederate schooner Olive with cargo of lumber in Mississippi Sound; same force took steamer Anna, with naval stores, the following day.

22 Two days of combined gunfire commenced from USS Niagara, Flag Officer McKean, USS Richmond, Captain Francis B. Ellison, and Fort Pickens against Confederate defenses at Fort McRee, the Pensa¬cola Navy Yard, and the town of Warrington, terminating the following day with damage to Confed¬erate positions and to USS Richmond.

U.S. Marine Corps authorized to enlist an additional 500 privates and proportionate number of non¬-commissioned officers.

23 CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, evaded USS Iroquois at Martinique and steamed on course for Europe.

Confederate gunboat Tuscarora accidentally destroyed by fire near Helena, Arkansas.

24 Landing party from USS Flag, Commander J. Rodgers, USS Augusta, Pocahontas, Seneca, and Savan¬nah, took possession of the Tybee Island, Savannah Harbor. "This abandonment of Tybee Island," Du Pont reported, "is due to the terror inspired by the bombardment of Forts Walker and Beauregard, and is a direct fruit of the victory of the 7th [capture of Port Royal Sound]."

25 First armor plate for shipment to CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack) accepted by Confederate Secre¬tary of the Navy Mallory.

USS Penguin, Acting Lieutenant Thomas A. Budd, captured blockade running schooner Albion near North Edisto, South Carolina, with cargo of arms, munitions, and provisions.

CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured American brig Montmorenci off Leeward Islands.

26 CSS Savannah, Commodore Tattnall, and three steamers sortied against Union fleet in Cockspur Roads, Savannah; unsuccessful in effort to draw blockading vessels within range of Fort Pulaski's guns.

Flag Officer Du Pont observed the blockade's increasing pressure on the South's economy: "The flag is hoisted on the lighthouse and martello tower at Tybee . . . Shoes are $8 a pair in Charleston. Salt $7 a bushel, no coffee– women going into the interior– [Captain James L.] Lardner has closed the port so effectively that they can no longer get fish even."

CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured and burned American schooner Arcade north of Leeward Islands.

27 USS Vincennes, Lieutenant Samuel Marcy, boarded and seized blockade running British bark Empress, aground at the mouth of the Mississippi River, with large cargo of coffee.

28 USS New London, Lieutenant A. Read, captured Confederate blockade runner Lewis, with cargo of sugar and molasses, and schooner A. J. View, with cargo of turpentine and tar, off Ship Island, Mississippi.

29 Lieutenant Worden, later commanding officer of USS Monitor, arrived in Washington after seven months as a prisoner in the South.

30 USS Wanderer, Lieutenant James H. Spotts, captured blockade running British schooner Telegraph near Indian Key, Florida.

USS Savannah, Commander John S. Missroon, with other ships in company, seized Confederate schooner E.J. Waterman, after the vessel grounded at Tybee Island with cargo of coffee on board.

Late autumn
Keel of the Crescent City Project boat is laid in New Orleans; the vessel is to be 34’ long with a three-man crew.

December 1861

1 USS New London, Lieutenant A. Read, captured sloop Advocate in Mississippi Sound.

USS Seminole, Commander Gillis, seized sloop Lida, from Havana, off St. Simon's Sound, Georgia, with cargo of coffee, lead, and sugar.

2 In his first annual report, Secretary of the Navy Welles reported to President Lincoln that: "Since the institution of the blockade one hundred and fifty-three vessels have been captured . . . most of which were attempting to violate the blockade . . . When the vessels now building and purchased are ready for service, the condition of the navy will be . . . a total of 264 vessels, 2,557 guns, and 218,016 tons. The aggregate number of seamen in the service . . . Is now not less than 22,000 . . . The amount appropriated at the last regular session of Congress for the naval service for the current year was $13,168,675.86. To this was added at the special session in July last $30,446,875.91- making for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1862, an aggregate of $43,615,551.77. This sum will not be sufficient. . ."

CSS Patrick Henry, Commander Tucker, attacked four Union steamers above Newport News; Patrick Henry damaged in the two hour action.

Lieutenant Robert D. Minor, CSN, reported a laboratory had been organized at New Orleans "for the supply of ordnance stores for the vessels fitting out at this station."

3 CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured and burned at sea American ship Vigilant, bound from New York to the West Indies.

USS Santiago de Cuba, Commander Ridgely, captured British blockade running schooner Victoria.

4 Confederate steamers Florida and Pamlico attacked USS Montgomery, Commander Thompson D. Shaw, off Horn Island Pass, Mississippi Sound.

5 Flag Officer Du Pont, regarding expedition to Wassaw Sound, Georgia, and plans for the use of the "stone fleet," wrote: "Ottawa, Pembina, and Seneca penetrated into Wassaw the 'stone fleet' are all at Savannah, and I hardly know what to do with them- for with Wassaw that city is more effectively closed than a bottle with wire over the cork . . . I am sending to [Captain James L.] Lardner to know if he can plant them on the Charleston bar . . . One good thing they [the 'stone fleet's' appearance at Savannah] did, I have not a doubt they were taken for men-of-war, and led to giving up the Wassaw defenses . . ."

6 USS Augusta, Commander Parrott, captured British blockade runner Cheshire off South Carolina.

8 CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured and burned American bark Eben Dodge in the mid-Atlantic (30o 57' N, 51o 49' W), equipped for whaling voyage in Pacific.

USS Rhode Island, Lieutenant Trenchard, seized British blockade runner Phantom with cargo of sugar off Cape Lookout, North Carolina.

9 USS New London, Lieutenant A: Read, captured schooner Delight and sloops Express and Osceola off Cat Island Passage, Mississippi.

USS Harriet Lane, Lieutenant Robert H. Wyman, and other vessels of the Potomac Flotilla engaged Confederate forces at Freestone Point, Virginia.

10 USS Isaac Smith, Lieutenant James W. A. Nicholson, on expedition up Ashepoo River, South Caro¬lina, landed on Otter Island and took possession of abandoned Confederate fort; Nicholson turned over command of the fort to the Army.

11 USS Bienville, Commander Steedman, captured schooner Sarah and Caroline off St. John's River, Florida.

USS South Carolina, Commander Alden, captured Confederate sloop Florida off lighthouse at Timbalier, Louisiana.

12 USS Alabama, Commander Edward Lanier, captured British ship Admiral off Savannah, attempting to run the blockade.

USS Isaac Smith, Lieutenant J. W. A. Nicholson, on a reconnaissance in the Ashepoo River, South Carolina, with Marine detachment embarked, scattered Confederate troops by gunfire and landed Marines to destroy their quarters.

15 USS Stars and Stripes, Lieutenant Reed Werden, captured blockade running schooner Charity off Cape Hatteras.

USS Jamestown, Commander Green, captured Confederate sloop Havelock near Cape Fear, North Carolina.

17 Flag Officer Foote, Commanding U.S. Naval Forces, Western Waters, issued General Order regarding observance of Sunday on board ships of his flotilla: "It is the wish. . . that on Sunday the public worship of Almighty God may be observed . . . and that the respective commanders will either them¬selves, or cause other persons to pronounce prayers publicly on Sunday. . ." Foote added: "Discipline to be permanent must be based on moral grounds, and officers must in themselves, show a good example in morals, order, and patriotism to secure these qualities in the men." Since 1775 Navy Regulations have required that religious services be held on board ships of the Navy in peace and war.

Seven "stone fleet" vessels sunk at entrance of Savannah Harbor.

19 Confederate forces demolished lighthouse on Morris Island, Charleston.

20 "Stone fleet" sunk at Charleston by Captain C. H. Davis, Steamer Gordon ran the blockade off Wilmington.

21 U.S. Congress authorized Medal of Honor, the Nation's highest award.

24 USS Gem of the Sea, Lieutenant Irvin B. Baxter, captured and destroyed British blockade runner Prince of Wales off Georgetown, South Carolina.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory wrote Major General Leonidas Polk, commanding troops at Columbus, Kentucky, requesting furlough of troops to assist in construction of ironclad gunboats at Memphis. Mallory commented: "One of them at Columbus would have enabled you to complete the annihilation of the enemy."

25 USS Fernandina, Acting Lieutenant George W. Browne, captured schooner William H. Northrup off Cape Fear, North Carolina.

26 Confederate Fleet, including CSS Savannah, Commodore Tattnall, Resolute, Sampson, Ida, and Barton, attacked Union blockading ships at mouth of Savannah River. Before returning to his anchorage under the guns of Fort Pulaski, Tattnall forced the blockaders to move seaward temporarily.

USS Rhode Island, Lieutenant Trenchard, captured Confederate schooner Venus southeast of Sabine Pass, off the Louisiana coast.

27 Flag Officer Du Pont wrote regarding the "Trent Affair": "I hope now that our politicians will begin to learn, that something is necessary to be 'a great universal Yankee Nation etc.' than politics and party. We should have armies and navies and have those appurtenances which enable a nation to de¬fend itself and not be compelled to submit to humiliation [releasing Mason and Slidell] . . . Thirty ships like the Wabash would have spared us this without firing a gun, with an ironclad frigate or two."

28 USS New London, Lieutenant A. Read, captured Confederate schooner Gipsey with cargo of cotton in Mis¬sissippi Sound.

29 CSS Sea Bird, Flag Officer Lynch, evaded Union gunfire and captured large schooner near Hampton Roads carrying fresh water to Fort Monroe.

30 USS Santee, Captain Eagle, captured schooner Garonne off Galveston.

Flag Officer Foote wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox of the pay scale he was using: "In the case of Masters, and Pilots, I have been obliged, in order to secure the services of efficient Men, to pay 1st Masters $150. per month, 2nd Masters $125, 3rd Masters $100, and 4th Masters $80. per month, while Pilots are paid $175. per month. These prices are much less than the incumbents received in ordinary times, while they have before been provided with table furniture and stores, bedding & c., which I have not allowed them."

E. Biedermann posts a letter to Gideon Welles describing a submarine built by a Wilhelm Bauer six years previous and used in the Crimean War. His note includes detailed schematics of the vessel, “Diable Marin� (“Sea Devil�), which supposedly made 134 successful dives. Bauer was an experienced submariner, having built his first vessel “Brandtaucher� (“Incendiary Diver�) in 1850 and using it to force blockading Danish ships away from the German harbor of Kiel.

31 Biloxi, Mississippi, surrendered to a landing party of seamen and Marines covered by USS Water Witch, New London, and Henry Lewis; a small Confederate battery was destroyed, two guns and schooner Captain Spedden captured.

Flag Officer Foote wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox about the delay in fitting out mortar boats: "I did say and still consider the mortar boats very defective. They are built of solid timber and when armed and manned will be awash with the deck . . - all will leak more or less. Still I would have them fitted out, with all their defects." Foote made excellent use of the mortar boats later at Island No. 10.

USS Augusta, Commander Parrott, captured Confederate schooner Island Belle attempting to run the blockade near Bull's Bay, South Carolina.

Two boats, under Acting Masters A. Allen and H. L. Sturges, from USS Mount Vernon, destroyed lightship off Wilmington which had been fitted out as a gunboat by Confederates.

31-2 January Naval squadron under Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, including gunboats Ottawa, Pembina, and Seneca and four armed boats carrying howitzers, joined General Stevens' troops in successful am¬phibious attack on Confederate positions at Port Royal Ferry and on Coosaw River. Gunboat fire covered the troop advance, and guns and naval gunners were landed as artillery support. Army signal officers acted as gunfire observers and coordinators on board the ships. The action disrupted Confederate plans to erect batteries and build troop strength in the area intending to close Coosaw River and iso¬late Federal troops on Port Royal Island. General Stevens wrote: "I would do great injustice to my own feelings did I fail to express my satisfaction and delight with the recent cooperation of the command of Captain Rodgers in our celebration of New Year's Day. Whether regard be had to his beau¬tiful working of the gunboats in the narrow channel of Port Royal, the thorough concert of action established through the signal officers, or the masterly handling of the guns against the enemy, noth¬ing remained to be desired. Such a cooperation . . . augurs everything, propitious for the welfare of our cause in this quarter of the country."

February 1862

1 Flag Officer Foote telegraphed Washington from Cairo: "I leave early to-morrow with four armored gunboats on an expedition cooperating with the Army. Senior officer will telegraph you during my absence. Nothing new about the mortars. Twenty-nine men shipped from regiments yesterday and three to-day."

USS Portsmouth, Commander Swartwout, captured blockade running steamer Labuan at the mouth of the Rio Grande River with cargo of cotton.

USS Montgomery, Lieutenant Jouett, captured schooner Isabel in the Gulf of Mexico.

2 USS Hartford, Flag Officer Farragut, departed Hampton Roads for Ship Island, Mississippi, where Farragut took command of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron preparatory to the assault on New Orleans.

In his battle plan and orders to gunboats, Flag Officer Foote emphasized the need for coolness and precision of fire: ''Let it be also distinctly impressed upon the mind of every man firing a gun that, while the first shot may be either of too much elevation or too little, there is no excuse for a second wild fire, as the first will indicate the inaccuracy of the aim of the gun, which must be elevated or depressed, or trained, as circumstances require. Let it be reiterated that random firing is not only a mere waste of ammunition, but, what is far worse, it encourages the enemy when he sees shot and shell falling harmlessly about and beyond him . . . The Commander in Chief has every confidence in the spirit and valor of officers and men under his command, and his only solicitude arises lest the firing should be too rapid for precision, and that coolness and order, so essential to complete success, should not be observed, and hence he has in this general order expressed his views, which must be observed by all under his command." He directed Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, upon the surrender of Fort Henry, to proceed with ''Conestoga, Tyler, and Lexington up the river to where the railroad bridge crosses, and, if the army shall not already have got possession, he will destroy so much of the track as will entirely prevent its use by the rebels. He will then proceed as far up the river as the stage of water will admit and capture the enemy's gunboats and other vessels which might prove available to the enemy."

3 Having left his headquarters at Cairo on 2 February en route Fort Henry, Flag Officer Foote ordered USS Essex and St. Louis to proceed from Paducah to Pine Bluff, 65 miles up the Ten¬nessee, ''for the purpose of protecting the landing of the troops on their arrival at that point." The. Army commanders had recognized for some time that the mobility and fire power of the gunboats were viral in support of land forces operating along the rivers. Brigadier General C. F. Smith had well expressed this earlier: "The Conestoga, gunboat, admirably commanded by Lieuten¬ant Phelps of the Navy, is my only security in this quarter. He is constantly moving his vessel up and down the Tennessee and Cumberland." The same day, Foote wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles that he would have had more ships to take against the fort but for want of men. "The volunteers from the Army to go in the gunboats exceed the number of men required, but the derangement of companies and regiments'' had permitted few to transfer afloat. Major General Halleck wired Foote from St. Louis: ''General Grant is authorized to furnish men for temporary gunboat duty by detail. Men will be sent from here as soon as collected. Arrange with General Grant for temporary crews, so that there may be no delay." The following day, Commander Kilty, left in charge of naval matters at Cairo by Foote, advised Halleck that permanent details were needed, not temporary ones. Grant advised Halleck: ''Will be off up the Tennessee at 6 o'clock. Command, 23 regiments in all." Grant's troops embarked in transports at Cairo and Paducah; Foote's gunboats took the lead. Behind this spearhead and battering ram, the dismemberment of the South began.

CSS Nashville, Lieutenant Robert B. Pegram, departed Southampton, England. H.M.S. Shannon stood by to enforce the Admiralty ruling that USS Tuscarora could not leave the port for twenty-four hours after the sailing of Nashville.

4 Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman, gallant defender of Fort Henry, informed General John B. Floyd: "Gunboats and transports in Tennessee River. Enemy landing in force 5 miles below Fort Henry." After initiating the debarkation of troops below Fort Henry, Flag Officer Foote, in USS Cincinnati with General Grant on board, took the four ironclad gunboats that he had been able to man up the Tennessee for reconnoitering, and exchanged shots with the Confederate gunners. Torpedoes, planted in the river but torn loose by the flooding waters, floated by. Foote had some fished out for inspection. He and Grant went aft to watch the disassembling of one. According to a reminiscence, suddenly there was a strange hiss. The deck was rapidly cleared. Grant beat Foote to the top of the ladder. When Foote asked the General about his hurry, Grant replied that ''the Army did not believe in letting the Navy get ahead of it.''

5 USS Keystone State, Commander William E. Le Roy, captured British blockade runner Mars with cargo of salt off Fernandina, Florida.

6 Naval forces under Flag Officer Foote, comprising the partially ironclad gunboats USS Essex, Carondelet, Cincinnati, St. Louis and wooden gunboats USS Tyler, Conestoga, and Lexington, cap¬tured strategic Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. Originally planned as a joint expedition under Flag Officer Foote and General Grant, heavy rains the two days before the attack delayed the troop movements, and the gunboats attacked alone. Accurate fire from the gunboats pounded the fort and forced Brigadier General Tilghman, CSA, with all but four of his defending guns useless, to strike his flag and surrender to Foote. USS Essex, Commander W. D. Porter, was disabled during the engagement. In continuing operations the three days following the capitu¬lation of Fort Henry, USS Tyler, Conestoga, and Lexington, under Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, swept and one he deeply mourned.'' The evacuation of Norfolk three months later, caused in part by the loss of Roanoke Island, was a far greater loss. The abandonment of the great industrial navy yard and the destruction of CSS Virginia were serious reverses that had far-reaching effect upon the Confederacy's ability to resist at sea.

8 A Confederate gunner captured at Fort Henry made the following statement attesting to the extreme effectiveness of USS Carondelet's gunfire during the attack: ' The center boat, or the boat with the red stripes around the top of her smokestacks, was the boat which caused the greatest execution. It was one of her guns which threw a ball against the muzzle of one of our guns, disabling it for the remainder of the contest. The Carondelet (as I subsequently found her name to be) at each shot committed more damage than any other boat. She was the object of our hatred, and many a gun from the fort was leveled at her alone. To her I give more credit than any other boat in capturing one of our strongest places." The success of Flag Officer Foote's armored gun¬boats spread panic and exaggerated their capabilities in Confederate as well as Union minds. General Johnston wrote in a letter to the Confederate War Department: ''The slight resistance at Fort Henry indicates that the best open earthworks are not reliable to meet successfully a vigorous attack of ironclad gunboats." He concluded that Fort Donelson would also fall. This would open the way to Nashville. ''The occurrence of the misfortune of losing the fort will cut off the communication of the force here under General Hardee from the south bank of the Cumberland. To avoid the disastrous consequences of such an event, I ordered General Hardee yesterday to make, as promptly as it could be done, preparations to fall back to Nashville and cross the river. The movements of the enemy on my right flank would have made a retrograde in that direction to confront the enemy indispensable in a short time. But the probability of having the ferriage of this army corps across the Cumberland intercepted by the gunboats of the enemy admits of no delay in making the movement. Generals Beauregard and Hardee are, equally with myself, impressed with the necessity of withdrawing our force from this line at once.''

Captain Buchanan ordered CSS Patrick Henry, Commander Tucker, and CSS Jamestown, Lieu¬tenant Joseph N. Barney, to be kept in a constant state of readiness '' to cooperate with the Merrimack when that ship is ready for service.

USS Conestoga, Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, seized steamers Sallie Wood and Muscle at Chickasaw, Alabama. The Confederates destroyed three other vessels to prevent their capture, bringing the total losses resulting from the fall of Fort Henry to nine.

10 Following the capture of Roanoke Island, a naval flotilla, including embarked Marines, under Commander Rowan in USS Delaware, pursuing Flag Officer Lynch's retiring Confederate naval force up the Pasquotank River, engaged the gunboats and batteries at Elizabeth City, North Caro¬lina. CSS Ellis was captured and CSS Seabird was sunk; CSS Black Warrior, Fanny, and Forrest were set on fire to avoid capture; the fort and batteries at Cobb's Point were destroyed. Of Commander Rowan's success, Admiral Daniel Ammen later wrote: ''Nothing more brilliant in naval 'dash' occurred during the entire Civil War than appears in this attack.'' One example of "dash" was called to Flag Officer L. N. Goldsborough's attention by Commander Rowan. ''I would respectfully call your attention to one incident of the engagement which reflects much credit upon a quarter gunner of the Valley City and for which Congress has provided rewards in the shape of medals. A shot passed through her magazine and exploded in a locker beyond containing fireworks. The commander, Lieutenant Commander Chaplain, went there to aid in sup¬pressing the fire, where he found John Davis, quarter gunner, seated with commendable coolness on an open barrel of powder as the only means to keep the fire out.'' For demonstrating such courage, ''while at the same time passing powder to provide the division on the upper deck while under fierce enemy fire,'' Davis was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by General Order 11, 3 April 1863.

Flag Officer Foote, amidst repairing battle damages and working feverishly to get other gunboats ready, received repeated requests from Major General Halleck to ''send gunboats up the Cumber¬land. Two will answer if he can send no more. They must precede the transports. I am strain¬ing every nerve to send troops to take Dover and Clarksville. Troops are on their way. All we want is gunboats to precede the transports.''

Secretary of the Navy Welles forwarded to Commander D. D. Porter the names of 22 sailing vessels and 7 steamers which would comprise the Mortar Flotilla. This potent force, to which would be added USS Owasco," as soon as she can be got ready," conducted an intensive bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, preparatory to Flag Officer Farragut's drive past these heavy works to New Orleans.

General Robert E. Lee wrote Confederate Secretary of War Benjamin: 'From the reports of General Mercer as to the inability of the batteries of Saint Simon's and Jekyl Islands to with¬stand the attack of the enemy' s fleet, the isolated condition of those islands, and the impossibility of reenforcing him with guns or men, I have given him authority, should he retain that opinion upon a calm review of the whole subject, to act according to his discretion; and, if deemed ad¬visable by him, to withdraw to the mainland and take there a defensible position for the protec¬tion of the country

Captain Buchanan reported that Merrimack had not yet received her crew, "not withstanding all my efforts to procure them from the Army.'' Shortage of trained seamen restricted the Con¬federacy's efforts to build naval strength.

11 Flag Officer Foote, foreseeing the realities of the situation into which he was being pulled by the tide of events, wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles: ''I leave [Cairo again to-night with the Louisville, Pittsburg, and St. Louis for the Cumberland River, to cooperate with the army in the attack on Fort Donelson.
I shall do all in my power to render the gunboats effective in the fight, although they are not properly manned. If we could wait ten days, and I had men, I would go with eight mortar boats and six armored boats and conquer.'' Despite the serious difficulties they faced, Foote and his gunboat fleet made what General Grant was to term ad¬miringly ''a gallant attack.''

13-15 USS Pembina, Lieutenant John P. Bankhead, discovered a battery of ''tin-can'' torpedoes (mines) while engaged in sounding Savannah River above the mouth of Wright's River. The mines, only visible at low tide, were connected by wires and moored individually to the bottom. The following day, Bankhead returned and effected the removal of one of the '' infernal machines'' for purposes of examination. On the 15th Bankhead ''deemed it more prudent to endeavor to sink the remaining ones than to attempt to remove them,'' and sank the mines by rifle fire. Tor¬pedoes were planted in large numbers in the harbors and rivers of the Confederacy, constituting a major hazard which Union commanders had to consider and reckon with in planning operations.

14 Gunboats USS St. Louis, Carondelet, Louisville, Pittsburg, Tyler, and Conestoga under Flag Officer Foote joined with General Grant in attacking Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. Donel¬son, on high ground, could subject the gunboats to a plunging fire and was a more difficult objec¬tive than Fort Henry. Foote did not consider the gunboats properly prepared for the assault on Donelson so soon after the heavy action at Fort Henry; nevertheless, at the ''urgent request'' of both Grant and General Halleck to reduce the fortifications, Foote moved against the Confederate works. Bitter fire at close range opened on both sides. St. Louis, the flagship, was hit fifty-nine times and lost steering control, as did Louisville. Both disabled vessels drifted down stream; the gunboat attack was broken off. Flag Officer Foote sustained injuries which forced him to give up command three months later. Fort Donelson surrendered to Grant on 16 February. Major General Lewis Wallace, speaking of the renewed gunboat support on 15 February, summed up the substantial role of the gunboats in the victory: "I recollect yet the positive pleasure the sounds [naval gunfire] gave me . . the obstinacy and courage of the Commodore Was the attack ''of assistance to us''? ''I don't think there is room to question it. It distracted the enemy S attention, and I fully believe it was the gunboats . . . that operated to prevent a general movement of the rebels up the river or across it, the night before the surrender.'' Coining quickly after the fall of Fort Henry, the capture of Fort Donelson by a combined operation had a heavy impact on both sides. News of the fall of Fort Donelson created great excitement in New Orleans where the press placed much blame on Secretary of the Navy Mallory because ''we are so wretch¬edly helpless on the water." With their positions in Kentucky now untenable, the Confeder¬ates had to withdraw, assuring that state to the Union. On the Mississippi, Confederate forces fell back on Island No. 10. Nashville could not be held, and the Union armies were poised to sweep down into the heart of the South.

Armed boat from USS Restless, Acting lieutenant Edward Conroy, captured and destroyed sloop Edisto and schooners Wandoo, Eliabeth, and Theodore Stony off Bull's Bay, South Carolina; all ships carried heavy cargoes of rice for Charleston.

Confederate ships sank obstructions in Cape Fear River near Fort Caswell, North Carolina, in an effort to block the channel.

USS Galena, experimental seagoing ironclad, launched at Mystic, Connecticut.

15 Four Confederate gunboats under Commodore Tattnall attacked Union batteries at Venus Point, on Savannah River, Georgia, but were forced back to Savannah. Tattnall was attempting to effect the passage of steamer Ida from Fort Pulaski to Savannah.

16 Gunboats of Flag Officer Foote's force destroyed the "Tennessee Iron Works" above Dover on the Cumberland River. General McClellan wired Flag Officer Foote from Washington.' "Sorry you are wounded. How seriously? Your conduct magnificent. With what force do you return? I send nearly 600 sailors for you to-morrow.

17 Ironclad CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack) commissioned, Captain Franklin Buchanan commanding.

Flag Officer Foote informed Secretary of the Navy Welles: ''I leave immediately with a view of proceeding to Clarksville with eight mortar boats and two ironclad boats, with the Conestoga, wooden boat, as the river is rapidly falling. The other ironclad boats are badly cut up and require extensive repairs. I have sent one of the boats already since my return and ordered a second to follow me, which, with eight mortars, hope to carry Clarksville."

18 USS Ethan Allen, Acting Lieutenant Eaton, entered Clearwater harbor, Florida, and captured schooner Spitfire and sloops Atlanta and Caroline.

19 Confederates evacuated Clarksville, Tennessee. Colonel W. H. Allen, CSA, reported to General Floyd: ''Gunboats are coming; they are just below point; can see steamer here. Will try and see how many troops they have before I leave. Lieutenant Brady set bridge on fire, but it is burning very slowly and will probably go out before it falls." Asking in a postscript that any orders for him be sent "promptly," Allen noted that "I will have to go in a hurry when I go." Union forces under Flag Officer Foote occupied Fort Defiance and took possession of the town. Foote urged an immediate move on Nashville and notified Army headquarters in Cairo: "The Cumberland is in a good stage of water and General Grant and I believe we can take Nashville."

Trial run of two-gun ironclad USS Monitor in New York harbor. Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers, USN, reported on the various difficulties that were presented during the trial run of Monitor and concluded that her speed would be approximately 6 knots, "though Captain Ericsson feels confident of 8."

USS Delaware, Commander Rowan, and USS Commodore Perry, Lieutenant FlUSSer, on a recon¬naissance of the Chowan River, engaged Confederate troops at Winton, North Carolina. The following day Rowan's force covered the landing of Union troops who entered the town, de¬stroying military stores and Confederate troop quarters before re-embarking.

USS Brooklyn, Captain T. T. Craven, and USS South Carolina, Lieutenant Hopkins, captured steamer Magnolia in the Gulf of Mexico with large cargo of cotton.

General Robert E. Lee, harassed by the Confederate inability to cope with the guns of the Union fleet, wrote Brigadier General Trapier regarding the defenses of Florida: ''In looking at the whole defense of Florida, it becomes important to ascertain what points can probably be held and what points had better be relinquished. The force that the enemy can bring against any position where he can concentrate his floating batteries renders it prudent and proper to withdraw from the islands to the mainland and be prepared to contest his advance into the interior. Where an island offers the best point of defense, and is so connected with the main that its communica¬tions cannot be cut off, it may be retained. Otherwise it should be abandoned."

20 Flag Officer Farragut arrived at Ship Island to begin what Secretary of the Navy Welles termed the "most important operation of the war" the assault on New Orleans. In his instruction of 10 February to the Flag Officer, Welles observed: "If successful, you open the way to the sea for the great West, never again to be closed. The rebellion will be riven in the center, and the flag to which you have been so faithful will recover its supremacy in every State." For some weeks prior to Farragut's arrival, Union forces had been gathering at the Ship Island staging area. As early as 30 December, General Bragg, CSA, had written from Mobile: "The enemy's vessels, some twenty, are below, landing supplies and large bodies of troops on Ship Island." With an inadequate naval force, however, the Confederates were unable to contest the steady build-up of Northern strength.

Major General John E. Wool at Fort Monroe, on hearing a report that Newport News was to be attacked by Virginia, wrote Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton: ''We want a larger naval force than we have at present. Meanwhile, the same day, Secretary of the Navy Welles was writing Lieutenant Worden: "Proceed with the USS Monitor, under your command, to Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Brigadier General George W. Cullum, General Halleck's Chief of Staff at Cairo, relayed an urgent message from General McClellan regarding the gunboats to Lieutenant S. L. Phelps: ''General McClellan gives most emphatic order to have gun and mortar boats here ready by Monday morn¬ing. Must move on Columbus with at least four serviceable gunboats and mortar boats. Only two gunboats at all serviceable here, and but one mortar boat, three being ashore.''

Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox: "At Washing¬ton, and also at Newberne [North Carolina] the obstructions in the river are very formidable, and admirably placed. They consist of a double row of piles thoroughly well driven by steam, and sunken vessels. The rows are at right angles to the shore and parallel with each other. One stretches all the way from the right bank nearly over to the left, and the other all the way from the left bank nearly over to the right, and there is a battery of considerable force on either bank between them; so that attacking vessels must first go bows on to one, and then after passing it, be raked aft by one and forward by the other at the same time.'' The Confederates sought to reduce the Union Navy's effectiveness by well-placed obstructions, making passage of shore batteries difficult and costly.

Armed boat expedition from USS New London, Lieutenant A. Read, captured 12 small sloops and schooners at Cat Island, Mississippi, suspected of being used as pilot vessels by blockade runners.

USS Portsmouth, Commander Swartwout, captured sloop Pioneer off Boca Chica, Texas, with cargo of tobacco.

21 Flag Officer Farragut formally relieved Flag Officer McKean as Commander, Western Gulf Block¬ading Squadron. As his other ships arrived, he assembled them at the Southeast Pass and sent those whose draft permitted over the bar to conduct the blockade ''in the river.'' Secretary of the Navy Welles had sent Farragut supplementary confidential instructions, spelling out what had been discUSSed in conference: ''When the Hartford is in all respects ready for sea, you will proceed to the Gulf of Mexico with all possible dispatch . . . There will be attached to your squadron a fleet of bomb-vessels and armed steamers, enough to manage them," under Commander D. D. Porter. Key West, preserved for the Union by the energy and foresight of naval commanders, would play the key role it has played throughout the United States' history as a naval base, rendezvous and training center for operations east, west, and south. He instructed Farragut to ''proceed up the Mississippi River and reduce the defenses which guard the approaches to New Orleans, when you will appear off that city and take possession of it under the guns of your squadron, and hoist the American flag therein, keeping possession until troops can be sent to you. . . There are other operations of minor importance which will commend themselves to your judgment and skill, but which must not be allowed to interfere with the great object in view the certain capture of the city of New Orleans.''

22 Union naval vessels entered Savannah River through Wall's Cut, isolating Fort Pulaski.

Flag Officer Farragut ordered Coast Survey team to sound the Mississippi passes and to mark out the safest channel.

23 Flag Officer Du Pont wrote Senator James W. Grimes from Iowa, a member of the Committee on Naval Affairs of his departure for continued operations on the South Atlantic Coast: "I am off tomorrow with a large division of my squadron to complete my work on the lower coast, and if God is with us, in some three weeks I hope to hold everything by and inside or outside blockade from Cape Canaveral to Georgetown, S.C." The Confederacy would withdraw inland as a result of Du Pont's efforts.

Flag Officer Foote, with Brigadier General Cullum, reconnoitered the Mississippi River down to Columbus, the anchor of the powerful Confederate defenses. He reported proceeding "with four ironclad boats, two mortar boats and three transports containing 1,000 men." Lieutenant Gwin, in USS Tyler, conducted a reconnaissance of the Tennessee River to Eastport, Missis¬sippi. At Clifton, Tennessee, Gwin seized 1,100 sacks and barrels of flour and some 6,000 bushels of wheat.

Charles Wilkinson drowns in Savannah harbor when the submarine that he and Charlie Carroll sinks during diving trials.

24 Captain Buchanan, CSN, ordered to command James River, Virginia, naval defenses, and to fly his flag on board CSS Virginia; the squadron consisted of CSS Virginia, and the small gunboats CSS Patrick Henry, Jamestown, Teaser, Raleigh, and Beaufort. In his orders to Buchanan Secretary of the Navy Mallory added: "The Virginia is a novelty in naval construction, un¬tried, and her powers unknown; and hence the department will not give specific orders as to her attack upon the enemy. Her powers as a ram are regarded as very formidable, and it is hoped you will be able to test them. Like the bayonet charge of infantry, this mode of attack, while the most destructive, will commend itself to you in the present scarcity of ammunition. It is one also that may be rendered destructive at night against the enemy at anchor. Even without guns the ship would, it is believed, be formidable as a ram. Could you pass Old Point and make a dashing cruise in the Potomac as far as Washington, its effect upon the public mind would be important to our cause. The condition of our country, and the painful reverses we have just suffered, demand our utmost exertions; and convinced as I am that the opportunity and the means for striking a decisive blow for our navy are now, for the first time, presented, I congratu¬late you upon it, and know that your judgment and gallantry will meet all just expectations. Action, prompt and successful just now, would be of serious importance to our cause.

USS Harriet Lane, Lieutenant Jonathan M. Wainwright, captured schooner Joanna Ward off the coast of Florida. Wainwright was the grandfather of the General of the same name who was compelled to surrender Bataan in World War II.

25 USS Monitor commissioned in New York, Lieutenant John L. Worden commanding. Captain Dahlgren described Monitor as ''a mere speck, like a hat on the surface.''

USS Cairo, Lieutenant Nathaniel Bryant, arrived at Nashville, convoying seven steam transports with troops under Brigadier General William Nelson, one of two ex-naval officers assigned to duty with the Army. Troops were landed and occupied the Tennessee capital, an important base on the Cumberland River, without opposition. Meanwhile, the demand for the gunboats mounted steadily. From President Lincoln to widely separated field commanders, everyone recog¬nized their importance. General McClellan wired Major General Halleck: ''I learn from tele¬graph of Commodore Foote to the Navy Department that you have ordered that no gunboats go above Nashville. I think it may greatly facilitate Buell's operations to send a couple at least of the lighter ones to Nashville. Captain Maynadier, Tenth Infantry, will be ordered to Commo¬dore Foote, at his request, as his ordnance officer for mortar boats." With the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson the Confederates retreated precipitously, abandoning strong positions, valu¬able ordnance, and supplies. Moreover, at Nashville and elsewhere on the river they lost badly needed manufacturing facilities. Flag Officer Foote quoted a Nashville paper as stating: ''We had nothing to fear from a land attack, but the gunboats are the devil."

USS Kingfisher, Acting Lieutenant Couthouy, captured blockade runner Lion in the Gulf of Mexico after a three day chase.

USS Mohican, Commander Godon, and USS Bienville, Commander Steedman, captured block¬ade running British schooner Arrow off Fernandina, Florida.

USS R. B. Forbes, Acting Lieutenant William Flye, grounded in a gale near Nag's Head, North Carolina, and was ordered destroyed by her commanding officer to prevent her falling to the Confederates. She had been ordered to the mortar flotilla below New Orleans.

26 CSS Nashville, Lieutenant Pegram, captured and burned schooner Robert Gilfillan, bound from Philadelphia to Haiti with cargo of provisions.

USS Bienville, Commander Steedman, captured schooner Alert off St. John's, Florida. New Orleans "Committee of Safety" reported to President Davis regarding the "most deplorable condition" of the finances of the Navy Department there, stating that it was preventing the enlistment of men and that the "outstanding indebtedness can not be less than $600,000 or $800,000" owing to foundries and machine shops, draymen, and other suppliers, and that for months "a sign has been hanging over the paymaster's office of that department, 'No funds.'

The Committee stated that ''unless the proper remedy is at once applied, workmen can no longer be had."

27 Delayed one day by a lack of ammunition for her guns, USS Monitor, Lieutenant Worden, departed the New York Navy Yard for sea, but was compelled to turn back to the Yard because of steering failure. The same day at Norfolk, Flag Officer Forrest, CSN, commanding the Navy Yard, reported that want of gun powder, too, was delaying the readiness of Virginia to begin operations against the Union blockading ships.

28 CSS Nashville, Lieutenant Pegram, ran the blockade into Beaufort, North Carolina.

March 1862

1 USS Tyler, Lieutenant Gwin, and USS Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk, engaged Confederate forces preparing to strongly fortify Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing), Tennessee. Under cover of the gunboats' cannon, a landing party of sailors and Army sharpshooters was put ashore from armed boats to determine Confederate strength in the area. Flag Officer Foote commended Gwin for his successful "amphibious" attack where several sailors met their death along with their Army comrades. At the same time he added: "But I must give a general order that no commander will land men to make an attack on shore. Our gunboats are to be used as forts, and as they have no more men than are necessary to man the guns, and as the Army must do the shore work, and as the enemy want nothing better than to entice our men on shore and overpower them with superior numbers, the commanders must not operate on shore, but confine themselves to their vessels."

Flag Officer Foote again requested funds to keep the captured Eastport. He telegraphed: "I have applied to the Secretary of the Navy to have the rebel gunboat, Eastport, lately captured in the Tennessee River, fitted up as a gunboat, with her machinery in and lumber. She can be fitted out for about $20,000, and in three weeks. We want such a fast and powerful boat. Do telegraph about her, as we now have carpenters and cargo ahead on her and she is just what we want. I should run about in her and save time and do good service, Our other ironclad boats are too slow. The Eastport was a steamer on the river, and she, being a good boat, would please the West. No reply yet from the Secretary and time is precious." Had the Confederates been able to complete this fine ship, over 100 feet longer than the armored gunboats, before the rise of the rivers enabled the Federal forces to move with such devastating effect, she could well have disrupted the whole series of Union victories and postponed the collapse of Confederate defenses.

USS Mount Vernon, Commander Glisson, captured blockade running British schooner British Queen off Wilmington with cargo including salt and coffee.

3 Flag Officer Du Pont, commanding joint amphibious expedition to Fernandina, Florida, reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles that he was "in full possession of Cumberland Island and Sound, of Fernandina and Amelia Island, and the river and town of St. Mary's." Confederate defenders were in the process of withdrawing heavy guns inland from the area and offered only token resist¬ance to Du Pont's force. Fort Clinch on Amelia Island, occupied by an armed boat crew from USS Ottawa, had been seized by Confederates at the beginning of the war and was the first fort to be retaken by the Union. Commander Drayton on board Ottawa took a moving train under fire near Fernandina, while launches under Commander C. R. P. Rodgers captured steamer Darlington with a cargo of military stores. Du Pont had only the highest praise for his association with Brig¬adier General Wright, commanding the brigade of troops on the expedition: "Our plans of action have been matured by mutual consultation, and have been carried into execution by mutual help." The Fernandina operation placed the entire Georgia coast actually in the possession or under the control of the Union Navy. Du Pont wrote Senator Grimes three days late? that: "The victory was bloodless, but most complete in results." Du Pont also noted that: ''The most curious feature of the operations was the chase of a train of cars by a gunboat for one mile and a half-two soldiers were killed, the passengers rushed out in the woods The expedition was a prime example of sea-land mobility and of what General Robert E. Lee meant when he said: "Against ordinary numbers we are pretty strong, but against the hosts our enemies seem able to bring everywhere, there is no calculating."

4 Union forces covered by Flag Officer Foote's gunboat flotilla, now driving down the Mississippi, occupied strongly fortified Columbus, Kentucky, which the Confederates had been compelled to evacuate. Foote reported that the reconnaissance by USS Cincinnati and Louisville two days earlier had hastened the evacuation, the rebels leaving quite a number of guns and carriages, ammunition, and large quantity of shot and shell, a considerable number of anchors, and the rem¬nant of chain lately stretched across the river, with a large number of torpedoes.'' The powerful fort, thought by many to be impregnable, had fallen without a struggle. Brigadier General Cullum wrote: "Columbus, the Gibraltar of the West, is ours and Kentucky is free, thanks to the brilliant strategy of the campaign, by which the enemy's center was pierced at Forts Henry and Donelson, his wings isolated from each other and turned, compelling thus the evacuation of his strongholds at Bowling Green first and now Columbus."

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory summarized his Navy's needs to President Davis: fifty light-draft and powerful steam propellers, plated with 5- inch hard iron, armed and equipped for service in our own waters, four iron or steel-clad single deck, ten gun frigates of about 2,000 tons, and ten clipper propellers with superior marine engines, both classes of ships designed for deep- sea cruising, 3,000 tons of first-class boiler-plate iron, and 1,000 tons of rod, bolt, and bar iron are means which this Department could immediately employ. We could use with equal advantage 3,000 instructed seamen, and 4,000 ordinary seamen and landsmen, and 2,000 first rate mechanics.''

Commander Daniel B. Ridgely, USS Santiago de Cuba, reported the capture of sloop O.K. off Cedar Keys, Florida, in February. Proceeding to St. Mark's, Florida, O.K. foundered in heavy seas.

5 Flag Officer Foote observed that the gunboats could not immediately attack the Confederate defenses at Island No. 10, down the river from Columbus. "The gunboats have been so much cutup in the late engagements at Forts Henry and Donelson in the pilot houses, hulls, and disabled machinery, that I could not induce the pilots to go in them again in a fight until they are repaired. I regret this, as we ought to move in the quickest possible time, but I have declined doing it, being utterly unprepared, although General Halleck says go, and not wait for repairs; but that can not be done without creating a stampede amongst the pilots and most of the newly made officers, to say nothing of the disasters which must follow if the rebels fight as they have done of late." Two days later he added other information: "The Benton is underway and barely stems the strong current of the Ohio, which is 5 knots per hour in this rise of water, but hope, by putting her between two ironclad steamers to-morrow, she will stem the current and work comparatively well . . . I hope on Wednesday [12 March] to take down seven ironclad gunboats and ten mortar boats to attack Island No. 10 and New Madrid. As the current in the Mississippi is in some places 7 knots per hour, the ironclad boats can hardly return here, therefore we must go well prepared, which detains us longer than even you would imagine necessary from your navy-yard and smooth-water standpoint . . . We are doing our best, but our difficulties and trials are legion."

Flag Officer Farragut issued a general order to the fleet in which he stressed gunnery and damage control training. ''I expect every vessel's crew to be well exercised at their guns . . . They must he equally well trained for stopping shot holes and extinguishing fire. Hot and cold shot will no doubt be freely dealt us, and there must be stout hearts and quick hands to extinguish the one and stop the holes of the other."

USS Water Witch, Lieutenant Hughes, captured schooner William Mallory off St. Andrew's Bay, Florida.

6 Lieutenant Worden reported USS Monitor had passed over the bar in New York harbor with USS Currituck and Sachem in company. "In order to reach Hampton Roads as speedily as possi¬ble,'' Worden wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles, ''whilst the fine weather lasts, I have been taken in tow by the tug [Seth Low]."

Commander Semmes, CSS Sumter, wrote J. M. Mason, Confederate Commissioner in London, it is quite manifest that there is a combination of all the neutral nations against us in this war and that in consequence we shall be able to accomplish little or nothing outside of our own waters. The fact is, we have got to fight this war out by ourselves, unaided, and that, too, in our own terms . . . The foreign intervention so much hoped for by the Confederacy was in large measure forestalled by the impressive series of Union naval successes and the effectiveness of the blockade.

USS Pursuit, Acting Lieutenant David Cate, captured schooner Anna Belle off Apalachicola, Florida.

8 Ironclad CSS Virginia, Captain Buchanan, destroyed wooden blockading ships USS Cumberland and USS Congress in Hampton Roads. Virginia, without trials or under way-training, headed directly for the Union squadron. She opened the engagement when less than a mile distant from Cumberland and the firing became general from blockaders and shore batteries. Virginia rammed Cumberland below the waterline and she sank rapidly, "gallantly fighting her guns," Buchanan reported in tribute to a brave foe, "as long as they were above water. Buchanan next turned Virginia's fury on Congress, hard aground, and set her ablaze with hot shot and incen¬diary shell. The day was Virginia's but it was not without loss. Part of her ram was wrenched off and left imbedded in the side of stricken Cumberland, and Buchanan received a wound in the thigh which necessitated his turning over command to Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones. Secretary of the Navy Mallory wrote to President Davis of the action: "The conduct of the Officers and men of the squadron . . . reflects unfading honor upon themselves and upon the Navy. The report will be read with deep interest, and its details will not fail to rouse the ardor and nerve the arms of our gallant seamen. It will be remembered that the Virginia was a novelty in naval architecture, wholly unlike any ship that ever floated; that her heaviest guns were equal novelties in ordnance; that her motive power and obedience to her helm were untried, and her officers and crew strangers, comparatively, to the ship and to each other; and yet, under all these disadvan¬tages, the dashing courage and consummate professional ability of Flag Officer Buchanan and his associates achieved the most remarkable victory which naval annals record.''
USS Monitor, Lieutenant Worden, arrived in Hampton Roads at night. The stage was set for the dramatic battle with CSS Virginia the following day. ' Upon the untried endurances of the new Monitor and her timely arrival,'' observed Captain Dahlgren, ''did depend the tide of events. . . "

Flag Officer Foote's doctor reported on the busy commander's injury received at Fort Donelson where, as always, he was in the forefront: ''Very little, if any, improvement has taken place in consequence of neglect of the main [requirements] of a cure, viz, absolute rest and horizontal position of the whole extremity."

USS Bohio, Acting Master W. D. Gregory, captured schooner Henry Travers off Southwest Pass, mouth of the Mississippi River.

9 Engagement lasting four hours took Place between USS Monitor, Lieutenant Worden, and CSS Virginia, Lieutenant Jones, mostly at close range in Hampton Roads. Although neither side could claim clear victory, this historic first combat between ironclads ushered in a new era of war at sea. The blockade continued intact, but Virginia remained as a powerful defender of the Norfolk area and a barrier to the use of the rivers for the movement of Union forces. Severe damage inflicted on wooden-hulled USS Minnesota by Virginia during an interlude in the fight with Monitor underscored the plight of a wooden ship confronted by an ironclad. The broad impact of the Monitor-Virginia battle on naval thinking was summarized by Captain Levin M. Powell of USS Potomac writing later from Vera Cruz: ''The news of the fight between the Monitor and the Merrimack has created the most profound sensation amongst the professional men in the allied fleet here. They recognize the fact, as much by silence as words, that the face of naval warfare looks the other way now and the superb frigates and ships of the line. . . supposed capable a month ago, to destroy anything afloat in half an hour . . . are very much diminished in their proportions, and the confidence once reposed in them fully shaken in the presence of these astounding facts." And as Captain Dahlgren phrased it: ''Now comes the reign of iron and cased sloops are to take the place of wooden ships."

Naval force under Commander Godon, consisting of USS Mohican, Pocahontas, and Potomska, took possession of St. Simon's and Jekyl Islands and landed at Brunswick, Georgia. All locations were found to be abandoned in keeping with the general Confederate withdrawal from the sea¬coast and coastal islands.

USS Pinola, Lieutenant Crosby, arrived at Ship Island, Mississippi, with prize schooner Cora, captured in the Gulf of Mexico.

Landing party from USS Anacostia and Yankee of the Potomac Flotilla, Lieutenant Wyman, destroyed abandoned Confederate batteries at Cockpit Point and Evansport, Virginia, and found CSS Page blown up.

10 Amidst the Herculean labors of lightening and dragging heavy ships through the mud of the "19 ft. bar" that turned out to be 15 feet, and organizing the squadron, Flag Officer Farragut reported: I am up to my eyes in business. The Brooklyn is on the bar, and I am getting her off. I have just had Bell up at the head of the passes. My blockading shall be done inside as much as pos¬sible. I keep the gunboats up there all the time . . . Success is the only thing listened to in his war, and I know that I must sink or swim by that rule. Two of my best friends have done me a great injury by telling the Department that the Colorado can be gotten over the bar into the river, and so I was compelled to try it, and take precious time to do it. If I had been left to myself, I would have been in before this."

Tug USS Whitehall, Acting Master William J. Baulsir, was accidentally destroyed by fire off Fort Monroe.

11 Landing party from USS Wabash, Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, occupied St. Augustine, Florida, which had been evacuated by Confederate troops in the face of the naval threat.

Two Confederate gunboats under construction at the head of Pensacola Bay were burned by Confederate military authorities to prevent their falling into Northern hands in the event of the anticipated move against Pensacola by Union naval forces.

12 Landing party under Lieutenant Thomas H. Stevens of USS Ottawa occupied Jacksonville, Florida, without opposition.

USS Gem of the Sea, Lieutenant Baxter, captured British blockade runner Fair Play off George¬town, South Carolina.

Gunboats USS Tyler, Lieutenant Gwin, and USS Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk, engaged a Con¬federate battery at Chickasaw, Alabama, while reconnoitering the Tennessee River.

Baxter Watson and William McClintock launch Pioneer I in New Orleans.

13 Major General John P. McCown, CSA, ordered the evacuation of Confederate troops from New Madrid, Missouri, under cover of Flag Officer Hollins' gunboat squadron consisting of CSS Livingston, Polk, and Pontchartrain.

Flag Officer Foote advised Major General Halleck of the problems presented the partly armored ironclads by an attack downstream, much different difficulties than those encountered going up rivers in Tennessee: ''Your instructions to attack Island No. 10 are received, and I shall move for that purpose tomorrow morning. I have made the following telegram to the Navy Depart¬ment, which you will perceive will lead me to be cautious, and not bring the boats within short range of the enemy's batteries. Generally, in all our attacks down the river, I will bear in mind the effect on this place and the other rivers, which a serious disaster to the gunboats would involve. General Strong is telegraphing Paducah for transports, as there are none at Cairo. The ironclad boats can not be held when anchored by stern in this current on account of the recess between the fantails forming the stern yawing them about, and as the sterns of the boats are not plated, and have but two 32-pounders astern, you will see our difficulty of fighting downstream effectually. Neither is there power enough in any of them to back upstream. We must, therefore, tie up to shore the best way we can and help the mortar boats. I have long since expressed to General Meigs my apprehensions about these boats' defects. Don't have my gunboats for rivers built with wheels amidships. The driftwood would choke the wheel, even if it had a powerful engine. I felt it my duty to state these difficulties, which could not be obviated, when I came here, as the vessels were modeled and partly built.''

Commander D. D. Porter reported the arrival of the mortar flotilla at Ship Island, and five days later took them over the bar and into the Mississippi in preparation for the prolonged bombard¬ment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip.

14 Joint amphibious attack under Commander Rowan and Brigadier General Burnside captured Confederate batteries on the Neuse River and occupied New Bern, North Carolina, described by Rowan as "an immense depot of army fixtures and manufactures, of shot and shell Com¬mander Rowan, with 13 war vessels and transports carrying 12,000 troops, departed his anchorage at Hatteras Inlet on 12 March, arriving in sight of New Bern that evening. Landing the troops, including Marines, the following day under the protecting guns of his vessels, Rowan continued close support of the Army advance throughout the day. The American flag was raised over Forts Dixie, Ellis, Thompson, and Lane on 14 Match, the formidable" obstructions in the river including torpedoes were passed by the gunboats, and troops were transported across Trent River to occupy the city. In addition to convoy, close gunfire support, and transport operations, the Navy captured two steamers, stores, munitions, and cotton, and supplied a how¬itzer battery ashore under Lieutenant Roderick S. McCook, USN. Wherever water reached, combined operations struck heavy blows that were costly to the Confederacy.

Flag Officer Foote departed Cairo with seven gunboats USS Louisville was soon forced to return for repairs) and ten mortar boats to undertake the bombardment of Island No. 10, which stood astride the sweep of Union forces down the Mississippi. Foote wired Major General Halleck: " . . . I consider it unsafe to move without troops to occupy No. 10 if we [naval forces] capture it . . . should we pass No. 10 after its capture, the rebels on the Tennessee side would return and man their batteries and thus shut up the river in our rear."

15 Flag Officer Foote's flotilla moved from Hickman, Kentucky, down river to a position above Island No. 10. Foote reported, "The rain and dense fog prevented our getting the vessels in po¬sition [to commence the bombardment] .

16 Union gunboats and mortar boats under Flag Officer Foote commenced bombardment of strongly fortified and strategically located Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River. After the loss of Forts Henry and Donelson, and as General Grant continued to wisely use the mobile force afloat at his disposal, the Confederates fell back on Island No. 10, concentrated artillery and troops, and prepared for an all-out defense of this bastion which dominated the river. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Gwin reported the operations of the wooden gunboats on the Tennessee River into Mississippi and Alabama where they kept constantly active: ''I reported to General Grant at Fort Foote on the 7th instant and remained at Danville Bridge, 25 miles above, awaiting the fleet of transports until Monday morning, by direction of General Grant, when, General Smith arriving with a large portion of his command, forty transports, I convoyed them to Savannah, arriving there without molestation on the 11th. The same evening, with General Smith and staff on board, made a reconnaissance of the river as high as Pittsburg. The rebels had not renewed their at¬tempts to fortify at that point, owing to the vigilant watch that had been kept on them in my absence by Lieutenant Commanding Shirk.''

USS Owasco, Lieutenant John Guest, captured schooners Eugenia and President in the Gulf of Mexico with cargoes of cotton.

17 First elements of the Army of the Potomac under General McClellan departed Alexandria, Vir¬ginia, for movement by water to Fort Monroe and the Navy- supported Peninsular Campaign aimed at capturing Richmond. His strategy was based on the mobility, flexibility, and massed gunfire support afforded by the Union Navy's control of the Chesapeake; indeed, he was to be saved from annihilation by heavy naval guns.

USS Benton, with Flag Officer Foote on board, was lashed between USS Cincinnati and St. Louis to attack Island No. 10 and Confederate batteries on the Tennessee shore at a range of 2,000 yards. "The upper fort," Foote reported, "was badly cut up by the Benton and the other boats with her. We dismounted one of their guns . . . In the attack, Confederate gunners scored hits on Benton and damaged the engine of Cincinnati. A rifled gun burst on board St. Louis and killed or wounded a number of officers and men.

CSS Nashville, Lieutenant Pegram, ran the blockade out of Beaufort, North Carolina, through the gunfire of USS Cambridge, Commander W. A. Parker, and USS Gemsbok, Lieutenant Cavendy. News of the escape of Nashville caused concern to run high in Washington. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough: "It is a terrible blow to our naval prestige . . . you can have no idea of the feeling here. It is a Bull Run of the Navy.''

18 USS Florida, James Adger, Sumpter, Flambeau, and Onward captured British blockade runner Emily St. Pierre off Charleston. The master and steward, left on board, overpowered prize master Josiah Stone off Cape Hatteras, recaptured the vessel, and sailed to Liverpool, England.

19 Flag Officer Foote's forces attacking Island No. 10 continued to meet with strong resistance from Confederate batteries. "This place, Island No. 10,'' Foote observed, ''is harder to conquer than Columbus, as the island shores are lined with forts, each fort commanding the one above it. We are gradually approaching . . . The mortar shells have done fine execution

Flag Officer Farragut described the noose of seapower: ''I sent over to Biloxi yesterday, and robbed the post-office of a few papers. They speak volumes of discontent. It is no use -the cord is pulling tighter, and I hope I shall he able to tie it. God alone decides the contest; but we must put our shoulders to the wheel."

20 Confederate President Davis wrote- regarding the defense of the James River approach to Rich¬mond: "The position of Drewry's Bluff, seven or eight miles below Richmond was chosen to obstruct the river against such vessels as the Monitor. The work is being rapidly completely. Either Fort Powhatan or Kennon's Marsh, if found to be the proper positions, will be fortified and obstructed as at Drewry's Bluff, to prevent the ascent of the river by ironclad vessels. Block¬ading the channel where sufficiently narrow by strong lines of obstructions, filling it with sub¬mersive batteries [torpedoes], and flanking the obstructions by well protected batteries of the heaviest guns, seem to offer the best and speediest chances of protection with the means at our disposal against ironclad floating batteries.'' The Confederate Navy contributed in large part to these successful defenses that for three years resisted penetration. Naval crews proved especially effective in setting up and manning the big guns, many of which had come from the captured Navy Yard at Norfolk.

21 Major General Halleck wrote Flag Officer Foote, commenting on the Navy's operations against the Confederate batteries guarding Island No. 10: ''While I am certain that you have done every¬thing that could be done successfully to reduce these works, I am very glad that you have not unnecessarily exposed your gunboats. If they had been disabled, it would have been a most serious loss to us in the future operations of the campaign . . . Nothing is lost by a little delay there." Foote's gunboat and mortar boat flotilla continued to bombard the works with telling effect.

22 CSS Florida, Acting Master John Low, sailing as British steamer Oreto, cleared Liverpool, Eng¬land, for Nassau. The first ship built in England for the Confederacy, Florida's four 7-inch rifled guns were sent separately to Nassau in steamer Bahama. Commander Bulloch, CSN, wrote Lieutenant John N. Maffitt, CSN: "Another ship will be ready in about two months . . . Two small ships can do but little in the way of materially turning the tide of war, but we can do something to illustrate the spirit and energy of our people

General Lovell wrote Secretary of War Benjamin that he bad six steamers of the River Defense Fleet to protect New Orleans. Lovell added: ''The people of New Orleans thought it strange that all the vessels of the Navy should be sent up the river and were disposed to find fault with sending in addition fourteen steamers leaving this city without a single vessel for protection against the enemy Confederate officials in Richmond were convinced than the greatest threat to New Orleans would come from upriver rather than from Flag Officer Farragut's force below Forts Jackson and St. Philip.

Boat crew from USS Penguin, Acting Lieutenant T. A. Budd, and USS Henry Andrew, Acting Master Mather, was attacked while reconnoitering Mosquito Inlet, Florida. Budd, Mather, and three others were killed.

24 Lieutenant Gwin, USS Tyler, reported the typically ceaseless activity of the gunboats: ''. since my last report, dated March 21, 1 have been actively employed cruising up and down the river. The Lexington arrived this morning. The 'Tyler, accompanied by the Lexington, proceeded up the river to a point 2 miles below Eastport, Mississippi, where we discovered the rebels were planting a new battery at an elevation above water of 60 (degrees), consisting of two guns, one apparently in position. We threw several shell into it, but failed to elicit a reply. The battery just below Eastport, consisting of two guns, then opened upon us. Their shot fell short. I stood up just outside of their range and threw three or four 20 [second] shell at that battery, none of which exploded, owing to the very defective fuze (army). The rebels did not respond. I have made no regular attack on their lately constructed batteries, as they are of no importance to us, our base of operations being so much below them. I have deemed it my duty, however, to annoy them, where I could with little or no risk to our gunboats . . . The Lexington, Lieu¬tenant Commanding Shirk, will cruise down the river from this point. The Tyler will cruise above."

USS Pensacola, towing a chartered schooner into which she had discharged guns and stores at Ship Island, arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi. She grounded and failed on four attempts to cross the bar even though water conditions were favorable and small steamships were towing her through the mud on one occasion parting a hawser that killed two men and injured others.

25 CSS Pamlico, Lieutenant William G. Dozier, and CSS Oregon, Acting Master Abraham L. Myers, engaged USS New London, Lieutenant Read, at Pass Christian, Mississippi. The rifled gun on board Pamlico jammed during the nearly two hour engagement, and the Confederate ves¬sels broke off the action, neither side having been damaged in the test of the strength of Flag Officer Farragut's gathering forces. Transports with General Butler and troops arrived at Ship Island which, until Pensacola was retaken, became the principal base for operations west of Key West. Flag Officer Farragut wrote: "I am now packed and ready for my departure to the mouth of the Mississippi River . . I spent last evening very pleasantly with General Butler. He does not appear to have any very difficult plan of operations, but simply to follow in my wake and hold what I can take. God grant that may be all that we attempt . . . victory. If I die in the attempt, it will only be what every officer has to expect. He who dies in doing his duty to his country, and at peace with his God, has played out the drama of life to the best advantage."

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory ordered Flag Officer Tattnall to relieve the injured Flag Officer Buchanan and "take command of the naval defenses on the waters of Virginia and hoist your flag on board the Virginia."

Reports of Confederate ironclads on the river disturbed Union commanders far and wide. Major General Halleck wired Flag Officer Foote: ''It is stated by men just arrived from New Orleans that the rebels are constructing one or more ironclad river boats to send against your flotilla. Moreover, it is said that they are to be cased with railroad iron like the Merrimack. If this is so I think a single boat might destroy your entire flotilla, pass our batteries and sweep the Western rivers. Could any of your gunboats be clad in the same way so as to resist the apprehended danger? If not, how long would it require to build a new one for that purpose? I have telegraphed to the Secretary of War for authority to have any suitable boat altered or prepared; or if there be none suitable, to build a new one. As no time is to be lost, if any one of the gunboats now in service will bear this change it should be taken in preference to building a new one. I shall await your answer. Could not the Essex be so altered?" Flag Officer Foote sent Lieutenant Joseph P. Sanford, his ordnance officer, to confer with the General on the subject and replied: ''There is no vessel now in the flotilla that can be armored as you suggest. This [Benton] is the only one which could bear the additional weight of iron required and she already is so deep and wanting in steam power that it would make her utterly useless with the additional weight of iron. I suggest that a strong boat be fitted up in St. Louis and armored in fact, two vessels-in the shortest possible manner, with a view of protecting the river at Cairo, or Columbus would do better, if it was fortified with heavy guns sweeping the river below. These boats will require at least a month to be fitted up. As to the place, etc., Lieutenant Sanford will consult with you. Commander Porter of the Essex, is also in St. Louis, who is fitting out the Essex, and who will remain there for the present. He will attend to the new boats and get them ready in the shortest possible time.''

Gunboat USS Cairo, Lieutenant Bryant, seized guns and equipment abandoned by Confederate troops evacuating Fort Zollicoffer, six miles below Nashville.

Gunboat USS Cayuga, Lieutenant Harrison, captured schooner Jessie J. Cox, en route from Mobile to Havana with cargo of cotton and turpentine.

26 Flag Officer Foote, off Island No. 10, dispatched a warning to Commander Alexander M. Pennock, his fleet captain at Cairo: "You will inform the commanders of the gunboats Cairo, Tyler, and Lexington not to be caught up the river with too little water to return to Cairo. They, of course, before leaving, will consult the generals with whom they are cooperating. As it is reported on the authority of different persons from New Orleans that the rebels have thirteen gunboats finished and ready to move up the Mississippi, besides the four or five below New Madrid, and the Manassas or ram, at Memphis, the boats now up the rivers and at Columbus or Hickman, should be ready to protect Cairo or Columbus in case disaster overtakes us in our flotilla." Union commanders in the west and elsewhere recognized how much the margin of Union superiority and the power to thrust deep into the Confederacy depended upon the gunboats, and care was exercised not to lose the effectiveness of this mobile force. Meanwhile, greatly concerned about threats of Confederate naval ironclads, Secretary of War Stanton wired the President of the Board of Trade at Pittsburg: "This Department desires the immediate aid of your association in the following particulars 1st. That you would appoint three of its active members most familiar with steamboat and engine building who would act in concert with this Department and under its direction, and from patrio¬tic motives devote some time and attention for thirty days in purchasing and preparing such means of defense on the Western waters against ironclad boats as the engineers of this Department may devise . . My object is to bring the energetic, patriotic spirit and enlightened, practical judg¬ment of your city to aid the Government in a matter of great moment, where hours must count and dollars not be squandered."

Two armed boats from USS Delaware, Lieutenant Stephen P. Quackenbush, captured schooners Albemarle and Lion at the head of Panzego Creek, North Carolina.

27 Secretary of War Stanton instructed Engineer Charles Ellet, Jr., '' You will please proceed immedi¬ately to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and New Albany and take measures to provide steam rams for defense against ironclad vessels on the "'Western waters.'' The next day he wired Ellet at Pittsburg: "General [James K.] Moorhead has gone to Pittsburg to aid you and put you in communi¬cation with the committee there. The rebels have a ram at Memphis. Lose no time.'' Later Stanton described the Ellet rams to General Halleck: ''They are the most powerful steamboats, with upper cabins removed, and bows filled in with heavy timber. It is not proposed to wait for putting on iron. This is the mode in which the Merrimack will be met. Can you not have something of the kind speedily prepared at St. Louis also?''

Armed boat expedition from USS Restless Acting Lieutenant Conroy, captured schooner Julia Worden off South Carolina, with cargo of rice for Charleston, and burned sloop Mart Louisa and schooner George Washington.

Flag Officer Du Pont reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles that Confederate batteries on Skiddaway and Green Islands, Georgia, had been withdrawn and placed nearer Savannah, giving Union forces complete control of Wassaw and Ossabaw Sounds and the mouths of the Vernon and Wilmington Rivers, important approaches to the city.

28 Commander Henry H. Bell reported a reconnaissance in USS Kennebee of the Mississippi River and Forts Jackson and St. Philip. He noted that the "two guns from St. Philip reached as far down the river as any from Jackson" and called attention to the obstruction, "consisting of a raft of logs and eight hulks moored abreast," across the river below St. Philip. Scouting missions of this nature enabled Flag Officer Farragut to make the careful and precise plans which ultimately led to the successful passage of the forts and the capture of New Orleans.

Lieutenant Stevens reported his return to Jacksonville with a launch and cutter from USS Wabash and steamers USS Darlington and Ellen after raising yacht America which had been found sunk by the Confederates earlier in the month far up St. John's River, Florida. Stevens reported that it was "generally believed she was bought by the rebels for the purpose of carrying Slidell and Mason to England."

29 USS R. R. Cuyler, Lieutenant F. Winslow, captured blockade running schooner Grace E. Baker off the coast of Cuba.

Boat under command of Acting Master's Mate Henry Eason from USS Restless, captured schooner Lydia and Mary with large cargo of rice for Charleston, and destroyed an unnamed schooner in Santee River, South Carolina.

30 Flag Officer Foote ordered Commander Henry Walke, USS Carondelet.' "You will avail yourself of the first fog or rainy night and drift your steamer down past the batteries, on the Tennessee shore, and Island No. 10 . . . for the purpose of covering General Pope's army while he crosses that point to the opposite, or to the Tennessee side of the river, that he may move his army up to Island No. 10 and attack the rebels in the rear while we attack them in front." Five days later Walke made his heroic dash past Island No. 10 to join the Army at New Madrid.

31 Pioneer’s inventors are granted the first letter of marque for an underwater vessel by the Confederate government.

“Early 1862�
The Confederate Patent Office grants a patent for a submarine to Reverend Franklin Smith of Tennessee. While the U.S. Patent Office granted only a single patent for a submarine in the course of the war, this was one of four granted by the Southern office. One will go to James Patton of Virginia in October, and the other two were issued to William Cheney.

April 1862

1 Combined Army-Navy boat expedition under Master John V. Johnston, USN, of gunboat USS St. Louis and Colonel George W. Roberts landed and spiked the guns of Fort No. 1 on the Tennessee shore above Island No. 10, Mississippi River (night of 1-2 April). Colonel Roberts reported: "To the naval officers in command of the boats great praise is due for the admirable manner in which our approach was conducted."

CSS Gaines, Commander Hunter, recaptured Confederate schooner Isabel off Mobile. Isabel had been under tow of USS Cayuga, Lieutenant Harrison, but was cast off in a heavy gale in the Gulf of Mexico.

2 General McClellan and his staff arrived at Fort Monroe on board steamer Commodore. In the Peninsular Campaign to capture Richmond, the General intended to take full advantage of Union command of the seas for logistic support and offensive operations. He wrote: "Effective naval cooperation will shorten this operation by weeks." He proposed to outflank Confederate defenders by water movements up the James and York Rivers supported by the Navy. The ominous presence of CSS Virginia at the mouth of the James River dictated that Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough keep his main naval strength at Hampton Roads alerted against future attacks by the Confederate ironclad. Union gunboats frequently bombarded Yorktown, under siege by McClel¬lan's army, until the city was evacuated on 3 May.

USS Mount Vernon, Commander Glisson, with USS Fernandina and Cambridge, destroyed schooner Kate attempting to run the blockade near Wilmington.

3 Armed boats from USS Mercedita, Commander Stellwagen, and USS Sagamore, Lieutenant Andrew J. Drake, captured Apalachicola, Florida, without resistance and took pilot boats Cygnet and Mary Olivia, schooners New Island, Floyd, and Rose, and sloop Octavia.

Flag Officer Du Pont and Brigadier General Henry W. Benham planned to cut off Fort Pulaski from Savannah in joint operations along the Georgia coast. Du Pont immediately ordered USS Mohican, Commander Godon, to reconnoiter the Wilmington River to determine the best means of obstructing it as part of the projected attack.

USS Susquehanna, Captain Lardner, captured British blockade runner Coquette off Charleston. Three armed boats from USS Isaac Smith, Lieutenant J. W. A. Nicholson, captured British blockade runner British Empire with cargo of provisions, dry goods, and medicines in Matanzas Inlet, Florida.

4 USS Carondelet,. Commander Walke, shrouded by a heavy storm at night, successfully ran past Island No. 10, Mississippi River, and reached Major General John Pope's army at New Madrid. For his heroic dash through flaming Confederate batteries, Walke strengthened Carondelet with cord-wood piled around the boilers, extra deck planking, and anchor chain for added armor protection. "The passage of the Carondelet," wrote A. T. Mahan, "was not only one of the most daring and dramatic events of the war; it was also the death blow to the Confederate defense of this position." With the support of the gunboats, the Union troops could now safely plan to cross the river and take the Confederate defenses from the rear.

USS Pursuit, Acting Lieutenant Cate, captured sloop LaFayette at St. Joseph's Bay, Florida, with cargo of cotton.

CSS Carondelet, Lieutenant Washington Gwathmey, with CSS Pamlico and Oregon, engaged gunboats USS J. P. Jackson, New London, and Hatteras, and troops on board steamer Lewis, but could not prevent the landing of 1,200 men at Pass Christian, Mississippi, and the destruction of the Confederate camp there.
J. P. Jackson, Acting Lieutenant Selim E. Woodworth, captured steamer P. C. Wallis near New Orleans with cargo of turpentine, pitch, rosin, and oil.

5 Brigadier General Benham informed Flag Officer Du Pont of a reported Confederate build-up of strength at Wilmington Island, "possibly for an effort to relieve or reinforce the garrison of Fort Pulaski." The General added that he was "most earnestly wishing" for further naval strength in the area. As reports of expected Confederate action at Fort Pulaski continued to reach Du Pont, he made every effort to render maximum support to the Army.

Flag Officer Farragut on board USS Iroquois made a personal reconnaissance in the area of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. The forts opened fire, but Farragut, observing from a mast, remained as "calm and placid as an onlooker at a mimic battle."

Launch from USS Montgomery, Lieutenant Charles Hunter, captured and destroyed schooner Columbia near San Luis Pass, Texas, loaded with cotton.

6 USS Tyler, Lieutenant Gwin, and USS Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk, protected the advanced river flank of General Grant's army at the Battle of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing) and slowed the initially successful attack of the Confederates, Major General Polk, CSA, reported that the Confederate forces "were within from 150 to 400 yards of the enemy's position, and nothing seemed wanting to complete the most brilliant victory of the war but to press forward and make a vigorous assault on the demoralized remnant of his forces, At this juncture his gunboats dropped down the river, near the landing where his troops were collected, and opened a tremendous cannonade of shot and shell over the bank, in the direction from where our forces were approach¬ing." Fire from the two wooden gunboats helped maintain Union positions until reinforcements arrived, and the next day contributed to forcing the Confederate retreat. ''In this repulse,'' wrote Grant, "much is due to the presence of the gunboats." General Beauregard, CSA, attributed the Confederate loss the following day in large part to the presence of the gunboats. "During the night [of the 6th] the rain fell in torrents, adding to the discomforts and harassed condition of the men. The enemy, moreover, had broken their rest by a discharge at measured intervals of heavy shells thrown from the gunboats; therefore, on the following morning the troops under my command were not in condition to cope with an equal force of fresh troops, armed and equipped like our adversary, in the immediate possession of his depots and sheltered by such an auxiliary as the enemy's gunboats." One of the Army divisions at Shiloh was commanded by Major General Nelson, a former naval officer assigned to the Army, "who," Lieutenant Gwin observed, "greatly distinguished himself." Gwin went on to report of the battle, ''I think this has been a crushing blow to the rebellion."

USS Carondelet, Commander Walke, made a reconnaissance down the Mississippi River from New Madrid to Tiptonville, exchanging shots with shore batteries and landing to spike Con¬federate guns in preparation for covering the river crossing by Major General Pope's troops.

USS Pursuit, Acting Lieutenant Cate, captured steamer Florida loading cotton at North Bay, head of Bear Creek, Florida.

7 USS Pittsburg, Lieutenant Egbert Thompson, ran past the batteries at Island No. 10 and joined USS Carondelet in covering the crossing of Major General Pope's army to the Tennessee side of the Mississippi River to move against Island No. 10. The General's words to Flag Officer Foote attested to the importance he attached to naval support: ". . . the lives of thousands of men and the success of our operations hang upon your decision. With the two boats all is safe.

Island No. 10, described by Brigadier General William W. Mackall, CSA, commanding the island, as "the key of the Mississippi," surrendered to the naval forces of Flag Officer Foote. Besides the heavy cannon and munitions captured, four steamers were taken and gunboat CSS Grampus was sunk before the surrender. Capture of Island No. 10 opened the river to Union gunboats and transports south to Fort Pillow. Congress tendered Flag Officer Foote a vote of thanks "for his eminent services and gallantry at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, and Island No. 10, while in command of the naval forces of the United States." Mobile naval strength had sealed the fate of the Confederacy on the upper Mississippi River, and was knifing into the heart of the South.

After surrender of Island No. 10, USS Mound City, Commander Augustus H. Kiley, seized Con¬federate ship Red Rover, which had been damaged by mortar fire. Temporarily repaired, Red Rover was moved to Cairo where she was converted to the Navy's first hospital ship. She joined the river fleet under Commander Pennock, on 10 June and shortly received her first patients.

Red Rover was officially transferred to the Navy on 1 October 1862 and commissioned 26 December.

Sisters of the Holy Cross volunteered and served on board as nurses- pioneers of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps treating the sick and wounded. From Civil War Red Rover to the present, fine medical facilities afloat have promoted the efficiency and staying power of the combatant fleets.

USS Pensacola, Captain Morris, and USS Mississippi, Commander M. Smith, were successfully brought over the bar at the Passes and into the Mississippi River after several previous attempts to do so had met with failure. These were the two heaviest vessels ever to enter the river and figured prominently in the attack on New Orleans. "Now," Flag Officer Farragut wrote, "we are all right.''

Commander Semmes' log of CSS Sumter recorded: "Received a telegram from Mr. Mason [J. M. Mason, Confederate Commissioner in London] ordering me to lay the Sumter up and to permit the officers and such of the crew as prefer it to return to the Confederate States." This action in large measure was caused by a serious breakdown of Sumter's boilers at Gibraltar.

8 General Robert E. Lee wrote Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory: . . . it is my opinion that they [General McClellan's army] are endeavoring to change their base of operations from James to York River. This change has no doubt been occasioned by their fear of the effect of the Virginia upon their shipping in the James. General Magruder informs me that their gunboats and transports have appeared off Shipping Point, on the Poquosin, near the mouth of the York, where they intend, apparently, to establish a landing for stores, preparatory to moving against our lines at Yorktown."

9 USS Ottawa, Lieutenant Stevens, USS Pembina, and Ellen escorted transports Cosmopolitan and Belvedere out of Jacksonville, as Union forces evacuated the area.

Flag Officer Hollins telegraphed Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory from Fort Pillow for authority to bring his force to the support of New Orleans. Mallory, convinced that the serious threat to New Orleans would come from Flag Officer Foote's force in the upper river rather than from Farragut's fleet below, denied Hollin's request.

10 Gunboat USS Kanawha, Lieutenant John C. Febiger, captured blockade running schooners Southern Independence, Victoria, Charlotte, and Cuba off Mobile.

USS Whitehead, Acting Master Charles A. French, captured schooners Comet, J. J. Crittenden, and sloop America in Newbegun Creek, North Carolina.

USS Keystone State, Commander LeRoy, chased blockade runner Liverpool, which ran aground outside North Inlet, South Carolina, and was destroyed by her crew.

11 CSS Virginia, Flag Officer Tattnall, rounded Sewell's Point to make her second appearance In Hampton Roads. Under Virginia's protection, CSS Jamestown, Lieutenant Barney, and CSS Raleigh, Lieutenant Commander Joseph W. Alexander, captured three Union transports. Because of major strategic considerations on both sides, no second Monitor-Virginia duel ensued. Monitor's mission was to contain Virginia in support of General McClellan's campaign on the Peninsula, and Virginia safeguarded the important Norfolk area and the mouth of the James River.

Fort Pulaski, Georgia, surrendered after enduring an intensive two day bombardment by Union artillery. Commander C.R.P. Rodgers and a detachment of sailors from USS Wabash manned Battery Sigel the second day of the engagement and ''kept up a steady and well-directed fire until the fort hauled down its flag, at 2 p.m." The Navy gunners' participation in the action was at the invitation of Major General David Hunter, commander of the Army forces, and demonstrated once again the closeness of cooperation achieved by the two services.

Flag Officer Farragut expressed his views on the outcome of the anticipated assault on New Orleans: "God dispenses His will according to his judgment, and not according to our wishes or expectations. The defeat of our army at Corinth, which I saw in the rebel papers, will give us a much harder fight; men are easily elated or depressed by victory. But as to being prepared for defeat, I certainly am not. Any man who is prepared for defeat would be half defeated before he commenced. I hope for success; shall do all in my power to secure it, and trust to God for the rest. I trust in Him as a merciful being; but really in war it seems as if we hardly ought to expect mercy, when men are destroying one another upon questions of which He alone is the judge. Motive seems to constitute right and wrong.

Commander T. A. Craven, USS Tuscarora, reported that CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, had been abandoned at Gibraltar. Tuscarora had closely blockaded Sumter in port. The Confederate Congress expressed thanks "to Captain Raphael Semmes and the officers and crew of the steamer Sumter, under his command, for gallant and meritorious services rendered by them in seriously injuring the enemy's commerce upon the high seas, thereby setting an example reflecting honor upon our infant Navy which can not be too highly appreciated by Congress and the people of the Confederate States.'' In her spectacular though abbreviated career, Sumter captured 18 vessels and dealt Union shipping a heavy blow. "Well," Semmes remarked, "we have done the country some service, having cost the United States at least $1,000,000 in one way or another."

Secretary of the Navy Welles wrote President Lincoln: ''It is of the greatest importance that the exportation of anthracite coal from ports of the United States to any and all foreign ports should be absolutely prohibited. The rebels obtain the coal for their steamers from Nassau and Havana, and the fact that it burns without smoke enables them to approach blockaded ports with greater security, as all other coals throw out so much smoke as to render their presence visible a great distance at sea.

13 USSTyler, Lieutenant Gwin, and USS Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk, convoyed Army troops from Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing) to Chickasaw, Alabama. The expedition destroyed a bridge at Bear Creek, Alabama, used by the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.

Coast Survey party under Ferdinand H. Gerdes, began surveying the Mississippi River below Forts Jackson and St. Philip. Harassed by fire from the forts and riflemen on the river banks, Gerdes' party worked for five days to provide Flag Officer Farragut with a reliable map of the river, forts, water batteries, and the obstruction across the river.

Lieutenant Eaton of USS Beauregard demanded the surrender of the Confederate garrison at Fort Brooke, Tampa Bay, Florida. His demands were refused and Eaton shelled the fort before withdrawing.

14 Union mortar boats of Flag Officer Foote's force commenced regular bombardment of Fort Pillow, Tennessee the next Army-Navy objective on the drive down the Mississippi.

Potomac Flotilla ascended the Rappahannock River and destroyed Confederate batteries and captured three vessels.

15 USS Keystone State, Commander LeRoy, captured blockade runner Success off Georgetown, South Carolina.

16 Flag Officer Farragut, after careful planning and extensive preparations, moved his fleet up the Mississippi to a position below Forts Jackson and St. Philip, guarding the approaches to New Orleans and mounting over 100 guns. High water in the river had flooded the forts. Confederate garrisons worked night and day to control the water and strengthen the forts against the impending assault. A chain obstruction supported by hulks spanned the river. Above the forts a Confederate flotilla, Flag Officer John K. Mitchell, included the potentially powerful but uncompleted ironclad Louisiana. Most of the others were small, makeshift gunboats. There were also a number of fire rafts readied to be set adrift to flow with the current into the midst of the Union fleet. Against these combined defenses Farragut, flying his flag in USSHartford, brought seventeen ships carrying 154 guns and a squadron of 20 mortar boats under Commander D. D. Porter.

18 Confederate Congress, hoping to stem the constant sweeping of the seas and inland waters by the Union fleets, passed an act authorizing contracts for the purchase of not more than six ironclads to be paid for in cotton.

Union mortar boats, Commander D. D. Porter, began a five day bombardment of Fort Jackson. Moored some 3,000 yards from Fort Jackson, they concentrated their heavy shells, up to 285 pounds, for six days and nights on this nearest fort from which they were hidden by intervening woods. The garrison heroically endured the fire and stuck to their guns.

19 Mortar schooner USS Maria J. Canton, Acting Master Charles E. Jack, bombarding Fort Jack¬son, was sunk by Confederate fire. Commander Bell observed that the Confederate guns were being worked "beautifully and with effect."

USS Huron, Lieutenant John Downes, captured schooner Glide loaded with cotton, rice, and flour off Charleston.

20 USS Itasca, Lieutenant Caldwell, and USS Pinola, Lieutenant Crosby, under direction of Commander Bell, breached the obstructions below Forts Jackson and St. Philip under heavy fire, opening the way for Flag Officer Farragut's fleet. Brigadier General Johnson K. Duncan, CSA, commanding the forts, complained that the River Defense Fleet had sent no fire rafts down "to light up the river or distract the attention of the enemy at night" and had stationed no ship below to warn of the approach of Itasca and Pinola. This lack of coordination proved most costly to the Confederacy.

Lieutenant Wyman, commanding Potomac Flotilla, reported the capture of Eureka, Monterey, Lookout, Sarah Ann, Sydney Jones, Reindeer, Falcon, Sea Flower, and Roundout at the mouth of the Rappahannock River.

21 Flag Officer Farragut explained the delay in the attack on New Orleans: "We have been bombard¬ing the forts for three or four days, but the current is running so strong that we cannot stem it sufficiently to do anything with our ships, so that lam now waiting a change of wind, which brings a slacker tide, and we shall be enabled to run up. . . . Captain Bell went last night to cut the chain across the river. I never felt such anxiety in my life as I did until his return. One of his vessels got on shore, and I was fearful she would be captured. They kept up a tremendous fire on him; but Porter diverted their fire with a heavy cannonade. They let the chain go, but the man sent to explode the petard did not succeed; his wires broke. Bell would have burned the hulks, but the illumination would have given the enemy a chance to destroy his gunboat, which got aground. However, the chain was divided, and it gives us space enough to go through."

USSTyler, Lieutenant Gwin, captured steamer Alfred Robb on the Tennessee River.

22 Two boats from USS Arthur, Acting Lieutenant Kittredge, captured a schooner and two sloops at Aransas Pass, Texas, but were forced to abandon the prizes and their own boats when attacked by Confederate vessels and troops.

23 Brigadier General Duncan, the commander of Fort Jackson, wrote General Lovell in New Orleans: "Heavy and continued bombardment all night, and still progressing. No further casualties, except two men slightly wounded. God is certainly protecting us. We are still cheerful, and have an abiding faith in our ultimate success. We are making repairs as best we can. Our barbette guns are still in working order. Most of them have been disabled at times. The health of the troops continues good. Twenty-five thousand [actually about five thousand] XIII-inch shells have been fired by the enemy, thousands of which fell in the fort. They must soon exhaust themselves; if not, we can stand it as long as they can.

23-24 Expedition commanded by Lieutenant FlUSSer, including USS Lockwood, Whitehead, and Putnam, blocked the mouth of Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, sinking a schooner and other obstructions inside the canal.

24 Flag Officer Farragut's fleet ran past Forts Jackson and St. Philip and engaged the defending Con¬federate flotilla. At 2:00 a.m., USS Hartford had shown Farragut's signal for the fleet to get underway in three divisions to steam through the breach in the obstructions which had been opened by USS Pinola and Itasca. A withering fire from the forts was answered by roaring broadsides from the ships. Hartford, grounded in the swift current near Fort St. Philip, was set afire by a Confederate fireraft. Farragut's leadership and the disciplined training of the crew saved the flagship. USS Varuna was rammed by two Confederate ships and sunk In the ensuing melee, CSS Warrior, Stonewall Jackson, General Lovell, and Breckinridge, tender Phoenix, steamers Star and Belle Algerine, and Louisiana gunboat General Quitman were destroyed. The armored ram CSS Manassas was driven ashore by USS Mississippi and sunk. Steam tenders CSS Landis and W. Burton surrendered; Resolute and Governor Moore were destroyed to prevent capture. ''The destruction of the Navy at New Orleans," wrote Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory, "was a sad, sad blow . . . When the Union Navy passed the forts and disposed of the Confederate forces afloat, the fate of New Orleans was decided. Farragut had achieved a brilliant victory, one which gave true meaning to the Flag Officer's own words: "The great man in our country must not only plan but execute.

CSS Nashville made a successful run into Wilmington with 60,000 stand of arms and 40 tons of powder.

25 Flag Officer Farragut's fleet, having silenced Confederate batteries at Chalmette en route, anchored before New Orleans. High water in the river allowed the ships' guns to dominate the city over the levee top. Captain Bailey went ashore to demand the surrender. The Common Council of New Orleans resolved that: ". . . having been advised by the military authorities that the city is indefensible, [we] declare that no resistance will be made to the forces of the United States." Loss of New Orleans, the largest and wealthiest seaport in the South, was a critical blow to the Confederacy. With the rapid capitulation of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the delta of the Mis¬sissippi was open to the water-borne movement of Union forces which were free to steam river to join those coming south in the great pincer which would sever the Confederacy. "Thus, reported Secretary of the Navy Welles, ''the great southern depot of the trade of the immense central valley of the Union was once more opened to commercial intercourse and the emporium of that wealthy region was restored to national authority; the mouth of the Mississippi was under our control and an outlet for the great West to the ocean was secured."

CSS Mississippi, launched on 19 April and described by Confederate naval officers as "the strongest . . . most formidable war vessel that had ever been built," was destroyed by fire at New Orleans to prevent her capture by the Union fleet. Had the Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond, completed her shaft on time, Mississippi might have been readied to throw her weight into the defense of New Orleans.

Commander Charles H. McBlair, CSN, notified the Confederate Navy Department that as a result of the passage of the forts below New Orleans by Flag Officer Farragut's fleet that he intended to take the unfinished ram CSS Arkansas, building at Memphis, up the Yazoo River to be completed. McBlair also reported that arrangements had been made to destroy the Tennessee on the stocks to prevent her capture if Memphis fell. In June Arkansas was moved down the Yazoo to Liverpool Landing where a raft across the river and shore batteries protected the ram from the Federal gunboats while work went forward on her.

USS Maratanza, Commander George H. Scott, began shelling Gloucester and Yorktown, Virginia, in support of General McClellan's Peninsular Campaign.

USS Katahdin, Lieutenant George Preble, captured schooner John Gilpin below New Orleans.

USS Santiago de Cuba, Commander Ridgely, captured blockade runner Ella Warley at sea 120 miles off Port Royal.

Pioneer is scuttled in the Mississippi as its inventors—Watson and McClintock, now joined by Horace Hunley—flee New Orleans when Farragut’s fleet moves in. The submarine is discovered, raised, and examined by the U.S. Navy. Reports indicate that Pioneer may have claimed the lives of two crew members while being tested on Lake Ponchartrain.

26 Flag Officer Farragut, from flagship USS Hartford, issued a general order after his victory at New Orleans: "Eleven o'clock this morning is the hour appointed for all the officers and crews of the fleet to return thanks to Almighty God for His great goodness and mercy in permitting us to pass through the events of the last two days with so little loss of life and blood. At that hour the church pennant will be hoisted on every vessel of the fleet, and their crews assembled will, in humiliation and prayer, make their acknowledgments therefore to the great dispenser of all human events.

Fort Macon, North Carolina, surrendered to combined land-sea forces under Commander Lockwood and Brigadier General John G. Parke. USS Daylight, State of Georgia, Chippewa, and Gemsbok heavily bombarded the fort; blockade runners Alliance and Gondar were captured after the fort's surrender.

USS Onward, Acting Lieutenant J. Frederick Nickels, forced schooner Chase aground on Raccoon Keys near Cape Romain, South Carolina, and subsequently destroyed her.

USS Flambeau, Lieutenant John H. Upshur, captured blockade runner Active near Stono Inlet, South Carolina.

USS Santiago de Cuba, Commander Ridgely, captured schooner Mersey off Charleston.

USS Uncas, Acting Master Lemuel G. Crane, captured schooner Belle off Charleston.

27 Fort Livingston, Bastian Bay, Louisiana, surrendered to the Navy Boat crew from USS Kittatinny raised the United States flag over the fort.

USS Mercedita, Commander Stellwagen, captured steamer Bermuda northeast of Abaco with large cargo of arms shipped from Liverpool.

USS Wamsutta, Lieutenant Alexander A. Semmes, and USS Potomska, Acting Lieutenant Pendleton G. Watmough, exchanged fire with dismounted Confederate cavalry concealed in woods on Woodville Island, Riceboro River, Georgia.

28 Forts Jackson and St. Philip, isolated since being passed by Flag Officer Farragut's fleet and the fall of New Orleans, surrendered to the Navy; the terms of capitulation were signed on board USS Harriet Lane, Commander D. D. Porter's flagship. CSS Louisiana, Defiance, and McRae were destroyed to prevent their capture.

Steamer Oreto (CSS Florida) arrived at Nassau, British West Indies.

29 Expedition under Lieutenant Alexander C. Rhind in USS E. B. Hale landed and destroyed Confederate battery at Grimball's, Dawho River, South Carolina, and exchanged fire with field pieces near Slann's Bluff.

Gunboat USS Kanawha, Lieutenant Febiger, captured blockade running British sloop Annie between Ship Island and Mobile, bound for Havana with cargo of cotton.

30 USS Santiago de Cuba, Commander Ridgely, captured schooner Maria off Port Royal.

May 1862

1 USS Hatteras, Commander Emmons, captured schooner Magnolia near Berwick Bay, Louisiana, with cargo of cotton.

USS Jamestown, Commander Green, captured British blockade runner Intended off the coast of North Carolina with cargo of salt, coffee, and medicines.

USS Huron, Lieutenant Downes, captured schooner Albert off Charleston.

Schooner Sarah ran aground at Bull's Bay, South Carolina, and was destroyed by her own crew to prevent capture by USS Onward, Acting Lieutenant Nickels.

USS Marblehead, Lieutenant Somerville Nicholson, shelled the Confederate positions at Yorktown.

2 USS Restless, Acting Lieutenant Conroy, captured British blockade runner Flash off the coast of South Carolina.

Brutus de Villeroi’s submarine is launched in Philadelphia harbor. The vessel is 40’ long, 6’ high, and 4’6� wide.

3 USS R. R. Cuyler, Lieutenant F. Winslow, captured schooner Jane off Tampa Bay, Florida, with cargo including pig lead.

4 USS Corwin, Lieutenant Thomas S. Phelps, captured schooner Director and launch marked "U.S. brig Dolphin " in York River near Gloucester Point; guard boat General Scott and sloop Champion, both loaded with Confederate Army stores, were burned to prevent capture.

Boat crew from USS Wachusett, Commander W. Smith, raised United States flag at Gloucester Point, Virginia, after General McClellan's troops occupied Yorktown; two Confederate schooners were captured.

USS Calhoun, Lieutenant Joseph E. DeHaven, captured sloop Charles Henry off St. Joseph, Loui-siana, and raised the United States flag over Fort Pike, which had been evacuated.

Lieutenant English, commanding USS Somerset, reported the capture of steamer Circassian between Havana and Matanzas.

Union forces at Ragged Island burned schooner Beauregard, laden with coal for CSS Virginia.

5 President Lincoln, with Secretaries Stanton and Chase on board, proceeded to Hampton Roads on steamer Miami to personally direct the stalled Peninsular Campaign. The following day, Lincoln informed Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough: "I shall be found either at General Wool's [Fort Monroe] or on board the Miami." The President directed gunboat operations in the James River and the bombardment of Sewell's Point by the blockading squadron in the five days he acted as Commander-in-Chief in the field.

USS Calhoun, Lieutenant DeHaven, captured schooner Rover with cargo of brick in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana.

Boat from USS Coru, Lieutenant T. S. Phelps, captured sloop Water Witch, abandoned the Previous day by Confederates above Gloucester Point, Virginia.

May (early)
Watson, McClintock, and Hunley arrive in Mobile, Alabama and begin work on a new submarine, Pioneer II. Realizing the limitations of a manually-powered submarine, they spend many weeks experimenting with an electric motor and a steam engine to power the vessel. Electric motors of sufficient power are known to be available in New York City, but cannot be smuggled through the lines. The team attempts to manufacture their own motor, but cannot with their limited resources. The steam approach is similarly discarded for unknown reasons.

6 USS Calhoun, Lieutenant DeHaven, captured steamer Whiteman in Lake Pontchartrain.

USS Ottawa, Lieutenant J. Blakeley Creighton, captured schooner General C. C. Pinckney off Charleston.

7 USS Wachusett, Commander W. Smith, USS Chocura, and Sebago escorted Army transports up the York River, supported the landing at West Point, Virginia, and countered a Confederate attack with accurate gunfire. USS Currituck, Acting Master William F. Shankland, sent on a reconnaissance of the Pamunkey River by Smith on the 6th, captured American Coaster and Planter the next day. Shankland reported that some twenty schooners had been sunk and two gunboats burned by the Confederates above West Point.

8 USS Monitor, Dacotah, Naugatuck, Seminole, and Susquehanna by direction of the President"-shelled Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point, Virginia, as Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough reported, ''mainly with the view of ascertaining the practicability of landing a body of troops thereabouts" to move on Norfolk. Whatever rumors President Lincoln had received about Confederates abandoning Norfolk were now confirmed; a tug deserted from Norfolk and brought news that the evacuation was well underway and that CSS Virginia, with her accompanying small gunboats, planned to proceed up the James or York River. It was planned that when Virginia came out, as she had on the 7th, the Union fleet would retire with USS Monitor in the rear hoping to draw the powerful but under-engined warship into deep water where she might be rammed by high speed steamers. The bombardment uncovered reduced but considerable strength at Sewell's Point. Virginia came out but not far enough to be rammed. Two days later President Lincoln wrote Flag Officer Goldsborough: "I send you this copy of your report of yesterday for the purpose of saying to you in writing that you are quite right in supposing the movement made by you and therein reported was made in accordance with my wishes verbally expressed to you in advance. I avail myself of the occasion to thank you for your courtesy and all your conduct, so far as known to me, during my brief visit here.'' President Lincoln, acting as Commander-in-Chief in the field at Hampton Roads, also directed Flag Officer Goldsborough: "If you have tolerable confidence that you can successfully contend with the Merrimack without the help of the Galena and two accompanying gunboats, send the Galena and two gunboats up the James River at once'' to support General McClellan. This wise use of power afloat by the President silenced two shore batteries and forced gunboats CSS Jamestown and Patrick Henry to return up the James River.

Landing party from USS Iroquois, Commander James S. Palmer, seized arsenal and took pos-session of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

9 Captain Davis assumed temporary command of the Western Flotilla, relieving Flag Officer Foote who was failing from the wound suffered at Fort Donelson. Foote had made a series of major contributions toward reopening the "Father of Waters." In the words of Admiral Mahan: ''Over the birth and early efforts of that little fleet he had presided; upon his shoulders had fallen the burden of anxiety and unremitting labor which the early days of the war, when all had to be created, everywhere entailed. He was repaid, for under him its early glories were achieved and its reputation established."

President Lincoln himself, after talking to pilots and studying charts, reconnoitered to the east-ward of Sewell's Point and found a suitably unfortified landing site near Willoughby Point. The troops embarked in transports that night. The next morning they landed near the site selected by the President. The latter, still afloat, from his "command ship" Miami ordered USS Monitor to reconnoiter Sewell's Point to learn if the batteries were still manned. When he found the works abandoned, President Lincoln ordered Major General Wool's troops to March on Norfolk, where they arrived late on the afternoon of the 10th.

10 Norfolk Navy Yard set afire before being evacuated by Confederate forces in a general withdrawal up the peninsula to defend Richmond. Union troops under Major General Wool crossed Hampton Roads from Fort Monroe, landed at Ocean View, and captured Norfolk.

Pensacola reoccupied by Union Army and Navy forces. Military installations in the area, including the Navy Yard, Forts Barrancas and McRee, CSS Fulton, and an ironclad building on the Escambia River, were destroyed by the Confederates the preceding day before withdrawing. Commander D. D. Porter reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles: "The rebels had done their work completely. The yard is a ruin. Abandonment of the important Pensacola coastal area had been in preparation by the Confederates for months after Flag Officer Foote's stunning successes on the upper Mississippi made redeployment of guns and troops necessary. Flag Officer Farragut's momentous victory at New Orleans precipitated the final evacuation. Colonel Thomas M. Jones, CSA, commanding at Pensacola, reported: "On receiving information that the enemy's gunboats had succeeded in passing the forts below New Orleans with their powerful batteries and splendid equipments, I came to the conclusion that, with my limited means of defense, reduced, as I have been by the withdrawal of nearly all my heavy guns and ammunition, I could not hold them in check or make even a respectable show of resistance.''

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--made a spirited attack on Union gunboats and mortar flotilla at Plum Point Bend, Tennessee. The Confederate fleet, Captain James E. Montgomery, attacked Mortar Boat No. 16, stationed just above Fort Pillow and engaged in bombarding the works. USS Cincinnati, Commander Stembel, coming to the mortar boat's defense, was rammed by Bragg and sank on a bar in eleven feet of water. Van Dorn rammed USS Mound City, Commander Kilty, forcing her to run aground to avoid sinking. The draft of the Confederate vessels would not permit them to press the attack into the shoal water in which the Union squadron steamed, and, having sustained various but minor injuries, Montgomery withdrew under the guns of Fort Pillow. Cincinnati and Mound City were quickly repaired and returned to service.

USS Unadilla, Lieutenant Collins, captured schooner Mary Teresa attempting to run the blockade at Charleston.

Ironclad steamer USS New Ironsides launched at Philadelphia.

11 CSS Virginia blown up by her crew off Craney Island to avoid capture. The fall of Norfolk to Union forces denied Virginia her base, and when it was discovered that she drew too much water to be brought up the James River, Flag Officer Tattnall ordered the celebrated ironclad's destruction. "Thus perished the Virginia," Tattnall wrote, "and with her many high-flown hopes of naval supremacy and success." For the Union, the end of Virginia not only removed the formidable threat to the large base at Fort Monroe, but gave Flag Officer Goldsborough's fleet free passage up the James River as far as Drewry's Bluff, a factor which was to save the Peninsular Campaign from probable disaster.
USS Bainbridge, Commander Thomas M. Brasher, captured schooner Newcastle at sea with cargo of turpentine and cotton.

USS Kittatinny, Acting Master Charles W. Lamson, captured blockade running British schooner Julia off Southwest Pass, Mississippi River, with cargo of cotton.

USS Hatteras, Commander Emmons, captured steamer Governor A. Mouton off Berwick Bay, Louisiana.

12 U.S.S: Maratanza, Lieutenant Stevens, and other gunboats made a reconnaissance of Pamunkey River in support of an Army advance to the new supply base at White House, Virginia, within twenty-two miles of Richmond.

Officers and crew of CSS Virginia were ordered to report to Commander Farrand to establish a battery below Drewry's Bluff on the left bank of the river to prevent the ascent of Union gun-boats. The battery was to be organized and commanded by Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones.

13 Confederate steamer Planter, with her captain ashore in Charleston, was taken out of the harbor by an entirely Negro crew under Robert Smalls and turned over to USS Onward, Acting Lieu-tenant Nickels, of the blockading Union squadron. "At 4 in the morning," Flag Officer Du Pont reported,''. . . she left her wharf close to the Government office and headquarters, with palmetto and Confederate flag flying, passed the successive forts, saluting as usual by blowing her steam whistle. After getting beyond the range of the last gun she quickly hauled down the rebel flags and hoisted a white one . . . The steamer is quite a valuable acquisition to the squadron.

Du Pont added in a letter to Senator Grimes: "You should have heard his [Small's] modest reply when I asked him what was said of the carry away of General Ripley's barge sometime ago. He said they made a great fUSS but perhaps they would make more 'to do' when they heard of the steamer having been brought out.

USS Iroquois, Commander Palmer, and USS Oneida, Commander S. P. Lee, occupied Natchez, Mississippi, as Flag Officer Farragut's fleet moved steadily toward Vicksburg.

USS Bohio, Acting Master W. D. Gregory, captured schooner Deer Island in Mississippi So with cargo of flour and rice.

Boat crew from USS Calhoun, Lieutenant DeHaven, captured Confederate gunboat Cory moored in Bayou Bonfouca, Louisiana.

William Cheney takes delivery of a submarine at the Tredegar Iron Works—possibly a larger version of the vessel seen by Mrs. Baker. The craft has a “false bow�—perhaps an airlock for a diver—several view ports, and may have used an electrically-detonated torpedo.

14 USS Calhoun, Lieutenant DeHaven, captured schooner Venice in Lake Pontchartrain with cargo of cotton.

15 James River Flotilla, including USS Monitor, Galena, Aroostook, Port Royal, and Naugatuck, under Commander J - Rodgers encountered obstructions sunk across the river and at close range hotly engaged sharpshooters and strong Confederate batteries, manned in part by sailors and Marines, at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia. For his part in the ensuing action, Corporal John B. Mackie, a member of Galena's Marine Guard, was cited for gallantry in a letter to Secretary of the Navy Welles; in Department of the Navy General Order 17, issued on 10 July 1863, Mackie was awarded the first Medal of Honor authorized a member of the Marine Corps. In the bombardment, Galena was heavily damaged but, unsupported, Rodgers penetrated the James River to within eight miles of Richmond before falling back. Rodgers stated at this time that troops were needed to take Drewry' s Bluff in the rear. Had this been done, Richmond might well have fallen.

USS Sea Foam, Acting Master Henry E. Williams, and USS Matthew Vassar, Acting Master Hugh H. Savage, captured sloops Sarah and New Eagle off Ship Island, Mississippi, with cargo of cotton.

16 Union naval squadron under Commander S.P. Lee in USS Oneida, advancing up the Mississippi River toward Vicksburg, shelled Grand Gulf, Mississippi.

17 Joint expedition including USS Sebago, Lieutenant Murray, and USS Currituck, Acting Master Shankland, with troops embarked on transport Seth Low, at the request of General McClellan ascended the Pamunkey River to twenty-five miles above White House. Confederates burned seventeen vessels, some loaded with coal and commissary stores. The river was so narrow at this point that the Union gunboats were compelled to return stern foremost for several miles. General McClellan reported that the ''expedition was admirably managed, and all concerned deserve great credit.''

USS Hatteras, Commander Emmons, captured sloop Poody off Vermilion Bay, Louisiana.

18 Commander S.P. Lee submitted a demand from Flag Officer Farragut and General Butler for the surrender of Vicksburg; Confederate authorities refused and a year-long land and water assault on the stronghold began. As Flag Officer Du Pont observed: "The object is to have Vicksburg and the entire possession of the river in all its length and shores."

USS Hunchback, Acting Lieutenant Colhoun, and USS Shawsheen, Acting Master Thomas J. Woodward, captured schooner G. H. Smoot in Potecasi Creek, North Carolina.

20 Union gunboats occupied the Stono River above Cole's Island, South Carolina, and shelled Con-federate positions there. Flag Officer Du Pont reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles: "The Unadilla, Pembina, and Ottawa, under Commander Marchand . . . succeeded in entering Stono and proceeded up the river above the old Fort opposite Legareville. On their approach the barracks were fired and deserted by the enemy . . . This important base of operations, the Stono, has thus been secured for further operations by the army against Charleston.

USS Whitehead, Acting Master French, captured schooner Eugenia in Bennet's Creek, North Carolina.

21 Boat expedition from USS Hunchback, Acting Lieutenant Colhoun, and USS Whitehead, Acting Master French, captured schooner Winter Shrub in Keel's Creek, North Carolina, with cargo of fish.

22 USS Mount Vernon, Commander Glisson, captured steamer Constitution attempting to run the blockade at Wilmington.

USS Whitehead, Acting Master French, captured sloop Ella D off Keel's Creek, North Carolina, with cargo of salt.

24 USS Bienville, Commander Mullany, captured British blockade runner Stettin off Charleston.

USS Amanda, Acting Lieutenant Nathaniel Goodwin, and USS Bainbridge, Commander Brasher, captured steamer Swan west of Tortugas with cargo of cotton and rosin.

25 Confederate gunboat under command of Captain F. N. Bonneau, guarding the bridge between James and Dixon Islands, Charleston harbor, exchanged fire with Union gunboats. Captain Bonneau claimed several hits on the gunboats.

26 Lieutenant Isaac N. Brown, CSN, ordered to take command of CSS Arkansas and "finish the vessel without regard to expenditure of men or money. Captain Lynch after inspecting the unfinished ram reported to Secretary of the Navy Mallory that: "the Arkansas is very inferior to the Merrimac[k] in every particular. The iron with which she is covered is worn and indifferent, taken from a railroad track, and is poorly secured to the vessel; boiler iron on stern and counter; her smoke-stack is sheet iron." Nevertheless, with great energy to overcome shortages and difficulties of every nature, Lieutenant Brown completed Arkansas, reinforced her bulwarks with cotton bales, and mounted a formidable armament of 10 guns. Lieutenant George W. Gift, CSN, who served in the ship later recorded that "within five weeks from the day we arrived at Yazoo City, we had a man-of-war (such as she was) from almost nothing-the credit for all of which belongs to Isaac Newton Brown, the commander of the vessel." A number of Army artillerists volunteered to act as gunners on board the ram.

USS Brooklyn, Captain T. T. Craven, and gunboats USS Kineo, Lieutenant George M. Ransom, arid USS Katahdin, Lieutenant Preble, shelled Grand Gulf, Mississippi.

USS Huron, Lieutenant Downes, captured British blockade runner Cambria off Charleston.

USS Pursuit, Acting Lieutenant Cate, captured schooner Andromeda near the coast of Cuba with cargo of cotton.

27 USS Bienville, Commander Mullany, seized blockade running British steamer Patras off Bull's Island, South Carolina, from Havana with cargo of powder and arms.

USS Santiago de Cuba, Commander Ridgely, captured schooner Lucy C. Holmes off Charleston with cargo of cotton.

28 USS State of Georgia, Commander Armstrong, and USS Victoria, Acting Master Joshua D. Warren, captured steamer Nassau near Fort Caswell, North Carolina.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote Senator Grimes: "I beg of you for the enduring good of the service, which you have so much at heart, to add a proviso [to the naval bill] abolishing the spirit ration and forbidding any distilled liquors being placed on board any vessel belonging to, or chartered by the U. States, excepting of course, that in the Medical Department. All insubordination, all misery, every deviltry on board ships can be traced to rum. Give the sailor double the value or more, and he will be content." Congressional Act approved 14 July 1862 abolished the spirit ration in the Navy.

29 USS Keystone State, Commander LeRoy, captured British blockade runner Elizabeth off Charleston.

USS Bienville, Commander Mullany, captured blockade runners Providence, with cargo of salt and cigars, Rebecca, with cargo of salt, and La Criola, with cargo of provisions, off Charleston.

30 An invoice is issued on this date by the Tredegar Iron Works for “materials relating to the testing of an underwater cannon.� Was Private Leavitt’s suggestion used on the Cheney submarine or another vessel?

31 Commander Rowan, commanding USS Philadelphia, reported the capture of schooner W. F. Harris in Core Sound, North Carolina.

USS Keystone State, Commander LeRoy, captured blockade running British schooner Cora off Charleston.

June 1862

1 Samuel Eakins is appointed “Superintendent� of de Villeroi’s submarine.

2 Boat from USS New London, Lieutenant A. Read, captured yachts Comet and Algerine near New Basin, Louisiana.

Eleven men in two boats under Acting Master Samuel Curtis from USS Kingfisher, while on an expedition up Aucilla River, Florida, to obtain fresh water, were surprised by Confederate attackers; two were killed and nine were captured.

2-3 USS Unadilla, Lieutenant Collins, USS Pembrine, E.B. Hale, Ellen, and Henry Andrew provided close gunfire support for Army landings and operations on James Island, South Carolina.

3 USS Gem of the Sea, Lieutenant Baxter, captured blockade runner Mary Stewart at the entrance to South Santee River, South Carolina.

USS Montgomery, Lieutenant C. Hunter, captured a blockade running British schooner Will-O’-the-Wisp transferring powder and percussion caps to a lighter near the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

4 Confederates evacuated Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on the Mississippi River during the night of 4-5 June after sustaining prolonged bombardment by Union gunboats and mortars. On 5 June the Union fleet under Captain Davis and transports moved down the river to within two miles of Memphis.

5 Tug assigned to USS Benton, Captain Davis, captured steamer Sovereign near Island No. 37 in the Mississippi River.

Confederate steamer Havana set afire in Deadman’s Bay, Florida, to prevent her capture by USS Ezilda, tender to USS Somerset, Lieutenant English.

6 USS Benton, Louisville, Carondelet, St Louis, and Cairo under Captain Davis, and rams Queen of the West and Monarch under Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr., engaged 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 Captain Montgomery in the Battle of Memphis. In the ensuing close action Queen of the West was rammed and Colonel Ellet mortally wounded. The Confederate River Defense Fleet was destroyed; all ships, excepting Van Dorn, were either captured, sunk, or grounded on the river bank to avoid sinking. Memphis surrendered to Captain Davis, and the pressure of relentless naval power had placed another important segment of the Mississippi firmly under Union control.

USS Pembina, Lieutenant Bankhead, seized schooner Rowena in Stono River, South Carolina.

7 Lieutenant Wyman, commander of Potomac Flotilla, reported USS Anacostia had captured sloop Monitor in Piankatank River, Virginia.

7-10 USS Wissahickon, Commander John DeCamp, and USS Itasca, Lieutenant Caldwell, shelled Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi; they were joined 10 June by gunboats USS Iroquois and Katahdin.

8 USS Penobscot, Lieutenant John M. B. Clitz, burned schooner Sereta, grounded and deserted off Shallotte Inlet, North Carolina.

9 Secretary of the navy Welles wrote Senator John P. Hale, Chairman of the Senate Naval Committee, and expressed his belief that the only security against any foreign war was having a Navy second to none: “The fact that a radical change has commenced in the construction and armament of ships, which change in effect dispenses with the navies that have hitherto existed, is obvious, and it is a question for Congress to decide whether the Government will promptly take the initiatory step to place our country in the front rank of maritime powers . . . Other nations, whose wooden ships-of-war far exceed our own in number, cannot afford to lay them aside, but are compelled to plate them with iron at a very heavy cost. They are not unaware of the disadvantage of this proceeding, but it is a present necessity. It must be borne in mind, however, that those governments which are striving for naval supremacy are sparing no expense to strengthen themselves by building iron vessels, and already their dock-yards are undergoing the necessary preparation for this change in naval architecture . . .�

On a joint expedition up the Roanoke River to Hamilton, North Carolina, USS Commodore Perry, Lieutenant Flusser, accompanied by USS Shawsheen and Ceres with troops embarked, came under small arms fire for two hours from Confederates along the banks. Troops were landed at Hamilton without opposition where steamer Wilson was captured.

11 USS Susquehanna, Commander Robert B. Hitchcock, captured blockade runner Princeton in the Gulf of Mexico.

USS Bainbridge, Commander Brasher, captured schooner Biagorry with cargo of cotton in the Gulf of Mexico.

14 USS William G. Anderson, Acting Master N. D’Oyley, captured schooner Montebello, moored in Jordan River, Mississippi.

US tug Spitfire captured steamer Clara Dolson in White River, Arkansas.

15 USS Corwin, Lieutenant T. S. Phelps, captured schooner Starlight on Potopotank River, Virginia.

USS Tahoma, Lieutenant John C. Howell, and USS Somerset, Lieutenant English, crossed the bar of St Marks River, Florida, and shelled the Confederate fort near the lighthouse for forty minutes. The artillery company stationed there withdrew, and the sailors landed, destroyed the battery, and burned the buildings used as barracks.

Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough orders U.S.S. Satellite to Philadelphia to escort Fred Kopp as it tows the de Villeroi vessel south to the James River. Although unofficial, the submarine has by now acquired a name—Alligator, based probably on its coat of green paint and way that it moves through the water, propelled by oars. Goldsborough steadfastly refuses to refer to it as anything but “the submarine propeller.�

16 CSS Maurepas and steamers Eliza G. and Mary Patterson were sunk in White River, Arkansas, to obstruct the advance of Union gunboats.

USS Somerset, Lieutenant English, captured blockade running schooner Curlew off Cedar Keys, Florida.

17 Joint expedition, made at the request of Major General Halleck to open Army communications on the White River, under Commander Kilty in USS Mound City, with USS St Louis, Lexington, and Conestoga, and a regiment of troops, engaged Confederate batteries at St Charles, Arkansas. Mound City took a direct hit at close range, exploding her steam drum and causing heavy casualties. Covered by the gunboats, the troops landed and successfully stormed the earthworks. This action gave control of the White River to the Union fleet.

Captain Blake, Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox regarding the curriculum of the Academy: “To make the Academy a school for engineers would require considerable changes in the Academic Course. Descriptive geometry, which was struck out of it sometime since, should be restored, for it is needed in the study and comprehension of machines. There should also be an extension of the course of Analytical Geometry and Calculus, by means of which many of the formulas relating to steam, and the steam engine, are derived, and the course of drawing, which now embraces mechanical drawing to some degree, should be extended. We should also have more chemistry.� Through the years the Naval Academy curriculum has been reviewed and revised to meet the demands of new technology and new dimensions in sea power.

Charles H. Davis appointed Flag Officer and Commander of U.S. Naval Forces on the Mississippi, relieving Flag Officer Foote. Davis had been in actual command since the departure of Foote on May 9. Secretary of the Navy Welles congratulated Foote for the “series of successful actions which have contributed so largely to the suppression of the rebellion throughout the Southwest.�

19 U.S. sloop Florida, tender to USS Morning Light, Acting Lieutenant Henry T. Moore, captured sloop Ventura off Grant’s Pass, Mobile Bay, with cargo of rice and flour.

Admiral Buchanan, CSN, wrote to Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones about the destruction of CSS Virginia: “I have great confidence in my old friend Commodore Tatnall and cannot believe that he acted without reflection, or was governed by any other motives than those in his judgment told him was right . . . There is one thing very certain: The destruction of Virginia saved Richmond, for if you all had not been at the bluff [Drewry’s] Richmond would have been shelled and perhaps taken.�

Commander Maury, CSN, reported to Secretary of the Navy Mallory on his mining operations near Chaffin’s Bluff in the James River. Electric torpedoes (mines) made of boiler plate encased in watertight wooden casks were planted with the assistance of CSS Teaser, Lieutenant Davidson. Maury noted that one of the galvanic batteries had been loaned for this service by the University of Virginia.

Escorted by the Satellite, the Fred Kopp begins its tow of Alligator. A note from Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles mentions a twenty-man crew and the fact that the submarine carried two torpedoes.

20 Commander Semmes wrote Secretary of the Navy Mallory: “It will doubtless be a matter of delicacy and management to get Alabama safely out of British waters without suspicion, as Mr. [Charles F.] Adams, the Northern envoy, and his numerous satellites are exceedingly vigilant in their espionage. We can not, of course, think of arming her in a British port. This must be done at some concerted rendezvous, to which her battery and most of her crew must be sent in a merchant vessel . . . I think well of your suggestion of the East Indies as a cruising ground, and hope to be in the track of the enemy’s commerce in those seas as early as October or November next, when I shall doubtless be able to make other rich ‘burnt offerings’ upon the altar of our country’s liberties . . .�

Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, commanding CSS Teaser, the first minelayer, ordered to relieve Commander Matthew F. Maury “in the charge of devising, placing, and superintending submarine batteries in the James River, and you will exercise your discretion as to the ways and means of placing obstacles of this and any other character to oppose the enemy’s passage of the river.�

USS Madgie, Acting master Frank B. Meriam, took 3,000 bushels of rice from a vessel at Barrett’s Island, near Darien, South Carolina, and captured schooner Southern Belle above that city.

USS Beauregard, Acting Master David Stearns, seized blockade running British schooner Lucy off Deadman’s Point Bay, Florida.

USS Keystone State, Commander LeRoy, captured blockade running British schooner Sarah with cargo of cotton off Charleston.

Two boats under command of Acting Master Theodore B. DuBois of USS Albatross captured steam tug Treaty and schooner Louisa near Georgetown, South Carolina.

21 Joint expedition under Lieutenant Rhind, USS Crusader, with USS Planter in company, ascended to Simmons Bluff, Wadmelaw River, South Carolina. Lieutenant Rhind landed with troops and destroyed a Confederate encampment.

USS Bohio, Acting Master W. D. Gregory, captured sloop L. Rebecca bound from Biloxi to Mobile.

23 Alligator arrives in Hampton Roads.

24 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 on this date.

25 Alligator arrives at City Point, Virginia, and is anchored near U.S.S. Galena. The target of its first operation is the Petersburg Railroad bridge over the Appomattox River. An Army operation which will impact this mission also begin the following day—The Seven Days’ Battles

26 General McClellan notified Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough that the urgency for safely bringing the provision transports from the Pamunkey to the James River was “a matter of vital importance and may involve the existence of the Army.� A Confederate offensive had cut McClellan’s line of communications with his main base at White House on the Pamunkey River.

USS Kensington, Acting Master Frederick Crocker, with mortar schooners Horace Beals and Sarah Bruen, proceeding towards Vicksburg, silenced a Confederate battery near Cole’s Creek, Mississippi River.

USS Mount Vernon, Commander Glisson, with USS Mystic and Victoria chased a blockade runner Emily standing in for Wilmington. Emily grounded and a boat crew commanded by Acting master W. N. Griswold from Mount Vernon boarded and destroyed he while under heavy fire from Fort Caswell.

27 USS Bohio, Acting Master W. D. Gregory, captured sloop Wave, bound from Mobile to Mississippi City with cargo of flour.

USS Bienville, Commander Mullany, captured schooner Morning Star off Wilmington.

USS Cambridge, Commander W. A. Parker, chased blockade runner Modern Grace ashore off Wilmington, where she was subsequently destroyed with cargo of gunpowder, rifled cannon, and other arms.

28 Flag Officer Farragut’s fleet, supported by mortar boats under Commander D. D. Porter, successfully passed Vicksburg while exchanging a heavy fire with Confederate batteries. Farragut was acting under orders from President Lincoln to “clear the river.�

Flag Officer Davis wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles: “Our recent experience in the navigation of the White River has made it apparent that in order to acquire control of the tributaries of the Mississippi, and to maintain that control during the dry season, it will be necessary to fit up immediately some boats of small draft for this special purpose. These boats will be sufficiently protected about the machinery and pilot houses against musketry. They will be selected for their light draft and their capacity to receive a suitable armament of howitzers, field pieces, or other light guns, and to accommodate the requisite number of men; and, finally, for their susceptibility of protection.�

USS Braziliera captured schooner Chance with cargo of salt off Wassaw Sound, Georgia.

28-29 USS Marblehead, Lieutenant S. Nicholson, and USS Chocura, Lieutenant Thomas H. Patterson, in the Pamunkey River, supported Army withdrawal from White House, Virginia, with gunfire and transport. Other Union gunboats escorted transports and moved up the James and Chickahominy Rivers in close support of General McClellan’s army.

29 USS Susquehanna, Commander Hitchcock, captured blockade running British steamer Ana near Mobile with cargo of arms and ammunition.

Commander Rodgers sends Alligator back down the James to Louis Goldsborough at Hampton Roads. Rodgers is very impressed with the potential of the submarine (possibly as the result of spending time with Samuel Eakins) but realizes immediately that the Appomattox River is far too shallow for the Alligator to operate in—shoal areas previously held by Union forces have fallen to the Confederates as General McClellan retreats, and Alligator would be easily seen and handily sunk or captured. Although its mission cannot be fulfilled, Rodgers rightly understands the potential for damage to the fleet were the vessel to be captured and turned against the Navy.

29-30 Confederate troops fired on USS Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk, on White River between St Charles and Clarendon, Arkansas.

30 Major General McClellan, compelled to withdraw down the James and dependent upon the Navy for gunfire support and transportation, reported: “I retreated from Malvern to Haxall’s, and . . . went on board of Captain Roger’s gunboat USS Galena to confer with him in reference to the condition of our supply vessels and the state of things on the river. It was his opinion that it would be necessary for the army to fall back to a position below City Point, as the channel there would be so near the southern shore that it would not be possible to bring up the transports should the enemy occupy it.. Harrison’s Landing was, in his opinion, the nearest suitable point. . . . Concurring in his opinion, I selected Harrison’s Bar as the new position of the army.� McClellan noted one of many instances of invaluable naval support as the Confederates pressed to cut off the Union movement to the river: “The rear of the supply trains and the reserve artillery of the army reached Malvern Hill about 4p.m. At about this time the enemy began to appear in General Fitz John Porter’s front, and at 5 o’clock advanced in large force against his flank, posting artillery under cover of a skirt of timber, with a view to engage our force on Malvern Hill. . . . The gunboats rendered most efficient aid at this time, and helped drive back the enemy.� Naval gunfire support was controlled through a system of liaison in which “fall-of-shot� information was sent by Army signal personnel ashore to Army signal personnel afloat in the gunboats by the Myer’s system of signaling.

USS Quaker City, Commander Frailey, captured brig Model with cargo of coal in the Gulf of Mexico.

Flag Officer Du Pont ordered USS South Carolina, Commander Almy, to join USS Wyandotte in blockading Mosquito Inlet near New Smyrna, Florida. The inlet had become increasingly important to the Confederates as an unloading point for blockade runners bringing arms from Nassau.

July 1862

1 The Western Flotilla of Flag Officer Davis joined the fleet of Flag Officer Farragut above Vicks-burg. Farragut wrote: "The ironclads are curious looking things to us salt-water gentlemen; but no doubt they are better calculated for this river than our ships. . . . They look like great turtles. Davis came on board . . . . We have made the circuit (since we met at Port Royal) around half the United States and met on the Mississippi." The meeting of the fresh-water and salt-water squadrons had considerable psychological value throughout the North, but it did not imply control over the river so long as the Gibraltar-like fortress of Vicksburg remained unsubdued. In a military sense this temporary joining of the squadrons pointed up the necessity for the arduous, year-long amphibious campaign which was necessary to capture Vicksburg.

President Lincoln recommended to the Congress that Flag Officer Foote be given a vote of thanks for his efforts on the western waters. The President knew well the import of the defeats dealt the Confederacy by the gunboats on the upper Mississippi. He recognized that Foote's forces had cleared the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, and had succeeded in splitting the Confederacy as far as Vicksburg on the Father of Waters.

USS De Soto, Captain W. M. Walker, captured British schooner William attempting to run the blockade at Sabine Pass, Texas.

1-2 Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough's fleet covered the withdrawal of General McClellan's army after a furious battle with Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee at Malvern Hill. Dependent on the Navy for his movement to Harrison's Landing, chosen by McClellan at Commodore J. Rodgers recommendation because it was so situated that gunboats could protect both flanks of his army, the General acknowledged the decisive role played by the Navy in enabling his troops to withdraw with a minimum loss: "Commodore Rodgers placed his gunboats so as to protect our flanks and to command the approaches from Richmond . . . During the whole battle Commodore Rodgers added greatly to the discomfiture of the enemy by throwing shell among his reserve and advancing columns.'' The Washington National Intelligencer of 7 July described the gunboats' part in the action at Malvern Hill: "About five o'clock in the after-noon the gunboats Galena, Aroostook, and Jacob Bell opened from Turkey Island Bend, in the James River, with shot and shell from their immense guns. The previous roar of field artillery seemed as faint as the rattle of musketry in comparison with these monsters of ordnance that literally shook the water and strained the air. . . . They fired about three times a minute, frequently a broadside at a time, and the immense hull of the Galena careened as she delivered her complement of iron and flame. The fire went on . . . making music to the ears of our tired men. . . . Confederate] ranks seemed slow to close up when the naval thunder had torn them apart. . . During the engagement at White Oak Swamp, too, the Intelligencer reported, the gunboats "are entitled to the most unbounded credit. They came into action just at the right time, and did first rate service.'' The Navy continued to safeguard the supply line until the Army of the Potomac was evacuated to northern Virginia in August, bringing to a close the unsuccessful Peninsular Campaign.

2 USS Western World, Acting Master Samuel B. Gregory, captured blockade running British schooner Volante in Winyah Bay, South Carolina, with cargo of salt and fish.

3 USS Quaker City, Commander Frailey, captured blockade running British brig Lilla off Hole-in-the-Wall, Virginia.

USS Hatteras, Commander Emmons, captured schooner Sarah bound for Sabine Pass, Texas, with cargo of sugar and molasses.

4 USS Maratanza, Lieutenant Stevens, engaged CSS Teaser, Lieutenant Davidson, at Haxall's on the James River. Teaser was abandoned and captured after a shell from Maratanza exploded her boiler. In addition to placing mines in the river, Davidson had gone down the river with a balloon on board for the purpose of making an aerial reconnaissance of General McClellan's positions at City Point and Harrison's Landing. By this time both Union and Confederate forces were utilizing the balloon for gathering intelligence; Teaser had been the Southern counterpart of USS G. W. Parke Custis, from whose deck aerial observations had been made the preceding year. The balloon, as well as a quantity of insulated wire and mine equipment, were found on board Teaser. Six shells with ''peculiar fuzes'' were also taken and sent to Captain Dahlgren at the Washington Navy Yard for examination.

Commander J. Rodgers reported to Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough on the stationing of the gunboats supporting the Army's position at Harrison's Landing: "It is now too late, I hope, for the enemy to attack the army here with any chance of success. The troops are in good spirits and everyone seems confident." Major General McClellan advised President Lincoln that "Captain Rodgers is doing all in his power in the kindest and most efficient manner." General Robert E. Lee came to the same conclusion in a letter to Confederate President Davis: ''The enemy is strongly posted in the neck formed by Herring creek and James River. . . The enemy's batteries occupy the ridge along which the Charles City road runs, north to the creek, and his gunboats lying below the mouth of the creek sweep the ground in front of his batteries Above his encamp-ments which lie on the river, his gunboats also extend; where the ground is more favorable to be searched by their cannon. As far as I can now see there is no way to attack him to advantage; nor do I wish to expose the men to the destructive missiles of his gunboats . . . I fear he is too secure under cover of his boats to be driven from his position.

USS Rhode Island, Commander Trenchard, captured blockade running British schooner R. O. Bryan off the coast of Texas.

The tug Fred Kopp leaves the James River and returns Alligator to Philadelphia Navy Yard. On this same day, C.S.S. Teaser is captured by U.S.S. Maratanza on the James River; the Confederate ship carries detailed schematics of the new ironclad, Virginia II, which is nearing completion. Alligator is hastily recalled, but the civilian crew declines the mission.

5 Act to reorganize the U.S. Navy Department increased the number of Bureaus to eight: Yards and Docks, Equipment and Recruiting, Navigation, Ordnance, Construction and Repair, Steam Engineering, Provisions and Clothing, Medicine and Surgery. This act, and other far-reaching measures were guided through Congress by Senator Grimes of Iowa, who had an outstanding appreciation of sea power.

USS Hatteras, Commander Emmons, captured sloop Elizabeth off the Louisiana coast.

6 Commodore Wilkes ordered to command James River Flotilla as a division of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough. Secretary of the Navy Welles' instructions to Wilkes stated: "You will immediately place yourself in communication with Major General McClellan, Commanding the Army of the Potomac, near Harrison's Landing . . . It will be your special duty to keep open the navigation of James River and afford protection to all vessels trans-porting troops or supplies, and generally to cooperate with the army in all military movements.

7 Commander J. Rodgers reported to Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough on the convoying of Army transports on James River: There is to be a convoy of gunboats each day from Harrison's Bar to near the mouth of the Chickahominy, going and returning each day. As there was no better reason for the time than the arrival and departure of the mail from Old Point, it was agreed that at 9 a.m. all the transportation down should sail, convoyed by gunboats-I had selected four for it. And at 3 p.m. all the army transportation to this point should come up, convoyed by the same force." Convoy and cover of supply ships by the gunboats were indispensable to General McClellan's army.

USS Tahoma, Lieutenant John C. Howell, captured schooner Uncle Mose off Yucatan Bank, Mexico, with cargo of cotton.

USS Quaker City, Commander Frailey, in company with USS Huntsville, captured blockade running British steamer Adela off the Bahama Islands.

Boats from USS Flag, Commander James H. Strong, and USS Restless, Acting Lieutenant Conroy, captured British blockade runner Emilie in Bull's Bay, South Carolina.

President Lincoln and military party departed Washington on board USS Arid to visit General McClellan with the Army of the Potomac at Harrison's Landing, Virginia.

9 General Robert E. Lee wrote President Davis, advising him of the Confederate troops' inability to move against the Union forces on the James River because of the presence of the Navy gunboats: "After a thorough reconnaissance of the position taken up by the enemy on James River, I found him strongly posted and effectually flanked by his Gunboats. . . . I caused field batteries to play on his forces, and on his transports, from points on the river below. But they were too light to accomplish much, and were always attacked with superior force by the Gunboats. .

USS Commodore Pen, Lieutenant FlUSSer, USS Shawsheen, Acting Master Woodward, and USS Ceres, Acting Master John MacDiarmid, embarked on an expedition up Roanoke River and landed a field piece and force of soldiers and sailors at Hamilton, North Carolina, where steamer Wilson was captured.

USS Arthur, Acting Lieutenant Kittredge, captured schooner Reindeer with cargo of cotton near Aransas Pass, Texas.

10 Flag Officer Du Pont, learning of the action at Malvern Hill, wrote: "The Mississippi, [Army] transport passed us this morning. We boarded her and got papers to the 5th. The captain of the transport told the boarding officer that McClellan's army would have been annihilated but for the gunboats." Continual Confederate concern about the gunboats was noted by a British Army observer, Colonel Garnet J. Wolseley, who wrote that he "noted with some interest the superstitious dread of gunboats which possessed the Southern soldiers. These vessels of war, even when they have been comparatively harmless had several times been the means of saving northern armies.

USS Arthur, Acting Lieutenant Kittredge, captured sloop Belle Italia at Aransas Pass, and schooner Monte Christo was burned by Confederates at Lamar, Texas, to prevent her falling into Union hands.

11 President Lincoln, demonstrating his appreciation of the role sea power had played thus far in the Civil War, recommended to the Congress that votes of thanks be given to Captains Lardner, Davis, and Stringham, and to Commanders Dahlgren, D.D. Porter, and Rowan.

Congress passed an act for the relief of relatives of the officers and men who died on board USS Cumberland and Congress when CSS Virginia destroyed those vessels and threatened to break the blockade of Norfolk four months before.

12 USS Mercedita, Commander Stellwagen, captured blockade running schooners Victoria and Ida off Hole-in-the-Wall, Abaco, Bahamas, the former laden with cotton, the latter with general cargo, including cloth, shoes, needles and salt.

13 Commodore Wilkes reported operations of the James River Flotilla to Secretary of the Navy Welles: "The Army transports are daily convoyed up and down by the gunboats, besides having others stationed off the principal salient points where the rebels have come down to fire at our vessels passing. They almost daily make some attempts to annoy these unarmed boats, but seldom venture to do anything. I believe it is in my power to keep the river open effectually. . .
I found . . . a necessity of active and prompt measures to bring the flotilla into operation, as the duties on the river require, and the effective protection of the two flanks of the army. . . I would ask the Assistant Secretary's attention to the subject of torpedoes, and also barbed rockets that will enter wood and be the means of firing any bridges or other works of wood. If we had some Congreve rockets, they would prove effective in driving the sharpshooters out of the woods."

14 Congress passed an act stating that: " . . . the spirit ration in the Navy of the United States shall forever cease, and . . . no distilled spiritous liquors shall be admitted on board vessels of war, except as medical stores . . . there shall be allowed and paid to each person in the Navy now entitled to the ration, five cents per day in commutation and lieu thereof, which shall be in addition to their present pay." Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox and officers generally held that it was in the Navy's best interest to abolish the spirit ration.

15 USS Carondelet, Commander Walke, USS Tyler, Lieutenant Gwin, and ram Queen of the West, carrying Army sharp shooters on reconnaissance of the Yazoo River, engaged Confederate ironclad ram Arkansas, Lieutenant Isaac N. Brown. In a severe fight as Union ships withdrew, Arkansas partially disabled Carondelet and Tyler. Entering the Mississippi, Arkansas ran through fire from the Union fleet to refuge under the Vicksburg batteries in a heavily damaged condition and with many casualties. Farragut's fleet pursued Arkansas, but, as the Flag Officer reported, "it was so dark by the time we reached the town that nothing could be seen except the flashes of the guns." In the heavy cannonade as Farragut's ships continued down river below Vicks-burg, USS Winona, Lieutenant Edward T. Nichols, and USS Sumter, Lieutenant Henry Erben, were substantially damaged. The daring sortie of Arkansas emphatically underscored the need to reduce Vicksburg. Major General Earl Van Dorn, CSA, said that Lieutenant Brown had ''immortalized his single vessel, himself, and the heroes under his command, by an achievement, the most brilliant ever recorded in naval annals.'' Secretary Mallory added: "Naval history records few deeds of greater heroism or higher professional ability than this achievement of the Arkansas." Lieutenant Brown was promoted to Commander, and the Confederate Congress later expressed thanks to Brown and his men "for their signal exhibition of skill and gallantry. . . in the brilliant and successful engagement of the sloop of war Arkansas with the enemy's fleet."

Mid-July
Alligator, now at the Washington Navy Yard, is placed under the reluctant command of Lieutenant Thomas O. Selfridge, hero of the battle between the Virginia and the Cumberland. Selfridge travels to the New York Navy Yard to recruit volunteers from the receiving ship North Carolina. Expecting no response, he is surprised when so many men volunteer that he must choose from among them.

16 David Glasgow Farragut, in recognition of his victory at New Orleans, promoted to Rear Admiral, the first officer to hold that rank in the history of the U.S. Navy.

The measure passed by Congress which created the rank of Rear Admiral also revamped the existing rank structure to include Commodore and Lieutenant Commander and established the number of Rear Admirals at 9; Commodores, 18; Captains, 36; Commanders, 72; and the remainder through Ensign at 144 each. The act provided that ''The three senior rear admirals [Farragut, L. M. Goldsborough, and Du Pont] shall wear a square blue flag at the mainmast head; the next three at the foremast head, and all others at the mizzen.'' Rear Admirals were to rank with Major Generals in the Army.

Congress approved a bill transferring "the western gunboat fleet constructed by the War Department for operations on the western waters'' to the Navy Department. Actual enactment of the measure took place on 1 October 1862.

Commander Woodhull, USS Cimarron, reported from Harrison's Landing: "I have placed my vessel, as directed, on the extreme right flank of the army; so also the other gunboats under my charge, as will give us full command of the open country beyond the line."

USS Huntsville, Acting Lieutenant William C. Rogers, seized blockade running British schooner Agnes off Abaco with cargo of cotton and rosin.

17 Congress passed an act which established that "every officer, seaman, or marine, disabled in the line of duty, shall be intitled to receive for life, or during his disability, a pension from the United States, according to the nature and degree of his disability, not exceeding in any case his monthly pay."

17-18 Twenty Marines from USS Potomac participated in an expedition up Pascagoula Rivet, Mississippi. Under First Lieutenant George W. Collier, the Marines, whose force was augmented by an equal number of sailors, acted with USS New London and Grey Cloud to capture or destroy a steamer and two schooners rumored to be loading with cotton, and to destroy telegraphic communications between Pascagoula and Mobile. The expedition succeeded in disrupting communications, but, pursuing the Confederate vessels upstream, it was engaged by cavalry and infantry troops and forced to turn back to care for the wounded.

18 Secretary of the Navy Welles notified Flag Officers commanding squadrons of a bill authorizing the President to appoint annually three midshipmen to the Naval Academy from the enlisted boys of the Navy. "They must be of good moral character, able to read and write well, writing from dictation and spelling with correctness, and to perform with accuracy the various operations of the primary rules of arithmetic, viz, numeration, and the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers." Each Flag Officer was requested to nominate one candidate from his command "not over 18 years of age."

19 Naval court martial meeting in Richmond acquitted Flag Officer Tattnall with honor for ordering the destruction of CSS Virginia on 11 May after the evacuation of Norfolk. The court found that "the only alternative was to abandon and burn the ship then and there, which in the judgment of the court, was deliberately and wisely done.

21 U.S. steamers Clara Dolsen and Rob Roy and tug Restless under Commander Alexander M. Pennock, with troops embarked, arrived from Cairo to protect Evansville, InDiana, at the request of Governor Morton. Troops were landed and retook Henderson, Kentucky, from Confederate guerrillas, several boats were burned, and the Ohio was patrolled against attack from the Kentucky side of the river. Major General John Love wrote to Commander Pennock expressing the "gratitude with which the citizens of InDiana and of this locality will regard the prompt cooperation of yourself and your officers in this emergency, which threatened their security." The mobility which naval control of the river gave to Union forces neutralized repeated Confederate attempts to re-establish positions in the border states.

Confederate artillery at Argyle Landing, Mississippi River, destroyed naval transport USS Sallie Woods.

USS Huntsville, Acting Lieutenant W. C. Rogers, captured steamer Reliance in Bahama Channel.

22 USS Essex, Commander W. D. Porter, and ram Queen of the West, Lieutenant Colonel Ellet, attacked CSS Arkansas, Commander I. N. Brown, at anchor with a disabled engine at Vicksburg.

Although many of his officers and crew were ashore sick and wounded after the action of 15 July, Commander Brown fought his ship gallantly. After attempting to ram, the Essex became closely engaged in cannon fire with Arkansas. Breaking off the engagement, Essex steamed through a bail of shell Past the shore batteries and joined Rear Admiral Farragut's fleet which had remained below Vicksburg after passing the city on 15 July. Queen of the West rammed Arkansas but with little effect. She rejoined Flag Officer Davis' fleet in a shattered condition. The day after repelling the attack by Essex and Queen of the West, Commander Brown defiantly steamed Arkansas up and down the river under the Vicksburg batteries. A member of Arkansas's crew, Dabney M. Scales, described the action in a vivid letter to his father: "At 4 o'clock on the morning of the 22nd, I was awakened by the call to quarters. Hurrying to our stations, with not even a full complement of men for 3 guns; our soldiers having left just the night before; we discovered the enemy coming right down upon us. . . . We did not have men enough to heave the anchor up and get underway, before the enemy got to us, even if we had had steam ready. So we had to lay in to the bank, and couldn't meet him on anything like equal terms. . . . The Essex came first, firing on us with her three bow guns. We replied with our two bow guns as long as they could be brought to bear, which was not a very long time, as our vessel being stationary, the enemy soon came too much on our broadside for these guns, and their crews Lad to be shifted to the broadside guns. In the meantime, the Essex ranged up alongside us, and at the distance of 20 feet poured in a broadside which crashed against our sides like nothing that I ever heard be-fore. . . . We were so close that our men were burnt by the powder of the enemy's guns. . . All this time the Ram [Queen of the West] was not idle, but came close down on the heels of his consort. . . . We welcomed him as warmly as we could with our scanty crew. Just before he got to us, we managed by the helm and with the aid of the starboard propeller, to turn our bow out-stream a little, which prevented him from getting a fair lick at us. As it was, he glanced round our side and ran aground just astern of us." Meanwhile, the Confederate Secretary of War in a general order praised Arkansas's feats of the week before: "Lieutenant Brown, and the officers and crew of the Confederate steamer Arkansas, by their heroic attack upon the Federal fleet before Vicksburg equaled the highest recorded examples of courage and skill. They proved that the Navy, when it regains its proper element, will be one of the chief bulwarks of national defense and that it is entitled to a high place in the confidence and affection of the country.

President Davis telegraphed Governor John J. Pettus of Mississippi: "Captain Brown of the Arkansas, requires boatmen, and reports himself doomed to inactivity by the inability to get them. We have a large class of river boatmen and some ordinary seamen on our Gulf Coast who must now be unemployed. Can you help Captain Brown to get an adequate crew?"

23 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote Major General John G. Barnard: ''Part of the mortar fleet are ordered to James River and should be there by the 1st proximo. There is no army to cooperate at Vicksburg where we have been lying two months, and the keeping open James River up to McClellan's position is the first duty of the Navy, so we ordered twelve of the vessels there. If a fort is erected below you on the right bank of the James (and I see no obstacle) or if offensive or defensive operations are undertaken I think the mortar will not come amiss. . . . The iron boats are progressing . . . We have forty underweight, and are putting others in hand as fast as contracts for engines shall be made. The machinery for manufacturing marine engines is limited." The Union Navy's rapid transformation from wood to iron doomed the Confederacy's effort with ironclads and rams to break the noose of Federal seapower.

24 Rear Admiral Farragut's fleet departed its station below Vicksburg, as the falling water level of the river and sickness among his ships' crews necessitated withdrawal to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Farragut's return to the lower Mississippi made abundantly clear the strategic significance of Vicksburg for, although the Navy held the vast majority of the river, Confederate control of Vicksburg enabled the South to continue to get some supplies for her armies in the East from Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. To prevent as much of this as possible, Rear Admiral Davis and Major General Samuel R. Curtis provided for combined Army-Navy expeditions along the banks of the Mississippi from Helena, Arkansas, to Vicksburg. Though supplies continued to move across the river, this action prevented the Confederates from maintaining and reinforcing batteries at strategic points, an important factor in the following year's operations.

USS Quaker City, Commander Frailey, captured blockade runner Orion at Campeche Bank, south of Key West, Florida.

USS Octorara, Commander D. D. Porter, captured British blockade runner Tubal Cain east of Savannah.

25 Steamer Cuba ran the blockade into Mobile.

26 Confederates hoarded and burned schooner Louisa Reed in the James River.

27 USS Yankee, Lieutenant Commander William Gibson, and USS Satellite, Acting Master Amos Foster, captured schooner J. W. Sturges in Chippoak Creek, Virginia.

28 USS Hatteras, Commander Emmons, captured Confederate brig Josephine off Ship Shoal, Louisiana, en route to Havana with cargo of cotton.

Bark Agrippina, Captain Alexander McQueen, was ordered to rendezvous in the Azores with steamer Enrica (afterwards CSS Alabama) which was to depart Liverpool pursuant to arrangements made by Commander Bulloch in London, for the purpose of transferring guns, ammunition, coal, and other cargo to Alabama. Under the command of Captain Raphael Semmes, the re-nowned Confederate cruiser Alabama ravaged the seas, dealing serious damage to Union commerce.

29 USS Mount Vernon, Commander Glisson, and USS Mystic, Lieutenant Commander Arnold, captured blockade running British brig Napier near Wilmington.

Writing of Union reverses in the East, which he ascribed to the deception of Northern commanders by false reports of the size of Confederate armies, Rear Admiral Farragut stated: "The officers say I don't believe anything. I certainly believe very little that comes in the shape of reports I mean to be whipped or to whip my enemy, and not be scared to death."

31 USS Magnolia, Acting Lieutenant W. Budd, captured British steamer Memphis off Cape Romain with large cargo of cotton and rosin. She had run the blockade out of Charleston on 26 July.

31-1 Confederate batteries at Coggins' Point took Union forces under fire on the James River between Harrison's Landing and Shirley, Virginia, sinking two Army transports. USS Cimarron, Commander Woodhull, immediately opened counter fire on the battery. Praising Gunner's Mate John Merrert who, although extremely ill and awaiting transfer to a hospital, bravely manned his station in the main magazine, Commander Woodhull wrote: "Merrett is an old man-of-warsman; his discipline, courage, and patriotism would not brook inaction when his ship was in actual battle. His conduct, I humbly think, was a great example to all lovers of the country and its cause . . . it is the act of a fine specimen of the old Navy tar." This mutual respect between the naval officer and the long service enlisted man enabled the Navy to maintain its tone through-out the Civil War despite expansion.

August 1862

1 USS Thomas Freeborn, Acting Master James L. Plunkett, captured schooner Mail in Coan River, Virginia, with cargo including salt.

USS Penobscot, Lieutenant Clitz, captured sloop Lizzie off New Inlet, North Carolina, with cargo including salt.

2 William H. Aspinwall, a Union merchant and long time booster of ironclads, wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox suggesting an innovation in weaponry to which can be traced the modern torpedo: "I have been thinking for some time about the probability that a properly shaped cylindrical shot fired 6 or 8 feet under water will be the next improvement on iron clad vessels. At short range great effect could be attained below the iron plating. . . . I have the plan for firing a gun projecting 6 or 8 or 10 feet below the water line of a vessel, which I think would work well, if it is found that shot can be relied on to do the intended injury under water. "

CSS Florida, Lieutenant Maffitt, about to take to sea from Nassau, was released by the Admiralty Court after having been seized by H.M.S. Greyhound.

3 USS Santiago de Cuba, Commander Ridgely, seized blockade runner Columbia north of Abaco with cargo of arms.

4 USS Unadilla, Lieutenant Collins, captured British steamer Lodona attempting to run the blockade at Hell Gate, Georgia.

USS Huron, Lieutenant Downes, seized schooner Aquilla near Charleston with cargo of turpentine.

5 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox observed that: ''The Richmond Engineer [Enquirer] said that the first federal [army] officer meeting a navy officer at James River after McClellan's 'strategic move' [withdrawing from Malvern Hill to Harrison's Landing] threw his arms around his neck and said 'Oh my dear Sir, we ought to have a gunboat in every family!'

6 CSS Arkansas, Lieutenant Henry Stevens temporarily in command, having become unmanageable due to engine failure while advancing to support a Confederate attack on Baton Rouge, was engaged by USS Essex, Commander W. D. Porter. Lieutenant Stevens recognized his helpless condition, shotted his guns, and ordered Arkansas destroyed to prevent her capture. He reported: "It was beautiful to see her, when abandoned by Commander and crew, and dedicated to sacrifice, fighting the battle on her own hook." Without naval support and under fire from USS Sumter, Cayuga, Kineo, and Katahdin, the Confederate thrust was repelled. When the wounded and ill Commander Brown had departed Arkansas on a brief leave, he had realized that critical repairs were necessary and that his ship was not ready for combat. He ordered Stevens not to move her until his return. Nevertheless, General Van Dorn, to ensure the success of his expedition, ordered Arkansas into the fatal Baton Rouge action. Had Arkansas been fit for battle, the Confederates might have taken Baton Rouge and reopened the important Red River supply line then under Union blockade.

Selfridge and his crew take Alligator for their first voyage. The results of this and later trials are included in Selfridge’s unflattering report—which ends his association with the vessel. Selfridge is given command of U.S.S. Cairo of the Mississippi River Squadron; his fourteen hand-picked crewmen accompany him. The biggest problem cited by the reluctant submariner was the oar propulsion system used to move Alligator. De Villeroi’s adoption of oars was odd, since the original submarine he sailed down the Delaware used a screw propeller.

7 President Lincoln, with Secretaries Seward and Stanton, visited Captain Dahlgren at the Washington Navy Yard for a two hour demonstration of the "Rafael" repeating cannon. Later Dahlgren took the party on board a steamer to cool off and rest.

CSS Florida departed Nassau and began her renowned career under Lieutenant Maffitt.

8 Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory wrote Commander Bulloch in London: "I am pleased to learn that the credit of my department stands well in England, and sensible of the great importance of maintaining it. I am endeavoring to place funds to your credit, which the scarcity and very high rate of exchange render difficult. We have just paid 200 and 210 per cent for 80,072.3.9, which amount is now in the hands of John Fraser & Co. of Charleston, with orders to place the same to your credit in England." The tightening blockade constantly constricted the Southern economy.

10 Rear Admiral Farragut reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles that he had partially destroyed Donaldsonville, Louisiana, in reprisal for the firing by guerrilla forces on steamers ''passing up and down the river.'' Farragut wrote that he had ''sent a message to the inhabitants that if they did not discontinue this practice, I would destroy their town. The last time I passed up to Baton Rouge to the support of the army, I. . . heard them firing upon the vessels coming up, first upon the Sallie Robinson and next upon the Brooklyn. In the latter case they made a mistake, and it was so quickly returned that they ran away. The next night they fired again upon the St. Charles. I therefore ordered them to send their women and children out of the town, as I certainly intended to destroy it on my way down the river, and I fulfilled my promise to a certain extent. I burned down the hotels and wharf buildings, also the dwelling houses and other buildings of a Mr. Phillippe Landry, who is said to be a captain of guerrillas." Though Farragut had no taste for devastating private property, he felt justified in doing so if private citizens endangered the lives of his men.

USS Resolute, Acting Master James C. Tole, captured schooner S.S. Jones near the Virginia coast.

11 Rear Admiral Farragut, having received his promotion, "hoisted my flag at the main." His general order to the fleet on this date ascribed the promotion to ''the gallantry of the officers and men of the fleet . . . [and] your Admiral feels assured that you will never disappoint these high expectations. A new field is now opening before you. To your ordinary duties is added the contest with the elements. Let it he your pride to show the world that danger has no greater terror for you in one form than in another; that you are as ready to meet the enemy in the one shape as in the other, and that you, with your wooden vessels, have never been alarmed by fire rafts, torpedoes, chain booms, ironclad rams, ironclad gunboats, or forts. The same Great Power preserves you in the presence of all."

12 USS Arthur, Acting Lieutenant Kittredge, captured armed schooner Breaker at Aransas Pass, Texas. Confederate schooner Elma and sloop Hannah were burned at Corpus Christi to prevent their capture by Arthur.

13 Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox on the subject of Confederate rams and ironclads at Savannah and Charleston: "The Savannah one, not at all the Fingal, is more of a floating battery, doubtless with 10 inch guns (8 of them) but she has a list, leaks, and has not power to go against stream. She may be used to cover vessels running the blockade by putting herself between them and the Forts if entering Savannah River. . . . The Charleston vessels are not yet ready and I hope are progressing slowly, one is simply an ironclad, size of Pembina---the other more of a ram." Because of the power which CSS Virginia had promised and demonstrated, the Confederacy made every effort to ready other ironclads to strike against the blockading forces. However, lack of critical material and industrial facilities prevented the South from mounting a truly serious threat. On the Savannah River, ironclad rams Georgia and Atlanta were launched, but both were too slow and drew too much water to he fully effective. Atlanta showed herself to Du Pont's squadron on 31 July, when she steamed down the river toward Fort Pulaski and returned to Savannah. Some six months later, Master H. Beverly Littlepage, CSN, wrote Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones of her: "We are still at anchor in the river between Fort Jackson and the first obstructions, only a few hundred yards from the Georgia. I understand it is the intention of the commodore [Tattnall] that the Atlanta shall he moored as near the stern of the Georgia as she can get so that by springing her either of her broadsides may be made to bear on the obstructions in the event of the anticipated attack. I think I can safely affirm that the Atlanta will never go outside of the obstructions again or, at least for some time. . . . There is no ventilation below at all, and I think it will be impossible for us to live on her in the summer. . . .I would venture to say that if a person were blindfolded and carried below and then turned loose he would imagine himself in a swamp, for the water is trickling in all the time and everything is so damp." CSS Georgia, for want of adequate engines, was used as a floating battery. The ironclads concerning Du Pont at Charleston were CSS Palmetto State, a ram, and gunboat CSS Chicora. Palmetto State's keel had been laid in January under Flag Officer Duncan N. Ingraham. Two months later Chicora's keel was laid-in the rear of the Charleston post office-under the direction of James M. Eason, who built two additional ironclads at Charleston, CSS Charleston (whose keel was laid in December 1862) and CSS Columbia, which was not completed before the fall of Charleston. Lieutenant James H. Rochelle, who commanded Palmetto State late in the war, described the vessels: ''The ironclads were . . . slow vessels with imperfect engines, which required frequent repairing. . . . Their armor was four inches thick, and they were all of the type of the Virginia. . . . Each of the ironclads carried a torpedo fitted to the end of a spar some 15 or 20 feet long, projecting from the bow on a line with the keel, and so arranged that it could be carried either triced up clear of the water or submerged five or six feet below the surface.

Every night one or more of the ironclads anchored in the channel near Sumter for the purpose of resisting a night attack on Sumter or a dash into the harbor by the Federal vessels.'' Of Columbia Rochelle wrote: ''She had a thickness of six inches of iron on her casemate, and was otherwise superior to the other iron- clads. Unfortunately, the Columbia was bilged in consequence of the ignorance, carelessness or treachery of her pilot, and rendered no service whatever." For all their defects, the Charleston vessels, particularly Palmetto State and Chicora, did in a measure, as naval constructor John L. Porter forecast in a 20 June 1862 letter to Eason, ''afford great protection to the harbor of Charleston when completed."

USS Kensington, Acting Master Crocker, seized schooner Troy off Sabine Pass, Texas, with cargo of cotton.

14 USS Pocahontas, Lieutenant George B. Balch, and steam tug Treaty, Acting Lieutenant Baxter, on an expedition up the Black River from Georgetown, South Carolina, exchanged fire with Confederate troops at close range along both banks of the river for a distance of 20 miles in an unsuccessful attempt to capture steamer Nina.

The Confederate Patent Office grants its second submarine patent to James Patton of Petersburg, Virginia, for a steam-powered “submarine battery;� it is unknown whether the boat was ever built.

15 Commodore Wilkes, commanding James River Flotilla, ordered USS Galena, Commander J. Rodgers, USS Port Royal, and USS Satellite to cover the withdrawal of the left wing of General McClellan's army from Harrison's Landing over the Chickahominy. Rodgers was directed to "communicate with General Pleasonton and inform him that you are to cover his cavalry force until such time as the services of the gunboats may no longer be useful to him.''

Confederate steamer A. B. (or A. Bee), aground at the entrance of the Nueces River near Corpus Christi, was burned to avoid capture by USS Arthur, Acting Lieutenant Kittredge.

16 Naval forces under Lieutenant Commander S. L. Phelps, including USS Mound City, Benton, and General Bragg, and rams Monarch, Samson, Lioness, and Switzerland, under Colonel Ellet, convoyed and covered Army troops under Colonel Charles R. Woods in a joint expedition up the Mississippi from Helena as far as the Yazoo River. The force was landed at various points en route, capturing steamer Fairplay above Vicksburg, with large cargo of arms, and dispersing Confederate troop encampments. The joint expedition also destroyed a newly erected Confederate battery about 20 miles up the Yazoo River.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory wrote of the desperate need of iron for the South's ships: "The want of iron is severely felt throughout the Confederacy, and the means of increasing its production demand, in my judgment, the prompt consideration of Congress. The Government has outstanding contracts amounting to millions of dollars, but the iron is not forthcoming to meet the increasing public wants. Scrap iron of all classes is being industriously collected by agents of the Government, and we are now rolling railroad iron into plates for covering ships . . . "Chronic lack of iron drastically restricted Confederate ship construction, and eventually weighed heavily in the final decision. As Commander Maury had written: ''Our necessities cry out for a Navy in war; and when peace comes, it will profit us but little to be affluent and free, if we are continually liable to be pillaged by all . . . the breadth of our plantations and the value of our staples will be of small advantage if the others may have the mastery in our own waters.'' Weak-ness in naval power made the Confederate supply problems insurmountable.

16-18 Union naval force, comprising USS Sachem, Reindeer, Belle Italia, and yacht Corypheus, under command of Acting Lieutenant Kittredge, bombarded Corpus Christi. On 18 August a landing party of sailors from Belle Italia, supported by ships' gunfire, attempted to seize a Confederate battery but was driven back by a cavalry force. Lieutenant Kittredge was captured while ashore on 14 September. Confederate General H. P. Bee characterized Kittredge as ''an honorable enemy and a "bold and energetic leader." Lacking troop strength to occupy and hold Corpus Christi, Sabine City or Galveston, Rear Admiral Farragut's ships nonetheless effectively controlled the Texas coast and pinned down Confederate forces which were vitally needed elsewhere.

17 Joint landing party from USS Ellis, Master Benjamin H. Porter, and Army boats destroyed Confederate salt works, battery, and barracks near Swansboro, North Carolina. This constant attack from the sea destroyed the South's resources and drained her strength.

18 Secretary of the Navy Welles wrote Commodore Wilkes: ''Our naval operations in James River have, from the time you were placed in command of the flotilla, depended almost entirely on army movements; and notwithstanding the army has left your vicinity, your future action and the orders you may receive will, for a time at least, and in a great degree, be controlled by develop-ments elsewhere."

Secretary of the Navy Welles, regarding the right of search, instructed squadron and cruiser commanders: ''Some recent occurrences in the capture of vessels, and matters pertaining to the blockade, render it necessary that there should be a recapitulation of the instructions hereto-fore . . . given . . . It is essential, in the remarkable contest now waging, that we should exercise great forbearance, with great firmness, and manifest to the world that it is the intention of our Government, while asserting and maintaining our own rights, to respect and scrupulously regard the right of others . . . You are specially informed that the fact that a suspicious vessel has been indicated to you . . . does not in any way authorize you to depart from the practice of the rules of visitation, search, and capture prescribed by the law of nations."

19 Captain John A. Winslow of USS St. Louis reported the burning by Confederates of Union steamer Swallow, aground below Memphis.

21 Rear Admiral Farragut commented on the intervention of foreign powers in the Civil War: "I don't believe it, and, if it does come, you will find the United States not so easy a nut to crack as they imagine. We have no dread of 'rams' or 'he-goats,' and, if our Editors had less, the country would be better off. Now they scare everybody to death."

USS Bienville, Commander Mullany, captured British blockade runner Eliza, bound from Nassau to Shallotte Inlet, North Carolina.

22 Secretary of the Navy Welles ordered Rear Admiral L. M. Goldsborough, commanding North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, to "assist the army, as far as you may be able, in embarking the troops at Fortress Monroe and Newport News, as desired by Major General Halleck." The withdrawal northward of the Army of the Potomac by water transport brought to a close the Peninsular Campaign.

Rear Admiral Farragut instructed Lieutenant Commander Philip C. Johnson, commanding USS Tennessee, that "you will stop at Pilot Town [Louisiana] and bring Lieutenant McClain Tilton and the Marine guard, together with all the stores you can [to the Pensacola Navy Yard]." Earlier in the year the Marines had garrisoned the town.

USS Keystone State, Commander Le Roy, captured British schooner Fanny with cargo of salt, near St. Simon's Sound, Georgia.

23 USS Adirondack, Captain Guert Gansevoort, ran on a reef outside Man of War Cay, Little Bahamas, and was abandoned after efforts to save her failed.

USS Bienville, Commander Mullany, seized British blockade runner Louisa off Cape Romain, South Carolina.

USS James S. Chambers, Acting Master D. Frank Mosman, seized schooner Corelia off the coast of Cuba.

23-24 Boat crew from USS Essex, Captain W. D. Porter, was fired upon by Confederate guerrillas at Bayou Sara, Louisiana. Essex shelled the town.

24 Raphael Semmes took command of CSS Alabama at sea off the island of Terceira, Azores. Of Alabama, Semmes said, "She was indeed a beautiful thing to look upon." As Semmes finished reading his orders promoting him to Captain and appointing him to command Alabama, the Con-federate ensign replaced the English colors at the mast head, a gun was fired, and 'The air was rent by a deafening cheer from officers and men. The band, at the same time, playing Dixie." Thus, the celebrated raider was christened to begin her storied two year career.

USS Isaac N. Seymour, Acting Master Francis S. Wells, ran aground and sank in Neuse River, North Carolina.

USS Henry Andrew, Lieutenant Arthur S. Gardner, wrecked after grounding during a heavy gale 15 miles south of Cape Henry, Virginia.

USS Stars and Stripes, Lieutenant McCook, captured British ship Mary Elizabeth, attempting to run the blockade into Wilmington with cargo of salt and fruit.

U.S. yacht Corypheus, tender to USS Arthur, Acting Lieutenant Kittredge, captured schooner Water Witch off Aransas Bay, Texas.

25 Typical log entry (this of USS Benton) describing the relentless naval operations on the western waters: "At 7 [a.m.] sent a boat ashore, which destroyed seven skiffs and one bateaux. At 11:40 came to at Bolivar Landing [Mississippi]. At 11:45 General Woods landing troops; opened fire upon the enemy. We opened fire with our bow and starboard guns in protecting the landing of the troops . . . fired a number of shots in direction of the rebel force.''

26 Captain Franklin Buchanan promoted to Admiral in the Confederate Navy "for gallant and meritorious conduct in attacking the enemy's fleet in Hampton Roads and destroying the frigate Congress, sloop of war Cumberland . . . whilst in command of the squadron in the waters of Virginia on the 8th of March, 1862."

Confederate steamer Yorktown, running the blockade from Mobile to Havana, sprung a leak and foundered at sea off Ship Island with cargo of cotton.

27 USS South Carolina, Commander John J. Almy, destroyed abandoned schooner Patriot, aground near Mosquito Inlet, Florida.

USS Santiago de Cuba, Commander Ridgely, captured blockade runner Lavinia north of Abaco with cargo of turpentine.

29 USS Pittsburg, Lieutenant Thompson, escorted steamers White Cloud and Iatan with Army troops embarked to Eunice, Arkansas. The gunboat shelled and dispersed Confederate forces from a camp above Carson's Landing on the Mississippi shore. Landing the troops under cover of Pittsburg's guns for reconnaissance missions en route, Lieutenant Thompson at Eunice seized a large wharf boat, fitted out as a floating hotel. This type of persistent patrolling of the Mississippi and tributaries by the Union Navy in support of Army operations was instrumental in preventing the Confederates from establishing firm positions.

The James River Flotilla having carried out its mission in support of General McClellan's army, the Navy Department ordered Commodore Wilkes to turn the ships over to Rear Admiral L. M. Goldsborough and to proceed to Washington to assume command of the Potomac Flotilla.

30 USS Passaic launched at Greenpoint, New York. A newspaper reporter observed: "A fleet of monsters has been created, volcanoes in a nutshell, breathing under water, fighting under shelter, steered with mirrors, driven by vapor, running anywhere, retreating from nothing. These floating carriages bear immense ordnance, perfected by new processes, and easily worked by new and simple devices.

USS R. R. Cuyler, Acting Master Simeon N. Freeman, captured schooner Anne Sophia at sea east of Jacksonville.

31 U.S. transport W. B. Terry, Master Leonard G. Klinck, carrying cargo of coal for Union gunboats, ran aground at Duck River Shoals, Tennessee River, and was captured by Confederate troops.

USS William G. Anderson, Acting Master D'Oyley, seized schooner Lily off Louisiana with cargo of gun powder.

Late Summer
William Cheney deserts the Confederacy. After the war he claims to have approached President Lincoln with “secret information� regarding Southern efforts at undersea warfare, but received no response.

September 1862

1 CSS Florida, Lieutenant Maffitt, put into Havana after suffering a yellow fever epidemic on board which was fatal to several crew members.

Rear Admiral S.P. Lee relieved Rear Admiral L.M. Goldsborough as Commander, North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

2 USS Restless, Acting Lieutenant Conroy, captured sloop John Thompson off South Carolina with cargo of turpentine.

3 USS Essex, Commodore W. D. Porter, in pursuit of CSS Webb, had a landing party fired on at Natchez, Mississippi, from which Union forces had withdrawn on 25 July. Essex bombarded the town for an hour, after which the mayor "unconditionally surrendered" the city to Porter.

4 First session of the Naval Investigating Committee of the Confederate Congress was held in Richmond to examine Secretary Mallory's administration of naval affairs and the causes of the Southern disaster at New Orleans. The final report of the committee was favorable to Mallory.

CSS Florida, Lieutenant Maffitt, ran the blockade into Mobile Bay. Many of the crew were suffering from yellow fever and Maffitt determined to make the bold dash into Mobile. Running past the broadside of USS Oneida, Commander Preble, Florida also evaded USS Winona and Rachel Seaman before coming to anchor under the guns of Fort Morgan in a much damaged condition. This Florida incident brought forth orders for stricter enforcement of the blockade.

USS William G. Anderson, Acting Master D'Oyley, captured schooner Theresa in the Gulf of Mexico with cargo including salt.

USS Shepherd Knapp, Acting Lieutenant Henry S. Eytinge, captured bark Fannie Laurie off South Edisto River, South Carolina.

5 Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles, again expressing concern about reports of Confederate ironclads building at Charleston: "The ironclads or rams built at Charleston have been described to me, by intelligent persons who have seen them, as well protected by their armor, but as not formidable for offensive operations against our vessels, in consequence of their deficiency in steam power, it having been intended to place in them engines taken from old steamers belonging to South Carolina. If it be true that English steam engines have been provided for them, as reported to me by the Department, it becomes my duty to urge upon it the necessity of sending some ironclad vessels of our own, to render our position off Charleston tenable. Vessels even imperfectly covered with armor emerging from the protection of forts, and always provided with a place of refuge, would be comparatively secure, while they might do great harm to wooden ships, especially of the light class which forms the chief material of this squadron. If by any possibility the blockading force off Charleston could be destroyed, or compelled to retire, it would produce a moral impression to our disadvantage even more disastrous than the actual loss itself. If it be possible to send the Ironsides to take up a position off that [Charleston] harbor, the efforts of the enemy would be completely frustrated."

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, seized and burned ship Ocmulgee near the Azores, the first of many Union whalers and merchant vessels to fall prey to the feared commerce raider.

6 USS Louisiana, Acting Lieutenant Richard T. Renshaw, joined with Union troops in repelling the Confederate attack on Washington, North Carolina. Major General John G. Foster reported that Louisiana rendered most efficient aid, throwing her shells with great precision, and clearing the streets, through which her guns had range." U.S. Army gunboat Picket was destroyed by an accidental magazine explosion during engagement.

7 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned schooner Starlight near the Azores.

USS Essex, Commodore W.D. Porter, steamed down the Mississippi to New Orleans past Confederate batteries at Port Hudson, Louisiana. Essex was struck with heavy shot 14 times. Porter noted that the Port Hudson batteries would seriously interrupt the free navigation of the Lower Mississippi."

8 Commodore Wilkes ordered to command a "Flying Squadron" -including USS Wachusett, Dacotah, Cimarron, Sonoma, Tioga, Octorara, and Santiago de Cuba. The squadron was originated specifically to seek out and capture commerce raiders CSS Alabama and Florida. Though the squadron seized several vessels engaged in blockade running, the two noted raiders eluded Wilkes' force.

A landing party from USS Kingfisher destroyed salt works at St. Joseph's Bay, Florida, that could produce some 200 bushels a day. Three days later, similar works at St. Andrew's Bay were destroyed by a landing party from USS Sagamore.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned whaling ship Ocean Rover near the Azores.

9 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned whaling ships Alert and Weather Gauge near the Azores.

11 USS Patroon, Acting Master William D. Urann, and USS Uncas, Acting Master Crane, engaged Confederate batteries at St. John's Bluff, Florida. Uncas suffered damage, but temporarily forced the abandonment of the batteries.

12 Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote Senator Grimes of Iowa expressing his "warm appreciation of your tremendous labors in behalf of the Navy during the last session. I believe this to be emphatically the opinion of the whole service.'' Grimes had strongly backed the bill creating the rank of Rear Admiral in the Navy. In reply the Senator stated: "I am in no wise deserving of the kind compliments you lavish upon me. . . . you know that up to my time [in Congress] it was supposed that all information in relation to your branch of the public service was confined to a select
'guild' about the Atlantic cities, no one from the interior having presumed to know anything about it. If I have been of any real service it has been in breaking down and eradicating that idea, in assisting to nationalize the Navy– in making the frontiersman as well as the longshoreman feel that he was interested in it and partook of its glory."

13 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, seized and burned whaling ship Altamaha near the Azores.

14 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, seized and burned whaling ship Benjamin Tucker near the Azores.

15 Lieutenant Commander Samuel Magaw, commander of USS Thomas Freeborn, reported the seizure and burning of schooner Arctic in Great Wicomico River, Maryland.

16 Confederate Congress passed a resolution expressing thanks to Commander Ebenezer Farrand, CSN, senior officer in command of the combined naval and military forces at Drewry's Bluff on 15 May, "for the great and signal victory achieved over the naval forces of the United States in the engagement . . . at Drewry's Bluff;" Farrand was praised for his "gallantry, courage, and endurance in that protracted fight. . . ." which Confederate statesmen knew could have been so disastrous to their cause.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned whaling ship Courser near the Azores.

17 Rear Admiral S.P. Lee, concerned by frequent reports as to the building by the Confederates of "Merrimack II," again wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox asking that an ironclad be sent to Norfolk to support his forces there. "I feel the necessity," he wrote, "of having a fast steamer convenient as to size & draft, with bow & stern strengthened, and iron plated suitable for ramming, carrying effective guns in broadside, & fitted so as to work two heavy rifled guns at each end-bow & stern-capable of throwing such projectiles as will most readily penetrate iron plating." On 22 September Fox, sympathetic to Lee's needs, answered: "The Ironsides will probably be with you on Wednesday [24 September]. . . . With the Ironsides you will feel no anxiety. She is fast, and has a terrible battery, and is a match for the whole Southern navy. If the Merrimac[k] #2 comes down I trust they will follow her up and destroy her."

USS W. G. Anderson, Acting Master D'Oyley, seized schooner Reindeer in the Gulf of Mexico (27N, 93W) with cargo of cotton.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned whaling ship Virginia near the Azores.

18 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned whaling ship Elisha Dunbar near the Azores. ''The whaling season at the Azores being at an end," Semmes later wrote, ''. . . I resolved to change my cruising-ground, and stretch over to the Banks of New Foundland

19 Ram Queen of the West, Medical Cadet Charles R. Ellet, escorting two troop transports, had a sharp engagement with Confederate infantry and artillery above Bolivar, Mississippi.

20 Answering a letter in which Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox had written, "We must have Charleston Rear Admiral Du Pont replied: "Do not go it half cocked about Charleston– it is a bigger job than Port Royal . . . failure now at Charleston is ten times the failure elsewhere. . ." The same day, Du Pont wrote Senator Grimes in Iowa: "The thorn in my flesh is Charleston, they have been allowed seventeen months to prepare its defenses– and in no part of the wretched Confederacy has there been more industry, energy, and intelligent zeal, and science displayed- It is a cul de sac and resembles more a porcupine's hide turned outside in than anything else, with no outlet- you go into a bag no running the forts as at New Orleans. We have to do what never has been done, take regular forts by gunboats this must be done, but it is no ordinary work . . . One thing only oppresses us, that just in proportion to the extent of the honor and glory of the success, and the prestige gained at home and abroad so will be the deep mortification and moral injury if we fail at this wicked seat of the rebellion- hence we want quiet calm preparation of plans.'' Du Pont's estimate of the stubbornness of the Con-federate defenses at Charleston, as well as his appreciation of the probable effect on the North of a Union failure in his particular quarter proved correct. Throughout the fall of 1862 the ironclads were being built which Du Pont would command against the symbol of the Confederacy.

21 USS Albatross, Commander Henry French, captured schooner Two Sisters off the Rio Grande River.

22 Writing during a storm ("I suppose the true equinoctial gale''), Rear Admiral Farragut noted that "these are the times that try the commander of a squadron. I could not sleep last night, thinking of the blockaders. It is rough work lying off a port month in and month out . . . I have 6 vessels off Mobile, so that one can always come in for coal. They are all the time breaking down and coming in for repairs."

USS Wyandank, Acting Master John McGowan, Jr., captured schooner Southerner on Coan River, Virginia.

23 USS Alabama, Lieutenant Commander William T. Truxtun, captured blockade running British schooner Nelly off Ossabaw Sound, Georgia, with cargo including drugs and salt.

25 USS Kensington, Acting Master Crocker, USS Rachel Seaman, Acting Master Hooper, and mortar schooner Henry James, Acting Master Lewis Pennington, bombarded Confederate batteries at Sabine Pass, Texas. The action was broken off when the defending troops evacuated the fort, having spiked the guns. Though Sabine City surrendered to Acting Master Crocker the next day and a force under Acting Master Hooper severed communications between Sabine Pass and Taylor's Bayou by burning the railroad bridge and seized the mails on 27 September, the expedition sent by Rear Admiral Farragut could not occupy the area because there were no troops available for that purpose. As Rear Admiral Farragut noted some three months later, "It takes too much force to hold the places for me to take any more, or my outside fleet will be too much reduced to keep up the blockade and keep the river open" - the two primary missions of the squadron.

Nevertheless, the attacks were a constant drain on the Confederates and imposed widespread dispersion of strength to protect against them anytime ships hove over the horizon.

USS Florida, Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Scott, captured British schooner Agnes, attempting to run the blockade at St. Andrew's Sound, Georgia.

26 USS State of Georgia, Commander Armstrong, and USS Mystic, Lieutenant Commander Arnold, chased a blockade running schooner (name unknown) ashore at New Inlet, North Carolina, and destroyed her.

Rear Admiral Du Pont sought to extend his policy of "mobile support" logistics by requesting an afloat fuel storage in the form of a coal hulk capable of holding a thousand tons and fitted out with hoisting equipment. Coal schooners from the North unloaded into this hulk and men-of-war coaled from it as needed while on station. This practice antedated the modern use of fleet oilers in furthering the fleet's efficiency and effectiveness. Storeships, receiving ships, and machinery repair hulks were already being employed at this time at Port Royal.

27 USS Kittatinny, Acting Master Lamson, captured schooner Emma off the coast of Texas with cargo of cotton.

28 USS State of Georgia, Commander Armstrong, and USS Mystic, Lieutenant Commander Arnold, captured blockade running British steamer Sunbeam near New Inlet, North Carolina.

30 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote Commodore Blake, Superintendent of the Naval Academy at Newport, regarding training at the Academy: "The seamanship is of the utmost importance, in my opinion, notwithstanding steam, and ironclads. I share the old Jack Tar feeling that a sailor can do anything, and that a man is not good for much, who is not a thorough seaman. D. D. Porter was particularly struck at seeing your boys scrubbing copper: he was always afraid they were getting too scientific, too conceited, but his experience at Newport seems to have un-deceived him."

October 1862

1 The Western Gunboat Fleet, brought into being by Commander J. Rodgers and Flag Officer Foote, under jurisdiction of the War Department for operations on the western waters, was transferred to the Navy Department and renamed the Mississippi Squadron. David Dixon Porter was appointed Acting Rear Admiral and ordered to relieve Rear Admiral Davis, who had commanded naval forces on the western waters since 17 June. Noting that the naming of Porter, then a Commander, would be open to criticism, Secretary of the Navy Welles observed: ''His selection will be unsatisfactory to many, but his field of operations is peculiar, and a young and active officer is required for the duty to which he is assigned." However, Rear Admiral Foote, 55 years old when he took command, bold and indefatigable, had achieved miracles. No fleet commanders in the west achieved as much as he and Farragut, who was even five years older. Audacity and drive are born of the soul, and do not die ever in some great leaders.

2 Commodore Harwood reported the capture of sloop Thomas Reilly by USS Thomas Freeborn, Lieutenant Commander Magaw.

3 Responding to a request for assistance in an anticipated assault on gathering Confederate forces at Franklin, Virginia, a naval expedition under Lieutenant Commander FlUSSer, comprising USS Commodore Perry, Hunchback, and Whitehead, engaged Confederate troops on the Blackwater River for six hours. The river having been obstructed, the gunboats could not reach Franklin and returned down stream as Confederate troops were felling trees in the river behind the gunboats in an attempt to "blockade the river in our rear." Enclosing the reports of the gunboat captains, Commander Davenport, Senior Officer in the Sounds of North Carolina, wrote Rear Admiral S. P. Lee: "While I can not praise too highly the gallantry and heroism displayed by officers and men on the occasion, I think it extremely hazardous for our gunboats unprotected as the men are by bulwarks or any other defenses, to go on expeditions up these narrow and tortuous channels."

A joint expedition under Commander Steedman and Brigadier General John M. Brannon engaged and captured a Confederate battery at St. John's Bluff and occupied Jacksonville, Florida, which had been almost entirely evacuated by Southern troops. The Union forces had arrived at the mouth of the river on 1 October and, in operations through 12 October, the gunboats convoyed and supported the Army troops, forcing a general withdrawal by the Confederates. Calling Steedman's action ''most hearty and energetic,'' General Brannon reported: "The entire naval force under his command exhibited a zeal and perseverance in every instance, whether in aiding my forces to effect a landing, the ascent of St. John's River (230 miles), or the assistance to one of my transports unfortunately injured in crossing the bar, that is deserving of all praise.'' Captain Godon, temporarily commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, noted at operation's end: ''We retain possession of St. John's River as far as Jacksonville.'' Amphibious assaults continued to force Confederate defenses away from the coastal areas.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured ship Brilliant, bound from New York to Liverpool, near 400 N, 500 W. Semmes later commented that ". . . her destruction must have disappointed a good many holders of bills of exchange drawn against her cargo . . . for the ship alone and the freight-moneys which they lost by her destruction [came] to the amount of $93,000. The cargo was probably even more valuable than the ship."

Naval forces under Commander William B. Renshaw in USS Westfield, including USS Harriet Lane, Owasco, Clifton, and mortar schooner Henry James, bombarded and captured the defenses of the harbor and city of Galveston. Six days later, Galveston formally surrendered to Commander Renshaw. Rear Admiral Farragut reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles: I am happy to in-form you that Galveston, Corpus Christi, and Sabine City and the adjacent waters are now in our possession. . . . All we want, as I have told the Department in my last dispatches, is a few soldiers to hold the places, and we will soon have the whole coast.'' The failure to have a sizeable effective Marine Corps to send ashore in conjunction with fleet operations reduced considerably the effectiveness of the Navy and may have lengthened the war.

4 USS Somerset, Lieutenant Commander English, attacked Confederate salt works at Depot Key, Florida. The landing party from Somerset was augmented by a strong force from USS Tahoma, Commander John C. Howell, and the salt works were destroyed. Salt at this time was among the most critical ''strategic materials'' in the Confederacy. This action at Depot Key was one of innumerable such landing and raiding operations all along the far-flung Confederate coastline which, often lacking dramatic appeal, nonetheless exacted ceaseless activity and untiring effort, and were instrumental in bringing the Confederacy to defeat.

Raiding party from USS Thomas Freeborn, Lieutenant Commander Magaw, entered Dumfries, Virginia, and destroyed the telegraph office and wires of the line from Occoquan to Richmond via Fredericksburg.

6 USS Rachel Seaman, Acting Master Crocker, captured British schooner Dart attempting to run the blockade at Sabine Pass.

7 William Gladstone, British Chancellor of the Exchequer, remarked at a banquet in Newcastle, England, that "there is no doubt that Jefferson Davis and other leaders of the South have made an army; they are making it appears a navy; and they have made, what is more than either they have made a nation." Upon reading of Gladstone's statement, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox observed: "It is a most interesting piece of history".

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned bark Wave Crest and brig Dunkirk south-east of Nova Scotia.

Lieutenant Commander Edward P. Williams in Army transport Darlington, with sailors and troops embarked, captured steamer Governor Milton in St. John's River, Florida. In continuing Union operations in the river, Williams had seized the vessel- termed by Commander Steedman "one of their best boats' '- which had been used in transporting guns and munitions to St. John's Bluff.

8 Steamer Blanche, anchored off Havana, was set afire to prevent seizure by USS Montgomery, Commander C. Hunter.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and released on bond packet Tonawanda southeast of Nova Scotia.

11 USS Monticello, Lieutenant Commander Braine, captured blockade running British schooner Revere off Frying Pan Shoals, North Carolina.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned Manchester southeast of Nova Scotia bound from New York to Liverpool. "The Manchester," Semmes wrote, "brought us a batch of late New York papers. . . . I learned from them where all the enemy's gun boats were, and what they were doing. . . . Perhaps this was the only war in which the newspapers ever explained, before-hand, all the movements of armies and fleets, to the enemy.

USS Maratanza, Commander Scott, was damaged by Confederate battery at Cape Fear River, North Carolina, and was forced to retire seaward.

12 Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, on board blockade runner Herald, departed Charleston for England to attempt to purchase vessels for the Confederacy. Midshipman James M. Morgan, who accompanied Maury, recorded an interesting incident that demonstrated that the "Path-finder of the Seas" had lost none of his famed abilities. The captain of Herald, according to Morgan, was new to deep water sail, lost his way, and "told Commander Maury that something terrible must have happened, as he had sailed his ship directly over the spot where the Bermuda Islands ought to be." Maury advised him to slow down till evening when he could shoot the stars. At that time, having obtained a fix, Maury gave the captain a course and speed that would raise the light at Port Hamilton about 2 o'clock in the morning. Maury and his son turned in; the rest anxiously stayed up to watch: "four bells struck and no light was in sight. Five minutes more passed and still not a sign of it; then grumbling commenced and the passengers generally agreed with the man who expressed the opinion that there was too much D . . . d science on board . . . at 10 minutes past 2 the masthead lookout called 'Light Ho!' " Lacking funds and under close scrutiny by Union officials who immediately protested through diplomatic channels any attempts to outfit vessels for the Confederacy, Maury, like other Confederate agents, met with only limited success. Nonetheless, he did purchase and arrange for the outfitting of CSS Georgia the following spring. Maury was adamant in his opinion that the South had to pursue a policy that would bring about the existence of an effective Navy. Earlier he had written under the pseudonym of Ben Bow: "We cannot, either with cotton or with all the agricultural staples of the Confederacy put together, adopt any course which will make cotton and trade stand us as a nation in the stead of a navy.

USS Restless, Acting Lieutenant Conroy, captured blockade running schooner Elmira Cornelius off the South Carolina coast.

13 USS America, Acting Master Jonathan Baker, seized schooner David Crockett attempting to run the blockade out of Charleston with cargo of turpentine and rosin.

14 USS Memphis, Acting Lieutenant Watmough, captured blockade running British steamer Ouachita at sea off Cape Romain, South Carolina.

15 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned bark Lamplighter southeast of Nova Scotia.

Boat crew under command of Master's Mate Edwin Janvrin of USS Rachel Seaman, and boat crew under command of Second Assistant Engineer Timothy W. O'Connor of USS Kensington, destroyed Confederate railroad bridge by fire at Taylor's Bayou, Texas, preventing the transportation of heavy artillery to Sabine Pass, and burned schooners Stonewall and Lone Star and barracks. The constant drain on the South of these unceasing attacks along her sea perimeter and up the rivers is portrayed almost daily in similar accounts. Some were quite unusual even for versatile sailors. In a river expedition during the month Lieutenant Commander Ransom "captured 1,500 head of cattle en route for the enemy, and succeeded by great perseverance in getting them down to New Orleans."

Boat crews from USS Fort Henry, Acting Lieutenant Edward Y. McCauley, reconnoitering Apalachicola River, Florida, captured sloop G.L. Brockenborough with cargo of cotton.

20 Steamer Minho ran aground after running the blockade out of Charleston. Rear Admiral Du Pont reported that". . . it appears that she will perhaps become a wreck, as there is much water in the hold, and part of the cargo [is] floating about in the vessel. So much of the cargo, it is stated ["by the Charleston papers''], as may be destroyed by water will be nearly a total loss."

21 USS Louisville, Lieutenant Commander Meade, escorted steamer Meteor, whose embarked Army troops were landed at Bledsoe's Landing and Hamblin's Landing, Arkansas. The towns were burned in reprisal for attacks by Confederate guerrillas on mail steamer Gladiator early in the morning, 19 October. "The people along the river bank," Meade reported to Rear Admiral D. D. Porter, "were duly informed that every outrage by the guerrillas upon packets would be similarly dealt with.''

22 A naval battery consisting of three 12 pounder boat howitzers from USS Wabash took part in and furnished artillery support for Union infantry troops at the battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina. One of the gun crew, who was seriously injured, was ordinary seaman Oscar W. Farenholt, the first enlisted man in the Navy to reach flag rank. The battery from Wabash took part as artillery in amphibious operations all along the South Atlantic coast.

USS Penobscot, Commander Clitz, captured blockade running British brig Robert Bruce off Cape Fear, North Carolina.

Lieutenant William B. Cushing reported that USS Ellis captured and destroyed blockade runner Adelaide at New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina, with cargo of turpentine, cotton, and tobacco.

23 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned American bark Lafayette south of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

24 Sailors on horseback-a landing party from USS Baron De KaIb, Captain Winslow, debarked at Hopefield, Arkansas, to engage a small Confederate scouting party. Mounting horses which were procured, as Captain Winslow reported, "by impressement," the Baron De Kalb sailors engaged in a 9 mile running fight which ended with the capture of the Confederate party.

25 Rear Admiral Du Pont again wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles of the reported building of ironclads by the Confederacy in its attempt to break the blockade. Du Pont remarked: "The idea seemed to be to open the Savannah river, then come to Port Royal, and thence off Charleston, and raise the blockade. . . . I submit that the Ironsides and Passaic should be dispatched at an early day."

26 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned schooner Crenshaw south of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

27 Boat crews from USS Flag, Lieutenant Commander Charles C. Carpenter, captured British steamer Anglia at Bull's Bay, South Carolina.

Rear Admiral S. P. Lee wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox regarding the difficulty of blockading the coast of North Carolina: "Our supremacy in the Sounds of N[orth] C[arolina] can . . . only be maintained by ironclads adapted to the navigation there. . . . The defense of the Sounds is a very important matter.

28 Party led by Lieutenant John Taylor Wood, CSN, boarded, captured, and fired ship Alleghanian at anchor in Chesapeake Bay off the mouth of the Rappahannock River with cargo of guano from Baltimore for London.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned bark Lauraetta south of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

USS Montgomery, Commander C. Hunter, captured blockade running steamer Caroline near Pensacola.

USS Sagamore, Lieutenant Commander George A. Bigelow, captured blockade running British schooner Trier off Indian River Inlet, Florida.

29 Landing party from USS Ellis, Lieutenant Cushing, destroyed large Confederate Salt works at New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina. Cushing reported that'' it could have furnished all Wilmington with salt.''

USS Dan exchanged fire with Confederate troops near Sabine Pass; Dan shelled the town and on 30 October a party was landed under protection of the ship's guns to burn a mill and several buildings.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, seized brigantine Baron de Castine south of Nova Scotia, "The vessel being old and of little value," Semmes reported, "I released her on a ransom bond and converted her into a cartel, sending some forty-five prisoners on board of her– the crews of the three last ships burned."

30 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote Edward G. Flynn regarding that man's expressed desire to attempt capture or destruction of commerce raider 290 (CSS Alabama): "The [Navy] Department has published that it will give $500,000 for the capture and delivery to it of that vessel, or $300,000 if she is destroyed; the latter however is to be contingent upon the approval of Congress." The concern over Alabama's highly successful commerce raiding was attested to when Fox wrote Rear Admiral Farragut: The raid of '290' [Alabama] has forced us to send out a dozen vessels in pursuit."

USS Connecticut, Lieutenant Commander Milton Haxtun, captured blockade running British schooner Hermosa off the mouth of the Sabine River.

USS Daylight, Acting Master Warren, captured schooner Racer between Stump Inlet and New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina, with cargo of salt.

Rear Admiral Du Pont issued a general order which provided that, on capture of foreign vessels attempting to run the blockade, "the flag of the country to which they belong must be worn until their cases are adjudicated. The American flag will be carried at the fore to indicate that they are, for the time, under charge of United States officers."

31 During October the Confederate Congress formalized a Torpedo Bureau in Richmond under Brigadier General Gabriel J. Rains and a Naval Submarine Battery Service under Lieutenant Hunter Davidson. The purpose was to organize and improve methods of torpedo (mine) warfare, in which Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury had pioneered. The Confederacy, of necessity, developed a variety of underwater torpedoes, for it had a long coastline with many navigable rivers to protect and slight naval strength with which to oppose the formidable Union fleet, That the efforts, while failing to lift the ceaseless pressure of the Northern naval forces, were nonetheless a serious threat was attested to at war's end by Secretary of the Navy Welles, who observed that the torpedoes were "always formidable in harbors and internal waters, and. . . . have been more destructive to our naval vessels than all other means combined."

USS Reliance, Acting Master Andrew J. Frank, captured sloop Pointer at Alexandria, Virginia. Although cleared through the Alexandria Custom House as being without cargo, Pointer was found to be carrying groceries, dry goods, and whiskey.

USS Restless, Acting Lieutenant Conroy, captured sloop Susan McPherson off the coast of South Carolina.

Landing party from USS Mahaska, Commander Foxhall A. Parker, destroyed Confederate gun positions on Wormley's Creek and at West Point, Virginia. The attack was continued on 1 November.

31 October– 7 November
Naval expedition under Commander Davenport, comprising USS Hetzel, Commodore Perry, Hunchback, Valley City, and Army gunboat Vidette, opened fire on an encampment at Plymouth, North Carolina, forcing the Confederate troops there to withdraw. Davenport was subsequently ordered to meet General John G. Foster at Williamston on 3 November to support an Army assault on Hamilton, North Carolina. "It was agreed upon," Commander Davenport reported, that we would begin our advance on Hamilton that night. At 11 a.m. [4 November], having failed as yet in receiving any signal from the army, I made general signal 'to get underway' and proceeded up the river. The force also included USS Seymour, which had arrived that morning. Hamilton was evacuated by the Confederates and Union troops took possession of the town. Davenport's gunboats "proceeded a few miles farther up the river to divert the attention of the enemy, while the army continued its March to Tarboro"; Seymour was sent down river the next day (5 November) to destroy the works at Rainbow Bluff. On 7 November the Union troops, failing to reach Tarboro, returned to Hamilton, and 300 sick and wounded soldiers were placed on board the gunboats to be transported to Williamston.

November 1862

First mention of Confederate Colonel E.H. Angamar’s experiments with a “rocket-powered torpedo;� Angamar was also working on a rocket-propelled ship.

1 USS Louisville, Lieutenant Commander Meade, captured steamer Evansville in the Mississippi River above Island No. 36.

USS Thomas Freeborn, Lieutenant Commander Magaw, captured three unnamed boats at Maryland Point, on the Potomac River; the boats were attempting to run goods across from Maryland to Virginia.

2 Rear Admiral D. D. Porter wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox seeking authority over the Ellet rams: "I am extremely anxious to get possession of Ellet's Rams; they are the class of vessels I particularly want at this moment. The old 'Pook Turtles' are fit only for fighting- they cannot get along against the current without a tow. . . . Do settle the Ram business, and let me know by telegraph. The Commander will have to be instructed, or he will not give them up. I have notified him that I will not permit any naval organization on this River besides the Mississippi Squadron. . . . Fox agreed with Porter and pressed the matter with the President. On 7 November the Assistant Secretary convinced President Lincoln that the Ellet rams belonged under control of the Navy. In a White House conference with Secretary of the Navy Welles, Secretary of War Stanton, and General Halleck, Lincoln transferred all war vessels on the Mississippi to the Navy. The action provided for greater efficiency of operations on the western waters.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned whaling shipLevi Starbuck near Bermuda.

3 CSS Cotton, Lieutenant Edward W. Fuller, and shore batteries engaged USS Calhoun, Kinsman, Estrella, and Diana in Berwick Bay, Louisiana. In this close and spirited action against heavy odds, Captain Fuller caused considerable damage to the Union squadron until exhaustion of cartridges forced Cotton to retire. Captain Fuller reported that the legs of the men's pants were cut off for use as improvised cartridge bags to fire parting shots as he withdrew.

Commander Henry K. Thatcher wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox about the Mediterranean cruise of historic USS Constellation and his request for additional ships on this station: "I feel a considerable degree of national pride in wishing our force here to be increased . . . for the prevailing opinion here, evidently is, that our country is not sufficiently strong to admit of withdrawing another vessel from the blockade. But the paramount object is that of the efficient protection of our commerce and citizens who are engaged in commercial pursuits and to be pre-pared, should any rebel cruisers venture into the Mediterranean."

USS Penobscot, Commander Clitz, destroyed blockade running British ship Pathfinder after forcing her aground off Shallotte Inlet, North Carolina.

4 The blockade continued to clench the Confederacy in an ever-tightening grip. Rear Admiral S.P. Lee, commanding the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, advised Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox: "There is no doubt that a large trade was carried on with Wilmington through Shallotte Inlet 25 miles below, & New Topsail Inlet 15 miles above Wilmington. I have shut both doors."

USS Jacob Bell, Acting Ensign George E. McConnell, captured and burned schooner Robert Wilbur in Nomini Creek, off the Potomac River.

USS Hale, Captain Alfred T. Snell, captured pilot boat Wave and an unnamed schooner in Nassau Sound, Florida.

USS Daylight, Acting Master Warren, and USS Mount Vernon, Acting Lieutenant Trathen, forced blockade running British bark Sophia aground and destroyed her near Masonboro Inlet, North Carolina.

USS Coeur de Lion, Acting Master Charles H, Brown, with USS Teaser and schooner S.H. Poole, evacuated Union families and their property from Gwynn's Island, Virginia.

5 USS Louisiana, Acting Lieutenant R.T. Renshaw, captured schooner Alice L. Webb at Rose Bay, North Carolina.

6 USS Teaser, Ensign Sheridan, captured sloop Grapeshot in Chesapeake Bay.

7 USS Potomska, Acting Lieutenant W. Budd, escorted Army transport Darlington up Sapelo River, Georgia. Potomska being unable to proceed far up river because of her draft, Budd trans-ferred to the Army vessel, which was engaged by Confederates at Spaulding's. Darlington, undamaged, continued up the Sapelo to Fairhope, where a landing party destroyed salt works "and other things that might be of use to the enemy." Taken under attack once again upon returning past Spaulding's, Darlington put forces ashore and destroyed public property and captured arms. 'We were greatly aided here by the Potomska," reported Lieutenant Colonel Oliver T. Beard, "which, from a bend below, shelled the woods. Under the guns of the Potomska we landed . . . I am greatly indebted to Lieutenant Budd for the success of this day."

USS Kinsman, Acting Master George Wiggin, and steamer Seger burned steamers Osprey and J.P. Smith in Bayou Cheval, Louisiana.

8 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned ship T.B. Wales southeast of Bermuda.

USS Resolute, Acting Master Tole, captured sloop Capitola at Glymont, Maryland. Capitola was carrying cargo and passengers across to Virginia in violation of the blockade.

9 Greenville, North Carolina, surrendered to joint Army-Navy landing force under Second Assistant Engineer J. L. Lay of USS Louisiana.

10 Commander Maury, enroute to Liverpool, England, wrote his wife from Halifax, Nova Scotia, that he had arrived after a "boisterous passage of 5 days from Bermuda" in which he and his 12-year old son suffered from sea sickness. "The steamer in which we came was quite equal in dirt and all uncomfortableness to that between Calais and Dover. . . . This is a place of 25 or 30,000 inhabitants. They are strongly 'secesh' here. The Confederate flag has been flying from the top of the hotel all day, in honor, I am told 'of our arrival'." Hand organs ground out Dixie all day under the window; Maury, world famous as "Pathfinder of the Seas," having run the blockade, was proceeding to England on a mission for the Confederacy.

11 USS Kensington, Acting Master Crocker, captured schooner Corse off the Florida coast.

12 USS Kensington, Acting Master Crocker, captured British blockade runner Maria off the Florida coast.

14 Rear Admiral Farragut had sailed from the Mississippi River in August to base at Pensacola where his crews recuperated and repaired the ships preparatory to attacking Mobile. However, reports of growing Confederate fortifications on the river and other developments drew him back to the scene of his fame. On this date from on board USS Hartford at New Orleans he wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles: ''I am once more in the Mississippi River. I deemed that my presence here would be well, as the French admiral is here with two vessels at the city and a frigate at the bar; there is also an English corvette off the city, and we sailors understand each other better in many cases than landsmen. General Butler also informed me that he was operating very largely for his forces on the Opelousas, which was an additional reason for my entering the river. I enclose herewith Lieutenant-Commander Buchanan's report. He is commanding the naval forces cooperating with the army in Opelousas, and has already had two fights with the enemy's steamers and land forces. These little vessels require a sheet of boiler iron around them as a protection against musketry, when they would be able to run up the whole length of the river and catch all the boats in the branches. I called on General Butler for the purpose of ascertaining when he could give me a small force to attack Fort Gaines, and to notify him that when the Department wished it I would attack the forts and go through Mobile Bay without his assistance, but it would embarrass me very much not to have my communication open with the outside, and that with 1,000 men to menace Gaines in the rear I felt certain they would soon abandon both forts, once we got inside. He promised to assist in the operation as soon as General Weitzel returned from Opelousas, although he urges me to attack Port Hudson first, as he wishes to break up the rendezvous before we go outside. It will take at least 5,000 men to take Port Hudson. I am ready for anything, but desire troops to hold what we get. The general has really not half troops enough; he requires at least 20,000 more men to hold the places and do good service in this river and occupy Galveston, whither he proposes to send a regiment.

15 President Lincoln, with Secretaries Seward and Chase, drove to the Washington Navy Yard to view the trial of the Hyde rocket. Captain Dahlgren joined the group for the experiment. Though a defective rocket accidentally exploded, the President escaped injury.

16 USS T. A. Ward, Acting Master William L. Babcock, captured sloop G. W. Green and an unnamed seine boat at St. Jerome's Creek, Maryland, attempting to cross to the Virginia shore with contraband.

17 USS Kanawha, Lieutenant Commander Febiger, and USS Kennebec, Lieutenant Commander John H. RUSSell, chased a schooner ashore near Mobile where she was set afire and destroyed by her crew. Union ships prevented Confederate coast guard from boarding the vessel to extinguish the flames. Of the effectiveness of the blockade in the Gulf, Rear Admiral Farragut noted: "Blockading is hard service, and difficult to carry on with perfect success . . . I don't know how many [blockade runners escape, but we certainly make a good many prizes.

USS Cambridge, Commander W. A. Parker, forced blockade running British schooner F. W. Pindar aground at Masonboro Inlet, North Carolina, and sent boat crew to destroy the vessel. The boat swamped and the crew was captured after firing the schooner.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote Major General Butler at New Orleans: "I think [General] MeClernand will be down your way near the last of December and if you and Farragut can open the Mississippi as far as Red River and block that leaky place, we shall be able with our Mississippi squadron to keep that big river open to commerce and New Orleans will rise from its lethargy."

18 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, arrived at Martinique and was blockaded by USS San Jacinto Commander William Ronckendorff. In foul weather the evening of 19 November, Alabama evaded San Jacinto and escaped.

USS Monticello, Lieutenant Commander Braine, chased blockade running British schooners Ariel and Ann Maria ashore and destroyed them near Shallotte Inlet with cargoes of salt, flour, sugar, and lard.

19 USS Wissahickon, Lieutenant Commander John L. Davis, and USS Dawn, Acting Lieutenant John S. Barnes, engaged Fort McAllister on Ogeechee River, Georgia. Wissahickon was hit and temporarily disabled in the exchange of fire. Persistent and vigilant actions of this nature by the Union Navy pinned down Confederate manpower that could have been used in land actions else-where. Wissahickon and Dawn at this time had the mission of blockading CSS Nashville in Ossabaw Sound, Georgia, and preventing her from becoming another commerce raider like CSS Alabama.

20 USS Seneca, Lieutenant Commander Gibson, captured schooner Annie Dees running the blockade out of Charleston with cargo of turpentine and rosin.

USS Montgomery, Commander C. Hunter, captured sloop William E. Chester near Pensacola Bay.

Confederates at Matagorda Bay, Texas, captured boat crew from U.S. mortar schooner Henry Janes, Acting Master Pennington. The men were ashore to procure fresh beef for the mortar schooner.

22-24 Joint Army–Navy expedition to vicinity of Mathews Court House, Virginia, under Lieutenant Farquhar and Acting Master's Mate Nathan W. Black of USS Mahaska destroyed numerous salt works together with hundreds of bushels of salt, burned three schooners and numerous small boats, and captured 24 large canoes.

23 Landing party from USS Ellis, Lieutenant Cushing, captured arms, mail, and two schooners at Jacksonville North Carolina. While under attack from Confederate artillery, Ellis grounded on 24 November. After very effort to float the ship failed, Lieutenant Cushing ordered her set afire on 25 November to avoid capture. Cushing reported: "I fired the Ellis in five places and having seen that the battle flag was still flying, trained the gun on the enemy so that the vessel might fight herself after we had left her."

24 Boat from USS Reliance, Acting Master William P. Dockray, captured longboat New Moon, suspected of running the blockade on the Potomac River, off Alexandria.

USS Monticello, Lieutenant Commander Braine, destroyed two Confederate salt works near Little River Inlet, North Carolina.

USS Sagamore, Lieutenant Commander English, captured two British blockade runners, schooner Agnes and sloop Ellen, in Indian River, Florida.

25 USS Kittatinny, Acting Master Lamson, captured British blockade runner Matilda, bound from Havana to Matamoras.

26 USS Kittatinny, Acting Master Lamson, captured schooner Diana, bound from Campeche to Matamoras.

27 Rear Admiral Farragut wrote from his flagship at New Orleans: "I am still doing nothing, but waiting for the tide of events and doing all I can to hold what I have, & blockade Mobile. So soon as the river rises, we will have Porter down from above, who now commands the upper squadron, and then I shall probably go outside . . . We shall spoil unless we have a fight occasionally."

29 In late November Captain H. A. Adams was ordered to special duty at Philadelphia as coordinator of coal supply. All coal used in the U.S. Navy at that time was anthracite and came from the eastern district of Pennsylvania, being forwarded to Philadelphia either by rail or barge down the Schuylkill River. There it was loaded into coal schooners and sent to the various blockading squadrons. Before Captain Adams was ordered to this duty, squadron commanders had consider-able difficulty in keeping their ships supplied with coal and often had to borrow from the Army. To illustrate the amount of coal required by the squadrons, Rear Admiral Du Pont notified the Navy Department in mid-December that the consumption of coal in his South Atlantic Blockading Squadron alone was approximately 950 tons a week.

USS Mount Vernon, Acting Lieutenant Trathen, captured blockade runner Levi Rowe off New Inlet, North Carolina, with cargo of rice.

30 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned bark Parker Cook off the Leeward Islands.

December 1862

Inventor Pascal Plant demonstrates a true torpedo to interested naval officers along the banks of the Potomac River. “Torpedo� in the Civil War described what we would call “mines,� and it was not until the 1880s that the British would develop the “automobile torpedo.� On two occasions, Plant fired his rocket-powered missiles at a target vessel. On the first demonstration, the torpedo missed the target—but successfully sank the schooner Diana anchored some distance away. A second torpedo on the same day missed the target and buried itself in the far bank. Later, Plant launched another torpedo which ran underwater for a distance and then porpoised above the surface and flew for over 100 yards before exploding on the opposite shore. Although Plant was decades ahead of his time and his device suffered only from guidance problems, the inspecting Navy officers failed to see the potential of the “self-propelled torpedo� and declined further interest in the weapon.

1 In his second annual report, Secretary of the Navy Welles informed President Lincoln: "We have at this time afloat or progressing to rapid completion a naval force consisting of 427 vessels . . armed in the aggregate with 1,577 guns, and of the capacity of 240,028 tons . . . The number of persons employed on board our naval vessels, including receiving ships and recruits, is about 28,000; and there are not less than 12,000 mechanics and laborers employed at the different navy yards and naval stations."

Lieutenant Maffitt, commanding CSS Florida, wrote: "As the Alabama and Florida are the only two cruisers we have just now, it would be a perfect absurdity to tilt against their more than three hundred, for the Federals would gladly sacrifice fifty armed ships to extinguish the two Confederates.''

Rear Admiral Du Pont again remarked on the Charleston defenses and his growing forces with which to attack them in a letter to Senator Grimes: ''The rebel defenses of Charleston are still progressing– The English officers who have been in and the blockade runners whom we capture, smile at the idea of its being taken, and say it is stronger than Sebastabol but they said the same of New Orleans. . . lam very glad to learn that John Rodgers and Worden [commander of USS Monitor during the engagement with CSS Virginia] were with Drayton on his last trial of the Passaic, for the more we learn of the new tools we have to use the better two rams are completed at Charleston to add to the harbor defenses but for the strong force I have off here [Port Royal], I think they would have attempted to raid across the bar."

USS Sagamore, Lieutenant Commander English, captured blockade running British schooner By George off Indian River, Florida, with cargo including coffee and salt.

USS Tioga, Commander Clary, captured schooner Nonsuch at Bahama Banks.

2 Confederate steamer Queen of the Bay, Captain H. Willke, CSA, sounding Corpus Christi pass, was chased by boats under Acting Ensign Alfred H. Reynolds and Master's Mate George C. Dolliver from USS Sachem. Captain Willke ran Queen of the Bay aground on Padre Island, deployed his men, and took Union boats under fire. Reynolds, seriously wounded, was compelled to land on nearby Mustang Island and abandon his boats to the Confederates before retreating overland 30 miles to rejoin Sachem at Aransas Bay, Texas.

3 USS Cambridge, Commander W. A. Parker, captured schooner J. C. Roker off the coast of North Carolina with cargo of salt.

USS Daylight, Acting Master Warren, captured British blockade runner Brilliant attempting to run cargo of salt into Wilmington.

USS Cambridge, Commander W. A. Parker, captured schooner Emma Tuttle off Cape Fear.

4 USS Anacostia, Coeur de Lion, Currituck, and Jacob Bell, under Acting Master Shankland, engaged by Confederate batteries at Port Royal, Virginia. In the exchange of fire which lasted over an hour, Jacob Bell was damaged.

Rear Admiral Farragut stated: "My people are carrying on the war in various parts of the coast, & it takes all my energies to keep them supplied with provisions and coal. I have a great many irons in the fire and have to look sharp to keep some of them from burning . . . We have either taken or destroyed all the steamers that run from Havanna & Nassau to this coast, except the Cuba and Alice . . . I have all the coast except Mobile Bay, and am ready to take that the moment I can get troops.

5 Boats from USS Mahaska, Commander F. A. Parker, and USS General Putnam, under Lieutenant Elliot C. V. Blake of Mahaska, captured and destroyed "several fine boats," a schooner and two sloops in branches of Severn River, Maryland, and brought back schooners Seven Brothers and Galena. Although the captain of Galena claimed to be a Union man, Commander Parker reported his belief that the captain was endeavoring "to carry water on both shoulders."

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and released on bond schooner Union off Haiti.

Lieutenant Commander John G. Walker, USS Baron De KaIb, reported capture of steamer Lottie 30 miles above Memphis.

6 USS Diana, Acting Master Ezra Goodwin, captured steamers Southern Methodist and Naniope near Vicksburg laden with molasses and sugar.

7 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured California steamer Ariel off the coast of Cuba with 700 passengers on board, including 150 Marines and Commander Louis C. Sartori, USN.

8 President Lincoln sent a recommendation of thanks to the Congress on behalf of Commander Worden for his part as commanding officer of USS Monitor during her Hampton Roads engagement with CSS Virginia.

USS Daylight, Acting Master Warren, seized sloop Coquette off New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina, with cargo of whiskey, potatoes, apples, and onions.

9 Rear Admiral Bailey, on assuming command of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron, stated: "The outward pressure of our Navy, in barring the enemy's ports, crippling the power, and exhausting the resources of the States in rebellion; in depriving them of a market for their peculiar productions, and of the facilities for importing many vital requisites for the use of their Army and peoples, is slowly, surely, and unostentatiously reducing the rebellion to such straits as must result in their unconditional submission, even though our gallant Army does not achieve another victory."

10 USS Currituck, Acting Master Thomas J. Linnekin, engaged Confederate battery on Brandywine Hill, Virginia.

USS Sagamore, Lieutenant Commander English, captured British schooner Alicia attempting to run the blockade out of Indian River, Florida, with cargo of cotton.

USS Southfield, Lieutenant Charles F. W. Behm, was disabled by a shot through the steam chest off Plymouth, North Carolina, while rendering close fire support to troops under attack by Confederate forces.

11 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote Rear Admiral D. D. Porter of the readying of ironclads for the fleet and observed: "We shall soon be ready to try the Iron Clads against the few southern Forts yet in the hands of the Rebels."

12 USS Cairo, Lieutenant Commander Thomas O. Selfridge, on an expedition up the Yazoo River to destroy torpedoes, was sunk by one of the infernal machines" and Selfridge reported: "The Cairo sunk in about twelve minutes after the explosion, going totally out of sight, except the top of her chimneys, in 6 fathoms of water." Cairo was the first of some 40 Union vessels to be torpedoed during the war. The torpedo which destroyed Cairo was a large demijohn fired with a friction primer by a trigger line from torpedo pits on the river bank. Rear Admiral D. D. Porter later observed: "It was an accident liable to occur to any gallant officer whose zeal carries him to the post of danger and who is loath to let others do what he thinks he ought to do himself." Despite the loss of Cairo, Porter wrote: "I gave Captain Walke orders to hold Yazoo River at all hazards . . . We may lose three or four vessels, but will succeed in carrying out the plan for the capture of Vicksburg."

12-16 Naval force under Commander Murray including USS Delaware, Shawsheen, Lockwood, and Seymour with armed transports in the Neuse River supported an Army expedition to destroy railroad bridges and track near Goldsboro, North Carolina; low water prevented the gunboats from advancing more than about 15 miles up the river.

15 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote Rear Admiral S. P. Lee, proposing an assault on Wilmington: "Though the popular clamor centers upon Charleston I consider Wilmington a more important point in a military and political point of view and I do not conceal from myself that it is more difficult of access on account of the shallowness of the bars, and more easily defended inside by obstructions, yet it must be attacked and we have more force than we shall possess again since the ironclads must, go South so soon as four are ready." Nonetheless, Wilmington, guarded by the guns of Fort Fisher, remained a bastion of Confederate strength and one of the few havens for blockade runners until nearly the end of the war.

16 General Banks arrived at New Orleans with additional troops to supersede General Butler and prepare for increased operations on the river.

18 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote: "I believe there is no work shop in the country capable of making steam machinery or iron plates and hulls that is not in full blast with Naval orders. Before another year we shall be prepared to defend ourselves with reasonable hopes of success against a foreign enemy, and in two years we can take the offensive with vessels that will be superior to any England is now building." Because of this extensive building program, by war's end the U.S. Navy was the most powerful force afloat in the world.

19 Rear Admiral Farragut advised Secretary of the Navy Welles that he had recommended "the occupation of Baton Rouge" to General Banks on his arrival. "He ordered his transports to proceed directly to that city.'' Commander James Alden in Richmond with 2 gunboats covered the landing. "Baton Rouge is only 12–15 miles from Port Hudson. I am ready to attack the latter place and support General Banks the moment he desires to move against it.'' The powerful combined operations that were destroying the Confederacy at its heart gathered strength for the crushing attacks of 1863.

20 Rear Admiral D. D. Porter in his flagship USS Black Hawk joined General William T. Sherman at Helena, Arkansas, and prepared for the joint assault on Vicksburg. The fleet under Admiral Porter's command for the Vicksburg campaign was the largest ever placed under one officer up to that time, equal in number to all the vessels composing the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of war.

22 USS Huntsville, Acting Lieutenant W. C. Rogers, seized schooner Courier off Tortugas with cargo including salt, coffee, sugar, and dry goods.

Captain Dahlgren, confidant of and advisor to the President, went to the White House at the request of President Lincoln to observe the testing of a new type of gunpowder.

24 USS New Era, Acting Master Frank W. Flanner, arrived off Columbus, Kentucky, to support the Army, which was threatened with imminent attack by a large Confederate force. New Era had been dispatched to Columbus at the urgent request of General J. M. Tuttle, and brought a much-needed Army howitzer, ammunition, and a Master's Mate to take charge of one of the batteries. Confederate occupation of Columbus would have seriously disrupted the flow of sup-plies to the fleet and Army poised below for the Vicksburg assault.

USS Charlotte, Acting Master Bruner, captured steamer Bloomer in Choctawhatchee River, Florida.

27 Rear Admiral D. D. Porter received a request from Brigadier General Willis A. Gorman for assistance in the forthcoming campaign in Arkansas. Though his fleet was fully employed," Porter nevertheless ordered USS Conestoga to begin the requested patrolling action ''between the White and Arkansas rivers as occasion may require. But,'' he added in his instructions to Lieutenant Commander Selfridge, "Arkansas is the main point to look after. We will occupy it soon with troops." Meanwhile, that day Porter's squadron was involved in a heated engage-ment with Confederate batteries on the Yazoo. USS Benton, Lieutenant Commander Gwin, continuing to carry on the removal of torpedoes after Cairo's destruction a fortnight before, with USS Cincinnati, Baron de Kalb, Louisville, Lexington, Marmora, and ram Queen of the West in company, returned the fire of the battery's eight heavy guns at Drumgould's Bluff. As Porter "served, "The old war horse, Benton, has been much cut up, and the gallant, noble Gwin, I fear, mortally wounded.'' Nonetheless, Porter was able to report that the Yazoo was cleared of torpedoes to within one-half mile of the battery and to remark "we gave the enemy enough to occupy them to-day, and drew off a large portion of their force." Cooperating fully with the Army during the preparations for renewed engagements along the Mississippi, the Navy constantly harassed Confederate forces at Drumgould's Bluff, as well as those at Haynes' Bluff and elsewhere, as the squadron's mobile fire power kept Confederate troops off balance and dispersed.

USS Magnolia, Acting Master Charles Potter, captured British schooner Carmita northwest of Marquesas Keys, Florida, attempting to run the blockade.

USS Roebuck, Master John Sherrill, captured British schooner Kate attempting to run into St. Mark's River, Florida, with cargo of salt, coffee, copper, and liquor.

28 USS Anacostia, Acting Master Nelson Provost, seized schooner Exchange in the Rappahannock River.

28-30 Rear Admiral D. D. Porter's gunboats supported General Sherman's attempt to capture Con-federate- held Chickasaw Bluffs, a vantage point upstream from Vicksburg. "Throughout these operations," Porter wrote, "the Navy did everything that could be done to ensure the success of General Sherman's movement." Though the Navy supplied shore bombardment from the squadron and created diversionary movements, the Union troops, hindered by heavy rains and faced by the timely arrival of Confederate reinforcements, were forced to withdraw.

29 USS Magnolia, Acting Master Potter, seized blockade running British sloop Flying Fish off Tortugas.

31 USS Monitor, Commander Bankhead, foundered and was lost off Cape Hatteras en route from Hampton Roads to Beaufort, North Carolina. During the short career of the first Union sea-going ironclad, she had fought CSS Virginia in the historic engagement that ushered in a new era in warfare, had supported General McClellan's Peninsular Campaign, and had effected for all time momentous changes in naval tactics and ship construction.

The Confederate embargo, the capture of New Orleans, and the Union Navy's blockade combined to curtail greatly the export of the South's major product, cotton. Meanwhile, the North's control of the seas, threatened only by a few Confederate commerce raiders granted the Union access to the world markets for the importation of war materials and exportation of produce such as wheat, which was a major factor in deterring European powers from recognizing the Confederacy.

February 1863

1 Ironclad USS Montauk, Commander Worden, with USS Seneca, Wissahickon, Dawn, and mortar schooner C. P. Williams, again tested the defenses of Fort McAllister described by Rear Admiral Du Pont as "rather a thorn in my flesh." On the 28th of January, Worden had learned, through "a contraband," the position of the obstructions and torpedoes which bad effectively blocked his way in the assault of 27 January. "This information," Worden reported," with the aid of the contraband, whom I took on board, enabled me to take up a position nearer the fort in the next attack. . . "

Ammunition supplies replenished, Montauk moved to within 600 yards of McAllister in the early morning; the gunboats took a position one and three-quarters miles below the fort. Worden opened fire at 7:45 a.m., and reported at ''7:53 a.m. our turret was hit for the first time during this action at which time the enemy were working their guns with rapidity and precision. The Confederate fire was concentrated on the ironclad, which took some 48 hits in the 4-hour engagement.

Colonel Robert H. Anderson, commanding Fort McAllister, paid tribute to the accuracy of the naval gunfire: ''The enemy fired steadily and with remarkable precision. Their fire was terrible. Their mortar fire was unusually fine, a large number of their shells bursting directly over the battery. The ironclad's fire was principally directed at the VIII- inch columbiad, and the parapet in front of this gun was so badly breached as to leave the gun entirely exposed."

General Beauregard added: ''For hours the most formidable vessel of her class hurled missiles of the heaviest caliber ever used in modern warfare at the weak parapet of the battery, which was almost demolished; but, standing at their guns, as became men fighting for homes, for honor, and for independence'. the garrison replied with such effect as to cripple and beat back their adversary, clad though in impenetrable armor and armed with XV and XI inch guns, supported by mortar boats whose practice was of uncommon precision.

Rear Admiral Porter wrote Secretary Welles: "I have the honor to report that, hearing that there was a lot of cotton at Point Chicot, on the Mississippi, belonging to the so-called Confederate Government, and that the agents were moving it back into the country or about to burn it, I sent up the ram Monarch, Colonel Ellet, and the Juliet, Acting Lieutenant [Edward] Shaw, and seized 250 bales, which I now have and am using to protect the boilers of those vessels that are vulnerable. There are now altogether 300 bales in the squadron, which I recommend should be sold when no longer needed and the proceeds placed in the Treasury. All cotton on the river

belongs to the rebel Government, and on that they depended to carry on the war. I recommend that it be all seized and sold for the benefit of the Government. There is authority enough on record to justify me in taking cotton under certain circumstances, but not enough to take it in all cases. Eight thousand bales will pay the expenses of the squadron per year, and I think there will be no difficulty in obtaining that amount when Colonel Ellet gets his brigade ready and we can penetrate some 6 or 8 miles into the interior, where it is all stowed away.''

Captain Percival Drayton reconnoitered the Wilmington River, Georgia, with USS Passaic and Marblehead. He reported to Du Pont: ". . . I went within sight of Wassaw or Thunder-bolt, and two and a quarter miles distant when I was stopped by shallow water. . . . The Batteries were very extensive, and large bodies of troops drawn up on the shore. I was not fired on although quite within range; a battery which is about a mile nearer than ones I saw, was covered by the wood and I was not high enough to open it. I saw two small steamers but nothing that looked like the Fingal.'' Du Pont's ships were constantly active, enabling the Union forces to prevent the Confederates from launching a decisive counteroffensive along the South Atlantic coast.

USS Two Sisters, Acting Master William A. Arthur, seized sloop Richards from Havana off Boca Grande, Mexico.

USS Tahoma, Lieutenant Commander A. A. Semmes, and USS Hendrick Hudson, Lieutenant David Cate, captured blockade running British schooner Margaret off St. Petersburg.

2 Ram USS Queen of the West, Colonel C. R. Ellet, attacked Confederate steamer City of Vicksburg, which lay under the batteries of that citadel. Ellet had hoped to get underway to make the attack before daybreak, but the necessity of readjusting the wheel put the engagement off until it was fully light and "any advantage which would have resulted from the darkness was lost to us." The Confederates opened a heavy fire on Queen of the West as she approached the city, but succeeded in hitting her only three times before she reached the steamer. Ellet reported: ''Her position was such that if we had run obliquely into her as we came down the bow of the Queen would inevitably have glanced. We were compelled to partially round to in order to strike. The consequence was that at the very moment of collision the current, very strong and rapid at this point, caught the stern of my boat, and, acting on her bow as a pivot, swung her around so rapidly that nearly all her momentum was lost."

Having anticipated this eventuality, Ellet had ordered the starboard gun shotted with incendiary shell, which now set City of Vicksburg aflame, though this was rapidly extinguished by the Confederates. City of Vicksburg fired into Queen of the West, which had bulwarks of cotton built up around her sides and one shell set the ram afire near the starboard wheel; meanwhile, the discharge of her own gun set Queen in flames in the bow. "The flames spread rapidly and the dense smoke rolling into the engine room suffocated the engineers. I saw that if I attempted to run into the City of Vicksburg again that my boat would certainly be burned. . . . After much exertion, we finally put the fire out by cutting the burning bales loose." Queen of the West then steamed downstream under orders to destroy all Confederate vessels encountered.

Unable to ascend the Big Black River because of the narrowness of the stream, Ellet continued down the Mississippi. On 3 February, below the mouth of the Red River, he met Confederate steamer A. W. Baker coming up river. Baker, "not liking the Queen's looks," ran ashore but was captured. She had just delivered her cargo to Port Hudson and was returning for another. Ellet had placed a guard on board when another steamer, Moro, was seen coming down stream. "A shot across her bows," Ellet reported, "brought her to laden with 110,000 pounds of pork, nearly 500 hogs, and a large quantity of salt, destined for the rebel army at Port Hudson."

Running short of coal, Ellet turned back upriver, destroying 25,000 pounds of meal awaiting transportation to Port Hudson. Stopping at the mouth of the Red River to release the civilians captured on Baker and Moro, he also seized steamer Berwick Bay. She, too, carried a large cargo for Port Hudson: 200 barrels of molasses, 10 hogsheads of sugar, 30,000 pounds of flour, and 40 bales of cotton. Ellet ordered his prizes destroyed and returned to his position below Vicksburg. Some $200,000 worth of property had been destroyed by Queen of the West.

Of the intrepid Ellet, Porter remarked: "I can not speak too highly of this gallant and daring officer. The only trouble I have is to hold him in and keep him out of danger. He will under-take anything I wish him to without asking questions, and these are the kind of men I like to command." This was one of a series of important operations that seriously disrupted Confederate supply channels and built up to the eventual fall of Vicksburg in mid-summer.

CSS Alabama experienced a fire on board which was rapidly extinguished but which prompted Captain Semmes to write: ''The fire-bell in the night is sufficiently alarming to the landsman, but the cry of fire at sea imports a matter of life and death--especially in a ship of war, whose boats are always insufficient to carry off her crew, and whose magazine and shell-rooms are filled with powder, and the loaded missiles of death."

USS Mount Vernon, Lieutenant James Trathen, drove blockade running schooner Industry aground off New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina, and burned her.

3 The long, tortuous Army-Navy operation against Fort Pemberton at Greenwood, Mississippi, was begun with the opening of the levee at Yazoo Pass to gain access to the Yazoo River above Haynes' Bluff and reach Vicksburg from the rear. The next day Acting Master G. W. Brown, of USS Forest Rose, which was standing by to enter the opening, reported that "the water is gushing through at a terrible rate. . . . After cutting two ditches through and ready for the water, we placed a can of powder (so pounds) under the dam, which I touched off by means of three mortar fuzes joined together. It blew up immense quantities of earth, opening a passage for the water, and loosened the bottom so that the water washed it out very fast. We then sunk three more shafts, one in the entrance of the other ditch, and the other two on each side of the mound between the two ditches, and set them off simultaneously, completely shattering the mound and opening a passage through the ditch. . . . [creating] a channel 70 or 75 yards wide. It is thought that it will be at least four or five days before we can enter.'' The plan of attack called for gunboats and Army transports to go through the Pass into Moon Lake, down the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers to the Yazoo, take Pemberton, effect the capture of Yazoo City, and proceed down to assault Vicksburg on its less strongly defended rear flanks.

USS Lexington, Fairplay, St. Clair, Brilliant, Robb, and Silver Lake, under Lieutenant Commander Fitch, supported Army troops at Fort Donelson and repulsed a Confederate attack at that point. Proceeding up the Cumberland River on convoy duty from Smithfield, Kentucky, Fitch's squadron met steamer Wild Cat coming down river some 24 miles below Dover, Tennessee, bearing a message from Colonel Abner C. Harding, commanding at Donelson, which reported that he was being assaulted in force by Confederate troops. Fitch pushed his squadron "on up with all possible speed" and arrived in the evening to find the defending troops "out of ammunition and entirely surrounded by the rebels in overwhelming numbers, but still holding them in check." Not expecting the presence of the gunboats, the Confederates had taken a position which enabled the mobile force afloat to rake them effectively with a telling fire from the guns. "The rebels were so much taken by surprise," Fitch reported, "that they did not even fire a shot, but immediately commenced retreating. So well directed was our fire on them that they could not even carry off a caisson that they had captured from our forces, but were compelled to abandon it, after two fruitless attempts to destroy it by fire.'' Fitch then stationed his vessels to prevent the return of the Southern forces.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned at sea schooner Palmetto, bound from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with cargo of provisions. Of the chase of Palmetto, Semmes said: "It was beautiful to see how the Alabama performed her task, working up into the wind's eye, and overhauling her enemy, with the ease of a trained courser coming up with a saddle-nag."

USS Sinoma, Commander Stevens, captured blockade running British bark Springbok off the Bahamas.

3-8 USS Tyler, Lieutenant Commander James M. Prichett, patrolled the Yazoo River and confiscated 113 bales of cotton. This was in keeping with Porter's plan to seize all Confederate cotton for the dual purpose of preventing its being shipped out through the blockade and to protect the vessels of his Mississippi Squadron. Porter advised Secretary Welles: ''Three hundred more bales are in my possession, captured from rebel parties, but I am using it at present for protecting the boilers of the different boats. When no longer needed, I will forward it to Cairo."

4 Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote Major General David Hunter: ''Among the defects in matters of detail on the ironclads is the absence of all means of making the navy signals. . . . It has been suggested to me, however, that the army code, which we have on various occasions found so useful, might be employed at times on these vessels from the side not engaged or exposed at the moment. In order to effect this, I propose, if agreeable to you, that several of the young officers of the squadron should be instructed in the code, and will be greatly obliged if you will issue the necessary orders, with such restrictions as may be required." Du Pont added, ''I learn the code now forms part of the instruction at the Naval Academy." Hunter replied in the usual spirit of cooperation: "It will afford me sincere pleasure to comply with your request in regard to the army signal code, orders having been already issued to the chief signal officer of this Department to furnish all requisite facilities and instruction to such of your officers as you may assign to this service."

USS New Era, temporarily under Acting Ensign William C. Hanford, captured steamer W. A. Knapp with cargo of cloth at Island No. 10.

6 Rear Admiral Porter ordered Lieutenant Commander W. Smith to command the expedition through Yazoo Pass aimed at the capture of Yazoo City as part of the planned move on Vicksburg: "You will proceed with the Rattler and Romeo to Delta, near Helena, where you will find the Forest Rose engaged in trying to enter the Yazoo Pass. You will order the Signal, now at White River, to accompany you; and if the Cricket comes down while you are at Delta, detain her also, or the Linden. . . . Do not engage batteries with the light vessels. The Chillicothe will do the fighting." To this force was later added USS Baron De Kalb and Marmora and towboat S. Bayard in lieu of Cricket and Linden. "If this duty is performed as I expect it to be," Porter wrote, ''we will strike a terrible blow at the enemy, who do not anticipate an attack from such a quarter.

Lieutenant Commander Thomas O. Selfridge, USS Conestoga, reported intelligence gathered from a reconnaissance mission one of many which the Navy conducted to facilitate precise planning and preparation for future operations. From the information gathered by Lieutenant [Cyrenius] Dominy, of the Signal, I should judge the rebels have no heavy guns in the river up to Little Rock. A passenger told him that after the capture of the post [Arkansas Post] the gunboats were daily expected, but the idea was now generally given up. The [Confederate] ram Pontchartrain has not had steam up for some time. Some men are still at work upon her. She requires a good deal of pumping to keep her free. She has as yet no guns. She has no officers of consequence. . . She is represented as being casemated with 20 inches of wood and railroad iron to abaft her wheels. [Thomas C.] Hindman is represented with 16,000 troops at Little Rock, [James] McCullough with 6,000 at Pine Bluff fortifying, [John S.] Marmaduke with 3,000 cavalry at Dardanelle. These numbers are greatly overestimated as effective troops, as Little Rock is represented as full of sick soldiers.'' Selfridge also proposed an immediate attack on Little Rock and the destruction of the ram. Though his plan was not followed, both his aims were achieved during the year; Little Rock was occupied on 10 September and Pontchartrain was de-stroyed by the Confederates to prevent her capture. The Union's ability to move on the river highways in Arkansas, as elsewhere, pinned down Confederate strength and caused constant loss.

7 Rear Admiral Porter reported to Secretary Welles: " Vicksburg was by nature the strongest place on the river, but art has made it impregnable against floating batteries-not that the number of guns is formidable, but the rebels have placed them out of our reach, and can shift them from place to place in case we should happen to annoy them (the most we can do) in their earthworks. . . . The people in Vicksburg are the only ones who have as yet hit upon the method of defending themselves against our gunboats, viz, not erecting water batteries, and placing the guns some distance back from the water, where they can throw a plunging shot, which none of our ironclads could stand. I mention these facts to show the Department that there is no possible hope of any success against Vicksburg by a gunboat attack or without an investment in the rear of the city by a large army. We can, perhaps, destroy the city and public buildings, but that would bring us no nearer the desired point (the opening of the Mississippi) than we are now. . . . The fall of Vicksburg came only after a long combined land and water siege and attack as Porter indicated.

USS Forest Rose, Acting Master G. 'V. Brown, succeeded in entering Yazoo Pass and proceeded into Moon Lake as far as the mouth of the Old Pass. Brown learned that Confederates were obstructing Coldwater River by felling trees across it. He reported another difficulty to Porter: ''We cannot enter the pass with this boat until the trees are trimmed and some of the overhanging trees cut down." The density of the woods would slow the vessels greatly and damage the smokestacks and upper works severely.

In a letter to Secretary Mallory, a daring plan for a raiding expedition on the Great Lakes was proposed by Lieutenant William H. Murdaugh, CSN. Four naval officers would make their way to Canada and purchase a small steamer, man her with Canadians, and reveal the object of the cruise only when underway'. The crew was to be armed with revolvers and cutlasses. The steamer was to carry torpedoes, explosives, and incendiary materials.

At Erie, Pennsylvania, Murdaugh planned to carry USS Michigan by boarding, and then advance on Lake Ontario through the Welland Canal to destroy locks and shipping. The scheme was to pass through Lake Huron into Lake Michigan, "and make for the great city of Chicago. At Chicago burn the shipping and destroy the locks of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, connecting Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. Then turn northward, and, touching at Milwaukee and other places, Pass again into Lake Huron, go through the Sault St. Marie, and destroy the lock of the Canal of that name. Then the vessel could be run into Georgian Bay, at the bottom of which is a railway connecting with the main Canadian lines, and be run ashore and destroyed." The bold venture was approved by the Navy Department, but, as Lieutenant Murdaugh wrote, President Davis believed that ''it would raise such a storm about the violation of the neutrality laws that England would be forced to stop the building of some ironclads and take rigid action against us everywhere. So the thing fell through and with it my great chance."

Commander Ebenezer Farrand, CSN, reported to Governor John G. Shorter of Alabama the successful launching of ironclads CSS Tuscaloosa and Huntsville at Selma, ''amid enthusiastic cheering.'' Both warships were taken to Mobile.

USS Glide, Acting Ensign Charles B. Dahlgren, was destroyed accidentally by fire at Cairo, Illinois.

Pioneer II is lost in Mobile Bay during trials.

8 USS Commodore McDonough, Lieutenant Commander Bacon, and an Army transport reconnoitered the Stono and Folly Rivers, South Carolina, at the request of Major General John G. Foster and "discovered that the enemy had not taken advantage of our absence to erect any new batteries."

9 Illustrative of the continuing, vital importance of the inland rivers was the report of Lieutenant Commander Fitch, commanding USS Fairplay, from Smithfield, Kentucky: "I have the honor to report my return from Nashville, having landed in safety at that place with some 45 steamers. This makes 73 steamers and 16 barges we have convoyed safely to Nashville since the river has been navigable for our boats."

Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote Secretary Welles of the difficulties in obtaining logistical support for his blockading squadron a major problem for all naval commanders: "Our requisitions for general stores, I have reason to believe, are immediately attended to by the bureaus in the Department but there seem to be unaccountable obstacles to our receiving them. . . We have been out of oil for machinery. Coal is not more essential . . . We were purchasing from transports or wherever it could be found, two or three barrels at a time. Finally the Union came with some, but it was stored under her cargo and the captain wished to defer its delivery until his return from the Gulf, which, however, I would not allow. The vessel was to have brought important parts of the ration, such as sugar, coffee, flour, butter, beans and dried fruit with clothing but she did not. The articles named are exhausted on the store ships of this squadron. My commanding officers complain that their wants are not supplied, and I have been so tried by the increasing demands for articles which I could not supply that I can defer no longer addressing the Department on the subject."

USS Couer de Lion, Acting Master Charles H. Brown, captured blockade running schooner Emily Murray off Machodoc Creek, Virginia, with cargo of lumber, sugar, and whiskey.

10 Confederate troops disabled ram Dick Fulton at Cypress Bend, Arkansas, by gunfire.

11 Rear Admiral Porter was continually concerned with supply problems. He wrote Commander Pennock at Cairo: ''As circumstances occur I have to change the quantity of coal required here and find it impossible to hit upon any particular quantity. It is likely that we shall want a large amount, and I want a stack of 160,000 bushels sent to the Yazoo River, besides the monthly allowance already required, viz, 70,000 bushels here, 40,000 at White River and 20,000 at Memphis." Stressing the need to have logistic support rapidly available for his mobile forces, Porter added: "You will also have the Abraham filled up with three months' provisions and stores for the squadron, or as much as she can carry, and keep her ready at all times with her machinery in order and in condition to move at a moment's notice to such point as I may designate. Circumstances may occur when it will be necessary to move the wharf boat, and you will arrange for the most expeditious plan to do so. . . . You will see from what I have written the importance of carrying out my order to the letter, for much depends on my being in such a position with the squadron that I can not be hampered, and can be in a condition to move where I please."

In the North, the Permanent Commission is founded to evaluate all plans and inventions submitted to the Navy Department

12 As on the East Coast and on the western waters at and above Vicksburg, great demands were placed on Farragut's fleet in the lower Mississippi and along the Gulf coast. Farragut observed: ''Everyone is calling on me to send them vessels, which reminds me of the remark of the musician, 'It is very easy to say blow! blow! but where the devil is the wind to come from?'

Starting to visit his blockading units at Ship Island, Mobile, and Pensacola, Farragut was called back to New Orleans by conditions at Vicksburg. He wrote Secretary Welles:'' . . . I have the same appeal made to me from all quarters, viz, for more force. The ships are all out of coal, and the enemy threatens to attack us. The Susquehanna has kept on the blockade, to my astonishment. I had hoped that the Colorado would have been here to relieve her before this. My force in this river is reduced to the fixed force of the Pensacola and Portsmouth and the Hartford, Richmond, Essex, and three gunboats, viz, Kineo, Albatross, and Winona. This is a very small force to give protection to the river commerce and be ready to pass or attack the batteries on the river. Commodore H. H. Bell does not think it prudent to leave Galveston without a ship, and Commodore [Robert B.] Hitchcock does not think it proper to leave Mobile without a ship, as the enemy have doubtless a much stronger force inside than we have outside. Still, they would not come out except on a very calm day. The moment that I can withdraw a ship from the river I will do so, as the gunboats will be all-sufficient when Port Hudson and Vicksburg are taken and the other high points on the river occupied to prevent the enemy from fortifying them."

USS Queen of the West, Colonel C. R. Ellet, steamed up Red River and ascended Atchafalaya River where a landing party destroyed twelve Confederate Army wagons. That night, Queen of the West was fired on near Simmesport, Louisiana, Next day, Ellet returned to the scene of the attack and destroyed all the buildings on three adjoining plantations in reprisal. The vessel had previously run below Vicksburg to disrupt Confederate trade in the Red River area.

Lincoln conferred with Assistant Secretary Fox on the projected naval assault on Charleston. Two days later, the President discUSSed ammunition for the ironclads to be used against that port with Captain Dahlgren. Lincoln was reported to be "restless about Charleston."

CSS Florida, Lieutenant Maffitt, captured ship Jacob Bell in West Indian waters, bound from Foo-Chow, China, to New York with cargo of tea, firecrackers, matting, and camphor valued at more than $2,000,000. Jacob Bell was burned on the following day.

USS Conestoga, Lieutenant Commander Selfridge, seized steamers Rose Hambleton and Evansville off White River, Arkansas.

13 USS Indianola, Lieutenant Commander George Brown, ran past the batteries at Vicksburg to join USS Queen of the West in blockading the Red River. Rear Admiral Porter's instructions to Brown added: "Go to Jeff Davis' plantation load up with all the cotton you can find and the best single male Negroes." Towing two barges filled with coal, Indianola steamed slowly past the upper batteries undetected. Abreast the point, Indianola was sighted and a heavy fire opened upon her without effect.

Lieutenant Commander W. Smith, commanding the light draft expedition into Yazoo Pass, arrived at 'Helena, Arkansas. Porter ordered USS Baron De Kalb Lieutenant Commander J. G. Walker, to join the forces. Unable to enter the pass with his vessels, Smith observed: "A heavy army force is clearing this, which in places at turns, may not admit of our vessels getting through. Our force takes the trees from the stream while the rebels on the other end cut them from both sides to fall across. The army is expected to be through with this pass in one week."

Commander A. Ludlow Case, USS Iroquois, reported the steady strengthening of Confederate positions in the Wilmington area. Noting that they were "working like beavers," Case wrote: "From their apparent great energy I am induced to believe that in the event of our capture of Charleston this is to be the point for the blockade runners. . . . They now have four casemated batteries west of Fort Fisher completed and a fifth nearly so, each mounting two or three guns, built of heavy framework, and covered deeply with sand and sodded. . . . The defenses are much more formidable and much more judiciously arranged, on account of detached batteries, than those at the South Bar, Fort Caswell, etc. . . . If a vessel now gets inside of the blockaders she can soon run under cover of the batteries and anchor until the tide serves for crossing the bar. A few months ago this would have been impossible, the defenses at that time being such as to make an immediate crossing of the bar absolutely necessary.'' Wilmington did, in fact, become the primary port for blockade runners in the last half of the Civil War for precisely this reason.

Commander James H. North, CSN, wrote from Glasgow to Secretary Mallory: "I can see no prospect of recognition from this country [Great Britain]. . . If they will let us get our ships out when they are ready, we shall feel ourselves most fortunate. It is now almost impossible to make the slightest move or do the smallest thing, that the Lincoln spies do not know of it.'

USS New Era, Acting Ensign Hanford, captured steamer White Cloud, carrying Confederate mail, and steamer Rowena, carrying drugs, on the Mississippi River near Island No. 10.

14 USS Queen of the West, Colonel C. R. Ellet, patrolling the Red River, seized steamer Era No. 3 with a cargo of corn some 15 miles above the mouth of Black River. Ellet continued up river to investigate reports of the presence of three Confederate vessels at Gordon's Landing. Queen of the West was taken under heavy fire by shore batteries. Attempting to back down river, the pilot ran her aground, directly under the Confederate guns. "The position," Ellet wrote, "at once became a very hot one; 60 yards below we would have been in no danger. As it was, the enemy's shot struck us nearly every time.'' Queen of the West's chief engineer reported that the escape pipe had been shot away; the steam pipe was severed. Ellet ordered the ship abandoned. A formidable vessel was now in Confederate hands.

Though efforts steadily increased to maintain the tight blockade of the Southern coast, daring Confederates stirred by patriotism and the lure of profit continued to elude the Union warships. Captain Sands, USS Dacotah, off Cape Fear River, North Carolina, reported a typical example: ''I had a picket boat from this vessel inside the bar, and one from the Monticello was anchored on the bar in 13-feet of water. The latter saw nothing of the blockade runner [Giraffe], but my picket boat, in charge of Acting Master W[illiam] Earle, saw her pass between him and the shore, and came near being run over by her soon after discovering her. The boat was anchored in 12-feet of water on the western side of the channel, with the fort [Fort Fisher] bearing N.N.E., and the steamer passed between her and the beach, evidently having tracked the beach along, where, under cover of the dark land, she could not be seen a quarter of a mile off in the obscurity of the hour before daylight. . . . The Chocura was stationed at the Western Bar, the Monticello farther west, near the shore, and the Dacotah guarding the approaches to the bar. Yet neither vessel, with all their accustomed watchfulness, saw anything of the blockade runner, and it is with much chagrin that I am obliged thus to report a rebel success.

USS Forest Rose, Acting Master G. W. Brown, captured stern-wheel steamer Chippewa Valley with cargo of cotton at Island No. 63.

Commander Clary, USS Tioga, reported the capture of blockade running British schooner Avon with cargo including liquor near the Bahamas.

15 Rear Admiral Porter ordered Acting Lieutenant Robert Getty, USS Marmora: ''Proceed to Delta, the old Yazoo Pass, and report to Lieutenant Commander Watson Smith as part of his expedition. . . . If you meet any vessel taking in cotton below White River, seize vessel, cotton, and all, and leave her at White River. . . By this time, as Brigadier General Gorman remarked, secrecy was "out of the question," and it had become necessary to prepare for a more extended expedition than had been originally anticipated.

USS Sonoma, Commander Stevens, captured brig Atlantic, bound from Havana to Matamoras.

16 President Lincoln, greatly interested in the naval assault on Charleston, reviewed plans for the attack with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox.

17 Rear Admiral Porter wrote Secretary Welles: "I have reason to believe that the enemy's troops at Port Hudson are in a strait for want of provisions, and if pushed by General [Nathan P.] Banks' troops that fort will fall into our hands. It is situated in a swampy, muddy region 60 miles from any railroad, and the rains, which have exceeded anything I ever saw in my life, have rendered hauling by wagon impossible. Our vessels above them cut off all hope of supply or aid of any kind from Red River and they must, in a short time, make a retreat. . ." Porter's estimate was overly optimistic. Loss of Queen of the West and other events to follow would re-open the Red River supply line so that Port Hudson sustained its position into the summer of 1863.

Confederate troops captured and burned U.S. tug Hercules opposite Memphis. The Confederates attempted to seize seven coal barges at the same place, but were unable to "run them off,'' according to Captain McGehee, commanding the Southern force, "owing to the terrific fire from the gunboats which were lying at the Memphis wharf."

18 USS Victoria, Acting Lieutenant Edward Hooker, captured brig Minna near Shallotte Inlet, North Carolina, with cargo of salt and drugs.

Cutter from USS Somerset, Lieutenant Commander Alexander F. Crosman, captured blockade runner Hortense, bound from Havana to Mobile.

19 The Confederate Navy Department made a decision to mount an expedition to attempt to destroy the Union monitors at Charleston. Secretary Mallory sent the following orders to Lieutenant William A. Webb, CSN, for a strike against the Northern forces: ''Should it be deemed advisable to attack the enemy's fleet by boarding, the following suggestions are recommended for your consideration: . . . First-Row-boats and barges, of which Charleston can furnish a large number. Second-Small steamers, two or three to attack each vessel. Third-the hull of a single-decked vessel without spars, divided into several watertight compartments by cross bulk-heads, and with decks and hatches tight, may have a deckload of compressed cotton so placed on either side, and forward and aft, so as to leave a space fore and aft in the centre. A light scaffold to extend from the upper tier of cotton ten or fifteen feet over the side, and leading to the enemy's turret when alongside the ironclad, and over which it can be boarded, at the same time that boarding would be done from forward and aft. This could be made permanent or to lower at will. The boarding force to be divided into parties of tens and twenties, each under a leader. One of these parties to be prepared with iron wedges, to wedge between the turret and the deck; a second party to cover the pilot house with wet blankets; a third party of twenty to throw powder down the smoke-stack or to cover it; another party of twenty provided with turpentine or camphine in glass vessels to smash over the turret, and with an inextinguishable liquid fire to follow it; another party of twenty to watch every opening in the turret or deck, provided with sulphuretted cartridges, etc., to smoke the enemy out. Light ladders, weighing a few pounds only, could be provided to reach the top of the turret."

Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote of the blockade: ''No vessel has ever attempted to tun the blockade except by stealth at night which fully established internationally the effectiveness of the blockade-but it is not sufficient for our purpose, to keep out arms and keep in cotton-unfortunately our people have considered a total exclusion possible and the government at one time seemed to think so. A cordon of ships covering the are from Bulls Bay to Stono, some twenty-one miles moored together head and stern-would do it easy but that we have not the means to accomplish. I have forty ships of all classes, sometimes more never reaching fifty-a considerable number are incapable of keeping at sea or at outside anchorage-the wear and tear and ceaseless breaking of American machinery compared with English or even French now, keep a portion of the above always in here [Port Royal] repairing. If I had not induced the Department to establish a floating machine shop, which I had seen the French have in China, the blockade would have been a total failure. . . . Steam however is the new element in the history of blockades, which no one at first understands, as both sides have it-but it is all in favor of the runner-he chooses his time, makes his bound and rushes through, his only danger a chance shot-while the watcher has banked fires, has chains to slip, has guns to point and requires certainly fifteen minutes to get full way on his ship. It is wonderful how many we catch, how many are wrecked, there is another on the beach now with the sea breaking over her. . . "

CSS Retribution. Acting Master Power, captured brig Emily Fisher in West Indian waters.

20 USS Crusader, Acting Master Thomas I. Andrews, captured schooner General Taylor in Mobjack Bay, Virginia.

21 Lieutenant Commander W. Smith reported the readiness of his expedition to enter Yazoo Pass: ''Our party, consisting of the Chillicothe, Baron De Kalb, Marmora, Romeo, Forest Rose, S. Bayard (side-wheel towboat), and three barges of coal, containing 12,000, 10,000 and 5,000 bushels, are all snug at the entrance of Yazoo Pass, ready to go through the moment the stream is clear and the working boats get out of the way. A small army transport is to go through with us, with the excess of men over the 500, which the light-drafts will carry. . . . I expect the Signal from Memphis tonight. I am to receive the troops tomorrow. The difficulty in removing both Confederate placed and natural obstructions had slowed the proposed movement to a crawl.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned at sea ship Golden Eagle and bark Olive Jane. Of the former, Semmes wrote: "I had overhauled her near the termination of a long voyage. She had sailed from San Francisco, in ballast, for Howland's Island, in the Pacific; a guano island of which some adventurous Yankees had taken possession. There she had taken in a cargo of guano, for Cork. . . . This ship [Golden Eagle had buffeted the gales of the frozen latitudes of Cape Horn, threaded her pathway among its ice-bergs, been parched with the heats of the tropic, and drenched with the rains of the equator, to fall into the hands of her enemy, only a few hundred miles from her port. But such is the fortune of war. It seemed a pity, too, to destroy so large a cargo of a fertilizer that would else have made fields stagger under a wealth of grain. But those fields would have been the fields of the enemy, or if it did not fertilize his fields, its sale would pour a stream of gold into his coffers; and it was my business upon the high seas, to cut off, or dry up this stream of gold. . . . how fond the Yankees had become of the qualifying adjective, 'golden,' as a prefix to the names of their ships. I had burned the Golden Rocket, the Golden Rule, and the Golden Eagle."

USS Thomas Freeborn, Lieutenant Commander Samuel Magaw, and USS Dragon, Acting Master George E. Hill, engaged a Confederate battery below Fort Lowry, Virginia, while reconnoitering the Rappahannock River. Freeborn was struck and one Confederate gun was silenced.

23 Boat crews from Coast Survey schooners Caswell, William H. Dennis, and Arago, William S. Edwards, hoarded and seized blockade running schooner Glide, aground near Little Tybee Island, Georgia, with cargo of cotton. Possession of the prize was relinquished to USS Marblehead, Lieutenant Commander Robert V. Scott, upon her arrival at the scene.

USS Dacotah, Captain Sands, and USS Monticello, Lieutenant Commander Daniel Braine, closed Fort Caswell, North Carolina, to engage a large steamer attempting to run the blockade. The fort opened on the Union ships and an exchange of fire ensued; the steamer was out of range of the Union warships.

USS Potomska, Acting Lieutenant William Budd, captured blockade running British schooner Belle in Sapelo Sound, Georgia, with cargo of coffee and salt.

USS Kinsman, Acting Lieutenant Wiggen, transporting a detachment of troops, struck a snag and sank in Berwick Bay, Louisiana. Six men were reported missing.

24 CSS William H. Webb and Queen of the West, with CSS Beatty in company, engaged USS Indianola, Lieutenant Commander G. Brown, below Wartenton, Mississippi. The Confederate squadron, under Major Joseph L. Brent, CSA, had reached Grand Gulf just 4 hours behind the Northern vessel which was returning upstream to communicate with Rear Admiral Porter above Vicksburg. Knowing his speed was considerably greater than that of Indianola, Brent determined to attempt overtaking the ironclad and attacking her that night Shortly before 10 pm. the Con-federate vessels were seen from Indianola and Brown "immediately cleared for action. . . Queen of the West opened the action, attempting to ram the Indianola; she knifed into the coal barge lashed to the ship's port side and cut it in two but did little damage to Indianola. Webb dashed up and rammed Indianola at full speed. The impact swung Indianola around; Queen of the West again struck only a glancing blow. Queen of the West maneuvered into a position to ram, this time astern, and succeeded in shattering the framework of the starboard wheelhouse and loosening iron plating. At this time Webb completed circling upstream in order to gain momentum and rammed Indianola, crushing the starboard wheel, disabling the starboard rudder, and starting a number of leaks.

Being in what Brown termed "an almost powerless condition," Indianola was allowed to fill with water to assure her sinking, run on to the west bank of the river and surrendered to Lieutenant Colonel Frederick B. Brand of CSS Beatty, which had been "hovering round to enter the fight when an opportunity offered." Loss of Indianola was keenly felt. Secretary Welles wrote Porter: ''The disastrous loss of the Indianola may, if she has not been disabled, involve the most serious results to the fleet below.'' Porter expressed the view: "The importance of this move to our army here can not be estimated. We had already broken the communications of the enemy in Texas with Vicksburg and Port Hudson. We had cut off all supplies and means of transportation, having destroyed some of their best boats. In a week more the water would have surrounded Port Hudson, and there being no means of getting away, they would have been obliged to evacuate in time. We hoped in a short time to force this thing by getting one or two more gunboats below, and troops enough to land close to Port Hudson. That place evacuated, General Banks could have ascended the river. . . . There is no use to conceal the fact, but this has in my opinion, been the most humiliating affair that has occurred during this rebellion. My only hope is that she has blown up." This ended Porter's move to blockade the Red River by detached vessels while he kept the body of the fleet above Vicksburg. The South also held Queen of the West and had bright prospects for raising Indianola and placing her in a serviceable condition.

A deserter from Confederate receiving ship Selma gave the following information about submarine experiments and operations being conducted by Horace L. Hunley, James R. McClintock, B. A. Whitney, and others, at Mobile, where the work was transferred following the fall of New Orleans to Rear Admiral Farragut: ''On or about the 14th an infernal machine, consisting of a submarine boat propelled by a screw which is turned by hind, capable of holding five persons. and having a torpedo which was to be attached to the bottom of the vessel, left Fort Morgan at 8 p.m. in charge of a Frenchman who invented it. The invention was to come up at Sand Island, get the bearing and distance of the neatest vessel.'' He added that this failed but that other attempts would be made. This submarine went down in rough weather off Fort Morgan, but no lives were lost. Hunley and his colleagues built another in the machine shop of Park and Lyons, Mobile; this was to be the celebrated H. P. Hunley, the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel in combat.

Cutters from USS Mahaska, Lieutenant Elliot C. V. Blake, captured and destroyed sloop Mary Jane and barge Ben Bolt in Back Creek, York River, Virginia.

USS State of Georgia, Commander James F. Armstrong, seized blockade running British schooner Annie at sea off Cape Romain, South Carolina, with cargo of salt and drugs.

Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey, commanding the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, reported the capture of schooner Stonewall by USS Tahoma, Lieutenant Commander A. A. Semmes, near Key West.

24-25 USS Conemaugh, Lieutenant Commander Thomas H. Eastman, chased blockade running British steamer Queen of the Wave aground neat the mouth of the North Santee River, South Carolina. Unable to get Queen of the Wave off the bar, he destroyed her on 7 March.

25 The light draft gunboat expedition entered Yazoo Pass after a lengthy delay while Army troops cleared away obstructions in the river. Reporting to Rear Admiral Porter the next day, Lieu-tenant Commander W. Smith briefly noted some of the difficulties encountered: "If we get through this with our casemates still up and wheels serviceable, it will be as much as can reasonably be expected. There is about room for one of your tugs handled skillfully. Our speed is necessarily less than the current, as backing is our only and constant resort against dangers and to pass the numerous turns. This gives every vagrant log a chance to foul our wheels, and as many do foul them; delays are frequent. Our damages so far, though not serious, are felt.''

Confederates worked feverishly to raise ex-USS Indianola. CSS Queen of the West was sent up river to Vicksburg to obtain a pump and other materials, but soon was seen returning below Warrenton. She brought news of a large Union "gunboat" passing the Vicksburg batteries and approaching the small Confederate squadron. According to Colonel Wirt Adams, CSA, "All the vessels at once got underway in a panic, and proceeded down the river, abandoning without a word the working party and fieldpieces on the wreck." He continued: "The Federal vessel did not approach nearer than 2,'2 miles, and appeared very apprehensive of attack."
After making further fruitless efforts to free Indianola of water, the next evening the working patty fired the heavy XI-inch Dahlgren guns into each other and burned her to the water line. The Union ruse had worked. The "gunboat" was a barge, camouflaged to give the appearance of a formidable vessel of war that Rear Admiral Porter had floated down river. A Confederate paper reported bitterly: "The Yankee barge sent down the river last week was reported to be an ironclad gunboat. The authorities, thinking that this monster would retake the Indianola, immediately issued an order to blow her up. . . . It would really seem we had no use for gunboats on the Mississippi, as a coal barge is magnified into a monster, and our authorities immediately order a boat that would have been worth a small army to us to be blown up.

USS Vanderbilt, Acting Lieutenant Charles H. Baldwin, seized blockade running British steamer Peterhoff off St. Thomas. An international dispute arose as to the disposition of the mails carried on board the steamer, and eventually Lincoln ruled that they should be returned to the British. Though Peterhoff was initially condemned as a lawful prize, some four years later this decision was reversed.

27 CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and released on bond ship Washington in the mid-Atlantic. Semmes noted: "She was obstinate, and compelled me to wet the people on her poop, by the spray of a shot, before she would acknowledge that she was beaten."

28 USS Montauk, Commander Worden, supported by USS Wissahickon, Seneca, and Dawn, shelled and destroyed blockade runner Rattlesnake, formerly CSS Nashville, lying under the guns of Fort McAllister in the Ogeechee River. For some 8 months Rattlesnake had been lying at the fort, awaiting an opportunity to run the blockade. The day before (27 February), Worden had noticed Rattlesnake's renewed movements above McAllister; subsequent reconnaissance indicated that the vessel had grounded. "Believing that I could, by approaching close to he battery," Worden reported, "reach and destroy her with my battery, I moved up at daylight this morning. . . The Union squadron found Rattlesnake still aground, and, under heavy fire from the fort, began bombarding her. The gunboats contributed enfilading fire from long range. Within 20 minutes Rattlesnake was aflame. Montauk dropped down river about 8:30 and struck a torpedo. The explosion-described by her Second Assistant Engineer, Thomas A. Stephans, as "violent, sudden" – fractured the iron hull and caused sufficient damage to warrant running Montauk onto a mud bottom to effect repairs. About 9:30, Rattlesnake's magazine ignited and the vessel blew up "with terrific violence, shattering her smoking ruins." Thus occurred the "final disposition," as Worden wrote, "of a vessel which has so long been in the minds of the public as a troublesome pest.

The Navy portion of the expedition through Yazoo Pass reached the Coldwater River and spent the next 2 days (through 2 March) waiting for the Army transports to join up. The time was utilized in making repairs on damaged smokestacks and wheels, in readying the rams Fulton and Lioness which, along with gunboat USS Petrel, had joined on the 28th, and in collecting bales of cotton for protecting the bulwarks of the vessels.

USS Wyandank, Acting Master Andrew J. Frank, captured schooners Vista and A.W. Thompson at Piney Point, Virginia.

USS New Era, Acting Ensign Hanford, seized steamer Curlew, at Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River.

March 1863

2 Rear Admiral Farragut wrote Secretary Welles from New Orleans: “I have recently seen person from Mobile, and they all concur in their statement that provisions are very high, and very scarce even at those high figures. Flour, $100 per barrel; bacon and meat of every kind, $1 per pound; meal, $20 per sack.� Farragut, chaffing under the relative inactivity of “doing nothing but blockading,� also advised the Secretary of his planned operations, writing that he would attack Galveston as soon as there were sufficient troops. “At present,� he added, “I am all ready to make an attack on or run the batteries at Port Hudson, so as to form a junction with the army and navy above Vicksburg. . . . The army of General Banks will attack by land or make a reconnaissance in force at the same time that we run the batteries. . . . My first objective will be destroy the boats and cut off the supplies from the Red River. We expect to move in less than a week. I shall take the four ships, Hartford, Mississippi, Richmond, and Monongahela, and the three gunboats and the Brooklyn, if she arrives in time.�

Amidst the ever-present difficulties of command on the western rivers, Rear Admiral Porter found time to be concerned with the well being of private citizens. He instructed Lieutenant Commander Selfridge, USS Conestoga: “Mrs Twiddy, at Wilson and Mitchell’s Landing, Bolivar, has 130 bales of cotton which she is desirous of sending to Cairo. This cotton must be seized that same as all other cotton and turned over to the civil authorities at Cairo, and, after it has been sold, Mrs Twiddy can, by proving her loyalty to the Government, receive the value for it. She also has permission to go up to Cairo herself and take all her effects. If it is necessary, a gunboat will protect her self and property. When she is ready to go she will hoist a white flag, but you had better run down there occasionally and she how she is getting on. You will make a full report to me of all the particulars of this case. . . .� Three weeks later, USS Bragg took Mrs Twiddy, her cotton, and her personal effects to Cairo.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and burned at sea ship John A. Parks, after transferring on board Alabama provisions and stores. Semmes remarked that this capture threw Alabama’s carpenter into “ecstacies� since the cargo included white pine lumber; “. . . if I had not put out some restraint on my zealous officer of the adze and chisel, I believe he would have converted the Alabama into a lumberman.�

Surgeon Ninian Parker, USN, informed Porter that he had succeeded, “After a most fatiguing time,� in obtaining the Commercial Hotel in New Orleans for use by the Navy as a hospital. “It is,� he reported, “admirably located and well adapted for hospital purposes.� Such facilities, together with the hospital ship Red Rover, greatly increased the Navy’s capability to care for the sick and injured in the fleet.

3 Ironclads USS Passaic, Nahant, and Patapsco, with three mortar boats and gunboats USS Seneca, Dawn, and Wissahickon, under Captain Drayton, again engaged Fort McAllister at Savannah for six hours. Rear Admiral Du Pont held that the series of engagements was vital “before entering upon more important operations.�—the assault on Charleston. Du Pont wanted to subject the ironclads to the stresses and strains of battle, as well as give the crews additional gunnery practice.

Lieutenant Commander W. Smith’s Yazoo Pass expedition moved down the Coldwater River. “We are advancing but slowly,� he reported/ “This stream is not so much wider or clearer than the pass as to make much difference in either speed or the amount of damage inflicted on these vessels. Our hull has suffered as much today as on any day yet. We can only advance with the current; faster than that brings us foul. Our speed is not more than 1½ miles per hour, if that. Wheels and stacks have escaped through care, but with over 200 feet above water, and less than three in it, without steerageway, light winds play with us, bringing the sides and trees in rough contact. I imagine that the character of this navigation is different from what was expected. We will get through in fighting condition, but so much delayed that all the advantages of a surprise to the rebels will have been lost.�

Commenting on the loss of Indianola the preceding month, Assistant Secretary Fox wrote Du Pont: “These disasters must come, they are sure to follow a long course of uninterrupted success and we will look at them at the Department with a determination that they shall not lead us to doubt either ultimate victory or the brave officers and men who will surely win it.�

Rear Admiral Porter wrote Fox from above Vicksburg: “here is delightful concert here between the Army and Navy. Grant and Sherman are on board almost every day. . . . we agree in everything, and they are disposed to do everything for us they can, they are both able men, and I hope sincerely for the sake of the Union that nothing may occur to make a change here.�

Boat crew under Acting Master’s Mate George Drain from USS Matthew Vassar destroyed a large boat at Little River Inlet, North Carolina. Proceeding up the western branch of the river to destroy salt works, the boat grounded and the crew was captured by Confederate troops.

4 USS James S. Chambers, Acting Master Luther Nickerson, seized blockade running Spanish sloop Relampago and schooner Ida. The schooner, beached at Sanibel Island, Florida, when she could not escape, was destroyed by the crew of James S. Chambers.

5 The Yazoo Pass expedition neared the junction of the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers. Lieutenant Commander Smith reported: “The river is clearer, and we make better speed. If we reach the Tallahatchie this evening, which our advance may do, our total distance from Delta will be but 50 miles, not 6 miles per day. . . I hope to make better speed from this time through.� The next evening found Smith’s forces some 12 miles down the Tallahatchie, where he was compelled to leave USS Petrel because of damages to her wheel; Petrel was reported once again “in line� on the 10th after rapid repairs.

Captain Sands, USS Dacotah, reported the appearance at New Inlet, on the Cape Fear River, of a Confederate ironclad. “I would feel somewhat more at ease,� he wrote Rear Admiral S. P. Lee, “if we had an ironclad at each of these main inlets to Cape Fear River, to fend off an attack upon the wooden vessels by this Confederate ram, although, without such aid, we will do our best to prevent its success. But without some such assistance the blockade may be at any time broken by even this single yet formidable (because ironclad) ram.� Sands later reported that the ram had had to return inside the Cape Fear River “because she could not stand the sea.�

USS Lockwood returned to New Bern, North Carolina, from an expedition up the Pungo River where a bridge was destroyed, “which the enemy had built to facilitate the removal of the products from that section into the interior,� and some arms, stores, and a small schooner were captured.

USS Aroostook, Lieutenant Commander Samuel R. Franklin, chased blockade running sloop Josephine, forced her aground near Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay, and, with USS Pocahontas, Lieutenant Commander Gamble, destroyed her by gunfire.

6 Major General Hunter wrote Rear Admiral Du Pont, requesting naval support for “an important mission in the southerly part of this department [the Union Army’s Department of the South].� On the 10th, USS Norwich and Uncas convoyed the troop transports up the St. John’s River where the soldiers were landed and again occupied Jacksonville, Florida. Commander James M. Duncan reported: “In the afternoon of that day some skirmishing took place outside of the town, upon which I threw several shell in the supposed direction of the enemy, which very soon dispersed them. During the next day,� he added cryptically, “another skirmish took place with the like result.�

CSS Florida, Lieutenant Maffitt, captured and fired ship Star of Peace bound from Calcutta to Boston with cargo of saltpeter and hides.

7 The capture of blockade runners caused Rear Admiral S. P. Lee, commanding the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, a shortage of officers. “Owing to the increase of blockade runners off the coasts of North Carolina, and frequent captures made of them, I would request that six officers capable of taking charge of prizes may be ordered to this squadron. The vessels blockading off Cape Fear are greatly in want of them, owing to the number that have heretofore sent away in prizes, which leaves our vessels very deficient in officers.�

8 USS Sagamore, Lieutenant Commander English, captured sloop Enterprise bound from Mosquito Inlet, Flrida, to Nassau with cargo of cotton.

9 Commander Pennock, Fleet Captain of the Mississippi Squadron, informed Lieutenant Commander Fitch, USS Lexington, of reports of proposed Confederate action along the Tennessee: “You will have to keep a good watch soon on the Tennessee River. The enemy’s plan is to fall back upon Tennessee with all the forces they can raise, and deal Rosecrans a crushing blow. Now we must keep all the vessels you can spare up the Tennessee as high as they can go. The chance is the enemy will cross over somewhere as high up as Decatur [Alabama]. At all events get all the information you can, and be ready to meet then . . . I do not think the rebels will attempt to cross into Tennessee if we have two boats at Decatur, another at Waterloo. Both these points command important railroads. . . The time has come when we must begin to drive the rebels off the banks of the Tennessee.� Though the low water in the river did not allow the gunboats to go up the Tennessee as far as Decatur, by the 14th Rear Admiral Porter informed Secretary Welles: “The entire Mississippi banks have been alive with guerillas, and we have successfully guarded every point and driven them; and my object is to keep them away. As fast as the vessels are bought and fitted they are now sent to the Cumberland and Tennessee. We are doing all we can for General Rosecrans, and will, as heretofore done, keep him supplied. The only trouble is want of men. We can get the vessels faster than we can get crews.�

USS Bienville, Commander J. R. Madison Mullany, captured schooner Lightning south of Port Royal with cargo of coffee and salt.

USS Quaker City, Commander Frailey, seized British blockade runner Douro bound from Wilmington to Nassau with cargo of cotton, turpentine, and tobacco.

10 USS Chillicothe, Lieutenant Commander James P. Forten, destroyed a large bridge, a sawmill, and a flat-bottomed boat on the Tallahatchie River above Fort Pemberton, Mississippi. Earlier that afternoon Confederate steamer Thirty-fifth Parallel was destroyed to prevent her capture by the Union forces. According to Commander I. N. Brown, CSN, former commander of CSS Arkansas who had been on board the steamer Thirty-fifth Parallel, “from the extreme narrowness of the stream, ran into the woods and disabled herself, so that, to save falling into the hands of the enemy, I ordered her burned, which was done as the enemy came in sight.�

USS Gem of the Sea, Acting Lieutenant Irving B. Baxter, captured and destroyed sloop Petee attempting to run the blockade at Indian River Inlet, Florida, with cargo of salt.

11 The Yazoo Pass expedition’s first attack on Fort Pemberton, Mississippi, on the Tallahatchie River, commenced. Pemberton was a cotton and earthwork mounting a heavy Whitworth rifle, four other cannon, and several field pieces. USS Chillicothe, Lieutenant Commander J. P. Foster, was damaged by two shots from the fort, which was engaged at a range of 800 yards. Late in the afternoon, Chillicothe renewed the engagement, followed by USS Baron de Kalb, Lieutenant Commander J. G. Walker. Under heavy fire, the vessels were compelled to withdraw once again. Chillicothe had one gun crew “rendered perfectly useless, three men being killed outright, one mortally wounded, and ten others seriously wounded, while five of the gun’s crew had their eyes filled with powder. This occurred in this way: One of the enemy’s largest shell penetrated the port slide (three inches thick) and struck the tulip of the Chillicothe’s port gun, and, exploding, ignited her shell just after it was in the muzzle of her port gun, and it not being home exploded at or about the muzzle, carrying away the two forward port slides, weighing 3,200 pounds, and a portion of the turret’s backing, and tearing the bolts out of a large space of the armor, besides setting the cotton on fire that had been placed forward of the turret after the reconnaissance of the morning.� Finding it difficult to bring more than one vessel’s guns to bear on the fort, in front of which CSS St. Philip (formerly steamer Star of the West) had been sunk as an obstruction, Lieutenant Commander W. Smith had a 30 pound Parrot gun moved on shore from USS Rattler “to annoy the rebel’s best gun at about 600 yards.� The following day was spent in repairing Chillicothe and readying an additional Parrot gun ashore.

Assistant Secretary Fox wrote Rear Admiral Du Pont, stressing the importance of the impending attack on Charleston: “The French Minister told the Chairman of Foreign Relations in the Senate that he was officially advised by his Consul at Charleston that thirty steamers had entered that port since January 1st and that trade was greater between Charleston and foreign ports than it had ever been before since the city was in existence.�

12 Rear Admiral Farragut, in his flagship USS Hartford, arrived at Baton Rouge to make the final preparations for the passage of Port Hudson. Three days earlier he had ordered USS Richmond, Captain James Alden, to proceed to Baton Rouge and await him. He stationed USS Essex, Genesee, and Albatross, as well as the mortar boats, at the head of Profit Island and issued instructions warning against possible boarding by Confederates.

USS Kittatinny, Acting Master Charles W. Lamson, captured D. Sargent bound from Galveston to Honduras with cargo of cotton.

13 USS Chillicothe, Lieutenant Commander J. P. Foster, and USS Baron de Kalb, Lieutenant Commander J. G. Walker, and a mortar schooner, reengaged the Confederate works at Fort Pemberton as the Yazoo Pass expedition attempted to move down the Tallahatchie River to Greenwood, Mississippi. In action described by Walker as “sever,� Chillicothe sustained 38 hits in an exchange of fire lasting about an hour and a half. Her ammunition exhausted, Chillicothe retired; de Kalb continued to engage the fort for some three more hours before withdrawing. Lieutenant Colonel James H. Wilson, USA, remarked: “The rebel position is a strong one by virtue of the difficulties of approach.� The gunboats were unable to bring their full firepower to bear on the works, and the Army was unable to render effective assistance. Thus, though the fort was damaged by the attack, the follow-up operations could not be pressed to force withdrawal.

Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote Professor Alexander D. Bache of the Coast Survey with reference to the projected Charleston attack and the ironclads: “We are steadily preparing for the great experiment, to see whether 20 guns, counting one broadside of the Ironsides, can silence or overcome some hundreds. I am not without hope, but would have more, were it not for the obstructions—unfortunately the Army can give us no assistance. I did a very wise thing, though I think not many persons in my place would have done it—in trying the ironclads, four of them at least, against a live target in the shape of Fort McAllister. The experience has been invaluable, for they were wholly unfit to go into action—some things are not encouraging as they might be, but it is a great thing to know your tools, forewarned, etc. Then Dahlgren writes the life of his fifteen inch [gun] is 300 [firings]! This is about the worst thing yet—for I look for such pounding as done to the Montauk, today, by the torpedo—it is bad and hard to mend—but we can, we think, close the leak from the inside for the present. Our papers instructed the rebels at what spot to aim at and they did exactly but I have sent for more iron—all this, entre nous—I thought you would like a few words on the subject. One word more—nothing is more difficult for me to explain than the indisposition on the part of the inventors, who are often men of genius to wish to exclude from all knowledge or participation, the very people who are to use and give effect to their instruments and inventions. I saw an amendment today to a Senate bill to exclude the submitting of some plans for iron ships to Navy officers! Now if Mr. Ericcson could have had such men as Drayton and John Rodgers at his elbow from the beginning, these vessels would have been much better to handle.�

CSS Florida, Lieutenant Maffit, captured and burned ship Aldebran, from New York, near 29°N, 51°W, with cargo of provisions and clocks.

USS Huntsville, Acting Lieutenant William C. Rodgers, seized blockade running British schooner Surprise off Charlotte Harbor, Florida, bound for Havana with cargo of cotton.

USS Octorara, Commander Collins, seized blockade running British schooner Florence Nightingale with cargo of cotton in North East Passage Channel, Nahama Islands.

13-14 Confederate troops launched a surprise night attack against Fort Anderson on the Neuse River, North Carolina. Union gunboats USS Hunchback, Hetzel, Ceres, and Shawsheen, supported by a revenue cutter and an armed schooner, forced the Confederates to break off their heavy assault and withdraw. Colonel Jonathan S. Belknap, USA, wrote Commander Henry K. Davenport: “Your well-directed fire drove the enemy from the field; covered the landing of the Eighty-fifth New York, sent to the relief of the garrison, and the repulse of the rebel army was complete. Allow me, commodore, in the name of the officers and men of my command, to express my admiration of the promptitude and skill displayed by your command on that occasion. The Army is proud of the Navy.�

14 Rear Admiral Farragut with his squadron of seven ships attacked the strong Confederate works at Port Hudson, attempting to effect passage. With typical thoroughness, the Admiral had inspected his squadron the day before “to see that all arrangements had been made for battle,� and consulted with Major General Banks. His general order for the passage had previously been written and distributed to each commanding officer. Just before the attack, Farragut held a conference with the commanders on board the flagship and then received word from General Banks that he was in position and ready to begin an attack ashore in support of the passage. The mortars had begun to fire. Shortly after 10pm, the fleet was underway, the heavier ships, Hartford, Richmond, and Monongahela to the inboard or fort side of the smaller Albatross, Genesee, and Kineo. Mississippi brought up the rear. Moving up the river “in good style,� Hartford, with Albatross lashed alongside, weathered the hail of shot from the batteries. Major General Franklin Gardner, commanding at Fort Hudson, noted: “She returned our fire boldly.� Passing the lower batteries, the current nearly swung the flagship around and grounded her, “but,� Farragut reported, “backing the Albatross, and going ahead strong on this ship, we at length headed her up the river.� Though able to bring only two guns to bear on the upper batteries, Farragut successfully passed those works. Following the flagship closely, Richmond took a hit in her steam plant, disabling her. “The turning point [in the river] was gained,� Commander Alden reported, “but I soon found, even with the aid of the Genesee, which vessel was lashed alongside, that we could make no headway against the strong current of the river, and suffering much from a galling crossfire of the enemy’s batteries, I was compelled though most reluctantly, to turn back, and by the aid of the Genesee soon anchored out of range of their guns.� Next in line, Monongahela ran hard aground under Port Hudson’s lower batteries where she remained for nearly half an hour, taking severe punishment. At least eight shots passed entirely through the ship. The bridge was shot from underneath Captain James P. McKinstry, injuring him and killing three others. With Kineo’s aid, Monongahela was floated and attempted to resume her course upriver. “We were nearly by the principal battery,� Lieutenant Nathaniel W. Thomas, executive officer, wrote, “when the crank pin of the forward engine was reported heated, and the engine stopped, the chief engineer reporting that he was unable to go ahead.� The ship became unmanageable and drifted downstream, where she anchored out of range of the Confederate guns. Meanwhile, on board USS Mississippi, Captain Melancthon Smith saw Richmond coming downstream but, because of the heavy smoke of the pitched battle, was unable to sight Monongahela. Thinking she had steamed ahead to close the gap caused by Richmond’s leaving the line ahead formation, he ordered his ship “go ahead fast� to close the supposed gap. In doing so, Mississippi ran aground and despite every effort could not be brought off. After being fired in four places, she was abandoned. At 3am, Mississippi was seen floating in flames slowly down river; 2½ hours later, she blew up, “producing an awful concussion which was felt for miles around.� Lieutenant George Dewey, destined to become hero of Manila Bay in 1898, was First Lieutenant of Mississippi. Thus ended one of the war’s fiercest engagements; only Hartford and Albatross had run the gauntlet.

Rear Admiral Porter, “having made arrangements with General Grant by which the army could cooperate with us� as the Yazoo Pass expedition faltered, launched the difficult and hazardous Steel’s Bayou, Mississippi, expedition aimed at gaining entrance to the Yazoo River for the purpose of taking Vicksburg from the rear. The expedition—comprising USS Louisville, Cincinnati, Carondelet, Pittsburg, Mound City, four mortars and four tugs—made its way to Black Bayou, “a place about four miles long leading into Deer Creek.� At that point further progress was impeded by the dense forest. Porter set his men to clearing the way by pulling up the trees or pushing them over with the ironclads. “It was terrible work,� he reported to Welles, “but in twenty-four hours we succeeded in getting through these four miles and found ourselves in Deer Creek, where we were told there would be no difficulties.�

Boat crews under Acting Master Andrews, commanding USS Crusader, on an expedition to Milford Haven, Virginia, destroyed a blockade running schooner without cargo.

15 Armed boats from USS Cyane, Lieutenant Commander Paul Shirley, boarded and seized schooner J.P. Chapman, preparing to get underway from San Francisco. J.P. Chapman was suspected of having been outfitted as a Confederate commerce raider. She was found to have a crew of four, and below decks 17 more men were concealed together with a cargo of guns, ammunition, and other military stores. Shirley reported that he discharged the cargo and confined the prisoners on Alcatraz.

CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and released on bond ship Punjab, from Calcutta for London, northeast of Brazil.

The Singer Submarine Corps (a.k.a. the Secret Service Corps) is founded in the South. McClintock, Baxter, and Hunley join the organization three weeks later.

16 USS Chillicothe, Lieutenant Commander J. P. Foster, resumed the attack on Fort Pemberton, Mississippi. In a brief engagement, the gunboat was struck eight times which rendered her guns unworkable and forced her to retire. Foster reported: “The Chillicothe’s loss on the 11th, 13th, and today is 22 killed, wounded and drowned.� Next day, the Yazoo Pass expedition fell back, and no further major effort was mounted against the Confederate position. The Army was unable to land because the country was flooded. Brigadier General Isaac F. Quimby shortly ordered the troops withdrawn and on 10 April the Confederate defenders could report “Yazoo Pass expedition abandoned.� Rear Admiral Porter analyzed the results of the undertaking: Although some cotton was taken, “the result was a failure in the main object. The enemy burned two large steamers (Parallel and Magnolia) loaded with cotton . . . built two formidable forts, Pemberton and Greenwood on the Tallahatchie and Yallabusha [sic], and blocked the way effectually. General Pemberton showed a great deal of ability in his defense of Vicksburg, all through, and won the respect of his opponents by his zeal and fidelity to his cause, to say nothing of his spirit of endurance. But in nothing did he show more energy than in watching the Federal tactics, and guarding against all attempts made to turn his flanks, especially by way of the streams which would have commanded the approaches to Vicksburg if held by the enemy. Pemberton took care that these passes should never be left unguarded in the future.�

Reporting to Secretary Welles on the passage of Port Hudson, Rear Admiral Farragut wrote: “Concerning the Hartford, I cannot speak too highly of her captain, officers, and crew. All did their duty as far as came under my observation, and more courage and zeal I have never seen displayed. The officers set a good example to their men, and their greatest difficulty was to make them understand why they could not fire when the smoke was so dense that the pilot could not navigate. . . To the good firing of the ships we owe most of our safety, for, according to my theory, the best way to save yourself is to injure your adversary.� Welles replied: “The Department congratulates you and the officers of the Hartford upon the gallant passage of the Port Hudson batteries. . . Although the remainder of your fleet were not successful in following their leader, the Department can find no fault with them. All appear to have behaved gallantly, and to have done everything in their power to secure success. Their failure can only be charged to the difficulties in the navigation of the rapid current of the Mississippi, and matters over which they had no control.�

General Grant ordered troops under Major General W. T. Sherman to cooperate with Porter’s gunboats as the expedition attempted to force its way from Steele’s Bayou into the Yazoo River. “The ironclads,� Sherman noted, “push their way along unharmed, but the trees and overhanging limbs tear the wooden boats all to pieces.� The troops rendered great assistance to the ships in helping to clear Black Bayou and entangled obstructions.

USS Octorara, Commander Collins, seized sloop Rosalie and schooner Five Brothers with cargo of cotton at sea east of Florida.

18 USS Wissahickon, Lieutenant Commander John L. Davis, seized and destroyed steamer Georgiana attempting to run the blockade into Charleston with a valuable cargo including rifled guns. Georgiana was said to be pierced for 14 guns and earlier consular reports indicated that “she is an armed vessel intended for a cruise against our merchantmen.� Described as a swift vessel, she was termed “another confederate to the pirate Alabama.� Upon hearing of her fate, Secretary Welles wrote Rear Admiral Du Pont: “ I am exceedingly gratified with the confirmation of the destruction of the Georgiana. It would have been better would she have been captured but the fact that she is disposed of is a relief. We had serious apprehensions in regard to her. In disposing of both her and the Nashville you have rendered great service t our commerce, for had they got aboard they would have made sad havoc with our shipping. We shall have an account to settle with John Bull one of these days for this war which is being carried on against us by British capital and by Englishmen under the Confederate flag.�

19 Rear Admiral Farragut in USS Hartford, with USS Albatross in company, engaged Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf as the ships steamed up the Mississippi toward Vicksburg. After successfully passing the heavy Confederate works at Port Hudson, Farragut had proceeded to the mouth of the Red River on the 16th. Next day, he steamed up to Natchez, tearing down a portion of the telegraph lines to Port Hudson. He anchored for the night of the 18th below Grand Gulf and ran the batteries early the next morning, suffering eight casualties in the engagement. He came to anchor just below Warrenton, Mississippi, where, on the 20th, he communicated with Grant and Porter and sought replenishment of his coal supply.

Rear Admiral Porter reported that the Steele’s Bayou expedition had reached with 1½ miles of Rolling Fork, Mississippi. “Had the way been as good as represented to me, I should have been in Yazoo City by this time; but we have been delayed by obstructions which I did not mind much, and the little willows, which grow so thick that we stuck fast hundreds of times.� In a later summary report to Secretary Welles, Porter noted: “We had succeeded in getting well into the heart of the country before we were discovered. No one would believe that anything in the shape of a vessel could get through Black Bayou, or anywhere on the route.� As the gunboats continued to struggle against unfriendly natural hazards, Confederates felled trees to further obstruct the channel and sharpshooters took the ships under fire. To prevent additional obstructions being placed at Rolling Fork, Porter sent ashore two boat howitzers and 300 men under Lieutenant Commander John M. Murphy, USS Carondelet. However, with Confederate troop strength in the area growing and receiving reports of obstructions being placed ahead and trees being felled in his rear, Porter was shortly compelled to break off the attempt to reach the Yazoo in order to avoid complete entrapment.

Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote Assistant Secretary Fox: “We are hard at work on the ironclads. They require so much, and the injury of the Montauk is very great. I crawled on ‘all fours’ to see for myself. . . The Patapsco’s pumps are not yet in order. I had dispatched the Weehawken to Edisto this morning to establish our base of operations, but an equinoctial gale sent her back. I may send her to Savannah River in lieu. . . I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Keokuk. Her less draft than the others is very important. I think these monitors [Keokuk was a citadel ironclad, not a monitor] are wonderful contraptions, but, oh, the errors of detail, which would have been corrected if these men of genius could be induced to pay attention to the people who are to use their tools and inventions.�

USS Octorara, Commander Collins, seized blockade running British steamer John Williams near the Bahamas.

20 From below Warrenton, Rear Admiral Farragut sent the following message to General Grant and a similar one to rear Admiral; Porter: “Having learned that the enemy had the Red River trade open to Vicksburg and Port Hudson and that two of the gunboats of the upper fleet (Queen of the West and Indianola) had been captured, I determined to pass up and, if possible, recapture the boats and stop the Red River trade, and this I can do most effectively if I can obtain from Rear Admiral Porter or yourself coal for my vessels. . . I shall be most happy to avail myself of the earliest moment to have a consultation with yourself and Rear Admiral porter as to the assistance I can render at this place; and, if none, then I will return to the mouth of the Red River and carry out my original designs.� Porter replied: “I would not attempt to run the batteries at Vicksburg if I