USS Shawsheen or USS Commodore Barney?

rebelatsea said:

I've also discovered William Waud was a trained and qualified architect and a member of the guild. He must have reached a very high standard, as he was Joseph Paxton's assistant on the Crystal Palace and had also assisted Isambard Kingdom Brunel (also involved with the palace).

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That is an excellent point. Another remarkable individual was Sgt. Finegan of the Army of the Cumberland's topographic office. Sherman willingly held off the start date of the Atlanta Campaign so that "Finegan & his motley crew can finish their work."

He led an unlikely gaggle of individuals who sought out the local byways that appear on Sherman's map of Georgia.

An architect l, painter & enterprising scout, Sgt. Finegan's name is in the legend of many maps in the Official Atlas.

I was hoping to find an answer to my question in this thread. Any chance you guys could create a new one for the artists?

Moreover, after doing additional research, I think I've found my answer. This vessel was a New York ferry boat, probably the Commodore Barney, and could not have been the Shawsheen. The Shawsheen was NOT a New York ferry boat, and didn't have double ends like the ferry boats. She was a converted towboat/steam tug.

Without going into the controversy, I asked the new Google Gemini Argon about New York ferry boats, and when the Shawsheen was missing from the list, I asked:

What about the USS Shawsheen? Wasn't she a New York ferry boat?

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The answer that came, interestingly, covers the topic of this thread:

Strictly speaking, USS Shawsheen was not a converted ferryboat—according to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies (Series II, Vol. 1) and the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, she was a 180-ton wooden sidewheel steam tug and towboat built in New York City in 1855 as the Young America.

However, your question hits on one of the most persistent mix-ups in Civil War naval historiography: several 19th-century naval histories explicitly called Shawsheen a "New York steam ferryboat," and a famous print in the MOLLUS (Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States) photographic collection misidentifies a photograph of a converted double-ended New York ferryboat (almost certainly USS Commodore Barney) as the USS Shawsheen.

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And then the AI goes on to directly refute this image as the Shawsheen with sources:

2. Why Shawsheen Is Often Called a Ferryboat (The Photo & Source Trail)
Three overlapping factors caused veterans, 19th-century historians, and archivist captions to label Shawsheen a New York ferryboat:

A. The MOLLUS vs. NARA (B-182 / LoC 2013646197) Photograph Mix-Up
If you examine the well-known Civil War glass-plate photograph held by the Library of Congress (2013646197) and the National Archives (Mathew Brady series Photo No. B-182, Fold3 Image 260434062), the vessel in the image is unmistakably a double-ended New York ferryboat:

• She has symmetrical rounded ferry ends, heavy pivot guns mounted fore and aft, a high central superstructure with arched window/ventilator openings along the hurricane deck, plated bulwarks with broadside gunports, and a tall walking-beam frame amidships.
• In the National Archives / Brady catalog (<span>B-182</span>), the negative is captioned Gunboat "Commodore Barney".
• In the MOLLUS-Mass collection, however, a print of that exact same negative was mounted and captioned U.S.S. Shawsheen.
• Why the ship in the photo cannot be Shawsheen: The gunboat in print 2013646197 / B-182 carries at least four heavy ordnance pieces (including large pivot guns fore and aft) on a wide, 33-foot-beam double-ended ferry hull with armored casemate sides. Shawsheen was a 180-ton, 22.5-foot-beam tugboat armed with only two light 20-pounder Parrott rifles and had neither a double-ended hull nor broadside gunports for IX-inch Dahlgrens. The NARA B-182 attribution to USS Commodore Barney matches both the ship's architecture and her four-to-six-gun battery.

B. Turn-of-the-Century Naval & Regimental Histories
Because Shawsheen had sidewheel paddleboxes, an overhead walking-beam engine, and operated side-by-side with the converted New York ferries (Commodore Perry, Commodore Barney, Hunchback, Southfield, and Morse) from Burnside's 1862 Roanoke Island and Elizabeth City expeditions right through the 1864 James River campaign, soldiers and early historians assumed she was simply a "miniature" ferryboat.

• In his standard reference A History of the United States Navy from 1775 to 1902 (Vol. 2, p. 119), historian Edgar Stanton Maclay explicitly described Shawsheen as a "New York steam ferryboat, about one third of the size" of the larger gunboats.
• Augustus Woodbury's Major General Ambrose E. Burnside and the Ninth Army Corps similarly referred to her as a disabled ferryboat during her early service.

C. Her Loss on the James River the Day After USS Commodore Jones (May 6–7, 1864)
During Major General Benjamin F. Butler's Bermuda Hundred landings in May 1864, Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee used the nimble Shawsheen as his personal dispatch tender on the James River on May 6, 1864, before shifting his flag to USS Malvern.

• Around 2:00 PM on May 6, the converted Union Ferry Company boat USS Commodore Jones was blown to pieces by a 2,000-pound Confederate electric torpedo at Four Mile Creek while dragging for mines.
• The next morning, May 7, 1864, Lee ordered Shawsheen (temporarily commanded by Acting Ensign Charles Ringot) further upriver to Turkey Island Bend to search the banks for torpedo wires and keep watch near Curles Neck.
• Shortly before noon on May 7, while anchored close to shore at Turkey Island Bend, Shawsheen was ambushed by Confederate artillery under Major Alexander W. Stark (reinforced by infantry pickets). The very first salvos severed her rudder chains and pierced her steam drum and boiler, enveloping the tug in scalding steam. Unable to maneuver or reply effectively against masked field guns on the bluff, Ringot hauled down her colors. Confederate boarding parties took off her surviving crew as prisoners, stripped what they could, and burned Shawsheen to the water's edge.

Because Commodore Jones and Shawsheen were destroyed less than 24 hours apart while performing the same torpedo-sweeping duty on adjacent bends of the James River—resulting in Rear Admiral Lee's May 12, 1864 order creating Lieut. Roswell H. Lamson's specialized James River "Torpedo and Picket Division" (Stepping Stones, Delaware, and Tritonia)—many secondary narratives of the Bermuda Hundred campaign refer to both lost vessels as converted New York ferryboats.

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bschulte said:

Moreover, after doing additional research, I think I've found my answer. This vessel was a New York ferry boat, probably the Commodore Barney, and could not have been the Shawsheen. The Shawsheen was NOT a New York ferry boat, and didn't have double ends like the ferry boats. She was a converted towboat/steam tug.

Without going into the controversy, I asked the new Google Gemini Argon about New York ferry boats, and when the Shawsheen was missing from the list, I asked:

The answer that came, interestingly, covers the topic of this thread:

And then the AI goes on to directly refute this image as the Shawsheen with sources:

Click to expand...

The history of the USS Shawsheen is in the NavSource Photo Index 'Old Navy Steam & Sail Index' listing of every USN & CSA commissioned vessel from up thread. Read more here.

Link



USS Shawsheen Elementary Facts:

Sidewheel Tug:

• Built in 1855 at New York City
• Launched, date unknown
• Purchased by the US Navy at New York as Young America, 21 September 1861
• Commissioned USS Shawsheen, date unknown, Acting Lieutenant Edmund R. Colhoun was apparently placed in command.

(Much more follows)

Note: it is great fun to noddle around the NavSource Photo Index.

Rhea Cole said:

That is an excellent point. Another remarkable individual was Sgt. Finegan of the Army of the Cumberland's topographic office. Sherman willingly held off the start date of the Atlanta Campaign so that "Finegan & his motley crew can finish their work."

He led an unlikely gaggle of individuals who sought out the local byways that appear on Sherman's map of Georgia.

An architect l, painter & enterprising scout, Sgt. Finegan's name is in the legend of many maps in the Official Atlas.

Click to expand...

oDid he go on to a position as cartographer in what became the US Geological survey?#
Incidentally Waud became a Member of RIBA - Royal Insitute of British Archicts .

rebelatsea said:

oDid he go on to a position as cartographer in what became the US Geological survey?#
Incidentally Waud became a Member of RIBA - Royal Insitute of British Archicts .

Click to expand...

I am not entirely sure about his post war life. Nathan Finegan's papers are at the Ohio State Historical Society, but they haven't been digitized. The inventory indicates that it is extensive. What I have found about him speaks to a multitalented mind.

This paragraph from the following article about Sherman's maps refers to Finggen's motley crew, but not by Merrill's colorful moniker.

"Thanks to Capt. William Merrill, chief topographer of the Army of the Cumberland, Sherman got what he needed, and then some. By the summer of 1864 Merrill had assembled a crack team who continuously improved Union intelligence through fieldwork, traversing the land and collecting local knowledge. As a result they simply knew the terrain better than their counterparts, and mapped it with more detail, giving Sherman a decisive advantage as he closed in on Atlanta. These maps have been ably collected in the Sherman collection at the Library of Congress, and testify to the extraordinary work done by Merrill and his men, as well as by the Coast Survey, the primary federal mapping agency."

Link




This well worn L.O.C. map is an example of the information that Nathan Finegan's motley crew collected.

"A REMARKABLE UNION ARMY FIELD MAP, PRINTED FOR SHERMAN'S OPERATIONS IN GEORGIA. Capt. Merrill, Chief Topographical Engineer of the Army of the Cumberland, had his own complete establishment for map production — a printing press, lithographic presses, and draughtsmen. Equally importantly, Merrill's assistant Sgt. N. Finnegan developed an extraordinary body of intelligence, drawing on spies, prisoners, refugees, peddlers, itinerant preachers and scouts, what Merrill called "his motley crew". All of this information was digested by Merrill day by day, until he was notified that the campaign would begin within the week. At this point the topographers finished their work, and two hundred copies were produced, mounted on linen for field use, and distributed to field commanders down to the brigade level. In five months Merrill and his men had produced a remarkably accurate map of country that lay mostly behind enemy lines.

Sothebys

In the L.O.C. Civil War maps of Georgia collection are maps with colored pencil notations. Such maps were returned to the topographical unit & corrected maps issued via its efficient printing office."

Sothebys

This link to the Library of Congress collection of Civil War maps is one you want to keep.

Link


As this instant I can share more:

Well… I'll be switched! It has been a while since I tried to research Sgt. Fenigan. Apparently I am not the only person to find him interesting.

Link


Link


Link

Thanks for the interesting thread.

My second great grandmother was Texanna Barney. She was married to Thomas Jefferson Bishop of the 7th VA Cavalry. They both lived in the Back Creek Valley of Berkeley County VA/WV and are buried together at the Ganotown Methodist Church in the Back Creek Valley. Texanna was a distant relative of Commodore Joshua Barney, for whom the ship was named. He was from Baltimore and served in the Continental Navy in the Revolutionary War and reached the rank of commodore during the War of 1812. My mother proudly claimed him as our own - although he was fairly distantly related. (The son of my 6th great grandfather's brother)

All of my research agrees with the conclusion that the ship in the OP is not the USS Commodore Barney and the picture with the four sailors rowing away and the picture of the ship listing, is.

Thanks. I enjoyed reading this fascinating thread!

LCYingling3rd said:

Thanks for the interesting thread.

My second great grandmother was Texanna Barney. She was married to Thomas Jefferson Bishop of the 7th VA Cavalry. They both lived in the Back Creek Valley of Berkeley County VA/WV and are buried together at the Ganotown Methodist Church in the Back Creek Valley. Texanna was a distant relative of Commodore Joshua Barney, for whom the ship was named. He was from Baltimore and served in the Continental Navy in the Revolutionary War and reached the rank of commodore during the War of 1812. My mother proudly claimed him as our own - although he was fairly distantly related. (The son of my 6th great grandfather's brother)

All of my research agrees with the conclusion that the ship in the OP is not the USS Commodore Barney and the picture with the four sailors rowing away and the picture of the ship listing, is.

Thanks. I enjoyed reading this fascinating thread!

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Thanx, a great addition to our wandering thread… this is why I enjoy CWT posts so much.

bschulte said:

Moreover, after doing additional research, I think I've found my answer. This vessel was a New York ferry boat, probably the Commodore Barney, and could not have been the Shawsheen. The Shawsheen was NOT a New York ferry boat, and didn't have double ends like the ferry boats. She was a converted towboat/steam tug.

Without going into the controversy, I asked the new Google Gemini Argon about New York ferry boats, and when the Shawsheen was missing from the list, I asked:

The answer that came, interestingly, covers the topic of this thread:

And then the AI goes on to directly refute this image as the Shawsheen with sources:

Click to expand...

To me the vessel in question does not look double-ended. Wouldn't the paddle wheels be more centrally located, rather than much closer to the rear (which is rounded and not pointed like the prow)? I only see two guns, and the casement sides are wood, not armor plated. I also don't see the broadside gun ports the AI seems to be hallucinating. It looks much more like a converted tugboat than a converted ferry boat.

Miles Hai
seeingthecivilwar.com

MilesHai said:

To me the vessel in question does not look double-ended. Wouldn't the paddle wheels be more centrally located, rather than much closer to the rear (which is rounded and not pointed like the prow)? I only see two guns, and the casement sides are wood, not armor plated. I also don't see the broadside gun ports the AI seems to be hallucinating. It looks much more like a converted tugboat than a converted ferry boat.

Miles Hai
seeingthecivilwar.com

Click to expand...

From up thread NavSource Photo Index "Old Navy Steam & Sail" listing of every commissioned vessel in both navies.

USS Shawsheen Elementary Facts:

Sidewheel Tug:

• Built in 1855 at New York City
• Launched, date unknown
• Purchased by the US Navy at New York as Young America, 21 September 1861
• Commissioned USS Shawsheen, date unknown, Acting Lieutenant Edmund R. Colhoun was apparently placed in command

Rhea Cole said:

I am not entirely sure about his post war life. Nathan Finegan's papers are at the Ohio State Historical Society, but they haven't been digitized. The inventory indicates that it is extensive. What I have found about him speaks to a multitalented mind.

This paragraph from the following article about Sherman's maps refers to Finggen's motley crew, but not by Merrill's colorful moniker.

"Thanks to Capt. William Merrill, chief topographer of the Army of the Cumberland, Sherman got what he needed, and then some. By the summer of 1864 Merrill had assembled a crack team who continuously improved Union intelligence through fieldwork, traversing the land and collecting local knowledge. As a result they simply knew the terrain better than their counterparts, and mapped it with more detail, giving Sherman a decisive advantage as he closed in on Atlanta. These maps have been ably collected in the Sherman collection at the Library of Congress, and testify to the extraordinary work done by Merrill and his men, as well as by the Coast Survey, the primary federal mapping agency."

Link

Sherman's Maps

How the general used a surprisingly sophisticated set of data to plan his famous march across Georgia.

archive.nytimes.com

View attachment 592377
This well worn L.O.C. map is an example of the information that Nathan Finegan's motley crew collected.

"A REMARKABLE UNION ARMY FIELD MAP, PRINTED FOR SHERMAN'S OPERATIONS IN GEORGIA. Capt. Merrill, Chief Topographical Engineer of the Army of the Cumberland, had his own complete establishment for map production — a printing press, lithographic presses, and draughtsmen. Equally importantly, Merrill's assistant Sgt. N. Finnegan developed an extraordinary body of intelligence, drawing on spies, prisoners, refugees, peddlers, itinerant preachers and scouts, what Merrill called "his motley crew". All of this information was digested by Merrill day by day, until he was notified that the campaign would begin within the week. At this point the topographers finished their work, and two hundred copies were produced, mounted on linen for field use, and distributed to field commanders down to the brigade level. In five months Merrill and his men had produced a remarkably accurate map of country that lay mostly behind enemy lines.

Sothebys

In the L.O.C. Civil War maps of Georgia collection are maps with colored pencil notations. Such maps were returned to the topographical unit & corrected maps issued via its efficient printing office."

Sothebys

This link to the Library of Congress collection of Civil War maps is one you want to keep.

Link

https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-war-maps/about-this-collection/

As this instant I can share more:

Well… I'll be switched! It has been a while since I tried to research Sgt. Fenigan. Apparently I am not the only person to find him interesting.

Link

Sherman's Secret Weapon Was His Map Maven

William Merrill elevated cartography to a science that helped Union commanders win the war

historynet.com

Link

Major Merrill Elevates Mapmaking to Professional Process

On 14 August 1863, Maj. William E. Merrill, chief engineer for the Army of the Cumberland, issued an information map of the area of Cleveland, Tennessee, in preparation for a campaign against Chattanooga in the northern part of the state. The map represented a graphic terrain analysis for the...

www.dvidshub.net

Link

Nathan Finegan Maps | Ruderman Rare Maps

Browse antique maps and prints by Nathan Finegan. Rare and collectible cartography from Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps.

raremaps.com

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If that's a typical example of his crew's work the US Government missed a great opportunity if they didn't employ both Finnegan and his men post war.