- Joined
- Mar 31, 2012
- Location
- Central Ohio
Illustration of the attack on the Underwriter.
February 2, 1864: Early in the morning, a Confederate boat expedition planned and boldly led by Commander John Taylor Wood, CSN, captured and destroyed 4-gun sidewheel steamer U.S.S. Underwriter, Acting Master Jacob Westervelt, anchored in the Neuse River near New Bern, North Carolina. The boats had been shipped by rail from Petersburg, Virginia, to Kinston, North Carolina, and from there started down the Neuse. Wood, grandson of President Taylor and nephew of Jefferson Davis, silently approached Underwriter about 2:30 a.m. and was within 100 yards of the gunboat before the boats were sighted. Underwriter's guns could not be brought to bear in time, and the Confederates quickly boarded and took her in hand-to-hand combat, during which Westervelt was killed, Unable to move Underwriter because she did not have steam up, Wood destroyed her while under the fire of nearby Union batteries.
Expired Image Removed
John Taylor Wood
I haven't read enough about this man yet (I do have two books on my to-read shelf about him), but from what I know, he deserves the title of "Commando" at least as much, if not more, than William Barker Cushing does.
The taking of the Underwriter was also notable for the prominent part played by members of the Confederate Marine Corps. Wood later wrote Colonel Lloyd J. Beall, Commandant of the Confederate Marine Corps, commending the Marines who had taken part in the expedition: "Though their duties were more arduous than those of the others, they were always prompt and ready for the performance of all they were called upon to do. As a body they would be a credit to any organization, and I will be glad to be associated with them on duty at any time."
(Information from the Civil War Naval Chronology)
(Illustration from Ron Field's American Civil War Marines 1861-65, Osprey books)
Related thread:
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/cap...se-river-off-newbern-n-c-february-1864.27263/
Further reading:
http://civilwarexperience.ncdcr.gov/biographies/underwriter.htm
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/the-new-bern-raid/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
http://ns1763.ca/hfxrm/woodtaylor.html
Last edited:
Bringing the