Blockade Captures

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

04 Nov 1863

Texas. USS Virginia, Acting Lieutenant C H Brown, seized the blockade-running British schooner Matamoras at the mouth of the Rio Grande River with a cargo including shoes, axes, and spades for the Confederate Army.

1863 November 4th

November 4 1863 Wednesday Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Knoxville Campaign Averell’s Lewisburg Raid Rio Grande Expedition Second Bayou Teche Campaign Go to November 5 1863 Alabama. Skirmish…

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USS Virginia (Former British merchantman Pet, blockade runner Noe-Daquy / Virginia)
(ScGbt: dp. 581; 1. 170'; b. 26'2"; dph. 14'8"; s. 9 k.; a. 6 24-pdr. how., 1 12-pdr. r.)

Virginia was originally the British merchantman Pet built at Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1861. Pet sailed as Noe-Daquy during the early months of the Civil War and, in December 1862, was acquired by a Havana merchant for use as a Confederate blockade runner. Renamed Virginia, the vessel was captured off Mugeres Island, Mexico, by Wachusett and Sonoma on 18 January 1863; was later purchased by the Navy from the New York prize court on 1 September; and was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 12 June.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/v/virginia-iii.html

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

6 Actions this day...

05 Nov 1862

North Carolina. USS Louisiana, Acting Lieutenant R.T. Renshaw, captured the schooner Alice L Webb at Rose Bay.

1862 November 5th

November 5 1862 Wednesday Barbee’s Crossroads, VA Grant’s Central Mississippi Campaign Go to November 6 1862 Arkansas. Union expedition from Helena to Moro began. Arkansas. Skirmish at Huntsville. …

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Please see post #7 for pic of USS Louisiana

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

05 Nov 1863

Florida. USS Beauregard, Acting Master Burgess, seized the blockade-running British schooner Volante off Cape Canaveral with its cargo including salt and dry goods.

1863 November 5th

November 5 1863 Thursday Mill Point, WV Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Knoxville Campaign Averell’s Lewisburg Raid Rio Grande Expedition Second Bayou Teche Campaign Go to November 6 1863 Flo…

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USS Beauregard (former Confederate privateer)
(Sch: t. 101; s. 7 k.; cpl. 40; a. 1 24-pdr. rifle)

C. S. privateer brig Beauregard, formerly the schooner Priscilla C. Ferguson, owned by a group headed by A. F. W. Abrams of Charleston, S.C., was commissioned there 14 October 1861. She sailed short in complement on 5 November, commanded by Capt. Gilbert Hay as master, with two lieutenants, a purser and 23 seamen. Beauregard ran the blockade unobserved, although reported 24 October by a Northern shipmaster to Secretary of the Navy Welles in Washington as fitting out at Charleston along with Dixie, destined for longer life as a privateer than Beauregard. One week out of home port, Captain Hay was surprised in the Bahama Channel by U.S. bark W. G. Anderson, Lt. William C. Rogers, whose attention was attracted to the schooner when only 4 miles off by "many men on her decks." Rogers overhauled Beauregard after a 2-hour chase and recorded that Hay "brought a letter of marque from J. Davis which he surrendered with his vessel. We put a prize master and crew on board and transferred the prisoners to our ship. * * * On boarding her the crew * * * committed all the destruction they could, throwing overboard the arms and ammunition, spiking the gun, and cutting the sails and rigging to pieces. She was otherwise in bad order and poorly found. * * * Took prisoners and vessel to Key West." Arrived there the 19th, the $15,000 Beauregard was in due course condemned by the prize court, sold to the U.S. Navy for $1,810 on 24 February 1862 and, name unchanged, ably served Flag Officer McKean thereafter in the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/confederate_ships/beauregard.html#

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

05 Nov 1863

South Carolina. The blockade runner Margaret and Jessie was captured at sea east of Myrtle Beach after a prolonged chase by the Army transport Fulton and USS Nansemond, Lieutenant Roswell H Lamson. The chase had been started the preceding evening by USS Howquah, Acting Lieutenant MacDiarmid, which kept the steamer in sight throughout the night. USS Keystone State, Commander Edward Donaldson, joined the chase in the morning and was at hand when the capture was effected. The capture ended the career of a ship that had already run the blockade some 15 times.

1863 November 5th

November 5 1863 Thursday Mill Point, WV Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Knoxville Campaign Averell’s Lewisburg Raid Rio Grande Expedition Second Bayou Teche Campaign Go to November 6 1863 Flo…

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The Douglas was built for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. In November 1862 she was purchased by representatives of the Confederate states fighting to secede from the USA. She arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in January 1863, renamed the Margaret and Jessie and put to work as a blockade runner. She made another eight runs before being captured in November 1863.

Full article with pic here - https://www.theglasgowstory.com/ima... Carolina in,put to work as a blockade runner.

In Nov 1862 under the pretext of being sold to Cunard, Wilson & Co she actually went to Confederate agents, Fraser, Trenholm & Co, for £24,000, renamed Margaret and Jessie and was deployed as a blockade runner in the American Civil War. On 1st June 1863 she was gunned down and forced to run ashore at Eleuthera Island by the Union gunship USS Rhode Island The following appeared in the Nassau Guardian relating to her last exploits in this role: " We have to record this evening another unjustifiable outrage committed by a Federal gunboat within the prescribed limits of our shores. On Saturday last, the 'Margaret and Jessie,' Captain Wilson, from Charleston for this port, was fallen in with by the Federal steamer 'Rhode island,' off Abaco, and chased till she arrived close to the shore off Jennes Point, Eleuthera. There would be no legal cause of complaint had the pursuit and firing ceased as soon as the 'Margaret and Jessie' approached within the distance of three miles from the land; but as she neared the coast, and was only 20 yards off ~ that is, between the reef and the land ~ the gunboat, which was not more than from a quarter to half~a~mile distant, commenced pouring in broadside after broadside, varying the performance with shot, grape and shell ~ not only to the imminent danger of all on board (and there were ladies among the passengers), but to the serious alarm of the inhabitants of the Island, who suddenly found themselves subjected to a sharp and decisive bombardment. The missiles fired from the 'Rhode Island' ploughed up the earth in various directions, and came in close proximity to, it not actually passing through, dwellings, and drove people to seek refuge between rocks and other projections. This was kept up for miles, and at length the 'Margaret and Jessie' received a shot through her boiler, and another through her bows, which forced her to take the beach, then only fifty yards distant ". She was later refloated and reentered the blockade running trade until captured on 5th November 1863 by the USS Nansemond and USS Fulton en route to Wilmington.

Full article with pics here - https://www.douglashistory.co.uk/hi...n 1875 she was employed,her years of hard use.

Documents in the case of the Margaret and Jessie

Historical Documents - Office of the Historian

history.state.gov 3.0 shell

history.state.gov

USS Gettysburg (former blockade runner Margaret and Jessie)
(SwStr: t. 950; l. 221'; b. 26' 3" ; dph. 13' 6" ; s. 15 k., cpl. 96; a. 1 30-pdr. Parrott r., 2 12-pdr. r., 4 24-pdr. how.)

The first Gettysburg, formerly Douglass, then Margaret and Jessie, was built at Glasgow, Scotland, in 1858, and was captured as a blockade runner 5 November 1863 by Fulton, Keystone State, and Nansemond off Wilmington, N.C. She was purchased from the New York Prize Court by the Navy and commissioned Gettysburg at New York Navy Yard, 2 May 1864, Lieutenant Roswell H. Lamson commanding.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/gettysburg-i.html

Thread by @Stiles/Akin
Accident on the steamer Margaret and Jessie

Accident on the steamer Margaret and Jessie | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

civilwartalk.com

Not the only capture Army transport Fulton had made...see @John Hartwell 's thread
Capture of Blockade Runner "Banshee" by Army Transport "Fulton"

Capture of Blockade Runner "Banshee" by Army Transport "Fulton" | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

[http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86363.htm] An interesting account of the capture of the well-knows blockade runner Banshee, comes from the New York Herald of November 24, 1863. Her captor was the army transport Robert Fulton, which had run her down after the Banshee had outdistanced...

civilwartalk.com

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

05 Nov 1863

Texas. USS Virginia, Acting Lieutenant C H Brown, seized the blockade running British bark Science, and in company with USS Owasco, Lieutenant-Commander Henry, captured the blockade running British brigs Volante and Dashing Wave at the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

1863 November 5th

November 5 1863 Thursday Mill Point, WV Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Knoxville Campaign Averell’s Lewisburg Raid Rio Grande Expedition Second Bayou Teche Campaign Go to November 6 1863 Flo…

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

05 Nov 1864

South Carolina. USS Patapsco, Lieutenant-Commander John Madigan, bombarded and set on fire an unidentified sloop that was found aground off Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbour.

1864 November 5th

November 5 1864 Saturday Battle of Johnsonville, TN (CWSAC Major Battle – Confederate Victory) Siege of Petersburg Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Go to November 6 1864 Cape Verde Islands. CS…

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one today...

05 Nov 1864

Texas. USS Fort Morgan, Lieutenant William B Eaton, captured the blockade runner John A Hard off the Texas coast, with its cargo including coffee, rice, oil, dry goods, and medicines.

1864 November 5th

November 5 1864 Saturday Battle of Johnsonville, TN (CWSAC Major Battle – Confederate Victory) Siege of Petersburg Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Go to November 6 1864 Cape Verde Islands. CS…

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

5 Actions this day...

06 Nov 1861

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

1861 November 6th

November 6 1861 Tuesday Confederate President and Vice-President Confirmed in Office Port Royal Expedition East Kentucky Operations West Kentucky Operations Go to November 7 1861 CSA. Jefferson Fin…

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

06 Nov 1861

Virginia. USS Rescue, Lieutenant William Gwin, captured and burned the schooner Ada hard aground in Corrotoman Creek.

1861 November 6th

November 6 1861 Tuesday Confederate President and Vice-President Confirmed in Office Port Royal Expedition East Kentucky Operations West Kentucky Operations Go to November 7 1861 CSA. Jefferson Fin…

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

06 Nov 1862

Virginia. USS Teaser, Ensign Sheridan, captured the sloop Grapeshot in the Chesapeake Bay.

1862 November 6th

November 6 1862 Thursday Grant’s Central Mississippi Campaign Go to November 7 1862 CSA. The Confederate army formalised the naming of its officially established Army Corps. Whereas Army Corps in t…

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

06 Nov 1864

Florida. Boats from USS Adela, Acting Lieutenant Louis N Stodder, captured the schooner Badger attempting to run the blockade out of St George's Sound, with a cargo of cotton.

1864 November 6th

November 6 1864 Sunday Siege of Petersburg Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Go to November 7 1864 Alabama. Incidents at Florence and Shoal Creek. Arkansas. Expedition from Vicksburg, Mississip…

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for this date...

06 Nov 1864

Texas. USS Fort Morgan, Lieutenant Eaton, captured the blockade-running schooner Lone off Brazos Pass, with its cargo including iron and bagging.

1864 November 6th

November 6 1864 Sunday Siege of Petersburg Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Go to November 7 1864 Alabama. Incidents at Florence and Shoal Creek. Arkansas. Expedition from Vicksburg, Mississip…

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

2 Actions this day...

15 Nov 1861

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

1861 November 15th

November 15 1861 Thursday East Kentucky Operations Go to November 16 1861 Florida. USS Dale, Commander Yard, captured the British schooner Mabel east of Jacksonville. Indian Territory. Confederate …

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Sepia wash drawing by R.G. Skerrett, 1903 of USS Dale. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 44611, courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098601801.jpg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

15 Nov 1863

North Carolina. USS Lodona, Acting Lieutenant Brodhead, seized the blockade-running British schooner Arctic southwest of Frying Pan Shoals with a cargo of salt.

1863 November 15th

November 15 1863 Sunday Chattanooga Campaign Knoxville Campaign Second Bayou Teche Campaign Go to November 16 1863 USA. The Beardslee Telegraph equipment being used by the Union Signal Corps was di…

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Sketch by CDR .Edmund R. Colhoun of USS Lodona from his letter book of 1865-1885 in the Naval Historical Foundation's Colhoun Collection. He was Lodona's Commanding Officer during the Civil War. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 51415. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098641901.jpg

USS Lodona (former blockade runner)
(ScStr: t. 750; l. 210'; b. 27'6"; dr. 11'6"; s. 7 k; cpl. 97; a. 1 100-pdr. P. r., 1 30-pdr. P. r., 1 9" D. r., 4 24 pdrs.)

Lodona, a bark-rigged iron screw steamer, was built at Kingston-upon-Hull, England, in 1862 and owned by Z. C. Pearson, London. Captured by Union gunboat Unadilla while attempting to run the blockade in Ossawbaw Sound, S.C., 4 August 1862, the ship was taken to Philadelphia under Lt. C. H. Greene for adjudication; condemned; and purchased by the Navy from the Philadelphia Prize Court 20 September 1862. Lodona commissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard 5 January 1863. Acting IA. Edmund R. Colhoun in command.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lodona.html

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

OK, need to play 'catch-up' from the down time...

07 Nov 1862

Louisiana. USS Kinsman, Acting Master George Wiggin, and the steamer Seger burned the steamers Osprey and J P Smith in Bayou Cheval.

1862 November 7th

November 7 1862 Friday Battle of Clark’s Mill, MO (CWSAC Limited Battle – Confederate Victory) Grant’s Central Mississippi Campaign Go to November 8 1862 USA. US President Abraham Lincoln confirmed…

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USS Kinsman
(SwStr: t. 245)

In 1854 Kinsman was built at Elizabeth, Pa., as Gray Cloud. She operated on the Mississippi River and its tributaries from St. Louis. After the capture of New Orleans in the spring of 1862, she was commandeered by General B. F. Butler and fitted out for river service.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/kinsman.html

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

07 Nov 1863

Florida. A cutter from USS Sagamore, Lieutenant-Commander Charles E Fleming, along with USS Annie, captured the blockade-running British schooner Paul off Bayport.

1863 November 7th

November 7 1863 Saturday Second Battle of Rappahannock Station, VA (CWSAC Major Battle Union Victory) Kelly’s Ford, VA Averell’s Lewisburg Raid Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Knoxville Campa…

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Please see post #53 for info on USS Annie

The Paul had cleared from Havana for Matamoras, Mexico, carrying a "diverse cargo" typical of blockade runners — goods that could fetch enormous profits in the Confederacy's isolated ports. But as she approached the Florida coast, Annie and an armed launch from her parent ship, the USS Sagamore, intercepted her. After a brief chase, the Paul was seized and sent to Key West for adjudication.
Each capture like this not only deprived the Confederacy of vital supplies but also underscored the growing effectiveness of the Union blockade by late 1863. Florida's long, irregular coastline — dotted with inlets, rivers, and hidden anchorages — had made it one of the most active frontiers in the naval war.

Heartfelt Historians | On November 7, 1863, the Union gunboat USS Annie captured the British schooner Paul in the Florida Straits | Facebook

On November 7, 1863, the Union gunboat USS Annie captured the British schooner Paul in the Florida Straits. The encounter was part of the Union Navy’s relentless effort to enforce its blockade of...

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

08 Nov 1862

Maryland. USS Resolute, Acting Master Tole, captured the sloop Capitola at Glymont, with its cargo and passengers

1862 November 8th

November 8 1862 Saturday Grant’s Central Mississippi Campaign Go to November 9 1862 Bermuda. The commerce raider CSS Alabama, Captain Raphael Semmes, captured and burned the ship T B Wales southeas…

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USS Resolute at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, June 1861. Harper's Weekly. 20 July 1861, p. 457, image by C. Parsons.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098634601.jpg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

08 Nov 1863

North Carolina. USS James Adger, Commander Thomas H Patterson, and USS Niphon, Acting Master Breck, captured the steamer Cornubia north of New Inlet.

1863 November 8th

November 8 1863 Sunday Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Knoxville Campaign Averell’s Lewisburg Raid Second Bayou Teche Campaign Go to November 9 1863 Arkansas. Skirmish at Clarksville. Louisia…

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Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1948 of the steamship James Adger, painted for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume I. Built at New York City in 1852, this steamer was commercially employed as SS James Adger in 1851-1861 and in 1866-1878. Between 1861 and 1866, she served as USS James Adger. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 63851. Courtesy of Erik Heyl.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098668301.jpg

A Civil War lithograph of USS Niphon by J.B. Bufford, after a drawing by S.S. Tuckerman. Collection of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 49812

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098633701.jpg

CS Cornubia
(SwStr: t. 411 [589]; l. 210'; b. 24'6"; dph. 13'3"; sp. 13 k.)

Cornubia was a fast, powerful, iron steamer of 230 h.p., long and low, painted white, with two funnels close together. She was built in Hayle, Cornwall, in 1858 for ferry service from there to nearby St. Ives under the house flag of the Hayle Steam Packet Co. The Confederacy bought her in the United Kingdom and she proved a very good investment, bringing 22 vital cargoes through the blockade in 1863.

Her 23d voyage was disastrous, having repercussions far beyond those stemming from the loss of a precious cargo: Blockader USS Niphon gave chase as she sought to run in to Wilmington, N.C.; Lt. Comdg. Richard H. Gayle, CSN, beached his ship at 0230, 8 November, 11 miles north of New Inlet; the captain, carpenter and one seaman remained on board while the officers, crew and passengers escaped to shore. By 0300, USS James Adger had towed Cornubia free on the flood tide still intact and she was duly sent to Boston as a prize, along with a bag of water soaked mail which one of her officers had tried to dispose of in the surf and the three captives.

Cornubia was more correctly Lady Davis (confused by Secretary Welles in one letter with Jeff Davis) when captured, having been renamed when a new Cornubia came out in June or July, but she was known to her captors by her old, familiar label while the Cornubia papers quickly became a rosetta stone to unlock the management secrets of the Confederate Army-Navy-Treasury blockade-running fleet on the eve of the Mallory-Trenholm-Bulloch newbuilding program in Britain. The most immediate result was a new, tough policy toward British seamen caught challenging the blockade. U.S. District Attorney Richard Henry Dana, Jr., at Boston, was designated to receive a sealed packet of all papers taken in the prize. Transmitting them to Secretary Welles, 26 December, after study, Dana wrote: "We have found in the prize steamer Cornubia letters which prove that that steamer, the R. E. Lee, and Ella & Annie and others of their class are the property of the Confederate Government and that their commanders are in the service of the Confederate Navy Department. This raises the question whether, in like cases, the Government will detain foreign seamen found on board as prisoners of war. The letters also show that they are under orders to conceal these facts while in neutral ports, in order to escape the rules applicable to public vessels of belligerents." Welles endorsed the letter: "The persons captured on the boats mentioned and others in like cases to be detained as prisoners."

Comdr. Thomas H. Patterson, USN, of James Adger noted, "Her captain remarked to my executive officer that 'though the Cornubia is a small vessel the Confederate Government could better have afforded to lose almost any other vessel.' " He was not referring merely to essential cargo. The operational pattern of the Confederate Army transport service developed as follows: The ship's Confederate register showed the Secretary of War, "James A. Seddon, of Richmond, Va., is her sole owner." Commanders of these transports were C. S. Navy officers-either regulars or officers such as Gayle, commissioned "Lt. for the War, CSN," reporting to Col. Josiah Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, CSA, through special War Department Agent J. M. Seixas in Wilmington, N.C. "The entire ship's accounts will be forwarded through this agency" (War Dept., Ordnance Bureau, CSA), including monthly reports of stores and quarterly inventories.

Cornubia had been commanded by a Briton, Capt. J. M. Burroughs, to keep her British register, as Commander Bulloch explained to Secretary Mallory the following year: "I would suggest that as fast as the ships are paid for, Navy officers be put in command as a general rule," adding that such vessels "ought to be kept registered in the names of private individuals, otherwise serious embarrassment may arise, as Lord Russell has stated in the House of Lords that if it could be shown that the steamers trading between the Confederate States and the British Islands were owned by the Confederate States Government, they would be considered as transports and would be forbidden to enter English ports, except under the restrictions imposed upon all men-of-war of the belligerent powers."

In accordance with this pattern we read-Gorgas to Gayle care of Seixas, Wilmington, June 1863: "You will assume command of the Steamer Cornubia relieving Capt. J. M. Burroughs ***(whose contract) terminates on reaching Bermuda***you should assume command at Wilmington before starting, making the voyage terminate there hereafter. Captain Burroughs has been requested to accompany you, giving you the benefit of his experience and advice. He will also be able to assist you very much in acquiring good officers and crew. Take immediate steps to change your flag and register under Confederate colors. ***Those who decline to re-ship will be discharged and furnished with free passage to Bermuda." Appended for "the steamers of the War Department" was a scale of wages and bounties (60 to 100% of base wages, earned on completion of voyage) effective 1 July 1863; articles to be signed for six months. The intent of the whole system was revealed in, "Being in the Confederate service, they are entitled to be exchanged as prisoners-of-war."

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/confederate_ships/cornubia.html

USS Cornubia (former CS Cornubia)
(Side Wheel Steamer: tonnage 589; length 210'0"; beam 24'6"; depth of hold 13'3"; speed 13.0 knots; complement 76; armament 1 20-pounder rifle, 2 24-pounder smoothbores)

The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her capture. Cornubia, a side wheel steamer, was captured by Niphon and James Adger off New Inlet, N.C., on 8 November 1863 while running the blockade. She was purchased from the Boston Prize Court in November and commissioned 17 March 1864, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant C. F. W. Behm in command.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/cornubia-side-wheel-steamer.html

Cornubia - A True Cornish Legend Of The Sea
Andy Owen

https://www.glintoflight.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Cornubia_A_True_Cornish_Legend_Of_The_Sea.pdf

Cornubia: The Life and Times of a Hayle Steamship
Peter Joseph

Cornubia: The Life and Times of a Hayle Steamship - Joseph, Peter: 9780957566095 - AbeBooks

Trevithick Society - 2015 - Low prices on new and used copies of books. 30 days return policy

www.abebooks.com

CSS/USS Cornubia

Thread 'CSS/USS Cornubia'

Mar 6, 2014

Hello everyone, just joined and my first post - hopefully not my last.

I'm in Cornwall, on the other side of the pond, and trying to find out about a locally-built ship, the Cornubia. She was a fast side wheel paddle steamer and ran the blockade 22 times; she was caught on the 23rd. What I would like to find out is what she looked like. I have the basic dimensions: length, breadth and draft; she had two funnels amidships and two masts. I understand she looked a bit like the Robert E Lee (former Giraffe) but there are details which are unclear, e.g. were the funnels...

• Cassiterite
• Replies: 268
• Forum: Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

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Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

09 Nov 1863

North Carolina. USS James Adger, Commander Thomas H Patterson, captured the blockade runner Robert E Lee off Cape Lookout Shoals. The steamer had left Bermuda two days earlier with a cargo of shoes, blankets, rifles, saltpetre, and lead, and was one of the most famous and successful blockade runners. The ship had run the blockade twenty-one times and had carried out of the Confederacy between six thousand and seven thousand bales of cotton, worth about two million dollars in gold, and had brought many highly valuable cargoes into the Confederacy.

1863 November 9th

November 9 1863 Monday Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Knoxville Campaign Second Bayou Teche Campaign Go to November 10 1863 Alabama. Confederate Acting Midshipman Edward A Swain was sent to …

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See above post for USS Adger pic.

SS Robert E. Lee at anchor, location unknown. Image from "The Photographic History of The Civil War in Ten Volumes: Volume Six, The Navies". The Review of Reviews Co., New York. 1911. p. 108.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098620603.jpg

CS Robert E. Lee (soon to be USS Fort Donelson)
(SwStr: t. 900; l. 283'; b. 20'; dph. 13'; dr. 10'; s 9-13.5 k.)

Robert E. Lee was a schooner-rigged, iron-hulled, oscillating-engined paddle-steamer with two stacks, built on the Clyde during the autumn of 1862 as a fast Glasgow-Belfast packet. Alexander Collie & Co., Manchester, acquired her for their blockade-running fleet but were persuaded by renowned blockade-runner Lt. John Wilkinson, CSN, to sell her, as Giraffe, to the Navy Department for the same -32,000 just paid.

Her first voyage, for the Confederate Navy, was into Old Inlet, Wilmington, N.C., in January 1863 with valuable munitions and 26 Scot lithographers, eagerly awaited by the Government bureau of engraving and printing. On 26 January, Union intelligence maintained she "could be captured easily" at anchor in Ossabaw Sound, but this was not to be for another 10 months. Running out again, R. E. Lee started to establish a nearly legendary reputation by leaving astern blockader USS Iroquois. Lt. Richard H. Gayle, CSN, assumed command in May, relieving Lt. John Wilkinson but the latter was conning the ship again out of Cape Fear River from Smithville, N.C., on 7 October 1863, as recounted by Lt. Robert D. Minor, CSN, in a letter to Admiral Franklin Buchanan, 2 February 1864, detailing the first venture to capture USS Michigan and liberate 2,000 Confederate prisoners at Johnson's Island, Sandusky, Ohio (cf. Georgia, Philo Parsons and J. H. Jarvis) : R. E. Lee transported Wilkinson, Minor, Lt. Benjamin P. Loyall and 19 other naval officers to Halifax, N.S., with $35,000 in gold and a cotton cargo "subsequently sold at Halifax for $76,000 (gold) by the War Department-in all some $111,000 in gold, as the sinews of the expedition."

Thus Wilkinson was in Canada and Gayle commanding when Robert E. Lee's luck ran out, 9 November 1863, after 21 voyages in 10 months carrying out over 7,000 bales of cotton, returning with munitions invaluable to the Confederacy. She left Bermuda five hours after her consort, Cornubia (q.v.), only to be run down a few hours after her by the same blockader, USS James Adger. The two runners were conceded to be easily "the most noted that ply between Bermuda and Wilmington."

Robert E. Lee was bought by the U.S. Navy from the Boston prize court for $73,000 in January 1864. On 27 February she was renamed Fort Donelson and served out the war as a blockader.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/confederate_ships/robert-e-lee-side-wheel-steamer.html

The Lee had, under the command of Captain Wilkinson, successfully run the blockade twenty-one times, and had carried abroad between six and seven thousand bales of cotton, worth about $2,000,000 in gold, and had carried into the Confederacy cargoes of merchandise and munitions of war of inestimable value to the Confederate government.

Full article here - https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1933/april/confederate-blockade-runners

Caledonian Maritime Research Trust
The History of Shipbuliding in Scotland
GIRAFFE (Robert E. Lee)

Paddle Steamer GIRAFFE built by James & George Thomson in 1860 for G. & J. Burns Ltd, Glasgow, Passenger / Cargo

Paddle Steamer GIRAFFE built by James & George Thomson in 1860 for G. & J. Burns Ltd, Glasgow, Passenger / Cargo Not known

www.clydeships.co.uk

@tmh10 's thread Blockade Runner Robert E. Lee
civilwartalk.com/threads/blockade-runner-robert-e-lee.77138/

...and maybe the above will answer @RobertP 's questions from Sept 2018...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

09 Nov 1863

North Carolina. USS Niphon, Acting Master Breck, captured the blockade runner Ella and Annie off Masonboro lnlet with a cargo of arms and provisions. In an effort to escape, Ella and Annie rammed USS Niphon but, as the two ships swung broadside on, the blockade runner was boarded and its crew overpowered.

1863 November 9th

November 9 1863 Monday Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Knoxville Campaign Second Bayou Teche Campaign Go to November 10 1863 Alabama. Confederate Acting Midshipman Edward A Swain was sent to …

americancivilwarhighcommand.com

See post #118 for info on USS Niphon.

SS Ella and Annie, Confederate Blockade Runner, Artwork by R.G. Skerrett, 1900. Built as the steamship William G. Hewes in 1860, Ella and Annie was captured off New Inlet, North Carolina, in November 1863. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 61575

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098633606.jpg

Acting Master Francis Nathaniel Bonneau, CSN. Bonneau was Master of the blockade runner SS Ella and Annie in 1863. When she was captured, 9 November 1863. He was subsequently convicted of piracy on the basis of the aggressive tactics he employed to avoid capture, but the conviction was suspended and Bonneau was paroled in September 1864. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 56209

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098633607.jpg

USS Malvern I (former blockade runner Ella and Annie)
(Str: dp. 1,477; l. 239'4"; b. 33'; dr. 10')

Malvern was built in 1860 as William G. Hewes by Harlan and Hollingsworth Co., Wilmington, Del., for Charles Morgan-s Southern Steamship Co. She commenced regular service between New York City and New Orleans 11 January 1861. As William G. Hewes she was seized 28 April by the Governor of Louisiana and put into service as a Confederate blockade runner, although she was not officially registered as a Confederate steamer until 5 April 1862. Because of her speed, maneuverability, and large‑cargo capacity Hewes was of far greater value as a blockade running transport than as a gunboat. Few of her contemporaries were able to match the 1,440‑bale payload of cotton that she carried to Havana in April.

When Farragut captured New Orleans in April 1862, Hewes shifted her operations from there to Charleston, S.C., and Wilmington, N.C. She was then renamed Ella and Annie. Under the Importing & Exporting Co. of South Carolina she renewed blockade running to Bermuda in April 1863. Damage sustained during a hurricane in September necessitated repairs in Bermuda. Ella and Annie departed there 5 November in company with steamer R. E. Lee. The two ships separated off Carolina and Ella and Annie steamed for Wilmington, N.C. She was delayed by a storm and intercepted the morning of 8 November by Niphon off New Inlet, N.C. Capt. Frank N. Bonneau, CSN, in command of the blockade runner, rammed the northern gunboat in a desperate attempt at evasion. A broadside from Niphon, Acting Master Joseph B. Breck, USN, in command, killed one man in Ella and Annie, riddled her hull, and brought her to.

A boarding party from Niphon captured Ella and Annie and her valuable cargo, and a prize crew took her to Boston. Captain Bonneau was later convicted of piracy by a Boston court, but the presiding officer, who had been a flag officer himself, suspended the sentence on the grounds that he would have acted in a like manner had he been in similar circumstances.

Ella and Annie was condemned as a prize of war and sold to the Navy. Hastily armed, renamed Malvern and provisionally commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard 10 December she was formally commissioned 9 February 1864 at Boston Navy Yard. Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, she became Admiral Porter's flagship.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/malvern-i.html

Bad few days for the Confederacy...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA