- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Location
- Central Massachusetts
Commander of gunboat USS Flag (1864-5):
"The steamer Flag was commanded by Commander James C. Williamson, better known in the navy as "Old Pap." He was one of those old fogies of whom there were not a few, who at the breaking out of the rebellion had been a lieutenant for forty years or upwards, and who would have died or been laid on the shelf with the same rank had it not been for vacancies caused by the war. He had never attained any very great reputation as a naval officer, possibly from the fact that he was never very well liked by his shipmates, and it was said he was so mean that his own shadow would not follow him. I will not vouch for the truth of what I heard a man say once, that while the captain was going down the ladder his shadow went over the side of the ship and was drowned, so that he never had any afterward. There were some hard stories told about him, principally by the surgeon and paymaster, who messed with him and who were willing to be invited to dine with other officers three times a day. It was difficult to tell to what navy he belonged by his dress, from the fact that he always wore some old-fashioned uniform — sometimes the short-waisted pigeon-tailed coat that belonged to some deceased classmate when he was a midshipman, and with his pantaloons at half-mast. The other officers were all volunteers except the chief engineer, and if we occasionally did not observe the strict naval regulations it was thought no harm." from Frank Butts, Cruise along the Blockade (1881) (Note: I will soon be adding a transcription of this memoir to my Civil War Miscellany.)
I have been unable to find out much more about Cmdr Williamson other than that in 1861-2 he had commanded USS Penguin in the East Gulf Squadron. Beyond the above paragraph, Butts' memoir makes little further mention of his captain, providing no real information about him. One would hope there is something more to his story than the drowning of his shadow.
"The steamer Flag was commanded by Commander James C. Williamson, better known in the navy as "Old Pap." He was one of those old fogies of whom there were not a few, who at the breaking out of the rebellion had been a lieutenant for forty years or upwards, and who would have died or been laid on the shelf with the same rank had it not been for vacancies caused by the war. He had never attained any very great reputation as a naval officer, possibly from the fact that he was never very well liked by his shipmates, and it was said he was so mean that his own shadow would not follow him. I will not vouch for the truth of what I heard a man say once, that while the captain was going down the ladder his shadow went over the side of the ship and was drowned, so that he never had any afterward. There were some hard stories told about him, principally by the surgeon and paymaster, who messed with him and who were willing to be invited to dine with other officers three times a day. It was difficult to tell to what navy he belonged by his dress, from the fact that he always wore some old-fashioned uniform — sometimes the short-waisted pigeon-tailed coat that belonged to some deceased classmate when he was a midshipman, and with his pantaloons at half-mast. The other officers were all volunteers except the chief engineer, and if we occasionally did not observe the strict naval regulations it was thought no harm." from Frank Butts, Cruise along the Blockade (1881) (Note: I will soon be adding a transcription of this memoir to my Civil War Miscellany.)
I have been unable to find out much more about Cmdr Williamson other than that in 1861-2 he had commanded USS Penguin in the East Gulf Squadron. Beyond the above paragraph, Butts' memoir makes little further mention of his captain, providing no real information about him. One would hope there is something more to his story than the drowning of his shadow.