Miscellaneous Naval activities

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

25 Oct 1864

Virginia. An expedition from USS Don, Commander Foxhall Alexander Parker, landed at Fleet's Point in the Great Wicomico River and burned houses, barns, and outbuildings used by Confederate home guards while firing on vessels of the Potomac Flotilla. Four boats were burned and five more were captured.

1864 October 25th

October 25 1864 Tuesday Battle of Marais des Cygnes, KS (CWSAC Formative Battle Union Victory) Battle of Mine Creek, KS (CWSAC Formative Battle Union Victory) Battle of Marmiton River, MO (CWSAC Li…

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Iron steamer Foreign Blockade runner Don 1863 This work was never published prior to January 1, 2003, and is currently in the public domain in the United States.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/SS_Don.jpg

USS Don (screw steamer)(former blockade runner)
ScStr: t. 390; l. 162'; b. 23'; dr. 6'; cpl. 94; a. 2 20-pdr. Dahlgren, 6 24-pdr.

The British blockade runner Don was captured off Beaufort, N.C., 4 March 1862 by Pequot, and sent to Boston, Mass., for adjudication. She was purchased by the Navy Department and sent to Boston Navy Yard to be fitted for service, arriving 21 April 1864. Don put out from Boston 15 May 1864, under the command of Acting Master S. B. Gregory, to join the Potomac Flotilla.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/d/don-screw-steamer.html

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

2 Actions on this day...

26 Oct 1861

Kentucky. The USS Conestoga, Lieutenant Seth Ledyard Phelps, transported Union troops to Eddyville.

1861 October 26th

October 26 1861 Friday Saratoga Springs, KY East Kentucky Operations Go to October 27 1861 USA. The Union Department of the East was discontinued. It existed before the war primarily to command the…

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"The 'Conestoga' and 'Lexington,' United States Gun-Boats on the Mississippi." Line engraving, after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1861. It depicts USS Conestoga on the right, with USS Lexington at left. US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59589.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098608503.jpg

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

26 Oct 1863

Louisiana. A Union naval expedition of three gunboats and thirteen transports left New Orleans to conduct operations along the Texas coast. Union Major-General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks accompanied 3,500 men under Brigadier-General Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana for an expedition to the Rio Grande. The three warships, the USS Monongahela, USS Owasco, and USS Virginia, were commanded by Captain J H Strong USN.

1863 October 26th

October 26 1863 Monday Cracker Line Operations, TN Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign – Cracker Line Operations Shelby’s Raid in Arkansas and Missouri Second Bayou Teche Expedition Go to …

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Artwork showing USS Monongahela as originally built, with three pivot guns and no bowsprit. This was her configuration until 1865. US Navy photo # NH 45205 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/46/094691501.jpg

Lithograph of USS Owasco published by Shearman & Hart, New York City, 1861. The original lithograph was issued with different titles to represent many, if not all, of the Civil War 90-day gunboats. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 42926. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098665101.jpg

USS Virginia III (former blockade runner)
(ScGbt: dp. 581; 1. 170'; b. 26'2"; dph. 14'8"; s. 9 k.; a. 6 24-pdr. how., 1 12-pdr. r.)

The third 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

 

[wausaubob]

15 Oct 1863

Mississippi. USS Commodore, Acting Master John R Hamilton, and USS Corypheus, Acting Master Francis H Grove, destroyed a Confederate tannery at Bay St Louis.

1863 October 15th

October 15 1863 Thursday Siege of Chattanooga Bristoe Campaign Shelby’s Raid in Arkansas and Missouri Second Bayou Teche Expedition Go to October 16 1863 Florida. USS Honduras, Acting Master Abraha…

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USS Corypheus (former CSS Corypheus)
(Sch: t. 81; l. 72'; b. 20'; dph 6')
Corypheus, a yacht built at Brook Haven, N.Y., in 1859, was seized under orders of Gen. M. Lovell, CSA, outfitted as a gunboat, and operated in Lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain. On 13 May 1862 a cutter from USS Calhoun proceeded to Bayou Bonfuca and cut out the gunboat. Following appraisal, the prize was purchased that month from the Key West prize court for $14,724, and promptly taken into the Union Navy.

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

View attachment 565037
View attachment 565038

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

The captured ships were appraised. The prize court had a method to insure that there was not a collaborative bidding agreement to allow a bidder buy to a boat on the cheep and deprive the blockade force of the dollars it deserved.

 

[wausaubob]

The primary victories of the US navy, locating and sinking the Alabama, fighting their way into Mobile Bay, torpedoing the Albermerle , towing the Florida out of a Brazilian port, making contact with Sherman's force on the Georgia coast, and bombing Fort Fisher into submission, are enough. The navies critical role in maintain dominance on the James River, and the Cumberland River too, are under appreciated.

 

[wausaubob]

Which officers had the responsibility for determining if the appraisal was accurate and whether the ship or boat as appraised had service potential?

 

[USS ALASKA]

To go with above post #23...

27 Oct 1863

Texas. Confederate Colonel L Smith, commanding the Marine Department of Texas, reported the status of the small flotilla in the area. The gunboats CSS Clifton, CSS Sachem, and CSS Jacob A Bell were at Sabine Pass; CSS Bayou City, CSS Diana, and CSS Harriet Lane were at Galveston Bay; CSS Mary Hill was at Velasco and CSS John F Carr was at Saluria. CSS Bayou City and CSS Harriet Lane were without guns and the remainder mounted a total of 15 guns. A Union naval and army expedition had departed New Orleans, Louisiana, and it was on its way to capture Brazos Santiago and the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

1863 October 27th

October 27 1863 Tuesday Cracker Line Operations, TN Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign – Cracker Line Operations Second Bayou Teche Expedition Go to October 28 1863 USA. In recognition of …

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USS ALASKA

 

[DaveBrt]

24 Oct 1863

Louisiana. The Confederates burned the steamer Allen Collier that had landed opposite Laconia, Arkansas.

1863 October 24th

October 24 1863 Saturday Siege of Chattanooga Bristoe Campaign Shelby’s Raid in Arkansas and Missouri Second Bayou Teche Expedition Go to October 25 1863 Alabama. Skirmish at Tuscumbia. Alabama. Co…

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No idea where this might be...

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USS ALASKA

It is about 12 miles due east of Arkansas Post.

 

[USS ALASKA]

It is about 12 miles due east of Arkansas Post.

So somewhere in the red oval perhaps given Arkansas Post is the red pointer...

Thanks!
USS ALASKA

 

[DaveBrt]

So somewhere in the red oval perhaps given Arkansas Post is the red pointer...

View attachment 566443
View attachment 566444

Thanks!
USS ALASKA

3miles ese of Snow Lake

 

[USS ALASKA]

2 Actions this day...

28 Oct 1862

Virginia. A Confederate boat party led by Lieutenant John Taylor Wood CSN boarded, captured, and burned the ship Alleghanian which lay at anchor in the Chesapeake Bay off the mouth of the Rappahannock River. The ship was destroyed along with its cargo of guano bound from Baltimore for London.

Private Site

A cargo of guano OUTBOUND?!? To London?!?

Captain John Taylor Wood, CSN Nineteenth Century engraving, based on a photograph by F.H. Pierce. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

https://www.history.navy.mil/bin/imageDownload?image=/content/dam/nhhc/our-collections/photography/images/NH%2000001/NH%20616&rendition=cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

28 Oct 1864

Decatur, Alabama. Confederate General John Bell Hood was attempting the cross the Tennessee River at Decatur. He probed the defences of Union Brigadier-General Robert Seamen Granger. Granger now received reinforcements and the garrison now numbered about 5,000 men behind strong entrenchmens, and he successfully prevented the much larger Confederate force from crossing the river. At 9 am, Union scouts reported that a ravine within 800 yards of the main fortifications at Decatur had been occupied overnight by three Confederate brigades. Around noon, a small Union detachment advanced through dense fog and drove the Confederate sharpshooters and skirmishers out of the ravine, capturing 120 to 125 men. The Confederates then set up a battery on the river bank to cut the approaches to the railroad bridge. USS General Thomas, Acting Master Gilbert Morton, engaged the Confederate batteries, sustaining minor damage in its passage. The ship passed the batteries and joined the Army gunboat Stone River in bombarding the Confederate works until they were abandoned. The enemy gunners ran for protection in the trees at the riverside. The gunboats turned their fire on the exposed gunners at a range of 300 yards and caused heavy losses. The battery was then stormed by a force from the fort. Hood's attempts to cross the Tennessee River at Decatur were foiled. Union casualties were estimated at 150 or 155 men and Confederate casualties as 450 men. (CWSAC Formative Battle Union Victory)

Private Site

Federal gunboats on the upper Tennessee River at Bridgeport, Tennessee in March 1865. Left to right: USS General Sherman (Tinclad #60), USS General Thomas (Tinclad #61), USS General Grant (Tinclad #62), USS General Burnside (Tinclad #63) US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 109627.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098615003.jpg

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

3 Actions this day...

29 Oct 1862

Texas. USS Dan exchanged fire with Confederate troops near Sabine Pass and shelled the town.

1862 October 29th

October 29 1862 Wednesday Island Mounds, MO Smith’s Invasion of Kentucky Bragg’s Invasion of Kentucky Go to October 30 1862 Nova Scotia. CSS Alabama, Captain Raphael Semmes, seized the …

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USS Dan (former Confederate vessel)
(Str: t. 112)

Dan, a small river steamer built in 1858 at Calcasieu, La., was in Confederate service on the Calcasieu River and Lake in early October 1862 when she was captured by a launch from USS Kensington and sent in as a prize. She was sunk in the Mississippi during February 1863 while in Union service.

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

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

29 Oct 1863

Mississippi. With a sizeable Union naval force already supporting army operations along the Tennessee River, Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter ordered his Mississippi Squadron to offer further assistance to Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman. USS Lexington, USS Hastings, USS Key West, USS Cricket, USS Robb, USS Romeo, and USS Peosta were detached immediately for duty in the Tennessee River while the USS Paw Paw, USS Tawah, USS Tyler, and others were sent later.

1863 October 29th

October 29 1863 Thursday Battle of Wauhatchie, TN (CWSAC Major Battle Union Victory) Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign – Cracker Line Operations Second Bayou Teche Expedition Go to Octobe…

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Steamer Emma Duncan (USS Hastings) tied up to a landing probably on the Ohio River, circa 1860-1863 location unknown. University of Wisconsin-Madison LaCrosse Steamboat Collection

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098679802.jpg

USS Key West (Tinclad #32) in port on a western river during the Civil War. University of Wisconsin-Madison Digital Library

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098617503.jpg

USS Cricket ("Tinclad" #6) tied up at a Western Rivers city, during the last years of the Civil War, with a barge astern and a boat alongside. Note the decorative star suspended between her smokestacks and the identification number ("6") painted on her pilothouse. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 55524.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098612501.jpg

Alfred Robb (former Confederate vessel)
(StwStr: t. 86; 1. 114'9"; b. 20'; dph. 4'; dr. 4'6"; s. 9.5 k.; cpl. 30; a. 2 12-pdr. r., 2 12-pdr. sb.)

Alfred Robb, a wooden-hulled, stern-wheel steamboat built at Pittsburgh in 1860, operated on the Ohio River and the other navigable streams of the Mississippi watershed system until acquired by the Confederate Government at some now-unknown date during the first year of the Civil War for use as a transport. Reconnaissance probes up the Tennessee River by Federal gunboats had convinced leaders of the Union Navy in the area that Southern forces had destroyed this vessel after the fall of Fort Henry, lest she fall into Northern hands. Nevertheless, Alfred Robb remained safe and active until Lt. William Gwin- who commanded the side-wheel gunboat Tyler-seized her at Florence, Ala., on 21 April 1862. This capture and the burning of the steamer Dunbar in nearby Cypress Creek at about the same time cleared the Tennessee of the last Confederate vessels afloat, giving Union warships complete control of the river. Since the Confederacy still held much of the Mississippi, it was impossible to send Alfred Robb to any Federal court then hearing admiralty cases. Hence, after the prize descended the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers to Cairo, Ill., she was fitted out there for service in the Western Flotilla without prior adjudication. Upon the completion of her conversion to a so-called "tin-clad" gunboat, Alfred Robb began her Union service early in June 1862. Apparently not commissioned, Alfred Robb, thereafter usually called simply Robb.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/alfred-robb.html

Steam Packet Romeo preparing to leave Terre Haute, IN. in June 1876.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098693201.jpg

USS Peosta photographed on the Western Rivers, during 1864-65. Note identification number "36" painted on her pilothouse.
US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42896.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098614401.jpg

USS Paw Paw on the Western Rivers during the Civil War, date and location unknown.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098625301.jpg

USS Tawah and USS Key West attack CSS Undine, and the transports, Cheeseman, and Venus, at Davidson's Ferry on the Tennessee River in Tennessee, 2 November 1864. This results in the Federal recapturing of the vessel, Venus, from Major General Nathan B. Forrest (CSA) who had captured these vessel the previous day. Forrest had been sailing up the Tennessee River towards Johnsonville, Tennessee, but was forced to retire to the safety of the Confederate batteries near Fort Henry. Hardman County Tennessee Civil War History

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098684601.jpg

USS Tyler tied up by a river bank in the Mississippi River area, during the Civil War, with her crew's laundry hung up to dry.
US Navy photo # NH 49975 from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098608403.jpg

Please see above posts for pic of USS Lexington and maps.

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

29 Oct 1864

Tennessee. Confederate Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest captured the new steamer Mazeppa and two towed barges near Fort Heiman on the Tennessee River. He unloaded the supplies and burned the vessels.

Private Site

Please also see https://civilwartalk.com/threads/forgotten-forts-series-fort-heiman-ky.178011/

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

4 Actions this day...

30 Oct 1862

Texas. USS Dan landed a party under the protection of the ship's guns at Sabine Pass. They burned a mill and several buildings in the town.

Private Site

Please see post #33 for info on USS Dan

Please see above post #27 for map.

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

30 Oct 1863

Opening the Cracker Line, Tennessee. The Union steamer Chattanooga arrived at Kelley's Ford with 40,000 rations and tons of animal forage. This was the first transport ship to arrive with supplies to restore normal communications to the garrison of Chattanooga.

1863 October 30th

October 30 1863 Friday Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Rio Grande Expedition Second Bayou Teche Expedition Go to October 31 1863 At Sea. USS Vanderbilt, Commander Charles Henry Baldwin, captu…

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To go with - https://civilwartalk.com/threads/acw-railroad-history.219601/#post-2914088 - logistics restored to Chattanooga.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

30 Oct 1863

Texas. The expedition of Union Major-General Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana and Commodore J H Strong from New Orleans experienced severe storms on their way to Brazos Santiago. USS Owasco, Captain Edmund W Henry, saved the steam transport Zephyr from being wrecked. The Zephyr was towed safely to the rendezvous.

1863 October 30th

October 30 1863 Friday Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Rio Grande Expedition Second Bayou Teche Expedition Go to October 31 1863 At Sea. USS Vanderbilt, Commander Charles Henry Baldwin, captu…

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Please see post #23

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

30 Oct 1864

Johnsonville, Tennessee. Confederate batteries from the command of Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest engaged USS Undine, Acting Master Bryant, and the transports Venus and Cheeseman near Johnsonville on the Tennessee River. USS Undine had convoyed the transport Anna below Sandy Island and was returning upstream when the sound of artillery was heard further down the Tennessee. USS Undine came about to investigate and was attacked by a battery of several guns and volleys of musketry near Paris Landing. While USS Undine was engaging the Confederates, the transport Venus steamed down the river and passed the batteries to join in the engagement. About twenty minutes later, the transport Cheeseman also came down the river, but was immediately disabled and captured. USS Undine continued to fire on the batteries for nearly three hours when her ammunition was nearly exhausted and her engine disabled. Unable to resist further, the crew attempted to destroy the vessel, but it was captured intact, along with the two transports and two barges. A supply of 9,000 shoes and 1,000 blankets was welcome booty for the Confederates. The steamer Anna sank before reaching Paducah. The Union commanders were forced to halt all unescorted sailings up the Tennessee River, interrupting their most convenient supply line to Georgia. Forrest continued down the Tennessee River to join Brigadier-General Abraham Buford, who had devised an ingenious trap to strike at the Union gunboats operating on the river.

1864 October 30th

October 30 1864 Sunday Johnsonville, TN Siege of Petersburg Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Price’s Missouri Raid Go to October 31 1864 Azores. CSS…

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

2 Actions this day...

31 Oct 1862

North Carolina. A naval expedition under Commander Davenport, comprising USS Hetzel, USS Commodore Perry, USS Hunchback, USS Valley City and the Army gunboat Vidette, opened fire on an enemy encampment at Plymouth, forcing the Confederate troops to withdraw.

1862 October 31st

October 31 1862 Friday Go to November 1 1862 CSA. The Confederate Congress formalised the creation of a Torpedo Bureau in Richmond under Brigadier-General Gabriel James Rains. Their task was to dev…

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Wash drawing by Clary Ray, August 1897, after a drawing made on 14 March 1862 of USS Hetzel, during the New Bern, North Carolina, operation. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 57838, Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098664501.jpg

USS Commodore Perry at anchor on the James River, VA., sometime between October, 1861 and June, 1865. Library of Congress photos

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098618402.jpg

New York and Staten Island Ferry Company side-wheel ferry Hunchback in commercial service, in 1859 Image from Maritime New York in Nineteenth-Century Photographs, P.11, Pub. by E. & H. T. Anthony-Johnson, , Dover Publications Inc., New York

https://www.navsource.net/archives/12/120994910.jpg

Preparing Merchant Vessels for the Blockade", Harper's Weekly, September 7, 1861. Merchant steamers Augusta, James Adger, Florida and Valley City being fitted out for naval service at New York Navy Yard.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098648802.jpg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA