Miscellaneous Naval activities

[USS ALASKA]

Last one today...

31 Oct 1862

Virginia. A landing party from USS Mahaska, Commander Foxhall Alexander Parker, began a three-day attack to destroy Confederate gun positions on Wormley's Creek and at West Point.

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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The Crew of the USS Mahaska, CAPT. Foxhall A. Parker, destroying the Water Battery, Built by the Rebels, at West Point, York River, 1 November 1862. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper- 1862.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098625204.jpg

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

2 Actions this day...

31 Oct - 01 Nov 1862

Texas. Union naval bombardment of Lavaca. Lavaca held a Confederate garrison protecting a large Confederate arsenal and small-arms manufactory. Union gunboats bombarded the port but it was defended by two waterfront batteries and the gunboats withdrew.

1862 November 1st

November 1 1862 Saturday Go to November 2 1862 Arkansas. Skirmish at La Grange. Kentucky. Skirmish in Henderson County. Louisiana. Union operations began at Berwick Bay. Mississippi. USS Louisville…

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Civil War Bombardment of Port Lavaca

Civil War Bombardment of Port Lavaca Historical Marker

.d As part of the U. S. Naval initiative to control Texas Confederate ports, the gunboats 'Clifton' and 'Westfield' turned to the town then known as Lavaca after easily taking Galveston and Indianola. (A historical marker located in Port Lavaca in Calhoun County, Texas.)

www.hmdb.org

Naval Shelling of Lavaca

Naval Shelling of Lavaca Historical Marker

.d Artillery batteries in Lavaca returned fired on two Union gunships that fired first on the small town October 31, 1862. (A historical marker located in Port Lavaca in Calhoun County, Texas.)

www.hmdb.org

Deck of the USS Clifton in Fighting Order showing a sketch of her gun emplacements and quarters. From Daniel D. T. Nestell Papers housed at the Nimitz Library, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098607505.jpg

Wash drawing of USS Westfield by R.G. Skerrett, 1904. Courtesy of the New Jersey Historical Society. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 48488

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098623101.jpg

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

01 Nov 1864

Tennessee. Confederate Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest repaired the transport vessels Undine and Venus so that they could accompany his advance northwards up the west bank of the Tennessee River to Johnsonville. He loaded his two 20-pounder Parrott rifled guns and several companies of cavalry aboard. While the boats travelled with ease, the land forces were hindered by difficult road conditions caused by incessant rain.

1864 November 1st

November 1 1864 Tuesday Siege of Petersburg Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Go to November 2 1864 Arkansas. Operations against Confederate guerrillas in central Arkansas began. Georgia. Incid…

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Follow up to posts #34 and #39.

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

2 Actions this day...

To go with posts #23, #27 and #38.

02 Nov 1863

Texas. Union capture of Brazos Island. A Union force was conveyed from New Orleans by 13 transport ships escorted by three gunboats and landed at Brazos Santiago. Union Brigadier-General Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana's expedition to invade Texas by way of the Rio Grande had survived severe storms en route and the 3,500 troops began to disembark against light opposition at Brazos Santiago. They set up a base at Point Isabel on Brazos Island at the mouth of the Rio Grande for further operations along the Texas coast. The supporting Naval forces were under Commander James Hooker Strong, with USS Monongahela, USS Owasco, and USS Virginia.

1863 November 2nd

November 2 1863 Monday Brazos Santiago, TX Bristoe Campaign Chattanooga Campaign Rio Grande Expedition Averell’s Lewisburg Raid Second Bayou Teche Campaign Go to November 3 1863 Dakota Territory. N…

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Please see above posts for maps and pics.

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

To go posts #34, #39 and #43.

02 Nov 1864

Tennessee. USS Key West, Acting Lieutenant King, and USS Tawah, Acting Lieutenant Jason Goudy, patrolling the Tennessee River, encountered the former Union gunboat CSS Undine and the transport Venus, which the Confederates had captured three days earlier. After a running engagement, Venus was retaken and CSS Undine was damaged but escaped. Carrying Confederate troops, CSS Undine outran the pursuit and gained the protection of Confederate batteries at Reynoldsburg Island, near Johnsonville. King pressed on and discovered a strong Confederate field battery emplaced to command a narrow channel in the Tennessee River between Reynoldsburg Island and the west bank two miles below Johnsonville. The Confederate gunboat CSS Undine twice attempted to lure King and his gunboats downriver in range of the batteries but without success.

1864 November 2nd

November 2 1864 Wednesday Siege of Petersburg Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Go to November 3 1864 Arkansas. Expedition from Little Rock to Benton began. Arkansas. Expedition from Brownsvill…

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Please see above posts for pics and maps.

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USS ALASKA

 

[Belfoured]

2 posts for today...

25 Oct 1861

New York. The keel of the USS Monitor was laid on the East River in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The ship incorporated many new and striking design features, the most significant of which were its iron armour and its armament. Designed by John Ericsson, the USS Monitor represented a completely new concept in warship design. It was 172 feet long, displaced 1,200 tons, and drew 10 and ½ feet. Instead of the large numbers of broadside guns that had characterised warships in the past, Ericsson opted for only two guns of very large calibre. He wanted to mount 12-inch guns but had to settle for 11-inch weapons when the larger size was unavailable. These were mounted in a novel cylindrical turret, 20 feet in diameter and 9 feet high. The whole turret rotated on a central spindle and was moved by a steam engine that could be controlled by one man. The circular turret had eight layers of one-inch iron plates and the vertical sides of the raft-like deck had 4 and ½ inches of iron armour. The decks were awash and only the 9-foot high turret and the 4-foot high pilot house showed above the waves.

1861 October 25th

October 25 1861 Thursday First Battle of Springfield, MO (CWSAC Limited Battle Union Victory) East Kentucky Operations Go to October 26 1861 Florida. USS Rhode Island, Lieutenant Stephen D Trenchar…

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View attachment 566048
General plan of the Monitor published in 1862, showing the ship's inboard profile, plan view below the upper deck and hull cross sections through the engine and boiler spaces. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. USNHC # NH 50954.

https://navsource.net/archives/01/monitors/monitor1m.jpg

USS Monitor was laid down by the Continental Iron Works on Bushwick Creek - which empties into the East River -

View attachment 566054

Bushwick Inlet History

Bird's Eye View of Bushwick Inlet and Neighborhood Context Historic Route of Bushwick Creek Bushwick inlet has a long history and...

brooklynrelics.blogspot.com

View attachment 566061

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USS ALASKA

Nice work locating that.

 

[USS ALASKA]

3 Actions this day...

03 Nov 1862

Berwick Bay, Louisiana. CSS J A Cotton, Lieutenant Edward W Fuller, and batteries on shore engaged the Union the approaching naval squadron of USS Calhoun, USS Kinsman, USS Estrella, and USS Diana near Cornay's Bridge in Berwick Bay. The Union squadron mounted a combined 27 guns against the two guns of CSS J A Cotton. The exchange of fire lasted one and a half hours. The Confederate ship took minor damage while all of the Union ships were hit. The USS Kinsman reported fifty hits, causing two men killed and four more wounded. When the Confederate gunboat had expended all its ammunition, it was compelled to withdraw. The Union 21st Indiana Infantry, supported by the gunboats, engaged Confederate forces onshore at Bayou Teche. The Confederate gunboat continued to engage the Union squadron over the following two days.

1862 November 3rd

November 3 1862 Monday Berwick Bay, LA Grant’s Central Mississippi Campaign Go to November 4 1862 Mediterranean Sea. Union Commander Henry Knox Thatcher reported the Mediterranean cruise of the USS…

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Watercolor of artwork by Assistant Engineer John Everding, USN, circa 1862-64. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo #: NH 55004-KN (color), courtesy of Erik Heyl.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098610802.jpg

USS Calhoun (former Confederate privateer and blockade runner)
(SwStr: tonnage 508; armament two 32-pounders, one 30 pounder rifle)

Calhoun was built in 1851 at New York as Cuba, was commissioned as a privateer by the Confederates on 15 May 1861 and while operating as a Confederate privateer and blockade runner, was captured by Colorado off Southwest Pass, La., 23 January 1862. Commissioned for Federal service under Lieutenant J. E. De-Haven, she joined the West Gulf Blockading Squadron 19 March 1862.

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

Painting depicting USS Estrella (at left) off the Pensacola Navy Yard, Florida, circa 1866-1867. USS Yucca is in the middle distance. The sailing frigate at right is not identified. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo #: NH 380, courtesy of Francis D. Brinton, 30 August 1933.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098610601.jpg

USS Diana One of only two known sketches of Diana published in 1863. Curiously, this does not show the new pilot house or guns fitted in 1862 suggesting it was made earlier. Image from original 9 May 1863 copy of Harper's Weekly. Pilot house not illustrated.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098624301.jpg

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

03 Nov 1862

North Carolina. A Union expedition under Commander H K Davenport, comprising USS Hetzel, USS Commodore Perry, USS Hunchback, USS Valley City, and the Army gunboat Vidette, was directed to Williamston to provide support for Major-General John Gray Foster's intended attack on Hamilton.

1862 November 3rd

November 3 1862 Monday Berwick Bay, LA Grant’s Central Mississippi Campaign Go to November 4 1862 Mediterranean Sea. Union Commander Henry Knox Thatcher reported the Mediterranean cruise of the USS…

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See post #40 for pics of USS Hetzel, USS Commodore Perry, USS Hunchback, and USS Valley City

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

To go posts #34, #39, #43 and #45...

03 Nov 1864

Tennessee. Confederate Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest moved his remaining gunboat Undine downstream from its position near Johnsonville on the Tennessee River. Just below Johnsonville, they found a place where Reynoldsburg Island narrowed the river into a curved chute with an irregular channel. He emplaced fifteen rifled guns to cover the defile, ready to ambush vessels on their way to Johnsonville.

1864 November 3rd

November 3 1864 Thursday Siege of Petersburg Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Go to November 4 1864 Alabama. Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard assigned Major-General Nathan…

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About here...

Please see above posts for pics.

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

3 Actions this day...

04 Nov 1862

Virginia. USS Coeur de Lion, Acting Master Charles H Brown, with USS Teaser and the schooner S H Poole, evacuated Union families and their property from Gwynn's Island.

1862 November 4th

November 4 1862 Tuesday Grant’s Central Mississippi Campaign Go to November 5 1862 USA. The Republican Party suffered a setback in US Congressional and State elections, losing seats in New York, Ne…

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USS Coeur de Lion with her crew on deck and after gun manned, during the Civil War. Her officers' names are printed below the image on this Civil War era reproduction. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 100

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098669001.jpg

Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1862, page 486, depicting USS Maratanza in the foreground, firing on and capturing CSS Teaser in the James River, Virginia, 4 July 1862. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59216.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098618603.jpg

USS Teaser (former CSS Teaser)
(Tug: tonnage 65; length 80'0"; beam 18'0"; depth of hold 7'0"; complement 25; armament 1 32-pounder rifle, 1 12-pounder rifle)

In April 1861, the government of the state of Virginia purchased the Philadelphia-built, wooden-hulled screw tug Teaser of Georgetown, D.C., and commissioned her in the Virginia State Navy, Lt. J. H. Rochelle, VSN, in command. Upon the secession of that state, Teaser became a part of the Confederate Navy and continued to operate in Virginia waters. While engaging the gunboat Maratanza at Haxall's on the James on 4 July 1862, a Union shell blew up Teaser's boiler and forced her crew to abandon ship. Later that summer, Teaser was taken into the Federal Navy and was assigned to the Potomac Flotilla.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/teaser-i.html

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

04 Nov 1863

North Carolina. Union transports, supported by the gunboats USS Delaware, USS Miami, and USS Whitehead, travelled up the Chowan River to within two miles of the mouth of the Blackwater River.

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 Delaware) USRC Louis Mclane, photographed sometime during the last decades of the Nineteenth Century Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 96590 courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard Historian

https://www.navsource.net/archives/12/1217988201.jpg

USS Miami coaling from a schooner near Roanoke Island, N.C., while serving in the North Carolina Sounds, circa 1862-64. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 46255

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098620801.jpg

Sketch by artist Alfred R. Waud, 1828-1891, of broadside views of USS Whitehead, Cohasset, and USS Young America, circa 1860s Library of Congress - Morgan collection of Civil War drawings Digital Id ppmsca 20424 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.20424

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098653601.jpg

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Last one for today...

To go posts #34, #39, #43, #45 and #49...

04 Nov 1864

Johnsonville, Tennessee. The Union forces sent more gunboats to support the efforts to halt Confederate Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest's raid. The Confederate steamer CSS Undine came upriver and lured three Union gunboats under Union Lieutenant-Commander Edward M King USN (USS Key West, USS Tawah, Acting Lieutenant Goudy, and USS Elfin, Acting Master Augustus F Thompson) into a pursuit. Forrest's small flotilla of the Undine and the Venus was challenged by the USS Key West and USS Tawah and brought under fire. The Confederate transport Venus was run aground near Johnsonville, recaptured by the Union forces, and destroyed two days later. CSS Undine was badly damaged but escaped to the protection of Confederate batteries at Reynoldsburg Island, near Johnsonville. Confederate Captain Frank M Gracey then abandoned CSS Undine and set her on fire. This caused her ammunition magazine to explode, ending its brief career with Forrest's flotilla on the Tennessee River. During the afternoon, King's fleet discovered the Confederates finishing their entrenchments and battery emplacements at Johnsonville. King moved the USS Key West, USS Tawah, and USS Elfin, back to a position nearer to Johnsonville to protect the transports and supplies gathered there. Meanwhile, six more gunboats sent from Paducah, Kentucky, under Lieutenant-Commander Leroy Fitch (USS Moose, USS Brilliant, USS Victory, USS Curlew, USS Fairy, and USS Paw Paw) approached the downstream side of Reynoldsburg Island to support King's vessels. The Confederate guns revealed themselves from hiding and engaged the fleet. The narrowness of the channel and the commanding position occupied by the batteries at Reynoldsburg Island meant that Fitch could not bring all his ships closer to Johnsonville to aid King's gunboats. Four Union gunboats mounting a combined eighteen guns opened fire but the Confederate artillery was so well-positioned that the Union forces were unable to hinder their operation. The Confederate artillery effectively neutralised the Union fleet, because Fitch was reluctant to take his gunboats through the narrow channel between Reynoldsburg Island and the western bank. He restricted his gunboats to long-range fire and was kept occupied while Forrest prepared his force for an attack on Johnsonville. Meanwhile, Confederate Captain John Morton placed eight pieces of artillery across the river from the important Union depot and river landing at Johnsonville, having left sufficient guns behind to block Fitch's passage. Johnsonville was an important base for transferring supplies from river transports to the railroad for onward movement to Nashville, 78 miles to the east. A spur of the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad had been built from Nashville to Johnsonville specifically to improve the supply lines. The depot had a mile of wharves protected by a Union fort and other defesive works as well as King's three gunboats. The garrison was a mixed force under Colonel C R Thompson, with about 2,000 men (the 43rd Wisconsin Infantry had about 700 men, the 11th Tennessee Cavalry had 20 men, detachments from 12th USCT Infantry, 13th USCT Infantry, and 100th USCT Infantry had about 400 men together, along with "armed quartermaster's employees" numbering about 800). Between 2 pm and 3 pm, Morton's Confederate guns commenced a fierce bombardment on the three gunboats, eleven transports, eighteen barges, the wharf area, and the Union depot at Johnsonville. King's three Union vessels with their 14 guns and the batteries in the fort at Johnsonville replied to the Confederates across the river in a long artillery duel. The stationary Union vessels at Johnsonville suffered severely under the accurate Confederate fire. The USS Key West was hit 19 times. Morton's guns set fire to the Union supply depot and to the steamboats and barges alongside the wharf. Fearing that the Confederates might cross the river (1,100 feet wide at this point) and capture the three gunboats and the transports, King ordered them to be run aground and set on fire. The three Union gunboats USS Key West, USS Tawah, and USS Elfin were set ablaze. The wind spread the flames into the piles of stores on the levee and then to a nearby warehouse filled with supplies. Later inspection by Union officials determined that widespread theft of supplies was sanctioned by the gunboat commanders. Panic infected the station master C H Nabb, who absconded with a train of cars loaded with clothing and 400 crewmen from the naval vessels, He abandoned the loaded cars at Waverly, arriving at Nashville with just the engine and tender.

1864 November 4th

November 4 1864 Friday Battle of Johnsonville, TN Siege of Petersburg Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Go to November 5 1864 Arkansas. Operation at Fayetteville ended. Union Major-General Samu…

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Journal Article
The Johnsonville Raid and Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park
Edward F. Williams, III
Tennessee Historical Quarterly
Vol. 28, No. 3 (FALL 1969), pp. 225-251
Tennessee Historical Society

The Johnsonville Raid and Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park on JSTOR

Edward F. Williams, III, The Johnsonville Raid and Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park, Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 3 (FALL 1969), pp. 225-251

www.jstor.org

Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

5 Actions this day...

05 Nov 1861

Missouri. Union Brigadier-General Ulysses Simpson Grant had attempted for two days to divert Confederate attention in southeastern Missouri and to intercept Confederate reinforcements heading across the Mississippi from Columbus, Kentucky. When he learned that Confederate troops were moving across Missouri in the direction of Colonel Richard James Oglesby's column, he ordered Brigadier-General Charles Ferguson Smith to move from Paducah into southwestern Kentucky to distract the Confederates. Grant chose to strike against Belmont, a ferry landing and tiny hamlet consisting of just three shacks, some 2,000 feet across the river from Columbus. Grant's expedition consisted of 3,114 men organised into two brigades under Brigadier-General John Alexander McClernand and Colonel Henry Dougherty, plus two cavalry companies and an artillery battery. Grant's force travelled aboard the steamers Aleck Scott, Chancellor, Keystone State, Belle Memphis, James Montgomery, and Rob Roy, under the protection of gunboats USS Lexington and USS Tyler.

1861 November 5th

November 5 1861 Monday Port Royal, SC Port Royal Expedition East Kentucky Operations West Kentucky Operations Go to November 6 1861 Kentucky. Union Brigadier-General William Nelson occupied Preston…

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Journal Article
General Grant's First Battle Belmont, 7 NOVEMBER 1861
James Clifford
On Point, Vol. 13, No. 2 (FALL 2007), pp. 8-15
Army Historical Foundation

Grant's flotilla, consisting of transports and two escorting gunboats, was assembled in secret. In addition to the enemy, Grant had to battle the soldiers' other ever-present enemies, boredom and dissension. Throughout October, the soldiers had grown restless and were openly talking of desertion and criticizing the Union war effort in their camps. As the men were being loaded onto the transports, they broke into wild cheering. When they were issued two days rations, their boredom dissipated with the anticipation of finally striking the Rebels. The transformation was immediate even though there were still no orders to attack.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26357741

Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

05 Nov 1862

North Carolina. USS Seymour was sent downriver from Hamilton to destroy the Confederate works at Rainbow Bluff.

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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Rainbow Banks (also called Rainbow Bend and Rainbow Bluff) near Hamilton, N.C. was an ideal location for a Confederate earthen fortification. The bluff— about 70 feet above a bend in the Roanoke River two miles below Hamilton and about 60 miles from the mouth of the Roanoke near Plymouth—provided a clear view in both directions. Its height protected Confederates from the fire of approaching Union gunboats as well as offering an exceptional position of attack. Fort Branch's eleven cannons offered significant protection for the railway bridge over the river at Weldon, a weak link in the "Lifeline of the Confederacy" between Wilmington, NC, and Richmond, VA. The fort also protected the nearby construction site of the ironclad ram C.S.S. Albemarle, which later helped regain control of the lower Roanoke River and Albemarle Sound by sinking wooden Union ships.

Fort Branch Civil War Site

fortbranchcivilwarsite.com

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

05 Nov 1863

Louisiana. Union Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter advised Major-General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks of the availability of gunboats near and below New Orleans for operations in Louisiana and Texas. Twelve gunboats were being fitted out, in addition to ten already active in the Department of the Gulf. Further forces would be provided after Confederate raids in Tennessee were suppressed.

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]

To go posts #34, #39, #43, #45, #49 and #52...

05 Nov 1864

Johnsonville, Tennessee. Seeing the fires at Johnsonville, the Confederates continued to bombard the town during the morning to prevent the Union forces from putting out the fire and rescuing the goods. Damage caused by Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest's raiders, including the loss of the steamers and barges but not the precious gunboats, was estimated by Union inspectors at a value of $2,200,000. The destruction of the gunboats and transports prevented the Confederates from crossing the river in force to capture Johnsonville, so Forrest moved his batteries downstream to cut off the Union gunboats below Reynoldsburg Island, but the ships managed to escape. An inferno illuminated Confederate Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest's withdrawal that night, and his force escaped without serious loss. Forrest then moved six miles during the night by the light of the burning depot and then headed onward through heavy rains towards Perryville. Union Major-General George Henry Thomas ordered the 3rd Division of XXIII Corps to move from Pulaski to defend the town, but Forrest had already departed for Corinth, Mississippi, before they could arrive. The Confederates reported 2 men killed and 9 wounded with one gun dismounted and claimed Union losses of four gunboats including the previously captured USS Undine, the USS Key West, USS Tawah, and USS Elfin. Additionally, 14 transports and 20 barges were destroyed. Union casualties numbered 8 killed and wounded.

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 for today...

05 Nov 1864

West Virginia. Operations by Confederate Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent A Witcher began in the Kanawha River. Witcher's raiders captured and burned the Union steamers Barnum and Fawn on the Big Sandy River.

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]

Playing 'catch-up' from the Nap...

07 Nov 1862

US President Abraham Lincoln confirmed the order to transfer all warships operating on the Mississippi River to the command of the US Navy. This ended formally the semi-autonomous operation of the Army's gunboat flotilla on Western waters in the Mississippi River Squadron.

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 ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

07 Nov 1863

Mississippi. The Union steamer Allen Collier and its cargo of cotton were burned by Confederate guerrillas at Whitworth's Landing after she left the protection of USS Eastport, Acting Ensign Sylvester Pool.

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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USS Eastport, reportedly at Helena, Arkansas in 1863. Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Historical Commission

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098622501.jpg

Eastport (almost CSN Ironclad)
(SwStr: t. 700 [570]; l. 280' dr. 6'3")

Eastport, a well modeled, fast Mississippi River steamer built at New Albany, Ind., in 1852, was acquired by Navy in January 1862 and underwent conversion to an ironclad gunboat at Cerro Gordo on the Tennessee River prior to duty with Lt. I. N. Brown's flotilla. Her alterations were about half completed when on 7 February 1862 she was captured by the Union gunboats, Conestoga, Tyler, and Lexington, together with the materials to finish the job. Eastport was sent in to Cairo, 111., and her conversion finished. She then served with the Union Army until 1 October 1862 when the ships of the Western Flotilla were turned over to the Navy and renamed the Mississippi Squadron.

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

Letter from Sylvester Pool, U. S. S. Eastport, Laconia, Mississippi, to David D. Porter, November 7, 1863 Provides account of an attack on the steamer Allen Collier by guerrillas at Whitworth's Landing, Mississippi. Missouri History Museum This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Letter_from_Sylvester_Pool%2C_U._S._S._Eastport%2C_Laconia%2C_Mississippi%2C_to_David_D._Porter%2C_November_7%2C_1863.jpg

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USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

08 Nov 1861

Virginia. USS Rescue, Lieutenant Gwin, shelled a Confederate battery at Urbanna Creek.

1861 November 8th

November 8 1861 Thursday The “Trent Affair” Battle of Ivy Mountain, KY (CWSAC Limited Battle Union Victory) East Kentucky Operations Go to November 9 1861 Bahamas. The USS San Jacinto, Captain Char…

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USS ALASKA