Other Union Waterborne Traffic

[USS ALASKA]

While looking up some info on the B & O for another forum, ran across some something that spawned a question.

The B & O was very important to the war effort but the western part of the line kept getting swacked during the war, disrupting operations.

Running from DC to Cumberland, MD is the C & O Canal. Opened in 1850. In some areas right along side the B & O.

During the ACW, was this waterway used much or was it avoided because of it's proximity to the Confederacy? Was it attacked like the B & O? I would have thought that the locks would have made tempting targets. Much easier to destroy than infrastructure like the Paw Paw Tunnel.

'The canal deteriorated during the Civil War. In 1869, the company's annual report said, "During the last ten years little or nothing had been done toward repairing and improving lock-houses, culverts, aqueducts, locks, lock-gates and waste weirs of the Company; many of them had become entirely unfit for use and were becoming worthless, rendering it absolutely essential to the requirements of the Company to have them repaired." Still, some improvements were made in the late 1860s, such as replacing Dams No. 4 and 5.'

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_and_Ohio_Canal

Not sure if this is the right forum for this but since we don't have a Logistics forum...and it is about water and 'silly boats' as my vastly more significant other says about my fascination with Naval things...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Seduzal]

It seems that I read something on this some time way back when. But for now I'l see if I came recall or find it!

 

[Tom Elmore]

(The Alleghanian, July 2, 1863 (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania), referring to Cumberland, Maryland) On the west bank of the Potomac, the western terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, and has extensive trade. There are several flourishing mills in the vicinity.

(Journal of William H. Warren, Company C, 17th Connecticut, latter June 1863, at Edward's Ferry on the Potomac) Crossed a canal running parallel with the river. In the canal was a boat bearing the name "Flying Cloud," of Georgetown.

As of late June 1863, barge traffic along the canal was thriving near Rowser's Ford. In fact, J. E. B. Stuart took precious time to disrupt it during his march north into Pennsylvania:
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/j-e-b-stuarts-potomac-crossing.132323/#post-1494720

(Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson's Official Report of the summer 1863 Gettysburg campaign) June 16, marched to Shepherdstown, where Jones' brigade was temporarily detached, with orders to destroy a number of canal-boats and a quantity of grain and flour stored at different points, and cut the canal. (I recall that the Confederates found the sturdy masonry construction of the aqueducts, etc. virtually impossible to damage.)

(John Cabell Early, A Southern Boy's Experience) circa July 6/7, 1863, Williamsport, Maryland. The road to the river crossed a high bridge over the canal. ... After the fight (of July 6), cables were put to heavy boats in the canal and pulled them to the river, where they were converted into ferry boats.

 

[USS ALASKA]

@Tom Elmore - thank you sir!

Was doing some looking around and was checking into the sources from the wiki document. The wiki link didn't work but found the pdf file on the web. 'Historic Resource Study: Chesapeake & Ohio Canal' by Harlan D. Unrau for the United States Department of Interior, National Park Service, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Hagerstown, Maryland, August 2007.

This is an 851 page monster but fortunately it has a 78 page section on the 'Canal in the Civil War' which I'm starting to read now. Hopefully it will help out.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

So, after 6 years, I found some answers - while looking for something else of course...

JOURNAL ARTICLE
The Vicissitudes of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War
Walter S. Sanderlin
The Journal of Southern History
Vol. 11, No. 1 (Feb., 1945), pp. 51-67 (17 pages)
Southern Historical Association

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2197957

Very good article IMVHO

Full article 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).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

"Difficulty on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal": The Struggles and Successes of Black Laborers and Freedom Seekers along the Canal
Sabrina Romain
United States Department of Interior
National Park Service
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park
June 2021

Executive Summary
The purpose of this document is to act as a guide and provide insight into the life experiences of some Black laborers along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O Canal) to inspire and direct further research. The C&O Canal played a large role in the creation of jobs, communities, and opportunities for both whites and Blacks during its operational years. While many white individuals in high positions have been studied, the experiences of Black laborers and freedom seekers along the C&O Canal have not been deeply researched. Scores of Black men, women, and children worked in various capacities along the canal and deserve to be recognized for the part they played to keep the company and local communities thriving. Current historical trends are focused on highlighting the agency of enslaved and free Blacks in the United States, and this report contributes by sharing information about approximately one hundred Black men's work history along the C&O Canal. A biographical chart of the men accompanies this report. Brief summaries are included, along with primary and secondary sources, which document particular circumstances of their work lives or experiences along the C&O Canal. The report is organized chronologically, providing overviews and examples of Black labor on the canal during its construction and early operations (1828-1861), the Civil War (1861-1865), and after the war to the termination of canal operations (1865-1924). During its commercially operational years, the C&O Canal Company employed thousands in its construction, operations, transport, trade, and other functions. Major themes in the antebellum years include the canal's use of enslaved and free Black laborers and comparisons with the experiences of white indentured servants. The ephemeral descriptions of Black laborers in canal records of this period contrast strongly with the details of runaway advertisements enslavers placed in newspapers, highlighting both the underrepresentation of Black canal workers in accounts of the period, and the importance of the canal to the Underground Railroad. The C&O Canal was not only used as a mode to transport for products like coal, but as a passage for enslaved Blacks to transport themselves to freedom. Scores of Blacks used the riverway as a guide to freedom, and records indicate that the C&O Canal may have helped provide work and cover during some individuals' journeys to the free state of Pennsylvania and beyond. Selected case studies offer compelling insights into the lives, families, and journeys of freedom seekers in this period, and indicate a promising field for future research. The Civil War era saw the canal rise in importance as a boundary and battleground between the United States and Confederate armies, and a place of both danger and opportunity for freedom seekers assisting and following Union soldiers in search of protection.

https://www.npshistory.com/publications/choh/black-laborers-freedom-seekers.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[major bill]

The state of Michigan completed the Soo Locks between Lake Superior and Lake Huron in 1855. These locks allowed the economic shipping of huge quantities of copper, iron ore, and timber. All three were important war materials during the Civil War.