CSN Pegram, Robert Baker

Robert Baker Pegram:​

Born: December 10, 1811

Birthplace: Dinwiddie County, Virginia
Father: U.S. Congressman Major General John Pegram 1773 – 1831
(Buried: John Pegram Family Cemetery Bonneville Virginia)
Mother: Martha Ward Gregory 1781 – 1836

1st​ Wife: Lucy Binns Cargill 1814 – 1870
(Buried: Blandford Cemetery Petersburg Virginia)
Married: November 26, 1835 in Sussex County, Virginia

2nd​ Wife: Sarah Frances Leigh 1826 – 1905
(Buried: Elmwood Cemetery Norfolk Virginia)
Married: January 22, 1873 in Norfolk, Virginia

Children:
Margaret Pegram Holt 1837 – 1910
(Buried: Blandford Cemetery Petersburg Virginia)
Captain John Cargill Pegram 1838 – 1864
(Buried: Blandford Cemetery Petersburg Virginia)
James West Pegram 1843 – 1905
(Buried: Hollywood Cemetery Richmond Virginia)
Robert Baker Pegram Jr. 1848 – 1905
(Buried: Elmwood Cemetery Memphis Tennessee)
Lucy Cargill Pegram Deas 1848 – 1918
(Buried: Blandford Cemetery Petersburg Virginia)
George William Pegram 1852 – 1905
(Buried: Blandford Cemetery Petersburg Virginia)

Occupation before War:
1829: Entered the United States Navy as Midshipman
1829 – 1841: Midshipman in the United States Navy
Served in the United States Navy Mediterranean Squadron
1841 – 1861: Lt. in the United States Navy
Ordered to service under Captain David Farragut on U.S.S. Saratoga
1847: Served in the Mexican – American War
1852: Served with the United States Navy in the Japan Expedition
1853: Served in the U.S. Surveying Expedition in the North Pacific
1855: Served in joint expedition with the Powhatan and Rattler
Presented a sword by the State of Virginia
1856 – 1858: Served at United States Navy Norfolk Navy Yard
1858: Served in the Paraguay Expedition
1859: Commissioner to define the limits of Newfoundland fisheries
1861: Resigned from the United States Navy on April 17th​

Civil War Career:
1861: Served as Captain in the Virginia State Navy

1861 – 1862: Lt. in the Confederate States Navy
1861: Commander of Confederate Navy Station at Norfolk Virginia
1861: Erected Battery at Pig Point on the Nansemond River
1861: Commander of batteries in Elizabeth River
1861 – 1862: Commander of C.S.S. Cruiser Nashville
1862 – 1864: Commander in the Confederate States Navy
1862: Commander of C.S.S. Steamer Richmond
1862: ordered to Superintendent the shielding and armament of C.S.S. Richmond
1862: Took the C.S.S. Steamer Richmond to Drewry's Bluff
1862 – 1864: Commander of the C.S.S. Steamer Virginia
1862 – 1864: Served in the Confederate State Navy James River Squadron
1864 – 1865: Commander Confederate States Provisional Navy
1864 - 1865: Went to England where he had purchased a vessel when Appomattox occurred.

Occupation after War:
Vestryman of Bristol Parish
Superintendent of Petersburg Virginia Railroad
Agent for the New Life Insurance Company in Norfolk Virginia
Vestryman for Saint Paul's Church in Norfolk Virginia


Died: October 24, 1894
Place of Death: Norfolk Virginia
Age at time of Death: 82 years old
Burial Place: Elmwood Cemetery Norfolk Virginia

 

[ErnieMac]

Under Pegram's command the CSS Nashville was the first Confederate vessel to capture a Northern merchantman and the first Confederate vessel to visit a British port.

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[Pollaco]

That battery he helped erect at Pig Point on the Nansemond River disabled the Harriet Lane.

 

[Pollaco]

One of the ships captured and burned by the cruiser Nashville was the Harvey Burch.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

One of the ships captured and burned by the cruiser Nashville was the Harvey Burch.

The other vessel captured and burned by the CSS Nashville, under the command of Robert Pegram, was the schooner, Robert Gilfillan.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Under Pegram's command the CSS Nashville was the first Confederate vessel to capture a Northern merchantman and the first Confederate vessel to visit a British port.

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While at Southampton, the CSS Nashville secured belligerent (not pirate) status from Britain for Confederate warships, despite Union protests.

 

[Pollaco]

While at Southampton, the CSS Nashville secured belligerent (not pirate) status from Britain for Confederate warships, despite Union protests.

There is a painting depicticting that capture and burning of the Harvey Birch. Upon further reading I see where the Nashville was soon converted into the blockade runner Thomas Wragg. Then later yet into the Rattlesnake before it was destroyed.The ship had a short career as a cruiser and blockade runner.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

There is a painting depicticting that capture and burning of the Harvey Birch. Upon further reading I see where the Nashville was soon converted into the blockade runner Thomas Wragg. Then later yet into the Rattlesnake before it was destroyed.The ship had a short career as a cruiser and blockade runner.

Apparently when the CSS Nashville returned to South Carolina from Southampton, it was sold as a blockade runner. For the next few months it carried cotton to Nassau and arms into the Confederacy as the Thomas Wragg. The ship was next recommissioned as the privateer, Rattlesnake, and was kept contained in the Ogeechee River for eight months by Union gunboats. On February 27, 1863, the Rattlesnake became grounded near Fort McAllister and was sunk there by Union gunboats.

 

[Pollaco]

I would imagine that the Nashville had a long sleek hull and was fast which suited it as cruiser, blockade runner, or privateer.