The gunboats of the Maryland Naval Harbor Marines in April of 1861.

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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I posted a question on another thread about the uniforms worn by these "Marines" and then started thinking about the four gunboats these 75 men manned and if the gunboats had names. So were these Baltimore naval vessels named?
 
I posted a question on another thread about the uniforms worn by these "Marines" and then started thinking about the four gunboats these 75 men manned and if the gunboats had names. So were these Baltimore naval vessels named?

Post the URL of this thread so we can see what context you're talking about.
 
It is from an article so no URL. I will rrread the article and go into the subject perhaps a bit deeper.
 
When Lincoln called for troops to put down the rebellion in April 1861, 15,000 men formed under Col. Isaac R. Trimble to defend Maryland. These men formed 3 "regiments": The Maryland Line, The Southern Guerrilla Home Guard, and the volunteer militia. Part of The Maryland Line was the Naval Harbor Marines with 75 men who maned four gunboats. I am assuming that if the Naval Harbor Marines only had 75 men, the gunboats were fairly small. Still, four small gunboats in Baltimore ready to fight the Union Navy peaked my attention.
 
The attached almost full-page article from the Baltimore Sun of April 22, 1861, details local military affairs during that chaotic time. Trimble's appoint "by the Baltimore Police Board," some early Orders etc. Scanning through I see no mention of gunboats, but I may have missed them.
Sun_1861-04-22_[1].png
 

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Trimble apparently was appointed to command "the un-uniformed volunteers of this city. That phrase "un-uniformed" is used repeatedly. How long they remained without uniforms I don't know.

Here's from the Sun of April 25:
gnbtsb.png


From The South (Balt.) of the same date:
gunboats.png


From the Sun of April 29, we see that one boat was the steam-tug Ajax, which appears to have had a less than spectacular career:
gnbt1.png
gnbt2.png
The main purpose of the harbor police was to prevent the removal of goods from Baltimore. Given the speed and ease with which Butler effected the occupation of the city on May 13th, those gunboats probably benefited the Union more than the Confederacy.

May 9th:
3My.png
 
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Trimble apparently was appointed to command "the un-uniformed volunteers of this city. That phrase "un-uniformed" is used repeatedly. How long they remained without uniforms I don't know.

Here's from the Sun of April 25: View attachment 316849

From The South (Balt.) of the same date: View attachment 316852

From the Sun of April 29, we see that one boat was the steam-tug Ajax, which appears to have had a less than spectacular career:
The main purpose of the harbor police was to prevent the removal of goods from Baltimore. Given the speed and ease with which Butler effected the occupation of the city on May 13th, those gunboats probably benefited the Union more than the Confederacy.

May 9th:View attachment 316855

Very interesting. I think these "harbor police" could only be considered Marines in the most general way.
 
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