UCVRelics
Brevet Brigadier General
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Regtl. Quartermaster Shiloh 2020
Asst. Regtl. Quartermaster Antietam 2021
Regtl. Quartermaster Stones River / Franklin 2022
- Joined
- May 7, 2016
- Location
- Alabama
One of the things I have been able to do in my first few weeks of retirement when I'm not out relic hunting is research. While in the Louisiana archives today I came across photos of several US Navy ships take by McPherson & Oliver of New Orleans. One that stuck out was a ratty looking boat called USS Estrella. Doesn't look much like a Navy gunboat to me.
The camera stand on the bank of a river looking toward the U.S.S.Estrella, a side-wheel steamer. She was transferred from the Army to the Navy late in 1862, and commissioned soon after. Assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Estrella served throughout the war off Mobile and New Orleans, along the Texas coast, and up the rivers flowing into the Gulf. During the first 13 days of November 1862 she took part in a series of engagements with CSS Cotton and Confederate shore batteries along the Atchafalaya River and Bayou Teche. With her captain serving as commander of the flotilla maintained in Berwick Bay Estrella led the attack on CSS Queen of the West 14 April 1863. Four days later, Cooke led his flotilla up the Atchafalaya once more, to attack the batteries at Butte-a-la-Rose. The batteries were captured intact, with their garrison of 60 men and large supplies of ammunition and commissary stores. From 3 to 6 May 1863, Estrella sailed up the Red River to join in the attack on Fort De Russy, and during June and July participated in the attacks on Port Hudson which led to its fall on 9 July. After being repaired at New Orleans in the first 4 months of 1865, Estrella served as flagship of the West Gulf Squadron, continuing to cruise in the Gulf of Mexico and its tributary waters until 30 June 1867, when she sailed for New York Navy Yard. There she was decommissioned 16 July 1867, and sold 9 October 1867.
The camera stand on the bank of a river looking toward the U.S.S.Estrella, a side-wheel steamer. She was transferred from the Army to the Navy late in 1862, and commissioned soon after. Assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Estrella served throughout the war off Mobile and New Orleans, along the Texas coast, and up the rivers flowing into the Gulf. During the first 13 days of November 1862 she took part in a series of engagements with CSS Cotton and Confederate shore batteries along the Atchafalaya River and Bayou Teche. With her captain serving as commander of the flotilla maintained in Berwick Bay Estrella led the attack on CSS Queen of the West 14 April 1863. Four days later, Cooke led his flotilla up the Atchafalaya once more, to attack the batteries at Butte-a-la-Rose. The batteries were captured intact, with their garrison of 60 men and large supplies of ammunition and commissary stores. From 3 to 6 May 1863, Estrella sailed up the Red River to join in the attack on Fort De Russy, and during June and July participated in the attacks on Port Hudson which led to its fall on 9 July. After being repaired at New Orleans in the first 4 months of 1865, Estrella served as flagship of the West Gulf Squadron, continuing to cruise in the Gulf of Mexico and its tributary waters until 30 June 1867, when she sailed for New York Navy Yard. There she was decommissioned 16 July 1867, and sold 9 October 1867.