USS Clifton

[Pollaco]

I don't know -- I can only see snippets, too little to get the context.

I don't think it matters too terribly much. He was there, Okay?

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

I done some quick research within my meager resources and found the following involving our little gunboat Clifton. She was ferry boat converted into a gunboat. She served with Farragut Squadron in the Western Gulf zone. It likely she worked as a motor boat tender sheparding those boats around while engaged in the bombardment of the Forts below New Orleans. This work was dangerous (under fire) and proved effective. She is not cited in the attacking group that passed the Forts. It appears she and the motor fleet went to Ship Island to rest and repair. Next, they went with Farragut Squadron to bombard Vicksburg where she was damaged by hostile fire. She is not cited at the Battle of Baton Rouge which disappointed me. It appears she did shell Baton Rouge in the infamous shelling of that city in retaliation for the Fleet being fired on by Confederate guerillas. She is not cited at the capture of Fort Buton at Butte a la Rose, Louisiana again a disappointment. She is likely involved in blockading duty, and I can not dispute the capture of a blockade runner sailing bark. She is cited at the capture of Galveston in the first battle there. Her guns and others did shell Galveston forcing a surrender.

 

[Pollaco]

Didn"t she tow a mortar schooner in one of those engagements?

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

I assume that Farragut had her assigned to towing those sailing mortar schooners around in the River. They would be under fire at the Forts below New Orleans and at Vicksburg. Therefore, she was working towing the Mortar Fleet and under fire at two major operations. I assume the schooners were sailing vessels and needed towing by a gunboat steamer. It appears she was not at Fort Burton as that was not a Farragut operation. Maybe someone confused the CLIFTON with the CALHOUN. The latter was in that action. The report she was damaged on Atchatfalaya River is likely not correct for same reason as Farragut had no action on that inland river only the Mississippi River.

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

May I now assume there was an artillery emplacement/Fort at Port Lacava (based on BartBrt statements) and it was armed with 4 twenty-four pounders and a couple of 12 pounders? It seems the engagement was perhaps a large show than known and in need of better study. What's the difference in a siege gun 24 pounder and a common smooth bore 24 pounder? Never heard of a 12-pounder siege gun.

 

[Pollaco]

Earlier in the conflict a captain (major?) Shea was to either bring or have brought to him several guns from one of the western frontier forts, Fort Clark I think. This was for the defense of the Texas Coast. Any idea where these guns wound up at?

 

[Pollaco]

Taken from a report prepared by Lt.George E. Conklin, Lt. + adjutant on orders from Major Daniel D. Shea then in command. Oct.31,The flag of truce was at 1:00. Major Shea was accompanied by 4 citizens and he rejected the demand for surrender. Lavaca was said to be in the grip of a yellow fever epidemic at the time.But an hour and a half was allowed for the women, children and the sick.Twin battery's under Capt. J.M. Reuss and Capt.John A. Vernon defended Lavaca.Some of the battery crews were not yet fully recovered.Capt. H. Wilke was the ordinance officer.Both ships were hit and one was partially disabled. They steamed out of range and dropped anchor and kept up a long range steady fire on the town.There was little or no return fire as the warships were out of range.They left about 11a.m. the next morning headed for Indianola with the Lecompt in tow.One of the gunboats went outside the pass and proceeded to Galveston. No Confederate lives were lost but the town had considerable damage. A total of 252 shots were fired. 174 on day 1 and 78 the next morning.Nearly all from 32 and 64 pounder rifles.The above is taken from the book "Indianola,the Mother of Western Texas" by Brownson Malsch, pages 168 and 169.

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

Thanks, Polloco! May I assume the 252 shots were solely fired from the Federal ships and the Confederate return fire not cited? Or it is the opposite? If the heavy weapons cited were Confederate and that means they did have a Fort and some type of entrenchment constructed so as to properly mount and protect them. Very Cool! The twin batteries (maybe field guns) could only damage the Federals if the Federals were moving in point blank range close. That appears the case I suppose.

 

[Pollaco]

Thanks, Polloco! May I assume the 252 shots were solely fired from the Federal ships and the Confederate return fire not cited? Or it is the opposite? If the heavy weapons cited were Confederate and that means they did have a Fort and some type of entrenchment constructed so as to properly mount and protect them. Very Cool! The twin batteries (maybe field guns) could only damage the Federals if the Federals were moving in point blank range close. That appears the case I suppose.

The actual wording is "the enemy fired in all 252 shot and shell."

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

I took the liberty of looking up the OFFICAL RECORD citation apparently used by author Malsch in book you presented above. Here's a few odd and ends. It seems the Confederate commander counted (claimed) rounds fired by Federals (252). He even stated (as you pointed out) he claimed to know the caliber of cannon fire (32 and 64 rifled) seemly by sound. I assume this is possible for one of some experience. He further claimed on the 42nd round fired one of the Federal cannons exploded on board causing "great damage". This could have been the CLIFTON, or the one other Federal vessel said disabled that day. The Federal damaged vessel was tow out of range. He claimed his guns scored several hits on damaged vessel. He points out that a Confederate captured schooner LECOMPT was seen in tow by one of the Federal vessels. He said the LECOMPT was captured blockade running the day before by this pair of Federal vessels. The Commander (Major D.D. Shea) had no losses, but town had (considerable damage). No civilian losses cited. He confirmed there was a truce talk on the beach that collapsed and guns commenced after time period elapsed. The vessels were too close and did back off out of Confederate firing range. The Major reported he had mountain howitzers. Unknow if CLIFTON got credit for captured of the LECOMPT

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

Here's another affair found interesting to me that may have involved the CLIFTON. I found it in a source book about Farragut in my possession. Dated 07/02/1862(or 63) downstream from Vicksburg while mortar fleet shelling the place. The Confederate launched a human wave assault of 2,000 men upon the said mortar fleet. Federals had caused some type of quick entrenchment on shore apparently to protect the anchored mortar schooners. The attackers were met with a hellish cannon fire of the Federal protection vessels and Federal troops in those entrenchments. Federals reported they counterattacked and drove away the shattered attackers. They further claimed scores of rebels were captured bogged down in river mud and pinned by fire power. Some artillery guns captured. Personally, this is the first I heard of this battle and suppose it has no name for the battle. Is anyone knowledgeable of this? Since the CLIFTON was assigned to tender work the mortar fleet there is a chance she was involved.

 

[mjr251]

At Port Lavaca

Was there even a fort at Lavaca? Shea's battalion consisted of Company A, commanded by Captain John A. Vernon, and Company B, command by Captain Joseph M. Reuss. In a report of an engagment with a Federal sloop at Fort Washington in late 1861, Shea mentions two 12-pounders under the command of Captain Reuss, and on February 1862, Shea was asking for twenty-four horses and two battery wagons for his battalion of light artillery.

Fort Washington, which was a small that was (I think) a relic of either the Texas Republic days or the Mexican War, and Fort Esperanza both protected Indianola and Port Lavaca. Esperanza appears on Confederate maps of the area, but I haven't seen any fortifications further up the bay. It's likely that Shea had his men dig temporary entrenchments for their field guns during the engagement with Clifton and Westfield, though.

 

[mjr251]

It likely she worked as a motor boat tender sheparding those boats around while engaged in the bombardment of the Forts below New Orleans.

Excellent research, thanks! I know that Westfield had mortar shells aboard her when she was destroyed, and 13-inch shells were converted into torpedoes - land mines - at Sabine Pass after the battle. I have to assume these came from Clifton.

 

[mjr251]

Earlier in the conflict a captain (major?) Shea was to either bring or have brought to him several guns from one of the western frontier forts, Fort Clark I think. This was for the defense of the Texas Coast. Any idea where these guns wound up at?

At the end of the war, the Fourth Texas Artillery Battalion had two 12-pounder field guns and two 12-pounder howitzers. I'm not sure where they were at this time, though.

 

[mjr251]

May I now assume there was an artillery emplacement/Fort at Port Lacava (based on BartBrt statements) and it was armed with 4 twenty-four pounders and a couple of 12 pounders? It seems the engagement was perhaps a large show than known and in need of better study. What's the difference in a siege gun 24 pounder and a common smooth bore 24 pounder? Never heard of a 12-pounder siege gun.

I can't say for certain that there was not a fortification at Lavaca, but I'm highly skeptical of there being one there. Fort Esperanza, a big, very powerful cremaillere-style fort, guarded Pass Cavallo, the entrance to Matagorda and Lavaca Bays.

The difference in siege (& garrison), field, and seacoast guns is in the way they're mounted and intended to be used.

 

[mjr251]

Getting back on my drawing of Clifton. This is her forward IX-inch Dahlgren pivot gun and its crew. If this part of the ship seems crowded, it's because these big guns required a lot of people to quite literally manhandle them into their firing positions. Can't see it in the drawing but on the deck, there's a system of semi-circular rails that allow the crew to pivot the gun to three firing positions - directly forward, port, and starboard.

This is the gun that fired on Fort Griffin on the morning of September 8, 1863 at Sabine Pass. Clifton's commander, Frederick Crocker, had attempted to draw a response from the fort in order to gauge the size and number of its guns. Fort Griffin's commander, Richard W. Dowling of Company F, 1st Texas Heavy Artillery, kept his gunners hidden in order to ambush the Federal ships when they finally approached the fort that afternoon. The results were predictably disastrous for Clifton, as she was captured after being badly shot up by Dowling's gunners.

When Clifton was converted to a cotton-carrying blockade runner, her guns were removed and placed in Confederate shore batteries in the area. When the war ended and Union sailors came ashore at Sabine Pass, four IX-inch guns were found at the then-abandoned Fort Griffin. I'm not certain, but it's likely that this gun was one of them.

 

[mjr251]

Slow and unsteady progress. Forward main deck is mostly done, pilothouse is next. Once all that is complete I can start on the hull.