Confederate capture of the USS Water Witch on the Georgia coast

USS Water Witch. Library of Congress archives.

The USS Water Witch was a sidewheel steam gunboat (150’ in length; 378 tons). Commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 1851, she spent her early years conducting surveys in South America. When the Civil War broke out, she was initially assigned to blockading service with the Gulf Blockading Squadron, but eventually was transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. She spent some time in the Florida theatre, participating in forays up the St. Johns River, and then served on the blockade of the Georgia coast.

In May 1864, Flag Officer William Hunter, commander of the C.S. Navy Savannah River Squadron, issued orders to First Lt. Thomas Pelot to assemble a raiding force to capture a Union gunboat stationed at the mouth of the Little Ogeechee River. On 31 May, Pelot set out with a force of 117 men and 14 officers recruited from various ships in the squadron. When they arrived at Beaulieu Battery late that evening, they found that the Water Witch, their target, had weighed anchor to take up station in St. Catherine’s Sound, to the south. Pelot did not let this dissuade him. He sent out scouts to scan the coast for the enemy gunboat, which returned to the station in Ossabaw Sound off the Little Ogeechee River the morning of 1 June. Having located their target, the CSN raiding party set out late in the evening of 2 June. They were guided by Moses Dallas, a free black pilot who had rendered outstanding service to the Confederate Navy for over two years. His knowledge of the local waters on the southeast Georgia coast was unmatched.

The Water Witch was commanded by Lt. Commander Austin Pendergrast. In one of those all-too-common twists of fate one encounters in war, Pendergrast and Pelot were classmates in the U.S. Naval academy and were shipmates as Midshipmen on the USS Independence. The night of 2 June was foggy and rainy. Pendergrast had set a deck watch to guard against a raid; the officer of the deck that night was Acting Master’s Mate Eugene Parsons. He spotted some of the approaching CSN boats and hailed them. At first the Confederates replied “Contraband,” but after repeated hails Pelot yelled “Rebels, d____ you!” Confederate seamen and officers swarmed onto the deck. Parsons spun the ship’s battle rattle as a warning, but apparently for too short a time to sound the alarm. The officers and crew of the Water Witch were awakened by the sound of gunfire and shouting on deck. The Union gunboat’s officers put up a gallant defense, but oddly, most of the crew cowered below decks, along with the engineering division. Lt. Pelot was killed in the initial rush onto the ship, and command of the CSN raiders then went to Lt. Joseph Price. Their guide, Moses Dallas, was also killed by a pistol shot from Parsons in the initial rush on the Union ship.

The Union men eventually succumbed to wounds and the overwhelming numbers of the CSN raiders, the battle for the ship lasting about 20 minutes. One of the few Union bluejackets who did attempt to help the officers defend the ship was Landsman Jeremiah Sills, an African American seaman who is said to have stationed himself at the doorway to the ship’s arms locker and kept coming out with loaded pistols which he fired at the CSN raiders. The Confederates suffered 6 dead and 17 wounded, the Union 2 dead and 14 wounded. Pendergrast was wounded but survived. He was subsequently court-martialed and found guilty of “culpable inefficiency in the discharge of duty.” The victorious Confederates steamed up the Vernon River with the ship, towards Savannah, hoping to convert her to a C.S. Navy gunboat. They never had the chance to do this and the ship was sunk at her moorings in December 1864 as Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and his men closed in on Savannah.

Today, you can board and tour a full-size replica of the USS/CSS Water Witch at the Port Columbus National Museum of Civil War Naval History in Columbus, Georgia.

USS/CSS Water Witch at the Port Columbus Civil War Naval Museum. Author's photo.

The Capture of Georgina and Some Furry Friends

The English-built steamer Georgina had the potential to be one of the most effective ship ever to serve in the Confederate States Navy. She was a large steamer with a good size hold for cargo and had several placement for large caliber guns. Like many of the English-built cruisers, great secrecy surrounded her construction. It is still not clear whether the Confederacy intended her to be a commerce raiding cruiser or a blockade runner.

During her maiden (and only) voyage  in the Spring of1863, she was definitely a blockade runner.  Loaded with small arms, naval artillery, black powder, money, and alcohol, Georgina attempted to the run into Charleston. She did not make it.  U.S. Navy ships USS America, Wissahockon, and Housatonic spotted her and opened fired.  The shots struck Georgina.  During the chase, Georgina's captain committed a serious navigation error, causing the ship to run hard aground. He and the ship's company immediately abandoned ship.

Wissahockon's commanding officer ordered a boarding team to take possession of the ship and "all prisoners."  One of Wissahockon's division officers, Lieutenant Israel Vail, in his excellent memoir Three Years on the Blockade, tells us what happened next:

"A boat was immediately lowered from our ship, and Lieutenant Casey was sent to board the stranger, with orders to bring back the prisoners with him, and to ascertain what cargo she had, and get such other information as he could by an examination of her papers. It was past midnight, but we all sat up and waited patiently for the return of the boat, as we were anxious to see the prisoners and hear all the particulars about the ship.

In due time the boat returned bringing the prisoners, which consisted of a large Newfoundland dog and a very large Southdown sheep. Lieutenant Casey had obeyed his instructions to the letter, so far at least as the prisoners were concerned, for the dog and sheep were the only living things to be found on board the vessel, and these amiable animals had met him at the gangway as he stepped on board, and gave him a hearty welcome, at the same time indicating their willingness to surrender, without any words on the subject.

The arrival of these unexpected prisoners caused an immense amount of amusement for us, as we all crowded to the rail to see them hoisted on board, and the Lieutenant seemed to be very proud of his peaceful capture. He reported that he had made a thorough examination of the ship in search of officers and crew, whom it was possible might be stowed away somewhere among the cargo, but, that he could find no trace of any living beings except the prisoners mentioned. So he had concluded that all hands had escaped to the shore in their boats, as soon as the ship had struck the bar. Signals were at once made from our ship for assistance in getting the stranger off the bar, and in a few minutes several boats arrived from the other blockading ships, and preparations were made for hauling her off.

There was no manifest of the cargo found, but it was presumed that she was loaded with arms and ammunition, as a portion of the cargo was in sight, and consisted of small rifled cannon and Enfield rifles. There must also have been a considerable quantity of medical stores on board, as quite a number of bottles of quinine were found, as well as several cases of brandy. The quality of the latter article was tested.”

USS America-The Most Famous Civil War Ship You've Never Heard Of

It may come as a surprise to some Civil War naval aficionados that there was a ship serving on the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron as famous as Monitor, Hartford, or Alabama.  The schooner USS America should be added to that list.  The America was small by nineteenth century warship standards.  She did not possess iron plates or a steam boiler.  No well known officer ever controlled her helm.  Nonetheless, her name is legendary to people who compete in sailing regattas. 

In 1851, British royalty donated a trophy called the 100 Guinea Cup for the Royal Navy Yacht Club's annual race around the Isle of Wight.  Determined to win for the United States, a nine man syndicate known as the New York Yacht Club commissioned the construction of a gaff schooner-rigged yacht.  The ship was christened America.  After defeating fifteen British ships in front of Queen Victoria, the men brought the Cup to the United States.  They donated the trophy to the Club to serve as the award for an international sailing competition.  They renamed the cup and competition the "America's Cup," in honor of the yacht’s accomplishment.  Every four years, professional sailors and their sponsors compete for the Cup.

 
Despite their success, the syndicate sold the schooner to a British lord soon after the race.  After passing through a few other hands, the vessel finally landed with another member of British royalty, Henry Deice.  According to Edward Sweet, author of The America: War Service of a Racing Yacht, Deice's background was always a mystery.  He frequently changed his name in correspondence.  It is plausible that he lied about being a British lord. Nonetheless,  Deice committed the ship to Confederate service at the beginning of the war to be used a courier/blockade runner out of Jacksonville, Florida.

 When Union forces captured Jacksonville, they found the yatch scuttled in the St. Johns River.  Determining the vessel was worth saving, the Navy salvaged the schooner and sent her to the Washington Navy Yard for repair.  While there, Naval ordnance expert John Dahlgren gave the vessel a 24-pounder and two 12-pounder bronze cannons.  Commissioned as USS America, the Navy assigned the fast sailing schooner to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.  Despite its light battery and small size, America and her commanding officer, Acting Master Jonathan Baker, captured or chased ashore several blockade runners.  Her captures included the schooner David Crocket and the steamers Georgina and Stonewall Jackson.

Given the advance in maritime technology, it may seem odd for the Navy to use sailing ships for war service.  Since these little vessels (only 170 tons displacement) were fast, drew little water, and required little upkeep, senior officers coveted these ships.  Many complained loudly when the Department ordered them off duty.

After the war, the Navy kept the yacht as a training vessel at the U.S. Naval Academy until it was sold to General Benjamin Butler.  She survived until the 1940s. A replicia of the vessel sails on the West Coast of the United States.

The 2013 America's Cup will be held in San Francisco, California.

Confederate Ironclads Attack the Charleston Blockade

CSS Palmetto State

The Confederate States Navy had two ironclads of note defending Charleston: CSS Palmetto State and CSS Chicora.  The squadron's commodore, Duncan Ingraham, noticed in January 1863 that the U.S. Navy's blockade was rather weak.  Hoping to duplicate (or surpass) the results of CSS Virginia or the results of the Confederate attack at Galveston, Ingraham decided to attack. 

The U.S.N's blockade nearest to Charleston's forts had only two wooden gunboats: USS Keystone State and Mercedita.  The Confederate ironclads put to sea at 11:30 p.m. and, due to their slow speed, reached the U.S.N's patrol lines at 4:30 the next morning. Both the dark night and a heavy fog assisted the ironclads in achieving the element of surprise.

Palmetto State rams Mercedita and Keystone State
 and Chicora exchange shots.

Mercedita's officer of the deck saw the unknown ships approach and asked the standard question: "What ship is that?" Upon receiving no answer, he woke his commanding officer, Captain Henry Stellwagen, and the ship's company went to general quarters.  Stellwagen personally gave a second warning as the unknown ship approached.  Then he heard the words, "This is the Confederate States steamer..." and upon those words, Stellwagen ordered his ship's guns to fire.  But the angle was wrong and no guns could be brought to bear.  At that point, Palmetto State fired her 7-inch rifle into Mercedita and rammed the wooden gunboat, causing her to take on water and sink. Mercedita surrendered.

USS Keystone State

Chicora went after Keystone State and also attempted to ram.  However, Keystone State used speed to her advantage and dodged the attempt.  The two ships exchanged shots at each other, with Keystone State taking the worst of it.
Fortunately for Keystone State, time was against the Confederates.  As daylight appeared, other ships of the blockading squadron, specifically USS Housatonic, Augusta, Memphis, Flag, and Quaker City rushed to the scene of battle. Also as the sun rose, the tide ebbed.  Fearing that he would not get his ships back across the sand bar at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, Ingraham decided to call off the attack.  As the ironclads withdrew, Housatonic took a shot at Palmetto State and knocked off her smoke stack.  The battle was over.

As the Union pulled back to repair their ships and remove casualties, General Beauregard and Ingraham immediately wrote letters to every foreign consulate to proclaim the blockade at Charleston had been risen (which would have forced the U.S. Navy to reissue a new blockade proclamation and keep the port open for 72 hours).  At first the English, French, and Spanish diplomats agreed.  But upon seeing the arrival of USS New Ironsides and other ships just a day later, the British consulate, Frederick Milnes Edge, changed his mind. He personally apologized to Admiral DuPont for his hasty declaration and wrote that it was his new opinion that the blockade at Charleston was still in force.

Chasing After CSS Nashville: November 19, 1862



A Northern newspaper cartoon mocking the U.S. Navy's inability to capture CSS Nashville.



CSS Nashville was the Confederate State government's second attempt at a commissioned commerce raider (CSS Sumter being the first).  Eliminating all Confederate cruisers became a top priority for the U.S. Navy, but the chase after Nashville bordered on obsession.  Part of the U.S. Navy's emotional tie to the ship was possibly due to the fact that Nashville successfully ran the blockade four times between November 1861 and June 1862.  Even though she only captured two prizes, her presence stirred up the emotions of Yankee merchant owners and their insurance underwriters.  For its part, the Confederate States Navy gave up Nashville as a cruiser and sold her off to a blockade running outfit.  To the U.S. Navy, it did not matter.  In their opinion, Nashville could be easily turn back into a cruiser.  They intended her to be captured or sunk.

The 400-ton USS Dawn, which carried
a 100-pounder Parrott Rifle.

In late Summer 1862, U.S. Navy intelligence discovered that the ship formerly known as Nashville dashed into Ossabaw Sound and up the Ogeechee River (about twenty miles southwest of Savanna, Georgia), instead of a larger port.  Granted, the guns of Fort McAllister protected her, but she was trapped.  Unlike Charleston or Wilmington, there was only one exit for a Confederate ship to run the blockade: back the way they came.   But trapped was not good enough.  On November 19, 1862,  the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron conducted one of several attempts to sink the Confederate cruiser.

This attempt consisted of three ships: the gunboats USS Wissahickon and Dawn and one mortar boat, simply named No.5.  Although there is no recorded strategy, it would seem that the mortar boat would be used to bombard the cruiser from afar.  

USS Wissahickon's XI-inch Dahlgren gun crew

The Confederate garrison at Fort McAllister was prepared for any Yankee assault.   With obstructions laid across the river, McAllistar's guns opened fire on Wissahickon at 8:15 a.m.  Wissahickon returned fire with her XI-inch Dahlgren.  Dawn joined in with her 100-pounder Parrot rifle.    At 9:45, the Confederate gunners found their mark and hit Wisssahickon four feet below the water line. After firing seventeen XI-inch shells and eighteen 20-pounder Parrot Rifle shells (including eight percussion shells), Lieutenant Commander John Davis ordered a retreat.  Wissahickon was taking on water badly and forced to beach farther down river to repair the hole.   With No. 5 in tow, Dawn fired off forty-nine 100-pound Parrott shells before she retreated. 

For the moment, Nashville (she also went by the names Rattlesnake and Thomas L. Wragg while operating as a privateer) was safe.  However, she was still trapped. 

Naval Engagement at St. Johns Bluff - Part II

USS Paul Jones (From Naval History and Heritage Command archives)

Reports of the firing on the gunboats USS Uncas and Patroon on 11 September 1862 by a Confederate battery on St. Johns Bluff outraged Flag Officer Samuel F. DuPont, commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. He sent orders to Cdr. Charles Steedman to assemble a task force to “. . . make a thorough reconnaissance of the (St. Johns) river as far as you deem it advisable. . .” and to “. . . warn responsible persons of the consequences.” Steedman’s squadron consisted of his big gunboat, the USS Paul Jones, plus the gunboats USS Cimarron, Uncas, E. B. Hale, and Patroon. Assembling at Mayport Mills on 16 September, the flotilla headed upriver the morning of 17 September 1862.

Paul Jones and Cimarron opened fire on the St. Johns Bluff battery at a range of 2,000 yards with their 100 pdr Parrot rifles. The battery began returning fire when the ships came within about 1,600 yards. Steedman later reported that the fire from the other three gunboats was “of little, if any, service”, although he does not indicate why. It may be that they followed the two larger gunboats, misunderstanding Steedman’s orders to go into action in line-ahead formation, instead of closing with the battery at a range more suitable for their guns. Dr. Ed Bearss, in an article in the Florida Historical Quarterly indicates that the smaller gunboats could not fire because the Cimarron and Paul Jones were in their line of fire. The exchange between the battery and the gunboat flotilla continued for several hours, with the USN ships expending about half their ammunition. Both Paul Jones and Cimarron took hits from the guns of the battery. As on 11 September, the battery crew was driven off for a period of time by the substantial naval gunfire. Steedman decided to withdraw downriver back to his base, instead of continuing upstream to Jacksonville. He believed that to do the latter would allow Confederate forces to reoccupy the battery and threaten his ships on the return journey downstream. The USN ships returned to their base at Mayport Mills by the close of day on 17 September.

This was probably the largest naval action of the Civil War in Florida, in terms of the number of warships involved, but the failure to defeat the battery solely by naval means prompted DuPont to realize that it would take a combined Army-Navy operation to silence the battery. A Union force of about 1,500 soldiers was dispatched from Hilton Head, SC on 25 Sept 1862. Under the command of Gen. John M. Brannan, it was bound for the St. Johns River. Stay tuned for more.

USS Cimarron (From Naval History and Heritage Command archives)

Naval Engagement at St. Johns Bluff - Part I

Harper's Weekly drawing of the Confederate Battery at St. Johns Bluff (Source: Florida Dept. of State Archives)

In prior posts, I highlighted the US Navy’s establishment of the blockade off the St. Johns River, Florida and creation of their base of operations at Mayport Mills in spring 1862. In an effort to prevent the Navy’s use of the river, during the late summer of 1862 the Confederates constructed a substantial earthworks and battery of guns on St. Johns Bluff, 3 miles upstream of Mayport Mills on the south bank of the river. This appears to have been done at the command of Gen. Robert E. Lee, whose orders to Brig. Gen. Joseph Finegan were to secure the Apalachicola and St. Johns Rivers from use by the Union forces. Work on the battery was completed in early September 1862, and it was placed under the command of Capt. Joseph A Dunham of the Milton Light Artillery Battalion. A smaller, secondary battery was also constructed upstream at Yellow Bluff, on the opposite bank of the river.

An escaped slave brought the existence of these batteries to the attention of USN forces at Mayport Mills. Although skeptical of this information, Acting Master L. G. Crane, commanding the gunboat USS Uncas, decided to conduct a reconnaissance of the Bluff. Proceeding upriver on 10 September, accompanied by the gunboat USS Patroon (Acting Master W. D. Urann commanding, who received the initial report from the escapee), Crane arrived off the Bluff that evening. He anchored, set out a kedge anchor to enable him to bring his broadside to bear, and fired nine rounds into the Bluff, receiving no return fire from the battery. Because of his initial skepticism, this may have led him to believe that perhaps things were not as the contraband portrayed.

The night passed uneventfully, but things changed radically the morning of 11 September 1862. At dawn, the Confederate battery opened fire on Uncas, which had her guns run in so the sailors could swab the decks. An utterly surprised Crane ordered the main anchor slipped and cut loose the kedge anchor. Uncas was hit five times by rounds from the battery, before she could begin maneuvering; one shot even penetrated the magazine of the gunboat. Crane finally got his guns loaded and run out and signaled for Patroon to come upriver and lend support. It took the latter ship an hour and a half to get there due to the strong tidal currents in this part of the river. Uncas and Patroon dueled with the battery for about four hours, and even managed to drive the battery’s crew off for a period of time. After expending much of their ammo, the two Navy ships retired back to their base at Mayport Mills.

Views of the St. Johns River from St. Johns Bluff, looking downstream. Confederate earthworks and battery were located roughly in this area. Note how a battery in this location would have near-total command of the river from this vantage point:

Naval Siege of Charleston Begins, June 1862

The New York Times lists the ships blockading Charleston in June 1862 for the benefit of its readers...and for Confederate authorities seeking intelligence on the opposition.

As many know, the South Carolina militia's attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina formally started the shooting aspect of the Civil War. The city was among the first to places for the Lincoln administration to declare to be under state of blockade. Between the beginning of the war and June 1862, various U.S. Navy ships placed themselves outside the harbor to demonstrate the "effectiveness" of the blockade (an important legal concept in international law).

 A few blockade runners had been capture. But, between a lack of suitable ships, a complex fortification system, and the tricky topography of the Harbor, the ships South Atlantic Blockading Squadron kept their distance and most blockade runners made it through. The non-cooperation between the U.S. Army and Navy that would become infamous throughout the entire Charleston siege, did not help either. On June 21, 1862, Major Charles G. Hapline, an adjutant-general for the Army's Department of the South, actually had to order masters of Army supply vessels to let U.S. Naval officers board their vessels!

USS Seneca

Thus it was a major achievement, that the gunboats USS Seneca and James Adger crossed the bar into Charleston Harbor. This was the first Federal Government presence inside the harbor since the surrender of Fort Sumter over a year earlier. It was only a short reconnaissance patrol near Morris Island that lasted a few hours. Seneca opened fire with her XI-inch Dahlgren on a Confederate Army camp, chased some soliders off, and cut a large pine tree in half. The gunboats beat a quick retreat back outside the bar when, for the first time since its surrender to Southern forces, Fort Sumter's guns fired several shots.

Two days later, the two gunboats crossed the bar again. Much to the embarrassment of Seneca's commanding officer, a lead-colored English blockade runner slipped right pass his gunboat in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for the blockade runner, it ran aground inside the bar. Given a second chance by King Neptune, the Yankee gunboats went after her. Joined by USS Keystone State, the three ships fired on the blockade runner. Confederate gunners at Fort Beauregard on Sullivan's Island fired back and put three shots into Seneca. The Yankee squadron retreated and two harbor tugs saved the blockade runner. Just a few hours later, the blockade runner Thomas L. Wragg attempted to make a run into Charleston, but turned around. Keystone State chased her for several hours before losing the blockade runner in a storm.

The three skirmishes were small actions. But they were the first of many actions between U.S. Navy warship, blockade runners, and Charleston's forts that would occur during what would be the war's most epic siege.

"The enemy entered Palatka"

Palatka (where I live) is a small town on the St. Johns River about 40 miles south of Jacksonville, Florida. The name of the town comes from the Seminole-Creek language, meaning “ferry" or "crossing”, as the width of the river narrows substantially here, affording a place to cross more easily. For the citizens of Palatka, the morning of 14 March 1862 dawned uneventfully, that is until someone looked out on the river. Steaming upstream towards the city, belching coal smoke from its funnel, was an imposing black-hulled warship flying the stars and stripes of the Union.

The minutes of the Session of the First Presbyterian Church of Palatka indicate:

“On March 14, 1862, the enemy entered Palatka . . .”

In his diary on this same date, Confederate sympathizer and blockade runner Richard J. Adams recorded:

“Federal Gunboat arrived at Palatka at 8½ A.M. – I took to the woods.”

The gunboat was the USS Ottawa, under the command of Lt. Thomas H. Stevens, a veteran of 25 years of service in the US Navy. We have met Lt. Stevens before, as he and his ship were involved in a bizarre chase with a train departing Fernandina about a week ago. The Ottawa was involved in the first Union occupation of Jacksonville on 12 March, helping land troops of the 4th New Hampshire Regiment. The next day, Stevens and his ship made the journey up the St. Johns River to Palatka. In his report to the S. Atlantic Squadron command, dated 17 March 1862, he wrote:

“Since my last communication I have made a reconnaissance as far as Palatka, and found no hostile demonstrations; on the contrary, the assurance I gave that we did not come to molest peaceable citizens has had a good effect . . .”

Stevens also was informed by the local folks that the famed racing schooner America was scuttled upriver in Dunn's Creek. The boat had been purchased by an English citizen, after winning what became known as the "America's Cup", and turned into a blockade runner, but when the Navy arrived at Jacksonville and sealed off the river he had it towed upriver and sunk. Navy personnel raised the boat a few days later and it was turned into a Union blockader.

Thus the first contact folks in Palatka had with Union forces was with Navy men. For much of the remainder of the year, US Navy officers and men had numerous intractions with the Florida citizens living along the St. Johns, assuring them that they were there to protect the folks and their property. The efforts of the USN personnel went a long way towards garnering good will towards the Union.

Union occupation of Ft. Clinch, Fernandina, Florida

Ft. Clinch, at the northern tip of Amelia Island, after recapture by Union forces:

While attention focused, then and now, on the impending battle of the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, things were really getting going in the Florida theatre of operations at this time. The Port of Fernandina, Florida, was important due to its ability to handle all but the largest US Navy ships in the entrance channel, its rail connections, and it’s proximity to the Bahamas (English territory and a key waypoint for blockade running). For a period of time (December 1861 to February 1862), the Union Navy was more occupied with shutting down the Port of Savannah, Georgia. Eventually however, interest in taking Fernandina resumed and a detachment from the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron headed toward the coast of Florida.

On 3 March 1862, US Navy and Marine forces arrived off the mouth of the St. Marys River (the Atlantic coast border between Georgia and Florida) and occupied Ft. Clinch, controlling the river mouth and the Port of Fernandina. Ft. Clinch, along with some well-constructed batteries in earthworks, was found abandoned, with a variety of artillery pieces in fine condition, along with powder and shot. The next day, the nearby town of Fernandina was occupied by Union forces. Ft. Clinch was turned over to US Army troops a day or so later. Flag Officer DuPont of the South Atlantic Squadron reported:

“. . . I learned from a contraband who had been picked up at sea by Commander Lanier, and from the neighboring residents on Cumberland Island, that the (Confederates) had abandoned in haste the whole of the defenses of Fernandina and were even at that moment retreating from Amelia Island . . . . . on receiving this intelligence I detached the gunboats and armed steamers of light draft from the main line and, placing them under the command of Commander P. Drayton, of the steam sloop Pawnee, I ordered him to push through the sound with the utmost speed, to save public and private property from threatened destruction . . .”

“Immediately on his entering the harbor, Commander Drayton sent Lieutenant White, of the Ottawa, to hoist the flag on Fort Clinch, the first of the national forts on which the ensign of the Union has resumed its (place).”

“We captured Port Royal, but Fernandina and Fort Clinch have been given to us.”


A detailed account of the occupation of Ft. Clinch and Fernandina is in a paper by Chuck Veit on the Navy and Marine Living History web site at: http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1862Fernandina.htm . Illustration source – Florida Dept. of State on-line photo archive.

Operations on the Savannah River - Early 1862

Tattnall's fleet engaging USN gunboats on the Savannah River (source - Naval History and Heritage Command on-line photo archive):


After taking Port Royal, South Carolina, in November 1861, the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron began looking south down the Atlantic coast for the next target. USN leadership in Washington (Sec. Welles and Asst. Sec. Fox) wanted this to be the Port of Fernandina, Florida, but miscommunication and disagreement among US Army and Navy leaders in the region eventually focused on closing down the Port of Savannah, Georgia. While the US Army began to prepare for the siege and conquest of Fort Pulaski, near the mouth of the Savannah River, Flag Officer DuPont sent Cdr. John Rogers to reconnoiter the labyrinth of channels around and upstream of Ft. Pulaski to see what US Navy ships could do in the area. After several forays, Rogers concluded that shallow depths in the channels(exacerbated by obstacles placed by the Confederates) were a major constraint on naval operations in the area. During much of this effort, DuPont and US Army General Thomas W. Sherman argued over who was impeding operations in the region.

Eventually DuPont and Sherman agreed that a demonstration “in force” against the City of Savannah would buy some time while preparations were being made for the siege of Ft. Pulaski. In late January 1862, DuPont sent two squadrons, one under the command of Rogers and the other under Flag Capt. Charles H. Davis, up separate channels flanking the Savannah River (and eventually joining its mainstem). The Confederates interpreted this as an assault on Ft. Pulaski, and Commodore Josiah Tattnall, now commanding CSN Navy forces on the Georgia coast, assembled his Mosquito Fleet to resupply Ft. Pulaski. Tattnall’s flotilla steamed downriver from Savannah on 27 January, following the river mainstem. As they approached Pulaski, Tattnall found himself “in the gauntlet”; his ships were right in between Rogers’ and Davis’ squadrons in separate channels of the river delta, separated by marshy tidelands. Davis tried to get his ships through so he could directly engage Tattnall’s ships, but obstructions placed by the Confederates and shallow depths impeded him. Both Davis and Rogers thought that they could get behind Tattnall and block him from returning to Savannah when he made the run to Pulaski, but the crafty old Commodore in gray sent his smaller, shallow draft gunboats and transports on to aid the Fort and kept his flagship (CSS Savannah) and larger gunboats back in safer waters. When Rogers and Davis realized they were stymied, they both opened fire on Tattnall’s ships, which “returned the favor” in the best spirit. The firing continued for about an hour, and resumed in the afternoon after a break. Relatively little damage was caused to ships and crews on both sides.

By early February 1862, the siege of Ft. Pulaski was beginning to solidify as the US Army mounted batteries on adjacent islands and points. Much of the construction was done at night under the cover of darkness, and USN gunboats provided important cover and acted as a “force multiplier” (as Robert Browning aptly put it) during the day when tide and water depth permitted. Tattnall actually met with General Robert E. Lee in late February to discuss an effort to provide relief to the fort, but by then the Union force in the area would have pulverized the expedition they envisioned and they abandoned this idea. Pulaski eventually surrendered to Union forces in early April 1862.


Fort Pulaski after the Union siege. Source: US National Park Service web site