Upcoming Conference

The North Carolina Maritime History Council will hold its annual conference Thursday, September 30 through Saturday, October 2 in the colonial capital of New Bern. While very little of the conference program focuses on the Civil War, the featured keynote speaker at Friday evening's dinner will be Dr. Craig Symonds. He will be discussing the naval war in North Carolina. Also, on Saturday morning, yours truly will be presenting a talk on the USS Underwriter Expedition in February 1864 and the impact that raid had on the officer corps of the Confederate ironclad CSS Neuse. Take a look at the Council's website linked above and click on the Annual Conference link for more information. Anyone interested in maritime history is sure to find something of interest.

On this date in Florida CW Naval History

On 17 September 1862, five Union Navy gunboats (Paul Jones, Cimarron, Uncas, E.B. Hale, and Patroon), under the command of Cdr. Charles Steedman, engaged a Confederate earthworks on the St. Johns River at St. Johns Bluff. The battle lasted for several hours and succeeded in temporarily driving the rebels from the battery, but ultimately it took a combined Navy/Army land assault to take the fortification in early October.

A Brief History of the USS Constellation

The Constellation associated with the Civil War was the second ship of that name; the first was a frigate built in Baltimore that was in use from 1797 to 1853. The sloop-of-war Constellation was constructed in Norfolk in 1855. During the prewar years, the Constellation was part of the Mediterranean Squadron and the African Squadron, where she “safeguarded American commerce” and captured slave ships.

On May 21, 1861, a little more than a month after the declaration of the blockade, Constellation captured Triton, a brig obviously outfitted for the transport of slaves. For the next few years of the war, Constellation sailed around the Mediterranean protecting Union ships from Confederate cruisers and raiders. During the sloop-of-war’s journey back to the United States she tried to capture privateers in the West Indies. Finding that the Confederate Navy believed the Constellation was still in European waters, she had an advantage and was easily able to approach rebel vessels without any suspicion.

On Christmas Day of 1864, Constellation found herself at Fort Monroe. Most of the crew’s terms of enlistment expired in January and those sailors were discharged at that time, while the rest of the crew was transferred to St. Lawrence. Constellation acted as a receiving ship at Norfolk, where she remained until the end of the war.

Constellation is a unique Civil War vessel because she has been restored and opened to the public as a museum. She can be found in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, her home since 1968.

THE DAHLGREN BOAT HOWITZER

Perhaps one of the most versatile pieces of gunnery used by the US Navy during the Civil War was the Dahlgren boat howitzer. Designed by Capt. John A. Dahlgren of the Navy Ordinance Bureau, these were constructed with a bronze barrel and iron carriage. Two 12 pdr models were produced (a light and a heavy model) and a 24 pdr version as smoothbores. Rifled versions of the gun in 3.4” (12 pdr) and 4” (20 pdr) were also produced. Note the lack of trunions on the barrel (used on other field pieces to secure barrel to carriage). The barrel was secured to a fitting on the carriage by a removable bolt through a matching fitting on the bottom of the barrel. The barrel could be removed from the carriage and mounted on a similar fitting on the bow of a ship’s boat (Canney, pg. 176). The carriage could be disassembled and carried easily in the boat and by personnel on foot. In this way, the gun could be used on the boats for fire support during amphibious landings, then reassembled on land and transported by hand along with the attacking amphibious force to continue to provide fire support. Spencer Tucker referred to the Dahlgren boat howitzer as “undoubtedly the finest boat guns of their day in the world.” Boat howitzers were found in the arms complement of all US Navy ships, although they were not listed as part of the rating or official armament. On smaller ships, such as schooners and armed tugs, they could be used as the main deck guns.

NOTES ON ILLUSTRATION: The "live photo" of a Dahlgren boat howitzer is a replica owned and used by the Ft. Caroline National Monument in Jacksonville, FL. Part of their site includes the St. Johns Bluff area, which was a site of a significant naval engagement in Florida in the fall of 1862. The National Monument has a Civil War Living History event in November on the weekend before Thanksgiving to emphasize this element of the history of Jacksonville.

SOURCES
Donald L. Canney, Lincoln’s Navy. The Ships, Men and Organization, 1861-65 (London, UK: Conway Maritime Press, 1998), Chapter 11.

Spencer C. Tucker, Blue and Gray Navies. The Civil War Afloat (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2006), pp. 52-53.

Ibid, The Navy Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Naval History Vol. 6, No. 3, 1992