Assault on New Smyrna, Florida, July 1863

As the war progressed, and the U.S. Navy blockade along the SE Atlantic Coast tightened around many of the main ports of entry in northeast Florida (Fernandina, Jacksonville and St. Augustine), blockade runners began to make use of more remote entry points in Florida to the south along the coast. Mosquito Inlet (now Ponce de Leon Inlet), along the Florida coast north of Cape Canaveral, became an important entrance point for runners. The inlet and Mosquito Lagoon were deep enough to accommodate larger steamers and schooners. The community of New Smyrna was located south of the Inlet along the Mosquito Lagoon. Runners would enter the inlet and dock at New Smyrna, or hide along the mangrove shoreline of the lagoon and offload their cargo. Wagons would transport the cargo overland to the St. Johns River, where it would be loaded on river steamers for transport to other offload points fortransfer to railroad stations and further distribution. George Buker indicates that this was known as “running the inner blockade.” Mosquito Inlet was the dividing point between the operating sectors of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (to the north) and the East Gulf Blockading Squadron (to the south), so ships of both squadrons participated in actions in this region.

The Mosquito Inlet continued to be a thorn in the side of the Union blockaders. On 28 July 1863 a squadron of U.S. Navy gunboats, under the command of Lt. Commander Earl English, arrived off New Smyrna; USS Sagamore (Unadilla-Class gunboat), Para (mortar schooner), Beauregard (schooner), and Oleander (steamer). The Oleander took Beauregard in tow and they hove to inside the inlet and commenced shelling the town from offshore. English dispatched a large landing party of bluejackets and marines in ships boats into the harbor. They captured one sloop loaded with cotton, a schooner without cargo, and caused the Confederates to set fire to other sloops in the harbor, some loaded with cotton. The southerners also burned the large quantities of cotton stockpiled on shore. The landing party then went ashore, headed into the town, and destroyed and burned numerous structures (shops and homes).

Steamer at a dock near New Smyrna, Florida, after the war. This gives an idea of what a blockade runner offloading supplies may have looked like. Source:  Florida State Archives.

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Patrolling the Ohio River and Intercepting Morgan's Raid



Throughout the war, both the Union and Confederate armies conducted raids deep into enemy territory in the hopes that they would draw units away from the front lines.  Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan conducted one of these raids began in late June 1863.  Morgan's superiors gave Morgan freedom to go anywhere he wanted in Kentucky.  He was, however, not permitted to cross the Ohio River.

Morgan ignored the order and invaded Indiana and Ohio. Even with the Vicksburg and Gettysburg campaign underway, the 1,000 mile raid was a national sensation followed closely by newspapers North and South.

Brig. General John Morgan-A
Kentucky-native, he ignored
his original orders and began
one of the most sensational
raids of the war in late
June 1863.

While state authorities in Indiana and Ohio organized emergency defense units, the Navy's river forces organized.  The responsibility for operations on the Ohio River fell to Lieutenant Commander LeRoy Fitch.  Up until now, the Ohio River was a quiet sector.  Upon hearing word of Morgan's path of destruction through Yankee territory, David Dixon Porter knew Morgan would have to cross back across the Ohio at some point.  He ordered Fitch to ready his ships.

Fitch's squadron consisted of several "tinclad" steamers.  Originally prewar wooden paddle steamers, the Navy converted these vessels into warships by placing 1/2-inch of iron plating along the broadsides and weapons on board. Before the war was over, the Navy commissioned sixty-three tinclads.  In a move that would be common by the early 20th century, the Navy gave each tinclad a name and unique hull number. 






Lieutenant Commander LeRoy Fitch, commanding
officer of the Ohio River flotilla.

 

Unsure exactly where Morgan might try to cross, Fitch spread his squadron out over several hundred miles on the Ohio between Louisville and the West Virginia border. 

He placed USS Springfield and Victory at Louisville and Silver Lake and Fairplay further upstream towards Cannenlton, Indiana.  Five other vessels, Reindeer, Naumkeag, Magnoila, Allegheny Belle, and Moose [Fitch's flagship], moved upstream towards West Virginia.  Fitch's intelligence believed Morgan's main force was proceeding east.  Fitch's problem was that there were at least six to eight fords that Morgan could cross the Ohio.  Thus he had to keep one gunboat near each possible crossing.   


One of Fitch's gunboats-Tinclad Number 35, USS Reindeer

The first contact with Morgan's forces by a Fitch gunboat occurred when Acting Ensign Joseph Watson, commanding Springfield, claimed to come under fire at New Albany, Indiana on July 9.  Channelling George McClellan, Watson reported that his ship was attacked by at least 10,000 men and three batteries of artillery.  Morgan began his raid with about 2,5000 men and two light artillery guns.

July 19 brought more serious action. Fitch and Moose found Morgan's forces trying to cross the Ohio at Sandy Creek Shoals.  Amidst a heavy fog, Fitch ordered Moose to flank speed.  Concerned that Morgan would try to place his two 20-pounder Parrot Rifles in a position to fire at his ship, Fitch had Moose's forward guns open fire as soon as the fog allowed.  Morgan's raiders retreated up the banks, with Moose's broadside guns firing at them.  As they retreated, the two Parrot Rifles were left behind.  The next morning, Allegheny Belle joined Moose. 

A bit farther upstream at Buffington Island, Morgan's raiders made a second attempt to cross the Ohio.  Under pressure from Union cavalry forces and militiamen, the raiders were becoming somewhat desperate to escape. But Moose and Allegheny Belle intercepted them and opened fire with shrapnel shells. 

Seeing that Union ground and river forces had them trapped, 750 of Morgan's men surrendered.  Never able to find a secure way across the Ohio, Union ground forces captured Morgan himself along with 300 of his men a week later.   

Two of more Fitch's "tinclads"-
USS Silver Lake ( Tinclad Number 23)(above)
 and USS Fairplay (Tinclad Number 17) (below).

The raid was the longest distance of its kind during the war.  There are several historic sites and markers along the Ohio River open to the public.  The Ohio Civil War Trails Commission is currently working on a 557-mile trail route. The tinclads for the remainder of the war continued to be active along the Mississippi and Ohio River systems as Confederate partisan groups continued to be active.

Ambush on the Waccasassa River, Florida

On 20 July 1863, a launch was dispatched at dawn from the USS Fort Henry, lying off the Cedar Keys. The boat was under the command of Chief Boatswain’s Mate Gillespie. Ordinarily, an officer would be in command of the boat, but two of Lt. Commander McCauley’s officers were down with illness, a third was taking a prize to Key West and a fourth was needed on the gunboat. The mission of this boat expedition was to pull south towards Bayport and locate and intercept any blockade runners. Gillespie was specifically ordered not to proceed up Crystal River due to the suspected presence of rebel militia. As they cruised south past the mouth of the Waccasassa River, just south of Cedar Keys, the bluejackets spotted bales of cotton floating out of the river into the bay. With visions of prize money clouding their judgment, they proceeded up the Waccasassa, hoping to capture more. As they pulled through an area where the river channel narrowed, the boat was fired upon by an ambush of as many as 50 or 60 enemy troops. Seaman Patrick Doran was hit in the neck and died instantly. Seaman John Bishop was also hit and died shortly afterward. The remaining seamen returned fire and pulled the boat back downriver out of range. As might be expected, McCauley was not at all pleased when the boat returned, indicating in his report to Adm. Bailey:

“I forbade the ascent of Crystal River, little imagining a necessity of the kind in respect to the Waccasassa.”

Seamen Doran and Bishop were buried in a small cemetery on Seahorse Key. Their graves can be viewed today when the key is open to the public the third weekend in October. A nice set of photos of the cemetery is on Flicker at: (Flicker Photos.com). Seaman Bishop's new headstone was placed in 2004 by the Friends of the Cedar Key Wildlife Refuge.

Siege of Charleston: Supporting the Charge of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers

The Assault on Fort Wagner as published in 1890.
This interpretation of the famous charge of the 54th Massachusetts is
 one  of the  few that show the U.S. Navy's ironclads in action.

Amidst siege operations in Charleston,Union leadership decided to try and seize Fort Wagner. The fort commanded the southern approaches to Charleston Harbor. It was relatively isolated from other Confederate fortifications.  Thus, it could not count on help if attacked. 

Map of Morris Island and Fort Wagner

Rear Admiral John Dahlgren, commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and Brigadier General Quincy Gilmore, commanding Union ground forces, agreed on a plan.  They planned to first seize the southern shores of Morris Island before beginning an assault on Fort Wagner on July 11.  The first part of the plan worked well.  A combination of four monitors (USS Weehawken, Nahant, Catskill, and Montauk), wooden gunboats, and small boats from the steam frigate USS Wabash equipped with boat howitzers, provided sufficient cover for a Union landing to overrun Confederate defenses. 

The monitors shelled Confederate positions from 4 a.m. until 12 p.m..  They then withdrew back out into open water "for lunch" promptly at noon.  Two hours later, the monitors resumed their firing positions. 

This assault on Fort Wagner itself did not succeed due to accurate heavy gun fire from Confederate gunners.  The Confederate gunners even damaged some of the monitors with a bolt type, armor-piercing shot. Union forces managed to establish a siege line during the melee. Gilmore planned a second assault on Wagner with five regiments.  The African American-manned 54th Massachusetts Volunteers lead the attack.

For the Navy's part, Dahlgren prepared six ironclads to support the operation.  The Federal force included the four monitors previously mentioned, plus USS New Ironsides, the monitor USS Patapsco, and three wooden gunboats. The steam sloop USS Housantonic stood back to observe where the ironclads' shots landed and to signal each ship the results. Additionally, Dahlgren put New Ironsides' Marines on alert, just in case they were needed in the ground assault.
  


Alfred Waud's drawing of USS Patapsco
 and other monitors off of Charleston.


The Navy bombardment began in the morning, with the squadron firing from 1,200 yards. Taking advantage of the flood tide, the ironclads moved west of the Main Ship Channel and closer to the fort.  At three hundred yards, the ironclads began a rapid fire bombardment.  Unlike the July 11 attack, the Navy's shelling kept the Confederate gunners from returning fire.

The ships kept up the fire until 7.30 p.m.  Gilmore signaled to Dahlgren that his troops were in position to assault.  Dahlgren ordered a cease fire due to a lack of light and a fear of hitting Union ground forces. The admiral reported that he witnessed flashes of gunfire from the ground assault until 9:30 p.m. Dahlgren wrote that the "ill-tiding of a repulse were not long in coming."  He received official word at 10:30 p.m. 

Supporting the second assault, the Navy unloaded about 1,945 shells (mostly XI-inch shells, but also some XV-inch shells, 150-pound and 100-pounder rifle shells) on Fort Wagner.  The number is a bit misleading, as New Ironsides accounted for 1,120 of them, the wooden gunboats 200, and the monitors about 625.  The broadside ironclad out-fired all the monitors combined.  In all, the squadron fired 432,676 lbs, or a little over 216 tons, of ordnance at Fort Wagner. During the bombardment, a disturbing trend arose.  Critical breaches occurred on three of the squadron's Parrot Rifles.

Dahlgren concluded that the plan was sound, but more troops were needed for the ground assault.  Additionally, he held high praise for the Army's assault.  He wrote, "the loss sustained by our troops bears witness to the preserving gallantry with which they endeavored to storm the work, and which deserve, I trust, a renewed effort."