Cotton-clads
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Cotton-clads
Cottonclads were a classification of steam-powered warships where a wooden ship was protected from enemy fire by bales of cotton lining its sides. Cottonclads were prevalent during the American Civil War, particularly in the Confederate States Navy for riverine and coastal service such as in the battles of Memphis, Galveston, and Sabine Pass. Confederate tactics generally had cottonclads, which were outgunned by Union warships, steam at full speed towards enemy vessels, relying on the cotton to absorb fire. Once they were within firing range, they would open fire, and, if possible, ram or board the enemy. Conversion Around 1863, Confederate Commander John B. Magruder realized that Texas did not possess the funding and resources—such as iron mills—to produce impressive and potent vessels such as the ironclad CSS Virginia, thus inspiring the development of a new type of warship, later classified as a cottonclad warship. Cottonclads were various kinds of steamboats tran ...
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CSS Governor Moore
LSNS ''Governor Moore'' was a schooner-rigged steamer in the Confederate States Navy. ''Governor Moore'' had been Southern S. S. Company's ''Charles Morgan'', named for the firm's founder and built at New York in 1854 as a schooner-rigged, low pressure, walking beam-engined, seagoing steamer. She was seized at New Orleans, Louisiana by Brigadier General Mansfield Lovell, CSA, in mid-January 1862 "for the public service." As a gunboat, renamed for Louisiana's Governor Thomas Overton Moore, her stem was reinforced for ramming by two strips of flat railroad iron at the waterline, strapped and bolted in place, with pine lumber and cotton-bale barricades to protect her boilers, but the ''Governor Moore'' was never commissioned as a ship in the Confederate States Navy. The larger of two similar cotton-clads owned and operated by the State of Louisiana, ''Governor Moore'' was commanded for some time by Lieutenant Beverly Kennon, CSN, then serving as Commander in the Louisiana Provis ...
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Steamship
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships came into practical usage during the early 1800s; however, there were exceptions that came before. Steamships usually use the prefix designations of "PS" for ''paddle steamer'' or "SS" for ''screw steamer'' (using a propeller or screw). As paddle steamers became less common, "SS" is assumed by many to stand for "steamship". Ships powered by internal combustion engines use a prefix such as "MV" for ''motor vessel'', so it is not correct to use "SS" for most modern vessels. As steamships were less dependent on wind patterns, new trade routes opened up. The steamship has been described as a "major driver of the first wave of trade globalization (1870–1913)" and contributor to "an increase in international trade that was unprecedented in hu ...
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CS Neptune
C.S. Army Tug ''Neptune'' (c. 1862–1863) was a wooden tugboat taken over by the Confederate States Army in about 1862 for the Texas Marine Department. She was employed as a tug, transport, and lookout vessel in the vicinity of Galveston, Texas. On 1 January 1863, during the Battle of Galveston, Confederate troops used her and the gunboat CS ''Bayou City'' in an effort to board and capture the United States Revenue Cutter Service revenue cutter A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ... USRC ''Harriet Lane''. Though the enterprise was a success, ''Neptune'' was badly damaged and sank shortly afterwards. References Ships of the Confederate States Army Tugboats of the United States Shipwrecks of the Texas coast Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico Shipwrecks of the ...
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Cairo, Illinois
Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysses S. Grant to control strategic access to the rivers, and launch and supply his successful campaigns south. Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the only Illinois city to be surrounded by levees. It is in the area of Southern Illinois known as Little Egypt, for which the city is named after Egypt's capital. Several blocks in the town comprise the Cairo Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The Old Customs House is also on the NRHP. The city is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO–IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. Developed as a river port, Cairo was later bypassed by transportation changes away from the large expanse of low-lying land and water, which surrounds Ca ...
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Leon Smith (naval Commander)
Leonidas R. Smith (1829 – December 26, 1869) was an American steamboat captain and soldier. In the American Civil War he served the Confederate States of America as a volunteer; he was named Commander of the Texas Marine Department under General John B. Magruder. Smith was involved in most major conflicts along the Texas coast during the war, and was described by war-time governor of Texas Francis Lubbock as "undoubtedly the ablest Confederate naval commander in the Gulf waters". Personal life and family Smith was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1829. He was a Freemason, and according to some wartime and post-war reports, Caleb Blood Smith, a cabinet member under President Lincoln, was his half-brother.
New York Times, 23 Feb 1863
Smith was married, and had a son, named Leon B. Smith.
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Port Of Galveston
The Port of Galveston is the port of the city of Galveston, Texas. It was established by a proclamation issued by the Congress of Mexico on October 17, 1825, while the land known today as Texas was still part of Mexico. The Port of Galveston is the oldest port in the Gulf of Mexico west of New Orleans. Overview Located on the upper Texas Gulf Coast on the eastern end of Galveston Island, it is from the open Gulf or approximately 30 minutes sailing time. The port is municipally owned by the City of Galveston and is managed by the board of trustees of the Galveston Wharves. The port is self-sustaining, and does not receive any taxpayer funding. The Port of Galveston consists of the Galveston Ship Channel, the south side of Pelican Island, the north side of Galveston Island, and the entrance to Galveston Bay. The Galveston Channel has an authorized minimum depth of and is wide at its narrowest point. The port has 15–20 lines of business. In 2015, the eastern section of th ...
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USS Sachem (1861)
The second Navy vessel to bear the name ''Sachem'', this screw steamer was built in 1844 at New York City, where it was purchased by the Navy on 20 September 1861. Service history Battle of Hampton Roads After towing service in New York Harbor where the Navy was buying vessels to blockade the Confederate coast, USS Sachem, commanded by "Acting Master" Lemuel G. Crane, got underway on 6 March 1862, and with escorted the just built ironclad to Hampton Roads. The three ships reached nearby Fort Monroe on the night of 8 March, the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads. ''Sachem'' was present the next day during ''Monitor''s historic engagement with Confederate ironclad ram, CSS ''Virginia''. The Confederates built the ''Virginia'' by using the raised hull and engines of the former —which had been burned and scuttled by U.S. Navy forces as they retreated from nearby Norfolk Navy Yard when that facility was seized by the Confederacy early in the Civil War. Battle of For ...
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USS Corypheus (1862)
USS ''Corypheus'' was a schooner captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. ''Corypheus'' was used by the Union Navy primarily as a gunboat to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy in order to prevent the South from trading with other countries. She carried a 30-pounder rifled gun, powerful enough to stop a blockade runner, and a howitzer for riverside bombardment. Captured by the Union Navy and placed into service The Confederate yacht ''Corypheus'' was captured by 13 May 1862 in Bayou Bonfuca, Louisiana. Taken by the Navy she was assigned to tender duty for the bark off Aransas Pass, Texas, 12 June 1862, commanded by Acting Master A. T. Spear. Civil War service Assigned to the Gulf Blockade Operating off Corpus Christi, Texas, on 12 August 1862 ''Corypheus'' participated in the capture of the armed schooner ''Breaker'' and destruction of ''Hannah'' and ''Elma'' by their own men. She took part in the engagements at Corpus Christi on 16 and ...
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USS Owasco (1861)
USS ''Owasco'' was a built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Owasco Lake. ''Owasco'', built by Charles Mallory, was launched at Mystic, Connecticut, 5 October 1861; delivered to the Navy at New York Navy Yard 6 December 1861; and commissioned there 23 January 1862, Lt. John Guest in command. The new "ninety-day gunboat" departed New York 5 February and reached Key West, Florida, 10 days later where Comdr. David D. Porter's mortar flotilla was assembling. She then headed via Ship Island, Mississippi for Pass a L’Outre. En route, on 16 March, she captured schooners ''Eugenia'' and ''President'' laden with cotton and bound for Havana. The mortar flotilla had been established by the Navy to neutralize forts St. Philip and Jackson which protected New Orleans, Louisiana against attack from the sea. ''Owasco'' was one of seven steamers assigned to the flotilla to tow the schooners and help them navigate safely in the tricky currents of the Miss ...
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USRC Harriet Lane (1857)
''Harriet Lane'' was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service and, on the outbreak of the American Civil War, a ship of the United States Navy and later Confederate States Navy. The craft was named after the niece of senator and later United States President, James Buchanan; during his presidency, she acted as First Lady. The cutter was christened and entered the water for the Revenue Service in 1859 out of New York City, and saw action during the Civil War at Fort Sumter, New Orleans, Galveston, Texas, and Virginia Point. The Confederates captured her in 1863, whereupon she was converted to mercantile service. Union forces recaptured her at the end of war. The U.S. Navy declared her unfit for service and sold her. New owners out of Philadelphia renamed her ''Elliot Ritchie''. Her crew abandoned her at sea in 1881. Layout of the ship ''Harriet Lane'' measured 177.5 feet long, 30.5 feet wide and 12 feet from the bottom of the hull to the main deck. Her pr ...
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USS General Bragg (1851)
USS ''General Bragg'' was a heavy (1,043-ton) steamer captured by Union Navy forces during the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a U.S. Navy gunboat and was assigned to enforce the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America. Service history ''General Bragg'' was originally the 1043-ton side-wheel river steamer ''Mexico'' and was built in New York City in 1851. She was owned by the Southern Steamship Co. at the start of the American Civil War. ''Mexico'' was pressed into Confederate service as CSS ''General Bragg'' at New Orleans, Louisiana 15 January 1862. She was converted to a "cottonclad" ram and renamed for General Braxton Bragg, a western theater commander. As part of the River Defense Fleet, she took part in the defenses of Memphis, Tennessee, and the surrounding area. In an action off Fort Pillow on 10 May 1862 she helped sink the Union Navy ironclad (later raised and refitted) and was put out of action herself. On 6 June, she w ...
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USS Little Rebel (1859)
''Little Rebel'' was a cotton-clad ram that had been converted from a Mississippi River steamer to serve as the flagship of the Confederate River Defense Fleet in the American Civil War. Sent from New Orleans to defend against the Federal descent of the Mississippi, she was among the force that engaged vessels of the Union Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla at the Battle of Plum Point Bend on May 10, 1862. On June 6, she again was involved in an action with the Federal gunboats, this time at the Battle of Memphis. In the battle, a shot from a Federal gun pierced her boiler, disabling her, and she was then pushed aground by the Federal ram and captured. Subsequently repaired and taken into the Union Navy, she served through the remainder of the war, seeing only limited action. After the war, she was deemed surplus by the Navy Department. Sold, she reentered the merchant service, where she remained until 1874. Confederate service ''Little Rebel'' was built as ''R. E. and A. N. Watso ...
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