CSS ''Hampton'' was a wooden

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

of the

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...

, one of the few ''Hampton'' class gunboats to be built. ''Hampton'' was built at

Norfolk Navy Yard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...

in 1862 and based there until May 1862, when the yard was abandoned and the fleet moved up the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

. With

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

John Herndon Maury, CSN, in command, ''Hampton'' participated in significant river actions including the battle at

Dutch Gap Dutch Gap Canal is located on the James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia just north of the lost 17th-century town of Henricus. The canal's construction was initiated by Union forces during the American Civil War to bypass a meander loop of ...

on August 13, 1864; operations against

Fort Harrison Fort Harrison, later renamed Fort Burnham, was an important component of the Confederate defenses of Richmond during the American Civil War. Named after Lieutenant William Harrison, a Confederate engineer, it was the largest in the series of fort ...

on September 29-October 1; and the engagement at

Chaffin's Bluff Chaffin's Bluff is located in Henrico County, Virginia, United States, on the north side of the James River, opposite Drewry's Bluff, long-considered a major defense point of the river below Richmond. Located at a major bend in the river about eig ...

on October 22. ''Hampton'' was burned by the Confederates as they evacuated

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

on April 3, 1865.

Commanders

The commanders of the CSS ''Hampton'' were:Coski (1996), John M. ''Capital Navy: The Men, Ships and Operations of the James River Squadron'', Campbell, CA: Savas Woodbury Publishers. . * Lieutenant

George W. Harrison George W. Harrison (September 15, 1867– October 16, 1931) was a prominent journalist, newspaper editor and publisher, and North Dakota Republican Party politician who served as the fourth North Dakota Insurance Commissioner, insurance commissio ...

(as of May 1862) * Lieutenant Hunter Davidson (1862) * Lieutenant John S. Maury (1863-July 6, 1864; October 26–29, 1864) * Lieutenant John W. Murdaugh (July 6-October 26, 1864) * Lieutenant Ivey Foreman (October 29-November 18, 1864) * Lieutenant Walter Raleigh Butt (November 18, 1864-) * Lieutenant Francis E. Shepperd (December 28, 1864 – January 14, 1865; briefly in February 1865) * Lieutenant Joseph David Wilson (January–February 1865)

Notes and references

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton Hampton-class gunboats 1862 ships Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks in rivers Ship fires Ships built in Portsmouth, Virginia Maritime incidents in April 1865