USS Belle Italia (1862)
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USS ''Belle Italia'' was a
sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
captured by the Union Navy during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...
waterways.


Service history

On July 9, 1862, the
commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
of the Union
bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...
''Arthur'', Acting Volunteer Lieutenant John W. Kittredge, temporarily left that
warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...
and embarked in the tender ''Corypheus'' whose shallow draft permitted her to operate in the shoal waters of Aransas Bay,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. The following day, at the town of Aransas on San Jose Island, ''Corypheus'' captured the small sloop, ''Belle Italia'', which Kittredge thereafter used as another tender to ''Arthur''. Although she was active along the Texas coast into the autumn of 1862, ''Belle Italia'' apparently was never placed in commission. No logs, and few other records of her service, have survived. However, ''Arthur'' took part in significant operations off
Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...
, during the summer of 1862.


Battle of Corpus Christi

At noon on August 12, 1862 in Aransas Bay, ''Belle Italia'', the gunboat , and the
schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
''Reindeer'' accompanied ''Corypheus'' through an artificial canal into Corpus Christi Bay. There they chased and forced ashore the armed schooner which had formerly served as a pilot boat at Pass Cavallo. The Union sailors boarded the grounded vessel and extinguished a fire that had been started by her crew before they escaped. The boarding party then refloated the schooner and claimed her as a prize. Confederates in the bay also set ablaze and abandoned the armed schooner ''Elma'' and the sloop ''Hannah''. The small Union squadron then decided to attack Corpus Christi. On August 13, 1862, a party went ashore and demanded, as Kittredge later reported, "the evacuation of the place by the military, but consented to the inhabitants remaining, promising to respect their private property..." Kittredge warned the Texans, on the other hand, that "...they must remove their women and children if they intended to make a stand." At dawn on the 17th, after the passage of 48 hours during which they were allowed to evacuate the town's noncombatants, the defenders opened fire upon the Union ships that promptly replied spiritedly, silencing the Confederate Fort Kinney. When the ships ceased their bombardment, the Southerners returned to their guns and resumed firing. The reply from the ships again forced the Confederate cannoneers to seek shelter. Only Kittredge's withdrawing his ships out of range at nightfall ended this cycle. About half an hour before midnight, however, the Confederates set fire to steamer ''A. B.'' that was stranded in the narrow and shallow channel leading from Corpus Christi to Nueces Bay. Kittredge later made "...several ineffectual efforts to haul her off..." before she burned to the water's edge. On the 18th, the flotilla moved into position for another attack on the Southern fort. Covered by guns from the other warships, ''Belle Italia'' landed a 12 pounder rifled
howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
and a party of 30 men "...with a view of getting in position to take the enemy's battery." The Union sailors advanced toward the enemy guns and, upon reaching range, opened fire with both the howitzer and muskets. Meanwhile, the cannoneers on board Kittredge's ships entered the fray. The combined barrage soon silenced the battery, but Texan infantry and cavalry counterattacked. Ships' gunfire helped hold the charging Confederates back and allowed the landing force to return to ''Belle Italia'' after running out of ammunition. The Union ships then shelled the town where the Southern soldiers had sought shelter. A dwindling supply of ammunition prompted Kittredge to withdraw into Aransas Bay to await Arthur's return from
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, with supplies and ammunition.


Later operations

''Belle Italia'' next appears in an expedition back to Corpus Christi to secure the release of the family of Judge
Edmund Jackson Davis Edmund Jackson Davis (October 2, 1827 – February 24, 1883) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. Davis was a Southern Unionist and a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He also served as the 14th Governor of T ...
, a prominent political figure in Texas who had remained loyal to the Union and had escaped into exile to serve its cause. Kittredge, again in ''Corypheus'', entered Corpus Christi Bay with the Union schooner USS ''Breaker'' and landed under a
flag of truce White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symbolize ...
to ask that he be allowed to embark Mrs. Davis and reunite her with her husband. The Confederate commanding officer at Corpus Christi tentatively refused the request pending the decision of General
Hamilton P. Bee Hamilton Prioleau Bee (July 22, 1822 – October 3, 1897) was an American politician in early Texas; he was secretary of the Texas Senate in 1846. He served nearly 10 years as representative to the state house beginning in 1849, and for one term a ...
who commanded Southern forces in Texas. While awaiting Bee's decision, Kittredge proceeded to Flour Bluffs where ''Belle Italia'' rejoined his small force. The next morning, the
sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
joined in the shelling of several small vessels that escaped into the shallow waters of Laguna de la Madre where the Union ships could not follow. Kittredge landed a small reconnaissance party and took three prisoners before returning to ''Corypheus''. The following morning, Kittredge again went ashore where he and his party of seven men were captured by a large group of Southern soldiers. Because of fear of harming Kittredge (who would ultimately be dismissed from the service a year later) and his men, ''Belle Italia'' and her consorts were unable to fire on the enemy ashore. ''Belle Italia'' is noted as being in Aransas Bay on October 15, 1862. No further mention of her appears in the official Navy records.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belle Italia Ships of the Union Navy Sloops of the United States Navy Gunboats of the United States Navy American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States Captured ships