USS ''Westfield'' was a sidewheel steam ferryboat in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

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 ...

. ''Westfield'' was purchased by the Navy from

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

on 22 November 1861; outfitted at Jeremiah Simonson's shipyard in

Brooklyn, New York City Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

; and commissioned in January 1862, Commander

William B. Renshaw William Bainbridge Renshaw (October 11, 1816 – January 1, 1863) was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was killed during the Second Battle of Galveston. Biography Renshaw was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a ...

in command.

Service history

''Westfield'' departed New York on 22 February 1862, bound for

Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

, to join Comdr.

David Dixon Porter David Dixon Porter (June 8, 1813 – February 13, 1891) was a United States Navy admiral and a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the U.S. Navy. Promoted as the second U.S. Navy officer ever to attain the rank o ...

's Mortar Flotilla. That unit, however, departed Key West on 3 March before ''Westfield's'' arrival. She, therefore, did not join the flotilla until her arrival at the Passes of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

on 18 March. For the next three weeks, she assisted and in their efforts to cross the bar at Pass an Outre and enter the Mississippi River. That mission finally succeeded on 8 April 1862, and ''Westfield'' began duty covering a coastal survey party developing more precise maps of the lower Mississippi for the assault on Forts Jackson and St. Philip. On 13 April 1862, she received orders to proceed upriver and engage two

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 1 ...

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 ...

s. After two shots from her

Parrott rifle The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle-loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War. Parrott rifle The gun was invented by Captain Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He was an American soldier and invent ...

, the two Confederate ships retired to the protection of the guns of Fort Jackson where they joined six other Confederate gunboats. Undaunted, ''Westfield'' closed the range and opened fire once more. That brief cannonade broke the shaft of and damaged her so severely that her crew later had to abandon and sink her. Mortar steamers attack Fort Jackson

Between 14 April and 24 April 1862, she supported Porter's Mortar Flotilla during the bombardment of the two Confederate forts in preparation for

Flag Officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

David Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. Fa ...

's run between them to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana. That event occurred on 24 April 1862, but ''Westfield'' did not participate directly. Rather, she remained with the mortar boats and continued to support them and supply ammunition. Early in the summer of 1862, ''Westfield'' moved upriver with the Mortar Flotilla – to a point just below

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vic ...

. There she resumed her duties in support of the mortars during the first campaign against the Confederate stronghold. Late in July and early in August 1862, the ship made her way back down the Mississippi via

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

and New Orleans to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. She then took up duty blockading the coast of

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 ...

as a unit of the

West Gulf Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederate States of America, Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required ...

. On 4 October 1862, ''Westfield'' led a unit composed of , , , and in a successful assault on the city of

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

, which capitulated formally on 9 October 1862. She remained at Galveston until 1 January 1863 and was

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of the six-ship U.S. Navy force there when, during the successful Confederate liberation of the city in the

Battle of Galveston The Battle of Galveston was a naval and land battle of the American Civil War, when Confederate forces under Major Gen. John B. Magruder expelled occupying Union troops from the city of Galveston, Texas on January 1, 1863. After the loss of t ...

, she ran aground on a

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body o ...

in Galveston Harbor while the Union ships were under attack by two

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

warships, the

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

CS ''Neptune'' and the

CS ''Bayou City''. She was blown up to forestall her almost certain capture by Confederate forces. Her commanding officer, Commander William B. Renshaw (1816–1863), who also was the commander of the U.S. Navy force off Galveston, and a boat crew died when the explosives detonated sooner than expected. As of 2007, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named ''Westfield.'' On 18 November 2009 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began several weeks of recovery operations to retrieve artifacts. Items recovered are destined for study at the Conservation Research Lab at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. ''Westfield's'' largest cannon, the 9-inch Dahlgren, was recovered along with five cannonballs from a depth of 47 ft near the merge point of the Texas City Ship Channel and the Houston Ship Channel. The Dahlgren cannon is said to be the centerpiece of the recovered artifacts, which were brought to College Station and will be kept at the Conservation Research Lab on Texas A&M's Riverside Campus. The cannon was placed in an electrolysis bath for up to two years to remove chlorides and preserve the metal, according to Donny Hamilton, head of the Texas A&M anthropology department. The cannon was moved to the Texas City Museum, where it will be housed for the foreseeable future. The Museum dedicated the USS Westfield Exhibit 2 March 2017. Once the archaeology project completes, the US Army Corps of Engineers begins a $71 million dredging effort of the waterway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westfield Steamships of the United States Navy Ships of the Union Navy Ships built by Westervelt & MacKay Gunboats of the United States Navy American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States Maritime incidents in January 1863 Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks of the Texas coast Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico 1861 ships

Service history

See also

References