Potomac Flotilla
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The Potomac Flotilla, also called the Potomac Squadron, was a unit of the United States Navy created in the early days of the American Civil War to secure Union communications in the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River and their tributaries, and to disrupt Confederate communications and shipping there.
History
American Civil War
On April 22, 1861 Commander James H. Ward, who was the commanding officer of the receiving ship Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn New York, wrote to United States Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells to put forth a plan for the protection of the Chesapeake Bay area. Ward suggested a "Flying Flotilla" of light-draft vessels to operate in the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River, and their tributaries. His commander, Captain Samuel L. Breese, commandant of the New York Navy Yard, endorsed his plan. Wells accepted this proposal and wrote back to Ward and Breese on 27 April 1861 authorizing them to begin carrying out Ward's plan. On 1 May 1861 the first vessels for the new flotilla were acquired. On 16 May 1861 Ward set out from the New York Navy Yard with three vessels, Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"., Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"., and Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".. He arrived at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on 20 May 1861 on board his flagship,Thomas Freeborn.[1]
On 27 June 1861 Ward's flotilla engaged the Confederates at Mathias Point, Virginia. While he was sighting the bow gun of Thomas Freeborn, Ward was shot through the abdomen and died within an hour due to internal hemorrhaging. He was the first United States Navy officer to be killed during the American Civil War.[2]
After the death of Ward the flotilla was led by a succession of short-term commanders until the fall of 1862 when Commodore Andrew A. Harwood took command. He was in turn succeeded by Commander Foxhall A. Parker on 31 December 1864.[3]
The Civil War ended in April 1865, and on 18 July 1865 the United States Department of the Navy ordered Parker to disband the flotilla, effective 31 July 1865. Most of the flotilla's remaining vessels were sent to the Washington Navy Yard to be decommissioned.[4]
Name of the flotilla
It was not until August 1861 that the flotilla became known as the Potomac Flotilla. The designation of "Flying Flotilla" was dropped when Ward's force arrived in the theater of operations. The flotilla was then referred to by a variety of names, including: Flotilla, Potomac River; Potomac Blockade; Flotilla in the Chesapeake; etc. In early August 1861 the flotilla commander and the Department of the Navy began to consistently refer to the command as the Potomac Flotilla.[5]
Operations
1861
Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Aquia Creek, Virginia, 29 May – 1 June 1861
Affair at Mathias Point, Virginia, 27 June 1861
Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Potomac Creek, Virginia, 23 August 1861
Engagement with the Confederate battery at Freestone Point, Virginia, 25 September 1861
1862
Engagement at Cockpit Point, Virginia, 3 January 1862
Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Tappahannock, Virginia, 13–15 April 1862
Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg, Virginia, 20 April 1862
Expeditions to Gwynn's Island and Nomini Creek, Virginia, 3–4 Nov, 1862
Engagement at Port Royal, Virginia, 4 December 1862
Engagement at Brandywine Hill, Rappahannock River, Virginia, 10–11 December 1862
1863
Destruction of salt works on Dividing Creek, Virginia, 12 January 1863
Destruction of Confederate stores at Tappahannock, Virginia, 30 May 1863
Capture of U. S. steamers Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". and USRC Reliance, 16 August 1863
1864
Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia, 12 January 1864
Expedition up the Rappahannock River, Virginia, 18–21 April 1864
Expedition to Carter's Creek, Virginia, 29 April 1864
Expedition to Mill Creek, Virginia, 12–13 May 1864
Expedition up the Rappahannock River, Virginia, 16–19 May 1864
Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia, 11–21 June 1864
Expedition to Milford Haven and Stutt's Creek, Virginia, 24 September 1864
1865
Expedition to Fredericksburg, Virginia, 6–8 March 1865
Expedition up the Rappahannock River, 12–14 March 1865
Operations in Mattox Creek, Virginia, 16–18 March 1865
Ships of the flotilla
When Commander James H. Ward departed the New York Navy Yard on 16 May 1861 his flotilla consisted of three vessels. The size of the flotilla steadily increased until it reached a strength that hovered between 15 and 25 vessels.[6]
| Ship | Rate | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Ironclad monitor | Casco class |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Ironclad monitor | Casco class |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Ironclad monitor | Canonicus class |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Ironclad monitor | Canonicus class |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 2nd | Screw sloop | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 3rd | Screw sloop | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 3rd | Screw sloop | Commander Wilkes' Flagship |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw sloop | Receiving Ship at Baltimore |
| Template:USRC | 3rd | Sidewheel gunboat | Revenue cutter from United States Revenue-Marine |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 3rd | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 3rd | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | Blockade runner captured by Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". 4 March 1864 off Beaufort, North Carolina. |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | Steamer captured by Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". 20 April 1862 on the Rappahannock River, Virginia. |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | Blockade runner captured by Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". 9 July 1864 in South Santee River, South Carolina. |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | ex-Confederate captured by Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". 4 July 1862 on the James River, Virginia |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | Sunk by boiler explosion off Ragged Point, Virginia, 11 November 1864 |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Blockade runner captured by Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". 7 July 1862 off New Providence in the Bahamas |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Blockade runner captured by USAT Fulton and Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". on 21 November 1863 off Wilmington, North Carolina |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | ex-ferryboat |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | ex-ferryboat |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | ex-ferryboat |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Known as USS Mount Vernon until 4 November 1861 |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Captured by Confederate boarding party 23 August 1863 in Rappahannock River, scuttled at Port Royal, Virginia, 28 August 1863 |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | ex-ferryboat |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Commander Ward's Flagship |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw auxiliary | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Ordnance vessel, Washington Navy Yard |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Supply ship |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Picket and dispatch vessel |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Icebreaker |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Dispatch vessel, known as USS Powhatan until 4 November 1861 |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Transport ferry |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Storeship |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | Captured by Confederate boarding party 23 August 1863 in Rappahannock River, scuttled at Port Royal, Virginia, 28 August 1863 |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | Sunk 10 September 1861 in collision with merchant ship State of Maine off Indian Head, Maryland |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | |
| USS Watch | 4th | Screw tug | Known as USS A. C. Powell until August 1862, known as USS Alert from August 1862 to 2 February 1865 |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Screw tug | ex-Confederate, captured 24 April 1861 by Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". at Hampton Roads, Virginia |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel tug | Also known as USS William G. Putnam |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel tug | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel tug | Tug and dispatch boat |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sidewheel tug | |
| E. H. Herbert | - | Tug | Chartered vessel |
| Edwin Forrest | - | Tug | Chartered vessel |
| James Murray | - | Tug | Chartered vessel |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | - | Sidewheel steamer | from United States Coast Survey |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | - | Sidewheel Steamer | from United States Coast Survey |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sailing schooner | mortar schooner |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | - | Sailing schooner | from United States Coast Survey |
| Chaplin | 4th | Sailing schooner | |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | - | Sailing schooner | from United States Coast Survey |
| Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". | - | Sailing schooner | from United States Coast Survey |
| USS Alpha | 4th | Screw picket boat | Known as Picket Boat No. 1 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. |
| USS Beta | 4th | Screw picket boat | Known as both USS Bazely and as Picket Boat No. 2 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. Hit a torpedo (mine) and was destroyed 25 December 1864 by retreating Union troops to prevent Confederate capture. |
| USS Gamma | 4th | Screw picket boat | Known as Picket Boat No. 3 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. |
| USS Delta | 4th | Screw picket boat | Known as Picket Boat No. 4 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. |
| USS Epsilon | 4th | Screw picket boat | Known as Picket Boat No. 5 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. |
| USS Zeta | 4th | Screw picket boat | Known as Picket Boat No. 6 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. |
Commanders
| Flotilla commander | From | To | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commander James Harmon Ward | late April 1861 | 27 June 1861 | Killed in action 27 June 1861 |
| Commander Stephen Clegg Rowan | 27 June 1861 | 10 July 1861 | Commander pro tem |
| Commander Thomas Tingey Craven | 10 July 1861 | 2 December 1861 | |
| Lieutenant Abram D. Harrell | 2 December 1861 | 6 December 1861 | Commander pro tem |
| Lieutenant Robert Harris Wyman | 6 December 1861 | early July 1862 | |
| Lieutenant Commander Samuel Magaw | early July 1862 | 1 September 1862 | Commander pro tem |
| Commodore Charles Wilkes | 1 September 1862 | 10 September 1862 | |
| Commodore Andrew Allen Harwood | 10 September 1862 | 31 December 1863 | |
| Commander Foxhall Alexander Parker, Jr. | 31 December 1863 | 31 July 1865 |
References
- In these notes the abbreviation ORN is used for the work Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.
- Notes
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- ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 420, 430, 443, 458, 467, 471.
- ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 539–41.
- ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 541, 570–1, 575, 757–8, 760–1. ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. 3, 72, 75, 82, 84, 379.
- ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. 576, 578.
- ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 488, 504, 509, 511, 596–600.
- ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. xv-xvi, 458, 508, 570, 666. ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. xv-xvi, 60–1, 75, 100, 108, 204–5, 245–6, 260, 287, 361–2, 391, 366–7, 374, 380, 398, 408–9, 461, 496, 502, 506, 508, 515, 531, 548–9, 567, 571–4.
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- Bibliography
- Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 4. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1896).
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 5. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1897). - Silverstone, Paul H. Warships of the Civil War Navies. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989). Template:ISBN
- Template:NHC
- Further Reading
- External Links
- Arthur McKinstry and the War Along the Potomac, 1861-1862 https://www.facebook.com/groups/waronthepotomac