Potomac Flotilla

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Potomac Flotilla
Attack on the Confederate Batteries at Aquia Creek, June 1, 1861.jpg
Attack on the Confederate Batteries at Aquia Creek by the Potomac Flotilla.
Active1861 - 1865
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Branch United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg United States Navy
Type naval squadron

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.

Contents

History

American Civil War

On April 22, 1861 Commander James H. Ward, who was the commanding officer of the receiving ship USS North Carolina 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, USS Thomas Freeborn, USS Reliance, and USS Resolute. 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 USS Satellite 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]

ShipRateTypeNotes
USS Casco 4th Ironclad monitor Casco class
USS Chimo 4thIronclad monitorCasco class
USS Mahopac 4thIronclad monitor Canonicus class
USS Saugus 4thIronclad monitorCanonicus class
USS Pawnee 2nd Screw sloop
USS Seminole 3rdScrew sloop
USS Wachusett 3rdScrew sloopCommander Wilkes' Flagship
USS Allegheny 4thScrew sloopReceiving Ship at Baltimore
USRC Harriet Lane 3rd Sidewheel gunboat Revenue cutter from United States Revenue-Marine
USS Mahaska 3rdSidewheel gunboat
USS Port Royal 3rdSidewheel gunboat
USS Anacostia 4th Screw gunboat
USS Aroostook 4thScrew gunboat
USS Crusader 4thScrew gunboat
USS Currituck 4thScrew gunboat
USS Dawn 4thScrew gunboat
USS Don 4thScrew gunboat Blockade runner captured by USS Pequot 4 March 1864 off Beaufort, North Carolina.
USS Dragon 4thScrew gunboat
USS E. B. Hale 4thScrew gunboat
USS Eureka 4thScrew gunboat Steamer captured by USS Anacostia 20 April 1862 on the Rappahannock River, Virginia.
USS Fuchsia 4thScrew gunboat
USS Little Ada 4thScrew gunboatBlockade runner captured by USS Gettysburg 9 July 1864 in South Santee River, South Carolina.
USS Mystic 4thScrew gunboat
USS Penguin 4thScrew gunboat
USS Pocahontas 4thScrew gunboat
USS Teaser 4thScrew gunboatex-Confederate captured by USS Maratanza 4 July 1862 on the James River, Virginia
USS Tulip 4thScrew gunboatSunk by boiler explosion off Ragged Point, Virginia, 11 November 1864
USS Valley City 4thScrew gunboat
USS Western World 4thScrew gunboat
USS Wyandotte 4thScrew gunboat
USS Adela 4thSidewheel gunboatBlockade runner captured by USS Quaker City 7 July 1862 off New Providence in the Bahamas
USS Banshee 4thSidewheel gunboatBlockade runner captured by USAT Fulton and USS Grand Gulf on 21 November 1863 off Wilmington, North Carolina
USS Ceres 4thSidewheel gunboat
USS Coeur de Lion 4thSidewheel gunboat
USS Commodore Barney 4thSidewheel gunboatex-ferryboat
USS Commodore Read 4thSidewheel gunboatex-ferryboat
USS Delaware 4thSidewheel gunboat
USS Jacob Bell 4thSidewheel gunboat
USS Isaac N. Seymour 4thSidewheel gunboat
USS John L. Lockwood 4thSidewheel gunboat
USS Mercury 4thSidewheel gunboat
USS Morse 4thSidewheel gunboatex-ferryboat
USS Mount Washington 4thSidewheel gunboatKnown as USS Mount Vernon until 4 November 1861
USS Nansemond 4thSidewheel gunboat
USS Satellite 4thSidewheel gunboatCaptured by Confederate boarding party 23 August 1863 in Rappahannock River, scuttled at Port Royal, Virginia, 28 August 1863
USS Stepping Stones 4thSidewheel gunboatex-ferryboat
USS Thomas Freeborn 4thSidewheel gunboatCommander Ward's Flagship
USS Underwriter 4thSidewheel gunboat
USS Union 4thScrew auxiliary
USS Baltimore 4thSidewheel auxiliary Ordnance vessel, Washington Navy Yard
USS Cactus 4thSidewheel auxiliarySupply ship
USS Ella 4thSidewheel auxiliary Picket and dispatch vessel
USS Ice Boat 4thSidewheel auxiliary Icebreaker
USS King Philip 4thSidewheel auxiliaryDispatch vessel, known as USS Powhatan until 4 November 1861
USS Philadelphia 4thSidewheel auxiliaryTransport ferry
USS Wyandank 4thSidewheel auxiliary Storeship
USS Juniper 4thScrew tug
USS Leslie 4thScrew tug
USS Moccasin 4thScrew tug
USS Periwinkle 4thScrew tug
USS Primrose 4thScrew tug
USS Reliance 4thScrew tugCaptured by Confederate boarding party 23 August 1863 in Rappahannock River, scuttled at Port Royal, Virginia, 28 August 1863
USS Rescue 4thScrew tug
USS Resolute 4thScrew tug
USS Tigress 4thScrew tugSunk 10 September 1861 in collision with merchant ship State of Maine off Indian Head, Maryland
USS Verbena 4thScrew tug
USS Watch 4thScrew tugKnown as USS A. C. Powell until August 1862, known as USS Alert from August 1862 to 2 February 1865
USS Young America 4thScrew tugex-Confederate, captured 24 April 1861 by USS Cumberland at Hampton Roads, Virginia
USS General Putnam 4thSidewheel tugAlso known as USS William G. Putnam
USS Heliotrope 4thSidewheel tug
USS Island Belle 4thSidewheel tugTug and dispatch boat
USS Yankee 4thSidewheel tug
E. H. Herbert-TugChartered vessel
Edwin Forrest-TugChartered vessel
James Murray-TugChartered vessel
USS Bibb -Sidewheel steamerfrom United States Coast Survey
USS Corwin -Sidewheel Steamerfrom United States Coast Survey
USS Adolph Hugel 4thSailing schooner mortar schooner
USS Arletta 4thSailing schoonerMortar schooner
USS Dan Smith 4thSailing schoonerMortar schooner
USS George Mangham 4thSailing schoonerMortar schooner
USS Matthew Vassar 4thSailing schoonerMortar schooner
USS Racer 4thSailing schoonerMortar schooner
USS Sophronia 4thSailing schoonerMortar schooner
USS T. A. Ward 4thSailing schoonerMortar schooner
USS William Bacon 4thSailing schoonerMortar schooner
USS Bailey -Sailing schoonerfrom United States Coast Survey
Chaplin4thSailing schooner
USS Dana -Sailing schoonerfrom United States Coast Survey
USS Howell Cobb -Sailing schoonerfrom United States Coast Survey
USS Alpha 4thScrew picket boat Known as Picket Boat No. 1 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.
USS Beta 4thScrew picket boatKnown 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 4thScrew picket boatKnown as Picket Boat No. 3 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.
USS Delta 4thScrew picket boatKnown as Picket Boat No. 4 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.
USS Epsilon 4thScrew picket boatKnown as Picket Boat No. 5 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.
USS Zeta 4thScrew picket boatKnown as Picket Boat No. 6 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.

Commanders

Flotilla commanderFromToNotes
Commander James Harmon Ward late April 186127 June 1861 Killed in action 27 June 1861
Commander Stephen Clegg Rowan 27 June 186110 July 1861Commander pro tem
Commander Thomas Tingey Craven 10 July 18612 December 1861
Lieutenant Abram D. Harrell 2 December 18616 December 1861Commander pro tem
Lieutenant Robert Harris Wyman 6 December 1861early July 1862
Lieutenant Commander Samuel Magawearly July 18621 September 1862Commander pro tem
Commodore Charles Wilkes 1 September 186210 September 1862
Commodore Andrew Allen Harwood 10 September 186231 December 1863
Commander Foxhall Alexander Parker, Jr. 31 December 186331 July 1865

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References

Notes
  1. ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 420, 430, 443, 458, 467, 471.
  2. ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 539–41.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. 576, 578.
  5. ↑ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 488, 504, 509, 511, 596–600.
  6. ↑ 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.
Bibliography
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