C. E. HILLMAN, see EASTPORT

CALEB CUSHING

Sch: dp. 153; l. 100'4"; b. 23'; dph. 8'8"; dr. 9'7"; a. 1 32-pdr., 1 
12-pdr. Dahlgren;  cl. MORRIS

CALEB CUSHING, a U.S. revenue cutter also known as MORRIS, was quietly 
boarded and seized in the early morning hours of 27 June 1863 while in 
the harbor at Portland, Maine, by Lt. Charles W. Read, CSN, and his men 
who had entered the harbor undetected on board their prize schooner 
ARCHER. It was Read's plan to get the cutter away from Union shore 
batteries before daylight, and then set fire to Union shipping in the 
harbor. As it was dawn before Read's force cleared the Union guns, he 
found it impossible to carry out his plan, and instead he set out for 
sea.

Lt. "Savez" Read intended to send his prisoner back on Archer after 
transferring his supplies to CALEB CUSHING. However, when about 20 miles 
at sea, CALEB CUSHING was overtaken by 2 steamers. Read ran out of 
ammunition and was unable to put up a resistance. Ordering his men and 
prisoners into small boats he fired the cutter after setting a powder 
train to her magazine. He, his men and his prisoners were captured by 
the steamer FORREST CITY. ARCHER was captured later, and CALEB CUSHING 
soon exploded and was destroyed.

CALEDONIA, see BEAUFORT

CALHOUN

SwStr:
t. 509;
cpl. 85;
a. 118-pdr., 2 12-pdr., 2 6-pdr.

CSS CALHOUN, built at New York in 1851 as CUBA, was commissioned by the 
Confederate Government as a privateer on 15 May 1861: Capt. John Wilson 
and his

Page 506

150 men, during the next 5 months, captured and sent in six prizes. She 
was then chartered by the Confederate States Navy and placed under the 
command of Lt. J. H. Carter, CSN. CALHOUN served as flagship for 
Commodore G. N. Hollins, CSN, during a successful engagement between his 
fleet and five Union ships at the Head of the Passes into the 
Mississippi River, 12 October 186.

CALHOUN was captured off South West Pass, La., on 23 January 1862 by 
schooner SAMUEL ROTAN, a tender to frigate COLORADO. Subsequently, she 
served as USS CALHOUN.

CAMILLA, see MEMPHIS

CANTON, see TEXAS

CAPITOL

SwStr:
t. 499;
l. 224';
b. b 32';
dph. 6'6"

CAPITOL was built in Jeffersonville, Ind., in 1855. Seized by the 
Confederates, she burned on 28 June 1862, at Liverpool, Miss., and in 
July 1862 was sunk as an obstruction in the Yazoo River. The engines and 
machinery removed from Capitol were kept at Yazoo City until early 1863 
when they were sent to Selma, Ala., for use in the further defense of 
Mobile Bay and the Alabama River.

CAROLINA, see THEODORA

CAROLINE, see ARIZONA

CARONDELET

SwStr:
a. 5 42-pdr., 1 32-pdr. r.;
cl. BIENVILLE

CSS CARONDELET was a light draft steamer built by John Hughes and Acting 
Constructor S. D. Porter, CSN, at Bayou St. John, La., in 1861-62. She 
was put into service in March 1862 with Lt. W. Gwathmey CSN, in command. 
On 4 April this ship, accompanied by CSS OREGON and PAMLICO, engaged the 
Federal gunboats NEW LONDON, JOHN P. JACKSON and HATTERAS at Pass 
Christian, Miss. The Confederates were unable to prevent the landing of 
1,200 Union men at the Pass and the destruction of the camp there.

CARONDELET was destroyed by her own officers on Lake Pontchartrain just 
before the fall of New Orleans to escape capture by the Federals.

CARR, see JOHN F. CARR

CASTOR

Bark:
t. 252

CASTOR was a Maltese sailing vessel of fir with coppered bottom, built 
on the island in 1851 and bought in Liverpool by Confederate agents 
about 1863. Commanded by a Captain G. Attard, she acted as tender and 
storeship to CSS GEORGIA. The best known incident during that duty, 
which of necessity she performed with as little ostentation as possible, 
was at remote Fernando de Noronha Island, belonging to Brazil: On 16 May 
1863 as she commenced coaling GEORGIA, she was forced by the Brazilian 
authorities, under diplomatic pressure from the United States, to cease 
operations. GEORGIA got away and USS MOHICAN stood guard thereafter over 
CASTOR and her companion, AGRIPPINA (q.v.) until they were induced to 
sell their coal and ammunition locally in return for permission to 
depart in peace. CASTOR began discharging 22 June, following AGRIPPINA's 
example.

CASWELL

SwStr:
cpl. 32

CSS CASWELL was a wooden steamer which operated as a tender on the 
Wilmingston station, 1861-62, Acting Master W. B. Whitehead, CSN, in 
command. She was burned to avoid capture when Wilmington, N.C., fell in 
February 1865.

CATAWBA

Str

The steamer CATAWBA was used by the Confederates as a flag-of-truce boat 
in Charleston Harbor during April 1861. She transported personnel who 
arranged the transfer of Major Anderson's command from Fort Sumter to 
USS BALTIC. In February 1862 she arrived at Nassau bearing a cargo of 
cotton and rice, and took on arms and powder from the British steamer 
GLADIATOR. It is possible that she passed into Union control as a ship 
of the name was reported in February 1865 as getting underway from 
Annapolis with Union troops on board.

CERRO GORDO, see MUSCLE

CHAMELEON, see TALLAHASSEE

CHARLES MORGAN, see GOVERNOR MOORE

CHARLESTON

IrcStSlp:
l. 180';
b. 34';
dph. 14';
s. 6 k.;
cpl. 150;
a. 4 r., 2 9" sb.

CSS CHARLESTON was built at Charleston, S.C., where she was laid down in 
December 1862, and commissioned 9 months later. She was not ready for 
service until early in 1864 when she became the flagship of the squadron 
on the South Carolina coast with Comdr. I. N. Brown, CSN, in command. 
This vessel was set on fire and abandoned in Charleston Harbor when the 
city was evacuated by the Confederates on 18 February 1865.

Charleston was widely known as the "Ladies' Gunboat" because of the zeal 
with which the distaff side of the Charleston populace made sacrifices 
to contribute to her building.

CHARM

SwStr:
t. 223

CHARM was built in 1860 at Cincinnati, Ohio and served the Confederates 
as an ammunition and gun carrier and troop transport in the Mississippi 
River area. Under Capt. W. L. Trask, CHARM participated with high 
distinction in the Battle of Belmont, Mo., on 7 November 1861, as part 
of the Confederate force under Maj. Gen. L. Polk, CSA. Under heavy Union 
fire, CHARM stood firmly at her post, carrying troops and ammunition 
back and forth across the Mississippi River in the course of the battle. 
Although grounded in the furor of battle she was pulled free and saved 
by the Confederate transport PRINCE

She sank, lashed to PAUL JONES, sometime in 1863. Traces of the two 
hulks, burned to the waterline, are visible now and again at low water a 
century later.

CHATTAHOOCHEE

SwGbt:
l. 150';
b. 25';
dph. 10';
dr. 8';
s. 12 k.;
cpl. 120;
a. 4 32-pdr., 1 32-pdr. r., 1 9"

CSS CHATTAHOOCHEE was a gunboat built in 1862-63 at Saffold, Ga., by D. 
S. Johnson under the supervision

Page 507

of Lt. C. R. Jones, CSN. Lt. J. J. Guthrie succeeded to command 4 
February 1863.

CHATTAHOOCHEE was plagued by machinery failures, one of which, a boiler 
explosion which filled 18, occurred on 27 May 1863 as she prepared to 
sail from her anchorage at Blountstown, Fla., to attempt retaking the 
Confederate schooner FASHION, captured by the Union. On 10 June 1864 she 
was moved to Columbus, Ga., for repairs and installation engines and a 
new boiler.

While she was undergoing repairs at Columbus, 11 of her officers and 50 
crewmen tried unsuccessfully to capture ADELA blockading Apalachicola, 
Fla. USS SOMERSET drove off the raiders, capturing much of their 
equipment.

When the Confederates abandoned the Apalachicola River in December 1864, 
CHATTAHOOCHEE was destroyed to prevent capture.

CHENEY

Str

CHENEY operated with Confederate forces in and about the Mississippi 
River from 1861 to 1863. In August 1861 she carried army dispatches to 
General Pillow at New Madrid, Mo. In April 1863 she was reported as one 
of four cotton-clad steamers preparing to attack Union naval forces in 
the Arkansas River.

CHEOPS

IrcRam:
t 900;
l. 171'10";
b. 32' 8";
dr. 14'4";
s. 10 k.;
cl. STONEWALL)

CHEOPS was sister to SPHINX (see STONEWALL), built by L. Arman de 
Riviere in Bordeaux "for the China trade," under an involved secret 
contract with Comdr. James D. Bulloch, CSN, and his agent, French Capt. 
Eugene L. Tessier.

Bulloch to Secretary of the Navy Mallory, 10 June 1864, reveals: "As 
Denmark was then at war it had been arranged that the nominal ownership 
of the rams should vest in Sweden ... [which had] consented to do this 
piece of good service for Denmark ... a Swedish naval officer was then 
at Bordeaux superintending the completion of the rams as if for his own 
Government." Delivery was to be at Gothenburg; M. Arman explained: "When 
the first ram is ready to sail, the American minister will no doubt ask 
the Swedish minister if the vessel belongs to his Government; the reply 
will be 'yes'; she will ... arrive at her destination according to 
contract. This will distract all suspicion from the second ram and when 
she sails under like circumstances with the first, my people ... will 
deliver her to you or your agent at sea." Also settled, were "the best 
mode of shipping the guns, the engagement of reliable captains, and the 
possibility of getting seamen from the ports of Brittany." But the whole 
structure of intrigue was dashed when, "Mr. Arman obtained his promised 
or anticipated interview with the Emperor [Napoleon III], who rated him 
severely, threatened imprisonment, ordered him to sell the ships at 
once, 'bona fide,' and said if this was not done he would have him 
seized and carried to Rochefort ... the two corvettes at Nantes [TEXAS 
and GEORGIA] were also ordered to be sold ... The order is of the most 
peremptory kind, not only directing the sale but requiring the builders 
to furnish proof to the minister of foreign affairs that the sale is a 
real one ... in a style of virtuous indignation; specifies the large 
scantling, the power of the engines, the space allotted to fuel and the 
general arrangements of the ships, as proving their war-like character 
... une veritable corvette de guerre ... When you call to mind the fact 
that this same minister of marine on the 6th day of June, 1863, wrote 
over his own official signature a formal authorization to arm those very 
ships with 14 heavy guns each ('canons raye de trentes'), the 
affectation of having just discovered them to be suitable for purposes 
of war is really astonishing."

CHEOPS became PRINZ ADALBERT of the Prussian Navy, but Sphinx finally 
did get to sea as CSS STONEWALL (q.v. ) .

CHESAPEAKE

ScStr:
t. 460 

CHESAPEAKE was the wooden steamer TOTTEN. built in Philadelphia in 1853 
and first registered there. She was rebuilt in 1857, being renamed 
CHESAPEAKE 27 August and described at that time as schooner-rigged with 
single funnel, owned by H. B. Cromwell & Co., New York. She was involved 
in the CALEB CUSHING (q.v.) affair in June 1863, being one of the ships 
that set out from Portland, Me., to recapture the revenue cutter.

She was sailing as a regular New York-Portland liner on 7 December 1863 
when she became a cause celebre upon being taken over as a Confederate 
vessel by a group acting in the name of the Confederacy under alleged 
authority of a second-hand letter of marque issued 27 October to the 
former captain of a privateer sold as unseaworthy in Nassau some months 
earlier-whereas her relief captain, mastermind of this later expedition, 
was found to be a British subject, having acted under an assumed name 
and without authorization by the Confederacy. The Halifax, N.S., Court 
of Vice-Admiralty found, 15 February 1864, that the capture "was 
undoubtedly a piratical taking. But in its origin, * * * in the mode of 
the recapture, in short, all the concomitant circumstances, the case is 
very peculiar." CHESAPEAKE was restored to her owners and served in 
commerce until 1881. The captors were dismissed: "This court has no 
prize jurisdiction, no authority to adjudicate between the United States 
and the Confederate States, or the citizens of either of those States. 
The prisoners were not surrendered to the United States under the 
Ashburton treaty for trial "on charges of murder and piracy."

"Colonel" John Clibbon Braine, Henry A. Parr and a dozen fellow-
conspirators took over CHESAPEAKE 20 miles NNE of Cape Cod, 7 December, 
having boarded her two nights before in New York as passengers. In the 
takeover, her second engineer was killed and her chief officer and chief 
engineer wounded Captain Isaac Willett, his bona fide passengers and all 
but five of his crew were landed at St. John, N.B., 8 December; Capt. 
John Parker (actually Vernon G. Locke) joined in the Bay of Fundy and 
took command. They coaled at Shelburne, N.S., the 12th, shipped four men 
and were seeking enough fuel to make Wilmington, N.C., when USS ELLA & 
ANNIE (v. WILLIAM G. HEWES) captured CHESAPEAKE, the morning of the 
17th, in Sambro, a small harbor near the entrance to Halifax, N.S., with 
three crewmen-only one being of the boarding party.

Comdr. A. G. Clary, USS DACOTAH, prevented ELLA & ANNIE from taking the 
recaptured prize into Boston and accompanied her that day to Halifax, 
where she was turned over to local authorities the 19th-conceding that 
her recovery in neutral waters of Canada had been extra-legal-and the 
prisoners with her.

Eight Federal ships hastily summoned to search out CHESAPEAKE returned 
home the 19th; the same day Secretary of State J. P. Benjamin appointed 
James B. Holcombe special commissioner to represent the alleged 
Confederate raiders in Halifax and try to gain possession of the prize 
steamer. Holcombe found ultimately "That the expedition was devised, 
planned, and organized in a British colony by Vernon G. Locke, a British
subject, who, under the feigned name of Parker, had been placed in 
command of the privateer RETRIBUTION by the officer who was named as her 
commander at the time of the issue of the letter of marque. *** Locke 
assumed to issue commissions in the Confederate service to Brit-

Page 508

ish subjects on British soil, without authority for so doing, and 
without being himself in the public service of this Government. ***there 
is great reason to doubt whether either Braine, who was in command of 
the expedition, or Parr, his subordinate, is a Confederate citizen  
Braine  after getting possession of the vessel and proceeding to the 
British colonies, instead of confining himself to his professed object 
of obtaining fuel for navigating her to a Confederate port, sold 
portions of the cargo at different points on the coast, thus divesting 
himself of the character of an officer engaged in the legitimate 
warfare. The capture of the CHESAPEAKE, therefore, is disclaimed. ***men 
who, sympathizing with us in a righteous cause, erroneously believed 
themselves authorized to act as belligerents against the United States 
by virtue of Parker's possession of the letter of marque issued to the 
privateer RETRIBUTION" could not be accepted after the fact as 
Confederate volunteers.

CHESTERFIELD

SwStr:
t. 204

CHESTERFIELD, a light draft side-wheel cargo steamer built at 
Charleston, S.C., in 1853, was privately owned by Mr. John Ferguson, and 
chartered monthly by the Confederate Army as early as 1 June 1861 for 
South Carolina coast defense. Army-operated, she moved ammunition, 
ordnance, general supplies and troops from Charleston to Edisto, from 
Port Royal to Coles Island and among the various military posts in the 
harbor.

Chesterfield participated in the defense of Charleston from 1-20 August 
1863, and was often under heavy fire while bringing in troops and 
supplies and removing sick and wounded. She continued to operate along 
the South Carolina coast throughout 1864.

CHICKAHOMINY

The name CHICKAHOMINY attached to FREDERICKSBURG by intelligence reports 
about the time of her launch in mid-June 1863 appears to have been 
associated with the ship erroneously.

CHICKAMAUGA

ScStr:
t. 585;
cpl. 120;
a. 3 r.

CSS CHICKAMAUGA, originally the blockade runner Edith, was purchased by 
the Confederate Navy at Wilmington, N.C., in 1864. In September when she 
was nearly ready for sea the Confederate Army sought unsuccessfully to 
retain her at that place for use as a troop and supply transport. On 28 
October 1864, she put to sea under L. J. Wilkinson, CSN, for a cruise 
north to the entrance of Long Island Sound, thence to St. Georges, 
Bermuda, for repairs and coal. She took several prizes before returning 
to Wilmington on 19 November.

During the bombardment of Fort Fisher, 24-25 December 1864, a portion of 
CHICKAMAUGA’s crew served the guns at the fort. Although not immediately 
engaged in defense of Fort Fisher, the ship rendered further aid in 
transporting ammunition. She lent support to the fort when it was 
bombarded again on 15 January 1865.

After the evacuation of Wilmington, CHICKAMAUGA went up the Cape Fear 
River where she was sunk by the Confederates.

CHICORA

IrcRam:
l. 150';
b. 35';
dph. 14';
s. 5 k.;
cpl. 150;
a. 2 9", 4 32-pdr. r.;
cl. Richmond

CSS CHICORA was built under contract at Charleston, S.C., in 1862, by 
James M. Eason to J. L. Porter's plans, using up most of a $300,000 
State appropriation for construction of marine batteries; Eason received 
a bonus for "skill and promptitude." Her iron shield was 4" thick, 
backed by 22" of oak and pine, with 2-inch armor at her ends. Keeled in 
March, she was commissioned in November, Comdr. John R. Tucker, CSN, 
assuming command.

In thick, predawn haze on 31 January 1863, CHICORA and CSS PALMETTO 
STATE raided the Federal blockading force of unarmored ships lying just 
outside the entrance to Charleston Harbor. With ram and gun, PALMETTO
STATE forced MERCEDITA to surrender, then disabled KEYSTONE STATE, who 
had to be towed to safety. CHICORA meanwhile engaged other Union ships 
in a long-range gun duel, from which she emerged unscathed to withdraw 
victoriously to shelter inside the harbor.

She took part in the defense of the forts at Charleston on 7 April when 
they were attacked by a squadron of ironclad monitors under Rear Adm. S. 
F. DuPont, USN. The Federal ships were forced to retire for repairs and 
did not resume the action.

CHICORA was actively employed in the fighting around Charleston during 
1863 and 1864. Her valuable services included the transporting of troops 
during the evacuation of Morris Island, and the bombardment of Forts 
Sumter, Gregg, and Wagner. In August 1863 she had the distinction of 
furnishing the first volunteer officer and crew for the Confederate 
Submarine Torpedo Boat H. L. HUNLEY.

She was destroyed by the Confederates when Charleston was evacuated on 
18 February 1865.

CHILD, see ALONZO CHILD

CITY OF RICHMOND

Str

CITY OF RICHMOND was a blockade runner which the Confederacy chartered, 
probably in London, during the last year of the war. Sailing under 
Comdr. H. Davidson, CSN, she conveyed officers, crew, and military 
stores to the ironclad STONEWALL off Quiberon, France in early January 
1865.

CITY OF RICHMOND, see GEORGE PAGE

CITY OF VICKSBURG, see VICKSBURG

CLARA DOLSEN

SwStr:
t. 939;
l. 268';
b. 42';
dph. 8'9"

CLARA DOLSEN was "a magnificent river steamer" in which half interest 
was owned by Bart Able and Albert Pearce of St. Louis. She was built in 
1861 at Cincinnati, Ohio. Used in the service of the Confederate States 
out of Memphis, Tenn., she was captured by Federal ships of the St. 
Charles Expedition on the White River, 14 June 1862. Later she operated 
with the Union army and eventually as USS CLARA DOLSEN (frequently 
written DOLSON).

CLARENCE

Half Brig:
t. 253;
l. 114';
b. 24';
dr. 11';
a. 1 12-pdr. how.

CLARENCE, also known as COQUETTE, was built at Baltimore, Md., in 1857 
for J. Crosby, a Baltimore fruit dealer. While transporting a cargo of 
coffee from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Baltimore, Md., she was captured 
by CSS FLORIDA on 6 May 1863. Comdr. J. N. Maffitt CSN, commanding 
FLORIDA, placed CLARENCE under Lt.

Page 509

C. W. Read, with 20 men as a prize crew. Lieutenant Read had requested 
that, rather than burn CLARENCE, he might try, with the ship's papers, 
to sail into Hampton Roads, Va., and if possible destroy or capture a 
Federal gunboat and burn Union merchant vessels congregated at Fortress 
Monroe. Commander Maffitt armed CLARENCE with one gun so that Read might 
capture prizes on his way to Hampton Roads.

En route to Virginia, CLARENCE captured the bark WINDWARD, also known as 
WHISTLING WIND, on 6 June 1863, and on the next day the schooner ALFRED 
H. PARTRIDGE. On 9 June she captured the brig MARY ALVINA. From his 
prisoners Read learned that all vessels were restricted from Hampton 
Roads which was unusually well guarded, and he decided that his original 
plan would be impossible.

On 12 June CLARENCE captured the bark TACONY, and then immediately 
captured the schooner M. A. SHINDLER. Lieutenant Read transferred his 
force to TACONY, a better sailer than CLARENCE, and while this was being 
done, CLARENCE intercepted her last prize, the schooner KATE STEWART. 
CLARENCE was then burned after her short but unusually successful 
career, and Lieutenant Read and his men continued on TACONY to harass 
Union commerce along the Atlantic coast.

CLARENDON

Str:
t. 143

CLARENDON, a ferryboat, was built in 1860 at Portsmouth, Va. She served 
the Confederacy as a dispatch vessel and transport during operations off 
Fort Fisher, N.C., in late December 1864. On 14 March 1865 she was 
seized by Union forces and burned.

CLIFTON

SwStr:
t. 892;
l. 210';
b. 40';
dph. 13'6";
dr. 7'6";
cpl. 120;
a. 4 32-pdr., 2 9" sb., 1 30-pdr. r.

CLIFTON, a ferryboat, was built in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1861, and 
purchased 2 December 1861 by the U.S. Navy. Placed in commission late in 
1861 or early 1862, she served with the Mortar Flotilla of the West Gulf 
Blockading Squadron, joined in the bombardment and capture of Forts 
Jackson and St. Philip, and attacked the Confederate batteries at 
Vicksburg, Miss., during which action on 28 June 1862 she took a shot 
through her boiler which killed seven men. She also assisted in the 
capture of Galveston in October 1862.

CLIFTON was seized by the Confederates at Sabine Pass, Tex., on 8 
September 1863. She was then employed as a gunboat by the Texas Marine 
Department [See Annex III]. On 21 March 1864, while attempting to run 
the blockade off Sabine with a cargo of cotton she grounded on a bar, 
and to prevent capture by the blockading vessels was set on fire and 
burned by her crew after ineffectually disposing of her deckload to 
refloat her.

CLINCH, see GENERAL CLINCH

COLONEL HILL

Str

COLONEL HILL transported Army troops and supplies in the Cape Hatteras 
area in August 1861. On 20 July 1863 she was boarded and burned by Union 
army forces near Tarborough on the Tar River, N.C.

COLONEL LAMB

[COL. William Lamb, CSA, commanding Fort Fisher, N.C., was the blockade 
runner's best friend: he saved many such daring ships not only by the 
guns of the fort but by a mobile battery of Whitworth rifles with which 
he often drove off Federal blockade ships attempting to capture a 
stranded runner within view of safety in the haven.]

SwStr:
t. 1,788;
l. 281';
b. 36';
dph. 15'6"

COLONEL LAMB, one of the most famous and successful of the Confederate 
Navy's own blockade runners-a fine model of which can be seen in the 
Science Museum at Liverpool-was built in 1864 at that city as Jones, 
Quiggin & Company's Hull No. 165-a near sister to HOPE which preceded 
her that year, but with much

Page 510

longer deckhouse and lacking the customary turtleback  foredeck which 
Hope had.

She is identified with the dashing Captain Tom Lockwood and was 
christened by his wife. The shipbuilder,  Wiliiam Quiggin, registered 
COLONEL LAMB in his name then quietly transferred her to Confederate 
agent J. B. Lafitte in Nassau, where she fitted out. She survived the 
war intact and was sold through Fraser, Trenholm & Co. to the Brazilian 
Government; after loading at Liverpool a cargo of explosives for Brazil, 
she blew up at anchor in the Mersey the night before sailing.

COLONEL LOVELL

SwRam:
t. 521;
l. 162';
b. 30'10";
dr. 11'

COLONEL LOVELL, previously named HERCULES, was built in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, in 1843 and was owned by the Ocean Towing Co. of New Orleans. She 
was taken over in 1861 by General M. Lovell, commanding the New Orleans 
military district, and converted to a cottonclad ram by installation of 
double pine bulwarks filled with compressed cotton and one-inch iron 
plates on each bow. She operated under the direction of the Confederate 
War Department and was attached to the Mississippi River Defense Fleet 
[See Annex II], commanded by Commodore J. E. Montgomery, a former river 
steamboat captain.

On 10 May 1862, while operating off Fort Pillow, Tenn., in defense of 
the river approaches to Memphis, COLONEL LOVELL, in company with seven 
of Montgomery's vessels, attacked the ironclad gunboats of the Federal 
Mississippi Flotilla. The action of Plum Point Bend which followed 
witnessed successful ramming tactics by the Confederates, though each of 
their vessels mounted at least four 8-inch guns. The Federal gunboats 
CINCINNATI and MOUND CITY were run on the banks in sinking condition. 
Later, Montgomery's force held off the Federal rams and gunboats until 
Fort Pillow was successfully evacuated on 1 June, and the Confederate 
rams fell back on Memphis to take on coal.

Following the Federal capture of Fort Pillow Flag Officer Charles H. 
Davis, USN, commanding the Mississippi Flotilla, pressed on without 
delay and appeared off Memphis with superior force on 6 June. Included 
in his force were two of the Federal Army's rams, commanded by Col. C. 
R. Ellett, Jr. Montgomery, unwilling to retreat to Vicksburg because of 
his shortage of fuel and unwilling to destroy his boats, determined to 
fight against heavy odds. In the engagement that followed, one of 
COLONEL LOVELL's engines malfunctioned and she became unmanageable. She 
was then rammed amidships by USS QUEEN OF THE WEST, and immediately 
struck again by USS MONARCH, both of the Ellett fleet. COLONEL LOVELL 
sank in deep water in the middle of the river. Capt. J. C. Delancy and a 
number of his crew were able to swim ashore.

COLONEL STELL

SwStr:
t. 199;
l. 138';
b. 24';
dph. 4'8"

COLONEL STELL also known as COLONEL STELLE and J. D. STELLE, was built 
in 1860 at Pittsburgh, Pa., and owned by C. and F. A. Gearing of 
Galveston, Tex. Chartered by the Confederate Government on 30 September 
1861 she was employed first on the Trinity River, Tex. On 3 April 1862 
the Texas Marine Department chartered her. [See Appendix III]. 
Cooperating with the Army, she transported military stores and soldiers, 
and served on picket stations in the Galveston area during 1862-63.  

COLONEL STELL was accidentally sunk off Pelican Island in Galveston Bay 
on 10 February 1864. Quickly raised and repaired, she resumed her duties 
as a cargo ship and transport. In May 1864 she received orders to raise 
the hollow forged shafts of the wreck USS WESTFIELD which were converted 
to gun barrels by the hard-pressed Confederate Ordnance Department.

After the Civil War, COLONEL STELL was in the possession of the U.S. 
Treasury Department who sold her on 12 July l866. She was lost on 21 
December 1867.

COLONEL STELLE, see COLONEL STELL

COLUMBIA

IrcRam:
l. 216';
b. 51'4";
dph. 13';
dr. 13'6";
a. 6 guns;
type COLUMBIA)

CSS COLUMBIA, an uncommonly strong ironclad ram, was constructed under 
contract at Charleston, S.C., in 1864, of yellow pine and white oak with 
iron fastenings and 6-inch iron plating.

Hull work was done by F. M. Jones to J. L. Porter's plans, plating and 
machinery by James M. Eason; her casemate was shortened to conserve 
precious metal and clad with 6" iron.

When the Union forces took possession of Charleston on 18 February 1866 
they found the greatly prized COLUMBIA in jeopardy near Fort Moultrie; 
in coming out she had run on a sunken wreck and been damaged on 12 
January 1866. Once she had been nearly ready for commissioning but when 
seized was found to have had her guns and some armor plating removed and 
ship worms already at work

She was raised on 26 April and towed by USS VANDERBILT to Hampton Roads, 
Va., where she arrived 26 May 1866.

CONDOR

SwStr:
t. 300;
l. 270';
b. 24';
dr. 7';
cpl. 50;
cl. Condor

CONDOR was the ill-fated precursor of a class of fast iron ships, the 
largest design of seven contracted out by the Confederate Navy 
Department to British shipbuilders. From Scotland she sailed on her 
maiden voyage-from the port of Greenock, which has led to the belief 
that she may also have been built there.

She was long and low, with three raking stacks fore and aft, turtleback 
forward, 'midship house, poop deck, one mast, straight stem and painted 
elusive white-all in all presenting a striking appearance. Chased on her 
maiden voyage by blockaders, she arrived safely 1 October 1864 under the 
guns of Fort Fisher, on Swash Channel Bar at the entrance to Wilmington, 
N.C., only to run aground-it has been said to avoid the wreck of 
blockade-runner NIGHT HAWK, which all accounts agree was stranded 
nearby. Lookouts appear to have been stationed on board CONDOR at low 
tide as late as December, but by this time any hope of getting her off 
must have been abandoned, for Colonel Lamb noted in his diary for 3 
December that his battery had practiced with 150-pounder Armstrong 
rifles, their first shot hitting her forward stack, the second her after 
stack.

More famous than the ship herself was one of her passengers, the patriot 
and courier Rose Greenhow, who died in the surf-weighed down, tradition 
maintains, with vital dispatches for President Davis and $2,000 in gold 
received as royalties from her best-selling book on Confederate 
womanhood. The ship is forever linked also to the colorful personality 
of her captain, August Charles Hobart-Hampden, RN, VC, alias "Captain 
Roberts" or "Samuel S. Ridge", a younger son of the Duke of Buckingham 
and a favorite of Queen Victoria. He apparently cleared CONDOR under the 
alias of "Captain Hewitt"; ever a chameleon, another trip he answered to 
"Gulick." Captain Hobart-Hampden survived until 1886, when he was buried 
in Scutari as "Hobart Pasha", retired Admiral-in-Chief or Marshal of the 
Ottoman Empire's Navy and Vice-Admiral, RN (Ret.)

Page 511

CONFEDERATE STATE, see LAUREL

CONFEDERATE STATES, see UNITED STATES

CONRAD, see TUSCALOOSA

COQUETTE

StwStr:
t. 238

COQUETTE was built in 1859 at Mobile, Ala., and served the Confederate 
navy as a blockade runner based at Wilmington, N.C. In 1864 she was 
under the command of Lt. Robert R. Carter, CSN, and in the spring of 
that year she imported two marine engines past the Federal blockade into 
Wilmington.

ScStr:
t. 300;
l. 220';
b. 25';
dph. 12'2";
dr. 10';
s. 13.5 k.

COQUETTE was a 200-horsepower, twin-screw, iron steamer, with three 
masts, schooner rigged, built in Scotland at Renfrew-perhaps by Hoby & 
Son. Her purchase by the Confederate Navy was arranged through Comdr. 
James D. Bulloch, CSN agent in Britain, in September 1863. She carried 
large cargoes of cotton-up to 1,259 bales-out of the Confederacy, 
running back in with indispensable loads of munitions.

Although successful for some months, her boiler tubes became clogged 
with scale from inadequate maintenance in this most exacting service. 
Secretary Mallory, fearing she would be captured, wrote Commander 
Bulloch 10 August 1864 that she must be "sold in consequence of her 
decreasing speed." Bulloch confirmed in his reply that, "this vessel was 
bought for a special purpose and, notwithstanding some defects has been 
a very profitable piece of property to the [Navy] Department." But she 
"broke down and had to return to Bermuda and waited three months for 
machinery from England." At this juncture, Messrs. W. W. Finney, B. F. 
Ficklen and J. R. Anderson & Co. (Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond), 
consented to take her for 16,000 pounds.

COQUETTE was laid up in Nassau at war's end, when a Southern agent of 
the owners went there to try to get possession of her before she was 
seized by the United States. A certain Capt. Richard Squires accordingly 
took her into Baltimore, where he arrived six days later, 17 December 
1865, and turned her over to the Government, for which he had been an 
undercover agent all along.

COQUETTE, see CLARENCE

CORNUBIA

[Cornubia is the Latinized name for Cornwall, an ancient Celtic kingdom, 
today the southwesternmost county of England and noted for its rugged 
coastline and survival of picturesque folkway from pre-Roman time.]

SwStr:
t. 411 [589, 359, 259];
l. 190';
b. 24'6";
dph. 12'6";
dr. 9';
sp. 18 k.

CORNUBIA was a fast, powerful, iron steamer of 230 h.p., long and low, 
painted white, with two funnels close together. She was built in Hayle, 
Cornwall, in 1858 for ferry service from there to nearby St. Ives under 
the house flag of the Hayle Steam Packet Co. The Confederacy bought her 
in the United Kingdom and she proved a very good investment bringing 22 
vital cargoes through the blockade in 1863.

Her 23d voyage was disastrous, having repercussions far beyond those 
stemming from the loss of a precious cargo: Blockader USS NIPHON gave 
chase as she sought to run in to Wilmington, N.C.; Lt. Comdg. Richard H. 
Gayle, CSN, beached his ship at 0230, 8 November, 11 miles north of New 
Inlet; the captain, carpenter and one seaman remained on board while the 
officers, crew and passengers escaped to shore. By 0300, USS JAMES ADGER 
had towed CORNUBIA free on the flood tide still intact and she was duly 
sent to Boston as a prize, along with a bag of watersoaked mail which 
one of her officers had tried to dispose of in the surf and the three 
captives.

CORNUBIA was more correctly LADY DAVIS (confused by Secretary Welles in 
one letter with JEFF DAVIS) when captured, having been renamed when a 
new CORNUBIA came out in June or July, but she was known to her captors 
by her old, familiar label while the CORNUBIA papers quickly became a 
rosetta stone to unlock the management secrets of the Confederate Army-
Navy-Treasury blockade-running fleet on the eve of the Mallory-Trenholm-
Bulloch new building program in Britain. The most immediate result was a 
new tough policy toward British seamen caught challenging the blockade. 
U.S. District Attorney Richard Henry Dana, Jr., at Boston, was 
designated to receive a sealed packet of all papers taken in the prize. 
Transmitting them to Secretary Welles, 26 December, after study, Dana 
wrote: "We have found in the prize steamer CORNUBIA letters which prove 
that that steamer the R. E. LEE and ELLA & ANNIE and others of their 
class are the property of the Confederate Government and that their 
commanders are in the service of the Confederate Navy Department. This 
raises the question whether, in like cases, the Government will detain 
foreign seamen found on board as prisoners of war. The letters also show 
that they are under orders to conceal these facts while in neutral 
ports, in order to escape the rules applicable to public vessels of 
belligerents." Welles endorsed the letter: "The persons captured on the 
boats mentioned and others in like cases to be detained as prisoners."

Comdr. Thomas H. Patterson, USN, of JAMES ADGER noted, "Her captain 
remarked to my executive officer that 'though the CORNUBIA is a small 
vessel the Confederate Government could better have afforded to lose 
almost any other vessel." He was not referring merely to essential 
cargo. The operational pattern of the Confederate Army transport service 
developed as follows: The ship's Confederate register showed the 
Secretary of War, "James A. Seddon, of Richmond, Va., is her sole 
owner." Commanders of these transports were C. S. Navy officers-either 
regulars or officers such as Gayle, commissioned "Lt. for the War, CSN," 
reporting to Col. Josiah Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, CSA, through special 
War Department Agent J. M. Seixas in Wilmington, N.C. "The entire ship's 
accounts will be forwarded through this agency" (War Dept., Ordnance 
Bureau, CSA), including monthly reports of stores and quarterly 
inventories.

CORNUBIA had been commanded by a Briton, Capt. J. M. Burroughs, to keep 
her British register, as Commander Bulloch explained to Secretary 
Mallory the following year: "I would suggest that as fast as the ships 
are paid for, Navy officers be put in command as a general rule," adding 
that such vessels "ought to be kept registered in the names of private 
individuals, otherwise serious embarrassment may arise, as Lord Russell 
has stated in the House of Lords that if it could be shown that the 
steamers trading between the Confederate States and the British Islands 
were owned by the Confederate States Government, they would be 
considered as transports and would be forbidden to enter English ports, 
except under the restrictions imposed upon all men-of-war of the 
belligerent powers."


Page 512

In accordance with this pattern we read-Gorgas to Gayle care of Seixas, 
Wilmington, June 1863: "You will assume command of the Steamer CORNUBIA 
relieving Capt. J. M. Burroughs *** (whose contract) terminates on 
reaching Bermuda *** you should assume command at Wilmington before 
starting, making the voyage terminate there hereafter. Captain Burroughs 
has been requested to accompany you, giving you the benefit of his 
experience and advice. He will also be able to assist you very much in 
acquiring good officers and crew. Take immediate steps to change your 
flag and register under Confederate colors. *** Those who decline to 
reship will be discharged and furnished with free passage to Bermuda." 
Appended for "the steamers of the War Department" was a scale of wages 
and bounties (60 to 100% of base wages, earned on completion of voyage) 
effective 1 July 1863; articles to be signed for six months. The intent 
of the whole system was revealed in, "Being in the Confederate service, 
they are entitled to be exchanged as prisoners-of-war."

CORPUS CHRISTI

Gbt

CORPUS CHRISTI was listed by Confederate army sources among the gunboats 
which operated with the Texas Marine Department late in 1864. [see Annex 
III].

CORYPHEUS

Sch:
t. 81;
l. 72';
b. 20';
dph 6'

CORYPHEUS, a yacht built at Brook Haven, N.Y., in 1859, was seized under 
orders of Gen. M. Lovell, CSA, outfitted as a gunboat, and operated in 
Lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain. On 13 May 1862 a cutter from USS CALHOUN 
proceeded to Bayou Bonfuca and cut out the gunboat. Following appraisal, 
the prize was purchased that month from the Key West prize court for 
$14,724, and promptly taken into the Union Navy.

COTTON, see J. A. COTTON

COTTON, JR., see J. A. COTTON

COTTON PLANT

SwStr:
t. 59

COTTON PLANT, built at Rochester, Pa., in 1869, was used by the 
Confederate Army as a transport and supply boat in the Tallahatchie and 
Yazoo Rivers during 1862-63. During the expedition of the Union 
Mississippi Squadron into the Yazoo, and consequent destruction of the 
fleet and Navy Yard at Yazoo City there in May 1863, COTTON PLANT was 
one of four that escaped into the Tallahatchie. Two months later she was 
ordered burned by the Confederate Army command to prevent capture.

StwStr:
t. 86;
l. 107';
b. 18.9';
dr. 4.6'

COTTON PLANT, sometimes referred to as COTTON PLANTER was built at 
Philadelphia, Pa., in 1860 and reportedly carried troops in the Pamlico 
River as early as September 1861. She sailed with CSS ALBEMARLE when 
that ironclad ram attacked Union forces at Plymouth, N.C., sank 
SOUTHFIELD and drove off MIAMI, CERES and WHITEHEAD 18-19 April 1864. On 
5 May 1864 she steamed as convoy to ALBEMARLE from the Roanoke River en 
route to Alligator River. The convoy was engaged by ships of the North 
Atlantic Blockading Squadron but both the ram and COTTON PLANT with 
several launches in tow escaped into the Roanoke River.

In May 1865 COTTON PLANT was surrendered to Union officials near 
Halifax, N.C., by parties claiming that she had been appropriated by 
Confederate authorities. Ownership was adjudicated at Plymouth and she 
was turned over to the U.S. Treasury purchasing agent to transport 
cotton and provisions. She was later delivered to the U.S. Navy at 
Norfolk.

COTTON PLANTER, see COTTON PLANT

COUNTESS

SwStr:
t. 198;
l. 150';
b. 30';
dph. 4'9"

COUNTESS was built in 1860 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and served the 
Confederates in the Mississippi River area. Maj. Gen. J. G. Walker, CSA, 
retained COUNTESS to help evacuate Alexandria, La., before the arrival 
of Union forces, and set fire to her after she grounded in the rapids at 
Alexandria.

CRAWFORD, see W. W. CRAWFORD

CRESCENT

SwStr:
t. 171

CRESCENT was built in 1858 at Mobile, Ala., and served the Confederate 
army there as a workboat, tow boat, and flag-of-truce boat. Often she 
unloaded cargo from arriving blockade runners so that they could get 
over the bar into port.

CUBA, see CALHOUN

CURLEW

SwStr:
t. 260;
l. 150';
dr. 4'6";
s. 12 k.;
a. 2 guns

CSS CURLEW, built at Wilmington, Del., in 1856, was a tug purchased at 
Norfolk, Va., in 1861 by the Confederate Government. She was ordered to 
duty under command of Comdr. T. T. Hunter, CSN, in North Carolina waters 
and participated in the battle of Roanoke Island on 7 February 1862. She 
was sunk in shoal water by the Confederates the following day to prevent 
capture by United States forces.

SwStr:
t. 645;
l. 225';
b. 24';
dph. 11';
dr. 6';
cl. CURLEW

CURLEW was ordered by the Confederate Navy in England. As Jones, Quiggin  
Co.'s Hull No. 177; she was laid down at Liverpool in 1864, and launched 
with her three sisters the same day in 1865, but is believed to have 
been delivered too late to serve the Confederacy.

CURRITUCK

Str

The tug CURRITUCK was active as a dispatch, flag-of-truce and towboat 
along the coast of North Carolina during the early years of the war.

Page 513

CURTIS PECK

SwStr:
t. 446

The fast steamer CURTIS PECK built in 1842 at New York was employed in 
reconnaissance duty by the Confederates on the James River during August 
1861. She operated as a flag-of-truce boat in May 1862, delivering 
exchanged Union prisoners to Fortress Monroe. The Confederates sank her 
in September 1862 along with the steamers JAMESTOWN and NORTHAMPTON to 
obstruct the James River below Drewry's Bluff against passage of 
advancing Union forces.