M. C. ETHERIDGE Sch: t. 114; l. 92’; b. 24'; dr. 7'; a. 2 guns M. C. ETHERIDGE was built in 1859 at Plymouth, N.C. She was used by the Confederates, probably as a storeship for their fleet, in North Carolina waters. Carrying a valuable cargo of naval stores, she was attacked by USS WHITEHEAD in the Pasquotank River N.C., on 10 February 1862, and fired by the Confederates to prevent her from falling into Union hands. Despite attempts to extinguish the fire, nothing was saved and she was scuttled by her Union captors. M. E. DOWING Str M. E. DOWING, or M. E. DOWNING served as a Confederate dispatch boat off the coast of North Carolina in 1861. MAB, see QUEEN MAB MACON StGbt: l. 150'; b. 25'; dph. 10'; dr. 8'; a. 6 guns CSS MACON, a wooden steamer formerly named OGEECHEE, was fitted out at Savannah, Ga., early in 1864, with Lt. J. S. Kennard, CSN, in command. In June her name was changed to MACON and on 3 August she was reported ready for duty, although still lacking a full complement. Savannah capitulated on 21 December and 3 days later MACON departed for Augusta, Ga., where she remained until the end of the war. MAGENTA SwStr: t. 782; l. 269'; b. 39'; dph. 7'9" MAGENTA was built in 1861 at New Albany, Ind. She may have served the Confederates as a transport in the Mississippi River area while under the control of Comdr. I. N. Brown, CSN, commanding Confederate vessels in the Yazoo River. Called one of the best Confederate transports by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, MAGENTA was burned on the Yazoo River in July 1863 by Commander Brown, to keep her from falling into the hands of a Union naval force under Acting Rear Adm. D. D. Porter, USN. MAGNOLIA SwStr: t. 843; s. 12 k. MAGNOLIA was a seagoing, wooden side-wheeler with typical walking-beam engine, built at Greenpoint, N.Y., Page 546 in 1867. One of 14 ships belonging to Charles Morgan's Southern S. S. Co., she was impressed as a public vessel at New Orleans, 16 January 1862, by Maj. Gen. Mansfield Lovell, CSA, acting for Secretary of War Benjamin. The original intention was to arm them all as cottonclad rams to defend the Delta, but further consideration argued in favor of smaller, low-pressure steam towboats, with lower fuel consumption and easier to shield for battle, and few of the high-pressure seagoing steamers were used for this essentially inappropriate role. Rejected as a ram but probably still Government-owned, MAGNOLIA made at least two successful runs to nearby British islands in 1861 with extremely large cargoes. Escaping through Pas a l'Outre, she was overhauled, 19 February 1862, by USS BROOKLYN and SOUTH CAROLINA as a rich prize carrying 1,210 bales of cotton. USS MAGNOLIA entered the U.S. Navy 22 July 1862 at New York following Key West prize court proceedings in April. After expensive repairs, she was a valuable gunboat carrying 2 to 5 guns the rest of the war. Sold at auction 12 July 1865, she was enrolled for commercial transportation 23 August, going out of service in 1866. SwStr: t. 824 New Orleans side-wheeler MAGNOLIA, built at New Albany, Ind., in 1859, was "one of the finest steamboats in the West" and served the Confederacy well as a river transport until destroyed in the Yazoo City area to escape Porter's flotilla, the spring of 1863. Admiral Porter wrote that the chief gain from his Yazoo Pass expedition was its "harm to the enemy" in causing them "to sink the STAR OF THE WEST, MAGNOLIA, and NATCHEZ three of their best vessels." MAJOR MINTER, see ELMA MANASSAS Sch MANASSAS, formerly the U.S. Revenue Cutter MINOT, was seized by the Confederates at New Berne, N.C., on 27 August 1861. With the launches MOSQUITO and SAND Fly, she was placed under Lt. W. H. Murdaugh, CSN, who was seriously wounded in the Federal attack on Fort Hatteras the next day, and was unable to assume his command. MANASSAS was active on the coast of North Carolina during 1861-62 and then dismantled by the Confederates. [This is stated in the Official Record of the Union and Confederate Navies. No other record, official or unofficial, of U.S. Revenue Cutter MINOT has been found.] IrcRam: t. 387; l. 143'; b. 33'; dph. 17'; cpl. 36; a. 1 64-pdr. Dahlgren, later replaced by 1 32-pdr. CSS MANASSAS, formerly the steam propeller ENOCH TRAIN, was built at Medford, Mass., by J. O. Curtis in 1855. A New Orleans commission merchant, Capt. J. A. Stevenson, acquired her for use as a privateer and fitted her out at Algiers, La., as an ironclad ram of radically modern design. Covered with 1-inch iron plating, her hull projected only 2 feet above the water, and her plated top was convex causing cannon shot to glance off harmlessly. She was provided with sharp irons on her bow to stave holes through enemy vessels. Fast moving, lying low in the water and a difficult target, virtually bomb-proof, she looked like a floating cigar or egg shell and was described by Union intelligence as a "hellish machine." Commissioned as a Confederate privateer on 12 September 1861 MANASSAS was seized soon afterwards by Flag Officer G. N. Hollins, CSN, for use in the lower Mississippi River. With Lieutenant A. F. Worley, CSN, in command she participated in Flag Officer Hollins' surprise attack on the Federal blockading squadron at Head of Passes, Mississippi River, on 12 October 1861. In the action MANASSAS violently rammed USS RICHMOND damaging her severely below the water line. MANASSAS, however, suffered the loss of her prow and smokestack and had her engines temporarily thrown out of gear from the impact. She managed to retire under heavy fire from USS PREBLE and RICHMOND whose shells glanced off her armor. Two months after this engagement MANASSAS was purchased for direct ownership by the Confederate Government. Under Lieutenant Worley, MANASSAS joined the force of Capt. J. K. Mitchell, CSN, commanding Confederate naval forces in the lower Mississippi. She participated in the engagement of 24 April 1862 during which Flag Officer Farragut, USN, on his way to New Orleans, ran his fleet past the Confederate forts Jackson and St. Philip. In the action MANASSAS attempted to ram USS PENSACOLA which turned in time to avoid the blow and deliver a broadside at close range. MANASSAS then ran into murderous fire from the whole line of the Union fleet. She then charged USS MISSISSIPPI and delivered a long glancing blow on her hull, firing her only gun as she rammed. Next she rammed USS BROOKLYN, again firing her gun, and injuring her rather deeply, but not quite enough to be fatal. After this action MANASSAS followed the Union fleet quietly for a while but as she drew closer MISSISSIPPI furiously turned on her. MANASSAS managed to dodge the blow but was run aground. Her crew escaped as MISSISSIPPI poured her heavy broadsides on the stranded Confederate vessel. Later MANASSAS slipped off the bank and drifted down the river in flames past the Union mortar flotilla. Comdr. D. D. Porter, USN, in command of the mortar boats, tried to save her as an engineering curiosity but MANASSAS exploded and immediately plunged under water. MANASSAS, see FLORIDA MARIANNA SwStr: dr. 3'3" MARIANNA was an unarmed river steamer which served the Confederates as early as February 1862 in towing schooners to the gaps or passes of the Mississippi River to assist them in running the Union blockade. She was Page 547 reported under repair at Columbus, Ga., in November 186. MARION SwStr: t. 258 MARION was built at Charleston, S.C., in 1850, and passed to Confederate control in 1861. She helped lay the obstructions around Charleston, S.C., and was used by the Confederate army as a transport and cargo ship in that area. MARION sank accidentally on the night of 6 April 1863 in the Ashley River after drifting from her moorings off Charleston. MARQUES DE LA HABANA, see MCRAE MARS SwStr: t. 329 MARS, built in 1856 at Cincinnati, Ohio, was among Confederate transports captured at Island No. 10 on 7 April 1862. She then was taken into Federal service as a tender to the Mississippi Squadron. [Similarity of names occasioned by pronunciation in local dialects has caused confusion with the H. D. MEARS.] MARY, see ALEXANDRA MARY E. KEENE SwStr: t. 659; l. 238'; b. 38'; dph. 7' 8" MARY E. KEENE, known also as KEENE, MARY KEENE, and MARY KEANE, was built at New Albany, Ind., in 1860 and enrolled as a New Orleans steamboat. She served as a transport on the western rivers and was a unit of Comdr. I. N. Brown's fleet that was scuttled in July 1863 at Yazoo City to prevent capture. MARY HILL Gbt: t. 234; dr. 2'; a. 1 24-pdr., 1 12-pdr. MARY HILL was a side-wheel steamer built in 1859 at Smithfield, Tex., and operated out of Galveston. She was chartered by Comdr. W. W. Hunter, CSN, for service with the Texas Marine Department [See Annex III] and outfitted as a cotton-clad gunboat. She served during the entire war as a transport, look-out, and guard ship in Texas coastal regions, principally from Matagorda Bay to Galveston. MARY KEANE, see MARY E. KEENE MARY KEENE, see MARY E. KEENE MARY PATTERSON Str MARY PATTERSON, built in 1859 at Grand Glaizer, Ark., was used as a Confederate transport on western waters early in the war. On 16 June 1862 she was sunk along with MAUREPAS and ELIZA G. to obstruct the White River near St. Charles, Ark., against the advance of Union gunboats. MARY T., see J. A. COTTON MATAGORDA SwStr: t. 616 dw., 1,250 gr.; l. 220'; b. 30'; dph. 10'6" MATAGORDA, also known as ALICE. was an iron side-wheeler built in 1858 as their Hull No. 53 by Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, an old Delaware River shipbuilder. One of 14 owned by Charles Morgan's Southern S. S. Co., she was "impressed for public service" 15 January 1862 by Maj. Gen. Mansfield Lovell, CSA, acting on orders from Secretary of War Benjamin. Too valuable as a Government-owned blockade runner, MATAGORDA was not one of the trio chosen for conversion to cottonclad rams-small towing steamers with low-pressure power plant serving more satisfactorily as gunboats. Under a Captain Cole, she made successful runs with 1,000 bales of cotton to Havana from Gulf ports such as Sabine Pass, Tex. Under Capt. William Stumminger, she was chased for 6 1/2 hours, while she jettisoned her whole deck cargo of 200 bales in an attempt to increase speed and tempt her pursuer, but was finally run down and captured, 10 September 1864, by USS MAGNOLIA (q.v. supra as Confederate), 75 miles off Cape San Antonio, Cuba. MAUREPAS SwStr: t. 399; l. 180'; b. 34'; dr. 7'; a. 5 guns MAUREPAS, built as GROSSE TETE at New Albany, Ind. in 1858, was purchased at New Orleans, La., in 1861. Early in 1862 she was assigned to duty with the fleet in the lower Mississippi River under Flag Officer G. N. Hollins, CSN. Her commanding officer was Lt. J. Fry, CSN. MAUREPAS operated with the fleet at Island No. 10 and New Madrid, Mo., from 12 March to 7 April 1862. She was then sent up the White River where she was sunk as an obstruction near St. Charles, Ark., 16 June 1862. "MAURY GUNBOATS", see HAMPTON May Str MAY, "presumed to be cotton-clad," which Lt. Gen. J. C. Pemberton, CSA, mentions prominently in a telegram of 12 March 1863, cooperated with Confederate Page 548 Army forces and Comdr. I. N. Brown's fleet in the Mississippi in 1863. It may be inferred from the General's order that she and MAGENTA were transports of great value in ferrying large troop concentrations at short notice. MCRAE StSlp: t. 830; a. 1 9", 6 32-pdr., 1 6-pdr. MCRAE, often erroneously identified by Union leaders as MIRAMON or GENERAL MIRAMON, was the former bark-rigged pirate ship MARQUES DE LA HABANA which had been captured by USS SARATOGA in March 1860. She was purchased by the Confederate States at New Orleans on 17 March 1861 and fitted out as CSS MCRAE. She was placed under command of Lt. T. B. Huger, CSN, and assigned to the fleet under Flag Officer G. N. Hollins CSN, entrusted with the defense of the lower Mississippi River. Part of this time, as in her last battle, she was Hollins' flagship. MCRAE gave protection to blockade runners slipping in and out of the Mississippi and Mobile Bay. She gave a good account of herself in a spirited engagement with ships of the Federal blockading fleet at the Head of the Mississippi River Passes on 12 October 1861. Her last fight was a gallant defense of Forts Jackson and St. Philip on 24 April 1862. In this engagement the conduct of her officers and crew was reported "rarely surpassed in the annals of naval warfare." With their ship cut to ribbons they fought on and would not surrender in an unequal contest which was conducted simultaneously against several Union warships and which left most of her crew dead or injured on her deck. Though severely damaged, MCRAE came up river to New Orleans under a flag-of-truce on the evening of 27 April 1862, landing Confederate wounded from the forts below. There she was left to her fate and was found the following morning by Union forces sunk alongside the city wharf. MEARES. see H. D. MEARS MEARS, see H. D. MEARS MEMPHIS Sch: t. 100, 208 (Thames meas.); l. 111'; b. 25'; dr. 12'; a. 1 12-pdr. r., 2 24-pdr. sb. MEMPHIS was constructed as the racing schooner AMERICA and launched 3 May 1851 by W. H. Brown, of New York for a local yacht club syndicate. She was the namesake of the "America's Cup." In 1857 she appears in the Royal Yacht Squadron as CAMILLA, owned by a Viscount Templetown and registered in Portsmouth, Hants. Henry Sotheby Pitcher bought and rebuilt her the following year. On 30 July 1860 she was reported sold to another Briton, Henry E. Decie. Lord Decie, as he was known in the Confederacy, arrived at Savannah in CAMILLA in the spring of 1861 and allied himself with the Southern cause. Running the blockade out of Savannah piloted by A. F. Marmelstein, CAMILLA carried a Confederate purchasing commission to Britain, took part in the Queenstown (Ulster) Yacht Club regatta 28 June 1861 and raced the schooner ALARM around the Isle of Wight, 5 August. Local rumor maintained Lord Decie sold his yacht to the Confederacy later in 1861 and she was renamed MEMPHIS-all quite consistent with the next documentation now available although details of her Confederate Government service are lacking. It is a fact that in March 1862, the United States Ship OTTAWA and other vessels discovered her scuttled in St. John's River, Fla. She was raised, towed to Port Royal, S.C., and outfitted for service in the United States Navy under her original name, with Acting Master J. Baker in command. Until May 1863 AMERICA served with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, capturing one prize. She then reported to the Naval Academy as a school ship. She continued on that service until sold 20 June 1873. On 1 October 1921 AMERICA was presented to the Navy Department by the Eastern Yacht Club, Marblehead, Mass., for preservation as a relic. She was stationed at the Naval Academy until scrapped in 1945. Page 549 FltBtry: a. 18 guns MEMPHIS was converted from a floating dry-dock in 1861 at New Orleans. In November 1861. she was "under construction or alteration" and in December was noted as having been at New Orleans "without any armament." By February 1862. MEMPHIS was evidently fitted out, as she was noted as being one of the units of Flag Officer George N. Hollins, who commanded the naval defenses of the Mississippi and the coast of Louisiana. The records are naturally skimpy on a unit of such small size. The battery, however, can be surmised to have been one of those that took part in the defense of New Orleans, and was probably destroyed or captured when Farragut's fleet captured the city. MERITE Str MERITE, a common steamboat encased with thick timbers, was employed as a gunboat on the Mississippi River above New Orleans in April 1865. MERRIMAC SwStr: t. 635; l. 230'; b. 30'; dr. 8'6"; s. 16-18 k.) MERRIMAC, less often reported as MERRIMACK, was one of the original group of Confederate Government-owned blockade-runners operated by the Ordnance Department, CSA (cf. CORNUBIA). She was an iron paddle-steamer with two stacks "hinged for lowering," a short foremast only, which could be bark-rigged, and was said to have done 18 knots on her trials. Her pair of 9-ft. stroke, oscillating sidewheel engines and 4 boilers were considered "very superior and valuable" until her flues became clogged by burning naval stores in emergencies-as so often happened in this dangerous service. It is said MERRIMAC was built for opium running on the China coast. Apparently she was bought for the Confederacy by Commissioner James M. Mason and N. S. Reneau in or before September 1862. By the time of her capture by USS IROQUOIS 24 July 1863 off Cape Fear she had lost her speed and been sold with her cargo to new owners-one of whom, a Mr. Roberts, was taken in her-for $2,200,000 Confederate. She was loaded deeper than prudence directed for running the blockade, with 642 bales of cotton plus turpentine and tobacco. MERRIMACK, see VIRGINIA MERRIMACK NO. 2, see RICHMOND MEXICO, see GENERAL BRAGG MILLEDGEVILLE IrcStr: l. 175'; b. 35' 3"; dph. 12'; dr. 9'; a. des. for 4 guns; type MILLEDGEVILLE CSS MILLEDGEVILLE was in process of construction at Savannah, Ga., by H. F. Willink. Launched just before the evacuation of that city on 21 December 1864, she was burned and sunk to prevent her capture by Union forces. MILLEDON, see GENERAL STERLING PRICE MINOT, see MANASSAS MIRAMICHI, see BAT MIRAMON, see under MCRAE MISSISSIPPI IrcStr: t. 1,400; l. 260'; b. 58'; dph. 15'; dr. 12' 6" (incomplete); s. 14 k.; a. des. for 20 guns incl. 4 7" pivots CSS MISSISSIPPI was built by N. and A. F. Tift in a shipyard erected for the purpose in Jefferson City, La., just beyond the city limits of New Orleans. Construction was started on 14 October 1861 and she was launched on 19 April 1862. A fast, triple-screw steamer, she was far from complete at that time, having neither her 20 guns nor ammunition on board. "The celebrated ram," as Admiral Porter called MISSISSIPPI in his battle dispatch, was later described by Commander Sinclair as "a formidable ship-the finest of the sort I ever saw in my life, she would, in my opinion, not only have cleared the river of the enemy's vessels but have raised the blockade of every port in the South." There took place in September following her loss a lengthy and intense investigation of MISSISSIPPI's builders, brothers Nelson and Asa Tift, and all officers and civilians responsible for her construction, premature launching and destruction; transcript of the hearings, readily accessible in libraries, is excellent background reading on the early Confederate Navy. It was only at the last minute that Comdr. Arthur Sinclair, CSN, designated as her commanding officer, attempted to take her up the river when the Federal fleet under Flag Officer Farragut appeared from below Forts Jackson and St. Philip on 25 April, but his objective thwarted, he fired her to prevent capture. Machinery was fabricated by Jackson & Co. and by Patterson Foundry, locally. The last two guns, bow and stern 7"-rifles, pivoted, were a late addition. Schofield & Markham, Atlanta, rolled 1,000 tons of armor plate and the bolts alone weighed another 80 short tons-plating ranged from 1 1/4" to 3 3/4". Hull thickness was 2 feet at the sides, 3 at bow and stern. MISSISSIPPI (corvette), see under TEXAS MISSOURI IrcRam: l. 183'; b. 53' 8"; dph. 10' 3"; dr. 8' 6"; a. 32-pdr., 1 11" Dahlgren, 1 9" Dahlgren CSS MISSOURI, a centerwheel steam sloop was launched at Shreveport, La., on 14 April 1863. Her commanding officer was Lt. J. H. Carter, CSN. MISSOURI never saw action but engaged in transport and mining details between Alexandria and Shreveport, La. above the Red River obstructions. At the end of hostilities MISSOURI came down to Shreveport and surrendered to U.S. naval forces on 3 June 1865. She was taken into the U.S. Navy and sold at Mound City, Ill., on 29 November 1865. MISSOURI's casemate or citadel was 130' 6" by 53' 8" at base, but only 105' by 29' at the top, creating a slope of 30 degrees. Railroad T-iron, 4" thick, was laid diagonally (to avoid cutting) over this structure, with rail crowns facing alternately inward and outward in order to interlock when spiked to the 23" yellow pine backing. The pilot-house in the forepart of the casemate projected 19" above its deck, which was not armored at all, although the exposed 50-odd feet of the ship's main deck was plated like the citadel's sides. No time having been available to build a wheel-box, the big paddlewheel, 22' 6" in diameter, projected for 8'4" above any protection out of a recess at the after end of the casemate. Three balanced rudders were located under the fantail; her steering wheel on the gun deck beneath the pilot- Page 550 MOBILE ScGbt: t. 283; a. 3 32-pdr. sb., 1 32-pdr. r., 1 8" sb., probably 1 addl. r. MOBILE was a wooden steamer built at Philadelphia in 1860; home port: Mobile. Alleged to be worth $40,000, she apparently was picked up for a $5,000 lien by Comdr. W. W. Hunter, CSN, in July 1861, already having been under seizure in Berwick Bay, La., since 4 May. Her chronology thereafter has piqued many a researcher: She made five successful dashes-no doubt only to Cuba or the Bahamas-as a blockade runner, yet on 8 October she had "been fitting out there [Berwick City] for some time" under Lts. Francis E. Shepperd and George S. Shryock, CSN, reporting to Flag Officer G. N. Hollins, engines and boilers were already protected by 12-inch timbers clad with railroad iron. On 19 December, Union intelligence earned she was a ship of "about 400 tons, thoroughly strengthened and armed with 4 or 6 heavy guns, two of them rifled." By 1 February 1862, when she engaged USS HATTERAS in Atchafalaya Bay, La., MOBILE was described as a "long, low, three-masted steamer," ostensibly able to give a good account of herself. From June 1862 to the following May, all sources place her up the Yazoo River under command of Lieutenant Shepperd but variously alleged to be laid up at Yazoo City or ordered to sink any vessel attempting to pass the barrier at Liverpool. Whatever his information or motives, a deserter as late as 13 May 1863 thought it news that she was a "small boat" still "being converted into an ironclad gunboat" in the Yazoo. Scarcely more than a week later, the 21st, it is certain she was burned to escape capture by Admiral D. D. Porter's approaching squadron, taking the evidence to the bottom. MOHAWK StwStr MOHAWK served as a watch boat, possibly a gunboat, in the Mississippi River and tributaries during 1862. She was sunk 7 April 1862 by Union forces under Flag Officer Foote following the battle at Island No. 10, Tenn. MORGAN Sch: a. 3 guns CSS MORGAN, originally United States Revenue Cutter MORGAN, was seized by the Confederates in 1861. She was listed as one of the ships of Flag Officer G. M. Hollins' squadron in the lower Mississippi River in November 1861. SwGbt: t. 863; l. 202'; b. 38'; dph. 13'; dr. 7'2"; s. 10 k.; a. 10 guns when outfitted 6 guns when surrendered; cl. MORGAN CSS MORGAN was a partially armored gunboat built at Mobile, Ala. in 1861-62. She operated in the waters around Mobile from the time of her completion early in 1862 to the close of hostilities. One reference of October 1862 gave her name as ADMIRAL. MORGAN, Comdr. G. W. Harrison, CSN, took an active part in the battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864. Situated well to the right of the Confederate line of battle as the enemy proceeded up the channel she was able to deliver a telling broadside raking fire against USS HARTFORD and others. Toward the end of the engagement she was pursued by USS METACOMET but succeeded in driving her off. MORGAN, attempting to avoid capture, then turned toward shallow water, grounded briefly, but continued on her perilous route and reached the guns at Fort Morgan. She dispatched a boat which effected the destruction of a Union gunboat PHILIPPI below the fort. Captain Harrison then saved MORGAN by boldly running the gauntlet up to Mobile. Although hotly pursued and shelled by cruisers for a large part of the 26-mile star-light voyage, she reached the outer obstructions near Mobile at daybreak and that afternoon was permitted to pass through. MORGAN continued to serve in the Mobile area. In April 1865 she participated in the battle near Blakely Ga., sustaining considerable damage. On 4 May 1865 Commodore E. Farrand, commanding Confederate Naval Forces in the State of Alabama, ordered the surrender of MORGAN to the United States Navy. She was sold the following December. MORNING LIGHT Ship: t. 937; l. 172'; b. 34'3"; dr. 19'; dph. 24'; a. 8 32-pdr., 1 rifled Butler gun MORNING LIGHT, a wooden sailing ship, was built at Kensington, near Philadelphia, Pa., in 1853 and launched on 15 August 1853. She was purchased by the U.S. Navy on 2 September 1861 and commissioned on 21 November of that year. Assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron she was captured off Sabine Pass, Tex. on 21 January 1863 by two cottonclad Confederate steamers, UNCLE BEN and JOSIAH A. BELL. MORNING LIGHT was under Confederate control for 2 days before she was burned on 23 January off Sabine Pass. MORO SwStr: t. 132; l. 122'; b. 24' 10"; dph. 4'9" MORO, built at Louisville, Ky., in 1858, transported cargo for the Confederate armies along the Mississippi River and tributaries. She was seized by Union army forces near Vicksburg in November 1862, but apparently escaped to resume operations in the lower Mississippi. On 4 February 1863 she was intercepted near the mouth of the Red River by Col. C. R. Ellet, commanding USS QUEEN OF THE WEST, and was captured with a large cargo of food supplies intended for delivery at Port Hudson. MORRIS, see CALEB CUSHING MOSHER ScTug: t. 49; cpl. 40 MOSHER, Confederate States Army-chartered but Navy-controlled, had been built at Philadelphia in 1867. MOSHER, a small unarmed screw tug owned by the Southern Steamship Co., operated with the Confederate Navy under Comdr. J. K. Mitchell during the bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. On 24 April 1862 the tug, commanded by Capt. H. Sherman, was towing a fire boat against a heavy sloop-of-war, probably USS HARTFORD, when she received a broadside shot and sank instantly. MOSQUITO Launch MOSQUITO, together with the launch SAND FLY and the schooner MANASSAS, was assigned to the command of Lt. W. H. Murdaugh on 27 August 1861 by Flag Officer S. Barron, commanding the naval defenses of Virginia and North Carolina. On 29 August 1861 Lieutenant Murdaugh was seriously wounded in the attack on Fort Hatteras and unable to assume his command. Page 551 MOULTRIE Str MOULTRIE served the Confederate Navy on the Charleston Station. A report on her condition by Lieutenant Dozier, CSN, resulted in her release from the Confederate Navy and consignment to her owners on 24 August 1863. MUSCLE Str: t. 125 MUSCLE, a cargo steamer also referred to as CERRO GORDO, was built at Allegheny, Pa.. in 1866. She was captured early in February 1862 at Chickasaw, north of Eastport, Miss., by USS CONESTOGA, LEXINGTON, and TYLER. While being towed to Cerro Gordo, Tenn., with a load of kindling she sprang a leak and sank in the Tennessee River. MUSCOGEE ScStr: cl. heavy ALBEMARLE MUSCOGEE, until recently presumed to have been a centerwheel ironclad steamer, was begun at Columbus, Ga. during 1863-64. Her unusual casemating and dimensions prevented a successful launching and she remained incomplete through the end of the war when she was burned. A wreck discovered in 1961 has cast doubt on the traditional theory of her propulsion. The evidence now points to twin-screw machinery. MUSIC SwStr: t. 330; l. 172'; b. 29'; dph. 6'; cpl. 25-40, 50 max., as pvtr.; a. 2 6-pdr. The New Orleans sidewheel towboat MUSIC, driven by high-pressure machinery, was delivered from the builders at Jeffersonville, Ind., in 1857, and was serving Charles Morgan's Southern S. S. Co. when war broke. Within a month her owner and master, Capt. Thomas McLellan, had applied for a letter of marque and reprisal and was commissioned a privateer, 15 May 1861 [See Annex I]. By next reports, MUSIC was in rundown condition but busy as an unarmed tender to Forts Jackson and St. Philip-also custodian, with tugs MOSHER and BELLE ALGERINE, of the fire rafts. But MUSIC reappears late in July-apparently the same big towboat, for two New Orleans predecessors of that name, built in Jeffersonville also, are recorded as having finally turned in their documents, prewar. In her new role in the Atchafalaya-Red River area under Captain Fuller, MUSIC attracted constant attention and comment for a week or two-along with gunboat DOLLY WEBB or WEBB, although accounts differ as to whether she carried three pieces of artillery, only two or merely a large company of riflemen. The greatest fear expressed by Farragut's forces was that the armed pair would join the menacing ram, ARKANSAS. Again, observers differ as to whether these armed tugs were ARKANSAS' only support during her death throes or failed to arrive in time to turn her about when she went out of command. Said to be, with MOBILE and WEBB, one of the last three Confederate gunboats on the river, MUSIC is heard of no more in published official records.