W. BURTON SwStr: t. 253; l. 151'; b. 25'; dr. 5' 6"; cpl. 75 W. BURTON, also known as WILLIAM BURTON and BURTON was built at New Albany, Ind., in 1857. She was operating privately as a New Orleans steamboat prior to being acquired by the Confederate States. In April 1862 W. BURTON is reported serving as an unarmed tender to CSS LOUISIANA. Under Captain Hammond, W. BURTON was attached to the force of Capt. J. K. Mitchell, CSN, commanding Confederate naval forces in the lower Mississippi near the Confederate forts St. Philip and Jackson. W. BURTON was also used to berth many of the officers and crew of LOUISIANA while the latter, with mechanics on board working day and night, was being prepared as well as possible for battle. Flag Officer D. G. Farragut, USN, ran his fleet up the lower Mississippi past the Confederate forts on 24 April 1862, and inflicted great damage on the Confederate ships. In the engagement W. BURTON was badly damaged but remained seaworthy. Captain Hammond and his crew left her and turned her over to Captain Mitchell to be operated directly by the Confederate Navy. The Confederate Forts, Jackson and St. Philip surrendered on 28 April 1862 to Comdr. D. D. Porter, USN. Captain Mitchell believing that he was not bound by the surrender of the army command at the forts, set fire to LOUISIANA on the east bank of the Mississippi near Fort St. Philip to keep her from falling into Union hands. He and his men, realizing that capture was inevitable, retired to the opposite shore with the unarmed tenders W. BURTON and LANDIS. After three Federal gunboats fired at them, W. BURTON and LANDIS surrendered to Commander Porter. W. BURTON was turned over to the U.S. Army and used as a transport in the Mississippi River. W. H. SMITH, see JAMES BATTLE W. W. CRAWFORD SwStr: t. 123 W. W CRAWFORD, also known as CRAWFORD, was built in 1861 at Cincinnati, Ohio, and operated out of Louisville, Ky. She transported supplies for the Confederacy between Memphis and Helena. By August 1863 she had passed to Union control and was used as a transport in western waters. WACCAMAW, see ADVENTURE WADE WATER BELLE Str WADE WATER BELLE was listed among the ships captured by USS CONESTOGA of the Mississippi gunboat flotilla prior to 25 September 1862. WARREN WILSON, see WINSLOW WARRIOR SwRam: cpl. 40; a. 1 32-pdr. WARRIOR, a sidewheel gunboat-ram had been a tugboat on the Mississippi River before she was acquired by the Confederate Government. Capt. James E. Montgomery selected her to be part of his River Defense Fleet [See Annex II]. On 25 January 1862 Montgomery began to convert her into a cottonclad ram by placing a 4-inch oak sheath with a 1-inch iron covering on her bow, and by installing double pine bulkheads filled with compressed cotton bales to protect machinery and boilers. WARRIOR's conversion was completed on 16 March 1862. In early April, under the command of Capt. J. A. Stevenson, she was detached from Montgomery's main force and sent to Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the lower Mississippi to cooperate in the Confederate defense of New Orleans. Captain Stevenson who was also in charge of five other River Defense Fleet vessels in this area, placed his force under the overall command of Captain J. K. Mitchell, CSN, commanding Confederate naval forces in the lower Mississippi. On 24 April 1862 Flag Officer D. G. Farragut, USN ran his fleet past Forts Jackson and St. Philip on his way to capture New Orleans. In this action, WARRIOR while under the guns of USS BROOKLYN, received a broadside of eleven 5-second shells which exploded in her. WARRIOR was driven on the bank a little above Fort St Philip, instantly began to burn, and was soon destroyed. WASHINGTON Sch: a. 1 42-pdr. CSS WASHINGTON was formerly USRC WASHINGTON seized by the authorities at New Orleans, when Louisiana seceded on 31 January 1861. In June 1861, Lt. D. D. Porter, USN, commanding USS POWHATAN, in a letter to Secretary of the Navy, reports her fitting out there and nearly ready for sea. WASP ScStr: l. 46'; b. 6' 3"; dph. 3' 9"; a. 1 18' spar torpedo; cl. SQUIB WASP, a torpedo boat commanded by Master's Mate J. W. Matherson, CSN, was attached to the James River Squadron in 1865. She was employed in the vain attempt to remove the obstructions in Trent's Reach on 23-24 January. Accompanying RICHMOND down the Page 581 river, she neared "Battery Semmes" where she assisted in refloating HORNET. She also made an unsuccessful attempt to tow SCORPION off the shore and grounded herself. Later she retired to "Battery Dantzler" where she was used as a picket boat assigned to VIRGINIA, until the evacuation of Richmond, 3 April 1865. WATER WITCH SwStr: t. 378; l. 150'; b. 23'; dr. 8' 2"; s. 7 k.; a. 1 32-pdr, r., 1 12-pdr. r., 2 12-pdr. how. WATER WITCH was built at the Washington Navy Yard in 1852 and served in the United States Navy in home and foreign waters until 1860 when she was forced home by yellow fever and laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Recommissioned there on 10 April 1860, she sailed for southern waters. On 3 June 1864 she was captured in Ossabaw Sound, Ga., in a daring boat boarding attack led by Lt. Thomas P. Pelot, who gave his life in the action. She was taken into the Confederate States Navy, retained her original name, and was placed under the command of Lt. W. W. Carnes, CSN. It was planned to take her to Savannah, Ga., for a special assignment but she remained at White Bluff, Ga., until 19 December 1864, when she was burned to prevent capture. WAVE SwStr: t. 229 WAVE, originally ARGOSY NO. 2, was built in 1863 at Monongahela, Pa., acquired by the Navy on 14 November 1863, and converted to a gunboat for service in western waters. The Confederates captured WAVE and USS GRANITE CITY on 6 May 1864 at Calcasieu Pass, Tex. Thereafter she was in Confederate employ as a transport. WEBB SwTug: t. 655; l. 206'; b. 32'; dph. 13'; dr. 9' 6"; a. 130-pdr. r., 212-pdr. how. WEBB, also known as WILLIAM H. WEB, was built in New York in 1856. She became the property of the Southern Steamship Co. and in May 1861 arrived at New Orleans from Havana and was issued a privateer's commission. She was never used in that capacity, but was employed in transport work until mid-January 1862 when Major General Lovell, CSA, pressed her into Confederate service and converted her into a formidable ram which would operate henceforth in the Mississippi and Red Rivers. WEBB figured prominently in the sinking of INDIANOLA near New Carthage, Miss., on 24 February 1863. Commanded at this time by Maj. J. L. Brent, CSA, she was fought by a detachment of soldiers and was part of the gunboat force of Maj. Gen. R. Taylor, CSA, consisting of two small cotton clad vessels and the other ram QUEEN OF THE WEST. Early in 1865 she was transferred to the Confederate Navy, and in April was ordered to sea to cruise against Union commerce. On 23 April she ran the blockade at the mouth of the Red River, and by-passed the forts at New Orleans on the 24th, but Federal ships followed in close pursuit. Her captain ran WEBB ashore and fired her. WELDON N. EDWARDS Str WELDON N. EDWARDS, also known as EDWARDS, was probably named in honor of the President of the North Carolina Secession Convention. Assigned to the command of Capt. S. Barron who was charged with the naval defenses of Virginia and North Carolina, she operated in coastal waters of North Carolina during 1861 under Lt. Comdr. J. Cook. In August 1861 she was pronounced generally worthless. WHITE CLOUD Str WHITE CLOUD conveyed Confederate provisions in the Mississippi. She was captured on 13 February 1863 near Island No. 10 by USS NEW ERA who sent her prize to Cairo, Ill., for adjudication. Acquired by the Union Navy, she served the North under the same name and in a similar capacity for the remainder of the war. WIDGEON SwStr: t. [645]; l. 225'; b. 24'; dph. 11'; dr. 6'; cl. CURLEW WIDGEON was the third of four sisters launched the same day in 1865 for the Confederate Navy at Liverpool in the Jones, Quiggin yard. It is doubtful whether this Hull No. 179 or any of the other three ever reached the Confederacy before hostilities ceased. WILLIAM B. KING Sch WILLIAM B. KING, also referred to as WILLIAM R. KING and KING, was authorized to be fitted out for service in St. James Parish, La., in July 1861. In October 1861 she was reported to be at Berwick, La., possibly armed for coast guard duty. WILLIAM BAGLEY (or BAGALEY) SwStr: t. 396; dr. 5' 6"; cpl. 29 See note under JAMES BATTLE WILLIAM BURTON, see W. BURTON WILLIAM C. HEWES SwStr: t. 767[747, 795, 905]; l. 258'; b. 34' WILLIAM G. HEWES, W. G. HEWES or HEWES bore with her original name being misspelled WILLIAM G. HENESS, WILLIAM G. HAWES, WILLIAM HEINES and was once even referred to in official records as JEWESS-due, no doubt to some local quirk of speech that elongated HEWES to two syllables. Despite any inducements to schizophrenia, Harlan & Hollingsworth's stout iron Hull No. 70 became a very distinct entity, leading a well integrated, even a charmed life lasting 35 years, the most harrowing and notable of which were her four serving the Confederacy. Known under many names and guises, she was built at Wilmington, Del., in 1860 for the Texas Line of Charles Morgan's Southern S. S. Co. in time to be interned at New Orleans upon Louisiana's secession. Governor Moore seized her 28 April 1861. "WILLIAM HEINES" was one of the noted 14 Morgan ships and tugs "impressed for public service" by Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin's order to Maj. Gen. Mansfield Lovell, CSA, 15 January 1862, with a view Page 582 toward turning her into a cottonclad gunboat. Her economical, low- pressure steam plant with less exposed machinery was better adapted to such conversion than most of the seagoing steamers then in the area. Rejected as a gunboat prospect, with her speed and light draft coupled to large capacity, HEWES became much more valuable to the Confederacy as a successful blockade-runner to Havana and Nassau. She was presumably still Government-operated as a public vessel. A Captain Smith was commanding her in 1862. Few ships carrying cotton could match the 1,441- bale payload she transported to Havana in April 1862-probably a typical cargo. Sometime in 1863, apparently, HEWES was renamed ELLA & ANNIE and operated by W. C. Bee and C. T. Mitchell out of Charleston-perhaps partly owned by them, but still carrying Government cargo. Lt. Frank N. Bonneau, CSN, of Charleston, commanded ELLA & ANNIE to Caribbean ports, reporting to Major N. S. Walker, CSA, for fiscal purposes. On 9 November 1863 ELLA & ANNIE was cornered by USS NIPHON, tried to ram the blockader and did succeed in slicing off her bowsprit and most of her stem along with a kedge anchor and other incidentals, but in so doing exposed herself to a boarding party which foiled Bonneau's attempt to blow up his ship-which he had been adjured to do at any cost to prevent capture. Thus ELLA & ANNIE was taken with a valuable cargo of Austrian rifles, salt, beef, paper and saltpeter plus dispatches invaluable to the Federal blockaders. It is largely due to the CORNUBIA (q.v.) and ELLA & ANNIE papers that any clear picture is available today of the operation of the Confederate Army transport service. Crew members taken in the prize were put in irons on board USS NIPHON and Captain Bonneau locked up in SHENANDOAH. A Boston prize court later was to convict him of "piracy"-perhaps the only time the extreme penalty was actually imposed-but the presiding judge, a retired flag officer, suspended sentence on the ground that he himself would have done the same under similar circumstances; fear of reprisal against high ranking Union officers held prisoner in the South would have prevented the execution in any case. ELLA & ANNIE was provisionally commissioned USS MALVERN on 10 December 1863 at Boston Navy Yard and sent forth hastily to catch the CHESAPEAKE (q.v.) After formal prize court proceedings and payment of $139,000 in claims, MALVERN was commissioned with proper ceremony 9 February 1864 and became widely known as the flagship of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron; she was also Admiral D. D. Porter's flagship at the capture of Fort Fisher, 15 January 1865, the death knell of the blockade runner. MALVERN was placed out of commission 24 October 1865 and sold at public auction the 25th. WILLIAM H. WEBB, see WEBB WILLIAM H. YOUNG SwStr: t. 179 WILLIAM H. YOUNG or YOUNG or WILLIAM G. YOUNG was built at Brownsville, Pa., in 1860 and served the Confederate Army as river transport and storeship in the West Florida-Georgia-Mobile area most of the war. In 1862 she was one of eight steamers that used to tow blockade-running schooners down to the passes to the sea. YOUNG came into prominence momentarily as the mercy ship from Ocheesee, Fla., that evacuated casualties after CHATTAHOOCHEE's boiler explosion, 27 May 1863; she stopped en route at Chattahoochee to inter the dead carrying the survivors on to Columbus, Ga. In November 1864 she was floating headquarters for Capt. Joseph L. Dunham, CSA, his company of 140 men and four-gun battery, constantly patrolling the 50 miles between Chattahoochee and Iola, Fla. The U.S. Army, occupying the area early in June 1865, promptly seized YOUNG to transport stores to Maj. Gen. J. H. Wilson, USA. WILLIAM J. DUANE, see DUANE WILLIAM R. KING, see WILLIAM B. KING WILMINGTON IrcGbt: l. 224' bp.; b. 42' 6" ext.; dph. 12'; dr. 9' 6"; a. 2 guns WILMINGTON was building at Wilmington, N.C., to the design of Naval Constructor John L. Porter, CSN, in 1863-64. Four boilers and two engines "of sufficient power to insure good speed", driving 8-ft.- diameter propellers, were being finished by Chief Engineer J. H. Warner at the Naval Iron Works, Columbus, Ga. Secretary Mallory's report, 30 April 1864, revealed: "A fast, light- draft, double-casemated steam ram is making good progress with armor and machinery in readiness for the hull." In each casemate was to be mounted a gun in pivot. When WILMINGTON was evacuated, the city's namesake had to be destroyed on the ways to prevent capture by Federal forces. WILSON SwStr: t. 58 WILSON was built at Beaufort, N.C., in 1856. She served the Confederates in the transportation of troops and supplies until captured 9 July 1862, at Hamilton N.C., on the Roanoke River by USS COMMODORE PERRY, SHAWSHEEN and CERES under the command of Comdr. S. C. Rowan, USN. WILSON was transferred July 22,1862 to the Army for use by the U.S. Government. WINSLOW SwStr: t. 207; a. 1 32-pdr., 1 6-pdr. brass rifle WINSLOW, also known as WARREN WINSLOW, formerly the river steamer JOSEPH E. COFFEE, also referred to as J. E. COFFEE of Norfolk, was purchased and fitted out by the Governor of North Carolina after the State seceded on 20 May 1861. Lt. T. M. Crossan, CSN, was placed in command. WINSLOW cruised off Hatteras Inlet, N.C., in search of Federal merchant shipping, taking several prizes including the Union steamer ITASCA. When North Carolina joined the Confederacy in July, her navy, consisting of WINSLOW, ELLIS, RALEIGH and BEAUFORT, was turned over to the Confederate States Navy, and WINSLOW continued taking prizes in the area of Hatteras and New Berne Harbor. WINSLOW carried Capt. S. Barron, commander of Forts Hatteras and Clark and was under direct fire during the battle for the forts, 28-29 August 1861, escaping to Goldsboro with many wounded and refugees just prior to the fall of Hatteras. On 7 November 1861 near Ocracoke Inlet WINSLOW was lost when she struck a sunken hull, then was set afire by her crew.