LSNS ''Governor Moore'' was a

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

-rigged steamer in the

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...

. ''Governor Moore'' had been Southern S. S. Company's ''Charles Morgan'', named for the firm's founder and built at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 1854 as a schooner-rigged, low pressure, walking beam-engined, seagoing steamer. She was seized at

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

by Brigadier General Mansfield Lovell, CSA, in mid-January 1862 "for the public service." As a

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

, renamed for Louisiana's

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Thomas Overton Moore Thomas Overton Moore (April 10, 1804 – June 25, 1876) was an attorney and politician who was the 16th Governor of Louisiana from 1860 until 1864 during the American Civil War. Anticipating that Louisiana's Ordinance of Secession would be pas ...

, her stem was reinforced for ramming by two strips of flat railroad iron at the waterline, strapped and bolted in place, with pine lumber and cotton-bale barricades to protect her boilers, but the ''Governor Moore'' was never commissioned as a ship in the Confederate States Navy. The larger of two similar cotton-clads owned and operated by the State of Louisiana, ''Governor Moore'' was commanded for some time by

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Beverly Kennon, CSN, then serving as

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in the Louisiana Provisional Navy without pay. She distinguished herself in the battle of 24 April 1862, when

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

David Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first Rear admiral (United States), rear admiral, Vice admiral (United State ...

, USN, passed Fort Jackson and

Fort St. Philip Fort St. Philip is a historic masonry fort located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, about upriver from its mouth in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, just opposite Fort Jackson on the other side of the river. It formerly served a ...

before dawn en route to capture New Orleans. After a furious exchange of raking fire, ''Governor Moore'' twice rammed USS ''Varuna'', and a third thrust from another cottonclad forced ''Varuna'' aground. Next attacking USS ''Cayuga'', ''Governor Moore'' exposed herself to fire from most of the Union flotilla. With practically her whole upper hamper shot away and 61 men dead or dying, she went out of command, drifting helplessly to shore, where her captain, pilot, and a seaman set her afire. ''Governor Moore'' blew up while they and three other survivors were being captured by USS ''Oneida'''s boats to be imprisoned on board USS ''Colorado''; two-thirds of the two dozen or more crew members escaped into the marshes, the rest being captured by other ships' launches; no one drowned. "The pennant and remains of the ensign were never hauled down," wrote Kennon from ''Colorado''. "The flames that lit our decks stood faithful sentinels over their halyards until they, like the ship, were entirely consumed. I burned the bodies of the slain. Our colors were shot away three times. I hoisted them myself twice; finally every stripe was taken out of the flag, leaving a small constellation of four little stars only, which showed to our enemy how bravely we had defended them."Battles and Leaders of the Civil War Vol II.p.85 The ship sank with the Louisiana's colors flying.(It is unclear if the flag referred to was the Confederate Stars and Bars or Louisiana State banner of January 1861; the ''

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships The ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' (''DANFS'') is the official reference work for the basic facts about ships used by the United States Navy. When the writing project was developed the parameters for this series were designed to ...

'' claims the latter.)

References

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Governor Moore Ships built in New York (state) 1854 ships Cottonclad rams of the Confederate States Navy Shipwrecks of the Mississippi River Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Naval magazine explosions Louisiana-related ships Louisiana in the American Civil War Maritime incidents in April 1862

See also

References