sidewheel steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the 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 American ...

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from wes ...

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-ste ...

Ship Island Ship Island is a barrier island off the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, one of the Mississippi–Alabama barrier islands. Hurricane Camille split the island into two separate islands (West Ship Island and East Ship Island) in 1969. In early 2019, t ...

Pass Christian Pass Christian (), nicknamed The Pass, is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,307 at the 2019 census. History Pre-European history ...

Union Navy The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were und ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

burned by her crew on Lake Pontchartrain on April 25 to prevent capture.

Service history

Civilian service and conversion

A

sidewheel steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...

, ''Pamlico'' was built in 1856 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, and was based out of the

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Mandeville, Lewisburg, Madisonville, and

Covington Covington may refer to: People * Covington (surname) Places United Kingdom * Covington, Cambridgeshire * Covington, South Lanarkshire United States * Covington, Georgia * Covington, Indiana * Covington, Kentucky, the largest American cit ...

and the

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from wes ...

railhead of the

Pontchartrain Railroad Pontchartrain Rail-Road was the first railway in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chartered in 1830, the railroad began carrying people and goods between the Mississippi River front and Lake Pontchartrain on 23 April 1831. It closed more than 100 years late ...

. At the outset of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

in 1861, the breakaway

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confede ...

was at a significant naval disadvantage to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

. While the United States had a functioning navy, the Confederates had to essentially build one from scratch with limited infrastructure and manufacturing abilities. The Confederates began inspecting vessels to determine if they were suitable for acquisition and conversion into

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-ste ...

s, and ''Pamlico'' was purchased on July 10, 1861 for that purpose. Along with ''Pamlico'', the Lake Pontchartrain passenger vessels ''Arrow'' and ''A. G. Brown'' were seized as well, leading residents of areas on the lakeshore to complain that the Confederate government had taken their means of transportation and communication. A small vessel, ''Pamlico'' displaced . Her other dimensions are unknown. She was commissioned on September 2, and placed under the command of

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

William G. Dozier. On November 21, 1861, and February 27, 1862, she was reported to be armed with two cannons, but she was also reported to have been armed with three

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without s ...

cannons and a

Brooke rifle The Brooke rifle was a type of rifled, muzzle-loading naval and coast defense gun designed by John Mercer Brooke, an officer in the Confederate States Navy. They were produced by plants in Richmond, Virginia, and Selma, Alabama, between 1861 and 1 ...

; according to naval historian W. Craig Gaines this could represent the addition of two extra cannons rather than an inconsistency between sources.

Military use

''Pamlico'' entered active service immediately after her commissioning, patrolling

Mississippi Sound The Mississippi Sound is a sound along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It runs east-west along the southern coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, from Waveland, Mississippi, to the Dauphin Island Bridge, a distance of about . The sound is s ...

as far east as Horn Island. Together with the gunboat CSS ''Florida'', ''Pamlico'' was involved in an attempt to

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboa ...

the steamer USS ''Montgomery'', which was part of the

Union blockade The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...

, on December 4. The plan was to disable ''Montgomery'' with long-range fire from the single

rifled cannon Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

each ship carried and then board her; ''Pamlico'' carried around 400 soldiers for the boarding. The commander of the Union vessel correctly guessed the Confederate intentions, and ''Montgomery'' escaped into the open ocean. Three days later, on a trip westwards from Horn Island, ''Pamlico'' spotted the blockading gunboats USS ''New London'' and USS ''De Soto'' near

Mississippi City, Mississippi Mississippi City is an unincorporated community in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community was annexed by Gulfport, Mississippi in 1965. Hist ...

. The gunboat CSS ''Oregon'', which was transporting

powder mill A powder mill was a mill where gunpowder is made from sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal. Milling steps Crude grinding and mixing operations such as the Frankford Powder-Mill of Philadelphia were a cottage industry until the industrial revolutio ...

equipment, was at Mississippi City, and together the two ships, under the overall command of Dozier, confronted the Union vessels. The Confederates fired at longer range with their two rifled guns while remaining in shallow waters that the blockading ships could not enter; ''New London'' and ''De Soto'' later withdrew after the Confederates ignored a challenge for closer combat. 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 ...

'' describes ''Pamlico''s involvement in the two December clashes as ineffectual. After the December 7 engagement, ''Pamlico'' escorted ''Oregon'' to

Lake Borgne Lake Borgne (french: Lac Borgne, es, Lago Borgne) is a lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico in southeastern Louisiana. Although early maps show it as a lake surrounded by land, coastal erosion has made it an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Its name comes fro ...

; on December 20, both gunboats were part of an attempt to escort a

blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usual ...

past the Union blockade that failed when they encountered Union blockaders near

Ship Island Ship Island is a barrier island off the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, one of the Mississippi–Alabama barrier islands. Hurricane Camille split the island into two separate islands (West Ship Island and East Ship Island) in 1969. In early 2019, t ...

. On March 25, 1862, ''Pamlico'' provided an escort for ''Oregon'' to the

Pass Christian Pass Christian (), nicknamed The Pass, is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,307 at the 2019 census. History Pre-European history ...

area. After dropping off supplies, ''Oregon'' continued east to scout in the Ship Island area, and encountered ''New London''. ''Oregon'' returned to ''Pamlico'', and the two ships advanced towards ''New London''. The two sides fired at each other from a range of . A round fired from one of ''Pamlico''s 8-inch guns exploded prematurely, leading Dozier to no longer trust the ammunition he had for those guns. After a jammed shot disabled the Brooke rifle on ''Pamlico'', the Confederate ships withdrew, with ''Pamlico'' heading to

Fort Macomb Fort Macomb is a 19th-century United States brick fort in Louisiana, on the western shore of Chef Menteur Pass. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The fort is adjacent to the Venetian Isles community, now legally within ...

for repairs to her

gun deck The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon to be fired in broadsides. The term is generally applied to decks enclosed under a roof; smaller and unrated vessels carried their guns ...

and

pilothouse The interior of the bridge of the Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topped with a flying bridge The bridge, also known as the pilothouse or wheelhouse, is a room or platfo ...

. The fighting had lasted about two hours. On April 3, three Union vessels''New London'', the steamer USS ''John P. Jackson'', and the

troop transport A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

USS ''Henry Lewis'' made an offensive against Pass Christian. ''Pamlico'', ''Oregon'', and the gunboat CSS ''Carondelet'' responded. ''Henry Lewis'' was temporarily forced to withdraw when she was hit by a Confederate shell, but after an hour of fighting, the Confederates withdrew; ''Oregon'' and ''Carondelet'' had suffered minor damage. After the Confederate withdrawal, the Union troops on ''Henry Lewis'' were able to land and take control of Pass Christian, including destroying a Confederate camp in the area. The three Confederate vessels took up positions on Lake Pontchartrain, where they guarded

Chef Menteur Pass The Chef Menteur Pass is a narrow natural waterway which, along with the Rigolets, connects Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne in New Orleans, Louisiana. It begins at and follows a generally southeastward course. In the days of sailing ships, muc ...

and the

Rigolets Rigolets is a 12.9 kilometer (8 mi) long deepwater strait in Louisiana. "Rigolets" comes from the word ''rigole'', French for 'trench' or 'gutter'. The name is now locally pronounced "RIG-uh-leez". The strait begins at and follows a genera ...

. Some of ''Pamlico''s sailors were taken on April 21 to help crew the

ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...

CSS ''Louisiana''. On April 24, Union ships passed the Confederate defenses at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip. They then passed further defenses at

Chalmette Chalmette ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in, and the parish seat of, St. Bernard Parish in southeastern Louisiana, United States. The 2010 census reported that Chalmette had 16,751 people; 2011 population was listed as 17,119; however, t ...

the next day, rendering New Orleans essentially indefensible. ''Oregon'' was sunk as a

blockship A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914 ...

, but the wreck later prevented ''Pamlico'', ''Arrow'', ''Carondelet'', and the gunboat CSS ''Bienville'' from escaping. The four Confederate vessels ferried Confederate troops from New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain to Covington. Their cannons were removed and were sent to the defenses at

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vic ...

. ''Pamlico'' was burned by her crew on Lake Pontchartrain to prevent capture, on April 25.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pamlico Gunboats of the Confederate States Navy Scuttled vessels Maritime incidents in April 1862 Ships built in New York City 1856 ships