CSS Tallahassee

The CSS ''Tallahassee'' was a twin-screw steamer and cruiser in the Confederate States Navy, purchased in 1864, and used for commerce raiding off the Atlantic coast. She later operated under the names CSS ''Olustee'' and CSS ''Chameleon''.

History

The iron Confederate cruiser ''Tallahassee'' was named after the Confederate state capital of Tallahassee in Florida and was built on the River Thames by J & W Dudgeon of Cubitt Town, London for London, Chatham & Dover Rly. Co. to the design of Capt. T. E. Symonds, Royal Navy, ostensibly for the Chinese opium trade. She was previously the blockade runner ''Atalanta'' and made the Dover-Calais crossing in 77 minutes on an even keel. She had made several blockade runs between Bermuda and Wilmington, N.C. before the Confederates bought her.

After the ''Tallahassee'' was commissioned and prepared for sea she was placed under Commander John Taylor Wood, CSN. Wood was a grandson of President Zachary Taylor and a nephew of Jefferson Davis, who at the time was President of the Confederate States of America. The officers and crew were all volunteers from the Confederate gunboats on the James River and North Carolina waters.

The ''Tallahassee'' went through the blockade on August 6, 1864 from her home port of Wilmington, North Carolina. Her first day out, four cruisers chased the ''Tallahassee'' without incident.

She made a 19-day raid off the Atlantic coast as far north as Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ''Tallahassee'' destroyed 26 vessels and captured 7 others that were bonded or released. Wood sailed the ''Tallahassee'' into Halifax Harbour on August 18 to take on bunker coal and water. Neutrality laws limited her stay in Halifax to 24 hours. ''Tallahassee'' was granted an extra 12 hours to fix a broken mast but was only allowed to load enough coal to take her to the nearest Confederate port. Two Federal war ships, the USS ''Nansemond'' and , were rumoured to be waiting for the ''Tallahassee'' at the harbour entrance. Wood hired legendary Halifax pilot John "Jock" Flemming, who guided the warship through the narrow and shallow Eastern Passage between Dartmouth and Lawlor Island, a route only suited for small fishing vessels. ''Tallahassee'' succeeded in negotiating the passage out of the harbour, although no Northern warships were in fact waiting. The first Northern warship, the gunboat USS ''Pontoosuc'', arrived at the harbour entrance several hours after the Confederate cruiser departed.

Being unable to procure enough coal to continue, Wood was forced to return to Wilmington where he arrived safely on August 26.

Prizes

#The schooner ''Sarah A. Boice'' of Great Egg Harbor, N.J.; A.S. Adams, master; 381 tons. Her crew and their personal effects were brought on board, and she was scuttled. The ''Boice'' failed to sink, however, presumably because she was in ballast. She came ashore at Fire Island Inlet on Long Island, where she was salvaged and was reclaimed by her owners (after being ransacked by her "salvors", resulting in litigation) and was put back into service.
#The pilot-boat schooner ''James Funk'', No. 22 of New York; Robert Yates, master; 120 tons. Was turned into a tender of the ''Tallahassee'' using 20 of the ''Tallahassee's'' crew.
#The bark ''Bay State'' of Boston; Thomas Sparrow, master; bound from Alexandria to New York, with wood; 199 tons; burned.
#The brigantine ''Carrie Estelle'' of Grand Manan, New Brunswick; Mark Thurlow, master; bound from Grand Manan to New York, with logs; 248 tons; burned.
#The brigantine ''A. Richards'' of Boston; Charles Dunovant, master; from Glace Bay, Cape Breton Island to New York, with coal; 274 tons; burned.
#The schooner ''Carroll'' of East Machias, Maine; ____ Sprague, master; ___ tons; taken by the ''Tallahassee's'' tender ''James Funk''; bonded in the sum of $10,000 and released.
#The pilot-boat schooner ''William Bell, No. 24'' of New York; James Callahan, master; 123 tons; burned.
#The packet ship ''Adriatic'' of New York, from London, England to New York, with emigrants; 989 tons; burned. During the seizure, the ''Tallahassee'' collided with her losing her main mast.
#The bark ''Glenavon'' of Thomaston, Maine; James Watt, master; from Greenock, Scotland, to New York; 789 tons; scuttled.
#The ship ''James Littlefield'' of Bangor, Maine; H.N. Bartlett, master; from Cardiff, Wales, to New York, with coal; 547 tons; scuttled.
#The schooner ''Atlantic'' of Addison, Maine; P.W. Look, master; from Addison to New York; 156 tons; burned.
#The schooner ''Spokane'' of Fremont, ? ; C.H. Sayer, master; from Calais, Maine to New York, with lumber; 126 tons; burned.
#The schooner ''Billow'' of Salem, Mass.; M.A. Reed, master; from Calais, Maine to New York, with lumber; 173 tons; scuttled.
#The bark ''Suilote''; (no other information given); bonded and released.
#The schooner ''Robert E. Packer'' of Bath, Maine; Joseph E. Marston, master; from Baltimore to Richmond, Maine, with lumber; 222 tons; burned.
#The schooner ''Lamont Du Pont'' of Wilmington, Del.; L. C. Corson, master; from Cow Bay. Cape Breton Island, to New York, with coal; 194 tons; burned.
#The bark ''P.C. Alexander'' of Harpswell, Maine; A.B. Merryman, master; from New York to Pictou, Nova Scotia in ballast; 283 tons; burned.
#The brig ''Neva'', of East Machias, Maine; E.J. Tolbert, master; from Lingan, Nova Scotia, to New York, with coal; 286 tons; bonded in the sum of $17,500 and loaded with prisoners from the previous captures.
#The brig ''Roan'', of ?; C.E. Phillips, master; sailing to Cape Breton Island in ballast; 127 tons; burned.
#14 small schooners ranging from 39 tons to 148 tons, sunk.

Renaming

CSS ''Olustee''

The ''Tallahassee'' was renamed CSS ''Olustee'' after the Battle of Olustee in northern Florida and placed under the command of Lt. W. H. Ward, CSN. The ''Olustee'' ran through the blockade off Wilmington again on October 29, 1864 but suffered some damage from Federal guns. She captured and destroyed six ships off the Cape of Delaware before having to return for coal. She stopped attempts by USS ''Sassacus'' to capture her on November 6, 1864 and by four other United States ships on November 7, 1864 finally passing into the safety of Wilmington harbor.

CSS ''Chameleon''

The ''Olustee'' was renamed the CSS ''Chameleon'' with Lt. John Wilkinson (CSN) commanding. The battery had been removed and she ran through the Union blockade on December 24, 1864 while the United States fleet was preoccupied with bombarding Fort Fisher. The ''Chameleon'' proceeded to Bermuda to obtain provisions for the Confederate army.

Wilkinson made two attempts to enter one of the southern ports, but finding it impossible, he took ''Chameleon'' to Liverpool, England, and turned her over to Comdr. J. D. Bullock, CSN, financial agent of the Confederate Navy Department.

On her arrival in England on April 9, 1865 the ''Chameleon'' was seized and sold by the British authorities and was about to enter the merchant service when the United States instituted suit for possession. She was awarded to the United States Government and handed over to the consul at Liverpool on April 26, 1866. ''Chameleon'' was sold at auction on orders from the consul on 14 June 1866. She sold for £6,400. On 21 July 1869, telegrams were received at New York stating that she had been wrecked near Yokohama, Japan with the loss of 22 lives.

Legacy

In 1958, a new school in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, near Lawlor Island, was named after the ''Tallahassee'' to commemorate Flemming's 1864 navigational feat. After a replacement school with the same name was built in 1992, the name grew controversial due to the Confederacy's support of slavery. Following several community meetings, the Tallahassee Community School was renamed Horizon Elementary School in 2021.

See also

*Canada in the American Civil War
*History of the Halifax Regional Municipality
*Military history of Nova Scotia

References

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
*

External links

CSS Tallahassee
The Confederate Naval Historical Society ~ 4 – Newsletter Number Six, February 1991

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tallahassee
Cruisers of the Confederate States Navy
Ships built in Cubitt Town
Culture of Tallahassee, Florida
1864 ships
Military history of Nova Scotia
Maritime incidents in July 1869