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 ...

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 ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Battle of the Head of Passes The Battle of the Head of Passes was a bloodless naval battle of the American Civil War. It was a naval raid made by the Confederate river defense fleet, also known as the “ mosquito fleet” in the local media, on ships of the Union blockade ...

on October 12, 1861. Ordered up the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

to

Columbus, Kentucky Columbus is a home rule-class city in Hickman County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 170 at the 2010 census, a decline from 229 in 2000. The city lies at the western end of the state, less than a mile from the Mississippi ...

, in November, she was destroyed on November 23, 1861, when a fire of unknown origin started in her boilers and spread to the ship's munitions.

Service history

Built at

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, in 1861, ''Tuscarora'' was a sidewheel steamer with a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of . In the section "Statistical Data of Confederate Ships" of the ''

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...

'', no description of the ship's dimensions is provided. A newspaper article from late 1861 reported that she was about long. At the time of her destruction, she was manned by a crew of 25 and was said to be worth $8,000. She was operated by the Southern Steamship Company, which was based in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

seeing service as a

towboat A pusher, pusher craft, pusher boat, pusher tug, or towboat, is a boat designed for pushing barges or car floats. In the United States, the industries that use these vessels refer to them as towboats. These vessels are characterized by a squar ...

. The Southern Steamship Company was owned by Charles Morgan and ran six routes in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

, including United States mail service. ''Tuscarora'' was purchased by the

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 ...

later in 1861. Confederate officials at New Orleans had been purchasing a number of vessels for naval service, intending to increase the numerical strength of the Confederate Navy, although not all of the ships purchased were necessarily fit for military service. After being purchased, ''Tuscarora'' was outfitted to be armed with two cannons: a

rifled In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the ...

32-pounder cannon and an 8-inch

columbiad The columbiad was a large-caliber, smoothbore, muzzle-loading cannon able to fire heavy projectiles at both high and low trajectories. This feature enabled the columbiad to fire solid shot or shell to long ranges, making it an excellent seacoast ...

. These cannons were mounted on pivots, with one located at the bow and another at the

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

. The process of converting her from a civilian vessel to a gunboat occurred at

Algiers, Louisiana Algiers is a historic neighborhood of New Orleans and is the only Orleans Parish community located on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Algiers is known as the 15th Ward, one of the 17 Wards of New Orleans. It was once home to many jazz m ...

. In August, she was 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 ...

John W. Dunnington, who had previously served on the gunboat . By October 11, ''Tuscarora'' was part of a naval force Commodore George N. Hollins gathered near Fort Jackson. Hollins planned to take his forces down to the

Head of Passes Head of Passes is where the main stem of the Mississippi River branches off into three distinct directions at its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico: Southwest Pass (west), Pass A Loutre (east) and South Pass (centre). They are part of the "Bird's Foot ...

, and drive

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 ...

forces from the place. The Head of Passes was a strategically valuable point in the

Mississippi River Delta The Mississippi River Delta is the confluence of the Mississippi River with the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana, southeastern United States. The river delta is a area of land that stretches from Vermilion Bay on the west, to the Chandeleur Is ...

. By occupying the area, the Union could more easily keep up a

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which ar ...

; the site would also make a good

staging area A staging area (otherwise staging point, staging base, or staging post) is a location in which organisms, people, vehicles, equipment, or material are assembled before use. It may refer to: * In construction, a designated area in which vehicles, ...

for an advance up the Mississippi. The centerpiece of his plan was the , an

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 ...

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch ...

. Early on the morning of October 12, the

Battle of the Head of Passes The Battle of the Head of Passes was a bloodless naval battle of the American Civil War. It was a naval raid made by the Confederate river defense fleet, also known as the “ mosquito fleet” in the local media, on ships of the Union blockade ...

took place; ''Tuscarora'' was commanded by Beverly Kennon during the battle. The battle began with ''Manassas'' ramming . Next, the Confederates released

fire raft A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy s ...

s, which did not succeed in igniting any Union ships, but did cause confusion. ''McRae'' followed the fire rafts, with the sidewheel steamer and ''Tuscarora'' not far behind. ''Tuscarora'' ran aground during the battle, but was able to free herself. As the Union ships retreated down Southwest Pass at around 08:00, ''McRae'', ''Ivy'', and ''Tuscarora'' then advanced towards the retreating Union ships and opened fire. During its retreat, ''Richmond'' ran aground, but continued firing. Several shots from the vessel almost struck ''McRae'' and ''Tuscarora''. After the Union ships withdrew from the Head of Passes, Hollins sent his ships back to Fort Jackson, as the Union vessels were more heavily armed than his fleet and ''Manassas'' had been disabled. ''Tuscarora'' had fired six shots during the action. In November, Hollins began sending some of his ships, including ''Tuscarora'', up the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

to support Confederate defenses at

Columbus, Kentucky Columbus is a home rule-class city in Hickman County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 170 at the 2010 census, a decline from 229 in 2000. The city lies at the western end of the state, less than a mile from the Mississippi ...

. Under the command of Dunnington, ''Tuscarora'' caught fire near

Helena, Arkansas Helena is the eastern portion of Helena–West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. It was founded in 1833 by Nicholas Rightor and is named after the daughter of Sylvanus Phillips, an early settler of Phillips County and the ...

, on November 23. The fire started in the boilers and spread, being discovered under the wheelhouse. The ship was beached and ordered abandoned. Her sailors had attempted to throw her munitions into the river, but the fire reached them and set them off before this could be completed. Only seven minutes passed between the discovery of the fire and the explosion. No one was seriously injured, although the exploding ammunition flung debris that damaged a nearby plantation. The cause of the fire has never been determined. One crew member was burned on the hand, but the others escaped intact. A November 26 newspaper report described the fire's cause as a mystery, but suggested the ship's crew may have been drying shirts, which were then set ablaze by a spark. The ship was stated to still be burning on November 25. Seven men were left to conduct salvage operations, while the rest went to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

. In late March 1862, Confederate authorities were taking sealed bids to raise the wreck and bring it to New Orleans. As late as 1870, the wreck was reportedly visible at low tide.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuscarora Gunboats of the Confederate States Navy 1861 ships Ships built in Philadelphia Maritime incidents in November 1861 Ship fires