C.S. Army Tug ''Neptune'' (c. 1862–1863) was a wooden

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

taken over by the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

in about 1862 for the

Texas Marine Department The Texas Marine Department (1861–1865) (alt ''Marine Department of Military District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona'', ''Trans-Mississippi Marine Department'') was formed in the State of Texas shortly after Texas came under blockade from t ...

. She was employed as a tug, transport, and lookout vessel in the vicinity of

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. On 1 January 1863, during the

Battle of Galveston The Battle of Galveston was a naval and land battle of the American Civil War, when Confederate forces under Major Gen. John B. Magruder expelled occupying Union troops from the city of Galveston, Texas on January 1, 1863. After the loss of ...

, Confederate troops used her and the

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 ...

CS ''Bayou City'' in an effort to board and capture the

United States Revenue Cutter Service The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by an Act of Congress () on 4 August 1790 as the Revenue-Marine at the recommendation of the nation's first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. The federal government bod ...

revenue cutter A cutter is any of various types of watercraft. The term can refer to the rig (sail plan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or border force cut ...

USRC ''Harriet Lane''. Though the enterprise was a success, ''Neptune'' was badly damaged and sank shortly afterwards.

References

Ships of the Confederate States Army Tugboats of the United States Shipwrecks of the Texas coast Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Maritime incidents in January 1863 1860s ships {{AmericanCivilWar-ship-stub