''Pushmataha'' was a merchant sloop. Apparently named for noted

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation ( Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

warrior and statesman Chief Pushmataha, little is known of the vessel except for its service to Confederate commercial interests during 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 a war dispatch dated October 8, 1863, the USS ''Cayuga''—a ship assigned to the Union Navy's West Gulf Blockading Squadron—reported engaging the ''Pushmataha'' off Texas’

Sabine Pass Sabine Pass is the natural outlet of Sabine Lake into the Gulf of Mexico. It borders Jefferson County, Texas, and Cameron Parish, Louisiana. History Civil War Two major battles occurred here during the American Civil War, known as the First and ...

, on the

Calcasieu River The Calcasieu River ( ; french: Rivière Calcasieu) is a river on the Gulf Coast in southwestern Louisiana. Approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, ...

in Louisiana. While attempting to enter the

Mermentau River The Mermentau River (french: Rivière Mermentau) is a river in southern Louisiana in the United States. It enters the Gulf of Mexico between Calcasieu Lake and Vermilion Bay on the Chenier Coastal Plain. The Mermentau River supplies freshwate ...

the ''Pushmataha'' ran aground, three-quarters of a mile from a beach. Upon being boarded by a party from the ''Cayuga'', the ''Pushmataha'' was found to have been abandoned by its crew, which was rowing ashore in boats. Its crew had opened gunpowder casks and set one on fire. The ''Cayuga''’s crew extinguished the fire and, after being unable to refloat the ship, removed its cargo and destroyed it. According to papers found aboard the ''Pushmataha'' it had received its cargo of rum, wine and gunpowder in Havana, Cuba. The ship bore the English ensign (thought to be the British Red Ensign) and, according to her registration papers, was crewed by two Englishmen, one Italian, and one Portuguese. The ''Pushmataha''’s muster roll had been signed in Havana on September 22, 1863 by “Her Britannic Majesty’s acting consul-general in Cuba,” according to the report by the ''Cayuga''.''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion''. Series 1, Volume 20, page 615. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905.

References

{{Reflist 1860s ships Sloops