THE NAVY IN THE CIVIL WAR
Published
1883, 1885
------------------------
VOLUME III.
THE
GULF
AND
INLAND WATERS.
BY
A. T. MAHAN
COMMANDER, U.S. NAVY
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
The naval operations described in
the following pages extended, on the seaboard, over the Gulf of Mexico from
Key West to the mouth of the Rio Grande; and inland over the course of the
Mississippi, and its effluents, from Cairo, at the southern extremity of the
State of Illinois, to the mouths of the river.
Key West is one of the low coral
islands, or keys, which stretch out, in a southwesterly direction, into the Gulf
from the southern extremity of the Florida peninsula. It has a good harbor, and
was used during, as since, the war as a naval station. From Key West to the
mouth of the Rio Grande, the river forming the boundary between Mexico and the
State of Texas, the distance in a straight line is about eight hundred and forty
miles. The line joining the two points departs but little from an east and west
direction, the mouth of the river, in 25° 26'N., being eighty-three miles north
of the island; but the shore line is over sixteen hundred miles, measuring
from the southern extremity of Florida. Beginning at that point, the west side
of the peninsula runs north-northwest till it reaches the 30th degree of
latitude; turning then, the coast follows that parallel approximately till it
reaches the delta of the Mississippi. That delta, situated about midway between
the east and west ends of the line, projects southward into the Gulf of Mexico
as far as parallel 29° N., terminating in a long, narrow arm, through which
the river enters the Gulf by three principal branches, or passes. From the delta
the shore sweeps gently round, inclining first a little to the north of west,
until near the boundary between the States of Louisiana and Texas; then it
curves to the southwest until a point is reached about one hundred miles north
of the mouth of the Rio Grande, whence it turns abruptly south. Five States,
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, in
the order named, touch the waters bounded by this long, irregular line; but
the shore of two of them, Alabama and. Mississippi, taken together, extends over
little more than one hundred miles. All five joined at an early date in the
secession movement.
The character of the coast, from one
end to the other, varies but slightly in appearance. It is everywhere low, and
either sandy or marshy. An occasional bluff of moderate height is to, be seen. A
large proportion of the line is skirted by low sandy islands, sometimes joined
by narrow necks to the mainland, forming inland sounds of considerable extent,
access to which is generally impracticable for vessels of much draft of water.
They, however, as well as numerous bays and the mouths of many small rivers, can
be entered by light vessels acquainted with the ground; and during the war small
steamers and schooners frequently escaped through them, carrying cargoes of
cotton, then of great value. There is but little rise and fall of the tide in
the Gulf, from one to two feet, but the height of the water is much affected by
the direction of the wind.
The principal ports on or near the
Gulf are New Orleans in Louisiana, Mobile in Alabama, and Galveston in Texas.
Tallahassee and Apalachicola, in Florida, also carried on a brisk trade in
cotton at the time of the secession. By far the best harbor is Pensacola Bay, in
Florida, near the Alabama line. The town was not at that time a place of much
commerce, on account of defective communication with the interior; but the depth
of water, twenty-two feet, that could be carried over the bar, and the secure
spacious anchorage within made it of great value as a naval station. It had been
so used prior to the war, and, although falling at first into the hands of the
Confederates, was shortly regained by the Union forces, to whom, from its
nearness to Mobile and the passes of the Mississippi, as well as from its
intrinsic advantages, it was of great importance throughout the contest.
The aim of the National Government
in connection -with this large expanse of water and its communications was twofold.
First, it was intended to enter the Mississippi River from the sea, and working
up its stream in connection with the land forces, to take possession of the
well-known positions that gave command of the navigation. Simultaneously with
this movement from below, a similar movement downward, with the like object,
was to be undertaken in the upper waters. If successful, as they proved to be,
the result of these attacks would be to sever the States in rebellion on the
east side of the river from those on the west, which, though not the most
populous, contributed largely in men, and yet more abundantly in food, to the
support of the Confederacy.
The second object of the Government
was to enforce a strict blockade over the entire coast, from the Rio Grande to
Florida. There were not in the Confederate harbors powerful fleets, or even
single vessels of war, which it was necessary to lock up in their own waters.
One or two quasi men-of-war escaped
from them, to run short and, in the main, harmless careers; but the cruise that
inflicted the greatest damage on the commerce of the Union was made by a vessel
that never entered a Southern port. The blockade was not defensive, but
offensive; its purpose was to close every inlet by which the products of the
South could find their way to the markets of the world,. and to shut out the
material, not only of war, but essential to the peaceful life of a people, which
the Southern States were ill-qualified by their previous pursuits to produce.
Such a blockade could be made technically effectual by ships cruising or
anchored outside; but there was a great gain in actual efficiency when the vessels
could be placed within the harbors. The latter plan was therefore followed
wherever possible and safe; and the larger fortified places were reduced and
occupied as rapidly as possible consistent with the attainment of the prime object-the
control of the Mississippi Valley.
Before the war the Atlantic and Gulf waters of the United
States, with those of the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America, were the
cruising ground of one division of vessels, known as the Home Squadron. At the
beginning of hostilities this squadron was under the command of Flag-Officer
G. J. Pendergrast, who rendered essential and active service during the exciting
and confused events which immediately followed the bombardment of Fort Sumter.
The command was too extensive to be administered by any one man, when it became
from end to end the scene of active war, so it was soon divided into three
parts. The West India Squadron, having in its charge United States interests in
Mexico and Central America as well as in the islands, remained under the care of
Flag-Officer Pendergrast. Flag-Officer Stringham assumed command of the
Atlantic Squadron, extending as far south as Cape Florida; and the Gulf, from
Cape Florida to the Rio Grande, was assigned to Flag-Officer William Mervine,
who reached his station on the 8th of June, 1861. On the 4th of July the
squadron consisted of twenty-one vessels, carrying two hundred and eighty-two
guns, and manned by three thousand five hundred men.
Flag-Officer Mervine was relieved in the latter part of
September. The blockade was maintained as well as the number and character of
the vessels permitted, but no fighting of any consequence took place. A dashing
cutting-out expedition from the flag-ship Colorado,
under Lieutenant J. H. Russell, assisted by Lieutenants Sproston and Blake, with
subordinate officers and seamen, amounting in all to four boats and one hundred
men, seized and destroyed an armed schooner lying alongside the wharf of the
Pensacola Navy Yard, under the protection of a battery. The service was
gallantly carried out; the schooner's crew, after a desperate resistance, were
driven on shore, whence, with the guard, they resumed their fire on the
assailants. The affair cost the flag-ship three men killed and nine wounded.
Under Mervine's successor, Flag-Officer W. W. McKean,
more of interest occurred. The first collision was unfortunate, and, to some
extent, humiliating to the service. A squadron consisting of the steam-sloop Richmond,
sailing sloops Vincennes and Preble, and the small side-wheel steamer Water Witch had entered the Mississippi early in the month of
October, and were at anchor at the head of the passes. At 3.30 A.M., October
12th, a Confederate ram made its appearance close aboard the Richmond,
which, at the time, had a coal schooner alongside. The ram charged the Richmond,
forcing a small hole in her side about two feet below the water-line, and
tearing the schooner adrift. She dropped astern, lay quietly for a few moments
off the port quarter of the Richmond,
and then steamed slowly up the river, receiving broadsides from the Richmond
and Preble, and throwing up a rocket. In a few moments three dim lights
were seen up the river near the eastern shore. They were shortly made out to be
fire-rafts. The squadron slipped their chains, the three larger vessels, by
direction of thee senior officer, retreating down the Southwest Pass to the sea;
but in the attempt to cross, the Richmond
and Vincennes grounded on the bar. The
fire-rafts drifted harmlessly on to the western bank of the river, and then
burned out. When day broke, the enemy's fleet, finding the head of the passes
abandoned, followed down the river, and with rifled guns kept up a steady but
not very accurate long range fire upon the stranded ships, not venturing
within reach of the Richmond's heavy
broadside. About 10 Am., apparently satisfied with the day's work, they
returned up river, and the ships shortly after got afloat and crossed the bar.
The ram which caused this commotion and hasty retreat was
a small vessel of three hundred and eighty-four tons, originally a Boston
tug-boat called the Enoch Train, which had been sent to New Orleans to help in
improving the channel of the Mississippi. When the war broke out she was taken
by private parties and turned into a ram on speculation. An arched roof of
5-inch timber was thrown over her deck, and this covered with a layer of
old-fashioned railroad iron, from three-fourths to one inch thick, laid
lengthways. At the time of this attack she had a cast-iron prow under water, and
carried a IX-inch gun, pointing straight ahead through a slot in the roof
forward; but as this for some reason could not be used, it was lashed in its
place. Her dimensions were: length 128 feet, beam 26 feet, depth 121 feet. She
had twin screws, and at this time one engine was running at high pressure and
the other at low, both being in bad order, so that she could only steam six
knots; but carrying the current with her she struck the Richmond with a speed of from nine to ten. Although afterward
bought by the Confederate Government, she at this time still belonged to private
parties; but as her captain, pilot, and most of the other officers refused to go
in her, Lieutenant A. F. Warley, of. the Confederate Navy, was ordered to the
command by Commodore Hollins. In the collision her prow was wrenched off, her
smoke-stack carried away and the condenser of the low-pressure engine gave out,
which accounts for her "remaining under the Richmond's
quarter," "dropping astern," and "lying quietly abeam of the
Preble, apparently hesitating whether to come at her or not."
As soon as possible she limped off under her remaining engine.
Although it was known to the
officers of the Union fleet that the enemy had a ram up the river, it does not
appear that any preparation for defense had been made, or plan of action
adopted. Even the commonplace precaution of sending out a picket-boat had not
been taken. The attack, therefore, was a surprise, not only in the ordinary
sense of the word, but, so far as appears, in finding the officer in command
without any formed ideas as to what he would do if she came down. "The
whole affair came upon me so suddenly that .no time was left for reflection, but
called for immediate action." These are his own words. The natural outcome
of not having his resources in hand was a hasty retreat before an enemy whose
force he now exaggerated and with whom he was not prepared to deal; a move which
brought intense mortification to himself and in a measure to the service.
It is a relief to say that the Water
Witch, a small vessel of under four hundred tons, with three light guns,
commanded by Lieutenant Francis Winslow, held her ground, steaming up beyond the
fire-rafts until daylight showed her the larger vessels in retreat.
During the night of November 7th the
U. S. frigate Santee, blockading off
Galveston, sent into the harbor two boats, under the command of Lieutenant James
E. Jouett, with the object of destroying the man-of-war steamer General Rusk.
The armed schooner Royal Yacht guarding the channel was passed unseen, but the
boats shortly after took the ground and were discovered. Thinking it imprudent
to attack the steamer without the advantage of a surprise, Lieutenant Jouett
turned upon the schooner, which was carried after a sharp conflict. The loss of
the assailants was two killed and seven wounded. The schooner was burnt.
On November 22d and 23d Flag-Officer
McKean, with the Niagara and Richmond,
made an attack upon Fort McRea on the western side of the entrance to Pensacola
Bay; Fort Pickens, on the east side, which remained in the power of the United
States, directing its guns upon the fort and the Navy Yard, the latter being out
of reach of the ships. The fire of McRea was silenced the first day; but on the
second a northwest wind had so lowered the water that the ships could not get
near enough to reach the fort. The affair was entirely indecisive, being
necessarily conducted at very long range.
From this time on, until the arrival of Flag-Officer David G. Farragut, a guerilla warfare was maintained along the coast, having always the object of making the blockade more effective and the conditions of the war more onerous to the Southern people. Though each little expedition contributed to this end, singly they offer nothing that it is necessary to chronicle here. When Farragut came the squadron was divided. St. Andrew's Bay, sixty miles east of Pensacola, was left in the East Gulf Squadron; all west of that point was Farragut's command, under the name of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron. Stirring and important events were now at hand, before relating which the course of the war on the Upper Mississippi demands attention.
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