Gunboat
 





 
 

The "St. Louis" Gunboat 1862

GUNBOAT

By Tony Hays


Think of the War Between the States and Hardin County, and inevitably, you think of Shiloh, Grant, Albert Sidney Johnston, Sherman, Nathan Bedford Forrest. In all fairness, the magnitude of the debacle at Shiloh Meeting House tends to leave the other, more guerilla-based skirmishes looking pretty weak. But there was another side to the war here, and not the sporadic excursions of the bushwhackers either, but one that featured the U.S. Navy and, occasionally, the U.S. Marines.

One of the clearest signs of the war came to Hardin countians in the winter of 1862. Judge John A. Pitts, who lived near Clifton during the war, remembered the sounds of calliope music floating up from the river one day as he and a group of boys played in a field. At first they thought a circus was coming to town, but as they climbed to the top of the bluff, the boys saw smoke rising from the vicinity of Clifton. And then the source of the music hove into view--a gunboat, whose guns had just shelled the town. But the music of the calliopes ushered in more than just the Union occupation of Savannah and Hardin County, it signaled the opening of the naval war in the region.

Steamboating on the Tennessee from Muscle Shoals to Paducah was already a booming business by the outbreak of the war. The river provided the quickest, most efficient means to transport goods and agricultural produce to their respective markets. For counties like Hardin, the river was a lifeline to the rest of the world. Hardin County Court minutes frequently refer to river traffic, including the occasional dead body found floating in the waters of the Tennessee. Sometimes, the descriptions of clothing associated with those bodies make them sound suspiciously like gamblers--satin vests, derringers, banknotes from a variety of states.

But hostilities brought new meaning to the major waterways. While the Tennessee River served as a transportation route during peacetime, its importance doubled in wartime. Control the Tennessee Valley and you controlled the gateway to the western Confederacy. According to historian Bill Darnell, the fall of the Tennessee River to the Union after the Confederate defeats at forts Henry and Donelson just made the railroad lines at Corinth that much more important to the Confederacy. And, along with other considerations, it was the necessity to maintain those rail lines that helped provoked the battle at Shiloh.

Controlling the river, however, meant maintaining a strong presence, and despite those setbacks at Henry and Donelson, the Confederates didn�t intend to simply hand over the strategic route without a fight. Initially, the Lexington, Tyler, and Conestoga plied the waters of the western Tennessee valley. As early as February 6, 1862, after the fall of Fort Henry but before the Southern defeat at Donelson, the three gunboats cruised up the Tennessee as far as Florence in an intense four day expedition, under the orders of Admiral A.H. Foote.

Lieutenant Commander S.L. Phelps, captain of the Conestoga, left a fascinating account of that initial voyage into the heart of the Confederacy. Reporting from his position on the Tennessee River on February 10th, Phelps detailed the movements of the three gunboats. Lieutenant Gwin commanded the Tyler and Lieutenant Shirk captained the Lexington.

The Confederates had no intentions of simply handing control of the Tennessee over to the Union forces. They were busily converting steamboats into gunboats, and one of their prizes was the Eastport, a vessel of the Florence and New Orleans Packet Company. As Bill Darnell reports, one of the owners of the boat, a Confederate sympathizer named Woods, spirited the vessel out of Illinois and up river into Tennessee where she finally came to rest at Cerro Gordo landing. The Confederacy paid $9,688.92, but it is quite possible that the government never paid the full price, estimated variously at $25,000 to $40,000.


With the vessel securely in hand, efforts began sometime in January 1862 at Cerro Gordo to convert the commercial steamer into a gunboat. Lieutenant Isaac N. Brown was appointed to oversee the conversion of the Eastport as well as three other vessels in varying stages of conversion further downriver--the Samuel Orr, Appleton Belle and Lynn Boyd. In Alabama, the steamers Sallie Wood and Muscle were also adjusting to a new wartime mission. Six gunboats would have provided the Confederacy with a formidable force to counter Union dominance on the river. Unfortunately, the Tyler, Lexington, and Conestoga had other plans.

According to Lieutenant Commander Phelps, they surprised the Confederates controlling the Samuel Orr, Appleton Belle and Lynn Boyd, forcing them to set fire to the steamers. The resulting carnage would have made today�s fireworks displays look benign in comparison. Says Phelps:

I directed Lieutenant Commanding Shirk to follow me with all speed in chase of the fleeing boats. In five hours this boat succeeded in forcing the rebels to abandon and burn three of their boats, loaded with military stores. The first one fired (Samuel Orr) had on board a quantity of submarine batteries, which very soon exploded; the second one was freighted with powder, cannon, shot, grape, balls, etc. Fearing an explosion from the fired boats (there were two together), I had stopped at a distance of 1,000 yards; but even there our skylights were broken by the concussion; the light upper deck was raised bodily, doors were forced open, and locks and fastenings every where broken. The whole river for half a mile around about was completely beaten up by the falling fragments and the shower of shot, grape, balls, etc.

Besides the destruction of three steamers, the Union men also claimed another prize: the papers of Lieutenant Isaac Brown detailing Confederate efforts to convert the steamboats. With this intelligence in hand, the Union boats steamed farther upriver to Cerro Gordo, their sights set on the Eastport, then in the midst of its conversion.

Surprise carried the day. The Union forces were able to capture the Eastport relatively intact, although efforts had been made to scuttle the boat by breaking the suction pipes. Shots were exchanged at Cerro Gordo. The sailors came under rifle fire from the hill, but a pair of shells silenced the guns. Not only did they confiscate the Eastport, but they discovered some 250,000 feet of the �best quality of ship and building lumber, all the iron, machinery, spikes, plating, nails, etc.� Phelps immediately had his men begin finishing the refitting of the Eastport, this time to carry the Union flag. They also burned the sawmill at Cerro Gordo that had been used to produce the lumber.

Further upriver, at Chickasaw Landing, Phelps reaped another benefit of his whirlwind cruise. On February 8th, they discovered the steamers Sallie Wood and Muscle, this one loaded with iron. Taking the two under tow, Phelps continued his journey, reaching Florence later that same day. Three more steamers were discovered there, but the Confederates were able to set fire to them before they could be captured. On going ashore, the sailors found yet more supplies, some marked for shipment to Fort Henry. Phelps calmed a committee of citizens who appeared, asking his intentions and requesting that he leave their railroad bridge intact. Since the bridge appeared to have no military value, Phelps agreed to leave it alone.


The Tyler under William Gwin had been especially busy in the interlude. Succeeding in enlisting some �25 Tennesseans,� Gwin was told that Lieutenant Colonel James Crews was encamped with an infantry regiment at Savannah. Word had preceeded them, however, and Crews evacuated his force hurriedly the night before Phelps sent his men in. Still, in their haste, the Confederates left some arms and supplies. Phelps had those, as well as the log huts used to quarter the men, burned. Nearby, the sailors also seized some 70 rifles and old muskets gathered by the Confederate forces.

Returning to Cerro Gordo, Phelps took the Eastport under tow along with the Sallie Wood and Muscle. Unfortunately, as they continued downriver to the next railroad crossing, the Muscle began taking on water. The sailors were forced abandon her in the river where she later sank.

And so ended the cruise of the Lexington, Tyler, and Conestoga in February 1862. Timing and good fortune saw the expedition cause the burning of six steamers and capture three, including the Eastport. Eventually, the Eastport was put into Union service, sinking finally on the Red River, where it lies to this day. Although this was definitely not the last such excursion, it certainly set the tone for the naval war in this region, and saw the backbone of the Confederate navy effort on the Tennessee broken before it had even begun.



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This page was created October 22, 2006.

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