I mentioned this ship in my post for today on my Saw the Elephant Civil War blog. Sgt. Major George Washington Whitman, the brother of poet Walt Whitman, was a member of the 51st NY Infantry at the Battle of Roanoke Island and had seen this ship before the war when it had operated as a Staten Island ferry.
Some Wikipedia information about the vessel:
sidewheel steamer
built 1852 as a NY ferry
Purchased by Navy Dec. 16, 1861 and commissioned within a month.
512 tons
179 feet long
29 foot beam
125 officers and enlisted
Mounted 3 X 9-inch guns and 1 X 100 pdr. Parrott rifle
After commissioning, assigned to North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and received heavy damage battling Fort Bartow at Roanoke Island, NC. After fall of the island, continued operating in NC waters and assisted in the capture of New Bern and had several expeditions up the Chowan River.
Spent time in Baltimore undergoing much-needed repairs and the assigned to patrol the James River in Virginia. Ended the war back in NC, operating along the Chowan River.
Decommissioned 12 June 1865 and sold the following month and became a ferry in New York again, being renamed the General Grant.. In 1880, it was retired and scrapped.
The Story of a Ship. --Old B-R'er
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