As I write about these events, using that fantastic book "Civil War Naval Chronology," a must-have for any naval library on the war, it becomes apparent that regardless of the Union Army's failures to destroy the Confederacy, the opposite was true of the Naval forces. It was nothing short of dismemberment.
MAY 15TH
The James River Flotilla, including the USS Monitor, Galena, Aroostook, Port Royal and Naugatuck, under Cmdr. J. Rogers engaged Confederate batteries at Drury's Bluff, Virginia, on the James River, just eight miles from Richmond. For his role in the action, Corporal John B. Mackie, a Marine on the Galena, received the first Medal of Honor issued to a Marine.
During the action, the Galena was heavily damaged, proving the ineffectiveness of this early ironclad prototype. Rogers stated at the time that had the fleet been supported by troops, Drury's Bluff would have fallen and Richmond captured.
MAY 16TH
Union naval squadron under Cmdr. S.P. Lee in USS Oneida, advancing north on the Mississippi River toward Vicksburg, shells Grand Gulf, Mississippi..
MAY 17TH
Joint Army-Navy expedition ascends the Pamunkey River in Virginia to 25-miles above White House. Confederates burned 17 vessels to prevent capture. The river here was so narrow, Union ships had to return stern-first for several miles.
MAY 18th
Union forces submit a demand for Vicksburg's surrender which Confederates promptly refuse, setting off a year-long Army-Navy land and water assault on the fortress.
Old B-Runner
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