USS Prairie Bird-- Part 3: Rescuing R.M. Runyan Survivors and Other Operations

The Prairie Bird was assigned to the 6th District of the Mississippi Squadron for most of the remainder of the war and operated between Vicksburg and the Arkansas River.

On July 21 she seized the steamer Union for violation of revenue laws and "giving aid and comfort to the enemy."

On July 23, she rescued 350 of 500 passengers aboard the R.M. Runyan which sank off Skipwith's Landing, and on August  11 she engaged an enemy battery at Gaines Landing, Arkansas, in support of operations there.  In December, the Prairie Bird joined other Union vessels and army units to cut Confederate communications in Mississippi and on the 31st  assisted in the blowing up of a railroad bridge over the Big Black River.

Remaining with the 6th District until March 1865 then it was to Mound City until decommissioned in July.  On 17 August, the Prairie Bird was sold at public auction to Henry Morton.

--Old B-Runner

USS Marmora-- Part 4: Guerrilla Action.and Looking for Sterling

The USS Marmora participated in the  attack on Fort Hindman, Arkansas, 4 to 11 January 1863, when it was captured.  Located  80 miles up the Arkansas River it became an important post for Union efforts to control supplies coming to Vicksburg from the west.

In February 1963, the Marmora joined four other ships and Army troops in a new Yazoo River expedition and departed Helena  27 March.  They captured the CSS Fairplay (later the USS Fairplay) and destroyed newly constructed Confederate batteries 20 miles up the Yazoo.

For the next several months the Marmora did patrol duty and supply runs.  She also dealt with guerrilla activity.  In one instance, the Marmora stopped at Gaines' Landing 13-15 June to burn houses.  She then steamed up the White and Little Red rivers on 8 August, looking for information on Confederate General Sterling Price's army.

--Old B-Runner

January 11, 1863: Confederates Capture the Grampus No. 2

JANUARY 11TH, 1863:  Confederate troops captured steamboat Grampus No. 2 near Memphis, laden with a large cargo of coal, and later burned her at Mound City, Arkansas.

**  The USS Matthew Vassar, Acting Master Hugh H. Savage, captured schooner Florida off Little River Inlet, South Carolina, with cargo of salt.

--Old B-Runner

Army-Navy Cooperation October 1862-- Part 2: Action in Arkansas and South Carolina

OCTOBER 21--  The USS Louisville escorted the steamer Meteor which embarked Army troops at Bledsoe's Landing and Hamblin's Landing, Arkansas.  Both towns were burned in reprisal for Confederate guerrilla attacks on the mail steamer Gladiator on October 19.

OCTOBER 22--  A Naval battery of three 12-pdr. boat howitzers from the USS Wabash supported Union troops at the Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina.

The Wabash's battery took part in many amphibious operations along the South Atlantic coas--Old B-R'er

October 24, 1862: Mounted Sailors Fight Confederates in Arkansas

OCTOBER 24TH, 1862:  Sailors on horseback -- a landing party from the USS Baron De Kalb, Captain John A. Winslow,  debarked at Hopefield, Arkansas, to engage a small Confederate scouting party.

Mounting horses, which were procured, as Captain Winslow reported, "by impressement," the Baron De Kalb sailors engaged in a nine mile running fight which ended with the capture of the Confederate group.

I thought the Baron de Kalb's commander's name sounded familiar.  Winslow later commanded the USS Kearsarge when it sank the CSS Alabama.

--Old B-Runner

The End of Eunice, Arkansas, Part 2: "Not a Single Vestige Remains"

Continued from September 2, 2017.

On June 14, 1863, Confederates at Eunice, Arkansas, fired artillery on the USS Marmora.  A fight ensued and the Marmora anchored off Eunice.  The next morning, the USS Nebraska was fired on as it approached Eunice.

Both ships bombarded the town and then sent a party ashore.  They set fire to stores, houses and the railroad depot, and completely destroyed the town,  The Marmora's captain remarked in his report. "not a single vestige of the town of Eunice remains."

I could not find anything about a USS Nebraska.

Of interest, no Confederates were found in the town.

Today, Yellow Bend Port, a modern industrial port is located where the town of Eunice once stood.  Nothing else of Eunice remains.

--Old B-R'er

The End of Eunice, Arkansas-- Part 1: A Railroad Town

From Wikipedia.

Eunice was also called Eunice Landing and Railroad Township.  It is a ghost town on the Mississippi River in Chicot County, Arkansas.

It was completely destroyed by the Union Army in the Civil War (well, the Navy, actually).

It was the eastern terminus of the Mississippi, Ouachita and Red River Railroad (MO&RR)  Construction on it began in 1852 and by the start of the war, they had seven miles of track completed west of Eunice.

The railroad was completed after the Civil War, but abandoned in 1875 after Mississippi River flooding.  Today Arkansas Highway 208 between Eunice and Halley is built on top of the abandoned railroad.

--Old B-Runner

The Eunice Expedition, Aug. 28-Sep. 3, 1863-- Part 3:

On August 29, 1862, the USS Pittsburg shelled the shoreline ans 175 soldiers disembarked and marched about 2 miles inland.  The Confederates had already evacuated most of the supplies and after a volley from the Union troops, fled  the area.

Another Union force of 50 soldiers under Captain Manning of Co. A, engaged a Confederate guerrilla force, killing one, wounding one and capturing another.

The Union troops reboarded their transports and disembarked again at Montgomery Point on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi River where they were expecting to find two Confederate cannons, but none were found.

Army-Navy Cooperation.  --Old B-Runner

The Eunice (Arkansas) Expedition-- Part 2: To "Annoy" the Enemy

In August 1862, General Samuel Curtis, commander of the Army of the Southwest, dispatched a Navy-Army force from Helena to Eunice with the purpose of capturing a wharf boat, gather information on Confederates in the Eunice area and to "annoy" the enemy.

On August 28, 1862, 200 men of the 56th Ohio and two pieces of artillery from the 1st Iowa Battery boarded the steamers White Cloud and Iatan.  They were commanded by Colonel William H. Raynor.  The ironclad USS Pittsburg (correct spelling of this ship, so no "h") escorted the two steamships.  The destination was Eunice.

At Carson's Landing they received information from a contraband that there were 200-300 Confederates encamped nearby.  Because of night, no action was taken and the ships anchored.

--Old B-Runner

Eunice Expedition, August 28-September 3-- Part 1: 56th Ohio and 1st Iowa Battery

From the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture.

It was led by Lt. Col. William H. Raynor and Col. Starke and consisted of the 56th Regiment, Ohio Volunteers and the 1st Iowa Battery of Colonel Starke's brigade.

They fought an unidentified Confederate guerrilla band.

Casualties:  U.S.--  none
Confederate--  1 killed, 1 wounded, 1 captured.

Two steamboats, the White Cloud and Iatan, carried the troops and were escorted by the USS Pittsburg.

It was a Union victory.

August 29, 1862: Expedition to Eunice, Arkansas

AUGUST 29TH, 1862:  The USS Pittsburg, Lt. Thompson, escorted steamers  White Cloud and Iatan with Army troops on board to Eunice, Arkansas.  The gunboat shelled and dispersed Confederate forces from a camp above Carson's Landing on the Mississippi shore.

Landing the troops under cover of the Pittsburg's guns for reconnaissance missions en route, Lt. Thompson at Eunice seized a large wharf boat, fitted out as a floating hotel.

This type of persistent patrolling of the Mississippi River and its tributaries by the Union Navy in support if Army operations was instrumental in preventing the Confederates from establishing firm positions.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, November 23, 1861: The CSS Sumter Escapes

NOVEMBER 23RD, 1861:  The CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, evaded the USS Iroquois at Martinique and steamed on a course for Europe.

**  Confederate gunboat Tuscarora accidentally destroyed by fire near Helena, Arkansas.

--Old B-Runner

Black Market Cotton?

NOVEMBER 7, 1864:  Upon learning that Confederate officers were quartered in a house on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi River near Island 69, Acting Lt. Frederic S. Hill led an expedition from the USS Tyler to capture them.  However, they had departed.

The mother of one of them boldly showed Hill her permit to transport cotton up the Mississippi and a request, officially endorsed by Major General Cadwallader C. Washburn, USA, for gunboat protection.

Hill reluctantly complied with the request, remarking to Rear Admiral Lee: "...in the face of all these documents, as I was upon the spot and a steamer then at hand ready to take the cotton, I considered it proper to give her the required protection, although with a very bad grace.

"Permit me, admiral, respectfully to call your attention to the anomaly of using every exertion to capture rebel officers at 2 a,m,, whose cotton I am called upon to protect in its shipment to a market at 10 a.m. of the same day, this affording themselves with every comfort money can procure ere they return to their brother rebels in arms with Hood."

Wondering What Washburn's Cut Was?  --Old B-Runner

Action at Arkansas on the Mississippi River

AUGUST 10-11TH, 1864:  Small steamers USS Romeo, USS Prairie Bird and transport steamer  Empress engaged a Confederate battery at Gaines Landing, Arkansas, on the Mississippi River.  The Confederates had secretly wheeled it into place.

The Empress was attacked on the 10th and had its captain killed and disabled her.  The Romeo came to its aid, engaged the battery and towed the Empress to safety.

The next day, the Confederates opened up on the Prairie Bird which was passing by.  Hearing the firing, the Romeo returned and the two ships were able to drive them away.

All three ships were severely engaged in the two day battle.  The Empress alone had received some sixty-three hits.

--Old B-R'er

150 Years Ago-- June 6-7th, 1864

JUNE 6TH, 1864:  The USS Louisville covered the embarkation of 8,000 Union troops near Sunnyside, Arkansas,.  They had landed on June 4th and engaged Confederate units near Bayou Macon, Louisiana and chased them off.The ship's commander wrote that: "Unless Marmaduke's forces (Confederate general), with his artillery, are driven away or destroyed, they will very much annoy navigation between Cypress bend and Sunnyside."

The USS Metacomet captured blockade-running steamer Donegal off Mobile with a large cargo of munitions.

JUNE 7TH, 1864:  The Confederate transport steamer Etiwan grounded off Fort Johnson and was sunk by Union batteries on Morris Island, in Charleston Harbor.

Suspecting that Confederates were using cotton to erect breastworks on the Suwannee River in Florida, a boat expedition from the USS Clyde and Sagamore proceeded upriver and captured over 100 bales of cotton near Clay Landing.

--Old B-Runner

Action in Arkansas

MAY 24TH, 1864:  Confederate troops captured and burned steamer Lebanon near Ford's Landing, Arkansas.  Six days later, Union transport Clara Eames and her cargo of cotton were taken and burned near Gaines Landing, Arkansas, after she had been disabled by artillery fire.

Confederates continually ranged along the banks of western rivers engaging Union shipping in hit-and-run raids.

--Old B-R'er

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: July 4th to 6th,1863: Another Confederate Loss

JULY 4TH

The USS Tyler assisted a Union garrison at Helena, Arkansas, in repulsing a Confederate attack.  The Southerners had heavy casualties.  The Union forces reported burying 380 of their dead and found evidence of many other graves.  Another 1,100 were captured.

I had never heard of this battle before, but will look it up.


JULY 5TH 

Rear Admiral S.P. Lee of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron wrote about measures for a successfull blockade.  "The blockade requires smart, active vessels to move about close inside, large vessels with heavy batteries, if ironclads cannot be got to protect the blockade and well armed swift steamers to cruise in pairs outside."


JULY 6TH

Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren relieved Rear Admiral Du Pont as Commander, South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, headquartered at Port Royal, SC.  Since April, when Du Pont's ironclads had been clobbered in their attack on Fort Sumter and Charleston Harbor, Du Pont had wanted to explain why the reason for the failure, the weakness in the monitors cast-iron and wrought-iron parts.  But, he had remained quiet because it would have lowered opinion of the Navy's most-publicized weapon.

Du Pont's argument with Welles over this was a big reason for his being relieved.  Dahlgren didn't do any better taking Charleston, however.

CSS Alabama captured and burned ship Express off coast of Brazil.

Well, Finally One Small Success.  --Old B-R'er

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: June 12th to 13th,1863: Lt. Read Has a Big Day!

JUNE 12TH

The CSS Clarence, Lt. Read, captured bark Tacony off Cape Hatteras and shortly afterwards, the schooner M.A. Shindler.  Read transferred his command to the Tacony, considering it a better ship.  In the process, he captured another schooner, the Kate Stewart which he bonded.  He then sank the Clarence and Shindler.

Right after that, he captured the brig Arabella and bonded it.

Thus ending the brief career of the CSS Clarence.  In one week, it hadcaptured six prizes, sinking three, bonding two and the sixth became the CSS Tacony and set out on its own cruise.

JUNE 13TH

CSS Georgia captured bark Good Hope and burned it the next day.


JUNE 13-15TH

Confederate guerrillas attacked two Union ships near Eunice, Arkansas.  In retaliation, the town was destroyed.  On the 15th, they destroyed the town of Gaines for a similar attack.

Old B-Runner

Naval Happenings This Date: January 9th to 11th, 1863-- Fall of Fort Hindman-- Alabama Sinks the Hatteras

JANUARY 9-11

Army-Navy expedition attacks and captures Confederate Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post.  There was a serious exchange of gunfire on the 10th and 11th in which every gun in the fort was dismounted, disabled or knocked to piece.  The fort surrendered.

Porter wrote Welles that the commander of the rebels said, "You can't expect men to stand up against the fire of those gunboats."

After the loss, Confederates abandoned other positions on the White and St. Charles rivers.


JANUARY 10TH

Under orders from Farragut to recapture Galveston, Texas, the port was bombarded, but eventually withdrew.


JANUARY 11TH

CSS Alabama, under Captain Raphael Semmes, sank the USS Hatteras about thirty miles off Galveston, Texas, in a 13-minute battle.  The Hatteras sank in nine and a half fathoms and its crew rescued by the Alabama.  Other Union blockaders gave chase, but to no avail.

Old B-Runner