CSS Louisiana-- Part 3: Problems While Under Construction

Construction on the ship was delayed by several things.  First was the lack of materials, particularly iron.  Always scarce in the Confederacy, its procurement was made even more difficult by the blockade and by army demands on the overstrained Confederate railway system.

The blockade also caused problems in transporting the needed white oak from Florida.

Labor troubles led to a strike that lasted for a week.  Even more labor shortages were caused by demands from the local militias which called workers away for drills and even parades.

Competition for skilled workmen with the builders of the CSS Mississippi, an ironclad being built on an adjacent shipyard by  Nelson and Asa Tift, also slowed construction. Finally an agreement was reached whereby the work on the Mississippi would not continue until the Louisiana was completed.

All these things led to the Louisiana  not being ready to be launched until February 6, 1862, nearly four months after the ship's keel was laid.

--Old B-Runner

USS Emma-- Part 4: Looking for Jefferson Davis and Decommissioning

On 26 April 1865, the Emma sailed from Fort Caswell, North Carolina,  with an urgent message from General  William Tecumseh Sherman to Rear Admiral  John A. Dahlgren, commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which warned  the admiral that Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet, not yet located, might try to make an escape by way of Florida to Cuba.

The Emma went as far as Key West on this cruise then returned to patrol the Carolina coast until 24 August, when she arrived  at Boston, Massachusetts.

  The Emma was decommissioned in Boston 30 August 1865 and sold 1 November 1865.

She was placed back in service as a  merchant steamer and operated as the SS Gaspe from 1866 until her sinking  near Miquelon Island  on 14 June 1872.  The island is near the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

--Old B-Runner

USS Montgomery: A Civilian Ship Purchased by the U.S. Navy

From Atlantic Divers  "Max's Wreck -- Montgomery"

WRECK OF USS MONTGOMERY FOUND

This steamer was discovered by Atlantic Divers in 1989 on the dive boat  Down Deep.    The wreck was named after  Captain Bob Meimbresse's dog that was on board that day.  It has recently been identified as the USS Montgomery.

In 2008,  Gene Peterson and Harold Moyers on the dive boat Big Mac recovered a bilge pump which positively identified the site.

****************************

The USS Montgomery was a 797-iron (burden) wooden screw steamship, built in New York City in 1858.  She was chartered by the U.S. Navy in May 1861 and placed in commission as the USS Montgomery.  The Navy purchased her in August of that year.

During June-November 1861, she served in the Gulf of Mexico enforcing the blockade of western Florida.  Later that year, she was shifted to the  northern Gulf coast.  On 4 December 1861, in Mississippi Sound,  she engaged the Confederate steamers Florida (not the commerce raider) and Pamlico.

--Old B-Runner

USS Montgomery Established Blockade at Apalachicola, Florida

From On This Day in Florida Civil War History by Nick Wynne and Joe Knetsch.

JUNE 11, 1861

Commander T.D. Shaw of the USS Montgomery announced the formal blockade of the port of Apalachicola, Florida.

The blockade order stated:  "No American coasting vessels are to be allowed  to enter or depart from said port from the time of your arrival on the station.  All foreign or neutral vessels now in the port of Apalachicola  will be allowed  ten days from the 11th of June, instant,  for their departure."

--Old B-Runner

Captain James Brannon Saves Key West for the Union

From the January 13, 2022, Keys News "Today in Keys History."  

JANUARY 13, 1861

During the night, Captain James M. Brannon, commanding the Army Barracks Key West, marched his men to Fort Zachary Taylor and took command  of the fort.

This action ensured  that Key West would remain in Union hands during the Civil War and provided the Union Navy with a secure base to blockade southern ports.

This was essentially exactly what Major Robert Anderson did at Charleston Harbor after South Carolina seceded and he moved his small force from Fort Moultrie out to Fort Sumter in the harbor.

--Old B-R'er

USS Montgomery-- Part 3: Service in the Gulf of Mexico

From June to November,, the Montgomery blockaded Apalachicola,Florida,  and captured the ship Finland on 29 August when found to be lacking proper papers.  In November, she began blockading the Atlantic coast from Maryland to the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.

THIS PART IS A BIT CONFUSING.  On the 8th, she had a running fight with the Tallahassee.  After temporary duty off Ship Island 2 December, she was attacked off Horn Island Pass two later by the Florida and Pamlico but was not damaged.  (The Tallahassee did not become a Confederate ship until 1864.  If the Florida mentioned here is the CSS Florida cruiser, this ship was not off the Alabama coast until August 1862.)

Joining the East Gulf Blockading Squadron 20 January 1862, the Montgomery reported to Ship Island  three days later. She took schooner Isabel off Atchafalaya Bay 1 February, then carried dispatches to Tampa, Florida, before joining the West Gulf Blockading Squadron to hunt for the schooner  Columbia off San Luis Pass, Texas, 5 April.

They found the schooner abandoned and burned her, then captured a large sloop.  Cruising the Mexican and Texas coasts, she helped free American citizens held in Mexico the latter part of April and took the British schooner Will o' the Wisp off the Rio Grande on 3 June.  (There was a later another Will-o-the-Wisp sidewheel steamer sunk off Galveston in 1865.  I'm not sure if they were one and the same.)

--Old B-Runner

Fort Zachary Taylor-- Part 5: It's Also About Key West's Best Beach

The Department of the Interior turned Fort Zachary Taylor over to the state of Florida in 1976 and in 1985 the Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park opened.  It is the southernmost state park in the continental United States.

Before visiting, you should go to this site:  floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/fort-zachary-taylor-historic-state-park for updates on operations and information about events, including weekly Civil War reenactments at the site.

And at fortzacharytaylor.com/beach, you'll discover that the 54-acre park also boasts "Key West's best beach" for  swimming, snorkeling, fishing, and picnicking.  Or, simply sit back and enjoy one of Key West's fabulous sunsets that it is so famous for.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Zachary Taylor, Key West-- Part 2: A New Fort Built and Civil War Service

When both Spain and England had Key West, they thought about building a fort there, but nothing happened until Florida was ceded to the United States in 1821.  

The new owners immediately recognized the importance of it and began to develop the island. In less than a decade, Key West had a lucrative  wrecking, fishing, turtle hunting, sponging and salt water  manufacturing enterprises which made the city  the richest per capita in the United States.

In 1822, a site for a fort was selected in Key West.  This new fort would command the Florida Straits, a major shipping lane between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.  Key West was  one of the most strategically advantageous ports in the world for  commercial and military purposes.

The fort would be named after President Zachary Taylor, a hero of the Mexican War, and, of course. president.

In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, the East and West Martello Towers were added to the fort to serve as batteries and armories and railway tracks were laid to move munitions quickly from the towers to the fort.

During the war, Union commanders of the fort were tasked with defending the U.S. Navy's  East Gulf Blockading Squadron which had its headquarters in Key West.  This group of ships were primarily involved with maintaining a blockade along Florida's Gulf Coast.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Zachary Taylor, Key West-- Part 1: Three Tiers and Lots and Lots of Cannons

From the October 31, 2021, Fort Myers (Florida) News-Press  "Florida History:  Fort Zachary Taylor, Key West" by Cynthia Williams.

Usually when you think of Key West, you don't think of military history.  Probably Duvall Street and all that partying and those sunsets.

But, Key West has a lot of military history.  Right there on Thompson Island just off the southwest tip of Key West stands Fort Zachary Taylor.  Built between1845 and 1866 of solid New England granite and ancient, impenetrable limestone.

It originally was a three-tier structure with cannons arranged along its 495-foot long, five-foot thick seaward walls -- 42 cannons to be exact, on each of its three levels, for a total of 126 cannons, each with a range of three miles.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Owl-- Part 4: Cruising in the Owl

The Owl was in Bermuda with a cargo of cotton October 24-29, as the U.S. consul duly reported.  On December 5, Mallory instructed Maffitt to pick up the crew of his former ship, the CSS Florida, in Bermuda.

After this, there seems to be some confusion in the article as to when things happened chronologically, so I will just write what it says until I can do some more research on it.

A letter to Mallory from Maffitt that was captured along with Assistant Paymaster Talley, CSN, by the USS Forest Rose on May 7, 1865, bears an endorsement from the Union ship's commander, Lieutenant A.N. Gould, USN:  "It shows that Maffitt has been landing on the Florida coast with the Owl.

U.S. Consul William Thomas Minor at Havana, Cuba, reported on May 20 that Maffitt was to leave there in a day or two for Galveston, Texas.

--Old B-Runner

June 1-4, 1865: Attacking Apalachicola

JUNE 1-4TH, 1865:  Lieutenant Commander Nathaniel Green, in the USS Itasca,  commanded the naval units in the combined Army-Navy movement to occupy Apalachicola, Florida.

Brigadier general Alexander Asboth, commanding the expedition, commended Green highly for his "nautical skill and efficiency, as well as his friendly willingness to aid" which the general reported, "materially contributed to the successful" execution of the mission.

--Old B-Runner

USS Isonomia -- Part 2: Operations Off Florida

The Isonomia sailed to Beaufort, North Carolina, on August 19, 1864, and arrived there on  August 23.  She joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and served off New Inlet (Fort Fisher), until ordered to Key West on 8 September with special instructions to cruise in the vicinity of Nassau and the Bahama Banks.

At Key West she was found to be unready for sea service and stationed off West Pass, Florida, where she operated until November when she returned to Key West  to prepare for cruising in Bahama waters.

At the end of January 1865, the Isonomia was returned to duty along the west coast of Florida where she continued until the end of the war.    She captured the British bark George Douthwaite attempting to slip into the Warrior River with a cargo of rum, sugar wool, ginger and mahogany from Jamaica.

Again, I have not been able to find any information on a Warrior River along the west coast of Florida.)

On 9 June 1865, she towed the USS Somerset to New York  where she was decommissioned  28 June 1865 and sold at public auction to Tabor Co.on 12 July 1865.  She subsequently became a merchant ship named the City of Providence and was later sold to foreign interests in 1867.

Still Sounded Like a Real ZSleeper.  --Old B-Runner

May 8, 1865: Capture of a Blockade Runner in Florida

MAY 8TH, 1865:  The USS Isonomia, Lieutenant L.D.D. Voorhees, captured blockade running British bark George Douthwaits off the Warrior River, Florida, with cargo of sugar, rum, wool, ginger and mahogany.

I am unable to find a Warrior River in Florida.

Sure Sounds Like a Sleeper To Me.  --Old B-Runner

March 1, 1865: Confederacy Changing Blockade Running to Accommodate Loss of Ports-- Part 1

MARCH 1ST, 1865:  Because of the loss of Charleston and Wilmington, the Confederacy's last two deep-water ports in the east (Galveston, Texas, was still open but too far away and with too many obstacles to overcome to be of much help), Secretary Mallory directed Commander Bulloch  (uncle of future U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt), the regular agent of the Confederate Navy in England, to dispose of the deep draft steamers Enterprise and Adventure and to substitute them for two light draft vessels for use in the small inlets along the east coast of Florida.

He wrote:  "We can not ship cotton at present, but with light draft vessels we could at once place cotton abroad,  Moreover, we need them to get in our supplies now at the islands, and the want of them is seriously felt,:

--Old B-Runner

USS Hendrick Hudson-- Part 2: Duty Off St. George's Sound

The CSS Florida blockade runner was captured by the USS Pursuit while attempting to run the blockade at St. Andrews Bay, Florida (present day Panama City) 6 April 1862.  Taken to Philadelphia Navy Yard for adjudication, where she was condemned and purchased by the U.S. Navy Department from the prize court on 30 December  1862 in Philadelphia.  Commander was Acting Master John E. Giddings.

The ship was assigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron and sailed from Hampton Roads, Virginia, and 3 January 1863, arrived and proceeded to her station off East Pass, St. George's Sound, Florida.  On station by February 1st, the Hudson began her many long arduous months of tedious blockade duty working to seal off the many small inlets and passes along Florida's west coast.

The Hendrick Hudson remained off St.George's Sound until August 1863, capturing the schooner Margaret on Feb. 1 and schooner Teresa on April 16.

After that, she went to Boston for repairs and refitting.  On return, she took up a new station  off the mouth of the Suwanee River, Florida, on December 28.

--Old B-Runner

USS Nita-- Part 2: Three Prizes and the Salt Works

On the morning of February 24, 1864, Lt. Smith, who had been alerted by Union agents in Cuba, spotted the steamer Nan Nan, loaded with cotton attempting to slip out to sea from the Suwanee River.  The Nita gave immediate chase, running aground twice in the shallow waters, but forced the Nan Nan to throw her cotton overboard.

It ran ashore and was burned by her crew.

The Nita's next prize was on 11 April when she  captured the schooner Three Brothers at the mouth of the Homosassa River after a chase of three hours.  The Three Brothers had been attempting to slip into the river carrying supplies from Havana.

The third and final ship the Nita captured was 24 October when two of her boats boarded the abandoned and burning schooner Unknown in Clearwater Harbor.  They were able to put the fire out and took it to Key West for adjudication.

On 12 November, the Nita and USS Hendrick Hudson steamed into Tampa Bay and made a reconnaissance  and landed a party of sailors at Rocky Point to destroy a Confederate salt works, but were driven off by Southern cavalry.  On 3 December, the Nita and four other Union ships returned and destroyed the salt works.

In 1865, the Nita continued patrolling west Florida's coast  until decommissioned in Key West 3 May 1865 and sold at public auction.

The History of a Lesser-Known Ship.  --Old B-Runner

November 12, 1864: Attempt to Destroy Salt Works in Florida Fails

From the Civil War Naval Chronology.

NOVEMBER 12, 1864:  A boat expedition from the USS Hendrick Hudson, Acting Lieutenant Charles H. Rockwell, and USS Nita, Acting Lieutenant Robert B. Smith, attempted to destroy Confederate  salt works while on a reconnaissance near Tamp Bay, Florida, but the sailors were driven back to their boats by Southern cavalry.

--Old B-Runner

June 26, 1864: USS Norfolk Packet Captures a Prize

JUNE 26TH, 1864:  The USS Norfolk Packet, Acting Ensign George W. Wood, captured sloop Sarah Mary off Mosquito Inlet, Florida, with cargo of cotton.

--Old B-Runner

Dominick Catanetti (1820-1905) CSN?

From Find-A-Grave.

Born:  18 August 1820 in Austria

Died:  6 March 1905 in Apalachicola, Florida (age 85)

Buried:  Chestnut Cemetery, Apalachicola, Florida

Victoria Castanetti, born in Palermo, Sicily also buried there.  (aged 72)

It is believed that he served on the CSS Spray during the war.

--Old B-Runner

Victoria and Dominic Catanetti, Appalachicola, Florida

From the May 9, 2019, Apalachicola Times "Ghosts rise at Chestnut Cemetery" David Adlerstein.

This was one of those occasions when people visit a cemetery and learn about some of the folks buried there.

Victoria Catanetti (played by Megan Lamb) was born Victoria Silvain Palermo in Sicily, Italy, in January 1833 and immigrated to the United States about 1852.  She married Dominic(k) Catanetti in 1865.

He was a sailor and ship's captain and in the 1860 census was listed as "Master of Vessel."  During the Civil War he was in the Confederate Navy, possibly on the CSS Spray.  (I have written quite a lot about this small ship.  Click on the CSS Spray label below.)   In 1900, he was bar pilot for Apalachicola Bay.

Victoria died on February 22, 1904, in Apalachicola.

--Old B-Runner