USS Cowslip-- Part 3: Rescue Work

Now, here's a ship you rarely read about in Civil War history.  But here it is in this little old blog.

After Mobile Bay, the Cowslip was active in at-sea rescue work  She saved the crew of the USS Narcissus 8 December 1864 after that ship had been blown up by a Confederate torpedo at Egmont Key, Florida (by Tampa Bay).  The Cowslip also salvaged the Narcissus' guns and ammunition.

Next, the Cowslip rescued six wounded survivors from the USS Sciota after it hit a torpedo  14 April 1865 in Mobile Bay.

The Cowslip also rendered timely assistance by towing three ships out of danger when Marshall's warehouse in Mobile, Alabama, was wrecked by an explosion 25 May 1865.

The ship was sold on 28 August 1866 at Pensacola, Florida.

--Old B-Runner

Capture of Tampa, Florida

MAY 4-7TH, 1864:  Steamers USS Sunflower and Honduras and sailing bark J.L. Davis supported the capture of Tampa, Florida, in a combined operation with the Army.    They carried the troops there and provided a naval landing party.  Acting Master Edward Van Sice of the Sunflower reported: "At 7 A.M., the place was taken possession of, capturing some 40 prisoners, the naval force capturing about half, which were turned over to the Army, and a few minutes after 7 the Stars and Stripes were hoisted in the town by the Navy."

They also captured the blockade running sloop Neptune on May 6th with a cargo of cotton.

It wasn't a major port, but shows the ability of the Union to strike anywhere at any time along the Confederacy's coast.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: October 16th-17th, 1863: Attack on Tampa and the Blockade-Runners

OCTOBER 16TH-17TH

It was learned that blockade-runners Scottish Chief and Kate Dale were loaded with cotton and nearly ready to sail from Hillsboro River in Florida (by Tampa), Rear Admiral Bailey sent Lt. Cmdr. A.A. Semmes commanding the USS Tahoma and the USS Adela to seize them. Alexander Alderman Semmes was the cousin of CSS Alabama commander Raphael Semmes.

According to Bailey, "It was planned between me and Captain Semmes that he should divert attention from the real object of the expeditionby shelling the fort and town [Tampa], and that under cover of the night men should be landed at a point in Old Tampa Bay, distant from the fort to proceed overland to the point of Hillsboro River where the blockade runners lay, and destroy them."

One hundred men from the two ships marched 14 miles overland and succeeded in the plan.

Alarm was given and a running battle took place back to the boats. Five were killed, ten wounded and five taken prisoner.

--Old B-Runner

USS Beauregard-- Part 2: A Blockade Runner's Worst Friend

The privateer Beauregard was taken to Key West for adjudication and condemned for $2,147.47 with $1,854.92 for distribution among the Anderson's crew.

The U.S. Navy purchased the Beauregard for $1,810 on 24 Feb 1862 and replaced the 24-pdr rifle (which had been spiked by its Confederate crew when captured) with one 30-pdr. rifle and two 12-pdr. howitzers, commissioned 28 March 1862 and sent to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron.

On 2 April 1863, the USS Beauregard supported an attack on Tampa, Florida, and 28 July 1863 saw action at New Smyrna, Florida.

From July 1862 to May 12, 1864, the ship captured eleven blockade-runners, all but one as the only vessel entitled to share prize money. Those crew members made a good deal of extra money this way.

The USS Beauregard was sold at Key West June 28, 1865.

The Story of a Ship Serving Two Countries. Much More Successful as a Blockader. --Old B-R'er

Blockade-Runners Took Advantage of Florida's Coast-- Part 2

THE EGMONT KEY LIGHTHOUSE

There was a lighthouse on Egmont Key, but the lens and equipment of it had been taken away by Confederates and hidden in Tampa.  Some equipment turned up during a brief Union occupation in May 1864.  The rest was returned and the light repaired and activated at the close of the war.


CONFEDERATE BLOCKADE-RUNNERS

Captains James McKay, Edward A. Clarke and Christoher L. Friebele were some of the best-known Tampa blockade-runners.  They would take cotton past the blockaders to Havana or Nassau and return with medicines, clothing, cigars, coffee, muskets and other munitions of war.

By far, the best-known was James McKay, a prominent person in the early history of Tampa.  His first ship, the Salvor, was captured and confiscated.  After his release, he acquired two more vessels, the steamer Scottish Chief and sloop Kate Dale, and continued his business.

In October 1863, the Union blockade learned that both vessels were at Hillsborough River in Tampa Bay and determined to end their careers.  The USS Tahoma and Adela sailed into Hillsborough Bay and landed 85 men at Gadsden Point.  At daybreak, they surprised the crews of the two runners who surrendered.

More to Come.  --Old B-R'er

Blockade-Runners Took Advantage of Florida's Coastline-- Part 3: CSS Florida

ATTACK ON TAMPA BAY

The Union sailors from the USS Tahoma and Adela surprised the crews of the Scottish Chief and Kate Dale, blockade-runners, and they quickly surrendered.  Both ships were loaded with cotton with plans to run out through the blockade.  Both were burned.

The Kate Dale lies where it sank near today's Lowry Park Zoo.  The Scottish Chief was refloated and being repaired for a return to service before it burned and sank near Tampa Heights where it rests today.


THE CSS FLORIDA

This ship was second only to the more famous CSS Alabama in number of ships destroyed and captured.  It was commissioned August 17, 1862, just four months after its namesake, the SS Florida was captured in St. Andrew's Bay (by Panama City) in north Florida.  Captain was Wilmington, NC's John Newland Maffitt.

In two years of service, the ship destroyed some $4 million worth of American commerce.

While in the neutral port of Bahia, Brazil, the USS Wachusett attacked and captured it (against international maritime law).  There arose a big dispute about the capture while the Florida was taken to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where it sank after being "accidentally" rammed by a Union ship.

Not Such a Backwater.  --Old B-Runner

Blockade-Runners Took Advantage of West Florida's Coast-- Part 1

From the March 3, 2013, Tampa Bay Tribune "Civil War blockade runners took advantage of Florida's coastline" by Rodney Kite-Powell/

Florida's long and varied coastline provided numerous safe havens for blockade-runners during the war.  At first the Union just had the the Gulf Blockading Squadron to watch the whole of the Gulf of Mexico shore, but it was soon split into the East and West Gulf Blockading Squadrons, with the West getting the main ports ( Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans and Galveston) and most glory.  Of course, Union Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut got this plum job.

Tampa and Union occupied Key West were the main ports for the East Squadron also charged to watch around to the Atlantic Ocean's Cape Canaveral.  And, Tampa was a very big town and lacked rail connections to make it even more important for transferring materials.

Even so, the blockade of Tampa Bay began July 3, 1861, with the arrival of the USS Cuyler.  By November, there were several blockaders there under the command of Lt. Cmdr. William B. Eaton.  Egmont Key, at the mouth of Tampa Bay was used as a base and it also became a haven for runaway slaves and a refugee colony of Unionists.

But, There Was Some Activity.  --Old B-Runner