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 Prairie Bird-- Part 2: A Busy Warship

At the end of the month, the Prairie Bird took up position above the White River to protect a coal depot.  In Mid March, she shifted to Greenville, in April it was operations at the mouth of the White River. and in May a return to Memphis.

Remaining in the Arkansas-White River area into the following spring, she reconnoitered the Sunflower River as far as Lake George and Silver Creek with the USS Petrel in March 1864.  In April she steamed with the Petrel and Freestone up the Yazoo River to fire on and pass Yazoo City, Mississippi, in support of Union Army attempts to take the city.

On the 22nd, the Prairie Bird received engine damage rescuing survivors from the Petrel, then returned to Vicksburg for repairs.

--Old B-Runner

USS Prairie Bird-- Part 1: Acquired by U.S. Navy

From Wikipedia.

This is the Union gunboat that came to the rescue of the passengers of the Army transport R.M. Runyan in the Mississippi Rover on July 23, 1864.

Acquired by U.S. Navy 19 December 1862.  Commissioned January 1863.  171 tons,  159.10 feet, 29.3 foot beam.  eight 24-pdr. guns.   Classified as a tinclad.

Served on the Mississippi River and its tributaries.  Was built as the civilian ship Mary Miller and renamed the USS Prairie Bird, commissioned January 1863 with Acting Master J.C. Moore in command.

In mid-February 1863, she assisted the USS Juliet, grounded 20 miles below Island No. 10 and then to Memphis where she escorted a provision ship to the Yazoo River.  There, the Prairie Bird joined the Mississippi Squadron.

--Old B-Runner

July 23, 1864: Sinking of Army Transport B. M. Runyan in Mississippi River

JULY 23RD, 1864:  Army transport B.M. Runyan, with some 500 military and civilian passengers on board, sank in the Mississippi River near Skipwith's Landing, Mississippi, after hitting a snag.

The USS Prairie Bird, Acting Master Thomas Burns, rescued 350 survivors and salvaged part of the cargo.

Rescue and humanitarian operations have been a continuing naval mission throughout the history of the U.S. Navy.

--Old B-Runner

Since We're On the Subject, the End of Eunice, Arkansas, in 1863

From the Civil War Naval Chronology.

JUNE 13-15, 1863.

Confederate guerrillas fired on the USS Marmora, Acting Lt. Robert Getty, near Eunice, Arkansas, and on the morning of the 14th, fired upon the transport Nebraska.

In retaliation, Getty sent a landing party ashore and destroyed the town, "including the railroad depot, with locomotive and car inside, also the large warehouse ...."

The next day, 15 June, landing parties from the Marmora and USS Prairie Bird, Acting Lt. Edward E. Brennand, destroyed the town of Gaines Landing in retaliation for a guerrilla attempt to burn the Union coal barge there and for firing on the Marmora.

Moral of This Story, Don't Shoot At the Union Ships, or Else.  --Old B-Runner

Action in Western Mississippi,Monitors in Action, No Whiskey or Opium for You

NOVEMBER 27TH, 1864:  Ram USS Vindicator and USS Prairie Bird transported and covered a successful Union cavalry attack on Confederate communications and transportation in western Mississippi.  Thirty miles of track and an important railroad bridge over the Big Black River, east of Vicksburg, were destroyed.

These two ships were in the 6th Division Mississippi Squadron.

Double-turret monitor USS Onondaga and single-turret USS Mahopac engaged Howlett's Battery on the James River, Virginia, for three hours.  This was part of ongoing operations below Richmond.

A ship's boat from the USS Elk captured an unidentified small craft with a cargo of whiskey and opium near Mandeville, Louisiana.

--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-- July 23-24: Army Transport B.M. Runyan Sinks in Mississippi River

JULY 23RD, 1864:  Army transport B.M. Runyan, with some 500 military and civilian passengers, sank in the Mississippi River near Skipworth's Landing, Mississippi, after hitting a snag.  USS Prairie Bird rescued 350 survivors and salvaged part of the cargo.

JULY 24TH, 1864:  Confederate guerrillas captured and burned steamer Kingston, which had run aground the preceding day between Smith's Point and Windmill Point on the Virginia shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

--Old B-R'er

150 Years Ago-- July 21-22, 1864: Daring Operation Near Fort Morgan

JULY 21, 1864:  USS Prairie Bird seized steamer Union on the Mississippi River for violation of revenue laws and giving "aid and comfort to the enemy."  The Union, not the USS Union I've been writing about, must have bought some contraband cotton from Confederates.

JULY 22, 1864:  Lt. Charles S. Cotton and Acting Ensign John L. Hall, led a landing party from the USS Oneida on a daring expedition that resulted in the capture of a Confederate cavalry patrol near Fort morgan, Mobile Bay.

The sailors rowed in from the Oneida under cover of darkness, and lay in wait for a nightly Southern patrol which had been under observation for some time.  Surprise was complete, and Hall marched a detachment four miles further inland (well east on the long peninsula) to destroy the patrol's camp site.

Lt. Cotton reported:  "The results of the expedition were-- captured 1 lieutenant and 4 privates of the Seventh Alabama Cavalry, arms and ammunition; 5 horses, with their equipments complete, and all the camp equipage and stores."

Of course, along with Farragut operating against Fort Morgan, it would be necessary to land Union troops to take the fort.  Getting rid of this patrol would help the landing of the troops.

--Old B-Runner