Joseph Brown and His Ironclads

From the Strategy Page Book Review  "Joseph Brown and His Civil War Ironclads: The USS Chillicothe, Indianola and Tuscumbia"  by Myron J. Smith, Jr..

Smith also wrote "Civil War Biography from the Western Waters, the Timberclads in the Civil War."

This is the first biography to be written on Joseph Brown (1823-1899) and his role in the creation of the Union's Riverine fleet.

Brown was a Scottish immigrant who became a steamboat captain and self-taught naval architect and engineer.  He was also an abolitionist, entrepreneur and politician.

Today, however, he is largely forgotten despite having designed and building the USS Chillicothe, Indainaola and Tuscumbia.  There is a chapter on each of the three ships in his book.

Brown also converted some 55 ships of all types into "tin-clads,"  lightly protected gunboats.  There are also accounts of the performance of his ships at Fort Donelson, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow and the Gulf.

--Old B-Runner

Operations on Western Waters-- Part 2: Defective Fuzes

"The battery just below Eastport, consisting of two guns, then opened upon us.  Their shot fell short.  I stood up just outside of their range and threw three or four 20 [second] shell at that battery, none of which exploded, owing to the very defective fuze (army).

"The rebels did not respond.  I have made no regular attack on their lately constructed batteries, as they are of no importance to us, our base of operations being so much below them.  I have deemed it my duty, however, to annoy them, where I could with little or no risk to our gunboats....

"The Lexington, Lieutenant Commanding Shirk, will cruise down the river from this point.  The Tyler will cruise above."

Were the defective fuzes from the Army?  And here I was thinking fuzes for projectiles were spelled fuses.

--Old B-R'er

January 31, 1862-- Part 2: "Runners" for Men?

Meanwhile, Foote telegraphed the Bureau of Ordnance, requesting powder and primers.  He added:  "I am apprehensive  that the Army will not permit the men, as colonels and captains do not readily give their assent.  I am shipping men by 'runners at Chicago and elsewhere.'

"I can move with four armed [armored] and three other gunboats at any moment, and am only waiting for men (with the exception of the Benton) to be ready with all the gunboats."

The Army could not be blamed, as Foote well understood, for reluctance to weaken its units.  They, too, had been given jobs to do and had to present trained, effective units in the hour of need.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 23, 1862: Foote Needs and Gets Sailors

JANUARY 23RD, 1862:  Flag Officer Foote sent another insistent plea for men to secretary of Navy Welles, this time cutting his needs to the bone:  "Can we have 600 men?  Army officers object to their men shipping.

"Boats, except the Benton, are in commission waiting for men."

Twelve days later, Assistant Secretary of Navy Fox wired Foote:  "The Secretary of War today gave direction to detail from several Massachusetts regiments those soldiers who have been seamen up to a number of 600.  These will be sent to you without arms or officers in detachments of 100, commencing next Monday.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, January 13, 1862: Demonstrations on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers

JANUARY 13, 1862:  Flag Officer Foote ordered three gunboats up the Cumberland and two up the Tennessee River on demonstrations.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 11, 1862: Problems, Problems on the Western Waters

JANUARY 11TH, 1862:  Responding to inquiries from the Navy Department on the mortar boats, Flag Officer Foote wrote:  "I am aware that an officer of great resources can overcome almost insuperable difficulties."

Foote had an enormous problem of being thrown into a region without naval bases or the usual resources of the seacoast.  In his own words, the western rivers area was "this wilderness of naval wants."

Foote's long report revealed some of these problems.  A large problem was outfitting and manning his ships.  However, these problems often accompany the transition from a peace to war economy.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 2, 1862: Eads' Gunboats Behind Schedule

JANUARY 2ND, 1862:  Flag Officer Foote wrote secretary of Navy Welles:  "I hope to be able to send 60 men on board of each gunboat within the week.  We are waiting on 1,000 men to fill up our complement ...  The carpenters and engineers are behindhand in their work."

Eads completion of the gunboats had been much delayed beyond his contract time.  This placed a great strain upon the wooden gunboats, whose daily service in the rivers was demonstrated by General Grant's typical communication with Foote:  "Will you please direct a gunboat to drop down the river ... to protect a steamer I am sending down to bring up produce for some loyal citizens of Kentucky."

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 1, 1862: USS Lexington Joining USS Conestoga Cruising the Ohio River

JANUARY 1ST, 1862:  Flag Officer Foote reported to Secretary of Navy Welles that he was sending the USS Lexington, Lt. Shirk, to join the USS Conestoga, Lt. S,L, Phelps, who had been rendering valuable service cruising the rivers and protecting "Union people" on the borders of the Ohio River and tributaries; indeed, the control of the rivers advanced Union frontiers deep into territory sympathetic to the South.

Foote added:  "I am using all possible dispatch in getting all the gunboats ready for service.  there is a great demand for them in different places in the western rivers."

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, December 30, 1861: Union Navy Pay on Western Waters

DECEMBER 30TH, 1861:  Flag Officer Foote wrote Assistant Secretary of Navy Fox of the pay scale he was using:  "In the case of Masters and Pilots, I have been obliged, in order to secure the services of efficient Men, to pay 1st Masters $150. per month, 2nd Masters $125.  3rd Masters $100. and 4th Masters $80. per month, while Pilots are paid $175. per month.

"These prices are much less than the incumbents received in ordinary times, while they have been provided with table furniture and stores, bedding &c, which I have not allowed them."

It Costs Money To Fight a War.  --Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago Naval Forces on Western Rivers Established--Part 2

Under John Rodgers, three river steamers were purchased at Cincinnati.  Rodgers, overcoming no little difficulty in obtaining and training crews, getting guns and other equipment, converted the steamers to gunboats USS Tyler, Lexington and Conestoga.

These three gunboats, as stated by Alfred Thayer Mahan, were of inestimable service "in keeping alive the attachment to the Union where it existed."

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago: Naval Forces on Western Rivers Established-- Part 1

MAY 16TH, 1861:  Commander John Rodgers ordered to report to the War Department to establish naval forces on the western rivers under the command of General John C. Fremont.  The importance of controlling the Mississippi and its tributaries which pierced the interior in every direction was recognized immediately by the U.S. Government.

This control was not only militarily strategic but was a vital factor in keeping the northwestern states in the Union.

--Old B-Runner

USS Fairplay

I was writing about the 76th Ohio Infantry in my Civil War blog, Saw the Elephant, and there was mention of the regiment capturing the Confederate steamer Fairplay in the Mississippi River.  Kind of an interesting thought that a land unit captured a water one, and since I'd never heard of the ship, some further research was in order.

Here it is, thanks to good old Wikipedia.

The Fairplay was a wooden steamer of 156 tons built in 1859 in New Albamy, Indiana, for service on the Mississippi Rivers and others.  It was pressed into Confederate service until it was captured by the 76th Ohio August 18, 1862.  I couldn't find anything about its capture.  There was no mention of it in the Naval Chronology of the Civil War which I have been using for Naval Happenings.
It was then taken into Union Army service in September  and transferred to the Navy in October.  So, we just had the 150th anniversary of its capture and it served in both Confederate and Union navies and both Union services.  Interesting career right there.

It became Tinclad #17, one of 63 shallow draft ships that convoyed troop and supply ships along the rivers in the western theater.

That  Fairplay.  --Old B-Runner