SOME MORE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
DISPLACEMENT: 350 tons
LENGTH: 156 feet
BEAM: 21 feet
DRAUGHT: 9 feet 4 inches
PROPULSION: Greenock Foundry Co. steam engine, screw propelled
SPEED: 12 knots
COMPLEMENT: 68
ARMAMENT:
Six 24-pdr. howitzers
two 12-pdr. rifles
--Old B. Runner
From Wikipedia.
Since I have been writing a lot about this ship while under the command of Thomas C. Dunn, I figured I might as well take a look at the ship's history.
USS EMMA (1863)
The first USS Emma in the Navy was a blockade running steamer captured by the Navy.
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
LAUNCHED: 24 November 1862
CAPTURED: 24 July 1863
ACQUIRED: 30 September 18634
COMMISSIONED: 4 November 1863
DECOMMISSIONED: 30 August 1865
STRICKEN: Sometime in 1865
FATE: Sold 1 November 1865
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And, there was one other USS Emma in U.S. Navy service.
--Old B-Runner
DECEMBER 27, 1864
At anchor and occasionally shelling the shore between midnight and 4 a.m, in the rear of Federal forces encamped on the beach.
At 6:45 a.m. sent first cutter ashore under the charge of Acting Ensign Beetle, to reembark troops from the shore.
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DECEMBER 28, 1864
At 6:45 a.m. saw a steamer under the beach coming out, and the Moccasin fired a gun. The Emma went to quarters and stood in toward the steamer. Opened fire from our starboard battery and 20-pounder pivot gun. The steamer turned around and went back in again.
This must have been a blockade runner trying to leave. I am not sure if the Emma was back on station off Old Inlet or still north of Fort Fisher.
Thomas Dunn observed five steamers and a schooner lying inside the river.
Acting Volunteer Lieutenant James M. Williams came aboard and assumed command of the USS Emma.
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DECEMBER 29, 1864
At 11:30 a.m. firing guns from Fort Fisher.
--Old B-Runner
DECEMBER 26, 1864
At 4 p.m. the Emma was drifting with the fleet.
Acting Master's Mate Morris returned with the boat crew of the second cutter from the USS Wabash and reported the loss of that cutter while in his charge. He reported that while returning from the USS Santiago de Cuba to the Emma after assisting in landing the troops on the night of the 25th with stormy conditions that he was run into by a launch.
He was able to get to the Wabash and stayed on board for the night. In the morning, the cutter was found to be swamped and efforts were made to lift her part way out of the water in order to bail her out at which time she broke in half and drifted out to sea.
At 5:40 p.m., in obedience to orders, steamed in toward the beach for the purpose of reembarking the troops. At 7:50 commenced firing from No. 2 starboard gun and No. 2 pivot. At 10, ceased firing.
--Old B-Runner
DECEMBER 25, 1864
At 12:15 p.m. the Emma was struck by a shell from the shore which went through the gig and bridge and explodes in the master's storeroom. The Emma continued firing all afternoon and from both sides of he ship. At 6:30 p.m., the Emma began firing at intervals from the port side only.
The first away cutter returned to the ship after embarking Butler's troops on the beach.
At 9:30, the Emma ceased firing
DECEMBER 26, 1864
From midnight to 4 a.m., it was blowing heavy and raining.
At 9:15 a.m., weighed anchor and steamed inshore. At 9:55 , all hands were called to quarters and firing began from the No, 1 pivot gun and port battery. The ship was underway and steaming to the south and east.
From noon to 4 p.m. the Emma delivered orders to the fleet from Admiral David D. Porter, arrived back at the fleet at 2:50 and spoke with the flagship Malvern.
--Old B-Runner
By December 25, 1864, the USS Emma, under the command of Acting Lieut. Volunteer Thomas C. Dunn, was off New Inlet as the naval attack on the fort commenced. They were listed as being in the Reserve Line (as was the USS Montgomery under Lt. Edward H. Faucon).
At 10:15, the flagship Malvern (also a former blockade runner, the Ella and Annie which had been captured off New Inlet in 1863) gave orders to form line of battle. The Emma began firing at 11:30 a.m. against the Confederate Half Moon battery (located 4 miles north of Fort Fisher where Carolina Beach, N.C. is located today).
The Half Moon battery mounted one or two smoothbore cannons and was so named by Union troops because of its crescent shape.
The fleet, at the same time, opened fire on Fort Fisher.
The Emma sent its first and second cutters to assist in landing the Union Army troops.
From noon to 4 p.m., the Emma steamed along in line of battle. Then anchored and weighed anchor according to orders from the flagship of the landing group, the A.D. Vance (also a captured former blockade runner under the command of Lt. Cmdr. John H. Upshur).
--Old B-Runner
From the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion "North Atlantic Blockading Squadron."
Abstract of Log of USS Emma, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Thomas C. Dunn, U.S. Navy. His ship was off the Western Bar, Old Inlet to the Cape Fear River.
DECEMBER 24, 1864
At 12:30 a.m., a fire seen burning toward the Eastern Bar [New Inlet]. At 1:30 a.m. an explosion occurred. (This would have been the explosion of the powderboat USS Louisiana.)
At 2:50, moon rising, steamed in toward night station. Bald Head light not lit. At 8 p.m. got underway and stood in toward the bar on blockade duty. At midnight, Fort Fisher bearing N.W. by N.
--Old B-Runner
Thomas C. Dunn was comptroller of the State of South Carolina from 1874 to 1877. Another site says he was comptroller from 1874 to 1876.
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6 S.C. 3907 (S.C. 1875)
Ex Parte Dunn, in re Hand
v
Railroad Company
June 1875
This was an appeal from an order made June 19, 1875, in the Circuit Court, in the case of Ex parte Thomas C. Dunn, Comptroller General of South Carolina, in re Daniel Hand against the Savannah and Charleston Railroad Company and others.
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From "The Negro in South Carolina During the Reconstruction" by Alrutheus Ambush Taylor.
"The election of Thomas C. Dunn as comptroller of the State, according to S.J. Keith, was fraudulently accomplished. Keith, who was elected to the legislature in 1870, voted for the election of T.C. Dunn as comptroller general and received the sum of $100.
"The money, according to Keith, was paid by R.B. Elliott, who also distributed similar sums to others who likewise refused the offers of J.L. Neagle, an aspirant for the office. Dunn, Keith declared, was hostile to Cardoza who was at the time in disfavor with certain members of the Republican party.
--Old B.Runner
From the January 21, 1865, Army Navy Journal
Acting Masters promoted to Acting Volunteer Lieutenants: On of them was Thomas C. Dunn.
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There is also a booklet in Google Books called "Answer to Thomas C. Dunn" by James B. Campbell that is five pages long and printed in 1875. Is this out Thomas C. Dunn?
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In connection (maybe) with the above fact, there was a James B. Campbell who in 187? was seeking a suit against John Fraser & Co., the noted blockade running outfit during the war. It was 243 pages long.
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The September 30, 1863, U.S. Navy Department has a list of acting masters and their stations. There was a Thomas C, Dunn on the steamboat USS Kanawha.
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The Annual Report of the Ohio Dairy and Food Commission in 1892 had six cases tried before Thomas C. Dunn.
Was This Him? --Old B-Runner
Believe it or not, there was a U.S. frigate warship at one time named the USS Confederacy.
It was built during the American Revolution and was captured by the British who renamed her the HMS Confederate.
I wrote about this ship last month in my Cooter's History Thing blog.
Imagine a Ship in the U.S. Navy With a Name Like That. --Old B-Runner
From the Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783-1860" by Samuel Eliot Morrison.
THOMAS C. DUNN
Morrison was talking about the speed of some of the Massachusetts-built ships and in a footnote had this:
"In 1854, the barque Dragon of Salem, 289 tons, Captain Thomas C. Dunn, built at Newburyport in 1850, made the the 16,670-mile run from Salem to the Fiji Islands in eighty-five days; an average of 8.2 knots for the entire voyage. Few tramp steamers to-day could do better."
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From "Salem Vessels and Their Voyages" by George Granville Putnam.
Thomas Dunn commanded the barque Dragon for several voyages including the one that set the speed record. However, after he left the ship, the next voyage December 23, 1858, under command of Captain William McFarland, to Zanzibar, the ship ran aground August 31, 1859, on its return voyage to Salem on Tom Shoal, 40 miles south of Zanzibar.
It was hauled off by the HMS Clive, but sustained irreparable damage and with its keel broken, she was condemned.
A part of the figurehead, which was the head and neck of a dragon was saved and for years was at the home of the ship's owner, Benjamin A. West.
--Old B-Runner
From "Salem Vessels and Their Voyages" The Barque Dragon.
CAPTAIN THOMAS C. DUNN
Captain Thomas C. Dunn, the new commander of the Dragon, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Thomas C. and Mary A. (Hutchinson) Dunn, and he died in Appleton, Wisconsin, May 9, 1910, in his 82nd year.
(This would prove that the gravestone in Appleton would have been his.)
He was educated in the public schools, and, when 21 years of age, Benjamin A. West, owner of the barque Pilot, made him master of the vessel and sent him on a voyage to the Feegee Islands (Fiji), and he next commanded Mr. West's barque Dragon.
In the latter he made the quickest passage between Salem and New Zealand on record, sailing 16,770 miles in 85 days.
He had a wonderful experience while in the Feegee trade, while trading with the South Sea Islanders, as narrated in the letter of George W, Crossette and printed in this sketch of Captain Dunn.
Captain Dunn continued in the merchant service until nearly the breaking of the Civil War. He then shipped in the United States Navy, served four years, and part of the time commanded a gunboat. To of his commands were the USS Emma and the USS Montgomery.
After the war, he was engaged in business in the South and New York, and three years before his death he went to live with his son Elmer E. Dunn, in Appleton.
--Old B-Runner
Register of Commissioned, Warrant and Volunteer Officers of the Navy of the United States.
HONORABLY DISCHARGED 1865
Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Thomas C, Dunn discharged October 26, 1865.
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Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate December 29, 1864.
Abraham Lincoln nominated Thomas C. Dunn as an Acting Master to date from August 11, 1864.
From Annual Reports of the Navy Department. December 6, 1864.
Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Thomas C. Dunn was in command of the steamer USS Emma and involved in the destruction of the blockade running steamer Ella on December 3, 1864.
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Lieutenant Thomas C. Dunn was in command of the USS Emma in the Reserve Line of ships during the First Battle of Fort Fisher. The USS Montgomery, under Lt. Edward H. Faucon was also in this line.
--Old B-Runner
Thomas C. Dunn commanded the USS Montgomery at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher. (He commanded the USS Emma at the First Battle of Fort Fisher.)
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The Marine Room of the Peabody Museum of Salem (Massachusetts) has the naval sword and musket of a Captain, 1863. Thomas C. Dunn.
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From "Gustavus Vasa Fox of the Union Navy: A Biography" by Ari Hoogenbloom.
Sixteen years after Fort Sumter was fired upon, Fox visited South Carolina and determined they had completely changed their secessionist ways in a questionable vote for governor.
He went to Columbia where he called on Thomas C. Dunn, a Republican member of the board and a former U.S. naval officer, who had distinguished himself on blockade duty and at Fort Fisher.
Dunn agreed when Fox urged him and his colleagues to act as impartial judges in open sessions.
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A reply to a man (Joseph Watson) seeking a letter of recommendation, a Thomas C. Dunn , "late Comd'g officer U.S. Steamer Montgomery" said he'd be happy to give one. The letter was from Salem, Massachusetts.
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So, Thomas C. Dunn was connected to Salem, Massachusetts.
--Old B-Runner
Remaining in the Gulf of Mexico during 1861, the Montgomery captured or destroyed a half dozen blockade runners, mainly sailing vessels.
Following her return to the Atlantic in 1863, she took part in the search for the Confederate raider Tacony in June. Later assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in June helped destroy the blockade runners Bendigo and Dare.
The next month, she captured the steamer Pet and in October took the Bat.. She also participated in the two attacks on Fort Fisher, North Carolina during December 1864 and January 1865 This finally eliminated the nearby city of Wilmington as a blockade running port.
For the remainder of the war, the Montgomery served along the Carolina coast and participated in the operations on the Cape Fear River which led to the capture of Wilmington in February 1865.
Decommissioned in June 1865 and sold in August, the Montgomery retained her name when she reentered commercial service in 1866. She was active for nearly eleven more years, until she was sunk due to a collision with the schooner Seminole on January 7, 1877, off Cape May, New Jersey.
--Old B-Runner
