USS George Mangham: A Mortar Boat

The last two posts mentioned a Union ship I'd never heard of before, so you know what that means.  Wikipedia, here I come.

From Wikipedia.

USS GEORGE MANGHAM

The George Mangham was a wooden schooner built in 1854 and acquired by the Union Navy at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 21 September 1861 and commissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard 11 January 1862.  Acting Master  John Collins, Jr., was commander.  It was a mortar boat.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

110 feet length

28  foot beamSpeed:  10 knots

Armament:  

One 13-inch mortar

two 32-pounder guns

Continued September 10.

--Old B-Runner

Maybe This Is the Blockade Runner Dan?-- Part 2

In the afternoon of January 7, 1864,  both the Aries and Montgomery left for their blockade stations and the rebel steamer was boarded by the Mangham's  executive officer, who reported that some of the ship's cargo was still aboard.

Collins did not deem it advisable to stay around any longer as night was approaching and did not make any effort to get any of the cargo.  The Union ship then set sail to get farther outside and just after they sailed a short distance, the rebel steamer  exploded with a great crash.  He believed that the fires set by  Union forces the day before had reached her powder.

During the day, groups of rebel cavalry were seen at various points along the beach but no resistance made by them.

So, Was This the Blockade Runner Dan?  --Old B-Runner

Maybe This Is the Blockade Runner Dan?-- Part 1

Again, finding out about this blockade runner is not easy.  However, I came across this entry in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and the parameters seem to fit the hapless steamer Dan.

Page 224

Report of Acting Master John Collins, Jr., U.S. Navy, commanding  U.S.  schooner  George Mangham, regarding  the destruction of a blockade runner at Lockwood's Folly Inlet, January 7, 1864.

On the afternoon of the 7th, a sail was spotted and the George Mangham got underway and discovered it was a blockade runner being closely pursued by the  U.S. steamers Aries and Montgomery and that it had run ashore.  The U.S. ships sent  boats  in after her.  These boats lost a number of men, including one boat from the Montgomery.

The next moring, the George Mangham was requested to cover a second landing at the blockade runner with the purpose of bringing her off the beach.  The Mangham anchored close in and shelled the beach and rebel steamer at intervals during the morning.

--Old B-Runner

Some More on Blockade Runner Dan

I was able to find a little more on the steamer Dan.  

It was run aground near Waccamaw Neck, near Charleston, South Carolina, not near Wilmington as it seemed according to my first source.  This threw off my search.

The Dan must have been trying to run into Wilmington, but couldn't.  Waccamaw Neck isn't too far from Wilmington and is part of the Myrtle Beach S.C., Grand Strand.  The town of Pawley's Island is on it.

In 2004, a large Parrott shell was found at a construction site at Murrell's Inlet.  Its origin is not known, but thought to have been fired at a Confederate fort  at Murrell's Inlet.  Also, on June 1, 1863, there was a skirmish between the Confederate blockade runner Rose and two Union warships.  The Rose ran aground, but the Confederates managed to drive off the Union ships.

Also, another skirmish took place on January 7, 1864, at Debordieu Beach when the Confederate blockade runner Dan ran aground and was set on fire to prevent capture.  Today, the beach is a private resort area.

--Old B-Runner

Blockade Runner Dan

Kind of interesting that I was just writing about a blockade runner named Don and now we have one named Dan.  Brothers?

From American Civil War High Command  North Carolina.

January 7, 1864, Thursday.

NORTH CAROLINA

The steamer Dan failed to run the blockade into Wilmington and was beached to avoid capture.

The crew was captured other than three men who drowned.

I am unable to find out any more about this ship.

--Old B-Runner

A Plea to Lord Lyon from Captain Cory

Evidently Captain Cory was not released to return to Nassau.  He wrote a letter as a prisoner at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor to Lord Lyons.

FORT WARREN, BOSTON HARBOR

March 14, 1864

MY LORD:  I am an Englishman, and was born  in Homsen, East Riding, Yorkshire, on the 21st of December 1832.  My father was  the Rev. Charles Cort, vicar of Skipsin and Broome, East   Riding, Yorkshire.

I was captured in the British steamer Don, by the United States steamer Pequot, on the 4th  instant, about fifty miles frm Wilmington, North Carolina.  I joined my ship in London, England, as chief officer, July 20, 1863, and on the 20th of February, 1864,  became her commander.

All my officers, and nearly the whole of my crew, are British subjects.  I have never been in the service of either of the belligerants, and have no interest whatsoever in any way.

My lord, as a subject of her Britannic Majesty, I claim your lordship's protection for myself, officers, and crew, and beg leave to ask your lordship, on receiptof this, what course to pursue to obtain  the much cherished and esteemed boon to all Englishmen, "liberty."

FRED. CORY

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

So, his first name must have been Frederick?  It would have made sense that he would have been held than immediately released.

--Old B-Runner

The Capture of the Blockade Runner Don-- Part 2

Throughout the night, the Fedeal ships kept up their pursuit.

The next morning, as dawn broke, Cory discovered that one of the newer Union ships, the USS Pequot,  was barely three miles away and steaming fast towards them.  Cory turned to flee, but the chase was soon over.

The Pequot was a much faster vessel than the Don and soon overhauled the hapless blockade runner.

The Pequot's comander, Lieutenant  Stephen P. Quackenbush, now aware of the earlier incident where the Don was able to escape,  went on board the Don to shake hands with Cory and complimented him on his skill and courage.

The Don was confiscated as a prize.  Cory and his crew were questioned and set free to return to Nassau.

Oh Well.  --Old B-Runner

The Capture of the Blockade Runner Don-- Part 1: Quite an Initial Escape

From "British Blockade Running in the American Civil War."

This is the story of the capture of the Don.

Late on the afternoon of her third day out of Nassau, she was waiting off the coast of Wilmington.  The day was hazy.  Painted gray, the Don was all but invisible beyond a couple hundred yards.  Then the sun burnt throught the haze, and almost at once the lookout spotted a Federal cruiser, under steam and sail,  bearing down n them.

Cory quickly summed up the situation.  There was insufficient time for the Don to get up enough steam to escape.  He ordered up steam, then turned his vessel into the wind.  She sat there waiting, making no attempt to flee.

The Union vessel  was a large, full-rigged corvette, and was running along before a strong breeze.  In order for her to be brought under control,  the sail would have to be furled.  Cory watched as, up the rigging, the sail was gathered in.  She was barely fifty yards away when Cory ordered full speed ahead.

Off the Don shot, past the Union vessel which was unable to bring her guns to bear.  The Federal ship continued on for a quarter mile before she could make her turn.

In the meantime, the Don  was speedily putting distance between herself and the enemy ship.  Eventually turning, the other ship opened fire with her bow guns but to little effect.  The Don was up and away.  As darkness descended, she lost her pursuer.

A Close One...But.   That Sly Captain Cory.  --Old B-Runner

Who Was 'Captain Cory?'

From "British Blockade Runners in the American Civil War" by Joseph McKenna.

Evidently, the Don was originally commanded by Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden, and had run into Wilmington.  When he returned to  England, command of the Don passed to his chief officer:   Captain Cory."

Who he was is up for speculation.  There is no one on the Navy List who quite fits the time period.  Most likely he was another Royal Navy officer like Hobart-Hampden, who was enjoying the adventure and money to be made running the blockade.

Cory twice successfully ran the blockade into Wilmington.  But on his third attempt, on 4 March 1864, the Don was captured by the USS Pequot.  At the time, the Don had a cargo of Army uniforms from Peter Tait & Company of Limerick, blankets and shoes valued at $200,000.

--Old B-Runner

USS Don-- Part 2: A Short History

From the Naval History and Heritage Command.

DON

(Screw steamer:  390 tons, 162 feet long, 23 foot beam,  12 foot 3 inches depth,  d. 6', complement 43, 10-14 knots)

She was an iron, twin-screw,  two-stacked running mate of  Hansa as a blockade runner.  Operated and partly owned by the State of North Carolina and are generally  considered to have been public vessels for all practical purposes.

A man named Captain  Cory commanded the Don when, as a still new , $115,000 ship carrying  a $200,000 cargo of Army uniforms, blankets and shoes in from Nassau, she fell prey  to the USS Pequot, 4 March 1864, on her third attempt that voyage  to run into Wilmington, North Carolina.

She was  purchased from the Boston prize court the next month and commissioned as the USS Don and assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.  She was sold to commercial interests 28 August 1868 after being stricken from the Navy Register.

--Old B-Runner

Fates of Some Blockade Runners

From "Civil War Navies 1855-1883" by Paul H. Silverstone.

CERES

Run aground off Old Inlet, N.C., on 6 December 1863.  Set on fire, but captured by USS Violet.

DEE

Ran blockade seven times.  Chased ashore by the USS Cambridge and destroyed near Masonboro Inlet, 5 February 1864.

 FLORA

Ran blockade 11 times.  Sold to the Confederate government, October 1863.  renamed the Virginia and then the Cape Fear.    Used as a transport on the Cape Fear River.  Scuttled off Smithville (Southport) 16 January 1865.

HEBE

Ran blockade 3 times.  Chased ashore by the USS Shokokan at New Inlet, N.C., and destroyed, 18 August 1863.

VESTA

Run around and destroyed while trying to enter Little River Inlet, N.C., on first voyage, 11 January 1863.

--Old B-Runner

USS Don

Patrick Mullen was on the USS Don when he received his second Medal of Honor.

From Civil War Navies 1855-1883" by Paul H. Silverstone.

Blockade runner Don was built by J&W Dudgeon in London, England in 1863.  Other ships listed built by J&W Dudgeon were the  blockade runners Flora (1862), Hebe (1863) and Vesta (1862).

Tonnage of these ships put at between 353 to 449 GRT.  

Dimensions:175' by 22'6"

Depth: 12'3"

Don owned by State of North Carolina.

Don was captured by USS Pequot off Wilmington, N.C., 4 March 1864.  Commissioned into U.S. Navy as the USS Don.

--Old B-Runner

Patrick Mullen's Two Medals of Honor-- Part 3: Rescued an Officer from Drowning

During the rescue, Patrick Mullen noticed an officer struggling in the water.  As the man sank below the surface, Mullen jumped overboard and brought the officer back to the boat and saved him from drowning.

For his bravery, the young sailor was awarded a bar to wear on his Medal of Honor, signifying it was his second one.

Few details can be found online about the rest of Patrick Mullen's life.  He had a wife named Emma and two sons, Edward and William, who were born after 1881.  National Archives records show that he applied for  a pension in the 1890s after filing a disability claim., but it was denied after he failed to show up for a medical exam.

Mullen died  on February 14, 1897, in his adopted hometown of Baltimore.  He was buried in the city's  New Cathedral Cemetery.

Mullen's Medal of Honor (with the bar) is housed at the American Numismatic Society in New York.

--Old B-Runner

Patrick Mullen's Two Medals of Honor-- Part 2 on the USS Don

Patrick Mullen was part of a  cutter crew  during a boat expedition when it came under heavy attack by a few hundred Confederates.  According to his citation,  he helped his commanding officer by taking charge of the boat's only howitzer.  

Lying on his back, Mullen loaded the weapon and expertly fired it at the enemy, killing and wounding several of them.   The blast  led to a Confederate retreat, which saved the lives of his comrades.

Mullen earned his second Medal of Honor just six weeks later.  However, he earned it after the war was over, which officially ended April 9, 1865.  (It actually did not end on April 9th which was the surrender of Lee's army.  Confederate armies were still in the field at the time.)

This time. Mullen was on the USS Don, a captured British blockade runner that was now patrolling the Potomac River.  On May 1, 1865, the Don attempted to pick up the crew of a smaller vessel, Picket Launch No. 6, which had begun to fill with water.

And, then....

--Old B-Runner

Sailor Received the Medal of Honor Not Once, But Twice: Patrick Mullen

From the June 2022 U.S. Department of Defense Medal of Honor Monday.

Navy Boatswain's Mate  Patrick Mullen is one of only 19 Medal of Honor recipients who earned the highest military honor not once, but twice.  While his actions that led to the awards occurred within six weeks of each other, he only received one during the actual war.  The other one came afterwards.

Mullen was born in Ireland on May  6, 1844;  however, his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was a young boy, and they settled in Baltimore.  His last name was originally spelled Mullin, but he changed it to Mullen when he joined the Navy.

By the end of the war he was a  boatswain's mate on the USS Wyandank, a steamer used by the Navy as a storeship and barracks  for the Potomac Squadron.

He earned his first Medal of Honor on March 17, 1865, --  St. Patrick's Day -- while the ship was in the area of  Mattox Creek, Virginia.

--Old B-Runner