The Western Gulf Blockade

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April 17, 1861
GENERAL RUSK captures STAR OF THE WEST off Indianola, TX--the first Union transport to make news in the Civil War.

May 26, 1861
The quest for control of Confederate commerce flowing through the Gulf begins when BROOKLYN arrives off the Mississippi passes to begin the blockade of that river.

On the same day, POWHATAN under command of Leiutenant David Dixon Porter establishes the Union blockade at Mobile, AL.

May 29, 1861
POWHATAN captures schooner MARY CLINTON off Mobile, AL.

May 30, 1861
POWHATAN joins BROOKLYN at the mouth of the Mississippi to patrol Southwest Pass.

June 5, 1861
A boat expedition from NIAGARA captured the schooner AID off Mobile. She was later sunk by Union forces to obstruct the pass at the east end of Santa Rosa Island in August 1861.

June 10, 1861
BROOKLYN guards the mouth of the Mississippi at Pass a l' Outre, while the steamers SUMTER and PERRY lie in the river awaiting a chance to escape.

June 13, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA joins POWHATAN at Southwest Pass, mouth of the Mississippi.

June 17, 1861
MASSACHUSETTS captured the schooner ACHILLES off Ship Island, MS.

June 19, 1861
MASSACHUSETTS captured brig NAHUM STETSON off Pass a l'outre, LA.

June 23, 1861
MASSACHUSETTS captured schooners BRILLIANT, TROIS FRERES, OLIVE BRANCH, FANNY and BASILE

June 30, 1861
Commerce raider SUMTER eludes BROOKLYN at Pass a l'Outre and escapes to sea.

July 2, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA established the blockade of Galveston, TX.

July 4, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA captures schooners SHARK, VENUS, ANN RYAN, McCANFIELD, LOUISA and DART off Galveston.

July 5, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA captures schooners FALCON and CORALIA off Galveston.

July 6, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA captures schooner GEORGE G. BAKER off Galveston.

July 7, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA captures steamer SAM HOUSTON off Galveston.

July 9, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA captures and destroys schooner TOM HICKS off Galveston.

July 12, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA captures schooner GENERAL T. J. CHAMBERS off Galveston.

July 13, 1861
ARROW and OREGON unsuccessfully attempt to lure MASSACHUSETTS under the shore batteries at Ship Island off Biloxi, MS.

That afternoon the Union blockader captured the schooner HILAND near Ship Island.

July 20, 1861
MISSISSIPPI joins HUNTSVILLE in the blockade of Mobile Bay.

July 31, 1861
After a failed attempt by boat crews from SOUTH CAROLINA to capture several steamers lying in the Sabine River, GENERAL RUSK arrives at Galveston, TX, to repel the Union blockaders.

August 3, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA engaged Confederate batteries at Galveston.

August 7, 1861
MASSACHUSETTS captured schooner CHARLES HENRY near Ship Island, MS.

August 8, 1861
SANTEE captures schooner C. P. KNAPP in the Gulf.

August 15, 1861
POWHATAN captures schooner ABBY BRADFORD off Southwest Pass, LA.

September 11, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA captures schooner SOLEDAD COS off Galveston, TX, with a cargo of coffee.

September 14, 1861
A boat expedition of sailors and Marines from COLORADO, destroyed the privateer JUDAH and spiked the guns of the Confederate fort at Pensacola.

September 16, 1861
Confederate troops evacuate Ship Island, MS, aboard ARROW and OREGON. The island is immediately occupied by Union troops landed from MASSACHUSETTS.

September 24, 1861
DART captures Confederate schooner CECELIA off the Mississippi passes.

September 30, 1861
DART captures schooner ZAVALLA off Vermillion Bay, LA.

NIAGARA captures pilot boat FROLIC off Southwest Pass.

HUNTSVILLE captures schooner RANCHERO off Vermillion Bay, LA.

October 3, 1861
SAM HOUSTON captured schooner REINDEER off San Luis Pass, TX. The Union blockader, with her prize, rejoined SANTEE at Galveston whereupon the schooner was determined to be worthless and consequently sunk by her captor.

October 4, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA captured schooners EZILDA and JOSEPH H. TOONE off Southwest Pass, with fout to five thousands stands of arms.

October 9, 1861
IVY attacked Union blockaders at anchor in Head of the Passes—a two-mile wide section of the river above the delta. The Confederate attacker retired without inflicting any damage but the Union commanders, alarmed by the range of the Confederate's guns, called for reinforcements.

October 12, 1861
The Federal blockading flotilla—now consisting of BROOKLYN, RICHMOND, NIGHTINGALE, PREBLE, VINCINNES and WATER WITCH—was attacked by a Confederate force from New Orleans under Flag Officer G. N. Hollins, CSN, composed of IVY, JAMES L. DAY, CALHOUN, JACKSON, TUSCARORA, WATSON and the cigar-shaped, iron-plated ram MANASSAS.

In the pre-dawn darkness, MANASSAS attemped to ram RICHMOND but a coal barge lashed along the latter's side protected her from serious damage. MANASSAS, whose boilers were damaged by the contact, was then forced to retire upstream. The ships of both flotillas then opened fire on each other but the darkness and fog prevented either side from doing much damage.
      TUSCARORA and WATSON then set several fire rafts loose in the current above the Union ships. Upon sighting these huge floating infernos drifting down toward them, the Union vessels retired.

Daylight found RICHMOND and VINCINNES aground on a sand bar at the outlet of the Southwest Pass with the remainder of the fleet formed in a defensive position around them. Seeing the predicament of the Union vessels the Confederate ships again attacked. However, as before, neither side was able to inflict serious damage on the other and the Confederates eventually withdrew. After the two grounded vessels were refloated, the Union fleet returned to the Gulf and no further attempt was made to control the Head of the Passes.

October 16, 1861
SOUTH CAROLINA captured schooner EDWARD BARNARD off Southwest Pass with a cargo of turpentine.

October 21, 1861
MASSACHUSETTS discovered FLORIDA who had recently convoyed a merchantman outside of Mobile Bay. Being of shallower draft and greater speed, the Confederate gunboat successfully dodged MASSACHUSETTS in shoal water off Ship Island. The havoc caused by one well-placed shot with FLORIDA's rifled pivot gun is described by Commander Melancton Smith, USN, commanding MASSACHUSETTS: "It entered the starboard side abaft the engine five feet above the water line, cutting entirely through 18 planks of the main deck, carried away the table, sofas, eight sections of iron steam pipe, and exploded in the stateroom on the port side, stripping the bulkheads of four rooms and setting fire to the vessel ... 12 pieces of the fragments have been collected and weigh 68 pounds."

October 21, 1861
SANTEE captured the brig DELTA off Galveston.

November 8, 1861
Two launches from SANTEE surprised the crew of ROYAL YACHT, at anchor outside Bolivar Point Lighthouse (near Galveston) and, "after a desperate encounter," set her afire. However, investigating boat crews from the nearby BAYOU CITY managed to put out the fire with a few buckets of water, minutes before the magazine would certainly have exploded.

November 13, 1861
WATER WITCH captured the British brig CORNUCOPIA off Mobile, AL.

November 21, 1861
NEW LONDON joined R. R. CUYLER in taking the lumber-laden schooner OLIVE in the Mississippi Sound.

November 22, 1861
NEW LONDON and R. R. CUYLER captured ANNA in the Mississippi Sound with a load of naval stores.

That same day NIAGARA and RICHMOND added their guns to the artillery duel between Union-held Fort Pickens and the Confederate forces in and around Fort McRae, the Pensacola Navy Yard and Warrenton, FL.

November 27, 1861
VINCENNES captured the British bark EMPRESS in the Mississippi passes, the latter having run aground with a load of coffee.

November 28, 1861
NEW LONDON captured Confederate blockade runners A. J. VIEW and LEWIS off Ship Island, MS.

December 1, 1861
NEW LONDON captured sloop ADVOCATE in the Mississippi Sound.

December 4, 1861
MONTGOMERY encountered PAMLICO and FLORIDA in Horn Island Pass in the Mississippi Sound. The Union blockader soon found that the her 10-inch shell gun was no match for FLORIDA's long-range rifles. MONTGOMERY signaled MASSACHUSETTS for assistance, and when it was not forthcoming, ran back to safety under the guns of Ship Island. Commander Shaw saved MONTGOMERY and lost his command for fleeing from the enemy: Commodore McKean promptly sent Lieutenant Jouett to relieve him and forwarded Shaw's action report to Secretary Welles, noting, "It needs no comment." [Note: With the commissioning of the cruiser of the same name, this FLORIDA was re-named SELMA and, under this name, continued service until the Battle of Mobile Bay.]

December 9, 1861
Fishing smacks DELIGHT, OSCEOLA and EXPRESS, sailing under Confederate papers, were captured by NEW LONDON near Cat Island Passage in the Mississippi Sound.

December 11, 1861
While GREY CLOUD, a Confederate transport, eluded capture by running into Biloxi, MS, SOUTH CAROLINA captured the sloop FLORIDA off Timbalier, LA.

December 23, 1861
Captain David G. Farragut receives unofficial word that he is to be designated Flag Officer and given command of the newly-formed "West Gulf Blockading Squadron" which would blockade the Gulf of Mexico from Pensacola, FL, to the Texas-Mexico border. However, the real reason for Farragut's appointment was to begin preparations for the assault on New Orleans.

December 26, 1861
RHODE ISLAND captured schooner VENUS off the coast of Louisiana.

December 28, 1861
RHODE ISLAND captured schooner GYPSEY loaded with cotton in the Mississippi Sound.

December 30, 1861
SANTEE captured schooner GARONNE off Galveston.

December 31, 1861
LEWIS, WATER WITCH and NEW LONDON, with troops from Ship Island, capture Biloxi, MS, and the schooner CAPTAIN SPEDDEN.

January 18, 1862
MIDNIGHT and RACHEL SEAMAN shelled Confederate batteries at Velasco, TX, without inflicting any damage other than to cause the southern gunners to waste valuable ammunition.

January 19, 1862
ITASCA captured schooner LIZZIE WESTON loaded with cotton bound for Jamaica.

January 20, 1862
Boarding parties from R. R. CUYLER, POTOMAC and HUNTSVILLE captured the schooner J. W. WILDER which had run aground off Mobile.

January 23, 1862
CALHOUN was captured off South West Pass, LA, by schooner SAMUEL ROTAN, a tender to frigate COLORADO. Subsequently, she was commissioned into the U.S. Navy and saw extensive service in the western rivers.

January 24, 1862
MERCEDITA chased the schooner JULIA aground off the Mississippi Passes. The blockade-runner's crew set her afire to prevent capture.

January 25, 1862
Some 17 miles northeast of the bar at Pass Cavallo,TX, ARTHUR sighted a schooner sailing toward shore and sent two cutters in pursuit of the stranger which was attempting to run aground. When a shot from ARTHUR brought the quarry to, a boarding party from the cutters took possession of the schooner, which proved to be the blockade runner J. J. MCNEIL with a cargo of coffee and tobacco.

January 27, 1862
HATTERAS engaged MOBILE off Berwick, LA, but failed to do any serious damage when the Confederate ship withdrew to the safety of shallow water.

January 28, 1862
A boat crew from De SOTO boarded and captured the crew of MAJOR BARBOUR at Isle Derniere, LA, along with a rich cargo of war materiel.

February 1, 1862
HATTERAS was again indecisively engaged by MOBILE in Atchafalaya Bay, LA.

February 13, 1862
KANAWHA arrives on blockading station at Pass a l'Outre.

February 19, 1862
BROOKLYN, SOUTH CAROLINA and ITASCA overhaul and capture blockade runner MAGNOLIA off Pas a l'Outre, MS. The Confederate ship was found to be loaded with cotton and carrying several secret letters containing valuable intelligence concerning Confederate plans to import arms and to assist side-wheel, blockade runner TENNESSEE to escape through the blockade.

February 20, 1862
PORTSMOUTH captured the sloop POINEER off Boca Chica, TX.

KANAWHA transferred to blockading station off Mobile Bay.

Boat crews from NEW LONDON capture twelve small vessels off Cat Island, MS, suspected as being used to pilot blockade runners.

March 8, 1862
BOHIO captured the schooner HENRY TRAVERS off Southwest Pass.

March 9, 1862
PINOLA arrives at Ship Island, MS, with the captured schooner CORA.

March 10, 1862
As Rear Admiral Farragut gathers his fleet for the movement against New Orleans, BROOKLYN runs aground while attempting to negotiate the shoal water in the entrance to the Mississippi River. The COLORADO, which is of deeper draft waits for more favorable tides to make the attempt.

March 13, 1862
The ships of the Mortar Flotilla, under Commander David D. Porter, arrive at Ship Island in preparation for Admiral Farragut's attack on the forts guarding New Orleans.

March 15, 1862
OWASCO captured the schooners EUGENIA and PRESIDENT in the Gulf.

Commander Porter's Mortar Flotilla successfully cross the bar and enter the Mississippi River.

March 24, 1862
PENSACOLA, towing a schooner carrying her guns and stores, grounded on the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi river. Even with the assistance of towboats pulling her, she failed to negotiate the shoal water on four attempts.

March 25, 1862
NEW LONDON encountered PAMLICO and OREGON at Pass Christian, MS, and drove them off to the protection of Southern shore batteries after a two-hour engagement.

CAYUGA captured the schooner JESSIE J. COX off Mobile.

April 4, 1862
Mortar schooner JOHN P. JACKSON, with gunboats NEW LONDON and HATTERAS drove off CARONDELET, PAMLICO and OREGON at Pass Christian, MS, as they attempted to prevent a Union landing which wrested the area around Biloxi MS, from the South. The same day JOHN P. JACKSON captured steamer P. C. WALLIS near New Orleans with a cargo of naval stores.

April 5, 1862
MONTGOMERY captured and destroyed the schooner COLUMBIA near San Louis Pass, TX.

April 7, 1862
The two heaviest vessels of Farragut's fleet, PENSACOLA and MISSISSIPPI crossed the bar and entered the Mississippi river after several previous attempts. Flag Officer Farragut's flotilla for the capture of New Orleans was now complete.

April 10, 1862
KANAWHA captured SOUTHERN INDEPENDENCE, VICTORIA and CHARLOTTE outbound from Mobile, AL, and CUBA attempting to run in to the same port.

April 21, 1862
Acting Volunteer Lieutenant John W. Kittredge, Commander of ARTHUR, led an expedition of three boats into Cedar Bayou, TX, where they chased the schooner BURKHART which escaped because of her master's knowledge of nearby channels. The next day, they captured three small sloops, but were forced to abandon their prizes--along with two of their own boats--to escape attacks by a numerically superior Confederate force. Kittredge and his party managed to escape without injury.

This same day, KANAWHA captured schooner R. F. FILE outbound from Mobile, AL, with a cargo of cotton.

April 24, 1862
After four months of preparation, the Union attack on New Orleans finally gets underway.

April 27, 1862
A boat crew from KITTATINNY raised the U. S. flag over Fort Livingston in Bastian Bay, LA, which had surrendered to the Navy.

April 29, 1862
KANAWHA captured british sloop ANNIE between Ship Island, MS, and Mobile, AL.

May 1, 1862
The ships of the Mortar Flotilla were ordered back to Ship Island after the capture of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, LA.

The same day, HATTERAS captured schooner MAGNOLIA near Berwick Bay, LA.

May 4, 1862
CALHOUN captured sloop CHARLES HENRY off St. Joseph, LA, then raised the flag over Fort Pike, which the Confederates had recently evacuated.

May 5, 1862
CALHOUN captured steamer WHITEMAN in Lake Pontchartrain, LA.

May 10, 1862
Union forces re-occupy the Pensacola (FL) Navy Yard and nearby Forts Barrancas and McRae which had been abandoned and destroyed by the Confederates after the fall of Forts Jackson and St. Phillip.

May 11, 1862
KITTATINNY captured British schooner JULIA off Southwest Pass while HATTERAS captured steamer GOVERNOR A. MOUTON of Berwick Bay, LA.

May 13, 1862
BOHIO captured schooner DEER ISLAND in Mississippi Sound.

The same day, CALHOUN captured Confederate gunboat CORYPHEUS in Bayou Bonafouca, LA.

May 14, 1862
CALHOUN captured schooner VENICE in Lake Pontchartrain, LA.

May 15, 1862
SEA FOAM and MATTHEW VASSAR captured sloops SARAH and NEW EAGLE off Ship Island.

May 17, 1862
HATTERAS captured sloop POODY off Vermillion, LA.

May 21, 1862
Mortar schooner ARLETTA gave chase to a cotton-laden steamer which apparently had slipped out of Mobile Bay. The schooner put a shot into the blockade runner and forced her to jettison cargo in order to escape to windward.

June 2, 1862
A boat crew from NEW LONDON captured yachts COMET and ALGERINE near New Basin, LA.

June 3, 1862
Upon receiving orders from Flag Officer Farragut, Commander David D. Porter re-assembled his Mortar Flotilla at Pensacola, FL, from wence they departed for operations against Vicksburg, MS.

That same day, MONTGOMERY captured British schooner WILL-O'-THE-WISP unloading military stores near the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

June 11, 1862
SUSQUEHANNA captured schooner PRINCETON while BAINBRIDGE captured schooner BAIGORRY in the Gulf.

June 11, 1862
On a mission up the Jordan River in Mississippi, WILLIAM G. ANDERSON captured schooner MONTEBELLO lying at anchor.

June 19, 1862
FLORIDA, tender to MORNING LIGHT captured sloop VENTURA off Grant's Pass into Mobile Bay.

June 21, 1862
BOHIO captured sloop L. REBECCA en route from Biloxi, MS, to Mobile.

June 27, 1862
BOHIO captured sloop WAVE en route from Mobile to Mississippi City.

June 28, 1862
British steamer ANN, with a cargo of arms and ammunition, is captured by KANAWHA and SUSQUEHANNA under the guns of Fort Morgan in Mobile Bay.

June 30, 1862
QUAKER CITY captured the brig MODEL in the Gulf.

July 1, 1862
De SOTO captured British schooner WILLIAM off Sabine Pass, TX.

July 3, 1862
RHODE ISLAND captured British schooner R. O. BRYAN off the coast of Texas.

July 5, 1862
HATTERAS captured sloop ELIZABETH off the coast of Louisiana.

July 7, 1862
TAHOMA captured schooner UNCLE MOSE off Yucatan Bank, Mexico.

July 9, 1862
A small squadron consisting of the newly-commissioned CORYPHEUS, SACHEM, GENERAL BUTLER and ARTHUR under Lt. Commander Kittredge were stationed off Aransas Bay, TX. Commander Kittredge entered the bay in CORYPHEUS where, upon approaching Lamar, TX, he sighted a ". . . schooner apparently lying on her beam ends ." He then armed the second cutter and ran down through the reefs to her. Upon seeing the approaching Union ship, the schooner's crew righted their vessel--which they had careened for caulking--and fired and cast adrift a cotton-laden, flat-bottomed barge which had been moored to a nearby wharf while the schooner was being prepared for an attempt to run the blockade. The schooner began leaking rapidly the moment she was again upright, and was soon swamped.

Kittredge returned to CORYPHEUS, and got underway ". . in pursuit of a schooner that had just passed to the southward." He soon found his quarry, the schooner REINDEER, at anchor, having been captured by the tender, GENERAL BUTLER.

July 10, 1862
Before leaving Aransas Bay, CORYPHEUS captured the 9-ton sloop BELLE ITALIA.

July 17-18, 1862
With a detachment of Marines from POTOMAC aboard, NEW LONDON and GREY CLOUD embarked on a mission up the Pascagoula River in Mississippi. The expedition destroyed telegraph wires between Pascagoula and Mobile but, while chasing three Confederate vessels upstream, were forced to retreat by heavy fire from cavalry and infantry troops.

July 28, 1862
HATTERAS captured the Confederate brig JOSEPHINE off the coast of Louisiana.

August 12, 1862
CORYPHEUS, having just returned Commander Kittredge to ARTHUR, gave chase to BREAKER which was returning from a reconnoitering expedition off Pass Cavalo, TX. The Confederate ship was run ashore in Aransas Bay and fired by her crew, but the Union forces succeeded in saving her for later use as a tender along the Texas coast.

That same day at Corpus Christi, ARTHUR forced the Confederates to burn the armed schooner ELMA and sloop HANNAH to prevent their capture.

August 13, 1862
KENSINGTON captured schooner TROY off Sabine Pass.

August 15, 1862
ARTHUR added to her list of victims the steamer A. B. which had run aground in the narrow and shallow channel that leads to Nueces Bay near Corpus Christi. After several unsuccessful efforts to refloat that prize, she was burned.

August 16, 1862
SACHEM, REINDEER, BELLE ITALIA and CORYPHEUS bombarded Corpus Christi, TX.

August 18, 1862
A landing party from BELLE ITALIA attempted to seize a nearby Confederate battery but was driven off by cavalry.

August 24, 1862
Shortly after dawn, CORYPHEUS captured WATER WITCH of Jamaica as that schooner attempted to enter Aransas Bay with a cargo including a large quantity of gunpowder.

August 31, 1862
Shortly after dawn, WILLIAM G. ANDERSON captured schooner LILY with a cargo of gunpowder off the coast of Louisiana.

September 4, 1862
With most of his crew suffering from Yellow Fever, Liuetenant John Maffitt, CSN, boldly ran the commerce raider FLORIDA past the guns of blockaders ONEIDA, RACHEL SEAMAN and WINONA to reach shelter under the guns of Fort Morgan in Mobile Bay.

That same day, WILLIAM G. ANDERSON captured schooner THERESA in the Gulf.

September 13, 1862
Near Flour Bluffs, TX, CORYPHEUS and BREAKER found several small vessels which immediately attempted to escape. Commander Kittredge in CORYPHEUS fired on them, but they managed to slip into Laguna de la Madre where the deeper-draft Union ships could not follow. Kittredge landed with a small reconnaissance party and took three prisoners before returning to his ship.

September 14, 1862
Commander Kittredge in CORYPHEUS saw two armed men in a new, unfinished structure and, with seven men, went ashore to investigate. As Kittredge was entering the building, he and his party were surprised and captured by a large group of Southern soldiers who had been hiding inside.

September 21, 1862
While blockading the mouth of the Rio Grande near Brownsviile, TX, ALBATROSS captured the schooner TWO SISTERS of Galveston, flying the Confederate flag as she was sailing from Sisal, Mexico toward Galveston with 87 bales of gunny cloth for Southern cotton gins.

September 25, 1862
KENSINGTON and RACHAEL SEAMAN and mortar schooner HENRY JANES bombarded Sabine City, TX, forcing Confederate troops to withdraw from the city and spike their guns. Although the city was captured, the Union could dominate only the waters in the area as no occupying troops were available.

September 27, 1862
KITTATINNY captured the schooner EMMA off the coast of Texas.

October 1, 1862
WESTFIELD and CLIFTON captured LECOMPT in Matagorda Bay.

October 6, 1862
RACHEL SEAMAN captured British schooner DART at Sabine Pass.

October 13, 1862
KENSINGTON began a voyage from the coast of Texas to Pensacola shepherding the captured British blockade running schooners VELOCITY, ADVENTURE, DART, and WEST FLORIDA and Confederate schooners CONCHITA and MARY ANN; sloop ELIZA; and steamer DAN. En route KENSINGTON delivered water to blockading ships stationed along the coast of Texas.

October 15, 1862
Boat crews from RACHEL SEAMAN and KENSINGTON burned a railroad bridge at Taylor's Bayou near Sabine Pass, TX, then set fire to schooners LONE STAR and LONE STAR.

October 21, 1862
JOHN P. JACKSON captured sloop YOUNG GUSTAVE in Mississippi Sound.

October 28, 1862
A lookout on MONTGOMERY's topmast head sighted a blockade runner and the Union gunboat immediately set out in pursuit of the stranger, beginning a six-hour chase. When MONTGOMERY pulled within range of CAROLINE, she opened fire with her 30-pounder Parrott rifle and expended 17 shells before two hits brought the quarry to.
      Two boats from the blockader rowed out to CAROLINE and one returned with her master who claimed to have been bound for Matamoros, Mexico, not Mobile. "I do not take you for running the blockade," Flag Officer Farragut--with tongue in cheek--replied, "but for your damned poor navigation. Any man bound for Matamoros from Havana and coming within twelve miles of Mobile light has no business to have a steamer." CAROLINE was later determined to have been en route from Havana with a cargo of munitions to be delivered to Mobile.

October 29-30, 1862
After exchanging fire with Confederate troops on shore at Sabine Pass, DAN shelled the town and the following day sent a landing party to burn several buildings.

October 30, 1862
CONNECTICUTT captured British schooner HERMOSA of the mouth of the Sabine River.

November 1, 1862
As a Federal Flotilla under Lt. Comdr. Buchanan proceeded up Atchafalaya Bay A. B. SEGER was run aground and abandoned near Berwick Bay. She was then seized and placed in service by the Union.

November 11, 1862
After delivering her charges to Pensacola, KENSINGTON, the fighting supply ship, began operating from that base, capturing schooner COURSE.

November 12, 1862
KENSINGTON captured British schooner MARIA off Pensacola.

November 17, 1862
KANAWHA and KENNEBEC chased an unidentified schooner ashore near Mobile, AL, where she was set afire by her crew. The guns of the Union ships assured her complete destruction by preventing Confederate coast guards from boarding her to extinguish the flames.

November 20, 1862
MONTGOMERY captured the sloop WILLIAM E. CHESTER off Pensacola.

Also on this day, a foraging party form mortar schooner HENRY JANES was captured while ashore at Matagorda Bay, TX.

November 25, 1862
KITTATINNY captured the British schooner MATILDA off Matamoras.

November 20, 1862
KITTATINNY captured the schooner DIANA en route to Matamoras.

December 2, 1862
Two boat crews from SACHEM chased steamer QUEEN OF THE BAY aground on Padre Island, TX. The Confederate commander then deployed his men ashore and opened fire on his pursuers, forcing them to land on nearby Mustang Island and march 30 miles overland to Arnasas Bay in order to rejoin their ship.

January 1, 1863
The Confederates, having determined to recapture Galveston which had fallen to the Union during the previous October, launched their attack. BAYOU CITY and NEPTUNE with their decks well protected by cotton bales and loaded with troops, moved down to engage the Federal fleet in the harbor.

BAYOU CITY first closed with HARRIET LANE and tried to board her, but the strong tide swung the ships into a collision which damaged both. NEPTUNE then rammed WESTFIELD, sinking the Union ship, but was herself injured by the impact and began to take water rapidly. Making for the edge of the channel, NEPTUNE sank in 8 feet of water. When her commanding officer, Comdr. Jonathan M. Wainwright, USN, and executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Edward Lea were killed, HARRIET LANE surrendered to the Confederates. Commander W. B. Renshaw, USN, of WESTFIELD was also killed along with several of his crew in the act of blowing up their ship to prevent its capture.

January 10, 1863
Under orders from Admiral Farragut to reestablish the blockade, Commodore Henry H. Bell, in BROOKLYN, arrived off Galveston and soon warned ARTHUR to beware of enemy raids, especially by the formidable HARRIET LANE which had now been placed in commission by the Confederate Navy.

But HATTERAS had already been badly holed in two places by the Confederate raider and was on fire and beginning to sink. Captain Blake ordered the magazines flooded to prevent an explosion and reluctantly fired a single bow gun, indicating surrender and a need for assistance. ALABAMA promptly sent over her boats to help remove HATTERAS' crew, and the last boatload of men had barely pulled away when the Union blockader sank, some 46 minutes from the beginning of the action. Of HATTERAS' crew of 128, 2 had been killed and 5 wounded--8 crewmen in the boat originally sent out to board and investigate "HBMS SPITFIRE" were rescued by BROOKLYN and SCIOTA and the remainder, including Captain Blake, were taken to Port Royal, Jamaica, and from there paroled back to the United States. ALABAMA suffered only two wounded.

January 16, 1863
Confederate cruiser FLORIDA escaped the Union blockade at Mobile, AL.

January 20, 1863
JOSIAH A. BELL and UNCLE BEN engaged MORNING LIGHT and FAIRY off Sabine Pass. A lively 2-hour fight ensued in which army sharpshooters on board JOSIAH A. BELL repeatedly swept the decks of MORNING LIGHT and soon caused her to strike her colors, while UNCLE BEN effected FAIRY's unconditional surrender.

February 12, 1863
After a 12-hour chase, POCAHONTAS overhauls the British Steamer ANTONA bound for the nearest Confederate port.

February 24, 1863
BROOKLYN and several other gunboats bombard Galveston, TX.

March 5, 1863
A lookout in the "Old Rooster", as AROOSTOOK was called by her crew, made out ". . . a sail close to the beach trying to run into Mobile Bay," and the Northern gunboat immediately raced off in pursuit. This stranger then ran ashore, and her crew escaped in a boat. AROOSTOOK-joined by POCAHONTAS-shelled the vessel, the JOSEPHINE, until she ". . . was a complete wreck."

March 6, 1863
AROOSTOOK and POCAHONTAS chased and fired upon another small sailing vessel; but "an ugly sea," darkness, and shoal water enabled this runner to reach safety inside Mobile Bay.

March 18, 1863
Commander Abner Read of NEW LONDON led a boat expedition from his ship and CAYUGA which landed near the lighthouse at Sabine Pass. The landing party was attacked by a large force of Confederate troops who had been hiding behind the light keeper's house. All but one member of Commander Read's crew were wounded as they raced back to their boat and rowed back to their ship. Read himself suffered a serious gunshot wound of the eye. Commander D.A. McDermot, of CAYUGA, with one of the boats' crew, was mortally wounded. When he was captured by the Confederates, McDermont did not think himself severely injured, but died shortly after being taken to Sabine City. That afternoon, Commander Read sent two medical officers ashore under flag of truce to embalm the body and bring it back.

March 25, 1863
KANAWHA captured schooner CLARA off Mobile, AL.

April 16, 1863
U.S. Bark WILLIAM G. ANDERSON was not able to outsail ROYAL YACHT but a second cutter from the Union ship, after a hard 6-hour chase, placed the quarry within range of a one-pounder Butler rifle and induced her Captain to surrender along with her 97 bales of best cotton.

April 19, 1863
AROOSTOOK engaged the shore batteries protecting Mobile Bay.

May 1, 1863
KANAWHA captured schooner DART off Mobile, AL.

May 4, 1863
KENNEBEC captured the schooner JUPITER in the Gulf.

May 9, 1863
AROOSTOOK captured SEA LION as that schooner was trying to slip out of Mobile Bay with 272 bales of cotton bound for Havana.

May 10, 1863
KATAHDIN and OWASCO chased, captured, and burned blockade running schooner HANOVER off Galveston, TX.

KATAHDIN also captured schooner EXCELSIOR off San Luis Pass, TX.

May 15, 1863
KANAWHA captured British brig COMET 20 miles east of Fort Morgan, AL.

May 17, 1863
KANAWHA captured schooner HUNTER running out of Mobile, laden with cotton for Havana.

May 18, 1863
KANAWHA captured schooner RIPPLE running out of Mobile, laden with cotton for Havana.

May 18, 1863
AROOSTOOK and KANAWHA capture the cotton laden schooner HUNTER off Mobile Bay.

June 8, 1863
A daring Confederate expedition left Mobile, AL, on May 28 in a launch, captured the tugboat BOSTON with 19 prisoners-crewmen then burned and sank the barks LENOX and TEXANA in Pas a la Outre, LA. The raiders then returned to Mobile in their prize.

June 17, 1863
ITASCA took MIRIAM, loaded with cotton off Galveston, TX.

June 21, 1863
VELOCITY, a former Confederate vessel which was captured by the Union and armed as a blockader, was recaptured by JOSIAH A. BELL and UNCLE BEN off Sabine Pass, TX.

June 22, 1863
ITASCA took SEA DRIFT containing a cargo of war materiel and drugs off Galveston, TX.

June 23, 1863
AROOSTOOK again engaged the shore batteries protecting Mobile Bay.

July 17, 1863
About an hour after midnight, AROOSTOOK and KENNEBEC both observed a steamer attempting to slip out of Mobile, informed their sister blockaders, and headed for the blockade runner. In response to their signals, OSSIPEE also gave chase and soon passed her informants.

July 18, 1863
Shortly after dawn OSSIPEE, followed by DE SOTO, overhauled JAMES BATTLE 70 miles southeast of Mobile bar, and brought the fleeing ship to with a few well directed rounds. The cotton-laden steamer had jettisoned some 50 of her more than 600 bales of cotton. Following in her wake, AROOSTOOK picked up about 40 bales of the floating cargo. The Federals then use their prize to help capture WILLIAM BAGLEY the same day.

September 8, 1863
A combined Union force crossed the bar below Sabine Pass, TX, and then split, with SACHEM and ARIZONA advancing up the Louisiana (right) channel and CLIFTON and GRANITE CITY moving forward through the Texas (left) channel. When they arrived within range of the Confederate batteries they opened fire preparatory to landing the troops. The Southern gunners did not reply until the gunboats were within close range, but then countered with a devastating cannonade. A shot through her boiler totally disabled SACHEM, another carried away CLIFTON's wheel rope, causing her to run aground under the Confederate guns. CLIFTON's commander, as well as the whole naval force, fought his ship until, with 10 men killed and nine others wounded, he deemed it his duty "to stop the slaughter by showing the white flag...." After flooding her magazine to prevent its exploding SACHEM also surrendered and was taken under tow by UNCLE BEN. With the loss of CLIFTON's and SACHEM's firepower, the two remaining gunboats and troop transports recrossed the bar and departed for New Orleans.

September 11, 1863
GENESEE discovered blockade-running steamer FANNY bound for Mobile and with JOHN P.JACKSON and CALHOUN gave chase. As they closed, the blockade runner's captain burned his ship to the waterline rather than allow her capture.

September 12, 1863
GENESEE, JOHN P. JACKSON and CALHOUN engaged steamer JEFF DAVIS, forcing her to withdraw to the shelter of batteries of Fort Powell at Grant's Pass. The Union vessels then temporarily silenced the Grant's Pass guns.

September 22, 1863
LEVIATHAN a new, fast steamer belonging to the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department, became the shortest-lived Confederate privateer on record when she was captured by Acting Master David Nicols, CSN, an engineer and 18 men in TEASER during a daring raid off the mouths of the Mississippi but recaptured a few hours later by DE SOTO.

October 12, 1863
KANAWHA, accompanied by tender EUGENIE discovered steamer ALICE aground under the guns of Fort Morgan, at the entrance to Mobile Bay, and an unidentified Confederate tug attempting to pull her free. The Union ships steamed toward the strongly defended Confederate shore to destroy the Southern vessels; but Fort Morgan's batteries hulled KANAWHA, forcing them to retire. LACKAWANNA and GENESSEE then headed in to finish the task with their 150-pounders; but, before they got in range, the daring tug managed to refloat ALICE and escaped with her into the bay.

October 21, 1863
JOHN P. JACKSON overhauled and took schooner SYRENA bound from Biloxi to Pascagoula.

October 31, 1863
KATAHDIN overtook ALBERT EDWARD as the British schooner tried to slip out of Galveston with a cargo of cotton.

November 4, 1863
Naval forces convoyed and supported Army troops at Brazos Santiago, TX, where the Union secured a valuable position on the Mexican border. As a result of this operation, Brownsville, TX, was also evacuated.

November 22, 1863
While en route to Galveston, TX, AROOSTOOK captured the schooner EUREKA which had slipped out of the Brazos River laden with cotton for delivery to Havana.

November 28, 1863
KENNEBEC and KANAWHA captured the schooner WINONA bound to Havana from Mobile with a cargo consisting of 248 bales of cotton, 50 barrels of rosin, 14 barrels of turpentine, and $5000 in money. KANAWHA then towed the prize to New Orleans.

November 29, 1863
KANAWHA took schooner ALBERT (also called WENONA) attempting to carry cotton, naval stores, and tobacco out of Mobile.

December 9, 1863
KENNEBEC captured the schooner MARSHALL J. SMITH, laden with 260 bales of cotton, off Mobile.

December 31, 1863
KENNEBEC captured the steamer GREY JACKET after the blockade runner had slipped out of Mobile laden with cotton, rosin, and turpentine for Havana.

January 7, 1864
KENNEBEC captured the schooner JOHN SCOTT after an 8-hour chase.

January 23, 1864
AROOSTOOK captured the schooner COSMOPOLITE off the coast of Texas.

January 30, 1864
Returning to the Gulf after repairs at Brooklyn Navy Yard, Admiral Farragut in HARTFORD arrives at New Orleans after stops at Key West, Pensacola and Mobile.

February 16, 1864
JOHN P. JACKSON towed three schooners into position for the bombardment of Fort Powell, protecting Grant's Pass into Mobile Bay, and then joined in the cannonade.

March 3, 1864
AROOSTOOK captured the schooner MARY P. BURTON off the coast of Texas.

March 11, 1864
LACKAWANNA, KATAHDIN and four other Union blockaders take up station off Galveston, TX, waiting for HARRIET LANE to attempt her escape to sea.

March 12, 1864
AROOSTOOK captured the schooner MARION off the coast of Texas.

March 21, 1864
While attempting to run the blockade off Sabine Pass, TX, with a cargo of cotton,CLIFTON grounded on a bar, and to prevent capture by the blockading vessels, was set on fire and burned by her crew after ineffectually disposing of her deckload to refloat her.

April 2, 1864
Blockade runner MARY SORLEY was captured by SCIOTA off Galveston, TX, en route to Havana with a cargo of cotton.

April 4, 1864
JULIA A. HODGES, a small fast vessel used by the Confederacy to dispatch mail was captured by ESTRELLA near Indianola, TX.

April 30, 1864
Due to confusion among the commanders of Union vessels lying off Galveston, TX, HARRIET LANE, which had been converted to a blockade runner, slips through the blockade to the great embarrassment Union Navy.

May 6, 1864
WAVE and GRANITE CITY went to Sabine Pass for the purpose of capturing five schooners. On their way up the river, the Union vessels were taken under fire by six pieces of Confederate artillery and five hundred men. The first indication the gunboats had of the close proximity of the revels was a salvo from the rebel guns, which were within a few yards on them. Within a few minutes the GRANITE CITY was completely riddled, so damaged that she was unable to move, she surrendered to the attackers.
      In the meantime the Confederates were paying their attentions to WAVE who continued the action some time after the GRANITE CITY was forced to surrender. Like her consort, WAVE was soon so crippled that she could not be handled under this terrific fire, and was compelled to surrender also. All hands of both vessels were taken as prisoners of war.
      Acting Assistant Paymaster A. G. Lathrop of WAVE had been on special duty in the tug Ella Morse and, arriving at the entrance of the Pass on the morning of the 8th, proceeded directly up the river. Upon approaching to within four hundred yards of the gunboats he noticed that everything "did not look just right." He immediately ordered the tug inshore where then dipped the ensign of the tug three times to get a signal to proceed if all was right. In answer he received a sweeping broadside from the GRANITE CITY; but the Confederate gunners had ranged too high, missing their target. Realizing that the gunboats were in the hands of the enemy, the tug was started down the river.
      Ella Morse had scarcely turned around before the banks of the river were lined with riflemen and sharpshooters, and for a distance 1 1/2 miles the little tug steamed through a perfect volley of shells from the gunboats and showers of bullets from the riflemen. The tug had not gone far before the pilot was wounded, and the Captain--who was also the owner--sprang to the wheel, and on his knees steered the boat safely out of range.
      POCAHONTAS and AROOSTOOK were immediately despatched to the scene, but drawing too much water, were unable to do anything except to shell the country in range of their guns. In the interim the NEW LONDON had sent in a boat's crew to communicate with the captured vessels. However, her executive officer was killed and the boat's crew captured.

May 20, 1864
GALENA and several other ships shell Fort Morgan, AL, and various blockade runners near the fort.

May 22, 1864
A crew from KINEO boarded British schooner STING RAY off the Texas coast, but the blockade runner's crew overcame the prize crew, ran the schooner aground on the coast, and turned the Union sailors over to Confederate troops.

June 6, 1864
The steamer AUSTIN is captured by METACOMET off Mobile Bay, operating under British registry as DONEAL, her name also in the U.S. Navy, where she finished out the war.

June 16, 1864
Admiral Farragut begins preparations for the Battle of Mobile Bay.

June 30, 1864
GLASGOW forced blockade-runner IVANHOE to run aground on Mobile Point near Fort Morgan whose guns prevented the blockader from capturing the grounded steamer.

July 6, 1864
Because IVANHOE was protected by Fort Morgans guns, Rear Admiral Farragut attempted at first to destroy her by long range fire from METACOMET and MONONGAHELA. When this proved unsuccessful, Farragut authorized his Flag Lieutenant, J. Crittenden Watson, to lead a boat expedition to burn the Confederate steamer. Under the cover of darkness and the ready guns on board METACOMET and KENNEBEC, Lieutenant Watson led four boats directly to the grounded steamer and fired her in two places shortly after midnight. Farragut wrote: "The admiral commanding has much pleasure in announcing to the fleet, what was anxiously looked for last night by hundreds, the destruction of the blockade runner ashore under the rebel batteries by an expedition of boats. . . the entire conduct of the expedition was marked by a promptness and energy which shows what may be expected of such officers and men on similar occasions."

July 8, 1864
When KANAWHA forced the blockade runner MATAGORDA aground near Galveston, AROOSTOOK and PENGUIN joined the Union gunboat in shelling the stranded steamer to destruction.

September 9, 1864
After Union troops had been withdrawn from the area, KANAWHA reinstituted the blockade of Brownsville, TX, which had been lifted by Presidential proclamation in mid-February.

November 30, 1864
ITASCA took English schooner CARRIER MAIR off Pass Cavallo, TX, and chased ashore and destroyed sloop MARY ANN.

December 5, 1864
Rear Admiral H. K. Thatcher relieved Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut of command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron at the latter's request. This would mark the end of Admiral Farragut's active Civil War career which had begun almost exactly three years earlier.

December 8, 1864
JOHN P. JACKSON captured schooner MEDORA in Mississippi Sound.

December 27, 1864
Confederate blockade runner BELLE is cut out and captured at Galveston Harbor.

December 28, 1864
KANAWHA forced an unidentified sloop ashore near Caney Creek TX, and destroyed her.

January 3, 1865
KANAWHA captured MARY ELLEN of Montreal as the schooner tried to run into Velasco, TX.

January 21, 1865
Chased ashore by PENGUIN off Velasco, TX, GRANITE CITY (a.k.a. THREE MARYS) is believed to have broken up.

January 28, 1865
ST. PATRICK, a submersible torpedo boat which could "be sunk and raised as desired," struck OCTORARA abaft her wheelhouse with a spar torpedo which misfired and did no damage. When the Federals returned artillery and musket fire ST. PATRICK escaped to the protection of the Confederate batteries at Mobile.

February 16, 1865
A boarding party from PINOLA surprised and captured the schooner ANNA DALE off Pass Cavallo, TX. The captors set sail in her but running aground they set her afire on 18 February to prevent recapture.

February 27, 1865
ARIZONA catches fire and explodes in Southwest Pass, LA.

March 17, 1865
Schooner GEORGE BURKHART was captured by QUAKER CITY off Brazos Santiago while running the blockade.

On this same day, a Union Army force of some 32,000 men under General Canby finally launched an attack against the forts protecting Mobile, AL. The Army was supported by several gunboats under Admiral Thatcher including the monitors OSAGE and MILWAUKEE, the river ironclad CINCINNATI and the tinclad RODOLPH.

March 28, 1865
After expending her ammunition in the shelling of Spanish Fort, MILWAUKEE was sunk by a Confederate Torpedo in Mobile Bay.

March 29, 1865
OSAGE is sunk by a Torpedo in Mobile Bay.

April 1, 1865
RODOLPH was also sunk by a torpedo while towing a barge loaded with equipment to be used in raising the sunken MILWAUKEE.

April 14, 1865
While crossing Mobile Bay, SCIOTA strikes a torpedo and sinks in shallow water. After being raised and repaired in July, this veteran fighter, which had first seen action in the western theatre at the battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip in April of 1862, was sent to New York and dry dock.

May 24, 1865
CORNUBIA and PRINCESS ROYAL chased DENBIGH, once described by Admiral Farragut as "too quick for us," who ran aground on Bird Key Spit in Galveston Bay. The blockaders then fired on the grounded blockade-runner until she was nearly destroyed. Later that day, boarding parties from KENNEBEC and SEMINOLE set her aflame after which she wound up a wreck on Bolivar Point Beach.

June 2, 1865
Terms of surrender of Galveston were signed on board FORT JACKSON by Major General E. Kirby Smith on behalf of the Confederacy.