- USS General Sherman (1864)
USS "General Sherman" (1864) was acquired from the
U.S. War Department by theUnion Navy during theAmerican Civil War as agunboat in waterways of the Confederate South.Constructed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1864
"General Sherman", a 187-ton side-wheel "tinclad"
river gunboat , was one of four light wooden gunboats built atChattanooga, Tennessee , for the War Department in1864 . She commissioned atBridgeport, Alabama ,27 July 1864 , Acting Master Joseph W. Morehead in command.Turned over to the Navy and commissioned in July
1864 , "General Sherman" spent most of her service on the UpperTennessee River .Patrolling the Tennessee River
"General Sherman" was assigned to the 11th District,
Mississippi Squadron , and became part of Lt. Moreau Forrest's gunboat fleet on the upper Tennessee River.Leaving Bridgeport, Alabama,
22 August , she patrolled with other gunboats betweenDecatur, Alabama , andMuscle Shoals, Alabama , controllingguerrilla attacks and working to prevent major elements of Confederate GeneralJohn Bell Hood 's army from crossing the river intoTennessee . "General Sherman" continued to patrol until she returned to Bridgeport for repairs17 December .Supporting General Steedman at Decatur
Returning to the upper Tennessee River, "General Sherman" lent vital artillery support to the forces of General
James B. Steedman
at Decatur,27 December , shelling Confederate emplacements as Union Army troops crossed the river.She again patrolled the river, attempting to cut off the withdrawal of Hood's army from Tennessee and convoying Union supply ships, until the war ended.
Post-war return to the Army Quartermaster
"General Sherman" was returned to the Army
Quartermaster Department atChattanooga, Tennessee ,3 June 1865 .ee also
*
Tennessee in the American Civil War
*United States Navy
*American Civil War References
External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g3/general_sherman.htm USS General Sherman]
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