- USS Ivy (1862)
USS "Ivy" (1862) was a steamer acquired by the
Union Navy during theAmerican Civil War .She was assigned by the Navy as a
gunboat to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries. "Ivy" also was assigned the role oftugboat anddispatch boat ; towards the end of the war she was assigned the role of coal barge tender.Built in Missouri in 1862
"Ivy", a screw tug, was built as "Terror" by the Army at
St. Louis, Missouri , in1862 ; transferred to the Navy30 September 1862 and renamed "Ivy".Civil War operations
Assigned to the Mississippi Squadron
Assigned to the
Mississippi Squadron , "Ivy" took part astugboat and dispatch boat in the winter operations around Vicksburg1862 -63. In the important attack onFort Hindman 9-11 January 1863 , she served as Rear AdmiralDavid D. Porter 'sflagship .As the more powerful
gunboats pounded the fort in support of GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman 's attack, "Ivy" came alongside both "Cincinnati" and "Louisville" to help quench fires started by shore fire. In a memorandum in the office ofSecretary of the Navy ,Gideon Welles noted::"The officers and crew behaved with great coolness, though under a brisk fire of musketry."
The naval attack, directed from "Ivy", resulted in Sherman's capture of the fort, a severe blow to the Confederate cause in the West.
Passing under the lethal Vicksburg batteries on the Mississippi
"Ivy" was also present for the passage of the
Vicksburg, Mississippi , batteries by AdmiralDavid Dixon Porter 's ships 16-17 April 1863 . Lashed to the side of the powerful "Benton", "Ivy" steamed boldly past Vicksburg, opening operations south of the city to Porter and contributing importantly to the fall ofGrand Gulf and eventually to the capture of Vicksburg.In May the tug accompanied the gunboats up the Red River. The ships reached abandoned
Fort De Russy 5 May and 2 days later took Alexandria, only to be forced back downstream by low water. The fort was partially destroyed and Porter returned toGrand Gulf to continue the assault on Vicksburg. The tug remained near Vicksburg, often as Porter'sflagship , until after its fall4 July 1863 , and subsequently acted as a dispatch boat and tug on the river and as a receiving ship forprisoners of war . Ivy entered the Red River again in1864 when the major part of Admiral Porter's fleet was caught by low water above the rapids at Alexandria. She assisted gunboat "Ozark" over the rapids13 May 1864 and returned to theMississippi River with the fleet amid frequent Confederate attacks from shore.Final operations of the war and decommissioning
For the remainder of the war "Ivy" was used to tend and pump coal barges at
Donaldsonville, Louisiana . She was sold atMound City, Illinois ,17 August 1865 to W. G. Priest.References
See also
*
United States Navy
*American Civil War External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/i3/ivy-i.htm USS Ivy]
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