USS St. Clair (1862)

USS "St. Clair" (1862) was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways.

Built in Pennsylvania in 1862

"St. Clair", a wooden, stern-wheel, river steamer built in 1862 at Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, was purchased on 13 August that year by the Navy Department from R. D. Cochran et al., at St. Louis, Missouri. She was fitted out and commissioned on 24 September 1862 at Carondelet, Missouri, Act. Vol. Lt. J. S. Hurd in command.

Civil War operations

Assigned to Mississippi River operations

The next day, she sailed in company with "Brilliant" for Cairo, Illinois. For many months previous, Flag Officer Foote and Commodore C. H. Davis had commanded the victorious Western Flotilla for the U.S. War Department, gaining control of the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois, to Memphis, Tennessee.

On 1 October 1862, the Western Flotilla was transferred to the Navy Department, as the Mississippi Squadron, and was placed under the command of Acting Rear Admiral David D. Porter on the 15th. Davis, who had relieved Foote when the latter was incapacitated by wounds, was now appointed Chief of the Bureau of Navigation. Admiral Porter began to augment the gunboat squadron with many shallow-draft vessels, including "St. Clair", and to expand Union operations on the western rivers. The squadron assembled at Cairo, from which they were dispatched to and stationed along the Mississippi, Cumberland, Tennessee, and upper Ohio Rivers.

Objectives of the Mississippi Squadron

The objectives of the Mississippi Squadron were to cooperate with and support Generals William Rosecrans, Ambrose Burnside, Ulysses S. Grant, and others in combating guerrillas along the river banks; to stop the transport of arms and munitions from Mississippi to Arkansas; to punish rebel supporters living in and around the river communities; and to escort Federal troop and supply transports on the waterways. To these ends, "St. Clair" and her sister gunboats were successful throughout the war.

Assigned reprisal and indemnity duties

"St. Clair" was sent up the Ohio River on 23 October 1862 to assess rebel inhabitants of Caseyville, Kentucky, for robbery of the transport, "Hazel Dell", and to close the ferries and curtail cross-river communications. She was ordered to effect reprisals against those persons known to shelter and supply guerrillas by confiscating goods and destroying property as a lesson to others.

Failing to receive an indemnity of 35,000 dollars from the townspeople, "St. Clair's" crew arrested those who could not prove loyalty and held them on board to turn them over to the Union Army. Among those arrested were an official named William Pemberton and a notorious sutler, J. M. Scantlin, who dealt in gunpowder with the Confederates. Operating with "Fairplay" and "Brilliant", "St. Clair" then engaged in providing protection for loyal citizens.

During December, she operated in the Green, Cumberland, and Tennessee Rivers to restrict commerce.

Supporting General Rosecrans Tennessee operations

In January 1863, "St. Clair" provided convoy protection on the Cumberland to Nashville, Tennessee, to support General William Rosecrans. In February, she participated in the relief of Fort Donelson.

On 3 February, while convoying Army troop transports with "Fairplay", "Lexington", "Brilliant", "Robb", and "Silver Lake", "St. Clair" engaged in a three-hour duel with rebels who were attacking Union troops under Col. Harding near Dover, Tennessee. Driving the enemy from their positions, the gunboats followed their retreat up the river, shelling the woods. Though firing at supposed positions and blinded by the wooded river banks, it was later found that the rebels were never able to avoid the shelling and suffered several hundred casualties. Through March, she continued convoy operations.

"St. Clair" comes under fire at Palmyra and is disabled

On 3 April, at Palmyra, Tennessee, while in convoy, "St. Clair" was fired on by Confederate batteries and disabled when accurate shots crippled her machinery. She was safely towed away by "Fairplay" and later repaired at Cairo, Illinois.

The following day, her sister gunboats returned to Palmyra and burned the town in retaliation.

Assigned to support Mississippi River operations

On 19 June, "St. Clair" was designated as "Gunboat No. 19". Following repair, she departed Cairo late in June to resume escort duty for convoys bringing supplies to forces [Battle of Vicksburg|besieging Vicksburg [.

After the fall of that strong Confederate river fortress, the Mississippi Squadron and the Western Gulf Squadron were able to control the entire Mississippi River, though not on all of its tributaries. "St. Clair" was sent south in mid-September to operate between Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and New Orleans, Louisiana, in support of Union Army operations. Early in 1864, plans were laid down for a joint Army-Navy operation on the Red River with the prime purpose of restoring Federal control in Texas. Admiral Porter's Mississippi Squadron was to convey General William Tecumseh Sherman's forces up the river to Alexandria, Louisiana, timed with the movement of forces under General Nathaniel P. Banks and General Steele between there and Shreveport, Louisiana. The operation was to be carried out during expected high water conditions in mid-March.

Clearing out the Red River and its tributary, the Black River

The major portion of Porter's fleet entered the mouth on 12 March and moved up the river. Unexpected strength in the Confederate ranks, unusual low water conditions for the year, and difficulty in coordinating movement of separate large forces overland brought about failure, to some extent, for the campaign.

A portion of the fleet, some 14 vessels, became entrapped in the upper river as the Army was withdrawing from actions at Sabine Crossroads and Pleasant Hill. Only the determination of Admiral Porter and the resourcefulness of the Army engineers saved the fleet.

As they were constructing dams to raise the river to float the boats over the rocks and falls, "St. Clair" was ordered from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Alexandria, Louisiana, to bolster defenses. On 21 April, she engaged rebels below Alexandria, and from 25 April to 3 May protected barges between Fort De Russy and Alexandria while silencing gun positions at Dunn's Bayou and Wilson's Bend. Admiral Porter now had his fleet reassembled at Alexandria and strengthened with the addition of three ironclads and a part of Farragut's detached squadron.

General Banks arrived on 7 May, and they began to clear out the Red River and its tributary, the Black. St. Clair escorted the transports back to the Mississippi River and engaged rebel troops at Eunice's Bluff on the 15th. The transports safely reached Simmesport, Louisiana, at the mouth on the 21st, and "St. Clair" proceeded to Baton Rouge.

Final operations of the war

The Yazoo River now became for a short time the focal point of Porter's squadron operations, while "St. Clair" continued patrol and convoy duty in the lower Mississippi until August when she steamed to Mound City, Illinois, for repairs. "St. Clair" spent the remainder of the year at Mound City. In January 1865, she escorted convoys on the Tennessee River and carried dispatches between General Thomas's headquarters and Johnsonville, Tennessee. She remained in the Tennessee River until May and was reassigned to the 3d Division of the Mississippi Squadron to operate between Grand Gulf and New Orleans.

Post-war decommissioning, sale and civilian career

In July, she returned to Mound City where she was decommissioned on the 12th and dismantled. On 17 August 1865, "St. Clair" was sold at public auction to J. H. Stearn at Mound City. She was redocumented on 27 September 1865 and operated in merchant service until abandoned in 1869.

References

See also

* United States Navy
* American Civil War