USRC Harriet Lane (1857)

The "Harriet Lane" was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service and, on the outbreak of the American Civil War, a ship of the United States Navy and later Confederate States Navy. She was named after the niece of senator and later United States President, James Buchanan. She was christened and entered the water for the revenue service in 1859 out of New York City, and saw action during the civil war at Fort Sumter, New Orleans, Galveston, Texas, Virginia Point and was captured by the Confederates in 1863 whereupon she was reverted to a trade ship and promptly recaptured by the Union forces, declared unfit for service sold and rechristened the Elliot Ritchie out of Philadelphia, only to be abandoned at sea in 1881.

Layout of the ship

The "Harriet Lane" was 270 feet long, 22 feet across and 12 feet from the bottom of the hull to the main deck. [An account of the ships career, found [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v021/n4/article_2.html here] , retrieved on March 10 2007] Her propulsion was a double-right-angled marine engine with two side paddles, supported by two masts; the entire ship was sheathed and fastened with copper. From stern to bow, the captain's cabin and stateroom sat above an aft magazine, forward of which was a second magazine with the officer quarters above. Forward of this, in the midships was the engine machinery and coal supply, and beyond this the quarters and galley for the non-commissioned ranks which sat above a third magazine. Her initial armaments were described as "light guns", [An account of the ships career, found [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v021/n4/article_2.html here] , retrieved on March 10 2007] .] however after joining the West Gulf Squadron her firepower was upgraded somewhat: one four-inch rifled Parrot gun to the forecastle, one nine-inch Dahlgren gun in front of the first mast, two eight-inch Dahlgren Columbians and two twenty-four-pound brass howitzers. Her crew of 95 were also given small arms.

Career

With the Union

"Harriet Lane", built for the Treasury Department by William H. Webb, was launched in New York City November 1857. She was a copper-plated steamer could make speeds of up to eleven knots. Her battery consisted of three thirty-two-pounders and four twenty-four-pound howitzers. [An account of the ships career, found [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v021/n4/article_2.html here] , retrieved on March 10 2007] She served as a revenue cutter until temporarily transferred to the Navy late in 1858. Her new assignment took her to Paraguay with a squadron ordered to support the discussions of U.S. Special Commissioner James B. Bowlin with Dictator Carlos Antonio Lopez concerning reparations for damages incurred during an unprovoked attack on "Water Witch" by the Paraguayan forces 1 February 1855. This display of sea power quickly won the United States a prompt and respectful hearing which 4 years of diplomacy had failed to obtain. Paraguay apologized, paid an indemnity to compensate the family of an American seaman killed during the fight, and signed a new commercial treaty containing provisions highly advantageous to the United States. In his report Flag Officer William B. Shubrick singled out "Harriet Lane" for special commendation on the invaluable service she rendered in extricating his other ships repeatedly running aground in the treacherous waters of the Parana River.

Returning to the United States, "Harriet Lane" resumed her former duties as a revenue cutter. In September 1860 she embarked Edward Albert, the Prince of Wales, the first member of the British Royal Family to visit the United States, for passage to Mount Vernon where he planted a tree and placed a wreath on the tomb of George Washington.

"Harriet Lane" again transferred to the Navy 30 March 1861 for service in the expedition sent to Charleston, South Carolina, to supply the Fort Sumter garrison after the outbreak of the American Civil War. She departed New York 8 April and arrived off Charleston 11 April. The next day she fired a shot across the bow of "Nashville" when that merchantman appeared with no colors flying. "Nashville" avoided further attack by promptly hoisting the United States ensign, but 2 days later raised the Palmetto flag to begin her career as one of the most elusive Confederate privateers. When Major Robert Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter 13 April, "Harriet Lane" withdrew with her sister ships. According to sources, Lieutenant W. D. Thompson fired the opening salvo of a later engagement with Confederate naval forces when he targeted the Confederate "Nashville" with the thirty-two pounder he commanded on the deck of the "Harriet Lane". [Captain H. D. Smith, "The U. S. Revenue Cutter Service", Century Magazine, Vol. 33, p575 (February, 1898)]

Her next important service came the following summer when a task force was sent against Fort Clark and Fort Hatteras on the outer banks of North Carolina to check blockade running in the area. The ships attacked from Hampton Roads 26 August 1861 for this first important combined amphibious operation of the war. The next morning "Harriet Lane", "Monticello", and "Pawnee" slipped close inshore to provide direct support to the landings while heavier ships pounded the forts from deeper water. The last resistance was snuffed out the following afternoon, giving a badly needed boost to morale in the North disheartened a month before by defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run. Of greater importance was the fact that this combined operation opened the inland waterways to Union ships and gave the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron a base deep in Southern waters.

"Harriet Lane" ran aground while attempting to enter Pamlico Sound through Hatteras Inlet 29 August and suffered severe damage while fast on the shoal. She was refloated at the cost of her armament, rigging, stores, provisions, and everything else on board which could be heaved over the side to lighten ship. Temporary repairs completed 3 September, she proceeded to Hampton Roads, arriving 8 September 1861.

"Harriet Lane" sailed 10 February 1862 to join Commander David Dixon Porter's Mortar Flotilla at Key West, where units were assembling for an attack on Confederate forts in the Mississippi River Delta below New Orleans, Louisiana. Comdr. Porter embarked at Washington. During her passage to Hampton Roads, "Harriet Lane" was taken under fire by the Confederate battery at Shipping Point, Virginia, which inflicted such damage to her port wheel that her departure for Key West was delayed another 2 days. On 24 February, she captured the Confederate schooner "Joanna Ward" off Florida.

The "Harriet Lane" then targeted the Confederate fleets in Louisiana and Texas as part of the West Gulf Squadron under the command of Commodore Farragut, a duty for which her firepower was upgraded as mentioned above. Commanded by Commander Jonathan M. Wainwright and Lieutenant Commander Edward Lea at this point, she was used as Farragut's flagship until he transferred to the "Hartford" on January 20. She was then ordered to join a fleet under the command of Captain David D. Porter at the mouth of the Mississippi river. On March 4, 1862 this fleet moved to attack Confederate forts south of New Orleans, advancing up the river and engaging Fort Jackson of April 8 and passing it on April 24, with New Orleans falling the next day. [D. S. Osborn, "Memoirs" in "Pearson's Magazine", February, 1906] and the "Harriet Lane" being sent on June 29 1862 to attack the Vicksburg batteries.

Farragut ordered the Mortar Flotilla to Ship Island 1 May, and "Harriet Lane" continued to Pensacola, Florida where she transported Brigadier General Lewis G. Arnold's troops from Fort Pickens to the other side of the bay where they occupied Forts Barrancas, and McRee, Barancas Barracks, and the Navy Yard which had been abandoned by the Confederates. Back at Ship Island for repairs 30 May, "Harriet Lane" prepared to ascend the Mississippi with Porter's mortar boats to engage enemy batteries on the cliffs of Vicksburg, Mississippi while Farragut ran past this river stronghold to join Flag Officer Charles H. Davis in an effort to clear the entire Mississippi Valley of obstructions to Union shipping. However, sufficient ground forces to take Vicksburg were not made available, nullifying the value of his operation, and after a frustrating encounter with new Confederate ironclad ram "Arkansas", Farragut ran back down past Vicksburg while "Harriet Lane" and her sister vessels in the Mortar Flotilla again covered the dash by bombarding the Confederate batteries 15 July.

In September, she was sent to Galveston, Texas as part of a blockade fleet under the command of Commodore Eagle, whose flagship was too large to enter the river and was subsequently relieved of command on October 1. On October 4, the "Harriet Lane" advanced up the river along with several other warships. A fort on Pelican Island opened fire briefly, but all other Confederate forts had been abandoned. On October 9 Union marines landed to raise the United States flag, and the key to the city was given to the captain of the "Harriet Lane", which was Captain Wainright. [Gussley, "Yankee Notebook" published in "Galveston News", by W. P. Doran] Union forces from the ships occupied the town, but fell back to the docks every night as Confederate cavalry entered the town every evening. The ships bombarded the town at regular intervals.

On the early morning of January 1 1863, with almost all ships, including the "Harriet Lane", anchored in the channel, an alarm was raised reporting Confederate forces approaching. With only the "Westfield" ready to manoeuvre, she sailed up river in an attempt to engage the approaching Confederate vessels. The "Westfield" grounded, but the attack was reckoned to be merely a retreat by Confederate ships, and the alarm was cancelled. There was, however, Confederate land forces under the command of General John B. Magruder that was approaching Galveston. At four o'clock of that morning, in what would come to be know as the Battle of Galveston, the reoccupied Confederate forts opened fire on the Union fleet while ground troops attempted to board the anchored ships. The late arrival of a Confederate fleet enabled the troops to board the Harriet Lane, which was being raked by gunfire and rammed, finding Wainright dead and Lea mortally wounded. In one of the war’s most poignant incidents, when Lea was mortally wounded, his father Conferderate Major Albert M. Lea was serving ashore in Galveston. He came on board the Harriet to only realize his son was near death.

With the Confederacy, recapture and sale

During the Battle of Galveston, the "Harriet Lane" sank the Rebel tugboat "Neptune", and one-half of the two-vessel Confederate fleet was lying on the bottom of the harbor. [ [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/qeg1.html "Galveston, Battle of,"] Alwyn Barr, "The Handbook of Texas Online" (Texas State Historical Association, June 6, 2001).] However, the Confederate gunboat "Bayou City" circled around and made a second run on the "Harriet Lane". At daybreak, the "Harriet Lane" was listing steeply, and a boat was dispatched from her side to the remaining Union ships to negotiate a surrender. [H. S. Lubbock's Deposition before Prize Commissioners, 1863] During the negotiations, the "Harriet Lane" was further damaged by fire from the Union "Owasco" under a flag of truce in an attempt to explode her magazine. The flagship "Westfield" was later exploded, and the remaining Union ships fled to New Orleans, leaving the "Harriet Lane", along with a copy of the United States signal service code book in her cabin, in Confederate hands.

The capture of the "Harriet Lane" was an interesting episode of the Civil War, as it possibly involved the youngest combatant of the American Civil War. [p. 96, Garrison, W. (1994). Civil War Curiosities: Strange Stories, Oddities, Event, and Coincidences. Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.: Rutledge Hill Press.] According to an account by a captured member of the Confederate boarding party:

Amongst the first men struck down were the gallant Captain Wainwright and Lieutenant Lee, who both fought with desperation and valor.

One young son of Captain Wainwright, just ten years old, stood at the cabin door with a revolver in each hand and never ceased firing until he had expended every shot.

After a week of repairs, the "Harriet Lane" was placed under the command of Captain Thos. C. Saunders and dispatched to fight the Union vessels at sea, despite length legal discussions regarding the capture of the prize which had not yet drawn to a close. As a result, the ship was taken further upriver and stripped of weapons to lighten her load [An account of the ships career, found [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v021/n4/article_2.html here] , retrieved on March 10 2007] . March 10 saw the "Harriet Lane" legally under the ownership of the Confederacy, and she was given to Captain Barney of the Confederate States Navy. She was dispatched past the Union blockade to Cuba, loaded with a cargo of cotton. However, her absence was noted the next day and a Union warship was sent in pursuit, and awaited her when she arrived at her destination, Havana. Captain Barney attempted to flee, but then destroyed his cargo and grounded his vessel in order to flee. The "Harriet Lane" was refloated by the Union forces, but was declared unfit for naval service. She was refitted to an unarmed three-masted fore-and-aft schooner and renamed the "Elliot Ritchie", and operated out of Philadelphia, transporting coal and merchandise. [An account of the ships career, found [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v021/n4/article_2.html here] retrieved on March 10 2007] In 1881, with a fire breaking out in one of her cargo holds, she was abandoned at sea.

ee also

*Battle of Galveston
*C.S. "Bayou City"
*C.S. "Neptune"
*USCGC "Harriet Lane" - modern cutter named for the "Harriet Lane"

Notes

External links

* [http://www.uscg.mil/lantarea/cutter/harrietlane/history.html Harriet Lane via Coast Guard Historian's Office webpage]
* "The United States Gunboat Harriet Lane", Philip C. Tucker, 3d, retrieved from [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v021/n4/article_2.html] on February 26.
* [http://www.american-presidents.org/2006/04/uss-harriet-lane.html USS Harriet Lane]