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Native Americans in the Union Navy.

by Terry Foenander.

There are a number of publications relating to the service of Native Americans during the Civil War, but, unfortunately service in the navies of the Union and Confederate states are not covered in any detail.

During my research on several other related subjects, I have had the opportunity to scan several muster rolls of Union and Confederate vessels. I did find mention of at least four American born sailors in the service of the Union Navy, whose complexions are described as "Indian." All of them served aboard the USS Minnesota, and are listed on the muster roll of that vessel, dated January 1, 1863.

I have been advised that although their complexion is noted as being "Indian," that this does not necessarily mean that they were Native Americans. It could possibly mean that their complexions are described as being like that of an Indian.

However, I have found mention of at least one Union sailor who was born of a Native American father, and a French mother. This sailor is listed in Professor Jay Hoar's 1976 publication New England's Last Civil War Veterans. I have chosen to include the details of all five of these sailors in this list.

1. Charles Bastido, Ordinary Seaman, USS Ohio and USS Minnesota, enlisted on April 27, 1861, at Boston, Massachusetts, aged 26, for three years. He was born in California, and his complexion is shown as 'Indian.'

2. William S. Bliss, Landsman, USS Ohio and USS Minnesota, enlisted on December 1, 1862, at Boston, Massachusetts, aged 22, for one year. He was born in Rhode Island, and his eyes and hair are noted as being black, and his complexion is described as 'Indian.'

3. Thomas C. Smart, Landsman, USS Ohio and USS Minnesota, enlisted on December 18, 1862, at Boston, Massachusetts, aged 26, for one year. He was born in Rhode Island, and his pre-war occupation is shown as being a farmer. Eye and hair color, black and complexion described as 'Indian.'

4. James Williams, Landsman, USS Ohio and USS Minnesota, enlisted on December 3, 1862, at Boston, Massachusetts, aged 19, for two years. He was born in Rhode Island, and his eyes and hair color are shown as black, and complexion described as 'Indain.'

5. William Henry Burns enlisted in the Union Navy on April 20, 1864, under the name of William Henry Neosho. His Native American name was disregarded as being impossible to pronounce, and he was given the surname of the vessel he served on, the USS Neosho. His father was a Native American, and his mother of French extraction. He served in the Union Navy till the end of the war, and was discharged at Mound City, Illinois, July 29, 1865.

Besides these gentlemen, I have also located the names of at least two other Native Americans who, although not regularly employed in the Union Navy, did serve in the capacity of scouts for that branch of the service. The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 9, page 373 includes the transcription of a despatch sent by Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Babcock, of the USS Morse, to Rear Admiral S.P. Lee, dated 'Off Yorktown, Va., December 24, 1863,' and which notes, in part:

I would respectfully report that a few days since John Langston and Tinell Bradley (Indians), who have been frequently employed by Lieutenant-Commander [James H.] Gillis as scouts, reported to me that they had been as far as the White House, on the Pamunkey River, and while there were informed by a colored man that the river was filled with torpedoes by the rebels for the purpose of destroying the Yankee gunboats should they come up.

There is no further mention of either of these scouts in the Naval Official Records, and their subsequent history is unknown.

April, 2000.