Confederate States Navy Trivia.

Terry Foenander.

*** Commander James Iredell Waddell notes that within eleven hours on June 28, 1865, the CSS Shenandoah had captured eleven US merchant vessels, putting all but two to the torch. From these vessels nine recruits were shipped into Confederate naval service, perhaps giving them the distinction of being the last men enlisted to fight for the Confederacy. At least two of these men are known by name - Edward Wick, an African American from the bark Waverly, shipped as a Seaman, and Thomas Floyd, an Irishman from the bark Favorite, shipped into the Confederate Marine Corps. [1] [2]

*** At least three Malays are known to have served in the Confederate Navy, two aboard the CSS Shenandoah in 1864-5, and one aboard the CSS Sumter in 1861. All enlisted under anglicized names. William Bruce, joined the Shenandoah as Wardroom Steward, from the prize bark Alina on October 31, 1864, and left the vessel at Melbourne. Another Malay, Duke Simmons, joined as a Seaman at Melbourne. He was one of the 42 stowaways who shipped aboard the Shenandoah, after her departure from that city. In a report of the movements of the CSS Sumter between June and November, 1861, addressed to Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory, dated November 9, 1861, Commander Raphael Semmes mentions that both the Cabin and Wardroom Stewards aboard the vessel deserted at Surinam, Dutch Guiana, on August 30, 1861. He adds that the Cabin Steward was a slave and his (Semmes') body servant, and the Wardroom Steward was a Malay. The muster rolls for the CSS Sumter show the names of the two stewards who deserted as Edward Lee and Nicholas Allen. However, their ranks on the rolls are both shown as Officers' Steward, so it is unknown at present which one was the Malay. [2] [3]

*** There were quite a large number of army personnel who transferred to naval service, including some officers. At least two officers of the rank of Colonel are known to have transferred to naval service. One was Colonel William Bernard Ball of the 15th Virginia Cavalry, and the other was Colonel John R.F. Tattnall, of the 29th Alabama Infantry. Colonel Ball, a native of Chesterfield County, Virginia, had been a physician prior to the war, and had been appointed Captain in Company B, 4th Virginia Cavalry in April 1861. He was transferred, as Lieutenant Colonel, to the 15th Cavalry in April 1862, and promoted Colonel of the regiment on September 11, 1862. Appointed Acting Master in the Navy on September 28, 1863, he resigned, on disability, in either December, 1863, or February, 1864, depending on which source one tends to believe. Commander Robert F. Pinkney had also transferred from the Provisional Army, in which he had been a Lieutenant Colonel, and Commander Benjamin Pollard Loyall, a former Major, also in the Provisional Army, had been transferred over during the same period. Then there were those who had transferred from naval service to the army. One officer who went this way, Lieutenant William L. Powell of the Navy, later became a Colonel in the Army and commanded a brigade of Alabama troops. [4] [17]

*** Amongst those transferred to the naval service from the army was one John B. Eason, originally a Private in Company A, 59th Regiment, North Carolina Troops (designated as the 4th Regiment North Carolina Cavalry). Eason had enlisted at Anson County at the age of 26 on May 10, 1862. He served for nearly sixteen months, rising to the rank of Commissary Sergeant before transferring to the Confederate Navy on September 3, 1863. Records show him as a Landsman aboard the CSS Chicora in late 1863 and early 1864. Subsequent service is unknown but he transferred back to his original company and regiment in the army on January 7, 1865. [5]

*** Although this next item is not entirely related to the Confederate Navy, it has some significance to the service. Charles G. Wilkinson enlisted as a first Sergeant in Company C, 25th Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, on July 22, 1861. He was later to conduct experiments in the field of submarine warfare with his partner Charles Carroll, also a resident of Savannah, Georgia. Unfortunately Wilkinson was drowned on February 23, 1862, when his submersible sank in Savannah harbor, but Carroll managed to escape out of the narrow hatch. Experimentation in this field would cost many more lives during the course of the war, but they would not have died in vain, as the eventual results would prove. [6]

*** At least one act of murder is known to have been committed upon an officer of the Confederate Navy by a fellow officer. On October 15, 1862, Acting Master's Mate Joseph Goodwyn Hester fired three shots at his commanding officer, Master's Mate (Acting Midshipman) William Andrews, of Georgia, with a pistol, aboard the CSS Sumter, while that vessel was anchored off Gibraltar. Andrews died almost instantly, and, after an inquest was held, his remains were laid to rest on October 17, at Gibraltar, attended by members of the Sumter, as well as several officers of the One Hundredth Canada Regiment, stationed at the rock. Hester was under suspicion by Andrews of pilfering articles from the vessel, but after his arrest for the murder, Hester had tried to vindicate his crime by claiming that Andrews had intended to commit treason by delivering the vessel into the hands of the US authorities. However the crew of the Sumter in a letter to the Confederate Commissioner in London, James M. Mason, noted that the claim was without foundation, and that Andrews was beloved and respected by all who knew him, especially his crew. Hester was held by the British authorities at Gibraltar, and, after some correspondence with the Confederate authorities, the British sent him aboard the Shannon, to Bermuda, where it was hoped he would be allowed to be brought through the blockade, for trial in the Confederate States. However, permission was denied, and he was permitted to go free in Bermuda. [7]

*** Irishman William Kenyon is the only known Confederate States Marine Corps enlistee to be buried in far away Australia. He was one of the 42 men who stowed away aboard the CSS Shenandoah when that vessel left Melbourne in early 1865. He was shipped as one of the Marines, and was with the vessel right up to her surrender to the English authorities at Liverpool, in November, 1865. Kenyon made his way back to Australia and died in Melbourne, aged 71, on November 13, 1915. His remains were laid to rest at the Melbourne General Cemetery. Two other stowaways from Melbourne were shipped as Marines, but Kenyon is the only one known to have returned and died there. [2] [8]

*** Another forgotten ethnic group who had several members in the Confederate States Navy were the Sandwich Islanders (modern day Hawaii). Ten natives of this Island group were shipped aboard the CSS Shenandoah from the prize bark Abigail, on May 27, 1865. They were all ranked as Seaman. Their names were William Bill, Henry Givens, John Mahoe, Joseph Long, James California, James French, John Sailer, William Brown, Joseph Kanaca and John Boy. With the exception of William Bill, who died on October 26th, 1865, all of them remained with the vessel until her arrival at Liverpool. [2]

*** Although Sandwich Islander William Bill died on October 26, 1865, he was not the last person to die in the service of the Confederate Navy. This distinction probably belongs to Sergeant George P. Canning, a crew member of the CSS Shenandoah. Canning was an Englishman who had been one of the 42 stowaways at Melbourne. He was shipped aboard the vessel in the Confederate States Marine Corps and died October 29, 1865, just a week before the vessel steamed up the Mersey River. Commander Waddell notes that Canning had indicated to him that he (Canning) had served as aide de camp under Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk, earlier in the war. [2] [18]

*** There was only one Confederate naval officer executed by Union authorities as a spy. He was, of course, John Yates Beall, Acting Master, who, together with several others, captured the steamers Philo Parsons and Island Queen, planning to use them in an unsuccessful attempt to release the Confederate prisoners on Johnson's Island, in September, 1864. Beall was captured, tried and sentenced to be hanged on Governor's Island in New York Harbor. The execution was carried out on February 24, 1865. [9]

*** Edward Cantey Stockton's service for the Confederacy was rather unique in that he served in the South Carolina Navy, commanding the gunboat Lady Davis until May 1861, after which he accepted an appointment with the Confederate States Marine Corps until September 1861. He then formed his own company in the 21st South Carolina Volunteers in January, 1862, before resigning in April to join the Confederate States Navy. Besides having served with the Marine Corps, Army and Navy of the Confederacy, Stockton had also previously served in the United States Navy, rising to the rank of Lieutenant before being dismissed on June 30, 1858. [10]

*** Joseph Cruz del Cano, a steward aboard the privateer Savannah, was imprisoned at Fort Lafayette, New York Harbor, in June, 1861, together with other crew members from that vessel, as well as several crewmen of the Jeff Davis, Dixie, Sumter and the Petrel. Del Cano, in correspondence sent from Fort Lafayette, dated February 12, 1862, and co-signed by fellow inmates, mentions that he was a native of Manilla, but a resident of Liverpool, England. They requested permission to take the oath of allegiance, and wished to be released. In a later communication sent from the fort, dated March 20, 1862, del Cano earnestly requests to be released, mentioning that he is a Spaniard, but a resident of Liverpool. At the end of May, del Cano and a number of prisoners were released on the orders of Union Secretary Welles. [11]

*** On July 21, 1861, just over three months after hostilities had commenced, the USS Albatross, commanded by George A. Prentiss, opened fire upon the CSS Beaufort, commanded by Lieutenant R.C. Duvall, who immediately returned the compliment. The engagement, in the vicinity of Bodie's Island, on Oregon Inlet, Virginia, lasted for about 45 minutes. In his report of the incident, dated July 22, 1861, Duvall states that it was the "first entirely naval engagement which has as yet taken place between our forces and the Lincoln forces." [12]

*** The Confederate Army may have prevented African Americans from being regularly enlisted in that service, but the Confederate States Navy is known to have enlisted (besides those serving as Pilots) at least two persons of color in the service. These unnamed sailors are mentioned in a despatch dated at Warrenton, North Carolina, April 16, 1862, and sent by Lieutenant James W. Cooke to Flag Officer William F. Lynch, commanding the recently captured CSS Ellis, as having deserted to the enemy. Their ratings are noted as being coal heavers. [13]

*** George Seton Johnston, a member of Company B of the Confederate States Marine Corps, is probably the only member of the CSMC to be buried in Arlington Cemetery. He enlisted at Richmond on September 1, 1864, as Private, and was assigned to the CSS Virginia II; surrendered at Greensboro, North Carolina in April, 1865. He resided in Virginia after the war and received a Confederate pension from the state government until his death at Lyon Park on June 2, 1928. [14]

*** Another member of the Confederate Marine Corps, Private John W. Willey of Company D, a native of England, enlisted at Mobile, Alabama, on October 11, 1862, at the age of 58, and was probably the oldest enlisted man in the Corps. At the other end of the scale, the youngest was probably Musician Henry Klocke, aged 12 at enlistment in May, 1864. [14]

*** Shortly before the CSS Virginia was ready for service in early 1862, a gentleman by the name of Douglas F. Forrest, of Gosport, Virginia, in a lengthy letter to President Jefferson Davis, suggested using the vessel to put a scare into the politicians at Washington, D.C., by sending her up the Potomac, accompanied by a couple of other vessels, and a land force to invade the soil north of the Union capital. Within a week of this letter being sent, Secretary Stephen Mallory made a suggestion to Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan that it might be possible for the Virginia to steam to New York and shell the city. Neither scheme was ever tried and the Confederate ironclad remained within the confines of Hampton Roads where history was made on March 8, 1862. [15]

*** In July, 1862, a resident of New York had sent a letter to Gideon Welles advising him of a device that had been offered to President Jefferson Davis, which could be used to destroy the Union vessels on the James River. It was supposed to have been a proven method which had been tested during the Walker expedition to Nicaragua, and was termed a 'chemical mechanical contrivance,' which was sucked into the boilers of the gunboats, causing them to blow up. The inventor was an Englishman, who had boasted that no vessel could escape this weapon, but it could only be used on the inland waterways. It is unknown why the Confederate States did not make use of this particular device. [16]

*** At the end of hostilities, out of common decency, many of the now defeated Confederate Army and Navy personnel worked alongside the Union forces to bring peace and stability back to the devastated Southland. One naval officer of high moral standing, Commander Beverly Kennon, in communication with officers of the Union Navy, in July, 1865, advised them of the location of two torpedoes (mines) which were buried on the roadside in the yard of a Southern lady, situated about a mile from the mouth of Potomac Creek, Virginia. Kennon advised that unless these torpedoes were removed some innocent person may suffer. He further stated that the woman had five children, including the oldest son, a 15 year old, who would show the authorities where the torpedoes were buried. Kennon advised that when they called in to the house, the boy would plead ignorance, but if they mentioned that he (Kennon) had sent them to obtain them, he would show them where it was. In a later communication to Commander Foxhall A. Parker, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Joshua H. Eldridge, commander of the USS Delaware, advised that he had successfully located the devices where Kennon had described them, and they were then sent to the ordnance yard at Washington. [19]

*** Not every deserter from the Confederate States Navy ended up in relative obscurity. One John H. Pucket, a Landsman aboard the CSS Raleigh, took his liberty from the vessel in about March, 1864, and deserted to the Union naval forces near Wilmington, North Carolina. Pucket, a native of North Carolina, was taken aboard the USS Niphon, with other refugees from the region, on April 7, 1864. They gave valuable information to the Union naval commander in the vicinity about salt works and the strength of personnel in the area, which resulted in a successful expedition to destroy the works about two weeks later. Pucket had volunteered to guide the expedition into Masonboro Sound to destroy the salt works on the proviso that the people employed at the works would be allowed to leave with the Union forces, as it was feared that, after destruction of the works, they would be conscripted into the Confederate army. Pucket later applied, through U.S. Navy captain, Benjamin F. Sands, for a position as pilot with the Union Navy, which was approved by Acting Rear Admiral S.P. Lee on April 26, 1864. He was subsequently involved in several other naval activities and is mentioned several times in official despatches. The U.S. Navy List of Officers shows that he was appointed Acting Ensign and Pilot on September 9, 1864 and resigned on March 8, 1865. [20]

*** Although at least one Civil War naval scholar claims that the spirit ration in the Confederate Navy was continued throughout the war, there was a General Order issued through the Office of Orders and Detail, Confederate States Navy Department, in Richmond, Virginia, dated November 28, 1863, which states: "On account of the difficulty of procuring spirits, it will not be issued hereafter, till further orders from the Department, as a part of the navy ration. It will be furnished only as medical stores, to be issued on the prescription of medical officers. In lieu of spirits the articles authorized by section 3 of the act 'to establish the navy ration' may be substituted, or the ration may be commuted at 4 cents." This was signed by Commander John K. Mitchell. The amount of pay substituted in place of the spirit ration was rather paltry, as, by that point in time, the Confederate currency had dropped drastically in value. [21]

*** On May 1, 1864, four sailors from the Confederate steamer Resolute, based near Savannah, Georgia, deserted the vessel. Flag Officer William W. Hunter, in a message to Commander John K. Mitchell dated May 6, provides the names and ratings of these deserters, amongst whom was one Joseph Moore, officer's steward, whom Hunter describes as being 'an Indian by a white man.' Moore is probably the first known part Native American to have served in the Confederate Navy. He later gave himself up and was confined. [22]

*** It is a sad fact that many of the documents relating to the Confederate Navy were destroyed at the close of hostilities, perhaps as a protective measure. Unfortunately, when these measures were taken, it would also destroy evidence of the service of many who had served in the Navy or Marine Corps. One such was William Baya, later an officer in the Confederate Army. There is circumstantial evidence to show that he may have served in the Confederate States Marine Corps as a First Lieutenant. A letter sent by Baya to the Confederate Secretary of the Navy, dated September 14, 1861, mentions these particulars, and that he had served on the Confederate privateer Jeff Davis under a Captain L.M. Coxetter. His widow, Cornelia Sabina Canova Baya also swore in her Florida Pension Application that her husband had served in the Confederate Navy and Army. [23]

*** Boatswain William Smith was appointed in the United States Navy on August 2, 1838. Possibly of Southern birth, he was dropped from the service on April 20, 1861, when he cast his lot with the seceding states. Appointed a boatswain in the Confederate States Navy on June 15, 1861, he saw service at the Gosport Navy Yard, Virginia, and at Charlotte, North Carolina. However, he must have had a change of heart as he took the oath of allegiance to the United States government and requested reinstatement in the United States Navy. There is no record to show that he was accepted back. [24]

*** George G. Pattison held a position as Clerk to the Commandant at Pensacola, Florida in 1861 and 1862. On September 6, 1862, he addressed a letter from Montgomery, Alabama, to the Chairman, Naval Committee of Senate, Confederate States, advising that he had invented what he termed a fireship, which plan he had communicated to the Secretary of the Navy, but in reply was advised that it had been "filed for consideration." A drawing of the fireship accompanied this correspondence, but it seems that no further action was taken to test or inspect such a contrivance. From Pattison's description, it would seem that he had invented a crude form of a naval flame throwing vessel. The vessel included a conical tower, from which spirit turpentine could be hurled on to the enemy's vessels through connecting pipes. The inventor then indicated that the turpentine could be ignited by fuses fired by muskets, fireballs, or some other means. He states that "with these ships in successful operation we can defy and punish not only our present enemy, but at all times the naval powers of the world." The plan was obviously never adopted. [25]

Notes:

[1] Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 3, page 829.

[2] List of Officers and Men of the Shenandoah, included in an affidavit filled out by William A. Temple at Liverpool on December 6, 1865.

[3] Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 1, pages 626, 627, 634, 706 and 707.

[4] See entries for Ball in Register of Officers of the Confederate States Navy, 1861-1865, compiled by the Office of Naval Records and Library, United States Navy Department, 1931; and Lee's Colonels by Robert K. Krick.

[5] Eason's army service is noted on page 271, Volume 2 of the Louis H. Manarin compilation series North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster. His naval service aboard the CSS Chicora is shown in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies of the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Volume 1, page 284.

[6] See Lillian Henderson's Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, 1861-1865, Volume 3, page 103, which notes that Wilkinson "invented submarine torpedoes" and shows the date of his drowning as February 24, 1862. Mark K. Ragan's recent work Union and Confederate Submarine Warfare in the Civil War, pages 42-43, gives an account of the experiments in the submersible by Wilkinson and Carroll, and shows the date of Wilkinson's drowning as February 23. It also notes that he was aged 49, and had an only daughter.

[7] Particulars of the murder and subsequent events can be found in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 1, pages 508-509, 688-689, and Series 2, Volumes 2 and 3. Basic biographical details of Andrews and Hester can be found in the Register of Officers of the Confederate States Navy, 1861-1865. Additional biographical details have also been kindly provided by David M. Sullivan, CSN and CSMC researcher, of Rutland, Massachusetts.

[8] Images of the gravesite of William Kenyon at the Melbourne General Cemetery can be viewed at John Ellis' Confederate States Navy web site at http://www.csnavy.org

[9] Register of Officers of the Confederate States Navy, 1861-1865.

[10] See the late Ralph W. Donnelly's work The Confederate States Marine Corps, pages 258-259; the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 5, page 654, and the List of Officers of the U.S. Navy and of the Marine Corps, 1775-1900.

[11] All correspondence relating to this segment can be found in War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 2, Volume 3.

[12] See reports by both Commanders in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 6, pages 20-23.

[13] A transcript of this despatch, giving details of the action, which culminated in the abandonment of the CSS Ellis off Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in February, 1862, can be found in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 6, pages 597-598. For an indication of the fate of African Americans who attempted to fight for the Confederacy, see the entries for Privates Henry Revels and Jonathan Revels of Company F, 51st Regiment North Carolina Troops in North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster, Volume XII, page 338. The record shows that they were both discovered to be Negroes and were discharged prior to July 1, 1862.

[14] Information included in an unpublished manuscript compiled by the late Ralph Donnelly, listing the known personnel of the Confederate States Marine Corps, and used with the kind permission of David M. Sullivan, Rutland, Massachusetts, who assisted Mr. Donnelly with the compilation.

[15] See copies of both documents in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 6, pages 780-781, and Volume 7, pages 737-739.

[16] See the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 7, page 582.

[17] Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Volume 2, page 146; see also Volume 16, page 786.

[18] Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 3, page 814.

[19] Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 5, pages 574-576.

[20] Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 9, pages 561, 672-676, 678, 701; Volume 10, pages 509 and 511; Volume 11, page 99; and Series 2, Volume 1, page 302. See also the List of Officers of the U.S. Navy and of the Marine Corps, 1775-1900.

[21] Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 15, pages 696-697.

[22] Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 15, page 734.

[23] Particulars included in a letter dated April 18, 2000, to this author from Colonel (retired) John J. Masters, sr., of St. Augustine, Florida, a descendant of William Baya. Colonel Masters also states that Baya was appointed Captain in Grayson's Florida Artillery, in November 1861, which would have superseded his Marine Corps appointment, possibly resulting in an annulment of his earlier appointment.

[24] Register of Officers of the Confederate States Navy, 1861-1865; List of Officers of the United States Navy and of the Marine Corps, 1775-1900.]

[25] Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 19, page 786-787.

Copyright, Terry Foenander.

2000.