June 1862

1 Samuel Eakins is appointed “Superintendent� of de Villeroi’s submarine.

2 Boat from USS New London, Lieutenant A. Read, captured yachts Comet and Algerine near New Basin, Louisiana.

Eleven men in two boats under Acting Master Samuel Curtis from USS Kingfisher, while on an expedition up Aucilla River, Florida, to obtain fresh water, were surprised by Confederate attackers; two were killed and nine were captured.

2-3 USS Unadilla, Lieutenant Collins, USS Pembrine, E.B. Hale, Ellen, and Henry Andrew provided close gunfire support for Army landings and operations on James Island, South Carolina.

3 USS Gem of the Sea, Lieutenant Baxter, captured blockade runner Mary Stewart at the entrance to South Santee River, South Carolina.

USS Montgomery, Lieutenant C. Hunter, captured a blockade running British schooner Will-O’-the-Wisp transferring powder and percussion caps to a lighter near the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

4 Confederates evacuated Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on the Mississippi River during the night of 4-5 June after sustaining prolonged bombardment by Union gunboats and mortars. On 5 June the Union fleet under Captain Davis and transports moved down the river to within two miles of Memphis.

5 Tug assigned to USS Benton, Captain Davis, captured steamer Sovereign near Island No. 37 in the Mississippi River.

Confederate steamer Havana set afire in Deadman’s Bay, Florida, to prevent her capture by USS Ezilda, tender to USS Somerset, Lieutenant English.

6 USS Benton, Louisville, Carondelet, St Louis, and Cairo under Captain Davis, and rams Queen of the West and Monarch under Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr., engaged Confederate River Defense Fleet, CSS Earl Van Dorn, General Beauregard, General M. Jeff Thompson, General Bragg, General Sumter, General Sterling Price, and Little Rebel under Captain Montgomery in the Battle of Memphis. In the ensuing close action Queen of the West was rammed and Colonel Ellet mortally wounded. The Confederate River Defense Fleet was destroyed; all ships, excepting Van Dorn, were either captured, sunk, or grounded on the river bank to avoid sinking. Memphis surrendered to Captain Davis, and the pressure of relentless naval power had placed another important segment of the Mississippi firmly under Union control.

USS Pembina, Lieutenant Bankhead, seized schooner Rowena in Stono River, South Carolina.

7 Lieutenant Wyman, commander of Potomac Flotilla, reported USS Anacostia had captured sloop Monitor in Piankatank River, Virginia.

7-10 USS Wissahickon, Commander John DeCamp, and USS Itasca, Lieutenant Caldwell, shelled Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi; they were joined 10 June by gunboats USS Iroquois and Katahdin.

8 USS Penobscot, Lieutenant John M. B. Clitz, burned schooner Sereta, grounded and deserted off Shallotte Inlet, North Carolina.

9 Secretary of the navy Welles wrote Senator John P. Hale, Chairman of the Senate Naval Committee, and expressed his belief that the only security against any foreign war was having a Navy second to none: “The fact that a radical change has commenced in the construction and armament of ships, which change in effect dispenses with the navies that have hitherto existed, is obvious, and it is a question for Congress to decide whether the Government will promptly take the initiatory step to place our country in the front rank of maritime powers . . . Other nations, whose wooden ships-of-war far exceed our own in number, cannot afford to lay them aside, but are compelled to plate them with iron at a very heavy cost. They are not unaware of the disadvantage of this proceeding, but it is a present necessity. It must be borne in mind, however, that those governments which are striving for naval supremacy are sparing no expense to strengthen themselves by building iron vessels, and already their dock-yards are undergoing the necessary preparation for this change in naval architecture . . .�

On a joint expedition up the Roanoke River to Hamilton, North Carolina, USS Commodore Perry, Lieutenant Flusser, accompanied by USS Shawsheen and Ceres with troops embarked, came under small arms fire for two hours from Confederates along the banks. Troops were landed at Hamilton without opposition where steamer Wilson was captured.

11 USS Susquehanna, Commander Robert B. Hitchcock, captured blockade runner Princeton in the Gulf of Mexico.

USS Bainbridge, Commander Brasher, captured schooner Biagorry with cargo of cotton in the Gulf of Mexico.

14 USS William G. Anderson, Acting Master N. D’Oyley, captured schooner Montebello, moored in Jordan River, Mississippi.

US tug Spitfire captured steamer Clara Dolson in White River, Arkansas.

15 USS Corwin, Lieutenant T. S. Phelps, captured schooner Starlight on Potopotank River, Virginia.

USS Tahoma, Lieutenant John C. Howell, and USS Somerset, Lieutenant English, crossed the bar of St Marks River, Florida, and shelled the Confederate fort near the lighthouse for forty minutes. The artillery company stationed there withdrew, and the sailors landed, destroyed the battery, and burned the buildings used as barracks.

Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough orders U.S.S. Satellite to Philadelphia to escort Fred Kopp as it tows the de Villeroi vessel south to the James River. Although unofficial, the submarine has by now acquired a name—Alligator, based probably on its coat of green paint and way that it moves through the water, propelled by oars. Goldsborough steadfastly refuses to refer to it as anything but “the submarine propeller.�

16 CSS Maurepas and steamers Eliza G. and Mary Patterson were sunk in White River, Arkansas, to obstruct the advance of Union gunboats.

USS Somerset, Lieutenant English, captured blockade running schooner Curlew off Cedar Keys, Florida.

17 Joint expedition, made at the request of Major General Halleck to open Army communications on the White River, under Commander Kilty in USS Mound City, with USS St Louis, Lexington, and Conestoga, and a regiment of troops, engaged Confederate batteries at St Charles, Arkansas. Mound City took a direct hit at close range, exploding her steam drum and causing heavy casualties. Covered by the gunboats, the troops landed and successfully stormed the earthworks. This action gave control of the White River to the Union fleet.

Captain Blake, Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox regarding the curriculum of the Academy: “To make the Academy a school for engineers would require considerable changes in the Academic Course. Descriptive geometry, which was struck out of it sometime since, should be restored, for it is needed in the study and comprehension of machines. There should also be an extension of the course of Analytical Geometry and Calculus, by means of which many of the formulas relating to steam, and the steam engine, are derived, and the course of drawing, which now embraces mechanical drawing to some degree, should be extended. We should also have more chemistry.� Through the years the Naval Academy curriculum has been reviewed and revised to meet the demands of new technology and new dimensions in sea power.

Charles H. Davis appointed Flag Officer and Commander of U.S. Naval Forces on the Mississippi, relieving Flag Officer Foote. Davis had been in actual command since the departure of Foote on May 9. Secretary of the Navy Welles congratulated Foote for the “series of successful actions which have contributed so largely to the suppression of the rebellion throughout the Southwest.�

19 U.S. sloop Florida, tender to USS Morning Light, Acting Lieutenant Henry T. Moore, captured sloop Ventura off Grant’s Pass, Mobile Bay, with cargo of rice and flour.

Admiral Buchanan, CSN, wrote to Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones about the destruction of CSS Virginia: “I have great confidence in my old friend Commodore Tatnall and cannot believe that he acted without reflection, or was governed by any other motives than those in his judgment told him was right . . . There is one thing very certain: The destruction of Virginia saved Richmond, for if you all had not been at the bluff [Drewry’s] Richmond would have been shelled and perhaps taken.�

Commander Maury, CSN, reported to Secretary of the Navy Mallory on his mining operations near Chaffin’s Bluff in the James River. Electric torpedoes (mines) made of boiler plate encased in watertight wooden casks were planted with the assistance of CSS Teaser, Lieutenant Davidson. Maury noted that one of the galvanic batteries had been loaned for this service by the University of Virginia.

Escorted by the Satellite, the Fred Kopp begins its tow of Alligator. A note from Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles mentions a twenty-man crew and the fact that the submarine carried two torpedoes.

20 Commander Semmes wrote Secretary of the Navy Mallory: “It will doubtless be a matter of delicacy and management to get Alabama safely out of British waters without suspicion, as Mr. [Charles F.] Adams, the Northern envoy, and his numerous satellites are exceedingly vigilant in their espionage. We can not, of course, think of arming her in a British port. This must be done at some concerted rendezvous, to which her battery and most of her crew must be sent in a merchant vessel . . . I think well of your suggestion of the East Indies as a cruising ground, and hope to be in the track of the enemy’s commerce in those seas as early as October or November next, when I shall doubtless be able to make other rich ‘burnt offerings’ upon the altar of our country’s liberties . . .�

Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, commanding CSS Teaser, the first minelayer, ordered to relieve Commander Matthew F. Maury “in the charge of devising, placing, and superintending submarine batteries in the James River, and you will exercise your discretion as to the ways and means of placing obstacles of this and any other character to oppose the enemy’s passage of the river.�

USS Madgie, Acting master Frank B. Meriam, took 3,000 bushels of rice from a vessel at Barrett’s Island, near Darien, South Carolina, and captured schooner Southern Belle above that city.

USS Beauregard, Acting Master David Stearns, seized blockade running British schooner Lucy off Deadman’s Point Bay, Florida.

USS Keystone State, Commander LeRoy, captured blockade running British schooner Sarah with cargo of cotton off Charleston.

Two boats under command of Acting Master Theodore B. DuBois of USS Albatross captured steam tug Treaty and schooner Louisa near Georgetown, South Carolina.

21 Joint expedition under Lieutenant Rhind, USS Crusader, with USS Planter in company, ascended to Simmons Bluff, Wadmelaw River, South Carolina. Lieutenant Rhind landed with troops and destroyed a Confederate encampment.

USS Bohio, Acting Master W. D. Gregory, captured sloop L. Rebecca bound from Biloxi to Mobile.

23 Alligator arrives in Hampton Roads.

24 The first time in history that opposing naval forces had functioning submarines operating in the same theater of war: Cheney’s submarine and Alligator, which is towed up the James on this date.

25 Alligator arrives at City Point, Virginia, and is anchored near U.S.S. Galena. The target of its first operation is the Petersburg Railroad bridge over the Appomattox River. An Army operation which will impact this mission also begin the following day—The Seven Days’ Battles

26 General McClellan notified Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough that the urgency for safely bringing the provision transports from the Pamunkey to the James River was “a matter of vital importance and may involve the existence of the Army.� A Confederate offensive had cut McClellan’s line of communications with his main base at White House on the Pamunkey River.

USS Kensington, Acting Master Frederick Crocker, with mortar schooners Horace Beals and Sarah Bruen, proceeding towards Vicksburg, silenced a Confederate battery near Cole’s Creek, Mississippi River.

USS Mount Vernon, Commander Glisson, with USS Mystic and Victoria chased a blockade runner Emily standing in for Wilmington. Emily grounded and a boat crew commanded by Acting master W. N. Griswold from Mount Vernon boarded and destroyed he while under heavy fire from Fort Caswell.

27 USS Bohio, Acting Master W. D. Gregory, captured sloop Wave, bound from Mobile to Mississippi City with cargo of flour.

USS Bienville, Commander Mullany, captured schooner Morning Star off Wilmington.

USS Cambridge, Commander W. A. Parker, chased blockade runner Modern Grace ashore off Wilmington, where she was subsequently destroyed with cargo of gunpowder, rifled cannon, and other arms.

28 Flag Officer Farragut’s fleet, supported by mortar boats under Commander D. D. Porter, successfully passed Vicksburg while exchanging a heavy fire with Confederate batteries. Farragut was acting under orders from President Lincoln to “clear the river.�

Flag Officer Davis wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles: “Our recent experience in the navigation of the White River has made it apparent that in order to acquire control of the tributaries of the Mississippi, and to maintain that control during the dry season, it will be necessary to fit up immediately some boats of small draft for this special purpose. These boats will be sufficiently protected about the machinery and pilot houses against musketry. They will be selected for their light draft and their capacity to receive a suitable armament of howitzers, field pieces, or other light guns, and to accommodate the requisite number of men; and, finally, for their susceptibility of protection.�

USS Braziliera captured schooner Chance with cargo of salt off Wassaw Sound, Georgia.

28-29 USS Marblehead, Lieutenant S. Nicholson, and USS Chocura, Lieutenant Thomas H. Patterson, in the Pamunkey River, supported Army withdrawal from White House, Virginia, with gunfire and transport. Other Union gunboats escorted transports and moved up the James and Chickahominy Rivers in close support of General McClellan’s army.

29 USS Susquehanna, Commander Hitchcock, captured blockade running British steamer Ana near Mobile with cargo of arms and ammunition.

Commander Rodgers sends Alligator back down the James to Louis Goldsborough at Hampton Roads. Rodgers is very impressed with the potential of the submarine (possibly as the result of spending time with Samuel Eakins) but realizes immediately that the Appomattox River is far too shallow for the Alligator to operate in—shoal areas previously held by Union forces have fallen to the Confederates as General McClellan retreats, and Alligator would be easily seen and handily sunk or captured. Although its mission cannot be fulfilled, Rodgers rightly understands the potential for damage to the fleet were the vessel to be captured and turned against the Navy.

29-30 Confederate troops fired on USS Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk, on White River between St Charles and Clarendon, Arkansas.

30 Major General McClellan, compelled to withdraw down the James and dependent upon the Navy for gunfire support and transportation, reported: “I retreated from Malvern to Haxall’s, and . . . went on board of Captain Roger’s gunboat USS Galena to confer with him in reference to the condition of our supply vessels and the state of things on the river. It was his opinion that it would be necessary for the army to fall back to a position below City Point, as the channel there would be so near the southern shore that it would not be possible to bring up the transports should the enemy occupy it.. Harrison’s Landing was, in his opinion, the nearest suitable point. . . . Concurring in his opinion, I selected Harrison’s Bar as the new position of the army.� McClellan noted one of many instances of invaluable naval support as the Confederates pressed to cut off the Union movement to the river: “The rear of the supply trains and the reserve artillery of the army reached Malvern Hill about 4p.m. At about this time the enemy began to appear in General Fitz John Porter’s front, and at 5 o’clock advanced in large force against his flank, posting artillery under cover of a skirt of timber, with a view to engage our force on Malvern Hill. . . . The gunboats rendered most efficient aid at this time, and helped drive back the enemy.� Naval gunfire support was controlled through a system of liaison in which “fall-of-shot� information was sent by Army signal personnel ashore to Army signal personnel afloat in the gunboats by the Myer’s system of signaling.

USS Quaker City, Commander Frailey, captured brig Model with cargo of coal in the Gulf of Mexico.

Flag Officer Du Pont ordered USS South Carolina, Commander Almy, to join USS Wyandotte in blockading Mosquito Inlet near New Smyrna, Florida. The inlet had become increasingly important to the Confederates as an unloading point for blockade runners bringing arms from Nassau.