Potomac Flotilla

Attack on the Confederate Batteries at Aquia Creek by the Potomac Flotilla.

Active| 1861 - 1865
Country|  United States
Branch|  United States Navy
Type| naval squadron

Military unit

The Potomac Flotilla, also called the Potomac Squadron, was a unit of the United States Navy created in the early days of the American Civil War to secure Union communications in the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River and their tributaries, and to disrupt Confederate communications and shipping there.

## History

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### American Civil War

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On April 22, 1861 Commander James H. Ward, who was the commanding officer of the receiving ship USS North Carolina at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn New York, wrote to United States Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells to put forth a plan for the protection of the Chesapeake Bay area. Ward suggested a "Flying Flotilla" of light-draft vessels to operate in the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River, and their tributaries. His commander, Captain Samuel L. Breese, commandant of the New York Navy Yard, endorsed his plan. Wells accepted this proposal and wrote back to Ward and Breese on 27 April 1861 authorizing them to begin carrying out Ward's plan. On 1 May 1861 the first vessels for the new flotilla were acquired. On 16 May 1861 Ward set out from the New York Navy Yard with three vessels, USS Thomas Freeborn, USS Reliance, and USS Resolute. He arrived at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on 20 May 1861 on board his flagship,Thomas Freeborn.[1]

On 27 June 1861 Ward's flotilla engaged the Confederates at Mathias Point, Virginia. While he was sighting the bow gun of Thomas Freeborn, Ward was shot through the abdomen and died within an hour due to internal hemorrhaging. He was the first United States Navy officer to be killed during the American Civil War.[2]

After the death of Ward the flotilla was led by a succession of short-term commanders until the fall of 1862 when Commodore Andrew A. Harwood took command. He was in turn succeeded by Commander Foxhall A. Parker on 31 December 1864.[3]

The Civil War ended in April 1865, and on 18 July 1865 the United States Department of the Navy ordered Parker to disband the flotilla, effective 31 July 1865. Most of the flotilla's remaining vessels were sent to the Washington Navy Yard to be decommissioned.[4]

### Name of the flotilla

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It was not until August 1861 that the flotilla became known as the Potomac Flotilla. The designation of "Flying Flotilla" was dropped when Ward's force arrived in the theater of operations. The flotilla was then referred to by a variety of names, including: Flotilla, Potomac River; Potomac Blockade; Flotilla in the Chesapeake; etc. In early August 1861 the flotilla commander and the Department of the Navy began to consistently refer to the command as the Potomac Flotilla.[5]

### Operations

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1861
Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Aquia Creek, Virginia, 29 May – 1 June 1861
Affair at Mathias Point, Virginia, 27 June 1861
Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Potomac Creek, Virginia, 23 August 1861
Engagement with the Confederate battery at Freestone Point, Virginia, 25 September 1861

1862
Engagement at Cockpit Point, Virginia, 3 January 1862
Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Tappahannock, Virginia, 13–15 April 1862
Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg, Virginia, 20 April 1862
Expeditions to Gwynn's Island and Nomini Creek, Virginia, 3–4 Nov, 1862
Engagement at Port Royal, Virginia, 4 December 1862
Engagement at Brandywine Hill, Rappahannock River, Virginia, 10–11 December 1862

1863
Destruction of salt works on Dividing Creek, Virginia, 12 January 1863
Destruction of Confederate stores at Tappahannock, Virginia, 30 May 1863
Capture of U. S. steamers USS Satellite and USRC Reliance, 16 August 1863

1864
Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia, 12 January 1864
Expedition up the Rappahannock River, Virginia, 18–21 April 1864
Expedition to Carter's Creek, Virginia, 29 April 1864
Expedition to Mill Creek, Virginia, 12–13 May 1864
Expedition up the Rappahannock River, Virginia, 16–19 May 1864
Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia, 11–21 June 1864
Expedition to Milford Haven and Stutt's Creek, Virginia, 24 September 1864

1865
Expedition to Fredericksburg, Virginia, 6–8 March 1865
Expedition up the Rappahannock River, 12–14 March 1865
Operations in Mattox Creek, Virginia, 16–18 March 1865

## Ships of the flotilla

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When Commander James H. Ward departed the New York Navy Yard on 16 May 1861 his flotilla consisted of three vessels. The size of the flotilla steadily increased until it reached a strength that hovered between 15 and 25 vessels.[6]

Ship | Rate | Type | Notes

|
|
|

USS Casco | 4th | Ironclad monitor | Casco class
USS Chimo | 4th | Ironclad monitor | Casco class
USS Mahopac | 4th | Ironclad monitor | Canonicus class
USS Saugus | 4th | Ironclad monitor | Canonicus class
USS Pawnee | 2nd | Screw sloop |
USS Seminole | 3rd | Screw sloop |
USS Wachusett | 3rd | Screw sloop | Commander Wilkes' Flagship
USS Allegheny | 4th | Screw sloop | Receiving Ship at Baltimore
USRC Harriet Lane | 3rd | Sidewheel gunboat | Revenue cutter from United States Revenue-Marine
USS Mahaska | 3rd | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Port Royal | 3rd | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Anacostia | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Aroostook | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Crusader | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Currituck | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Dawn | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Don | 4th | Screw gunboat | Blockade runner captured by USS Pequot 4 March 1864 off Beaufort, North Carolina.
USS Dragon | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS E. B. Hale | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Eureka | 4th | Screw gunboat | Steamer captured by USS Anacostia 20 April 1862 on the Rappahannock River, Virginia.
USS Fuchsia | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Little Ada | 4th | Screw gunboat | Blockade runner captured by USS Gettysburg 9 July 1864 in South Santee River, South Carolina.
USS Mystic | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Penguin | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Pocahontas | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Teaser | 4th | Screw gunboat | ex-Confederate captured by USS Maratanza 4 July 1862 on the James River, Virginia
USS Tulip | 4th | Screw gunboat | Sunk by boiler explosion off Ragged Point, Virginia, 11 November 1864
USS Valley City | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Western World | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Wyandotte | 4th | Screw gunboat |
USS Adela | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Blockade runner captured by USS Quaker City 7 July 1862 off New Providence in the Bahamas
USS Banshee | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Blockade runner captured by USAT Fulton and USS Grand Gulf on 21 November 1863 off Wilmington, North Carolina
USS Ceres | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Coeur de Lion | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Commodore Barney | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | ex-ferryboat
USS Commodore Read | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | ex-ferryboat
USS Delaware | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Jacob Bell | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Isaac N. Seymour | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS John L. Lockwood | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Mercury | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Morse | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | ex-ferryboat
USS Mount Washington | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Known as USS Mount Vernon until 4 November 1861
USS Nansemond | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Satellite | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Captured by Confederate boarding party 23 August 1863 in Rappahannock River, scuttled at Port Royal, Virginia, 28 August 1863
USS Stepping Stones | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | ex-ferryboat
USS Thomas Freeborn | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat | Commander Ward's Flagship
USS Underwriter | 4th | Sidewheel gunboat |
USS Union | 4th | Screw auxiliary |
USS Baltimore | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Ordnance vessel, Washington Navy Yard
USS Cactus | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Supply ship
USS Ella | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Picket and dispatch vessel
USS Ice Boat | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Icebreaker
USS King Philip | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Dispatch vessel, known as USS Powhatan until 4 November 1861
USS Philadelphia | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Transport ferry
USS Wyandank | 4th | Sidewheel auxiliary | Storeship
USS Juniper | 4th | Screw tug |
USS Leslie | 4th | Screw tug |
USS Moccasin | 4th | Screw tug |
USS Periwinkle | 4th | Screw tug |
USS Primrose | 4th | Screw tug |
USS Reliance | 4th | Screw tug | Captured by Confederate boarding party 23 August 1863 in Rappahannock River, scuttled at Port Royal, Virginia, 28 August 1863
USS Rescue | 4th | Screw tug |
USS Resolute | 4th | Screw tug |
USS Tigress | 4th | Screw tug | Sunk 10 September 1861 in collision with merchant ship State of Maine off Indian Head, Maryland
USS Verbena | 4th | Screw tug |
USS Watch | 4th | Screw tug | Known as USS A. C. Powell until August 1862, known as USS Alert from August 1862 to 2 February 1865
USS Young America | 4th | Screw tug | ex-Confederate, captured 24 April 1861 by USS Cumberland at Hampton Roads, Virginia
USS General Putnam | 4th | Sidewheel tug | Also known as USS William G. Putnam
USS Heliotrope | 4th | Sidewheel tug |
USS Island Belle | 4th | Sidewheel tug | Tug and dispatch boat
USS Yankee | 4th | Sidewheel tug |
E. H. Herbert | - | Tug | Chartered vessel
Edwin Forrest | - | Tug | Chartered vessel
James Murray | - | Tug | Chartered vessel
USS Bibb | - | Sidewheel steamer | from United States Coast Survey
USS Corwin | - | Sidewheel Steamer | from United States Coast Survey
USS Adolph Hugel | 4th | Sailing schooner | mortar schooner
USS Arletta | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner
USS Dan Smith | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner
USS George Mangham | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner
USS Matthew Vassar | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner
USS Racer | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner
USS Sophronia | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner
USS T. A. Ward | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner
USS William Bacon | 4th | Sailing schooner | Mortar schooner
USS Bailey | - | Sailing schooner | from United States Coast Survey
Chaplin | 4th | Sailing schooner |
USS Dana | - | Sailing schooner | from United States Coast Survey
USS Howell Cobb | - | Sailing schooner | from United States Coast Survey
USS Alpha | 4th  | Screw picket boat | Known as Picket Boat No. 1 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.
USS Beta | 4th  | Screw picket boat  | Known as both USS Bazely and as Picket Boat No. 2 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. Hit a torpedo (mine) and was destroyed 25 December 1864 by retreating Union troops to prevent Confederate capture.
USS Gamma | 4th  | Screw picket boat  | Known as Picket Boat No. 3 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.
USS Delta | 4th | Screw picket boat | Known as Picket Boat No. 4 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.
USS Epsilon | 4th  | Screw picket boat  | Known as Picket Boat No. 5 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.
USS Zeta | 4th | Screw picket boat | Known as Picket Boat No. 6 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.

## Commanders

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Flotilla commander | From | To | Notes

|
|
|

Commander James Harmon Ward | late April 1861 | 27 June 1861 | Killed in action 27 June 1861
Commander Stephen Clegg Rowan | 27 June 1861 | 10 July 1861 | Commander pro tem
Commander Thomas Tingey Craven | 10 July 1861 | 2 December 1861 |
Lieutenant Abram D. Harrell | 2 December 1861 | 6 December 1861 | Commander pro tem
Lieutenant Robert Harris Wyman | 6 December 1861 | early July 1862
Lieutenant Commander Samuel Magaw | early July 1862 | 1 September 1862 | Commander pro tem
Commodore Charles Wilkes | 1 September 1862 | 10 September 1862 |
Commodore Andrew Allen Harwood | 10 September 1862 | 31 December 1863 |
Commander Foxhall Alexander Parker, Jr. | 31 December 1863 | 31 July 1865

## References

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* In these notes the abbreviation ORN is used for the work Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.

Notes

1. ^ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 420, 430, 443, 458, 467, 471.
2. ^ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 539–41.
3. ^ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 541, 570–1, 575, 757–8, 760–1. ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. 3, 72, 75, 82, 84, 379.
4. ^ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. 576, 578.
5. ^ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 488, 504, 509, 511, 596–600.
6. ^ ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. xv-xvi, 458, 508, 570, 666. ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. xv-xvi, 60–1, 75, 100, 108, 204–5, 245–6, 260, 287, 361–2, 391, 366–7, 374, 380, 398, 408–9, 461, 496, 502, 506, 508, 515, 531, 548–9, 567, 571–4.

Bibliography

* Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 4. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1896).
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 5. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1897).
* Silverstone, Paul H. Warships of the Civil War Navies. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989). ISBN 0-87021-783-6
* This article incorporates public domain material from Commander James H. Ward. Naval History and Heritage Command.

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