NAVY, U. 6., OPERATIONS OF. 



029 



NAVY, TJ. S., OPERATIONS OF. The opera- 

 tions of the navy during the year 1802 comprise 

 the history of several distinct squadrons. 1. 

 The North Atlantic squadron, guarding the Vir- 

 ginia and North Carolina coasts, was in charge 

 of Rear Admiral L. M. Goldsborough until 

 Sept. 5, when he was relieved at his own re- 

 quest by Acting Rear Admiral S. P. Lee. 2. 

 The South Atlantic squadron, blockading the 

 coasts of South Carolina and Georgia and the 

 N. E. coast of Florida, was commanded by Rear 

 Admiral S. F. Dupont. 3. The Gulf squadron 

 was divided in February into the Eastern Gulf 

 squadron successively under Flag-Officer Mc- 

 Kean, and Acting Rear Admirals Lardner and 

 Bailey, extending from Cape Canaveral, on the 

 E. coast of Florida, to Pensacola ; and 4, the 

 Western Gulf squadron, under Rear Admiral 

 Farragut. 5. The Western flotilla, on the Mis- 

 sissippi, was until May 9 under command of 

 Rear Admiral A. H. Foote, who was relieved 

 by Commodore C. H. Davis ; and since October 

 15 has been commanded by Acting Rear Ad- 

 miral D. D. Porter. 6. The Potomac flotilla was 

 under Commodore Harwood. 7. The James 

 river flotilla was under Commodore Wilkes. 



1. North Atlantic Squadron. Early in Jan- 

 uary a joint naval and military expedition for 

 operation in the waters of North Carolina sail- 

 ed from Hampton Roads under the command of 

 Flag-Officer L. M. Goldsborough, and General 

 Burnside. {See ARMY OPERATIONS). The naval 

 force, consisting of 17 light-draught vessels 

 with an armament of 48 guns, most of them of 

 heavy caliber, arrived at Hatteras Inlet, Janua- 

 ry 13. The battle of Roanoke Island took 

 place on the 7th and 8th of February, the fleet 

 commencing it by a spirited attack on the Con- 

 federate batteries and vessels, and covering the 

 landing of the troops on the second day. At 

 the close of the engagement the Confederate 

 naval forces retired to Elizabeth City, pursued 

 by the Federal flotilla under Commander S. 0. 

 Rowan, who discovered his enemy on the 

 morning of the 10th, drawn up under a battery 

 of four guns. Disregarding their fire, Com- 

 mander Rowan pushed steadily on until within 

 three fourths of a mile, when he delivered a 

 volley and dashed ahead. The Confederates 

 fled before this unexpected onset ; the battery 

 was demolished; and their whole fleet was 

 captured or destroyed. 



Flag-Officer Goldsborough having been re- 

 called to Hampton Roads, the naval forces 

 which accompanied Gen. Burnside to Newbern 

 were placed under Commander Rowan. The 

 joint expedition reached the place of landing at 

 Slocum's Creek March 12th, and in the battle 

 of the 14th and the occupation of Washington, 

 N. C., on the 21st, the navy took an active part. 



The engagement between the Monitor and 

 Merrimac in Hampton Roads, March 8, was 

 narrated in the "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1861. 



At the battle of West Point, May 7, the 

 gunboats Wacbusett, Maratanza, and Sebago 

 were assigned to assist Gen. Franklin. 



On the 8th of May the iron-clad vessels Mon- 

 itor, Nangatuck, and four others shelled Se- 

 wall's Point near Norfolk, mainly with the 

 view of ascertaining the practicability of land- 

 ing troops there; the Merrimac or Virginia 

 steamed out to engage them, but neither side 

 seemed anxious to open an engagement, and 

 both soon after retired. On the 10th Norfolk 

 surrendered to Gen. Wool, and Commodore 

 Tatnall, then in command of the Merrimac, 

 proceeded to lighten his ship with the intention 

 of taking her up the James river ; but after she 

 had been so much lightened as to be rendered 

 unfit for action, the pilots declared there was 

 not sufficient water to carry her beyond the 

 Jamestown Flats, up to which point the shore 

 on both sides was in possession of the Federal 

 army. In this dilemma she was run ashore on 

 Craney Island and set on fire, and on the morn- 

 ing of the llth blew up. 



The James river was now open for Com- 

 modore Goldsborough's gunboats, and on the 

 15th Commander John Rodgers was ordered to 

 proceed with the Galena, Monitor, Aroostook, 

 Port Royal, and Naugatuck, to Richmond, and 

 shell the city to a surrender. They met with 

 no artificial obstructions until they reached 

 Ward's or Drury's Bluff, about 8 miles from 

 Richmond, where they encountered a heavy 

 battery and two separate barriers formed of 

 piles and steamboats and sail vessels. The 

 banks of the river were lined with sharpshoot- 

 ers who effectually prevented any attempt to 

 remove the obstructions. The Galena ran 

 within about 600 yards of the battery, and 

 opened fire; the Monitor attempted to pass 

 t ahead of her, but was obliged to retire several 

 hundred yards as her guns could not be 

 elevated enough for effective service : the 

 wooden vessels were ordered to keep ia the 

 rear. The Naugatuck was disabled by the 

 bursting of her 100-lb. Parrott gun, and after 

 an engagement of over three hours the flotilla, 

 having exhausted their ammunition, were forced 

 to retire without having produced much effect 

 upon the battery. The Monitor was struck 

 several times, but entirely uninjured. The Ga- 

 lena was not so fortunate ; thirteen shot pene- 

 trated her iron sides, starting the knees, 

 planks, and timbers, and killing several men by 

 the splinters. One shell exploded in the steer- 

 age, but most of the balls, after breaking 

 through the iron, stuck in the wood. Com- 

 mander Morris, of the Port Royal, was wound- 

 ed, and 13 men were killed and 11 wounded on 

 the Galena, and 2 wounded on the Naugatuck. 



On November 23 the gunboat Ellis, Lient. 

 W. P. Gushing, captured the town of Onslow on 

 New River Inlet, N. C., destroying extensive 

 salt works, and securing three schooners and 10 

 whale boats. On the way back, when 3 miles 

 from the mouth of the river, the Ellis ran 

 aground and the enemy opened fire on her. 

 Despairing of saving the gunboat, Lieut. Cush- 

 ing transferred the crew to one of his prizes, 

 and blew up the Ellis on the 24th. 



