680 NAVY, U. S., OPERATIONS OF. 



NELSON, WOLFRED. 



Other casualties to the squadron were the 

 destruction by fire of the sailing sloop Preble, 

 of the old navy, at Pensacola, on April 27th ; 

 and the sinking of the gunboat Kinsman, from 

 striking a snag in the Mississippi river on the 

 night of Feb. 23d. 



6. Mwi&ippi Flotilla. The operations of 

 this fleet, like those of the preceding, were al- 

 most exclusively undertaken in conjunction 

 with the land forces, and are described under 

 ARMY OPERATIONS. It may be stated briefly 

 that Admiral Porter cooperated in the capture 

 of Arkansas Post, Jan. llth, in the protracted 

 and hazardous movements, extending over a 

 period of nearly six months, which led to the 

 fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and in va- 

 rious important expeditions up the White and 

 Red rivers, in all of which the gunboats acquit- 

 ted themselves with distinction. An expedition 

 up the "White river in the latter part of August 

 made important discoveries respecting the 

 strength and movements of the enemy in Arkan- 

 sas. Important services were also rendered by 

 the gunboats in patrolling the Tennessee and 

 Cumberland rivers, and dispersing the guerillas 

 who fired upon supply steamers and transports. 

 To the gunboats on the Ohio, which in July 

 cooperated with the land forces in the pursuit 

 of Morgan, was in a considerable degree due the 

 capture of that leader and his force. 



The flotilla on the Mississippi numbered at 

 the close of the year upward of a hundred 

 vessels, carrying 462 guns, with crews amount- 

 ing in the aggregate to 5,500 men. Thirteen 

 of these were efficient ironclads, 33 " tinclads," 

 so called from being less heavily plated than 

 the others, and the remainder consisted of de- 

 spatch and auxiliary vessels, rams, &c. There 

 were also a number of iron and tinclads in the 

 course of construction. 



6. Potomac Flotilla. The vessels of this 

 squadron are principally light-draught river 

 steamboats and tugs, and their field of opera- 

 tions comprised Chesapeake Bay and the Poto- 

 mac and Rappahannock rivers, where they were 

 employed to prevent contraband traffic between 

 Maryland and Virginia and perform other po- 

 lice duties. By their vigilance they succeeded 

 in capturing many petty blockade runners and 

 in intercepting rebel mails ; and during the in- 

 vasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania by the 

 enemy in June and July vessels were stationed 

 at Havre de Grace, Wilmington, Del., Annapo- 

 lis, and other salient points of attack. In the 

 latter part of August the gunboat Satellite and 

 tug Reliance were surprised and captured by a 

 party of the enemy near the mouth of the Rap- 

 pahannock; but subsequently they were aj- 

 tacked and destroyed by a land force under 

 command of Gen. Kilpatrick. 



The chief naval incident on foreign stations 

 was the attack by the Wyoming, Commander 

 McDougal, upon several Japanese batteries and 

 armed vessels at Simonosaki, on July 16th, in 

 retaliation for an outrage upon an American 

 steamer. In an action of an hour the vessels 



were partially destroyed and the batteries much 

 injured. The Wyoming lost 11 killed and 

 wounded, and was hulled 11 times. See JAPAN. 

 The number of vessels captured by the sever- 

 al squadrons from the commencement of the 

 war to Nov. 1st, 1863, was 1,045, classified as 

 follows: steamers, 179; ships, 15; barques, 

 26; brigs, 30; schooners, 547; sloops, 131; 

 yachts and small boats, 117. The value of all 

 the prizes sent to admiralty courts for adjudi- 

 cation is estimated by Secretary Welles at up- 

 ward of $13,000,000 ; and the value of those 

 condemned, the costs and amounts distributed 

 are shown in the following table : 



The number of prizes captured in 1863 by 

 the four principal coast squadrons considerably 

 exceeded 300, of which about one third were 

 steamers, in many cases built expressly for 

 blockade running, and loaded with valuable 

 cargoes. 



NELSON, WOLFEED, M. D. Dr. Nelson was 

 born at Montreal in July, 1802, and was the son 

 of an English commissariat officer. Educated to 

 the medical profession, he was admitted to prac- 

 tice in 1811, and established himself at St. Denis 

 on the Richelieu river. In the war with the 

 United States which shortly after ensued, he 

 volunteered and served as surgeon of the bat- 

 talion raised in that district. In 1827 he suc- 

 cessfully contested the representation of Sorel 

 with the then Attorney-General afterward 

 Chief Justice Stuart, and was after that a prom- 

 inent man in the political world. Whatever 

 objects others may have proposed to them- 

 selves, his was to obtain for British subjects in 

 Canada the right enjoyed by their fellow sub- 

 jects in Great Britain. Conceiving those rights 

 to have been unjustly infringed, he took up 

 arms in 1837 to enforce them, and fought brave- 

 ly, however rashly, in the cause he had adopted. 

 He won the one victory at St. Denis, which 

 served to gild the desperate fortunes of the in- 

 surgents. When the advance of the victorious 

 troops of Colonel Wetherall rendered further 

 resistance hopeless, he fled, and sought by pur- 

 suing back roads and traversing forests to make 

 his way to the United States. He was captured 

 upon the frontier, and carried to Montreal and 

 imprisoned. Even his adversaries of those days 

 respected him for bravery and consistency. His 

 life was spared, and he was sent into exile. 

 Released from Bermuda, he settled in the 

 United States, and came to live as near Canada 

 as possible at Plattsburg, N. Y. As soon as 

 the amnesty permitted, he returned to his na- 



* The sum of $39,115.78 allowed to claimants by decree of 

 court. 



