USS Marmora (1862)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Marmora.

USS Marmora
Marmora in the foreground
History
United States
NameUSS Marmora
NamesakeVariant spelling of Marmara, an island in the Sea of Marmara
BuilderWilliam Latta
Completed1862
AcquiredSeptember 17, 1862
CommissionedOctober 21, 1862
DecommissionedJuly 7, 1865
FateSold, August 17, 1865
General characteristics
Type
Sternwheel steamer
Tonnage207 tons
Length155 ft (47 m)
Beam33 ft 5 in (10.19 m)
Draft4 ft 6 in (1.37 m)
Propulsion2× steam engines
Speed6.9 knots (12.8 km/h; 7.9 mph)
Armament
  • 2 × 24-pounder guns
  • 2 × 12-pounder
    rifled cannon

    (As commissioned)

USS Marmora was a

Fort Hindman
, but was not present when the fort surrendered on January 11.

From February to April, Marmora participated in the

decommissioned
, and was sold at public auction on August 17. Nothing further is known about Marmora after her sale.

Construction and characteristics

Marmora was built in 1862 at the

boilers. Each boiler had three 8-inch (20 cm) and three 11-inch (28 cm) flues.[1] Marmora had a top speed of 6.9 knots (12.8 km/h; 7.9 mph),[2][3] although this was reduced to 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) when going upstream.[4]

McDonald used Marmora several times,

pilothouse with a new armored one, reinforcing decks and internal beams, and generally removing the texas.[9] Tinclad warships were used to patrol rivers, protect and escort other vessels, and sometimes act as naval support for military actions.[10]

Marmora was assigned the identification number 2;

rifled cannons and two 24-pounder guns. In June 1864, four 24-pounder guns were added to her armament, which consisted of eight 24-pounder guns as of the following December. As of March 31, 1865, she was reported to have been armed with two 12-pounder guns and six 14-pounders.[4] Along with USS Signal, Marmora was one of the first purpose-converted tinclads in the Union Navy.[13]

Service history

Vicksburg campaign

Marmora left Carondelet for

timberclad USS Lexington on November 26.[18] The movement down the Mississippi River was conducted only during the daytime due to low water levels.[19]

During the movement, Marmora had her first combat, destroying several

guerrillas on the shore,[18] and Acting Ensign H. H. Walker of Marmora was wounded.[20] The next day, Walke's ships reached the mouth of the Yazoo, and Marmora and Signal were sent to scout up the river, accompanied by 20 men and a gunner from Carondelet, as the river level was too low for navigation by the larger ships.[21] The scouting force upriver began at about 10:00 am, and around noon, encountered Confederate cavalry and a picket station. The Confederate cavalry fled after firing on the vessels and Marmora destroyed the picket station with cannon fire. A minor skirmish occurred with Confederate forces 21 miles (34 km) from the mouth of the Yazoo at a ferry site, but the vessels continued for about another 1.5 miles (2.4 km), until they sighted Confederate fortifications on Drumgould's Bluff.[22] The vessels took care to avoid any fighting with the Confederate batteries,[3] and returned to Walke's main force at around 4:00 pm.[23]

Sinking of USS Cairo

A ship along a shoreline. The vessel has two smokestacks, flies the American flag, and multiple cannon are visible.
USS Cairo. Marmora was present when Cairo sank on December 12, 1862.

Several Union Navy

ran aground on December 5.[3] Marmora made multiple trips into the Yazoo to perform depth sounding.[25] On December 11, Marmora and Signal were sent back up the Yazoo to scout the Confederate fortifications upriver.[26] Walke had been informed by an escaped slave that the Confederates were erecting a barricade in front of the batteries, and wanted to verify that information. While in sight of the Confederate fortifications, the two ships noticed naval mines floating in the river. One of the men aboard Marmora shot one with a musket,[25] resulting in an explosion that shook the entire ship, despite her being at least 50 feet (15 m) from the mine.[3] While returning to Walke, Marmora and Signal were fired on by Confederate troops on the riverbank.[27] Getty informed Walke that Marmora and Signal could clear the mines from the river if accompanied by larger vessels that could provide covering fire against any Confederate troops on the riverbanks;[28] the water level in the Yazoo had risen enough to accommodate larger vessels.[27]

The next day, Marmora, joined by Signal, Queen of the West, and the ironclads

plantation overseer. The overseer admitted to having knowledge of the location of the mines and as a result was arrested.[30] The vessels continued ahead to where the mines were.[29] Those on Cairo heard men from Marmora shooting at objects in the river and continued ahead thinking the tinclad was under assault.[30] Both Cairo and Marmora put small boats into the water to investigate the mines, which were found to be connected to the shore by wires.[31] Cairo and Marmora began to maneuver after launching the boats, and the Confederate batteries on Drumgould's Bluff fired on the vessels at long range. Cairo then struck two mines[32] and quickly sank. None of the crew of Cairo were killed, and they were picked up by the other Union vessels.[33]

Chickasaw Bluff and Fort Hindman

A cannon positioned amid trees and brush on the side of a river
A view of the Confederate positions at Chickasaw Bayou

The surviving Union vessels returned to Walke's main force.[34] Upon their return, the commander of Cairo was told to put his crew on Marmora and take her up the Mississippi River to Cairo, where he was to report to Porter. Marmora met Porter and the gunboat USS Black Hawk on December 17 while moving upriver. Porter elected to not open a court of inquiry against the commander of Cairo, and ordered the mine clearing to be completed.[35] The crewmen of Cairo were landed at Cairo on December 18.[36] Marmora then helped other Union vessels clear the mines out of the river. The naval vessels also probed along the Yazoo in support of Union Army movements in the area.[3] On December 27, Sherman landed army troops in front of Chickasaw Bluff, while Marmora joined six other naval vessels in advancing upriver against Drumgould's Bluff. The naval vessels were to cover Sherman's left flank and draw Confederate attention away from the main Union assault.[37] The flotilla fought against the Confederate batteries,[3] but Marmora remained in the rear and was not struck by fire.[38] While Marmora did join the firing, her shooting, like that of the other vessels, accomplished little.[39]

The next morning, Marmora and the gunboat

White River on the evening of January 9, towing two barges of coal.[46] Fort Hindman surrendered on January 11.[47] On January 14, Marmora was ordered by Porter to return to the rest of the fleet.[48] Three days later, she steamed up the Arkansas River, reached the site of the Confederate fort, and sent a party ashore to help destroy it.[49]

Yazoo River operations and burning of Eunice

An open stretch of river water. A barge is in the center of the image, and in the background is a wooded riverbank. There are no signs of human habitation on the riverbanks.
A modern view of the Mississippi River in the area of the former site of Eunice, Arkansas

In early 1863, Grant and Porter made a plan that has become known as the

towboat, and a transport containing the 29th Iowa Infantry Regiment were left behind at a point on the Tallahatchie River to guard two coal barges.[55] By March 13, Marmora had gone back towards the Mississippi River for supplies. That day, she met a squadron of vessels loaded with troops for the expedition and then escorted the squadron through Moon Lake to Yazoo Pass the next day.[56] March 14 saw Marmora engaged in a minor skirmish against Confederate land forces.[49] Two days later, the tinclad led the vessels through Yazoo Pass.[57] On March 21, Marmora rejoined the main expeditionary force on the Tallahatchie, together with the ships she was escorting. The combined group then moved back down the Tallahatchie towards Confederate-held Fort Pemberton.[58] On March 26, Marmora was released from the expedition to escort a group of transports back upriver; she also carried dispatches.[59]

Marmora arrived at Helena on March 27, slowed by boiler problems,

guerillas near the town of Eunice, Arkansas. The next day, the steamer Nebraska, a transport with the United States Quartermaster Department, was fired on in the same area, prompting retribution from Marmora. The latter vessel then fired on the riverbank for two miles up and down from Eunice, and then landed armed parties that burned every structure within a mile of Eunice, including a warehouse and railroad depot.[64] Eunice was completely destroyed during the burning, and the town was replaced by the nearby community of Arkansas City after the war.[65] On June 15, Marmora continued on to Gaines Landing, Arkansas, where she was again fired on. A landing party from the vessel burned all but one house at the settlement in response.[64] The morning of June 16 saw a combined landing force from Marmora and the tinclad USS Prairie Bird burn another house in the Gaines Landing area,[66] as there was circumstantial evidence it was being used by Confederate forces.[67]

Late 1863

Beginning on August 8, Marmora moved up the White River as part of a flotilla commanded by Lieutenant

Tom Sugg and Kaskaskia. Lexington and Marmora continued up to Augusta, before turning back. When Lexington moved up the Little Red to join Cricket, Marmora remained behind at the junction of the rivers.[71] Bache returned to Clarendon on August 15.[72]

As of August 19, Marmora was assigned to the Fifth Division of the Mississippi Squadron, which was responsible for the area between Vicksburg and the White River.[73] On September 19, Acting Master Elias Rees, who was commanding the tinclad, reported that the ship was in a state of disrepair, with the boilers and machinery in poor condition and several small leaks in the hull.[74] By October 20, she was under the command of Acting Master J. F. Treat and was stationed on the White River.[75] Marmora patrolled on the Mississippi River in the later part of the year, seizing cotton owned by known Confederate sympathizers.[1] For a time in November, she was stationed at the mouth of the Yazoo River to prevent the Confederates from blockading it.[3] As of December 1, she was stationed at Island No. 70,[76] an island located in the Concordia Bend on the Mississippi River,[77] and was commanded by Acting Master Thomas Gibson.[76] By January 14, 1864, she had transferred to Greenville, Mississippi.[78]

Yazoo City and later service

Map of the Satartia, Liverpool, and Yazoo City areas from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies

On February 2, 1864, Marmora began a movement up the Yazoo River along with Prairie Bird, and the tinclads Romeo,

Elias K. Owen, and was working in conjunction with a Union Army brigade commanded by Colonel James E. Coates.[79] Later that day, the Union forces skirmished with Confederate land forces near Satartia, Mississippi, and on February 3 and 4 fought against land-based Confederates in the Liverpool, Mississippi, area. On February 4, Marmora and Exchange pushed on to Yazoo City but came under artillery fire and withdrew to Satartia. After Sherman's Meridian campaign drew Confederate forces away from the Yazoo River area, Owen and Coates moved back up the river, probing Yazoo City on February 8, and occupying the town the next day.[80]

Late on February 14, the expedition occupied Greenwood, upriver from Yazoo City. The Union forces collected about 450 cotton bales in the area, while Marmora scouted up the Tallahatchie River. They began returning downriver on February 19, arriving at Yazoo City on February 28.[81] By late February, the Union vessels remaining on the Yazoo were Petrel and Exchange at Yazoo City, Prairie Bird at Liverpool, and Marmora running patrols on the river. After the Meridian campaign ended, Confederate cavalry was free to return to the Yazoo River area, and attacked Yazoo City on March 5. Marmora was present at the city and fired on the Confederate attackers.[82] A 12-pounder howitzer from the tinclad was sent ashore,[83] with a crew under the command of Gibson. The howitzer fired rapidly, and assisted in repulsing the Confederate attacks on Yazoo City.[84] Three seamen from Marmora's howitzer crew received the Medal of Honor for their actions at Yazoo City: William J. Franks, Bartlett Laffey, and James Stoddard;[83][84] All three men's Medal of Honor citations noted that they had been "bravely standing by his gun despite enemy rifle fire which cut the gun carriage and rammer".[85][86][87]

Marmora remained in the area for some time,

West Gulf Blockading Squadron.[93] By April 1, she had been returned to the Sixth Division of the Mississippi Squadron.[94]

In late April, Marmora was one of the vessels earmarked to patrol the regions of the Mississippi River where it was thought most likely that fleeing Confederate president

ship's log were later published more times in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies than those of any other tinclad; naval historian Myron J. Smith suggests that this may indicate that Marmora was a favorite vessel of the compilers.[99]

Notes

  1. ^ A narrow channel leading from the Mississippi River[52]
  2. ^ Davis was actually captured in Georgia in May.[95]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Christ, Mark K. (July 7, 2022). "USS Marmora". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Little Rock, Arkansas: CALS. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Silverstone 1989, p. 173.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Marmora I (StwSt)". Naval History and Heritage Command. August 6, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Official Records 1921, p. 137.
  5. ^ "Untitled". Gallipolis Journal. August 28, 1862. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  6. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 356 fn. 25.
  7. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 43.
  8. ^ a b Smith 2010a, p. 47.
  9. ^ Smith 2010a, pp. 45–46.
  10. ^ Smith 2010a, pp. 339–340.
  11. ^ Silverstone 1989, p. 165.
  12. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 46.
  13. ^ a b Smith 2010a, p. 75.
  14. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 76.
  15. ^ Tomblin 2016, p. 170.
  16. ^ Tomblin 2016, p. 174.
  17. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 77.
  18. ^ a b c Tomblin 2016, p. 175.
  19. ^ Bearss 1980, p. 89.
  20. ^ a b Smith 2010a, p. 79.
  21. ^ Tomblin 2016, pp. 175–176.
  22. ^ Smith 2010a, pp. 79–80.
  23. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 80.
  24. ^ Tomblin 2016, p. 179.
  25. ^ a b Bearss 1980, p. 95.
  26. ^ Tomblin 2016, pp. 181–182.
  27. ^ a b Bearss 1980, p. 96.
  28. ^ a b Tomblin 2016, p. 182.
  29. ^ a b Tomblin 2016, p. 183.
  30. ^ a b Bearss 1980, p. 98.
  31. ^ Tomblin 2016, pp. 183–184.
  32. ^ Bearss 1980, p. 99.
  33. ^ Tomblin 2016, pp. 184–185.
  34. ^ Tomblin 2016, p. 185.
  35. ^ Tomblin 2016, pp. 185–186.
  36. ^ Bearss 1980, p. 103.
  37. ^ Tomblin 2016, pp. 191–193.
  38. ^ a b Tomblin 2016, p. 194.
  39. ^ Bearss 1991, p. 174.
  40. ^ Tomblin 2016, pp. 195–196.
  41. ^ Bearss 1991, p. 211.
  42. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 89.
  43. ^ Tomblin 2016, p. 203.
  44. ^ Tomblin 2016, pp. 203–204.
  45. ^ Smith 2010b, p. 144.
  46. ^ Official Records 1911, p. 147.
  47. ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 157.
  48. ^ Official Records 1911, p. 164.
  49. ^ a b c Official Records 1911, p. 700.
  50. ^ a b Tomblin 2016, pp. 226–227.
  51. ^ Smith 2012, p. 177.
  52. ^ Bragg 1977, p. 98.
  53. ^ Smith 2012, p. 183.
  54. ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 510–511.
  55. ^ Bearss 1991, p. 517.
  56. ^ Smith 2012, pp. 211–213.
  57. ^ Smith 2012, pp. 217–218.
  58. ^ Smith 2012, pp. 226–227.
  59. ^ Smith 2012, pp. 230–231.
  60. ^ Official Records 1911, pp. 514–515.
  61. ^ Smith 2012, p. 232.
  62. ^ Official Records 1911, pp. 568–569.
  63. ^ Official Records 1911, p. 658.
  64. ^ a b Smith 2010a, pp. 128–129, 364 fn. 18.
  65. ^ Bragg 1977, pp. 125–126.
  66. ^ Simons, Don R. (July 13, 2022). "Gaines' Landing, Skirmish at (June 28, 1863)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Little Rock, Arkansas: CALS. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  67. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 129.
  68. ^ Smith 2010a, pp. 141–142.
  69. ^ Christ 2010, p. 151.
  70. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 142.
  71. ^ Christ 2010, pp. 151–152.
  72. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 144.
  73. ^ Official Records 1912, pp. 378–379.
  74. ^ Official Records 1912, p. 420.
  75. ^ Official Records 1912, p. 507.
  76. ^ a b Official Records 1912, p. 609.
  77. ^ Bragg 1977, p. 111.
  78. ^ Official Records 1912, p. 692.
  79. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 162.
  80. ^ Smith 2010a, pp. 162–163.
  81. ^ Smith 2010a, pp. 164–165.
  82. ^ Smith 2010a, pp. 169–171.
  83. ^ a b "USS Marmora". National Park Service. November 26, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  84. ^ a b Smith 2010a, p. 171.
  85. ^ "William J. Franks". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  86. ^ "Bartlett Laffey". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  87. ^ "James Stoddard". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  88. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 228.
  89. ^ Official Records 1914, p. 318.
  90. ^ Official Records 1914, p. 518.
  91. ^ Official Records 1914, p. 559.
  92. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 313.
  93. ^ Official Records 1917, pp. 54–57.
  94. ^ Official Records 1917, pp. 126–128.
  95. ^ a b Smith 2010a, p. 325.
  96. ^ Official Records 1917, p. 195.
  97. ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 437–438.
  98. ^ Official Records 1917, p. 254.
  99. ^ Smith 2010a, p. 365 fn. 25.

Sources

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