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USS Potomska (1861)
Encyclopedia
USS Potomska was a wooden screw steamer
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
rigged as a three masted schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
purchased at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
from H. Haldrege on 25 September 1861. She was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 20 December 1861.
Assigned blockading duties, 1861–1862
Upon commissioning she was ordered to Port Royal, South CarolinaPort Royal, South Carolina
Port Royal is a town in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Largely because of annexation of surrounding areas , the population of Port Royal rose from 3,950 in 2000 to 10,678 in 2010, a 170% increase. As defined by the U.S...
, for duty with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Potomska assisted in covering the landing of U.S. troops at the mouth of the Savannah River
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, 28 January 1862. She was in the squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont
Samuel Francis du Pont
Samuel Francis Du Pont was an American naval officer who achieved the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, and a member of the prominent Du Pont family; he was the only member of his generation to use a capital D...
that took possession of Fernandina, Florida on 4 March 1862. On 9 March, with and , she took possession of St. Simons Island and Jekyl Island and landed at Brunswick, Georgia
Brunswick, Georgia
Brunswick is the major urban and economic center in southeastern Georgia in the United States. The municipality is located on a harbor near the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles north of Florida and 70 miles south of South Carolina. Brunswick is bordered on the east by the Atlantic...
. All locations were found to be abandoned in keeping with the general Confederate withdrawal from the seacoast and coastal islands.
On 11 April Potomska was involved in an expedition to St. Catherine's Sound, Georgia. On 27 April she ascended the Riceboro River, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, inducing the Confederates to fire a British brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
, then exchanged fire with dismounted Confederate cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
concealed in the woods of Woodville Island, effectively silencing them. She was involved in an expedition to Darien, Georgia
Darien, Georgia
Darien is a city in McIntosh County, Georgia, United States. It lies on Georgia's coast at the mouth of the Altamaha River about 50 miles south of Savannah, and is part of the Brunswick, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of Darien was 1,719 at the 2000 census. The city is the...
on 9 May, and made a reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
in Great Ogeechee River
Ogeechee River
Ogeechee River is a river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It heads at the confluence of its North and South Forks, about south-southwest of Crawfordville and flowing generally southeast to Ossabaw Sound about south of Savannah. Its largest tributary is the Canoochee River...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, 1 July, exchanging fire with a Confederate battery there. Potomska was briefly decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in August for repairs.
Second commission, 1862–1864
In September 1862 Potomska steamed back to Port Royal for duty in St. Simons SoundSt. Simons Sound
St. Simons Sound is a sound in Georgia that lies between Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island. It is part of the waterway from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Brunswick River to the port at Brunswick, Georgia. The St. Simons lighthouse stands on the north side of the sound....
. In late October she proceeded to blockade Sapelo Sound. On 7 November Polontska escorted Army transport up the Sapelo River
Sapelo River
The Sapelo River is a primarily tidal river in McIntosh County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms between Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 17 near the community of Eulonia and winds generally east through salt marshes into Sapelo Sound, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates St...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, shelling the shore to cover a landing at Spaulding
Spaulding
- Places :United States* Camp Spaulding, California* Spaulding, California* Spaulding, California, alternate name of Ohm, California* Spaulding, Illinois* Spaulding Mountain, Maine* Spaulding Township, Michigan* Spaulding, Oklahoma* Spaulding, Wisconsin...
's.
On 23 February 1863 Potomska captured blockade-running British schooner Belle in Sapelo Sound with a cargo of coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
and salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
. A week later she returned to St. Simons Sound. On 1 June she was ordered to move her blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
to Fernandina where she remained until September. She then returned to Port Royal for repairs which lasted into December when she was laid up prior to going north for further repairs. Potomska decommissioned for repairs at Baltimore, Maryland in March 1864.
Third commission, 1864–1865
Potomska was recommissioned on 21 June 1864, returning to Port Royal on 11 July. On 30 July a landing party from Potomska destroyed two large Confederate salt works near the Back RiverBack River
The Back River , is a river in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. On their return the party was taken under fire by Confederates and a sharp battle ensued before they safely reached the ship, later receiving a commendation from Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren
John A. Dahlgren
John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren was a United States Navy leader. He headed the Union Navy's ordnance department during the American Civil War and designed several different kinds of guns and cannons that were considered part of the reason the Union won the war...
. On 22–24 August Potomska's men raided a turpentine
Turpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...
still near White Oak River
White Oak River
The White Oak River is a blackwater river, approximately 40 mi long, on the coastal plain of southeast North Carolina in the United States. It empties in the Atlantic Ocean.-Course:...
, Georgia.
As of September 1864 Potomska was blockading Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. In October she was stationed at Georgetown. In November she was commanded briefly by Lt. A. T. Mahan who returned her to Charleston, where she remained occasionally chasing and firing on blockade runners. On 16 and 17 February 1865 ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, including Polomska and six others, and boats and launches from these vessels supported the amphibious U.S. Army landing at Bull's Bay, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. This was a successful diversionary movement in the major thrust to take Charleston, designed to contain Confederate strength away from General Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
's route. In March Potomska was up the Cooper River
Cooper River (South Carolina)
The Cooper River is a mainly tidal river in the U.S. state of South Carolina. These cities are located along the river, Mt. Pleasant, Charleston, North Charleston, Goose Creek and Hanahan. Short and wide, it is joined first by the blackwater East Branch, then farther downstream, the tidal Wando River...
. On 1 June she was off Charleston, then steamed north.
Final decommissioning
Potomska decommissioned at Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
on 16 June 1865, and was sold at auction there on 10 August 1865, for $7,100.
See also
- List of United States Navy ships
- American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
- Union NavyUnion NavyThe Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...
- Confederate States NavyConfederate States NavyThe Confederate States Navy was the naval branch of the Confederate States armed forces established by an act of the Confederate Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War...
- SteamboatSteamboatA steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
- SchoonerSchoonerA schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....