USS Anacostia (1856)
Encyclopedia
USS Anacostia (1856) was a steamer, constructed as a tugboat
, that was first chartered by the United States Navy
for service during the Paraguay
crisis of the 1850s and then commissioned as a U.S. Navy ship. She later served prominently in the Union Navy
during the American Civil War
.
built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, in 1856 as M. W. Chapin -- originally operated out of Middletown, Connecticut
, as a merchant tug. During subsequent service as a canal boat, the vessel caught the eye of the Federal Government which chartered her sometime in September 1858—quite possibly on the 13th of that month—for its forthcoming expedition to South American waters.
and the United States had soured in the summer and autumn of 1854 when the American consul, Edward A. Hopkins, fell out of the favor of Paraguay's Permanent President, Carlos Antonio López. Their growing animosity prompted the dictator to turn against the continuation of surveying operations—which he had previously heartily endorsed—then being conducted in the tributaries of the Rio de la Plata
by the American Navy's side-wheel steamer, .
The hostility reached a climax on 1 February 1855 when Paraguayan batteries at Itapiru -- a brick fortress on the northern bank of the Upper Paraná River
-- opened fire upon that small American warship
, hitting her 10 times and killing her helmsman. Prolonged, but fruitless, efforts seeking redress through diplomatic measures ensued. Finally, on 9 September 1858, President James Buchanan
turned the matter over to James B. Bowlin
, a former congressman from Missouri
, and sent him to Paraguay to obtain satisfaction.
To lend credibility and force to Bowlin's demands, the President ordered the Navy to establish a force which could compel compliance. However, only a couple of sailing ships were then assigned to the Brazil station; and few light-draft, naval steamers were available elsewhere. To fill this need, the Navy chartered seven steam-propelled merchant ships for the expedition. Among these vessels was M. W. Chapin which, like her sisters, had been chosen because of her ability to negotiate shallow, tortuous, and rapidly flowing, waters far from the sea.
The expedition
-- commanded by Flag Officer William B. Shubrick -- departed New York on 17 October; but, for the most part, its 19 ships proceeded southward independently. Under the command of Lt. William Ronckendorff
, M. W. Chapin — the smallest of the vessels and the last to reach the mouth of the Rio de la Plata — arrived at Montevideo, Uruguay, on 29 December. The next day, all but two of the shallow-draft ships began their ascent of the river toward Paraguay. Steam launches manned by volunteers from the deep-draft ships joined them for the voyage upriver. Upon reaching Rosario
, Water Witch and left their companions behind and continued on to Asunción, Paraguay, with Bowlin and Shubrick. They reached the Paraguayan capital on 25 January 1859. A fortnight
's negotiations—aided by the knowledge that the balance of Shubrick's force was nearby ready to launch offensive operations should such measures be needed—resolved the disputes to Bowlin's satisfaction, and the two American steamers headed downriver on 10 February. Meanwhile, M. W. Chapin and had acted as dispatch boats maintaining communications between the large ships at Montevideo, Uruguay, and the smaller ones upstream.
Upon the successful completion of their mission to South America, the ships not assigned to the Brazil Squadron returned home where the Navy exercised its purchase option by buying all seven of the chartered steamers. No document giving the exact date of M. W. Chapin's transfer of title has been found; but the sale probably took place on, or sometime soon after, 27 May 1859, the day of the ship's last log entry under her original name.
-- located on the north bank of the river which gave the ship her Navy name. She was still serving there as a tender when the election of Abraham Lincoln
to the Presidency on 6 November 1860 precipitated the secession crisis and set the United States on an inexorable course toward civil war
.
Washington's location on the river separating the Southern states of Maryland
and Virginia
prompted fears that Confederate sympathizers might attempt to prevent Lincoln's inauguration and try to take possession of the city. Thus, as early as 8 January 1861, the commandant of the Washington Navy Yard, Capt. Franklin Buchanan
, warned Comdr. John A. Dahlgren
, the head of the Bureau of Ordnance
, that a mob might ". . . attempt to possess themselves of this yard between now and the 4th of March next for the purpose of securing the arms and ammunition now in the armory and magazine, to be used in preventing the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln . . . ."To prepare to deal with that extremity, or with other similar emergencies which might arise, Anacostia -- commanded by Lt. Thomas Scott Fillebrown -- was ". . . kept in readiness ... to receive on board the powder from the main magazine . . . ." Buchanan also stated that he would ". . . require all . . . under my command to defend it [the yard] to the last extremity." The apprehension of an impending attack continued to grow. On 1 February Buchanan issued a general order assigning the officers under his command various parts of the yard to defend. Lt. Fillebrown of Anacostia was given responsibility for fighting off anyone threatening ". . . the lower part of the yard."
. On 15 April, Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring that an insurrection existed and calling forth ". . . the militia of the several states of the Union . . ."to restore Federal authority. His action aroused bitter resentment along the border between the North and the South. Two days later, the Virginia State Convention voted to secede. On the 19th, the President declared a blockade
of the Confederate States
. That same day, Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles
-- fearing that Virginians would capture the Norfolk Navy Yard -- ordered Anacostia to receive on board incendiary material and explosives and to take them to Norfolk, Virginia
, so that, if necessary, the commandant of the navy yard there might destroy all public property within his command to prevent ". . . its falling into the hands of lawless persons."
However, before Anacostia had finished taking on her highly combustible cargo, returned from her futile relief expedition to Charleston
Harbor. Since she was larger, that screw sloop was capable of carrying more cargo than Anacostia; and, since her engines were far more powerful, she was better able to tow warships then under repair out of the threatened, and soon-to-be-abandoned, Norfolk Navy Yard. Pawnee's advantages prompted Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles
, to order her to go to Norfolk in place of Anacostia. The latter steamer quickly transferred her inflammable cargo and her pilot to the larger vessel which then sped to Hampton Roads
.
as it was moving between railroad stations during its trip to Washington to defend the Federal Capital. This serious threat to lines of communications and supply linking Washington with the North by rail underscored the importance of keeping the Potomac open to Federal shipping.
to learn of any obstruction which Confederates might have placed in the channel; to look for signs of any Southern efforts to erect batteries along the banks of the river; and, if possible, to destroy any fortifications discovered. To assist her in carrying out the latter mission, she embarked a guard of 20 United States Marines
before getting underway.
Since Fillebrown needed a pilot to descend the river below Cedar Point
safely, he reversed course upon reaching that place, lest his ship run aground and fall into enemy hands. During her homeward passage, Anacostia escorted two vessels: the steamer Jerome
; carrying 144 barrels of gunpowder along with". . . other stores for the Government . . ."and". . . a large schooner
laden with cement and other matter for the United States Capitol" which was then being enlarged. Upon reaching Washington, Fillebrown reported that he had found neither channel obstructions nor evidence of shore batteries. He went on to ask that ". . . at least one other responsible officer be ordered to this vessel as the constant and unremitting attention that is necessary to the proper execution of my orders is more than nature will stand. I have not laid myself down since Thursday [five days before] night." No records tell us whether or not Fillebrown received the needed help. In any case, Anacostia soon resumed her patrolling of the Potomac and stuck to the task through the early weeks of the war.
and carefully observe both banks as she proceeded downstream. Occasionally, she ventured all the way to Point Lookout, Maryland
; but usually reversed course before reaching the mouth of the Potomac and steamed back to the navy yard where she replenished her bunkers with coal and quickly began another cycle.
During one of his ship's reconnaissance runs downriver in mid-May, Fillebrown learned from the side-wheeler Mount Vernon that Confederate forces had emplaced cannon at the mouth of Aquia Creek
. Disturbed at this intelligence, he immediately headed Anacostia back to Washington to report the discovery.
The news presented Lincoln—already overburdened by many other highly dangerous problems—with an extremely exasperating dilemma. If he ordered Federal forces to attack the fortifications which were going up on the southern bank of the Potomac, he would assuredly offend many still loyal, but wavering, Virginians and would influence them to vote to withdraw from the Union in the forthcoming plebiscite on their state convention's ordinance of secession. On the other hand, if he did not move against the new batteries before they had been completed and strengthened, he would place Union use of the Potomac—and thus the National Capital and the whole Union cause—in grave jeopardy. Temporizing, the President decided to leave all Virginia
territory—riverside guns notwithstanding—inviolate until the people of that state had spoken. For the time being, no action would be taken against the ordnance threatening Washington's waterborne communication with the rest of the world.
s and other navigational aids from the river. To counter this threat, the Navy selected Lt. Thomas Phelps
to make a new survey of the Potomac. As he carried out this work, Anacostia and shared the task of carrying him upstream and downstream while he made the observations needed to prepare new charts showing permanent landmarks ashore—which could be neither moved nor removed— rather than movable markers in the water. These new maps made it possible for navigators to keep their vessels safely in the channel as they operated between Washington and Point Lookout
.
overwhelmingly endorsed secession. After losing this critical plebiscite, the Lincoln Government wasted no time in moving to check the growing threat to the National Capital from the south bank of the Potomac. That very night, troops left Washington and occupied Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia
. Some subsequent studies state that Anacostia joined and in carrying the Union occupation forces to Alexandria and in covering their landings. However, no contemporary documents supporting her participation in the operation have been found. Moreover, it seems unlikely that Anacostia took part since she departed the Washington Navy Yard that morning and headed for the mouth of the Potomac to escort the steamer Sea Gull back to the capital. They arrived there on the night of the 27th.
Soon after reaching home, Anacostia welcomed on board Lt. Napoleon Collins
who relieved Lt. Fillebrown in command. While she was at the navy yard, she also exchanged her Marine Corps guard for one composed of soldiers from the 71st New York Regiment.
to communicate with Comdr. James Harmon Ward, the commanding officer
of the recently established Potomac Flotilla
, and then to enforce the blockade of the Virginia shore further below. Anacostia met Thomas Freeborn, the flotilla's flagship
, on the morning of 31 May, just as Ward was preparing to resume shelling the new Southern works at the mouth of Aquia Creek
. During the bombardment, she added her guns to those of Freeborn and Resolute. At least two of Anacostia's shells exploded within the battery and did considerable material damage; but, unaccountably, wounded no one.
Confederate counterbattery fire struck Ward's ships several times, but wounded only one man and did no serious material damage. That evening the Union steamers withdrew a few miles downstream where they were reinforced by .
The next day, the Federal warships moved back upriver to a point just off the mouth of Aquia Creek and again opened fire. In compliance with Ward's orders, Anacostia and Resolute did not join in the cannonade, but remained just out of range of the Confederate artillery so that they would be ready to tow any of their consorts out of danger in the event one or both became disabled during the engagement. In the course of the five-hour action, many rounds from ashore did strike both Thomas Freeborn and Pawnee, causing Ward to return to Washington in the former for repairs and replenishment. Anacostia also headed back to the navy yard where she arrived on the evening of 1 June.
to relieve the tug, , which needed repairs. She arrived in Hampton Roads
on the 7th and served in that strategic harbor supporting the blockade through the first three weeks of August and then returned to Washington for yard work which she also needed.
, dismounting at least one Southern gun and silencing the battery. The ships returned to that place on 9 March—the day of the historic battle at Hampton Roads between CSS Virginia
, the raised and rebuilt Merrimack and -- but found the Southern positions deserted. Parties from the Union warship then landed and spiked the abandoned guns. Later that day, the same raiders destroyed Confederate batteries at Evansport, Virginia.
was making final preparations for moving the Army of the Potomac
from its positions in Northern Virginia to the tip of the peninsula
formed by the James
and York River
s to launch a new drive toward Richmond, Virginia
, from that quarter. Anacostia's next assignment took her back and forth between Washington and Hampton Roads on runs escorting Army transports carrying McCellan's troops to Fort Monroe
for the impending campaign. When she had completed that duty, the ship turned her attention to reconnaissance work along the lower western shore of the Chesapeake Bay
in the Piankatank River
; Mobjack Bay
; and, especially, the York River which the Yankee Army was then using as its line of supply during its push up the peninsula. In response to a request from McClellan". . . to annoy the enemy . . ."she shelled both Gloucester, Virginia, and Yorktown, Virginia
on the night of 15 and 16 April.
Following this action, Anacostia headed back up Chesapeake Bay
and, on the 20th, assisted other vessels of the Potomac Flotilla in capturing the steamer Eureka in the Rappahannock River
. She took another prize early in June when she caught the sloop Monitor while that Southern sailing ship was attempting to escape from the Piankatank River
. About this time, a party from Anacostia ventured several miles inland to recapture the reflectors which had been taken from one of the Chesapeake Bay light boats.
Late in June, General Robert E. Lee
's Army of Northern Virginia
turned back McClellan's thrust toward Richmond, Virginia, and forced the Union general to shift his base from the York to the James. The Union reverses on the peninsula prompted Washington to bring Major General Ambrose Burnside
's troops from the Carolinas to Northern Virginia where they could join John Pope's
Army in defending Washington. Anacostia in turn was ordered up the Rappahannock to keep in touch with Burnside. Burning wood for want of coal, she arrived at Fredericksburg, Virginia
, on 14 July and remained there subject to Burnside's orders.
, some 35 miles below Fredericksburg, Virginia
, a party from Anacostia boarded the ferry
at Cooper's Point and dropped downriver to that port. There, they arrested two groups of recruits going South from Maryland
to join the Confederate Army. They also destroyed both the ferry that the Southerners used to cross the river and a number of other craft that were potentially useful to the Confederate cause. About a fortnight
later, another party from Anacostia returned to Port Royal and captured another group of recruits and the officers who were in charge of them.
and seriously threatened Washington. As a result, Burnside asked Anacostia to return to the Potomac and wired Washington for more naval help. "I ought to have more gunboats here. It is an absolute necessity."
In response, Anacostia blew up the bridges across the Rappahannock River
, set fire to a sloop
, and headed downstream from Fredericksburg. When she was still some 20 miles from the mouth of the Potomac, her engine broke down and, instead of taking station off the mouth of Aquia Creek
, she had to go all the way upriver to Washington for repairs. The ensuing overhaul kept the ship inactive during the naval alert attendant upon the Battle of Antietam
and through mid-October.
., where she could observe shipping entering and leaving the Potomac River and could interrupt traffic across the river between Maryland
and Virginia
. In mid-November, Provost led a boat expedition to St. George's Island and captured several Southern smugglers, two canoes, and "... a quantity of contraband goods."
About a week later, the ship—accompanied by four other ships of the flotilla—returned to the Rappahannock River
behind which Burnside, who had relieved McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac, was assembling forces in a position to protect Washington while pushing toward Richmond. However, the low level of the tidal water slowed the Union gunboats' progress up that river and stopped their ascent at Port Royal before dawn on the 27th. At that point, the senior naval officer, Lt. Comdr. Edward P. McCrea reported to Burnside the arrival of his ships and asked for instructions. On the afternoon of 4 December, Southern field artillery opened fire on Anacostia and three other Union ships, beginning a series of engagements which continued until Burnside's Army—which had crossed the Rappahannock on the 12th—was defeated in the Battle of Fredericksburg
on the 13th.
Burnside's beaten troops retired eastward across the river on the night of the 14th and 15th. Nevertheless, Anacostia remained in the Rappahannock for more than a week thereafter, observing the activities of Lee's troops. On the 23d, she stood downstream to return to the Potomac.
On 28 December 1862, she captured the schooner Exchange in the Rappahannock. From time to time, parties from the ship went ashore in Confederate territory and captured men, materiel, and equipment. For instance, acting on an intelligence report from the Army, parties from Anacostia and landed at Indian Creek, Virginia, on 3 April 1863 to find a large quantity of smuggled medical supplies. They arrived after the drugs had been shipped on to Richmond, but did manage to capture a large quantity of tobacco.
On other occasions, she gathered information for the Northern Army. This was the case during a trip up the Rappahannock with about a fortnight before the Battle of Chancellorsville
.
Similar instances abound. Taken individually, these operations were, for the most part, of little significance. Yet, Anacostia's labors, combined with the countless like efforts of her sister ships in the Union Navy to exact a growing and enervating toll on the South's steadily shrinking ability to fight.
On 21 May, Anacostia, , and took the schooner Emily on the Rappahannock about 10 miles above Urbana, Virginia. On 1 June, she helped to cover Kilpatrick's cavalry brigade
as if crossed the Rappahannock. The next day, she and captured the sloop Flying Cloud. On 16 July in Herring Creek, Maryland, she took and destroyed a canoe and captured the men who had just crossed the Potomac in it to purchase goods needed by the South.
On 7 November 1864 near Aquia Creek, a party from Anacostia destroyed two wagons which had been used to convey blockade goods from that place to Fredericksburg. Two days later, another group of her sailors ascended Chopawamsic Creek
where they burned the sloop Buckskin.
on 12 June 1865. She was sold at public auction
there on 20 July 1865 to a Mr. Clyde and was redocumented as Alexandria on 26 December 1865. She subsequently served in the Chesapeake Bay
area until destroyed by fire at City Point, Virginia
, on 22 March 1868.
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
, that was first chartered by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
for service during the Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
crisis of the 1850s and then commissioned as a U.S. Navy ship. She later served prominently in the Union Navy
Union Navy
The 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...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The 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...
.
Under charter to the Navy as M. W. Chapin
Anacostia -- a screw steamerSteamboat
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...
built 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 1856 as M. W. Chapin -- originally operated out of Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
, as a merchant tug. During subsequent service as a canal boat, the vessel caught the eye of the Federal Government which chartered her sometime in September 1858—quite possibly on the 13th of that month—for its forthcoming expedition to South American waters.
Problems with Paraguay
The historically cordial relations between ParaguayParaguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
and the United States had soured in the summer and autumn of 1854 when the American consul, Edward A. Hopkins, fell out of the favor of Paraguay's Permanent President, Carlos Antonio López. Their growing animosity prompted the dictator to turn against the continuation of surveying operations—which he had previously heartily endorsed—then being conducted in the tributaries of the Rio de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
by the American Navy's side-wheel steamer, .
The hostility reached a climax on 1 February 1855 when Paraguayan batteries at Itapiru -- a brick fortress on the northern bank of the Upper Paraná River
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...
-- opened fire upon that small American warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
, hitting her 10 times and killing her helmsman. Prolonged, but fruitless, efforts seeking redress through diplomatic measures ensued. Finally, on 9 September 1858, President James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
turned the matter over to James B. Bowlin
James B. Bowlin
James Butler Bowlin was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.Born near Fredericksburg, Virginia, Bowlin apprenticed to a trade, but abandoned it to teach school.He received a classical education....
, a former congressman from Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and sent him to Paraguay to obtain satisfaction.
To lend credibility and force to Bowlin's demands, the President ordered the Navy to establish a force which could compel compliance. However, only a couple of sailing ships were then assigned to the Brazil station; and few light-draft, naval steamers were available elsewhere. To fill this need, the Navy chartered seven steam-propelled merchant ships for the expedition. Among these vessels was M. W. Chapin which, like her sisters, had been chosen because of her ability to negotiate shallow, tortuous, and rapidly flowing, waters far from the sea.
The expedition
Paraguay expedition
The Paraguay Expedition was a United States Naval mission sent to Asunción, Paraguay in 1858 to demand indemnity and apology from the Paraguayan Government for the 1 February 1855 firing on the US Navy vessel...
-- commanded by Flag Officer William B. Shubrick -- departed New York on 17 October; but, for the most part, its 19 ships proceeded southward independently. Under the command of Lt. William Ronckendorff
William Ronckendorff
William Ronckendorff was an officer in the United States Navy.-Biography:...
, M. W. Chapin — the smallest of the vessels and the last to reach the mouth of the Rio de la Plata — arrived at Montevideo, Uruguay, on 29 December. The next day, all but two of the shallow-draft ships began their ascent of the river toward Paraguay. Steam launches manned by volunteers from the deep-draft ships joined them for the voyage upriver. Upon reaching Rosario
Rosario, Uruguay
Rosario , also known as Rosario Oriental, Villa del Rosario, or Rosario del Colla, is a small city located within the Colonia Department, in southern Uruguay. It is located on the south end of Route 2, about north of its intersection with Route 1...
, Water Witch and left their companions behind and continued on to Asunción, Paraguay, with Bowlin and Shubrick. They reached the Paraguayan capital on 25 January 1859. A fortnight
Fortnight
The fortnight is a unit of time equal to fourteen days, or two weeks. The word derives from the Old English fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights"....
's negotiations—aided by the knowledge that the balance of Shubrick's force was nearby ready to launch offensive operations should such measures be needed—resolved the disputes to Bowlin's satisfaction, and the two American steamers headed downriver on 10 February. Meanwhile, M. W. Chapin and had acted as dispatch boats maintaining communications between the large ships at Montevideo, Uruguay, and the smaller ones upstream.
Upon the successful completion of their mission to South America, the ships not assigned to the Brazil Squadron returned home where the Navy exercised its purchase option by buying all seven of the chartered steamers. No document giving the exact date of M. W. Chapin's transfer of title has been found; but the sale probably took place on, or sometime soon after, 27 May 1859, the day of the ship's last log entry under her original name.
M. W. Chapin becomes the USS Anacostia
The first volumes of the steamer's logs under the name Anacostia -- which she received upon becoming Navy property or soon thereafter—have been lost. In any case, we know that the vessel was assigned to the Washington Navy YardWashington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...
-- located on the north bank of the river which gave the ship her Navy name. She was still serving there as a tender when the election of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
to the Presidency on 6 November 1860 precipitated the secession crisis and set the United States on an inexorable course toward civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
.
Fears for the defense of Washington, D.C.
A strong air of expectancy in the National Capital is normal during the months between a President's election and his ensuing inauguration. But, in this instance, the withdrawal of cotton-belt states from the Union greatly intensified the customary disquiet and transmuted into it a deep and widespread anxiety concerning the safety of the city.Washington's location on the river separating the Southern states of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
prompted fears that Confederate sympathizers might attempt to prevent Lincoln's inauguration and try to take possession of the city. Thus, as early as 8 January 1861, the commandant of the Washington Navy Yard, Capt. Franklin Buchanan
Franklin Buchanan
Franklin Buchanan was an officer in the United States Navy who became an admiral in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War, and commanded the ironclad CSS Virginia.-Early life:...
, warned Comdr. 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...
, the head of the Bureau of Ordnance
Bureau of Ordnance
The Bureau of Ordnance was the U.S. Navy's organization responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval ordnance, between the years 1862 and 1959.-History:...
, that a mob might ". . . attempt to possess themselves of this yard between now and the 4th of March next for the purpose of securing the arms and ammunition now in the armory and magazine, to be used in preventing the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln . . . ."To prepare to deal with that extremity, or with other similar emergencies which might arise, Anacostia -- commanded by Lt. Thomas Scott Fillebrown -- was ". . . kept in readiness ... to receive on board the powder from the main magazine . . . ." Buchanan also stated that he would ". . . require all . . . under my command to defend it [the yard] to the last extremity." The apprehension of an impending attack continued to grow. On 1 February Buchanan issued a general order assigning the officers under his command various parts of the yard to defend. Lt. Fillebrown of Anacostia was given responsibility for fighting off anyone threatening ". . . the lower part of the yard."
Fort Sumter surrenders and Virginia secedes
Although the feared attacks did not occur when Lincoln took office, tension continued to grow in the weeks that followed; and the tempo of ominous events accelerated after the surrender of Fort SumterFort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...
. On 15 April, Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring that an insurrection existed and calling forth ". . . the militia of the several states of the Union . . ."to restore Federal authority. His action aroused bitter resentment along the border between the North and the South. Two days later, the Virginia State Convention voted to secede. On the 19th, the President declared a 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...
of the Confederate States
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. That same day, Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles
Gideon Welles
Gideon Welles was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869. His buildup of the Navy to successfully execute blockades of Southern ports was a key component of Northern victory of the Civil War...
-- fearing that Virginians would capture the Norfolk Navy Yard -- ordered Anacostia to receive on board incendiary material and explosives and to take them to Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, so that, if necessary, the commandant of the navy yard there might destroy all public property within his command to prevent ". . . its falling into the hands of lawless persons."
However, before Anacostia had finished taking on her highly combustible cargo, returned from her futile relief expedition to Charleston
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...
Harbor. Since she was larger, that screw sloop was capable of carrying more cargo than Anacostia; and, since her engines were far more powerful, she was better able to tow warships then under repair out of the threatened, and soon-to-be-abandoned, Norfolk Navy Yard. Pawnee's advantages prompted Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles
Gideon Welles
Gideon Welles was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869. His buildup of the Navy to successfully execute blockades of Southern ports was a key component of Northern victory of the Civil War...
, to order her to go to Norfolk in place of Anacostia. The latter steamer quickly transferred her inflammable cargo and her pilot to the larger vessel which then sped to Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
.
Fear of losing Baltimore underscores need to keep Potomac open
Meanwhile, another crisis threatened immediate harm to the Union. In Baltimore, Maryland, on that same day, 19April, a violently pro-Southern mob attacked the 6th Massachusetts Regiment6th Massachusetts Regiment
The 6th Massachusetts Regiment also known as the 4th Continental Regiment was raised on April 23, 1775 under Colonel John Nixon outside of Boston, Massachusetts. The regiment would see action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, New York Campaign, Battle of Trenton, Battle of Princeton and the Battle of...
as it was moving between railroad stations during its trip to Washington to defend the Federal Capital. This serious threat to lines of communications and supply linking Washington with the North by rail underscored the importance of keeping the Potomac open to Federal shipping.
Anacostia positions herself on the Potomac
As a result, Anacostia headed down the Potomac RiverPotomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
to learn of any obstruction which Confederates might have placed in the channel; to look for signs of any Southern efforts to erect batteries along the banks of the river; and, if possible, to destroy any fortifications discovered. To assist her in carrying out the latter mission, she embarked a guard of 20 United States Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
before getting underway.
Since Fillebrown needed a pilot to descend the river below Cedar Point
Cedar Point
Cedar Point is a 364 acre amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, United States on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. Cedar Point is the only amusement park with four roller coasters that are taller than...
safely, he reversed course upon reaching that place, lest his ship run aground and fall into enemy hands. During her homeward passage, Anacostia escorted two vessels: the steamer Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
; carrying 144 barrels of gunpowder along with". . . other stores for the Government . . ."and". . . a large 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....
laden with cement and other matter for the United States Capitol" which was then being enlarged. Upon reaching Washington, Fillebrown reported that he had found neither channel obstructions nor evidence of shore batteries. He went on to ask that ". . . at least one other responsible officer be ordered to this vessel as the constant and unremitting attention that is necessary to the proper execution of my orders is more than nature will stand. I have not laid myself down since Thursday [five days before] night." No records tell us whether or not Fillebrown received the needed help. In any case, Anacostia soon resumed her patrolling of the Potomac and stuck to the task through the early weeks of the war.
Anacostia discovers batteries being built on the Virginia shore
Anacostia would typically depart the Washington Navy YardWashington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...
and carefully observe both banks as she proceeded downstream. Occasionally, she ventured all the way to Point Lookout, Maryland
Point Lookout, Maryland
Point Lookout is a Maryland state park at the southern tip of St. Mary's County, Maryland. It is a peninsula formed by the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River....
; but usually reversed course before reaching the mouth of the Potomac and steamed back to the navy yard where she replenished her bunkers with coal and quickly began another cycle.
During one of his ship's reconnaissance runs downriver in mid-May, Fillebrown learned from the side-wheeler Mount Vernon that Confederate forces had emplaced cannon at the mouth of Aquia Creek
Aquia Creek
Aquia Creek is a tributary of the tidal segment of the Potomac River and is located in northern Virginia. The creek's headwaters lie in southeastern Fauquier County, and it empties into the Potomac at Brent Point in Stafford County, south of Washington, D.C....
. Disturbed at this intelligence, he immediately headed Anacostia back to Washington to report the discovery.
The news presented Lincoln—already overburdened by many other highly dangerous problems—with an extremely exasperating dilemma. If he ordered Federal forces to attack the fortifications which were going up on the southern bank of the Potomac, he would assuredly offend many still loyal, but wavering, Virginians and would influence them to vote to withdraw from the Union in the forthcoming plebiscite on their state convention's ordinance of secession. On the other hand, if he did not move against the new batteries before they had been completed and strengthened, he would place Union use of the Potomac—and thus the National Capital and the whole Union cause—in grave jeopardy. Temporizing, the President decided to leave all Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
territory—riverside guns notwithstanding—inviolate until the people of that state had spoken. For the time being, no action would be taken against the ordnance threatening Washington's waterborne communication with the rest of the world.
Navigational aids on the Potomac appear sabotaged
To make matters worse, the riverside batteries were not the only hazards facing Union shipping on the Potomac. Southern agents had removed the buoyBuoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
s and other navigational aids from the river. To counter this threat, the Navy selected Lt. Thomas Phelps
Thomas Phelps
Thomas Stowell Phelps was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the United States Navy from 1840 to 1884, attaining the rank of Captain in 1871 and Rear Admiral in 1884...
to make a new survey of the Potomac. As he carried out this work, Anacostia and shared the task of carrying him upstream and downstream while he made the observations needed to prepare new charts showing permanent landmarks ashore—which could be neither moved nor removed— rather than movable markers in the water. These new maps made it possible for navigators to keep their vessels safely in the channel as they operated between Washington and Point Lookout
Point Lookout
-Places:*Point Lookout, Maryland*Point Lookout, Missouri*Point Lookout, New York*Point Lookout, Queensland*Point Lookout State Park in Maryland*Point Lookout Cemetery in the Louisiana State Penitentiary -Other:*Point Lookout Sandstone...
.
Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia, occupied by Federal troops
The immunity from Federal attack at first enjoyed by Confederate forces in Virginia ended abruptly on 23 May, when the citizens of the Old DominionVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
overwhelmingly endorsed secession. After losing this critical plebiscite, the Lincoln Government wasted no time in moving to check the growing threat to the National Capital from the south bank of the Potomac. That very night, troops left Washington and occupied Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
. Some subsequent studies state that Anacostia joined and in carrying the Union occupation forces to Alexandria and in covering their landings. However, no contemporary documents supporting her participation in the operation have been found. Moreover, it seems unlikely that Anacostia took part since she departed the Washington Navy Yard that morning and headed for the mouth of the Potomac to escort the steamer Sea Gull back to the capital. They arrived there on the night of the 27th.
Soon after reaching home, Anacostia welcomed on board Lt. Napoleon Collins
Napoleon Collins
Rear Admiral Napoleon Collins served in the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.-Biography:...
who relieved Lt. Fillebrown in command. While she was at the navy yard, she also exchanged her Marine Corps guard for one composed of soldiers from the 71st New York Regiment.
The Potomac Flotilla is established
Three days later, the steamer again moved downriver, first to Nanjemoy CreekNanjemoy Creek
Nanjemoy Creek is a tidal tributary of the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland, USA, located between Cedar Point Neck and Tayloe Neck.The Nature Conservancy established its Nanjemoy Creek Preserve in 1978, which protects more than in the watershed...
to communicate with Comdr. James Harmon Ward, the commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
of the recently established Potomac Flotilla
Potomac Flotilla
The Potomac Flotilla, or 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 in the...
, and then to enforce the blockade of the Virginia shore further below. Anacostia met Thomas Freeborn, the flotilla's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, on the morning of 31 May, just as Ward was preparing to resume shelling the new Southern works at the mouth of Aquia Creek
Aquia Creek
Aquia Creek is a tributary of the tidal segment of the Potomac River and is located in northern Virginia. The creek's headwaters lie in southeastern Fauquier County, and it empties into the Potomac at Brent Point in Stafford County, south of Washington, D.C....
. During the bombardment, she added her guns to those of Freeborn and Resolute. At least two of Anacostia's shells exploded within the battery and did considerable material damage; but, unaccountably, wounded no one.
Confederate counterbattery fire struck Ward's ships several times, but wounded only one man and did no serious material damage. That evening the Union steamers withdrew a few miles downstream where they were reinforced by .
The next day, the Federal warships moved back upriver to a point just off the mouth of Aquia Creek and again opened fire. In compliance with Ward's orders, Anacostia and Resolute did not join in the cannonade, but remained just out of range of the Confederate artillery so that they would be ready to tow any of their consorts out of danger in the event one or both became disabled during the engagement. In the course of the five-hour action, many rounds from ashore did strike both Thomas Freeborn and Pawnee, causing Ward to return to Washington in the former for repairs and replenishment. Anacostia also headed back to the navy yard where she arrived on the evening of 1 June.
Assigned temporary duty at Fort Monroe
A few days later, while she was inspecting shipping in the Potomac, the steamer received orders sending her to Fort MonroeFort Monroe
Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...
to relieve the tug, , which needed repairs. She arrived in Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
on the 7th and served in that strategic harbor supporting the blockade through the first three weeks of August and then returned to Washington for yard work which she also needed.
Anacostia returns to Potomac River guard duty
When again ready for action, she resumed patrol duty on the Potomac. From time to time during the following months, the ship shelled Confederate forces along the Virginia shore. On 8 December 1861, she and fired on Southern troops near Freestone Point. After the bombardment had driven off the Confederate soldiers, a party from the steamers landed there and burned down several buildings. Then, on 31 January 1862, Anacostia and engaged cannon at Cockpit PointBattle of Cockpit Point
The Battle of Cockpit Point, the Battle of Freestone Point, or the Battle of Shipping Point, took place on January 3, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the blockade of the Potomac River during the American Civil War....
, dismounting at least one Southern gun and silencing the battery. The ships returned to that place on 9 March—the day of the historic battle at Hampton Roads between CSS Virginia
CSS Virginia
CSS Virginia was the first steam-powered ironclad warship of the Confederate States Navy, built during the first year of the American Civil War; she was constructed as a casemate ironclad using the raised and cut down original lower hull and steam engines of the scuttled . Virginia was one of the...
, the raised and rebuilt Merrimack and -- but found the Southern positions deserted. Parties from the Union warship then landed and spiked the abandoned guns. Later that day, the same raiders destroyed Confederate batteries at Evansport, Virginia.
Supporting General McClellan's operations
About this time, General George B. McClellanGeorge B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...
was making final preparations for moving the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
from its positions in Northern Virginia to the tip of the peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
formed by the James
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
and York River
York River (Virginia)
The York River is a navigable estuary, approximately long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. It ranges in width from at its head to near its mouth on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed drains an area including portions of 17 counties of the coastal plain of Virginia north...
s to launch a new drive toward Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, from that quarter. Anacostia's next assignment took her back and forth between Washington and Hampton Roads on runs escorting Army transports carrying McCellan's troops to Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...
for the impending campaign. When she had completed that duty, the ship turned her attention to reconnaissance work along the lower western shore of the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
in the Piankatank River
Piankatank River
The Piankatank River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. Located on the Middle Peninsula, between the Rappahannock and York rivers, it was the site of numerous actions during the American Civil War....
; Mobjack Bay
Mobjack Bay
Mobjack Bay is a bay on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in the United States. It lies between the York River on the south and the Rappahannock River on the north....
; and, especially, the York River which the Yankee Army was then using as its line of supply during its push up the peninsula. In response to a request from McClellan". . . to annoy the enemy . . ."she shelled both Gloucester, Virginia, and Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a census-designated place in York County, Virginia, United States. The population was 220 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1634....
on the night of 15 and 16 April.
Following this action, Anacostia headed back up Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
and, on the 20th, assisted other vessels of the Potomac Flotilla in capturing the steamer Eureka in the Rappahannock River
Rappahannock River
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...
. She took another prize early in June when she caught the sloop Monitor while that Southern sailing ship was attempting to escape from the Piankatank River
Piankatank River
The Piankatank River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. Located on the Middle Peninsula, between the Rappahannock and York rivers, it was the site of numerous actions during the American Civil War....
. About this time, a party from Anacostia ventured several miles inland to recapture the reflectors which had been taken from one of the Chesapeake Bay light boats.
Late in June, General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
turned back McClellan's thrust toward Richmond, Virginia, and forced the Union general to shift his base from the York to the James. The Union reverses on the peninsula prompted Washington to bring Major General Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator...
's troops from the Carolinas to Northern Virginia where they could join John Pope's
John Pope (military officer)
John Pope was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He had a brief but successful career in the Western Theater, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run in the East.Pope was a graduate of the United States Military Academy in...
Army in defending Washington. Anacostia in turn was ordered up the Rappahannock to keep in touch with Burnside. Burning wood for want of coal, she arrived at Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
, on 14 July and remained there subject to Burnside's orders.
Anacostias raid on Port Royal, Virginia
A month later, in response to intelligence from the general that clandestine lines of communication between Baltimore and Richmond passed through Port Royal, VirginiaPort Royal, Virginia
Port Royal is an incorporated town in Caroline County, Virginia, United States. The population was 170 at the 2000 census.Port Royal was established in the mid-17th century in the Colony of Virginia primary as a port on a navigable portion of the Rappahannock River for export of tobacco, Virginia's...
, some 35 miles below Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
, a party from Anacostia boarded the ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
at Cooper's Point and dropped downriver to that port. There, they arrested two groups of recruits going South from Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
to join the Confederate Army. They also destroyed both the ferry that the Southerners used to cross the river and a number of other craft that were potentially useful to the Confederate cause. About a fortnight
Fortnight
The fortnight is a unit of time equal to fourteen days, or two weeks. The word derives from the Old English fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights"....
later, another party from Anacostia returned to Port Royal and captured another group of recruits and the officers who were in charge of them.
Anacostia called back to Washington after Union loss at Bull Run
On the day Acting Master Nelson Provost, who had relieved Collins in command of Anacostia, reported the latter raid, Lee's army launched an offensive which routed Union troops in the Second Battle of Bull RunSecond Battle of Bull Run
The Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen...
and seriously threatened Washington. As a result, Burnside asked Anacostia to return to the Potomac and wired Washington for more naval help. "I ought to have more gunboats here. It is an absolute necessity."
In response, Anacostia blew up the bridges across the Rappahannock River
Rappahannock River
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...
, set fire to a sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
, and headed downstream from Fredericksburg. When she was still some 20 miles from the mouth of the Potomac, her engine broke down and, instead of taking station off the mouth of Aquia Creek
Aquia Creek
Aquia Creek is a tributary of the tidal segment of the Potomac River and is located in northern Virginia. The creek's headwaters lie in southeastern Fauquier County, and it empties into the Potomac at Brent Point in Stafford County, south of Washington, D.C....
, she had to go all the way upriver to Washington for repairs. The ensuing overhaul kept the ship inactive during the naval alert attendant upon the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
and through mid-October.
Anacostia raids St. George's Island
Upon the completion of this yard work, the steamer dropped downstream and took station off Piney Point, MarylandPiney Point, Maryland
Piney Point is an unincorporated community in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. It is known for the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, a popular seafood restaurant, beautiful houses along the beach, a lighthouse, and a "Museum." The Piney Point post office also...
., where she could observe shipping entering and leaving the Potomac River and could interrupt traffic across the river between Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. In mid-November, Provost led a boat expedition to St. George's Island and captured several Southern smugglers, two canoes, and "... a quantity of contraband goods."
About a week later, the ship—accompanied by four other ships of the flotilla—returned to the Rappahannock River
Rappahannock River
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...
behind which Burnside, who had relieved McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac, was assembling forces in a position to protect Washington while pushing toward Richmond. However, the low level of the tidal water slowed the Union gunboats' progress up that river and stopped their ascent at Port Royal before dawn on the 27th. At that point, the senior naval officer, Lt. Comdr. Edward P. McCrea reported to Burnside the arrival of his ships and asked for instructions. On the afternoon of 4 December, Southern field artillery opened fire on Anacostia and three other Union ships, beginning a series of engagements which continued until Burnside's Army—which had crossed the Rappahannock on the 12th—was defeated in the Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...
on the 13th.
Burnside's beaten troops retired eastward across the river on the night of the 14th and 15th. Nevertheless, Anacostia remained in the Rappahannock for more than a week thereafter, observing the activities of Lee's troops. On the 23d, she stood downstream to return to the Potomac.
Subsequent operations on the Potomac River
The steamer's subsequent movements were somewhat less tied to Army operations. During the ensuing two and one-half years, she primarily plied the waters of the lower Potomac and its tributaries, occasionally leaving that river for brief missions which took her from its mouth south along the western shore of the Chesapeake and up the other streams which flow into that bay, especially the Rappahannock and the Piankatank Rivers.On 28 December 1862, she captured the schooner Exchange in the Rappahannock. From time to time, parties from the ship went ashore in Confederate territory and captured men, materiel, and equipment. For instance, acting on an intelligence report from the Army, parties from Anacostia and landed at Indian Creek, Virginia, on 3 April 1863 to find a large quantity of smuggled medical supplies. They arrived after the drugs had been shipped on to Richmond, but did manage to capture a large quantity of tobacco.
On other occasions, she gathered information for the Northern Army. This was the case during a trip up the Rappahannock with about a fortnight before the Battle of Chancellorsville
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...
.
Similar instances abound. Taken individually, these operations were, for the most part, of little significance. Yet, Anacostia's labors, combined with the countless like efforts of her sister ships in the Union Navy to exact a growing and enervating toll on the South's steadily shrinking ability to fight.
On 21 May, Anacostia, , and took the schooner Emily on the Rappahannock about 10 miles above Urbana, Virginia. On 1 June, she helped to cover Kilpatrick's cavalry brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
as if crossed the Rappahannock. The next day, she and captured the sloop Flying Cloud. On 16 July in Herring Creek, Maryland, she took and destroyed a canoe and captured the men who had just crossed the Potomac in it to purchase goods needed by the South.
On 7 November 1864 near Aquia Creek, a party from Anacostia destroyed two wagons which had been used to convey blockade goods from that place to Fredericksburg. Two days later, another group of her sailors ascended Chopawamsic Creek
Chopawamsic Creek
Chopawamsic Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River in Prince William and Stafford counties, Virginia. Chopawamsic Creek is formed by the confluence of the North and South Branches of Chopawamsic Creek and empties into the Potomac River south of Quantico at the Marine Corps Base Quantico's Air...
where they burned the sloop Buckskin.
Final months of the war
During the final months of the Civil War, Anacostia encountered steadily decreasing Southern activity. However, the fear and tension following Lincoln's assassination in mid-April gave increased purpose and excitement to her last weeks of duty as her crew remained alert for any conspirators who might attempt to escape down or across the Potomac.End-of-war decommissioning
Following the complete collapse of the Confederacy, the steamer was decommissioned at the Washington Navy YardWashington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...
on 12 June 1865. She was sold at public auction
Public auction
A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....
there on 20 July 1865 to a Mr. Clyde and was redocumented as Alexandria on 26 December 1865. She subsequently served in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
area until destroyed by fire at City Point, Virginia
City Point, Virginia
City Point was a town in Prince George County, Virginia that was annexed by the independent city of Hopewell in 1923. It served as headquarters of the Union Army during the Siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War.- History :...
, on 22 March 1868.