USS Azalea (1864)
Encyclopedia
USS Azalea (1864) was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy
during the American Civil War
. She was used by the Union Navy as an armed tugboat
in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate
waterways.
, the tug was placed in commission on 7 June 1864, Acting Master Frederick W. Strong in command.
, on 17 June 1864 and immediately took station in the outer cordon of Union warships striving to seal off that major port which, as the birthplace of secession, held great symbolic significance for the Confederacy in addition to its substantial strategic value.
in boarding and taking possession of the blockade-running ". . . schooner
Pocahontas
, of and from Charleston, South Carolina
, bound to Nassau
, New Providence
. . ."with a cargo of cotton and tobacco
.
From time to time during her ensuing months off Charleston, Azalea had brushes with blockade runners which were attempting to enter or leave port, but she did not score again before she retired to Port Royal, South Carolina
, just before the arrival of spring. When this work had been completed, late in March 1865, she headed for waters near Savannah, Georgia
, and was on duty in Ossabaw Sound
by 1 April.
's army evacuated Richmond, Virginia
, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis
and his cabinet retired into the Deep South
in the hope of continuing the struggle. However, Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia
on the 9th and General Joseph E. Johnston
realized that his army, the only significant body of Confederate troops left in the field, could not prevail.
On the 25th, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
informed Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren
that he expected General Johnston to surrender the next day and asked the commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron to ". . . watch the east coast and send word round to the west coast ..." lest Davis and his cabinet escape to Cuba
.
Azalea was one of the nine steamers that Dahlgren promptly sent to sea to intercept the former Southern chief of state. However, Union cavalrymen captured Jefferson Davis
at Irwinville, Georgia
, on 10 May; and Azalea returned to Port Royal 15 May.
was attempting to run through the blockade into Savannah, Georgia
.
, to Samuel C. Cook on 10 August 1865, the tug was redocumented as Tecumseh on 6 October 1865. Operating, at least originally, out of Boston, Massachusetts, she remained in documentation until 1890.
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...
. She was used by the Union Navy as an armed tugboat
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...
in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate
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...
waterways.
Azalea constructed in Boston in 1864
Azalea -- a wooden-hulled, screw tug built at Boston, Massachusetts, by McKay and Aldus—was purchased by the Union Navy upon her completion on 31 March 1864. After her fitting out at the Boston Navy YardBoston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
, the tug was placed in commission on 7 June 1864, Acting Master Frederick W. Strong in command.
Assigned to the South Atlantic blockade
Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the new tug arrived off the bar outside Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston, 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...
, on 17 June 1864 and immediately took station in the outer cordon of Union warships striving to seal off that major port which, as the birthplace of secession, held great symbolic significance for the Confederacy in addition to its substantial strategic value.
Assisting in the capture of runner Pocahontas
The highlight of this duty—which she performed until March 1865—came half an hour before midnight on 8 July 1864 when her boats joined those of the tug Sweet BrierUSS Sweet Brier (1862)
USS Sweet Brier was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.Sweet Briar was used by the Union Navy as an armed tugboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways....
in boarding and taking possession of the blockade-running ". . . 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....
Pocahontas
USS Pocahontas (1852)
The first USS Pocahontas, a screw steamer built at Medford, Massachusetts in 1852 as City of Boston, and purchased by the Navy at Boston, Massachusetts on 20 March 1855, was the first United States Navy ship to be named for Pocahontas, the Algonquian wife of Virginia colonist John Rolfe. She was...
, of and from 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...
, bound to Nassau
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
, New Providence
New Providence
New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It also houses the national capital city, Nassau.The island was originally under Spanish control following Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, but the Spanish government showed...
. . ."with a cargo of cotton and tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
.
From time to time during her ensuing months off Charleston, Azalea had brushes with blockade runners which were attempting to enter or leave port, but she did not score again before she retired to Port Royal, South Carolina
Port 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...
, just before the arrival of spring. When this work had been completed, late in March 1865, she headed for waters near Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
, and was on duty in Ossabaw Sound
Ossabaw Island
Ossabaw Island is one of the Sea Islands located on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia approximately twenty miles by water south from the historic downtown of the city of Savannah. One of the largest of Georgia's barrier islands, Ossabaw contains of wooded uplands with...
by 1 April.
Preventing the escape of Confederate political leaders
By this time, the Confederacy was collapsing. General Robert E. LeeRobert 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 evacuated 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...
, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
and his cabinet retired into the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
in the hope of continuing the struggle. However, Lee surrendered the 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...
on the 9th and General Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
realized that his army, the only significant body of Confederate troops left in the field, could not prevail.
On the 25th, Gen. William Tecumseh 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...
informed 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...
that he expected General Johnston to surrender the next day and asked the commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron to ". . . watch the east coast and send word round to the west coast ..." lest Davis and his cabinet escape to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Azalea was one of the nine steamers that Dahlgren promptly sent to sea to intercept the former Southern chief of state. However, Union cavalrymen captured Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
at Irwinville, Georgia
Irwinville, Georgia
Irwinville is an unincorporated community in Irwin County, Georgia, United States. It is best known as the site of Jefferson Davis's capture at the end of the Civil War. On May 9, 1865, Jefferson Davis and a small group of officials camped in this pine forest, not knowing that Union cavalry...
, on 10 May; and Azalea returned to Port Royal 15 May.
Azalea captures British brig Sarah M. Newall
Nevertheless, the war was not yet quite over for the tug. On 23 May, she seized Sarah M. Newall while that British hermaphrodite brigBrig
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...
was attempting to run through the blockade into Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
.
Post-war decommissioning, sale, and subsequent maritime career
Azalea continued blockade duty into June and, by mid-month, was back at Port Royal receiving repairs. She got underway north on 27 June and was decommissioned on 13 July 1865. Sold at auction at Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, to Samuel C. Cook on 10 August 1865, the tug was redocumented as Tecumseh on 6 October 1865. Operating, at least originally, out of Boston, Massachusetts, she remained in documentation until 1890.