The third USS Montgomery 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...

 in 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...

 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...

.

Montgomery was built 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...

 in 1858; chartered by the Navy in May 1861; purchased at New York 28 August 1861; and commissioned 27 May 1861 at New York, Comdr. O. S. Glisson in command.

Service history

From June to November, Montgomery blockaded Apalachicola, Florida

Apalachicola, Florida

Apalachicola is a city in Franklin County, Florida, on US 98 about southwest of Tallahassee. The population was 2,334 at the 2000 census. The 2005 census estimated the city's population at 2,340...

, off which she captured Finland, lacking proper papers, 29 August. In November, she began patrolling the coast from Washington to Cape Fear River

Cape Fear River

The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by and conducted by the , , and the...

, and on the 8th had a running fight with Tallahassee

CSS Tallahassee

The CSS Tallahassee was a twin-screw steamer and cruiser in the Confederate States Navy, purchased in 1864, and used for commerce raiding off the Atlantic coast.-History:...

, the 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...

 iron propellor. After temporary duty off Ship Island

Ship Island (Mississippi)

Ship Island is the collective name for two barrier islands off the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, part of Gulf Islands National Seashore: East Ship Island and West Ship Island. Hurricane Camille split the once single island into 2 separate islands in 1969...

 2 December, she was attacked off Horn Island Pass two days later by Florida

CSS Florida

At least three ships of the Confederate States Navy were named CSS Florida in honor of the third Confederate state:* The blockade runner was commissioned in January 1862, captured by the U.S. Navy in April 1862, and became...

 and Pamlico, but was not damaged.

Joining the East Gulf Blockading Squadron 20 January 1862, Montgomery reported off Ship Island three days later. She took schooner Isabel (formerly W. R. King) off Atchafalaya Bay 1 February, then carried dispatches to Tampa, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

 before joining the West Gulf Blockading Squadron to hunt for schooner Columbia off San Luis Pass, Texas, 5 April. Finding the schooner abandoned, Montgomery burned her, then captured a large sloop. Cruising the Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 coasts, she helped free American citizens held in Mexico the latter part of April and took British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 schooner Will o’ the Wisp of the Rio Grande

Rio Grande

The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...

 3 June.

Further prizes were Blanche, chased ashore at Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

 7 October; Confederate steamer CSS Caroline

USS Arizona (1858)

The first USS Arizona was an iron hulled side-wheel steamer in the United States Navy.-USS Arizona:USS Arizona was an iron-hulled, side-wheel merchant steamship laid down in 1858 at the shipyard of Harlan and Hollingsworth in Wilmington, Delaware, and completed in 1859...

, taken off Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

 28 October; and sloop William E. Chester, taken 20 November. She continued to blockade Mobile into 1863, then joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, searching for Confederate cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

 Tacony

CSS Tacony

CSS Tacony was originally a bark captured by the Confederate cruiser CSS Clarence during the American Civil War and converted into a Confederate cruiser for commerce raiding.The CSS Clarence, commanded by Lt. Charles W...

 off Nantucket Shoals

Nantucket Shoals

Nantucket Shoals is an area of dangerously shallow water in the Atlantic Ocean that extends from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, eastward for and southeastward for ; in places water depth can be as shallow as . Depth soundings are unpredictable due to constant change from strong currents. The...

 in June and Confederate armed cruiser Florida in the same area in July. In August she joined the Wilmington Blockade for the remainder of the year.

Among her 1864 operations in this area were the capture of Pet 11 February; the destruction of blockade running steamer Dove 7 June; the capture of Bendigo, aground on Wilmington Bar 13 June; and the seizure of Bat off Western Bar 11 October. Other ships of the blockade aided in these captures. In December and January she joined in the attack on and capture of Fort Fisher

Second Battle of Fort Fisher

The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a joint assault by Union Army and naval forces against Fort Fisher, outside Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War...

.

In February 1865, Montgomery patrolled off Cape Fear River

Cape Fear River

The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by and conducted by the , , and the...

, engaging Half Moon Battery the 11th, then beginning a coastal patrol from Wilmington to Georgetown, South Carolina

Georgetown, South Carolina

Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Low Country. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Great Pee Dee River, Waccamaw River, and Sampit River, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina,...

, 24 February. Decommissioning at Philadelphia Navy Yard 20 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....

10 August 1865, redocumented 1 April 1866, and was in merchant service into 1877.

External links

• Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center