The Potomac Flotilla, also called 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 there.
History American Civil War
On April 22, 1861 Commander James H. Ward, who was the commanding officer of the receiving ship at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn New York, wrote to United States Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells to put forth a plan for the protection of the Chesapeake Bay area. Ward suggested a "Flying Flotilla" of light-draft vessels to operate in the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River, and their tributaries. His commander, Captain Samuel L. Breese, commandant of the New York Navy Yard, endorsed his plan. Wells accepted this proposal and wrote back to Ward and Breese on 27 April 1861 authorizing them to begin carrying out Ward's plan. On 1 May 1861 the first vessels for the new flotilla were acquired. On 16 May 1861 Ward set out from the New York Navy Yard with three vessels, , , and . He arrived at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on 20 May 1861 on board his flagship,Thomas Freeborn.ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 420, 430, 443, 458, 467, 471.
On 27 June 1861 Ward's flotilla engaged the Confederates at Mathias Point, Virginia. While he was sighting the bow gun of Thomas Freeborn, Ward was shot through the abdomen and died within an hour due to internal hemorrhaging. He was the first United States Navy officer to be killed during the American Civil War.ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 539–41.
After the death of Ward the flotilla was led by a succession of short-term commanders until the fall of 1862 when Commodore Andrew A. Harwood took command. He was in turn succeeded by Commander Foxhall A. Parker on 31 December 1864.ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 541, 570–1, 575, 757–8, 760–1. ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. 3, 72, 75, 82, 84, 379.
The Civil War ended in April 1865, and on 18 July 1865 the United States Department of the Navy ordered Parker to disband the flotilla, effective 31 July 1865. Most of the flotilla's remaining vessels were sent to the Washington Navy Yard to be decommissioned.ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. 576, 578.
Name of the flotilla It was not until August 1861 that the flotilla became known as the Potomac Flotilla. The designation of "Flying Flotilla" was dropped when Ward's force arrived in the theater of operations. The flotilla was then referred to by a variety of names, including: Flotilla, Potomac River; Potomac Blockade; Flotilla in the Chesapeake; etc. In early August 1861 the flotilla commander and the Department of the Navy began to consistently refer to the command as the Potomac Flotilla.ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. 488, 504, 509, 511, 596–600.
Operations 1861 Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Aquia Creek, Virginia, 29 May – 1 June 1861 Affair at Mathias Point, Virginia, 27 June 1861 Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Potomac Creek, Virginia, 23 August 1861 Engagement with the Confederate battery at Freestone Point, Virginia, 25 September 1861
1862 Engagement at Cockpit Point, Virginia, 3 January 1862 Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Tappahannock, Virginia, 13–15 April 1862 Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg, Virginia, 20 April 1862 Expeditions to Gwynn's Island and Nomini Creek, Virginia, 3–4 Nov, 1862 Engagement at Port Royal, Virginia, 4 December 1862 Engagement at Brandywine Hill, Rappahannock River, Virginia, 10–11 December 1862
1863 Destruction of salt works on Dividing Creek, Virginia, 12 January 1863 Destruction of Confederate stores at Tappahannock, Virginia, 30 May 1863 Capture of U. S. steamers and USRC Reliance, 16 August 1863
1864 Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia, 12 January 1864 Expedition up the Rappahannock River, Virginia, 18–21 April 1864 Expedition to Carter's Creek, Virginia, 29 April 1864 Expedition to Mill Creek, Virginia, 12–13 May 1864 Expedition up the Rappahannock River, Virginia, 16–19 May 1864 Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia, 11–21 June 1864 Expedition to Milford Haven and Stutt's Creek, Virginia, 24 September 1864
1865 Expedition to Fredericksburg, Virginia, 6–8 March 1865 Expedition up the Rappahannock River, 12–14 March 1865 Operations in Mattox Creek, Virginia, 16–18 March 1865
Ships of the flotilla When Commander James H. Ward departed the New York Navy Yard on 16 May 1861 his flotilla consisted of three vessels. The size of the flotilla steadily increased until it reached a strength that hovered between 15 and 25 vessels.ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 4 (1896), pp. xv-xvi, 458, 508, 570, 666. ORN, Ser. I, Vol. 5 (1897), pp. xv-xvi, 60–1, 75, 100, 108, 204–5, 245–6, 260, 287, 361–2, 391, 366–7, 374, 380, 398, 408–9, 461, 496, 502, 506, 508, 515, 531, 548–9, 567, 571–4.
Ship Rate Type Notes 4th Ironclad monitor Casco class 4th Ironclad monitor Casco class 4th Ironclad monitor Canonicus class 4th Ironclad monitor Canonicus class 2nd Screw sloop 3rd Screw sloop 3rd Screw sloop Commander Wilkes' flagship 4th Screw sloop Receiving ship at Baltimore 3rd Sidewheel gunboat Revenue cutter from United States Revenue-Marine 3rd Sidewheel gunboat 3rd Sidewheel gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat Blockade runner captured by 4 March 1864 off Beaufort, North Carolina. 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat Steamer captured by 20 April 1862 on the Rappahannock River, Virginia. 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat Blockade runner captured by 9 July 1864 in South Santee River, South Carolina. 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat ex-Confederate captured by 4 July 1862 on the James River, Virginia 4th Screw gunboat Sunk by boiler explosion off Ragged Point, Virginia, 11 November 1864 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Screw gunboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat Blockade runner captured by 7 July 1862 off New Providence in the Bahamas 4th Sidewheel gunboat Blockade runner captured by USAT Fulton and on 21 November 1863 off Wilmington, North Carolina 4th Sidewheel gunboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat ex-ferryboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat ex-ferryboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat ex-ferryboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat Known as USS Mount Vernon until 4 November 1861 4th Sidewheel gunboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat Captured by Confederate boarding party 23 August 1863 in Rappahannock River, scuttled at Port Royal, Virginia, 28 August 1863 4th Sidewheel gunboat ex-ferryboat 4th Sidewheel gunboat Commander Ward's flagship 4th Sidewheel gunboat 4th Screw auxiliary 4th Sidewheel auxiliary Ordnance vessel, Washington Navy Yard 4th Sidewheel auxiliary Supply ship 4th Sidewheel auxiliary Picket and dispatch vessel 4th Sidewheel auxiliary Icebreaker 4th Sidewheel auxiliary Dispatch vessel, known as USS Powhatan until 4 November 1861 4th Sidewheel auxiliary Transport ferry 4th Sidewheel auxiliary Storeship 4th Screw tug 4th Screw tug 4th Screw tug 4th Screw tug 4th Screw tug 4th Screw tug Captured by Confederate boarding party 23 August 1863 in Rappahannock River, scuttled at Port Royal, Virginia, 28 August 1863 4th Screw tug 4th Screw tug 4th Screw tug Sunk 10 September 1861 in collision with merchant ship State of Maine off Indian Head, Maryland 4th Screw tug USS Watch 4th Screw tug Known as USS A. C. Powell until August 1862, known as USS Alert from August 1862 to 2 February 1865 4th Screw tug ex-Confederate, captured 24 April 1861 by at Hampton Roads, Virginia 4th Sidewheel tug Also known as USS William G. Putnam 4th Sidewheel tug 4th Sidewheel tug Tug and dispatch boat 4th Sidewheel tug E. H. Herbert - Tug Chartered vessel Edwin Forrest - Tug Chartered vessel James Murray - Tug Chartered vessel - Sidewheel steamer from United States Coast Survey - Sidewheel Steamer from United States Coast Survey 4th Sailing schooner mortar schooner 4th Sailing schooner Mortar schooner 4th Sailing schooner Mortar schooner 4th Sailing schooner Mortar schooner 4th Sailing schooner Mortar schooner 4th Sailing schooner Mortar schooner 4th Sailing schooner Mortar schooner 4th Sailing schooner Mortar schooner 4th Sailing schooner Mortar schooner - Sailing schooner from United States Coast Survey Chaplin 4th Sailing schooner - Sailing schooner from United States Coast Survey - Sailing schooner from United States Coast SurveyUSS Alpha4thScrew picket boatKnown as Picket Boat No. 1 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.USS Beta4thScrew picket boatKnown as both USS Bazely and as Picket Boat No. 2 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. Hit a torpedo (mine) and was destroyed 25 December 1864 by retreating Union troops to prevent Confederate capture.USS Gamma4thScrew picket boatKnown as Picket Boat No. 3 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. USS Delta 4th Screw picket boat Known as Picket Boat No. 4 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.USS Epsilon4thScrew picket boatKnown as Picket Boat No. 5 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864. USS Zeta 4th Screw picket boat Known as Picket Boat No. 6 until sometime between 1 November and 5 December 1864.
Commanders
Flotilla commander From To Notes Commander James Harmon Ward late April 1861 27 June 1861 Killed in action 27 June 1861 Commander Stephen Clegg Rowan 27 June 1861 10 July 1861 Commander pro tem Commander Thomas Tingey Craven 10 July 1861 2 December 1861 Lieutenant Abram D. Harrell 2 December 1861 6 December 1861 Commander pro tem Lieutenant Robert Harris Wyman 6 December 1861 early July 1862 Lieutenant Commander Samuel Magaw early July 1862 1 September 1862 Commander pro tem Commodore Charles Wilkes 1 September 1862 10 September 1862 Commodore Andrew Allen Harwood 10 September 1862 31 December 1863 Commander Foxhall Alexander Parker, Jr. 31 December 1863 31 July 1865
References In these notes, the abbreviation ORN is used for the work Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.
Further reading Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 4. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1896).Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 5. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1897). Silverstone, Paul H. Warships of the Civil War Navies. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989).
External links Donald Benham Civil War Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Arthur McKinstry and the War Along the Potomac, 1861-1862 https://www.facebook.com/groups/waronthepotomac