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CSS Oregon

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CSS Oregon is described as similar to the wooden steamship SS California seen above, although with only one mast
History
Confederate States
NameOregon
Laid down1846
Commissioned1861
FateScuttled in April 1862
General characteristics
Displacement532 tons
Length216 ft 10 in (66 m)
Beam26 ft 6 in (8.1 m)
Draft9 ft 6 in (2.9 m)
PropulsionSteam engines
Armament1 × 8 in (203 mm) gun, 1 × 32 pounder (15 kg), two howitzers

CSS Oregon was a wooden sidewheel steamer that served as a gunboat in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Built in 1846 for the Mobile Mail Line, she transported mail between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, before the war. In 1861, she was seized by the Governor of Louisiana, Thomas Overton Moore, and served as a blockade runner before being taken for use by the Confederate Army. After transferring men and supplies to Ship Island, she was formally converted into a gunboat and armed with four cannon. Remaining behind on Lake Pontchartrain when many Confederate warships were transferred up the Mississippi River, Oregon served in the Mississippi Sound and Pass Christian areas. She took part in several minor actions involving USS New London. In April 1862, Union pressure confined her and other Confederate ships to Lake Pontchartrain. Later that month, with Union forces closing in on New Orleans, Oregon was sank as a blockship. Her wreck was removed and destroyed in the early 1870s.

Construction and pre-war career

Oregon was built at New York City in 1846.[1] A sidewheel steamer, she also had a single mast. With a hull was made from wood,[2] she had one deck and a billethead.[3] She was 216 feet 10 inches (66 m) long, had a beam of 26 feet 6 inches (8.1 m), weighed 532 tons, and had a draft of 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 m).[1][2] Oregon was reported to resemble the steamer California. Built for the Mobile Mail Line,[3] Oregon was used to transport mail between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana.[1] On June 20, 1858, Oregon was enrolled coastwise at New Orleans. As of April 1861, the Geddes family of New Orleans had a 60 percent ownership stake in the vessel, with the remainder being in the hands of two Mobile residents: R. A. Heirn and Samuel Wolff.[3] Heirn had been listed as the ship's master in 1854.[4]

American Civil War

After the outbreak of the American Civil War, Governor of Louisiana Thomas Overton Moore had the ship seized in 1861.[3] Oregon repeatedly ran the Union blockade,[2] and made 92 "entrance and clearances" through the blockade to ports under the command of Captain A. P. Boardman.[3] Both the Confederate States Army and the Confederate States Navy were selecting vessels, and both Oregon and the steamer J. D. Swain were chosen by the Confederate Army. That July, the two ships participated in a joint Army-Navy expedition.[5] Launches from the Union blockading force were harassing the Confederate coastline, and the Confederates formed an expedition to counter the threat. About 135 sailors and marines were loaded onto Oregon and J. D. Swain, and the two ships left Lake Pontchartrain on July 5 and headed to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. After spending the next day unsuccessfully looking for Union vessels, the vessels landed at strategically located Ship Island, where the sailors and marines began constructing a small fortification, while Oregon inspected two fishing boats in the area before releasing them. Oregon and J. D. Swain returned to New Orleans on July 7, although the former returned with the steamer CSS Gray Cloud the next day to bring further men and supplies.[6] On July 13, Oregon and CSS Arrow attempted to lure the USS Massachusetts into the range of the Confederate cannon on Ship Island, but the Union vessel did not take the bait.[7]

Oregon was one of two ships that was used to run supplies to the position on Ship Island, and the Confederate Army eventually outfitted her into a gunboat and placed her under the command of Captain Abraham L. Myers.[8] She was armed with one 8-inch cannon, one 32-pounder gun, and two howitzers.[1] Worried that the garrison at Ship Island could be easily cut off by the Union Navy and starved into submission, Confederate Major General David Twiggs ordered the island abandoned on September 13. Oregon helped evacuate supplies from the island, and the withdrawal was completed on September 16.[9] In late 1861 and early 1862, much of the Confederate fleet in New Orleans was transferred up the Mississippi River, but Oregon remained behind, serving on Lake Pontchartrain.[10] On December 7, 1861, the gunboat CSS Pamlico sighted Union vessels entering Mississippi Sound. Oregon was present at Mississippi City, Mississippi, to transport equipment for a powder mill from there to New Orleans, and joined Pamlico in confronting the Union ships, which turned out to be USS New London and USS De Soto. Remaining in shallow water that the Union vessels could not enter, the Confederates fired on them with two rifled cannon. Oregon and Pamlico ignored a challenge from New London for a closer quarters fight, and the Union ships withdrew.[11]

Pamlico then escorted Oregon back to New Orleans, where the latter unloaded the power mill equipment, which increased the city's capacity for gunpowder production. After meeting a blockade runner in Lake Borgne, Pamlico and Oregon attempted to escort her into the Gulf of Mexico on December 20, but were detected by Union forces near Ship Island and forced to withdraw.[12] On March 25, 1862, Oregon was escorted by Pamlico to the Pass Christian area to deliver supplies and then on her own moved towards Ship Island to scout Union positions. Withdrawing to Pass Christian after being sighted, she was pursued by New London. Oregon and Pamlico moved to engage the Union ship, and began firing from a range of 2,000 yards (1,800 m). Two of Pamlico's cannons were unable to be fired safely due to defective ammunition, and after Pamlico's third cannon was rendered unusable after a projectile became stuck in the barrel, the two ships withdrew into shallow water, where New London could not pursue. The Union ship fell back several hours later.[13]

On April 3, New London, USS John P. Jackson, and the troop transport USS Henry Lewis left Biloxi, Mississippi, to move against Pass Christian.[14] Pamlico, Oregon, and the gunboat CSS Carondelet were mobilized to counter the threat. Confederate fire forced Henry Lewis to withdraw,[15] and the other vessels suffered light damage. Oregon suffered a hit to her ship's wheel,[16] and her pilot was wounded when a projectile entered the pilothouse.[17] With Carondelet's wheel also damaged in the battle and USS Hatteras approaching, the Confederate vessels withdrew to Lake Pontchartrain and the Union forces moved on to Pass Christian. The 1,200 troops aboard Henry Lewis landed, and the area was captured. With Union forces preparing to attack New Orleans, Oregon, Pamlico, Carondelet, Arrow, and CSS Bienville remained at Lake Pontchartrian, guarding Chef Menteur Pass and the Rigolets.[18]

On April 24, Union Navy forces under Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut pushed passed the Confederate defenses at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, and then moved passed the defenses at Chalmette, Louisiana, the next day. New Orleans was largely indefensible after the fall of those positions, and Oregon was sunk as a blockship. Naval historian Neil P. Chatelain states that she was sunk in the Rigolets between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne,[19] while historian W. Craig Gaines places the sinking in either the Tchefuncte River or the Bogue Falaya River.[1] The wreck later interfered with the escape of other Confederate vessels from Lake Pontchartrain.[20] The wreck remained there until a contractor for the United States Army Corps of Engineers removed it in 1872 and 1873. Any iron debris was removed by the contractor, while the rest was burned.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Gaines 2008, p. 71.
  2. ^ a b c Silverstone 1989, p. 230.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Oregon". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  4. ^ Geddes, R. (February 7, 1854). "For Mobile Direct - Daily U.S. Mail Line". The Times-Picayune. Vol. XVIII, no. 12. p. 6. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  5. ^ Chatelain 2018, pp. 174–175.
  6. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 33–36.
  7. ^ Chatelain 2018, p. 179.
  8. ^ Chatelain 2018, pp. 175–176.
  9. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 37.
  10. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 75–77.
  11. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 136.
  12. ^ Chatelain 2018, pp. 183–184.
  13. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 140–141.
  14. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 142.
  15. ^ Chatelain 2018, p. 190.
  16. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 143.
  17. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 190.
  18. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 142–143.
  19. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 169–171.
  20. ^ Chatelain 2018, p. 193.

Sources

  • Chatelain, Neil P. (2018). "The Confederacy's Lake Pontchartrain Naval Squadron: A Cooperative Defense of the Coastal Approaches to New Orleans, 1861-1862". Louisiana History. 59 (2): 167–195. JSTOR 26475479.
  • Chatelain, Neil P. (2020). Defending the Arteries of Rebellion: Confederate Naval Operations in the Mississippi River Valley, 1861–1865. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie. ISBN 978-1-61121-510-6.
  • Gaines, W. Craig (2008). Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-3274-6.
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (1989). Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-783-6.

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