Skirmish at Fort Lowry
13 MARCH 1865
SKIRMISH AT FORT LOWRY
We are familiar with inspiring stories of epic battles and heroic sailors, but the day-to-day operations of Civil War gunboats were often less dramatic.
The Potomac Flotilla, tasked with protecting Washington, DC, and the upper Chesapeake, numbered 23 vessels by the beginning of 1865. Most were converted flat-bottom ferryboats, shallow draft tugs, and small sloops and schooners. Each was under 600 tons, mounting 2-6 guns. USS MORSE was typical. Built in 1859 as the sidewheel ferryboat Marion, she displaced 514 tons and measured 143 feet in length. She was purchased in November 1861 and outfitted with six guns including a pair of 100-pounder rifles. After service in the Carolinas, MORSE steamed to the Chesapeake in 1863.
By February 1865, GEN Robert E. Lee had only 45,000 Confederate troops remaining to resist GEN U.S. Grant’s siege of Petersburg, Virginia. While further north, the Potomac Flotilla escorted a US Army detachment in mopping up Rebel activities on the peninsula between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. Earlier in the war, Rebels from this area had launched daring raids in the Chesapeake. The town of Tappahannock occupies this peninsula, protected then by an earthwork fortification, Fort Lowry. Advanced scouting by Acting LCDR Edward Hooker in USS COMMODORE READ had revealed the presence of three Rebel 10-pounder rifles in the area, two at the fort and one at Jones Point lower on the Rappahannock.
On this day, the gunboats USS COMMODORE READ, MORSE, DELAWARE, and the Army’s MOSSWOOD steamed up the Rappahannock. Hooker’s reconnaissance proved accurate, for at 0800 MORSE came under fire. The offending 2-gun battery was completely concealed, not even their muzzle flashes could be spotted. Acting Master George W. Hyde returned fire, but for two hours his gunners targeted only bushes and shadows. MORSE’s suffered a battered carpenter shop and the bulkhead between steerage and the medical spaces was wrecked. Portholes were smashed, and 20 panes of glass elsewhere were shattered. At 1000 the still hidden guns fell silent.
This day’s excitement now over, MORSE and DELAWARE turned to destroying nine boats and the bridge connecting Tappahannock with Fort Lowry. The fort itself was found to be deserted, but the gunboats bombarded it regardless. Operations halted at 1800 when MORSE ran aground in the poorly charted river. A modicum of effort freed her, and by 1930 all had returned to the Union held wharf.
The following morning’s enlivenment featured only the grounding of the sidewheel steamer USS BANSHEE–finally refloated by the tide. The overall mission now completed, Rebel activities on the peninsula largely ended.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 19 MAR 24
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Civil War Naval Chronology 1861-1865. Washington, DC: GPO, 1961, p. V-61.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 4 “L-M”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1969, p. 440.
“Report of Acting Master Hyde, U.S. Navy, commanding U.S.S. MORSE, of engagement with Confederate battery near Fort Lowry, Va.” IN: Rush, Richard and Robert H. Woods. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol 5, Operations on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers from December 7, 1861, to July 31, 1865; Atlantic Blockading Squadron from April 4 to July 15, 1861. Washington, DC: GPO, 1897, p. 530.
“Report of executive officer, U.S.S. MORSE, of injuries sustained by that vessel in engagement with Confederate battery near Fort Lowry, Va.” IN: Rush, Richard and Robert H. Woods. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol 5, Operations on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers from December 7, 1861, to July 31, 1865; Atlantic Blockading Squadron from April 4 to July 15, 1861. Washington, DC: GPO, 1897, p. 531.
“Semimonthly statement of vessels of the Potomac Flotilla.” IN: Rush, Richard and Robert H. Woods. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol 5, Operations on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers from December 7, 1861, to July 31, 1865; Atlantic Blockading Squadron from April 4 to July 15, 1861. Washington, DC: GPO, 1897, p. 531.
Silverstone, Paul H. Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1989, pp. 70, 101.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fort Lowry has been lost to history. It had been built in 1861 as an 8-gun battery to counter Union incursions toward Fredricksburg, Virginia. But situated as it was on swampy ground near Lowry Point, the fort was subject to frequent flooding and erosion over the years. Its presence is remembered today only with a roadside marker near Dunnsville, Virginia.
