The little-known ironclad Tecumseh was sunk by a mine 160 years ago Monday. Farragut then ordered 'Damn the torpedoes!' His ships rallied and took Mobile Bay

The Tecumseh buoy is off Fort Morgan; Dauphin Island is in background (Civil War Picket photo)

In mid-April, I traveled with my wife and mom to Gulf Shores, Ala., for a few days away from the hustle and bustle of metro Atlanta. We enjoyed views of Little Lagoon from our porch, nibbled on seafood and, of course, enjoyed the bright sand and blue-green sea.

We added a dollop of Civil War adventure one day, as my wife and I stopped by Fort Morgan on the west end of the peninsula before taking a ferry across Mobile Bay to a reenactment at Fort Gaines -- another Confederate fort -- on Dauphin Island.

From the Fort Morgan State Historic Site parking lot, we walked toward the narrow beach that on Aug. 5, 1864, was right in the middle of the Battle of Mobile Bay. Rebel guns thundered at a Union flotilla just a few hundred yards away. Adm. David Farragut was intent on disabling or sinking the CSS Tennessee and other ships, taking control of the bay and bringing an end to blockade running to and from the port.

USS Tecumseh hits a mine and sinks; Rebel ships are to the left (Library of Congress)

“Where is the USS Tecumseh wreck site?” we asked a park employee who was painting part of a large 32-pounder gun. He pointed toward the beach and signaled we should not expect to see much.

We passed a family that was fishing and eventually saw a multicolored buoy about 300 hundred yards offshore, between channel markers. Mobile Bay’s signature oil platforms and Dauphin Island were in the distance.

Is that the spot where 93 Tecumseh sailors and their commander perished when the ironclad monitor had the misfortune to hit a Confederate mine and sink within minutes, perhaps even 30 seconds?

There’s no sign or marker on the beach, but when I zoomed in with my iPhone camera, I saw a large white “T.”

USS Tecumseh model and Confederate mine replica at Fort Morgan museum (Picket photos)

As we stood there, and in the months since, I have thought about the incongruity of this grave and its recreational and commercial surroundings. It’s hard sometimes to put things into perspective.

I will be thinking Monday of the sacrifice of these men and the valor of the sailors on both sides who clashed near Fort Morgan 160 years ago on that day.

Although the state park has a few relics and a model of the USS Tecumseh in its visitor center, and a sign atop a west-facing parapet mentioning its loss, I wondered whether many folks know the story of the brave crew that led the Union charge.

Americans certainly are familiar with Farragut’s line, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”

Less known and among Civil War historians and enthusiasts are the reported last words of Tecumseh Commander Tunis Craven (left, photo Library of Congress) moments before the monitor slipped beneath the waves (more on that later in the blog).

This week, I came across an Emerging Civil War blog post that summarized my thinking better than any words I can conjure.

Editor-in-chief Chris Mackowski wrote about the loneliness and constancy of the buoy, which is maintained by the U.S. Navy as a war grave. The site is protected by the Coast Guard.

He mentioned what a colleague wrote: There are no memorials at sea to Civil War sailors who died in combat.

“The buoy used to be farther offshore, but the shore itself has crept closer during the past 159 years,” Mackowski wrote in August 2023. “How can someone lost at sea ever get back to land when the land itself keeps moving?

“That lonely offshore buoy serves as a kind of exception to (the) rule. Something does mark the graves of those men lost at sea. But unless you know what that buoy is, you don’t know it’s a grave marker, a monument, a memorial. Thirty feet below, ninety-four men lay entombed in a capsized iron hulk.”

Why the Navy decided to sail into Mobile Bay

I asked Andy Hall, A Civil War naval expert and author, for his thoughts on the battle and the USS Tecumseh, which he says is shown on modern charts as an unnamed wreck.

“Mobile Bay is an interesting action, and it doesn't get as much notice as it warrants. (None of the naval stuff does.),” he replied in an email. “Mobile was the last port of significance in the Gulf of Mexico that was supplying the Confederates in the Western Theater. Galveston (Texas) remained accessible through the end of the war, but it was honestly too far removed to be of great consequence in the conduct of the war itself.”

American Battlefield Trust map provides overview of campaign

Farragut’s brazen assault was one half of a Union operation. Troops landed on Dauphin Island and laid siege to Fort Gaines, which had few ships to help in its defense. Confederate Col. Charles D. Anderson had half his infantry foe’s number. (Hall wrote about Anderson in his Dead Confederates blog.)

“He is something of a heel among the Confeds for surrendering, but it you read the detailed accounts he really had little choice, with disaffected and near-mutinous troops,” said Hall. “Anderson surrendered his sword to Farragut, who later had it returned to Anderson in respect for his defense of Gaines.”

Hall said the fall of the bay marked a jump in large-scale blockade running in Galveston, which is his focus.

We attended an April battle reenactment at Fort Gaines (Picket photo)

“Denbigh was one of the last runners out of Mobile in 1864, and was destroyed as one of the last two runners trying to get into Galveston in May 1865. I was part of the project that excavated that ship in 1997-2004.”

After the fall of Fort Gaines, Yankee troops moved on Fort Morgan across the bay, forcing its surrender on Aug. 23, 1864. (The state park had a 160th anniversary living history on Saturday, Aug. 3.)

Mobile was heavily fortified and the Union command moved on after securing the bay. The city surrendered in April 1865, three days after Appomattox.

Ironclad braved minefield to protect wooden ship

In its rather brief life, the Tecumseh first experienced Confederate mines and obstructions during operations in the James River in Virginia. Thomas E. Nank, in two articles for the American Battlefield Trust, provides copious details on the “Forgotten Monitor.”

The Union Navy was intent on neutralizing CSS Tennessee, shown after the war. (U.S. Navy)

Before Mobile Bay, Farragut asked for more monitors to challenge the Tennessee and other Confederate warships. The Tecumseh was sent south, and it needed engine work twice on way, including in Pensacola, Fla.

Between 16 and 18 Federal ships, in two lines, would storm past Fort Morgan, trying to get under the guns, enter the bay and take the fight to opposing ships. Craven, who had expressed some doubts about the effectiveness of monitors but agreed to serve, was first in line on Aug. 5.

The commander, as he entered a mine field, decided to make a turn so he could take on the CSS Tennessee and protect USS Brooklyn, a wooden vessel that had faltered amid gunfire from Fort Morgan and the Confederate ships nearby.

Sign on Fort Morgan parapet describes battle, loss of Tecumseh; buoy is beyond (Susan C. Gast)

While Confederate mines were often faulty, at 7:40 a.m. a torpedo (or mine) detonated on the starboard side, according to Nank. The ironclad rolled over to port as water rushed in and panic ensued.

Gunners mate Samuel Shinn, one of about 20 survivors, wrote, “It seemed as if we were lifted right out of the water. At the same time, a blinding flash like lightning came through the porthole. A large hole was stove in the vessel's side, and the men below commenced to cry that the vessel was sinking.”

'After you, pilot.' Chivalry amid disaster

Almost all men below deck on Tecumseh were doomed, but Craven and a few others who were in the turret, pilot house or elsewhere topside had a chance.

Alfred R. Waud's account of Craven's heroics (Library of Congress)

Civil War historian and author Ronald S. Coddington wrote two articles about the USS Tecumseh in his Military Images magazine. He and Hall make special note of what its commander said as the vessel was in its death throes.

Craven and civilian harbor pilot John Collins, in the conning tower or pilot house, stepped toward a ladder that would take them to safety. “After you pilot,” said Craven, who never made it out an drowned in the maelstrom. His act of chivalry is venerated in the annals of naval tradition.

In the March 2020 issue of Military Images, Coddington laid out other versions of what Craven said. He included excerpts of a poem that detailed the officer’s chivalry and sacrifice. (At right, Tecumseh paymaster George Work / Library of Congress)

Collins, quoted in the 1888 “Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,” said after he spoken with the skipper, “When I reached the upmost round of the ladder, the vessel seemed to drop under me.”

In another telling of the story, Coddington wrote, Craven yelled to Collins, “You first, sir.” 

An 1879 account of the encounter offers another version of events. It appeared in “A Sketch of the Battle of Mobile Bay” by William F. Hutchinson, assistant surgeon of the sloop Lackawanna.

“Captain Craven was already partly out, when the pilot grasped him by the leg, and cried ‘Let me get out first, Captain for God’s sake; I have five little children!’ The Captain drew back, saying ‘Go on, sir,’ gave him his place, and went down with the ship while the pilot was saved.”

Farragut's sailors regrouped and won the day

After the Tecumseh sank, amid "immense bubbles of steam, as large as cauldrons," Farragut realized his mix of wooden and iron vessels, now in disorder, had to plow ahead.

William H. Overend's 1883 painting of the USS Hartford at Mobile Bay (Wikipedia)

“The vision of Farragut lashed with rope to the rigging of his flagship Hartford is indelibly etched into the American memory,” wrote Coddington. “His stirring words, paraphrased as ‘Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead,’ are part of our national vocabulary.”

The Federal fleet went on to victory, capturing the Tennessee, while other Rebel ships slipped away, were captured or sank. Admiral Franklin Buchanan, commander of the Confederate fleet, was on the Tennessee and was gravely wounded and captured. (The conquest of Mobile Bay also gave a huge boost to President Abraham Lincoln's re-election bid.)

In a brief congratulatory order issued the next day, Farragut paid tribute to Craven, paymaster George Work and their crewmates, Military Images detailed in December 2014.

“It has never been his good fortune,” Farragut stated in the third person, “to see men do their duty with more courage and cheerfulness, for although they knew that the enemy was prepared with all devilish means for our destruction, and though they witnessed the almost instantaneous annihilation of our gallant companions in the Tecumseh by a torpedo, and the slaughter of their friends, messmates, and gunmates on our decks, still there were no evidences of hesitation in following their commander in chief through the line of torpedoes and obstructions.”

Gunner Charles Baker, serving on the USS Metacomet, helped save 10 Tecumseh crewmembers while under fire and later received the Medal of Honor (photo above, U.S. Navy)

Protection and dignity for a war grave

After the war, Tecumseh families railed against granted salvage rights, and the wreck was left undisturbed for a century. Heather Tassin, site manager at Fort Morgan, says the site is believed to be the largest maritime war grave in the continental United States.

A Smithsonian Institution expedition in the 1960s rediscovered the wreck, and surveys were later conducted, including one in 2018. There was talk of raising the Tecumseh, but it never happened. The Naval History and Heritage Command has about 65 artifacts from the wreck, according to an article. Items include ceramics, ship fittings and hull and deck plank samples.

The NHCC said a management plan continues protection and preservation of the site.

"It is a common misconception that anyone can dive on the Tecumseh," Tassin told the Picket in an email. "No one is permitted to dive on the Tecumseh. It is respected and protected as a war grave."

(Atlas of the Official Records, Plate LXIII, map 6)

A 1975 National Register of Historic Places form says most of the wreck (circled in green above) was covered in mud. "It was this coverage of silt which has given the ship and her contents protection against the ravages of underwater encrustation."

The federal government does periodic remote sensing to monitor the Tecumseh and ensure that it is still protected by anaerobic mud, said Tassin. Alabama officials monitor the work.

Any proposed research would require a permit from the Alabama Historical Commission and the Navy. “There would have to be a very compelling reason to conduct said research because of the Tecumseh’s status as a war grave and the fact that it has been investigated in an archaeological study in the past,” said Tassin.

In his Emerging Civil War article, Mackowski wrote about memorials to the USS Arizona (Hawaii), USS Indianapolis (Indiana) and USS Monitor (Virginia) – places where people can walk to, unlike the Tecumseh.

“But in those moments I stood at the mouth of Mobile Bay off the shore of Fort Morgan, I heard that lone buoy speak volumes. It reminded me of all the stories lost at sea, untold, unremembered. There are no monuments on the ocean.”

A shell from the Alabama lodged in the USS Kearsarge's sternpost during epic duel. It failed to explode and cripple the ship. You can see artifact at a Navy museum

Sinking of Alabama, Kearsarge sternpost, Capt. Ralphael Semmes (NHHC)

For about an hour on June 19, 1864, artillery crews on the USS Kearsarge and commerce raider CSS Alabama plugged away at each other, their shells flying wide or impacting just about every conceivable spot on their opponent’s vessel.

The Union warship, protected by heavy chains, had an advantage in the epic duel off Cherbourg, France -- one that was not of its own making: The Rebel ordnance was old and at times unreliable, meaning a shell might not explode. Still, the Alabama brought its fierce reputation to the fight, having captured or burned dozens of vessels on the high seas.

About 30 minutes in, a shell struck the vital sternpost of the USS Kearsarge (photo of encased artifact in 1980, NHHC). It should have been game, set, match in favor of Capt. Raphael Semmes and his sailors. Instead, the round was mostly a dud, failing to explode. The fighting continued and before long, it was game, set and match for the Federals, who sent the CSS Alabama to the bottom.

Today, the shattered sternpost and the intact artillery shell are on display in the “Securing the Seas for Union Victory” exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Navy in Washington, D.C. Visitors currently can see the items from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

I turned to Andy Hall, an author, blogger and Civil War naval expert, to explain the importance of a ship’s sternpost, which is a component at the rear (stern).

“It generally consists of a vertical (more or less), heavy component of timber, iron, or steel. It needs to be especially strong because it is the principal structural component to which many other parts of the stern are attached,” Hall wrote in an email. “Usually, the sternpost is also the attachment point for the rudder that swings left and right to steer the ship as it moves through the water.”

Example of sternpost on CSS Jackson at National Civil War Naval Museum (Picket photo)

"Damage to the sternpost is especially serious, because it is one of the critical elements that gives strength to the hull of the vessel.”

While the speedy Alabama’s shot on the Kearsarge sternpost did impede operations, the crew was able to steer with extra hands at the helm, according to an Encyclopedia of Alabama article.

Hall says if the shell had exploded, it likely would have ended the battle immediately and quite possibly led to the sinking of the Kearsarge, which was commanded by Capt. John Winslow. He theorizes the ordnance hit the Kearsarge around its waterline.

The red box at left shows the location of the Kearsarge's sternpost; click to enlarge

Semmes wrote in his memoir of his bad luck with the 56-pound shell’s percussion cap.

"I lodged a rifled percussion shell near her stern post – where there were no chains -- which failed to explode because of the defect of the cap. If the cap had performed its duty, and exploded the shell, I should have been called upon to save Captain Winslow’s crew from drowning, instead of his being called upon to save mine. On so slight an incident the defect of a percussion cap did the battle hinge.”

Semmes crowed that the sternpost was the only Alabama trophy taken. While that may have been true in 1864, the Naval History and Heritage Command and a team of experts recovered artifacts – including the Alabama’s bell -- from the site in 2002. Semmes was rescued by a British vessel.

Hall, writer of the Dead Confederates blog and author of "Civil War Blockade Running on the Texas Coast," summarized the importance of the duel last year when Case Auctions sold items pertaining to Winslow and the Kearsarge. Among the items sold was a picture frame made from pieces of the sternpost (right, Case Auctions)

“It’s hard for most Americans to appreciate now how momentous this battle was viewed at the time,” Hall told the Picket. “Alabama had roamed the globe unmolested for almost two years, destroying American merchant shipping at will. Dozens of civilian ships were seized or destroyed by Capt. Semmes, causing insurance rates to skyrocket and wreaking financial havoc on ships and ports never within a thousand miles of the Confederate raider.”

While a formidable captain, Winslow thanked “the mercy of God” for his vessel’s fortune.

Legend held that the post was sent upon request to President Abraham Lincoln, but Grant Walker, a curator for the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Md., said he has been unable to find any mention of Lincoln associated with the sternpost.

“The earliest correspondence we have concerns its transfer in 1924 from the Bureau of Ordnance Museum to the Naval Academy Museum,” says Walker. “It was part of a large transfer of ordnance from Washington to Annapolis that took place in July 1924. I could find no records re: how, when, and from whom the Bureau of Ordnance acquired it.”

One of the documents relating to the sternpost lists it as being among "trophies" kept at the Washington Navy Yard.

Various documents listing Kearsarge sternpost; click to enlarge (U.S. Naval Academy Museum)

Tracie Logan, senior curator at the USNA Museum, said the sternpost has been on loan from the academy to the National Museum of the U.S. Navy for decades.

The National Museum is undergoing an extensive renovation and movement of artifacts, so while the sternpost is still on display and the “Securing the Seas” exhibit exists, access to Building 76 is limited to Saturdays only.

Most of the objects from Alabama that were considered underwater archaeological recovery pieces have been removed from display, says Wesley Schwenk, registrar for the museum in Washington. They are retained in storage for preservation purposes. 

Capt. John Winslow, front right, with Kearsarge crew

Schwenk is involved with an exciting acquisition pertaining to orderly Sgt. Charles T. Young, a Marine who served on two other vessels and the Kearsarge during the Civil War. A native of Massachusetts, Young spent 16 years at sea before being assigned to the Kearsarge.

“Described by his fellow sailors as a garrulous sailor, he kept the crew entertained with his humorous and fantastical tales of past voyages when all other forms of amusement no longer brought pleasure to the rest of the crew,” says Schwenk. “Upon the ship's famed meeting with CSS Alabama at the Battle of Cherbourg on 19 June 1864, he and other Marines of the crew provided cover and assault fire from the ship’s topgallant forecastle.”

For his bravery and protection of his fellow crew members, the Marine Corps commended Young, says the registrar. (Seventeen members of the crew received the Medal of Honor for their valor during the battle with Alabama.) Young was in his mid-50s, an old man by the standard of the armed forces.

Schwenk says the museum received two diaries, not yet transcribed, a cudgel (it is unknown whether Young actually carried it aboard), discharge papers, a service record, letters and a muster roll. There is no known photograph of Young.

Broadside, with detail below, includes Young's name at top right, click to enlarge (George Costopulos Auctioneers)

A 2014 auction of items that belonged to Kearsarge Pvt. John J. McAleer included a fascinating hand-inscribed and decorated broadside listing the officers and crew of the famous warship. Young is listed among three Marine guards.

A Boston Journal newspaper article posted on Findagrave.com indicates Young died in 1872, age 62, in Portsmouth, N.H. He is reportedly buried at Walnut Street Cemetery in Brookline, near his native Boston. I asked Lisa Golden with the city for a photograph of his grave, but she has been unsuccessful thus far in locating it or obtaining more information about Young.

The naval clash between Kearsarge and Alabama is the stuff of history books. The victor's prized souvenirs recently went to auction

35-star flag, ship's log and Capt. WInslow and crew (Case Auctions)

The ship’s log and 35-star flag of the USS Kearsarge -- which sank the Confederate commerce raider Alabama in an epic duel off Cherbourg, France -- and associated items have been sold at auction for more than $60,000, including buyer’s premium.

The Case Auctions sale last weekend in Knoxville, Tenn., featured items that belonged to Capt. John Winslow, hero of the June 19, 1864, battle. History, however, has more remembered his foe, Capt. Raphael Semmes.

“It’s hard for most Americans to appreciate now how momentous this battle was viewed at the time,” said Civil War blogger and author Andy Hall. “Alabama had roamed the globe unmolested for almost two years, destroying American merchant shipping at will. Dozens of civilian ships were seized or destroyed by Capt. Semmes, causing insurance rates to skyrocket and wreaking financial havoc on ships and ports never within a thousand miles of the Confederate raider.”

Winslow and Semmes, who were friends, clashed off Cherbourg (Library of Congress)

Before squaring off with the USS Kearsarge, Semmes and his crew had battled a U.S. warship only once, sending the USS Hatteras to the bottom off Galveston, Texas, in January 1863.

The auctioned items came from the collection of a Tennessee descendant of Winslow. 

“Although there are many surviving artifacts of the naval war that survive today, there are relatively few that can match the ones sold in this auction for their proven, central link to momentous historical events and persons. It’s an amazing collection of pieces,” says Hall.

Here’s a closer look at the items, with the sales price including the premium.

SHIP’S LOG ($19,520)

The Alabama was in Cherbourg for repairs and resupply when Winslow learned of its location.

(Case Auctions)

The log entry on June 14, 1864 reads: "Steering in for Cherbourg Breakwater. Stopped the engines off the eastern entrance and sent a boat ashore to communicate with the Am. Consul. Found the rebel privateer ‘Alabama’ lying at anchor in the Roads." 

Semmes several days later sailed from port and the two warships soon engaged, circling each other for nearly an hour and a half. The USS Kearsarge had outer chains effective in limiting damage from the Alabama’s shells, which were of dubious quality.

Several rounds failed to explode, including a shell that lodged in the sternpost of Kearsarge and almost certainly would have been fatal had it detonated,” writes Navy historian Craig Symonds for the American Battlefield Trust. “Instead, it was Alabama that took several hits and began taking on water. Semmes fought her until she sank, then -- defiant to the last -- threw his sword into the sea and swam to the safety of a nearby British yacht that had come out to watch the excitement.”

Raphael Semmes served the Confederacy again after the battle.

Hall, writer of the Dead Confederates blog and author of “Civil War Blockade Running on the Texas Coast,” calls the log “fantastic. It’s a perfect example of the way official reports were written, presenting the barest necessary facts without comment or editorializing.

“[Winslow’s] note that ‘The English Yacht steamed rapidly away to the Nd [northward] without reporting the number of our prisoners she picked up’ is a classic cold understatement. Winslow and his officers were undoubtedly furious when they learned that the yacht’s waterlogged passengers included Alabama’s commander, Raphael Semmes, and several of his officers, who within hours would be greeted as heroes after landing in Southampton.”

35-STAR U.S. FLAG AND COMMENDATION ($17,080)

A report for Case Auctions says this banner is made of imported British wool bunting. It measures 40 ½ inches on the hoist by 79 ½ inches on the fly.

The USS Kearsarge carried several flags that day, including this ensign, according to a report for Case Auctions by flag expert Greg Biggs.

“This is an exceptionally rare piece and, although it had some efforts at restoration done decades ago, remains in stunning, mostly unaltered condition,” says Hall. Interestingly, this flag was expected to have the highest sale in the lot, but the captain's log went for more.

WINSLOW’s 13-STAR FLAG ($7,680)

The auction house says this banner in the Winslow family collection was likely carried on the USS Kearsarge in the battle, but it is not known for sure. The reported size is 36 inches by 70 inches.

(Case Auctions)

“The flag is used, worn, soiled, and visibly dehydrated,” an accompanying report says. “It exhibits some fabric loss, the majority of which is in the hoist half of the flag with most of it in the lower hoist corner.” Consulting  James J. Ferrigan recommends a vigorous conservation treatment.

“It is not known when this boat flag was framed, but its similarity the frame of another 35-star U.S. flag from the USS Kearsarge makes it highly likely that both Winslow family flags were from the Kearsarge,” writes Ferrigan.

DOLLAND MARITIME TELESCOPE ($4,636)

Case Auctions said the telescope/spyglass likely was used in the fight with the Alabama. The lot includes a tripod and box. The functionality of the lenses was not guaranteed.

“English-made Dollond telescopes were prized for their optical quality and depended upon by some of the world's most important historical figures. George Washington's Dolland telescope, essential to his tactical decisions during the American Revolution, is in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC, and a Dolland telescope owned by Thomas Jefferson is at Monticello.”

USS KEARSARGE WOOD RELIC FRAME AND PAINTING ($4,636)

This is probably the most unusual item in the Winslow collection to be sold earlier this month.

The picture frame for the marine painting was made from four pieces of the ship’s sternpost where a shell from the Alabama lodged.

"Although we received some twenty-five or thirty shots, twelve or thirteen taking effect in the hull, by the mercy of God we have been spared… the only shot which I fear will give us any trouble is one 100-pound rifle, which entered our stern post and remains at present unexploded,” Winslow wrote.

The ordnance round was removed from the post and sent upon request to President Abraham Lincoln. It is currently housed in a museum in Washington, D.C.

The painting appears to be based on a photograph of USS Kearsarge taken by John A. Whipple.

PRESENTATION SILVER TEA SET ($6,144)

Winslow became a hero following the battle, was promoted to commodore and received the Thanks of Congress after for the victory over Alabama. He received many honors before his 1873 death.

(Case Auctions)

The citizens of Roxbury, Mass., presented this tea set to Winslow on Nov. 22, 1864. It is described as being in overall excellent condition.

GORHAM STERLING SILVER CENTERPIECE($4,096)

The body is engraved on one side with Winslow’s monogram and "1864."

(Case Auctions)

The American Classical Revival centerpiece “features an oval gilt-washed bowl centered on each side by masks, with dart banding at edges and stylized anthemion handles terminating in rosettes, and is supported on a trumpet-shaped pedestal flanked by two figural cherub caryatids holding floral swags, atop a plinth base.”

USS Kearsarge was recommissioned several times after the Civil War but wrecked in 1894 on a reef in the Caribbean sea. Several items were recovered, including the ship's Bible.

Bill Still, leader of U.S. maritime studies, including those of numerous Civil War shipwrecks, dies at age 90

William N. “Bill” Still Jr., a leading figure in the study of U.S. maritime history, including ironclads and other Civil War warships, has died at age 90.

 

Still died last week while in hospice care, according to Wilkerson Funeral Home and Crematory of Greenville, N.C.

 

The retired professor, author and lecturer co-founded the maritime history and underwater archaeology program at Eastern Carolina University, and was known for his study of USS Monitor, commerce raider CSS Alabama, ironclad CSS Georgia and the Confederate submarine Hunley.

“His impact on the history and nautical archaeology program at East Carolina University and on the legion of students that passed through that program will be a perpetual legacy,” program co-founder Gordon P. Watts Jr., wrote the Picket in an email this week. “He will be missed by all who benefited from his attention, none more than me.”

 

Watts, a former student of Still’s, is himself a renowned nautical archaeologist, and is among only a few people who found the remains of the USS Monitor off Cape Hatteras, N.C., in 1973.

 

The two men, according to ECU, led conservation work on the famed ironclad’s propeller, which was recovered in 1983. It is exhibited at Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va.

 

Still, a native of Columbus, Ms., conducted research and wrote numerous works for the U.S. Navy over his career. From 1995-2005, he served as a member of the Secretary of the Navy's subcommittee on naval history. 

 

“He authored and co-authored dozens of books and publications focused on maritime history from the Civil War through World War II,” according to his obituary. Up until two weeks prior to his death, he was actively researching and writing the last installation of his series for the Secretary of the Navy, which began with Crisis at Sea and Victory Without Peace, focused on the U.S. naval force's withdrawal following WWI.”

 

John Quarstein, author and director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center, said Dr. Still “was a marvelous person, historian, lecturer, and writer. I believe his volume, ‘Iron Afloat,’ is the best book written about Confederate ironclads. He helped me with my writing, Civil War preservation efforts, and with my work about USS Monitor."

 

Still, known as “Doc” by graduate students, retired from ECU in 1994, a key figure in its prominence for graduate study in the field. He was considered a dynamic, caring and animated professor.

Jeff Johnston, formerly with NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, said Still "was a true hero of ironclads and freely shared that knowledge."

The award-winning historian and author was preceded in death by Mildred Boling Still, his wife of 55 years. He is survived by four children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

More than a century after his death, research leads to a black Civil War naval veteran finally receives a headstone in Tacoma, Wash.

Wreaths were placed near new headstone Saturday (Oakwood Hill Cemetery)

Updated Oct. 10

In life, David Franklin and David Phillips may have rubbed elbows at a Tacoma, Wash., post of the Grand Army of the Republic in which they were members. Custer Post No. 6 was a home away from home for those who served the Union during the Civil War -- a place where veterans shared food and drink and accounts of their harrowing experiences while they were younger.

Sketch of David Franklin (Alan Archambault)

In the hereafter, Franklin and Phillips lie within steps of each other. But while Phillips, a white man who served in the 4^th Minnesota, has a marked grave, the final resting spot of Franklin, Tacoma’s only black Civil War naval veteran, was topped only by grass.

That unfortunate situation was rectified this week with the installation of a marble Veterans Administration-approved headstone.

A dedication ceremony Saturday morning (Oct. 8) at Oakwood Hill Cemetery in Tacoma finally brought Franklin an honor he has long deserved.

The effort to recognize Franklin, who died in 1920 at age 79, was led by Loran Bures, Phillips’ second great-grandson. Bures, a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, the successor to the GAR, came across Franklin in 2017 while conducting research on veterans who lived in Pierce County, home to Tacoma.

The SUVCW’s mission includes researching GAR records, the registration of graves and Civil War memorials and monuments.

Bures (pronounced Burruss) came across a biographical card produced in 1939 during research by the Works Progress Administration into Civil War veterans in the area.

“It speaks volumes the information it doesn’t have,” Bures told the Civil War Picket this week.

The card does indicate Franklin died of heart disease on March 16, 1920, and was buried in the GAR section at Oakwood Hill.

But it had no information on any marker, the veteran’s military service and the fact that Franklin was black. While the GAR was open to all ethnicities, there were only three black sailors among the 2,000-5,000 Civil War veterans living in Washington, according to Bures, a 69-year-old retired librarian, archivist and researcher.

Bures came across Franklin’s death certificate and a National Park Service database that showed the man served as officers’ steward and cook on the USS Dawn. The steam-powered vessel took part in Federal blockades and captured several ships. Much of its service was on the James River in Virginia.

The USS Dawn’s most famous action came in May 1864 in the defense of Wilson’s Wharf in Virginia. The vessel’s guns and the Federal garrison made up of U.S. Colored Troops drove back the Confederate assault.

As a cook and steward, Franklin’s primary role would not have been combat, but it was common practice for a crew member to have a second duty station.

The USS Dawn was built in 1857. (Wikipedia)

At Wilson’s Wharf, “he most likely was helping bring powder and ammunition below deck to the three guns on the deck,” said Bures, adding there is no way to verify that.

Franklin is listed as an ordinary seaman in the NPS file.

Group does not know of living relatives

There are gaps in what’s known about Franklin, including when he moved to Washington and whether he ever married. His death certificate says he was widowed, but Bures said he has found no information about a spouse. The local SUVCW is asking any possible descendants or relatives to contact the organization.

It is known that Franklin was born in 1840. “He was born free in New York City to parents who were free people of color,” said Bures.

Franklin joined the Navy at age 23 in November 1863, midway through the Civil War. The NPS database lists him as being 5 foot 5 inches tall and working as a cook. He served on USS Dawn until near war’s end, mustering out in March 1865.

Bures believes the veteran came to Pierce County between 1885 and 1888. He is listed in a GAR roster for the latter year and a 1907 volume includes Franklin among 752 members (comrades) in the Custer post.

Records show that Franklin joined the Washington National Guard infantry as a cook in 1906.

Ensuring proper honors for veteran

Bures traveled to Oakwood Hill Cemetery several months ago to inspect Franklin’s grave.

He suspected it might be unmarked because of the WPA card and a Findagrave profile that had no photo of a headstone. (Researchers have been unable to find a photograph of Franklin. Bures' second great-grandfather, 1st Sgt. David Phillips, is buried at Tacoma Mausoleum, which adjoins the cemetery.)

Oakwood Hill verified the seaman was buried there and had not been exhumed, officials told the Picket .

Franklin’s resting place was a gap in a row of headstones for other GAR members. Bures and others put together verification information for the VA, including evidence of a Navy pension.

Franklin's graves was marked only by a flag (Loran Bures)

Bures would speculate on why Franklin’s grave received no marker. “There could be a lot of reasons for it.” Oakwood Hill Cemetery co-owner Corey Gaffney told the Picket he, too, did not know why a headstone was not set in 1920.

Gaffney, who purchased the business with his wife, Jennifer, in 2021, told theTacoma News-Tribune the cemetery was providing resources to ensure Franklin received proper honors.

The grave is among weathered headstones that appear not to have been cleaned in recent years. The businessman told the Picket that the couple is working to make improvements at the cemetery and funeral home and restore the site to "its former glory."

"We believe that in 3-5 years this property will be completely viable and unrecognizable to some. That’s our hope and our goal."

Gaffney told the Picket in an email after the ceremony that "the definition of integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking. While we did have coverage of this event and dedication, there are countless other actions we’ve took for the benefit of this cemetery that have gone unnoticed.  We do not do things for accolades; more for knowing at the end of the day that we acted appropriately on behalf of those in our care that cannot do so anymore themselves."

Bures said there are other unmarked graves of Civil War veterans across the state.

“It is important they receive recognition for their service to the Union, as any veteran deserves proper recognition.”

The SUVC's Gov. Isaac Stevens Camp No. 1, in which Bures is an officer, led Saturday's headstone dedication. The ceremony included a wreath laying, remarks, a biography of Franklin and funeral honors performed by re-enactors.

Loran Bures stands on Franklin's grave before marker was placed; behind is a mausoleum.