USS Lehigh

Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this ship’s role at the Siege of Petersburg?  Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen.  We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.

Ship Information (from DANFS)¹,²:

Images:

³

Ship Model Available:

Long Face Games Passaic Class Monitor Ship Models Designs, 1/600 and 1/1200

Captain(s):
Lieutenant Commander Alexander A. Semmes
⁴

Captain 2
Captain Image

Captain 3
Captain Image

First Offensive Order of Battle (June 13-18, 1864):

• Not Present⁵

Second Offensive Order of Battle (June 19-30, 1864):

• Captain:
• Crew Strength:
• Armament:

Third Offensive Order of Battle (July 1-31, 1864):

Not Present⁶

• Captain: Lieutenant Commander Alexander A. Semmes (at least July 2-9, 1864)⁷
• Crew Strength:
• Armament:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle (August 1-31, 1864):

• Not Present⁸

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle (September 1-October 13, 1864):

• Not Present⁹,¹⁰,¹¹

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle (October 14-31, 1864):

• Captain:
• Crew Strength:
• Armament:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle (November 1-December 31, 1864):

• Not Present¹²,¹³,¹⁴

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle (January 1-February 28, 1865):

• Not Present¹⁵,¹⁶,¹⁷,¹⁸,¹⁹

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle (March 1-April 2, 1865):

Not Present (March 18, 1865)(but see the note at the bottom of this offensive, she was at least in the area by this time)²⁰

James River, Va. | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (April 1 & 15, 1865) (at Trent’s Reach on April 1)²¹,²²

• Captain: Lieutenant Commander Alexander A. Semmes (April 1 & 15, 1865)²³,²⁴
• Crew Strength:
• Armament: 2 x “guns” (April 1 & 15, 1865)²⁵,²⁶
• Notes:
  • On April 1 & 15, 1865, this ship is noted as a “Screw Class” vessel.²⁷,²⁸
  • Lehigh arrived at Fort Monroe on March 14, 1865, and was immediately sent up the James River to increase the strength of Union forces guarding against a sortie by the powerful ironclads in the Confederate James River Squadron.²⁹

Siege of Petersburg Battles:

• TBD

Siege of Petersburg Involvement:³⁰

The first Lehigh was launched on 17 January 1863 by Reaney, Son, and Archibold, Chester, Penn., under subcontract from John Ericsson, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 April 1863, Comdr. John C. Howell in command.

Rear Adm. Samuel P. Lee intended to use Lehigh, still under construction, in a planned expedition against Wilmington, N.C., but Confederate offensive operations altered the U.S. Navy Department’s priorities. Lt. Gen. James Longstreet took charge of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina on 25 February 1863 and initiated his Tidewater Operations. He directed D. H. Hill, commander of the North Carolina District, to advance on the Union stronghold of New Berne. After some initial success, the arrival of Union gunboats and the reinforcement of the city’s garrison forced Hill to withdraw to threaten Washington, North Carolina in late March. Hill was eventually maneuvered out of his siege works and withdrew on April 15.

[SOPO Editor’s Note: This ship’s earlier Civil War service has been omitted here.]

Lehigh remained assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron for the rest of the year 1864, engaging in only one more major operation. Hearing that Confederate forces were about to move against the blockaders off Charleston, Dahlgren and Maj. Gen. Foster planned a diversionary expedition up the Stono River, intending to cut the important Charleston-Savannah railroad. From 2 to 9 July [1864], Lehigh, now under the command of Lt. Comdr. Alexander A. Semmes, participated in the joint raid with the monitor Montauk, providing effective fire support against enemy rifle pits and preventing construction of earthworks along the shore.

Lehigh arrived at Fort Monroe on 14 March 1865, and was immediately sent up the James River to increase the strength of Union forces guarding against a sortie by the powerful ironclads in the Confederate James River Squadron. Six days later, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant telegraphed President Abraham Lincoln and asked him to meet him at City Point, Virginia. There, on 24 March the chief executive joined Grant on the James below Trent’s Reach where the Union ironclads stood guard. With the fall of Richmond imminent, Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter ordered Comdr. William Ronckendorff (Monadnock) to send an expedition up the James immediately, to clear the river of torpedoes all the way to the city.

Ronckendorff charged Lt. Comdr. Ralph Chandler (Sangamon) to carry out the mission. Pairs of boats from ten ships, including Lehigh, formed a line in echelon across the river equipped to drag for torpedoes, while parties of armed Sailors kept just ahead of the boats to cut torpedo wires encountered along each river bank. Lt. John H. Reed from Lehigh led the party on the northern shore. The armed steamer Commodore Perry covered the expedition that took place on 3 April [1865].

On 11 April 1865, Porter placed several ships along the James for the protection of vessels navigating the river. Porter directed Lt. Comdr. Semmes to station Lehigh at Windmill Point. Ordered to Hampton Roads at the end of April, Lehigh, along with the ironclads Sangamon, and Atlanta were sent on 29 May [1865] to watch over the captured Confederate ironclad Columbia Texas ³¹at Norfolk.

On 31 May 1865, Acting Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox ordered the commander of the newly designated North Atlantic Squadron, Acting Rear Adm. William Radford, to reduce the size of his command. Lehigh, among those vessels sent north, was decommissioned at League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia, on 9 June 1865.

Bibliography:

Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

Sources: