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USS Morse

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Ship Information (from DANFS)1,2:

Name: USS Morse Type: Sidewheel Gunboat Tonnage: 514 (or 513)
Length: 143’ Beam: 33’ Draught: 8’6”
Speed: 9 (or 8) knots Complement: Class:
Armament: April 1, June ?, 1864 and June 5, 1865: 2 9″guns (presumably Dahlgren Smoothbores), 2 100-pder. Parrott rifles, 2 24-pdrs
Namesake: Not Listed.

Images:

Image Needed

 

Captain(s):
Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Babcock
Charles A. Babcock, US Navy, Captain of the USS Morse. (MOLLUS Vol. 109, Page 5623)3

Captain 2
Captain Image

Captain 3
Captain Image

 

First Offensive Order of Battle (June 13-18, 1864): York and Pamunkey Rivers and Chesapeake Bay | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (at least June 14 and 17, 1864)4,5,6,7

  • Captain: Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Babcock (May 29 & June 14 and 20, 1864)8,9,10
  • Crew Strength:
  • Armament: 2 x 9″guns (presumably Dahlgren Smoothbores), 2 x 100-pder. Parrott rifles, 2 x 24-pdrs (June ?, 1864)11

Second Offensive Order of Battle (June 19-30, 1864): York and Pamunkey Rivers and Chesapeake Bay | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (at least June 19-25)12,13,14,15,16

  • Captain: Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Babcock (June 20, 23, and 24-25, 1864)17,18,19,20,21
  • Crew Strength:
  • Armament:

Third Offensive Order of Battle (July 1-31, 1864): York River, Va. | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (July 31, 1864)22

  • Captain:
  • Crew Strength:
  • Armament:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle (August 1-31, 1864): York River, Virginia | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (August 17, 1864)23

  • Captain:
  • Crew Strength:
  • Armament:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle (September 1-October 13, 1864): York River and Chesapeake Bay | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (September 1, 1864)24

  • Captain:
  • Crew Strength:
  • Armament:
  • Note: On September 1, 1864, this ship is noted as “ordered to Baltimore for new boilers Sept. 1, 1864.”25

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

  • Captain:
  • Crew Strength:
  • Armament:

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

  • Not Present (repairing in Baltimore)26,27,28

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

  • Not Present (repairing at Baltimore, and then no longer listed.)29,30,31,32,33

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

  • Not Present (Not Listed and apparently on the Rappahannock River in March 1865)34,35,36,37

 

Siege of Petersburg Battles:

 

Siege of Petersburg Involvement:40

Morse, a wooden sidewheel ferryboat built at New York in 1861, was purchased by the Navy at New York as Marion 7 November 1861, and commissioned 9 November 1861, Acting Master Peter Hays in command.

Morse arrived Hampton Roads 20 November 1861 to join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron…

After searching out torpedoes on Purtan Bay in February 1864, Morse joined General Wister’s campaign on the Mattapony River, attacking King and Queen Courthouse. One thousand infantry went ashore from the Union ships at Sheppar’s Landing 13 March [1864]. After a feint attack on West Point in May [1864], Morse evacuated troops from that point. After scouting duty throughout the spring and summer, Morse joined the Potomac Flotilla later in the winter.

Morse relieved Delaware on the Rappahannock in March 1865, aiding the Army in its efforts to take Fort Lowry. She decommissioned and went to the Washington Navy Yard 21 May [1865]. Morse was sold there at public auction to the East Boston Ferry Co., 20 July [1865]. Redocumented Lincoln 12 December [1865], she continued to serve American commerce until abandoned in 1885.

 

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

    Sources:

    1. “DANFS.” Naval History and Heritage Command, www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs.html. ↩
    2. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Volume 1, p. 151 ↩
    3. Charles A. Babcock image.  MOLLUS-Mass Civil War Photograph Collection, Vol. 109, Page 5623.  United States Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, PA. ↩
    4. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 157–158 ↩
    5. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume X, p. 148 ↩
    6. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, p. 165 ↩
    7. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, p. 167 ↩
    8. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume X, p. 148 ↩
    9. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, 165 ↩
    10. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, p. 167 ↩
    11. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Volume 1, p. 151 ↩
    12. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume X, p. 198 ↩
    13. “Rebel Attack at White House.” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), June 24, 1864, p. 1, col. 2 ↩
    14. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, p. 165 ↩
    15. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, p. 166 ↩
    16. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, pp. 167–168 ↩
    17. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume X, p. 198 ↩
    18. “Rebel Attack at White House.” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), June 24, 1864, p. 1, col. 2 ↩
    19. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, p. 165 ↩
    20. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, p. 166 ↩
    21. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, pp. 167–168 ↩
    22. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 324–325 ↩
    23. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 370–371 ↩
    24. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 410–412 ↩
    25. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 410–412 ↩
    26. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 39–40 ↩
    27. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 140–142 ↩
    28. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 192–194 ↩
    29. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 398–400 ↩
    30. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 597–599 ↩
    31. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 722–724 ↩
    32. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 20–21 ↩
    33. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 54–55 ↩
    34. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 71–73 ↩
    35. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 93–94 ↩
    36. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 116–118 ↩
    37. “Morse.” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/morse.html. ↩
    38. “Rebel Attack at White House.” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), June 24, 1864, p. 1, col. 2 ↩
    39. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 10, p. 166 ↩
    40. “Morse.” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/morse.html. ↩

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