Tom Crosscut And
The N.C.S. Winslow
Another elinpler in the very lirief his¬
tory of f In* North Carolina Navy.
«!/
RALPH W. DOWIMV
In the hile spring of 1861. as the
War Beheeeit The States was gel¬
ling underway, the North Carolina
Navy was formed to protect the
State' ' ( 'oa SI and sounds. This small
force — coastal steamers converted
to gunboats — harassed Federal
shipping for about two months be¬
fore being turned over to Confed¬
erate Service. See "David and
Coliath" hy Ralph Donnelly. Till
SlAII. September, I9S2 edition.
Ed.
One of the more successful ships ol
the infant North Carolina Navy had
originally been the river stcantei
Joseph I . Coffee, of Norfolk. She was
a 207-ton side-wheel steamer who had
been engaged before the war on a
passenger run between Norfolk and
Virginia's Hastem Bay ports under the
command of Patrick McCarrick.
She was purchased for $16,000 by
the State of North Carolina and taken
to the Gosport (Norfolk) Navy Yard
where she was armed with a 32-
pounder and a 6-pounder brass rifle.
Once in North Carolina service, she
"as renamed Warren Winslow
iWinslou . for short), and Thomas M.
Crossan. a one-time lieutenant in the
t S Navy, uasappointed a lieutenant
in the N.C. Navy and assigned to her
command.
( rossan’s choices for his junior offi¬
cers were approved by the Governor
and the N*»rth Carolina Military and
Naval Hoard on June 17. 1X61. His
choices included Midshipman Patrick
Henry McCarrick. Master Patrick
McCarrick. Commander's Clerk
James \1 Worth. Pilot George W' tight,
and *d \ssistant Engineers Robert
Nash and Joseph NV. Freeman.
Г
he sc
were in addition to the Executive Offi¬
cer. I
Л
Seawell. thought to have
been former U.S. Navy Passed Mid¬
shipman Joseph A. Seawell. of
Gloucester Couty. Va.. and a graduate
of the C.S. Naval Academy.
After entering Albemarle Sound
from Norfolk via the Albemarle and
C he sa pcake Canal. Warren Winslow
made her way to New Bern. The New
Bern Daily Progress of June 20 re¬
ported her lying at the foot of Craven
Street where visitors were received
courteously. About two weeks later,
the Military Board asked for Ft. Cros¬
san to be furnished with friction prim¬
ers and ammunition for the rifled can¬
non "w hich he will place" on the deck
of the steamer.
Attack From llatteras
Crossan took station near Hatteras
Inlet to lie in wait for the approach of
Northern shipping. Winslow, being
relatively fast and having a shallow
draft, was able to dart out into the At¬
lantic and seize the coastwise ship¬
ping.
The Hatteras lighthouse took on a
new importance when it was used as a
lookout station for spotting the ap¬
proach of coastwise shipping. One
Yankee sea captain who had been
captured went so far as to suggest that
the stairway in the lighthouse should
be destroyed.
The three ships w hich were usually
present at Hatteras Inlet poised to
capture Northern shipping were the
N.C. Navy ship Winslow and two
privateers, the Cordon, from Char¬
leston. S.C.. and the Mariner, from
Wilmington. (Privateers were pri¬
vately owned vessels holding a Gov¬
ernment license — a letter of marque
and reprisal — to attack and seize
enemy ships and property. The value
of the ships and their cargo ultimately
rewarded the ow ners and crews of the
privateers for their efforts. The crews
of naval ships received a share of the
value of enemy shipping that was cap¬
tured. This was known as "Prize
Money." and was a great incentive for
men to join the naval service.)
The privateer Cordon. Captain
Thomas J. Lockwood, was the largest
ship on the station, being over twice as
big as Winslow. She was a side-wheel
steamer of MX tons, a length of 175
feet, a draft of 7 feet, and could make a
speed of 16 knots. She was armed with
3 guns. She captured at least four
prizes, the brig William McGilvery.
and three schooners. Protector. Sea
Witch, and Henry Nutt.
Cordon was to change her name
tw ice during the war. being also known
as Caroline and as Theodora, and be¬
coming a successful blockade runner.
Per haps her high point in history was
the conveyance of the Confederate
diplomats Mason and Slidell from
Charleston to Nassau and Havannah
where they changed ships to the En¬
glish steamer Trent, only to be cap¬
tured on the high seas by the U.S. frig¬
ate San Jacinto. Captain Charles
Wilkes, on November X. 1X61.
Somewhat smaller than Winslow
was the privateer Manner. Captain
W. B. Berry, out of Wilmington. She
was a 135-ton screw stcamet armed
with two 12-pounder guns. She
pounced on the schooner Nathaniel
Chase off Ocracoke Inlet on July 25.
1X61. By mid-October, she was back
on the Cape Fear River.
Winslow's Prizes
Hie brig Hannah Hatch was cap¬
tured off Charleston. S.C.. by the
U.S.S. Flag which placed a pi i/e crew
on board under Master Albert Kautz.
U.S.N.. on June
2».
Five days later, at
a point about 30 miles southward and
eastward of Cape Hatteras. she was
captured by Winslow. Her cargo was
appraised at S5.96l.26 and the ship at
Thomo* M Crotton, who commondod the "Wonen
Window" it thown in the uniform of on ormy colonel
in thit picture reproduced from Wolter Clork’t
"North Corolmo Regiment*" After hit thip wot
trontferred to the Confederate Service. Crotton wot
committioned ot lieutenont colonel for ormy duty.
He Inter wot tent on
о
Europeon mutton by Gover¬
nor Voice. (N.C. Div. of Archive* ond Hittory photo)
THE STATE.
МАЯСМ
1 983
