FEBRUARY2010

MORSE

THE POTOMAC FLOTILLA

MORSE (POTOMAC FLOTILLA)

The albumen prints of the Morse and the Mendota are part of the General George Henry Benham Collection

The U.S.S.Morse was a wooden side wheel ferryboat built at New York . She was purchased by the Navy at New York as the Marion in November 1861. She was commanded by Acting Master Peter Hays. The Morse was part of the Potomac Flotilla created early in the Civil War. Beginning with three vessels, the flotilla eventually grew to include fifteen to twenty ships. The flotilla secured communications in the Chesapeake Bay area, the Potomac, and its tributaries, and disrupted Confederate shipping Follow this link to learn more about her actions in the Civil War.

MENDOTA

NORTH ATLANTIC BLOCKADING SQUADRON

MENDOTA The Mendota, a sidewheeler gunboat, was commissioned in 1864, and assigned to the James River Division of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. She served as a picket ship near Four Mile Creek. She prevented the establishment of Confederate batteries that would have threatened river communications. In her last months of service, the Mendota directed ship movements at Hampton Roads, Virginia and at the mouth of Delaware River . The Mendota was armed with two 100-pounders, two 9-inch smooth bore guns, two 24- pounders, and two 20-pounders. Follow this link to the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships to learn more about her actions in the Civil War. The vessel in the distance of this photograph is identified as the Saugus.