Civilian service and conversion A
sidewheel steamer,
Pamlico was built in 1856 in
New York City, and was based out of the
New Orleans, Louisiana area. In early July 1861, she was advertised as making passenger trips between the Louisiana towns of
Mandeville,
Lewisburg,
Madisonville, and
Covington and the
Lake Pontchartrain railhead of the
Pontchartrain Railroad. At the outset of the
American Civil War in 1861, the breakaway
Confederate States of America was at a significant naval disadvantage to the
United States of America. While the United States had a functioning navy, the Confederates had to essentially build one from scratch with limited infrastructure and manufacturing abilities. The Confederates began inspecting vessels to determine if they were suitable for acquisition and conversion into
gunboats, and
Pamlico was purchased on July 10, 1861 for that purpose. Along with
Pamlico, the Lake Pontchartrain passenger vessels
Arrow and
A. G. Brown were seized as well, leading residents of areas on the lakeshore to complain that the Confederate government had taken their means of transportation and communication. A small vessel,
Pamlico displaced . Her other dimensions are unknown. She was
commissioned on September 2, for the boarding. The commander of the Union vessel correctly guessed the Confederate intentions, and
Montgomery escaped into the open ocean. Three days later, on a trip westwards from Horn Island,
Pamlico spotted the blockading gunboats
USS New London and
USS De Soto near
Mississippi City, Mississippi. The gunboat
CSS Oregon, which was transporting
powder mill equipment, was at Mississippi City, and together the two ships, under the overall command of Dozier, confronted the Union vessels. The Confederates fired at longer range with their two rifled guns while remaining in shallow waters that the blockading ships could not enter;
New London and
De Soto later withdrew after the Confederates ignored a challenge for closer combat. The
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships describes
Pamlicos involvement in the two December clashes as ineffectual. The three Confederate vessels took up positions on Lake Pontchartrain, where they guarded
Chef Menteur Pass and the
Rigolets. Some of
Pamlicos sailors were taken on April 21 to help crew the
ironclad CSS Louisiana. On April 24, Union ships passed the Confederate defenses at
Fort Jackson and
Fort St. Philip. They then passed further defenses at
Chalmette the next day, rendering New Orleans essentially indefensible.
Oregon was sunk as a
blockship, but the wreck later prevented
Pamlico,
Arrow,
Carondelet, and the gunboat
CSS Bienville from escaping. The four Confederate vessels ferried Confederate troops from New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain to Covington. Their cannons were removed and were sent to the defenses at
Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Pamlico was
burned by her crew on Lake Pontchartrain to prevent capture, on April 25. ==References==