Charles Carroll Simms
Encyclopedia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, became a United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
in 1839. He served in the U.S. Navy for more than two decades, achieving the rank of Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1854. He was dismissed from the service in April 1861, after his state left the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and briefly was an officer in Virginia's Navy. Commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy
Confederate States Navy
The Confederate States Navy was the naval branch of the Confederate States armed forces established by an act of the Confederate Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War...
in June 1861, during that year he commanded the steamer
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
CSS George Page
CSS George Page
CSS George Page, a 410-ton sidewheel steamship, was originally built as a transport at Washington, D.C. in 1853.She was attached to the Quartermaster's Department of the United States Army, until captured by the Confederates at nearby Aquia Creek, Virginia in May 1861, when she became a part of the...
and was assigned to the steamer CSS Rappahannock. Also commanded CSS Appomattox in coastal North Carolina until it was scuttled in Fedruary 1862. As an officer of the ironclad CSS Virginia
CSS Virginia
CSS Virginia was the first steam-powered ironclad warship of the Confederate States Navy, built during the first year of the American Civil War; she was constructed as a casemate ironclad using the raised and cut down original lower hull and steam engines of the scuttled . Virginia was one of the...
, he took part in her March–May 1862 actions in the vicinity of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
. Subsequently, he served in the gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s CSS Nansemond on the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
, and CSS Selma
CSS Selma
CSS Selma was a steamship in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.Selma was a coastwise packet built at Mobile, Alabama for the Mobile Mail Line in 1856. Little doubt now remains that she was originally named Florida...
in Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...
. During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
's final year, while assigned to the Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
Squadron, he commanded the ironclads CSS Baltic
CSS Baltic
The CSS Baltic was an iron and cottonclad sidewheeler ship built in 1860 in Philadelphia as a river tow boat belonging to the Southern Steamship Co. She was purchased by the State of Alabama, converted to an armored ram, and turned over to the Confederate States Navy in the middle of 1862. Her...
and CSS Nashville
CSS Nashville (1864)
CSS Nashville was a large side-wheel steam ironclad built by the Confederates at Montgomery, Alabama intended to exploit the availability of riverboat engines. Launched in mid-1863, Nashville was taken to Mobile, Alabama for completion in 1864. Part of her armor came from the...
. First Lieutenant Simms surrendered to Federal forces in early May 1865 and was paroled soon afterwards.
Simms was born 30 Mar 1824 in Virginia to John Douglas Simms and Eleanor Carroll Brent. He married Elizabeth James Nourse about 1852 and he died 24 Dec 1884 in Georgetown, Washington, D. C. He and his wife are buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington D.C. The Simms family was one of public service. His father was the Chief Clerk of the Navy Department. Col. Charles Simms, grandfather of Charles Carroll Simms, was, among other things, an officer in the American Revolution and Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals