George Washington Gift
Encyclopedia
George Washington Gift U. S. Navy officer, writer, banker, civil engineer, politician, Confederate Navy officer, businessman, and newspaper editor.
, March 1, 1833. Gift entered the United States Naval Academy
at Annapolis, Maryland
, 1846. Following his graduation he was assigned as a midshipman to the Pacific Squadron
, in 1848. He resigned from the U.S. Naval service, in 1852 and settled in California
. He was a noted and popular author for his publication in 1854, of "The Settler's Guide", a book on California's complex land laws. It contained the preemption laws, and laws of Congress in relation to locating school land warrants; also, the swamp land act, and a synopsis of the state law on the same subject, together with the military bounty land act, with forms etc., for locating and assigning the warrants. He established a banking business in Sacramento, California
then moved to Southern California
and became a civil engineer
and also represented Los Angeles County in the state legislature.
" was selected for its name along with an election of its officers. It was mustered into service under Captain Alonzo Ridley
and First Lieutenant Joseph Cattick. One of its two Second Lieutenants was Tomas Avila Sanchez
the County Sheriff of Los Angeles. Its muster roll had eight non-commissioned officers, and 64 privates.[1] From its inception, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was known to be pro-Southern and a worry to Union authorities. Its organizer, George Washington Gift, and Captain Alonzo Ridley both in later years acknowledged that the unit's purpose was to serve the Confederacy.
Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, Federal troops were sent into Los Angeles and Gift escaped to the east with the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles, riding through the southern deserts, with hostile Apache and Union patrols searching for them, to Mesilla, the new capital of Confederate Arizona Territory. For his role in organizing the Rifles, he was hanged in effigy in Sacramento
as a traitor in August 1861.
Leaving the Rifles, he entered the Confederate Army, and then the Confederate Navy, where he was commissioned Acting Master in December 1861, where he commanded a floating battery at Columbus, Kentucky. He was appointed Lieutenant, March 18, 1862, serving at New Orleans on the CSS Louisiana
. Following the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip
and prior to the surrender of Fort Jackson
and Fort St. Philip
, April 28, 1862, he was given permission by his immediate commander, John K. Mitchell, to abandon his vessel and to try and escape capture. He was then sent aboard the CSS Arkansas
, at Memphis, Tennessee
and slightly wounded in action, July 15, 1862, during the ram’s passage through the Federal fleet, above Vicksburg
. He participated in the taking of the USS Underwriter
, at Newbern, North Carolina. He was then stationed aboard the CSS Chattahoochee
, in 1863, as a lieutenant
and married Miss Shackleford, of Florida
.
Gift was detached from the CSS Chattahoochee, May 18, 1863, and ordered to proceed to Mobile, Alabama
, for duty aboard the CSS Baltic
. When he reported at this station, June 8, 1863, he was immediately ordered aboard the CSS Jarvis. He was ordered, September 18, 1863, to proceed to Wilmington, North Carolina
, to await orders from the Navy Department, reporting there for duty on October 4, 1863. Gift was later involved in the Johnson's Island Expedition in late 1863. He was then appointed 1st lieutenant, Provisional Navy, from January 6, 1864 and ordered to report aboard the CSS Savannah
. Sent to the Naval station at Charleston, then ordered to proceed back to Columbus, Georgia
on February 15, 1864.
Next he was sent to command his old ship the CSS Chattahoochee from March 1864 until July 1864. Carman Frazee who had been with Gift in the "Rifles" also joined the Confederate Navy and in April 1864 was appointed by Gift as a Master's Mate
on the CSS Chattahoochee. Gift was then involved in a failed attempt to capture the USS Adela, at St. George's Sound, Florida, in May, 1864. On July 5, 1864, he was sent to the Savannah squadron, for torpedo placing duties. Gift reported sick that same month and did not return to duty before the end of the war.
and had more success, getting various subscribers to organize the Arkansas Emigration Company.
In July 1869, he left for San Francisco, and then China, to arrange for Chinese laborers, in the interest of the Arkansas Emigration Company. He returned to California in 1874, settling in the Napa Valley where he edited newspapers, the Napa Weekly Reporter and Napa County Recorder. He died February 11, 1879, while serving as editor of the Napa City Reporter. He was buried at Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, California
.
Early life
A native of Tennessee, he was born near Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, March 1, 1833. Gift entered the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
at Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, 1846. Following his graduation he was assigned as a midshipman to the Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
, in 1848. He resigned from the U.S. Naval service, in 1852 and settled in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He was a noted and popular author for his publication in 1854, of "The Settler's Guide", a book on California's complex land laws. It contained the preemption laws, and laws of Congress in relation to locating school land warrants; also, the swamp land act, and a synopsis of the state law on the same subject, together with the military bounty land act, with forms etc., for locating and assigning the warrants. He established a banking business in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
then moved to Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
and became a civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
and also represented Los Angeles County in the state legislature.
Civil War
In mid-February 1861, after several Southern States secesseded from the Union, a petition signed by George Washington Gift and seven other prominent Angelenos was presented to Los Angeles County Judge Dryden to "open a book" to enroll a volunteer militia company. Judge Dryden, formerly of Maryland approved the petition and, on February 25, opened the enrollment book. Enrollments rapidly procured 80 to 85 men and they organized the company on March 17, 1861. Gift acted as chairman of the meeting the name "Los Angeles Mounted RiflesLos Angeles Mounted Rifles
The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was a company of the California State Militia formed in 1861. It was the only California state unit to serve the Confederacy.- Formation :...
" was selected for its name along with an election of its officers. It was mustered into service under Captain Alonzo Ridley
Alonzo Ridley
Alonzo Ridley, , 49er, Undersheriff of Los Angeles County, Confederate Army officer from California, who led the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles on their epic march across the Southwestern deserts to Texas in 1861.- Early Life :...
and First Lieutenant Joseph Cattick. One of its two Second Lieutenants was Tomas Avila Sanchez
Tomas Avila Sanchez
Tomas Avila Sanchez , Californio soldier and public official. He served on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and served as Los Angeles County Sheriff.-Biography:...
the County Sheriff of Los Angeles. Its muster roll had eight non-commissioned officers, and 64 privates.[1] From its inception, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was known to be pro-Southern and a worry to Union authorities. Its organizer, George Washington Gift, and Captain Alonzo Ridley both in later years acknowledged that the unit's purpose was to serve the Confederacy.
Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, Federal troops were sent into Los Angeles and Gift escaped to the east with the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles, riding through the southern deserts, with hostile Apache and Union patrols searching for them, to Mesilla, the new capital of Confederate Arizona Territory. For his role in organizing the Rifles, he was hanged in effigy in Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
as a traitor in August 1861.
Leaving the Rifles, he entered the Confederate Army, and then the Confederate Navy, where he was commissioned Acting Master in December 1861, where he commanded a floating battery at Columbus, Kentucky. He was appointed Lieutenant, March 18, 1862, serving at New Orleans on the CSS Louisiana
CSS Louisiana
CSS Louisiana was an ironclad ship of the Confederate States Navy built to aid in defending the lower Mississippi River from invasion by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She took part in one major action of the war, the Battle of Forts Jackson and St...
. Following the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip
Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip
The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip was the decisive battle for possession of New Orleans in the American Civil War. The two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River south of the city were attacked by a Union Navy fleet...
and prior to the surrender of Fort Jackson
Fort Jackson
Fort Jackson can refer to several places or things:*Fort Jackson , also called Fort Toulouse, a War of 1812 fort*Fort Jackson , a frontier trading post located near present-day Ione, Colorado...
and Fort St. Philip
Fort St. Philip
Fort St. Philip is a decommissioned masonry fort located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, about up river from its mouth in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana...
, April 28, 1862, he was given permission by his immediate commander, John K. Mitchell, to abandon his vessel and to try and escape capture. He was then sent aboard the CSS Arkansas
CSS Arkansas
The CSS Arkansas was a Confederate Ironclad warship during the American Civil War. Serving in the Western Theater, the vessel ran through a U.S. Navy fleet at Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 15 July 1862, in a celebrated action in which she inflicted more damage than she received...
, at Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and slightly wounded in action, July 15, 1862, during the ram’s passage through the Federal fleet, above Vicksburg
Vicksburg
Vicksburg is the name of some places in the United States of America:* Vicksburg, Florida* Vicksburg, Indiana* Vicksburg, Michigan* Vicksburg, Mississippi** The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign...
. He participated in the taking of the USS Underwriter
USS Underwriter (1852)
USS Underwriter was a 341-ton steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.Underwriter was outfitted as a gunboat, whose primary task was to prevent ships from penetrating the Union blockade of Southern ports....
, at Newbern, North Carolina. He was then stationed aboard the CSS Chattahoochee
CSS Chattahoochee
CSS Chattahoochee was a twin-screw steam gunboat built at Saffold, Georgia, entered service in February 1863 for the Confederate States and was named after the river it was built on.- Career :...
, in 1863, as a lieutenant
and married Miss Shackleford, of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Gift was detached from the CSS Chattahoochee, May 18, 1863, and ordered to proceed to Mobile, Alabama
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...
, for duty aboard the 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...
. When he reported at this station, June 8, 1863, he was immediately ordered aboard the CSS Jarvis. He was ordered, September 18, 1863, to proceed to Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, to await orders from the Navy Department, reporting there for duty on October 4, 1863. Gift was later involved in the Johnson's Island Expedition in late 1863. He was then appointed 1st lieutenant, Provisional Navy, from January 6, 1864 and ordered to report aboard the CSS Savannah
CSS Savannah (ironclad)
CSS Savannah was a Richmond-class casemate ironclad in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.Savannah was built by H. F. Willink for the Confederacy at Savannah, Georgia in 1863. On June 30, 1863 she was transferred to naval forces in the Savannah River under the command of Flag...
. Sent to the Naval station at Charleston, then ordered to proceed back to Columbus, Georgia
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
on February 15, 1864.
Next he was sent to command his old ship the CSS Chattahoochee from March 1864 until July 1864. Carman Frazee who had been with Gift in the "Rifles" also joined the Confederate Navy and in April 1864 was appointed by Gift as a Master's Mate
Master's mate
Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master...
on the CSS Chattahoochee. Gift was then involved in a failed attempt to capture the USS Adela, at St. George's Sound, Florida, in May, 1864. On July 5, 1864, he was sent to the Savannah squadron, for torpedo placing duties. Gift reported sick that same month and did not return to duty before the end of the war.
After the Civil War
Following the Civil War, Gift lived in Georgia and Tennessee and was an active contributor to several agricultural journals, writing on various topics pertaining to bringing in Chinese labor to relieve the agricultural labor shortage in the South. He had first hoped to appeal to subscribers in Georgia and to introduce Chinese through the port of Savannah. Disappointed there, he moved to reside in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and had more success, getting various subscribers to organize the Arkansas Emigration Company.
In July 1869, he left for San Francisco, and then China, to arrange for Chinese laborers, in the interest of the Arkansas Emigration Company. He returned to California in 1874, settling in the Napa Valley where he edited newspapers, the Napa Weekly Reporter and Napa County Recorder. He died February 11, 1879, while serving as editor of the Napa City Reporter. He was buried at Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, California
Napa, California
-History:The name Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern Nappan village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and cougars for many centuries, according to Napa historian Kami Santiago. At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the...
.
Source
- Register of Officers of the Confederate States Navy, 1861-1865. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1931. Information on both Gift and Frazee.
- California's Confederate Militia: The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles by Gene C. Armistead
- J. M. Scammell, Military Units in Southern California, 1853-1862, California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol XXIX, No. 3, 1950
- CSS Chattahoochee Muster Roll
- Compiled by Terry Foenander, CONFEDERATE NAVAL AND MARINE CORPS PERSONNEL, A - G. George Washington Gift