USS Winnebago was a Milwaukee-class

USS Milwaukee (1864)

The first USS Milwaukee, a double-turreted river monitor, was launched by James B. Eads at Carondelet, MO, 4 February 1864; and commissioned at Mound City, IL, 27 August 1864, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant James W. Magune in command.-Service history:...

 double-turret monitor

Monitor (warship)

A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...

, named for the Winnebago

Ho-Chunk

The Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago, are a tribe of Native Americans, native to what is now Wisconsin and Illinois. There are two federally recognized Ho-Chunk tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska....

 tribe of Siouan

Siouan languages

The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...

 Indians

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 that aided the US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 government during the Black Hawk War

Black Hawk War

The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....

 of 1832.

The contract for construction of the first Winnebago was awarded to James B. Eads

James Buchanan Eads

Captain James Buchanan Eads was a world-renowned American civil engineer and inventor, holding more than fifty patents.-Early life and education:...

 of St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, on 27 May 1862; and the hull of the ship was built at Carondelet, Mo.

Carondelet, St. Louis

Carondelet is a neighborhood in the extreme southeastern portion of St. Louis, Missouri. It was incorporated as an independent city in 1851 and was annexed by the City of St. Louis in 1870. As of the 2000 Census, the neighborhood has a population of 9,960 people.Originally, the neighborhood was...

, by the Union Iron Works

Union Iron Works

Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.-History:...

. Launched on 4 July 1863, Winnebago was commissioned on 27 April 1864, Acting Master

Master (naval)

The master, or sailing master, was a historic term for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel...

 A. S. Megathlin in command.

Mississippi River Squadron

Assigned to the Mississippi River Squadron

Mississippi River Squadron

The Mississippi River Squadron was the Union naval squadron that operated on the western rivers during the American Civil War. It was initially created as a part of the Union Army, although it was commanded by naval officers, and was then known as the Western Gunboat Flotilla and sometimes as the...

, Winnebago operated on the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 and its tributaries protecting that vital waterway for Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 forces during the last year of 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...

. On 15 June 1864, she dueled Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 after Rebel guns had fired upon the wooden side-wheeler , off Como Landing, La. General Bragg's, return fire caused the Confederates to move their guns to Ratliff's Landing, whence they began shelling the paddle-wheel steamer . Alerted by the sound of the gunfire, Winnebago headed toward the action and soon joined the battle. Eventually, the combined fire from the three Union ships silenced the Confederate battery.

Battle of Mobile Bay, August 1864

Meanwhile, to the south, Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

 David G. Farragut

David Farragut

David Glasgow Farragut was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, usually paraphrased: "Damn the...

 was preparing to attack the Confederate forts at 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...

. Accordingly, on 1 July, Rear Admiral David D. Porter

David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter was a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the United States Navy. Promoted as the second man to the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G...

 reported to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles

Gideon Welles

Gideon Welles was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869. His buildup of the Navy to successfully execute blockades of Southern ports was a key component of Northern victory of the Civil War...

 that Winnebago and had been sent to Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron off Mobile.

In spite of rough weather en route, Winnebago made passage without incident, even proceeding on the final part of the voyage independently, without a tow. Her performance impressed Farragut, who was nearly finished with his preparations to attack the Confederate positions at 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...

. Her arrival with Chickasaw and that of the monitor completed the Union squadron. All was now ready.

At 05:30 on 5 August 1864, Winnebago got underway as Farragut's squadron moved out for battle. With Comdr. Thomas H. Stevens in command, the double-turreted monitor got underway from her anchorage near Sand Island and proceeded up the bay, "for the purpose of attacking the enemy."

Braving the heavily gunned defenses of Fort Morgan and known Confederate minefields ("torpedoes"), Farragut's squadron of four ironclad monitors and 14 wooden steamships boldly attacked. Winnebago steamed third in the column of ironclads, astern of Tecumseh and , while Chickasaw brought up the rear. At 07:00 that morning, Winnebago took station between Fort Morgan and the wooden vessels of the fleet, in line of battle. This formation enabled the armored monitors to draw the fire from the shore guns away from the wooden ships of Farragut's battle line.

The monitors' orders were clear: to neutralize the fire of the Confederate guns that raked the approach of the Union ships and to look out for the Rebel ironclads when Farragut's ships were abreast of the forts. At 07:15, Winnebago commenced fire, her Dahlgren

Dahlgren gun

Dahlgren guns were muzzle loading naval artillery designed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren USN, mostly used in the period of the American Civil War. Dahlgren's design philosophy evolved from an accidental explosion in 1849 of a 32-pounder being tested for accuracy, killing a gunner...

 smoothbores hurling grape and canister against the Confederate emplacements of Fort Morgan. Suddenly, about three-quarters of an hour later, Tecumseh struck a "torpedo" and sank "instantaneously," within a cable's length of Winnebago. Farragut, undaunted, ordered the squadron to proceed. The sinking of Tecumseh scarcely checked their passage.

As she steamed past Fort Morgan, engaging the Confederate guns on her starboard hand, Winnebago took on board 10 survivors from the ill-fated Tecumseh (who had been bravely plucked from the waters of Mobile Bay by a boat from ) and steamed slowly up the bay. That part of the passage had been made with comparatively little damage. The worst part of the battle for the Union squadron lay ahead, when the ships successfully completed passage and the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Tennessee

CSS Tennessee (1863)

CSS Tennessee, an ironclad ram, was built at Selma, Alabama, where she was commissioned on February 16, 1864, Lieutenant James D. Johnston, CSN, in command. towed her to Mobile where she was fitted out for action....

 attacked.

However, before Winnebago could get into position to have a major role in the fighting — which caused more damage to the Union squadron than did the batteries at Fort Morgan — Tennessee was forced to surrender to the overwhelmingly more powerful Union squadron.

Winnebago anchored at 10:45, her part in the Battle of Mobile Bay

Battle of Mobile Bay

The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was an engagement of the American Civil War in which a Federal fleet commanded by Rear Adm. David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fleet led by Adm...

 over. She had been hit 19 times, three shots penetrating the deck near her after turret, but fortunately had suffered no casualties.

Operations in Mobile Bay, 1864-1865

Winnebago subsequently remained in the Mobile Bay area, supporting the ensuing siege of Fort Morgan. On the night of 8 August, the monitor sent a boat crew, 14 men under the command of Acting Ensign Michael Murphy, out on a special mission. Setting out from the ship after moonset, Murphy's men cut the telegraph cable between Fort Morgan and the city of Mobile. The expedition, as Comdr. Stevens later reported, was "one of danger and difficulty ... neatly performed."

Winnebago, after the Battle of Mobile Bay, periodically shelled Fort Morgan — then under siege from the shoreward side — as did the other warships of the squadron. Ultimately, the superior firepower and overwhelming numbers amassed against Fort Morgan resulted in its surrender on 24 August.

The twin-turreted monitor remained at Mobile Bay into 1865. On 5 January 1865, a boat crew — again under the command of Acting Ensign Murphy — set out from the ship on a foraging mission. They carried out their nocturnal prowl behind enemy lines, returning with copper kettles used for distilling turpentine, 1,300 lbs (590 kg) of copper pipes, and four sloop-rigged boats from Bon Secours Bay

Bon Secour, Alabama

Bon Secour is an unincorporated community in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. It lies along the eastern coastline of Bon Secour Bay . Bon Secour is over due east of the Alabama–Mississippi state line, near Gulf Shores, and over west of Pensacola, Florida...

.

On 27 March, joint Army-Navy operations aimed at capturing the city of Mobile commenced. The key objective of the initial thrust centered on Spanish Fort

Spanish Fort

Spanish Fort or "Old Spanish Fort" can refer to:in Micronesia* Spanish Fort, Micronesia*Spanish Fort , listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Placesin the United States* Spanish Fort, Alabama...

, located near the mouth of the Blakely River and the key to the city's defenses. Six "tinclad" gunboats and supporting heavier units moved up the Blakely River to cut the fort's communications with Mobile while the army began to move on the landward side.

The Confederates had attempted to stymie any water-borne advance on the fort by sowing mines thickly in the river waters. Sweeping operations by the Union forces netted 150 "torpedoes" but unfortunately did not completely clear the river - with disastrous effects.

While Winnebago managed to emerge from the campaign that followed unscathed, her sister-ship Milwaukee did not. On 28 March, that river monitor — while dropping downriver from a point within a mile and one-half of Spanish Port — fouled a "torpedo." She and Winnebago had gone upriver to shell a Confederate transport supposedly carrying supplies to the beleaguered Confederate garrison. After the enemy steamer had beat a hasty retreat, the ironclad gunboats headed downriver, where Milwaukee — in an area previously swept — struck a mine on her port side. She sank by the stern, fortunately remaining afloat forward, permitting the crew to escape. No men were lost. Over the ensuing days, two more Union ships fell victim to Confederate "torpedoes" in the Blakely River.

Nevertheless, undaunted, Union riverine forces subsequently cleared the Blakely, thus opening the way upstream. Winnebago participated in that operation, destroying Confederate obstructions through the channel.

Operations in Alabama, 1865

Winnebago later served on convoy duty after the fall of Selma, Ala

Selma, Alabama

Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....

., in April 1865. She protected a convoy carrying some 13,000 troops under Major General Frederick Steele

Frederick Steele

Frederick Steele was a career military officer in the United States Army, serving as a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was most noted for his successful campaign to retake much of secessionist Arkansas for the Union cause.-Early life:Steele was born in Delhi, New...

, to Selma and Montgomery, Ala

Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...

. Later, the monitor's task, in company with , was to remain near the junction of the Tombigbee

Tombigbee River

The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. It is one of two major rivers, along with the Alabama River, that unite to form the short Mobile River before it empties into Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico...

 and Alabama

Alabama River

The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery.The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it unites with the Tombigbee, forming the Mobile and Tensaw rivers, which discharge into...

 Rivers. There, she covered a Union force erecting fortifications above that point to prevent local navigation by Confederate ships and craft.

Ultimately joined by the gunboat , Winnebago and Octorora blockaded the Rebel ironclad 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...

 and the gunboat CSS Morgan

CSS Morgan

CSS Morgan was a partially armored gunboat of the Confederate States Navy in the American Civil War.Morgan was built at Mobile, Alabama in 1861-62. She operated in the waters around Mobile from the time of her completion early in 1862 to the close of hostilities. One reference of October 1862 gave...

 up the Tombigbee River. Their presence kept the Confederate warships within their lair until the end of hostilities.

Post-war

Winnebago returned to Mobile Bay at the end of the Civil War. Laid up across from New Orleans, on the Algiers side of the Mississippi, on 27 September 1865, Winnebago remained there into the early 1870s. She was renamed twice during that time: the first to on 15 June 1869; and then given back her original name Winnebago on 10 August 1869. She was sold at auction, at New Orleans, on 12 September 1874.