The USS Pittsburg was a City Class ironclad gunboat constructed in 1861 by James B. Eads. Commissioned in January 1862 and assigned to the Western Gunboat Flotilla, Pittsburg participated in the attack on Fort Donelson on February 14, 1862 and was damaged by fire from the fort’s batteries. After repairs, she was involved in the attacks ...
The USS Red Rover was a side wheel steamer built in 1859 at Cape Girardeau, Missouri; purchased by the Confederacy on November 7, 1861, and put to use as a barracks ship for the floating battery at New Orleans, Louisiana, she served at Island No. 10 until she was captured there by the Union gunboat ...
The USS St. Clair was a wooden stern-wheel river steamer built in 1862 at Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania; she was purchased by the Navy on August 13, 1862, from R. D. Cochran at St. Louis, Missouri, and commissioned on September 24, 1862, at Carondelet, Missouri. Assigned to the Mississippi Squadron, St. Clair was tasked with supporting the ...
The USS St. Louis was a City Class ironclad stern-wheel casemate gunboat built by James B. Eads in 1861 at St. Louis, Missouri; commissioned on January 31, 1862, St. Louis, under the command of Lieutenant L. Paulding, was assigned to the Western Gunboat Fleet. St. Louis served as the flagship for the gunboat squadron when it ...
Flavel Hunt Van Eaton was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, on October 10, 1833 (some sources state 1834). In 1852, he entered Illinois College, and graduated three years later. In 1858, he graduated from Missouri Medical College in St. Louis and practiced in Virginia, Illinois, and Franklin, Illinois, until the Civil War began. ...
Born in Ohio in 1836, John J. Van Houten learned to be a printer in Des Moines, Iowa, and by 1860 was living in Winterset, Madison County, Iowa. He worked briefly in Audubon City for the Audubon County Pioneer newspaper, then moved to Lewis, Cass County, Iowa in January 1861 and became foreman of ...
Clement Neeley Vann, lieutenant colonel, 1st Regiment Cherokee Mounted Volunteers, served under the command of General Stand Watie. Vann was 24 years old when he enlisted as a private at Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation; his regiment was mustered into Confederate service on November 5, 1861. He participated in a number of engagements, including the ...
Harrison VanSlyke (alias Samuel H. VanSlyck) enlisted on August 17, 1862, and was mustered into Company I, 11th Kansas Infantry, on September 15, 1862. The 11th Kansas Cavalry was reorganized as the 11th Kansas Infantry in April 1863, at Kansas City, Kansas; they were involved in the pursuit of General Sterling Price on his ...
Joseph Wadhams enlisted on November 2, 1861, and was mustered into Company G, 8th Kansas Infantry as a private. He was promoted to sergeant on January 1, 1864, and to first sergeant on September 6, 1864. Company G of the 8th Kansas Infantry was organized in October 1861, at Lawrence, Kansas; after service at Fort ...
William Waggoner enlisted in Companies D, 3rd Colorado Infantry, a unit organized in the fall of 1862; the 3rd moved to Pilot Knob, Missouri, in the spring of 1863 and performed garrison duty there. In October 1863, the 2nd Colorado Infantry was consolidated with the 3rd Colorado Infantry to form the 2nd Colorado Cavalry, under the ...
This photo of Robert Walker, a young African-American “First Class Boy” dressed in a sailor’s uniform, has “Our Bob” written on the bottom. “First Class Boys” in the U.S. Navy were generally young men under 17 years of age. They were paid $9 per month and performed various sailor duties, including serving as ...
Hugo Wangelin, a native of Prussia, immigrated to the United States in the 1830s. He joined the 12th Missouri Infantry on August 10, 1861 as the regiment’s major; the regiment was organized by Colonel Peter J. Osterhaus the same month. Wangelin was promoted to colonel on June 14, 1862, and assumed command of ...
Little is known about James T. Ward. It appears that by May 3, 1861, he was serving on the staff of Colonel Earl Van Dorn in Texas; on August 10, 1861, he was appointed a lieutenant colonel by Van Dorn, subject to the approval of President Davis. On November 20, 1862, Ward apparently ...
Thomas Ward served in the Cass County, Missouri Home Guards in 1861; he enlisted again on August 15, 1862, and was mustered into Company B, 12th Kansas Infantry on September 25, 1862, as a corporal. The 12th Kansas Infantry was organized in September 1862 at Paola, Kansas; they saw action during Frederick Steele’s Camden Expedition. Ward and ...
