Potomac Flotilla

The Potomac Flotilla, or the Potomac Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy created in the early days of the American Civil War to secure Union communications in the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River and their tributaries, and to disrupt Confederate communications and shipping in the same.

American Civil War
On April 22, 1861 Commander James H. Ward, who was the commander of the receiving ship USS North Carolina at the New York Navy Yard, wrote to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells to put forth a plan for the protection of the Chesapeake Bay area. Ward suggested a “Flying Flotilla” of light draft vessels to operate in the Chesapeake and it’s tributaries. His commander Captain Samuel L. Breese, commandant of the New York Navy Yard, endorsed his plan. Wells accepted this proposal and wrote back to Wells and Breese on April 27, 1861 authorizing them to begin carrying out Ward’s plan. On May 1, 1861 the first vessels for the new flotilla were acquired. On May 16, 1861 Ward set out from the New York Navy Yard with three vessels, the Thomas Freeborn, Reliance and Resolute. He arrived at the Washington Navy Yard on May 20, 1861 onboard his flagship, the Thomas Freeborn.

On June 27, 1861 Ward’s flotilla engaged the Confederates at Mathias Point, Virginia. While he was sighting the bow gun of the Thomas Freeborn, Ward was shot through the abdomen and died within an hour due to internal hemorrhaging. He was the first United States Naval officer to be killed during the war.

After the death of Ward the flotilla was led by a succession of short-term commanders until the fall of 1862 when Commodore Andrew A. Harwood took command. He was in turn succeeded by Commander Foxhall A. Parker on December 31, 1864.

On July 18, 1865 the Navy Department ordered Parker to disband the flotilla on July 31, 1865. Most of the flotilla’s remaining vessels were sent to the Washington Navy Yard to be decommissioned.

Name of the Flotilla
It wasn’t until August 1861 that the flotilla became known as the Potomac Flotilla. The designation of Flying Flotilla was dropped when Ward’s force arrived in the theatre of operations. The flotilla was then referred to by a variety of names, including: Flotilla, Potomac River; Potomac Blockade; Flotilla in the Chesapeake; etc. In early August 1861 the flotilla commander and the Navy Department began to consistently refer to the command as the Potomac Flotilla.

Operations
1861 Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Aquia Creek, Virginia, 29 May-1 Jun 1861 Affair at Mathias Point, Virginia, 27 Jun 1861 Engagement with the Confederate batteries at Potomac Creek, Virginia, 23 Aug 1861 Engagement with the Confederate battery at Freestone Point, Virginia, 25 Sep 1861

1862 Engagement at Cockpit Point, Virginia, 3 Jan 1862 Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Tappahannock, Virginia, 13-15 Apr 1862 Expedition up the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg, Virginia, 20 Apr 1862 Expeditions to Gwynn’s Island and Nomini Creek, Virginia, 3-4 Nov, 1862 Engagement at Port Royal, Virginia, 4 Dec 1862 Engagement at Brandywine Hill, Rappahannock River, Virginia, 10-11 Dec 1862

1863 Destruction of salt works on Dividing Creek, Virginia, 12 Jan 1863 Destruction of Confederate stores at Tappahannock, Virginia, 30 May 1863 Capture of U. S. steamers Satellite and Reliance, 16 Aug 1863

1864 Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia, 12 Jan 1864 Expedition up the Rappahannock River, Virginia, 18-21 Apr 1864 Expedition to Carter’s Creek, Virginia, 29 Apr 1864 Expedition to Mill Creek, Virginia, 12–13 May 1864 Expedition up the Rappahannock River, Virginia, 16–19 May 1864 Expedition to the Northern Neck of Virginia, 11-21 Jun l864 Expedition to Milford Haven and Stutt’s Creek, Virginia, 24 Sep 1864

1865 Expedition to Fredericksburg, Virginia, 6-8 Mar 1865 Expedition up the Rappahannock River, 12-14 Mar 1865 Operations in Mattox Creek, Virginia, 16-18 Mar 1865

Ships of the Squadron
When Commander James H. Ward departed from New York Navy Yard on May 16, 1861 his flotilla consisted of three vessels. The strength of the flotilla would be steadily increased until it reached a strength that hovered between fifteen and twenty-five vessels.