USS Isaac Smith

USS Isaac Smith was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries. In 1863, she became the only warship in the Civil War to be captured by enemy land forces.

Isaac Smith was built by Lawrence & Foulks in 1861 for passenger-cargo service on the Hudson River. She was purchased by the Navy in New York City from E. J. Hamilton 9 September 1861.

Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockade
On 16 October she was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in time to join Flag Officer Samuel F. Du Pont's assault against Port Royal, South Carolina. An intense hurricane occurred during the voyage south compelling the ship to jettison her guns. Nevertheless, she gallantly ignored her own distress and attempted to assist the Marine Corps transport Governor, which foundered off Cape Hatteras. During a reconnaissance in force on 4 and 5 November, she engaged and repelled three attacking Confederate steamers and silenced batteries at Hilton Head and Bay Point, South Carolina. Two days later she towed sailing sloop USS Vandalia (1828) into action during the landings which wrested Port Royal, South Carolina, from Confederate hands providing the Union a splendid base for the fleet and combined operations that steadily destroyed the Confederacy.

Georgia and Florida operations
Isaac Smith participated in operations against the coast of South Carolina until 21 January 1862 when she sailed to join the expedition to Savannah, Georgia, led by Captain C. H. Davis, USN, and Brig. Gen. H. G. Wright of the Army. This operation was primarily a diversionary effort to cover up a projected attack on Fernandina, Florida; but it also provided valuable information about Confederate defenses of the water approaches to Savannah, Georgia, and it interrupted communications between Fort Pulaski and Savannah. During the latter half of March and all of April, Isaac Smith was active in the vicinity of St. Augustine, Florida. She took possession of the post office there 18 March and two days later mounted a gun upon the ramparts of in a position to command the main road to the city. Her boats captured blockade runner British Empire 3 April. Isaac Smith stood out of St. Augustine and entered St. Johns River 4 May to begin a period of 3 months' service in the vicinity of Jacksonville, Florida. Her presence there helped tighten the blockade, provided sanctuary for refugees, drew Southern troops away from more active fronts, and facilitated Union intelligence activity.

Caught in the cross fire and captured by Confederate forces
In need of repair, Isaac Smith sailed for New York City 10 August for "beaching, breeming, and improvements" which kept her away from her squadron until 11 October. Then Rear Admiral Du Pont ordered her to the Stono River where she served until 30 January 1863. That day she was caught in a cross fire from masked shore batteries. Disabled by accurate fire and with her deck covered with wounded men, her captain surrendered the ship rather than risk their lives. Eight men were dead and 17 were wounded.

Service with the Confederate Navy and eventual sinking
Isaac Smith served the Confederate Navy in Charleston waters under the name Stono until she was wrecked on the breakwater near Fort Moultrie, South Carolina, while attempting to run the blockade with a load of cotton on 5 June 1863. (q.v. "Confederate Appendix", DANFS II, 569.) No data on salvage operations for Stono has been found, but the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion state that she was "burned by the Confederates at the evacuation of Charleston in 1865."