In December 1861, newspapers across the North and South carried a story that the confederate gunboat Tuscarora had accidently caught fire about fifteen miles north of Helena, Arkansas and burned. Why it caught fire remains a mystery, but a brief history of the ship can be written.
The CSS Tuscarora was a sidewheel steamer about 100 feet long and manned by a 25 person crew. It was new and had been built in 1861 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was valued at about $8,000. Before the war, it was owned by the Southern Steamship Company at New Orleans and operated as a towboat. After Louisiana seceded, the Tuscarora was purchased by the Confederate States Navy and fitted for war. Two cannons were mounted aboard on pivots, with one located on the bow and the other at the stern. These was a rifled 32-pounder cannon and an 8-inch columbiad. In August, the ship was placed under command of First Lieutenant John W. Dunnington.
In October 1861, the Tuscarora readied itself for the only combat the ship would see. The plucky little vessel joined a small fleet headed by Commodore George Hollins near Fort Jackson to attack a Federal fleet at Head of Passes on the Mississippi River. The Tuscarora was now under command of Beverly Kennon, and in the confusion of battle ran aground, but was able to get free in time to fire on the retreating Union forces. In total, the Tuscarora fired six shots. After this small victory, Hollins sent much of his fleet, including the Tuscarora, northward to support confederates at Columbus, Kentucky. Kennon remained at New Orleans, so command reverted back to Dunnington.
On November 23, 1861, a fire was discovered on board the Tuscarora about fifteen miles north of Helena as it headed up the Mississippi River toward Memphis. About half hour after midnight, flames were seen billowing from the boiler and directly under the wheel-house. High winds caused the fire to spread quickly and made it almost impossible for the crew to extinguish. The boat was run ashore in order to save the crew and the engineer barely escaped before shells stored in a forward compartment began to explode. The Tuscarora had ran aground at the Harbert plantation in Tunica County, Mississippi. Although no lives were lost, exploding shells caught a number of buildings on fire. Within seven minutes, the Tuscarora was a burning shell. One unusual aspect of the inferno was that the ship's flag had floated off and lodged in the top of a tree. As the boat sunk beneath the muddy waters, that flag suddenly unfurled and blazed out in the breeze undamaged. Engineer Sam Beck saw it as a good omen and the crew actually had to cut several trees down to regain their flag.
Two officers and four men were left in charge of the wreck while the rest of the crew under Dunnington made their way to Memphis. There was talk of raising the wreckage, but it never was. Even though, the crew had lost everything but the clothes on their backs, they remained committed to their cause. John W. Dunnington and many of his men would later serve at the Battle of St. Charles along the White River and afterward at the Battle of Arkansas Post. As the years passed, people forgot about the Tuscarora as the mighty river slowly swallowed what remained. Exploits of officers like Dunnington and Kennon would be recorded, but the brief history of their first small two-gun ship soon disappeared. Remains of many ships can be found up and down the Mississippi and the Tuscarora is but one. The photograph is of John William Dunnington. #ArkansasHistory#civilwarhistory#mississippiriver#mississippihistory#riverwrecks#civilwarnavy