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USS Rattler,

   Union Gunboat

Jefferson County in the Civil War


Jefferson County, Mississippi, in the American Civil War
USS Rattler at Rodney, Sunday, September 13th, 1863
By Bruce D. Liddell

After six generations few military traces of the American Civil War 1861-1865 survive in Jefferson County, Miss. One scar remains today for all to see, a Union cannonball imbedded in the brick front wall of Old Rodney Presbyterian Church.

The Civil War passed lightly over Jefferson compared with other parts of the South. No great battles or orgies of destruction occurred within the county, but nonetheless “cruel War” left its evil mark. Ravenous armies stripped the land of livestock and food, taxation and inflation stripped the people of their money, and slaves themselves stripped off their bondage at every opportunity. War and Reconstruction also stripped away the South’s cloak of prosperity leaving bare poverty, but that’s another issue.

Before the Civil War Rodney ranked as the largest town in Jefferson, erstwhile contender for the state capital, at one time reckoned the busiest river port between New Orleans and St. Louis. After the War the Mississippi River shifted a few miles west, leaving the town high and dry. Today Rodney has all but withered away, leading some to call it a ghost town, though the last remaining resident reportedly disputes that.

In the summer of 1863 Union forces seized control of the Mississippi River and cut the Confederacy in two. Vicksburg surrendered on the Fourth of July (and never again celebrated the holiday until 1944) and Port Hudson, La., four days later, severing the Trans-Mississippi states from the Richmond government. For the next two years Federal warships patrolled the Father of Waters to shut down all Confederate river traffic. During most of this period the “tinclad” gunboat USS Rattler enforced Washington’s will at Rodney and vicinity. (1)

USS Rattler was one of sixty-odd mixed-bag riverboats purchased and armed by the U.S. Navy, called “tinclads” to distinguish their bullet-proof qualities from the heavier cannon-proof ironclads. Drawing on average only 4 feet of water, the tinclad fleet flaunted the Stars and Stripes with near-impunity along the Western Rivers. Named for the poisonous snake, Rattler began her career as the smallish 165-ton stern-wheel flat-bottom steamboat Florence Miller. (One wonders what humorous combinations the sailors made from the gunboat’s names.) Designated Tinclad Gunboat No. 1, she cost the government only $24,000, one-tenth the price of a purpose-built warship. (2)

USS Rattler

USS Rattler at anchor between July 1863 and December 1864. The vertical mark on the front and side of the pilot house is her numeric designation, Tinclad No. 1. One authority has identified
the background as Natchez-Under-the-Hill. (3)

USS Rattler grossly resembles a two-story flat-roof boarding house for thirty or forty resident crewmen. About 100 feet long and 30 feet wide, her exact dimensions and internal layout are unknown but can be surmised. The topmost (texas) deck was removed and replaced with a rectangular enclosed pilot house. Officers and enlisted men ate and slept in the former passenger spaces upstairs (hurricane deck) above the engines on the newly enclosed main (cargo) deck. Hull spaces remained empty, as riverboats’ flat bottoms sagged under load. Three guns protruded from an angled casemate at the front (bow) of Rattler’s cargo deck, one long range Parrott rifle firing 30-pound shot flanked by two 24-pounder Napoleon smoothbores. Presumably an identical battery pointed sternward over the paddlewheel. Shielded all around by heavy timbers, she also carried one or two thicknesses of half-inch iron plate armor over the forward battery casemate and around the pilot house. By her mobility and protection virtually invulnerable from attack by land, Rattler could out-fight every boat on the river except the heaviest ironclads. (4)

After three summers of war and slaughter autumn 1863 loomed blessedly peaceful along the Mississippi River. As the sun rose on a quiet fair-weather Sunday, September 13th, 1863, USS Rattler lay at anchor near the Rodney town wharf. Stationed at Rodney since mid-August, she had returned the previous day from a short visit to squadron headquarters at Natchez. That Sunday morning Rattler’s captain Acting Master (modern Lieutenant Junior Grade) Walter Fentress welcomed a guest on board. Reverend Baker, a Union man, had recently resigned as pastor of the Red Lick Presbyterian Church and presently awaited a passenger boat headed “North,” meaning any district under Federal control. Reverend Robert Price, long-time pastor of Rodney Presbyterian Church, generously offered his pulpit and collection plate to Rev. Baker that Sunday. Baker in turn invited Rattler’s officers and crewmen to attend morning services at the church. (5)

In violation of Admiral David Porter’s standing orders, at 11 a.m. Captain Fentress led most of his crew ashore. None were armed except Second Assistant Engineer A. M. Smith, who carried a hidden revolver. All sported their Sunday best; Fentress wore a plain civilian coat, perhaps to avoid arousing the nominally hostile citizens. An officer in civilian dress in enemy territory during wartime runs a terrible risk, and one wonders if Fentress clearly understood his position. (6)

About 10 minutes after the worshippers found their pews, Lieutenant Allen of the Confederate Army walked into the church, interrupted the services with a polite apology to Rev. Baker, and ordered the U.S. Navy men to surrender. A noisy fracas ensued. (7)

Perhaps Rattler’s men made a habit of attending Rodney Presbyterian Church, or possibly a Southerner named Billy Parsons carried Baker’s invitation to the nearest Confederate outfit. By one romantic account Lt. Allen donned civilian dress, silently entered the church and counted the sailors from the back pew, then slipped outside to change clothes and alert his men. While music and voices covered any sound Allen directed his fifteen Confederate scouts to surround the building, then strode boldly through the church front door. (8)

At the call to surrender, Engr. Smith drew his pistol and fired one shot through Lt. Allen’s hat (though this may be an editor’s fanciful phrase for any near-miss.) At the sound of gunfire inside, the Confederates outside fired through the windows, all the balls striking the ceiling or opposite wall. Smith shot three more times, and as fast as they could reload the cavalrymen pumped more rounds harmlessly through the shattered windows. Allen discharged his revolver once into the ceiling, shouting for all to cease fire. (9)

No doubt confusion and fright reigned among the unwilling participants. The Jackson Mississippian applauded one strong minded matron who stood her ground, shouting “Glory to God!” as the Rebels overpowered the Yankees. One sailor tried to hide under the voluminous skirts of elderly and immobile “Mrs. I. D. G.,” and other Navy men entertained similar thoughts. Although several modern writers describe a happy marriage that resulted from the unwonted intimacy, no confirmation has been found. The tale may have arisen from the Depression-era “urban legend” of an ancient Union veteran who went searching for the long-deceased lady who saved his life in a fight inside a church. (10)

Lt. Allen finally made himself heard above the noise. The Rebels stopped shooting and rounded up their Yankee prisoners. By a seeming miracle, only one seaman received a minor wound. Allen commandeered civilian carriages for the Union officers and started the Union sailors marching single file out of town on the northeast road toward nearby Oakland College, closed and empty since the outbreak of war. The civilians quickly scattered to their homes. (11)

Alerted by the gunfire and informed of the cause by “a negro on shore,” at 11:20 a.m. USS Rattler’s first lieutenant (modern executive officer or “number one”) Acting Ensign William Ferguson sent the remnant crew to battle stations, got the gunboat moving, dropped a boatload of armed sailors to secure the wharf, and ordered the gunners to open fire. Rattler’s cannons threw fourteen explosive shells into the town, setting several small fires and damaging the church and four houses. One shell damaged a barn on nearby Pecan Grove plantation. Amid the smoke and concussion six Navy men including combative Engr. Smith escaped to Rattler’s waiting boat. Ens. Ferguson ceased fire when Lt. Allen’s party and prisoners were out of sight. By 1:30 p.m. the initial excitement had passed and Rattler again lay at anchor, but now in deep water. (12)

To his eternal embarrassment Fentress holds a unique distinction, the only United States Navy ship’s captain captured by Confederate States Army horse cavalry. (13)

Later that afternoon Ens. Ferguson decided to burn down a Rebel’s house in town, after Seaman John Henderson, one of those who escaped, reported he “was driven from thence by the owner.” Ferguson detailed an officer, probably Acting Pilot George G. Waggoner, and a boatload of armed sailors, probably including Henderson, for the job. Rattler fired eleven more shells to cover their operations. Word of the incendiarists reached Lt. Allen, who threatened to capture the outnumbered landing party and hang them as arsonists. (See discussion of Lt. Allen's threat below.) The sailors meekly returned to the gunboat, their task left undone. (14)

After dark Rattler received a petition from ”the principal citizens of Rodney” begging the U.S. Navy to hold the town blameless, as the townsfolk had no prior knowledge of the noontime affray. At 10 p.m. that night a civilian emissary, Dr. Goldsmith, brought a message from Capt. Fentress requesting clothing for the captives, to be delivered to Crystal Springs 60 miles away; presumably this was done. Three days after the ambush Rev. Price and thirty-seven townsmen (unnamed) signed another petition, Adm. Porter relented, and thus Rodney avoided the vengeful destruction normally practiced by Union forces. (15)

Except for one Union cannonball still imbedded in the brick front wall of the Old Presbyterian Church in Rodney, Miss. (16)

Epilogue. Some months later Fentress and his men were exchanged for a like number of Southerners, and resumed their Navy service at other posts. At the end of 1864 USS Rattler sank near Grand Gulf, Miss., in a storm, her crew saved but the gunboat a total loss. In 1930 Gov. Bilbo extinguished the Town of Rodney. In 1966 the United Daughters of the Confederacy took over the Church, and in 1990 dedicated the building as their Official State Shrine.



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