Site Visit Saturday: CSS Nashville at Fort McAllister

 

   There are just a handful of places where visitors can see remnants of Confederate vessels from the War. That small list includes the CSS Neuse in Kinston, North Carolina, and the ships at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia. A visitor can find remnants of the CSS Nashville at Fort McAllister in Richmond Hill, Georgia.

   Many of the vessels used by the Confederate States naval forces were captured vessels, ships captured at the beginning of the war. Constructed in Greenpoint, New York, in 1853, the CSS Nashville started out as the United States Mail Ship Nashville. The Nashville, a brig-rigged, side-paddle-wheel passenger steamer, plied the waters between Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City from 1853 to 1861. During the attack on Fort Sumter, the Nashville sailed into Charleston Harbor and was fired upon by the USRC Harriet Lane. Following the capitulation of Sumter, the Nashville entered the harbor, tied up at the dock, and was captured. The Confederates outfitted the Nashville as a cruiser, and she slipped out of Charleston in October 1861. She was the first ship of war to fly the Confederate flag in English waters. Near the British Isles on November 19, the Nashville captured and burned the American merchant ship Harvey Birch.

   The Nashville returned to the Confederate States in February 1862, was renamed the Thomas L. Wagg and used as a blockade runner, then in November 1862, was repurposed as a privateer, and again renamed as the Rattlesnake. The Rattlesnake had run aground at Seven Mile Bend in the Ogeechee River, near Fort McAllister. McAllister was an earthen fort protecting the city of Savannah. The Fort was attacked several times during the war. In late January 1863, a campaign started to take the fort. Several ships were involved, including the ironclad USS Montauk.  While Fort McAllister survived, the CSS Rattlesnake (oftentimes still referred to as the Nashville) was sunk on February 28, 1863. Private citizens began diving and excavating the site in 1979. The state of Georgia sued, stating that the site and all artifacts belonged to the state. The courts agreed and the artifacts were turned over to the state. On visiting the Fort McAllister State Park, visitors can see some of the artifacts from the vessel.

   My family last visited Fort McAllister and the artifacts from the CSS Nashville/Rattlesnake in December 2016.