USS General Sherman (1864)
USS General Sherman (1864) was acquired from the U.S. War Department by the Union Navy during the American Civil War as a gunboat in waterways of the Confederate South. She was named after Gen. William T. Sherman.
 The only existing photograph of USS General Sherman | |
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Namesake: | William Tecumseh Sherman |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 1864 |
| Commissioned: | 27 July 1864 |
| Out of service: | 3 June 1865 |
| Stricken: | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 187 tons |
| Length: | 168 ft (51 m) |
| Beam: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 10-20 Knots |
| Complement: | not known |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: | tinclad |
Constructed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1864
General Sherman, a 187-ton side-wheel "tinclad" river gunboat, was one of four light wooden gunboats built at Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the War Department in 1864. She commissioned at Bridgeport, Alabama, 27 July 1864, Acting Master Joseph W. Morehead in command.
Turned over to the Navy and commissioned in July 1864, General Sherman spent most of her service on the Upper Tennessee River.
Patrolling the Tennessee River
General Sherman was assigned to the 11th District, Mississippi Squadron, and became part of Lt. Moreau Forrest's gunboat fleet on the upper Tennessee River.
Leaving Bridgeport, Alabama, 22 August, she patrolled with other gunboats between Decatur, Alabama, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama, controlling guerrilla attacks and working to prevent major elements of Confederate General John Bell Hood's army from crossing the river into Tennessee. General Sherman continued to patrol until she returned to Bridgeport for repairs 17 December.
Supporting General Steedman at Decatur
Returning to the upper Tennessee River, General Sherman lent vital artillery support to the forces of Gen. James B. Steedman at Decatur, 27 December, shelling Confederate emplacements as Union Army troops crossed the river.
She again patrolled the river, attempting to cut off the withdrawal of Hood's army from Tennessee and convoying Union supply ships, until the war ended.
August 1866 Pyongan Province in Korea
In August 1866, a merchant side-wheel steamer also named "General Sherman" (see General Sherman Incident) appeared off the coast of Pyongan Province, steaming along the Taedong River to the provincial capital of Pyongyang, and asked permission to trade. Local officials refused to enter into trade talks and demanded the ship's departure. A Korean official was then taken hostage aboard the vessel and its crew members fired guns at enraged Korean officials and civilians onshore. The crew then landed ashore and plundered the town in the process killing seven Koreans. The governor of the province Pak Kyu-su ordered his forces to destroy the ship. In the event the General Sherman ran aground on a sandbar and Korean forces burned the ship and killed the ship's entire crew of 23.[1]
Post-war return to the Army Quartermaster
General Sherman was returned to the Army Quartermaster Department at Chattanooga, Tennessee, 3 June 1865.