USS General Burnside (1862)

Career (US)	Union Navy Jack
Laid down:	date unknown
Launched:	1862
Acquired:	1863
Commissioned:	8 August 1864
Out of service:	1 June 1865
Struck:	1865 (est.)
Fate:	returned to War Department 1 June 1865
General characteristics
Displacement:	201 tons
Length:	171'
Beam:	26'
Draught:	depth of hold 4' 9"
Propulsion:	steam engine side wheel-propelled
Speed:	not known
Complement:	not known
Armament:	two 20-pounder guns three 24-pounder howitzers

USS General Burnside (1862) was a Steamship acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy as a gunboat, and was assigned to patrol waterways in the Confederate South.

Constructed at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1862

General Burnside, built in 1862 at Wilmington, Delaware, was sold to the U.S. War Department in 1863; chartered by the Union Navy; commissioned 8 August 1864 at Bridgeport, Alabama, Acting Volunteer Lt. H. A. Glassford in command.

Assigned as flagship of the Upper Tennessee River Fleet

General Burnside became flagship of the upper Tennessee River Fleet, Mississippi Squadron, 15 October 1864. Based at Bridgeport, she patrolled the river to Whitesburg, Decatur, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Engaging Confederate batteries at Decatur

On 27 December 1864 she helped repulse Confederate attacks at Decatur. She was hulled several times while exchanging gunfire with Confederate sharpshooters. This gunboat action in concert with Union Army land forces brought about the evacuation of Decatur by the Confederates and left the upper Tennessee region under firm Union control.

Post-war return of General Burnside to the War Department

The gunboat continued river patrol until 1 June 1865 when she was returned to the War Department at Bridgeport, Alabama.

References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

See also

• United States Navy
• American Civil War

External links

• USS General Burnside