CSS Tallahassee facts for kids

CSS Tallahassee
Quick facts for kids History
Confederate States
Name	Tallahassee
Builder	J & W Dudgeon, Cubitt Town, London
Commissioned	July 20, 1864
Renamed	CSS Olustee
Fate	Wrecked 21 July 1869
General characteristics
Displacement	700 tons
Length	220 ft (67 m)
Beam	24 ft (7.3 m)
Draft	14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion	2 – 100 h.p steam engines. 2 screws. Mast and sails
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	120
Armament	1 rifled 32 pounder forward, 1 rifled 100 pounder amidship, 1 heavy Parrot aft

The CSS Tallahassee was a very fast steamship with two propellers. It was a cruiser in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. The Confederates bought it in 1864. Its main job was to attack and capture merchant ships belonging to the Union (the North) along the Atlantic coast. This was called "commerce raiding." The ship later operated under the names CSS Olustee and CSS Chameleon.

History of the Tallahassee

The iron ship Tallahassee was named after Tallahassee, the capital city of Florida, which was a Confederate state. It was built in London, England, by a company called J & W Dudgeon on the River Thames. Before the Confederates bought it, the ship was known as the Atalanta. It was a blockade runner, meaning it was used to sneak past Union ships to deliver goods. The Atalanta was very fast, once crossing from Dover to Calais in just 77 minutes. It had made several successful trips carrying supplies between Bermuda and Wilmington, North Carolina, before the Confederates purchased it.

After the Tallahassee was ready for sea, it was put under the command of Commander John Taylor Wood. Commander Wood was a grandson of President Zachary Taylor and a nephew of Jefferson Davis, who was the President of the Confederate States of America at that time. The officers and crew of the Tallahassee were all volunteers. They came from other Confederate ships on the James River and in North Carolina.

The Tallahassee left its home port of Wilmington, North Carolina, on August 6, 1864. It had to sneak past the Union blockade. On its first day out, four Union ships chased the Tallahassee, but it managed to escape without any problems.

The ship then went on a 19-day mission along the Atlantic coast, sailing as far north as Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. During this raid, the Tallahassee destroyed 26 enemy ships and captured 7 others. Some captured ships were released after their owners promised to pay money later.

On August 18, the Tallahassee sailed into Halifax Harbour to get more coal for its engines and fresh water. Because Canada was neutral in the American Civil War, the ship was only allowed to stay in Halifax for 24 hours. The Tallahassee was given an extra 12 hours to fix a broken mast. However, it was only allowed to load enough coal to reach the nearest Confederate port.

There were rumors that two Union warships, the USS Nansemond and USS Huron, were waiting outside the harbor to catch the Tallahassee. Commander Wood hired a famous local pilot named John "Jock" Flemming. Flemming guided the warship through a very narrow and shallow route called the Eastern Passage. This passage was usually only used by small fishing boats. The Tallahassee successfully navigated the passage and left the harbor. It turned out that no Union warships were actually waiting there. The first Union warship, the gunboat USS Pontoosuc, arrived several hours after the Confederate ship had already left.

Since Commander Wood could not get enough coal to continue his mission, he had to return to Wilmington. The Tallahassee arrived safely back in port on August 26.

Ship's Captures

During its raids, the Tallahassee captured or destroyed many ships. Here are some examples:

• The schooner Sarah A. Boice was sunk, but it didn't completely go down and was later salvaged.
• The pilot-boat schooner James Funk was captured and used by the Tallahassee as its own smaller tender ship.
• The bark Bay State and the brigantine Carrie Estelle were burned.
• The famous packet ship Adriatic, which was carrying people from London to New York, was also burned. During this capture, the Tallahassee accidentally crashed into the Adriatic and lost its main mast.
• Many other ships, including schooners, barks, and brigantines, were either burned, sunk, or released after their owners promised to pay a bond. In total, the Tallahassee caused a lot of trouble for Union shipping.

Renaming the Ship

The Tallahassee was renamed two times during its service.

CSS Olustee

The Tallahassee was renamed CSS Olustee after the Battle of Olustee, a battle that took place in northern Florida. It was then placed under the command of Lt. W. H. Ward. The Olustee tried to run through the Union blockade off Wilmington again on October 29, 1864. It was damaged a bit by Union guns during this attempt.

The Olustee captured and destroyed six ships near the coast of Delaware. However, it soon had to return to port because it needed more coal. On November 6, 1864, it managed to escape from the USS Sassacus which tried to capture it. The next day, on November 7, 1864, it escaped from four other United States ships. Finally, it made it safely back into Wilmington harbor.

CSS Chameleon

The Olustee was renamed again, becoming the CSS Chameleon. Lt. John Wilkinson (CSN) became its commander. The ship's guns had been removed. It ran through the Union blockade on December 24, 1864. At this time, the United States fleet was busy attacking Fort Fisher. The Chameleon sailed to Bermuda to get supplies for the Confederate army.

Lieutenant Wilkinson tried two times to enter one of the southern ports, but it was impossible because of the Union blockade. So, he took the Chameleon to Liverpool, England. There, he handed the ship over to Commander J. D. Bullock, who was a financial agent for the Confederate Navy.

When the Chameleon arrived in England on April 9, 1865, the British authorities seized it. They planned to sell it for use as a merchant ship. However, the United States government sued to get the ship back. The ship was given to the United States government and handed over to their consul in Liverpool on April 26, 1866. The Chameleon was then sold at an auction on June 14, 1866, for £6,400. On July 21, 1869, news arrived in New York that the ship had been wrecked near Yokohama, Japan. Sadly, 22 lives were lost in the shipwreck.

Legacy

In 1958, a new school was built in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, near Lawlor Island. It was named the Tallahassee Community School to remember pilot Flemming's amazing navigation feat in 1864. A new school building with the same name was built in 1992. However, the name became controversial because the Confederacy supported slavery. After several community meetings, the Tallahassee Community School was renamed Horizon Elementary School in 2021.

See also

• Canada in the American Civil War
• History of the Halifax Regional Municipality
• Military history of Nova Scotia

Images for kids

• 

  John Taylor Wood, a commander of the Tallahassee.

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  The Confederate cruiser and blockade runner CSS Tallahassee.