USS Fort Hindman

"USS Manitou" redirects here. For the patrol vessel of World War I, see USS Manito II.

USS Fort Hindman during her Civil War service
History
United States
Name	James Thompson (pre-war) USS Manitou (1863) USS Fort Hindman (1863–1865) James Thompson (post-war)
Namesake	Fort Hindman, a fortification on the Arkansas River, captured from the Confederates in January 1863 during the Battle of Arkansas Post
Ordered	as James Thompson
Yard number	Tinclad #13
Laid down	date unknown
Launched	in 1862 at Jeffersonville, Indiana
Acquired	14 March 1863
Commissioned	circa 14 March 1863
Decommissioned	3 August 1865 at Mound City, Illinois
Stricken	1865 (est.)
Fate	Sold 17 August 1865
Notes	Renamed James Thompson and remained in use until about 1874
General characteristics
Type	river gunboat
Displacement	286 tons
Length	150 ft (46 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draught	28 ft (8.5 m)
Propulsion	steam engine side-wheel propelled
Speed	not known
Complement	not known
Armament	two 8" smoothbore guns four 8" guns
Armor	tinclad

USS Fort Hindman was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was placed in service and used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

History

The ship was purchased 14 March 1863 as James Thompson, a side wheel steamer; she was converted into a river gunboat by the addition of timber bulwarks and thin iron plate: a style of warship commonly referred to as a "tinclad".

She joined the Mississippi Squadron in April 1863, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Thomas O. Selfridge Jr. in command; was renamed Manitou 23 March 1863; and renamed Fort Hindman 8 November 1863. The USS Fort Hindman was designed to patrol in shallow waters and small tributaries where heavier ironclads could not enter. Her light armor was only intended to stop small arms fire.

In July 1863, the steamer headed an expedition up the Little Red River, a tributary of the Black River, and captured quantities of ordnance and Confederate Government provisions, as well as the heavier Federal ironclad Louisville.

An illustration of Duncan throwing the burning cartridge overboard

She continued to patrol the central Mississippi River and its tributaries, taking a Confederate merchantman prize in the Red River on 1 March 1864, engaging Confederate sharpshooters and a battery ashore in the Black River and later that day in the Ouachita River.

On 2 March 1864, during an engagement near Harrisonburg, Louisiana, Ordinary Seaman James K. L. Duncan threw a burning cartridge overboard after it was set afire by an exploding shell, and Ordinary Seaman Hugh Molloy loaded one of the ships guns from an exposed position after a shipmate had been mortally wounded. Both Duncan and Molloy were later awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroism in the engagement.

During the expedition, Fort Hindman transported troops and prisoners of war, over and over again engaged Confederate batteries, and took part in the passage of the falls off Alexandria, Louisiana, on 8 May.

Moving to a more southerly patrol area, Fort Hindman operated in the rivers and bayous of Louisiana, occasionally returning to Natchez, Mississippi. She arrived at Mound City, Illinois, 1 August 1865. There she was decommissioned on 3 August 1865, and sold on 17 August 1865.

See also

• Blockade runners of the American Civil War

Sources

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.