ESSEX

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Ironclad Steamer Built 1856 at New Albany, Indiana NEW ERA (Commercial Service) Owned and operated by the Wiggins Ferry Co. as a steam-powered ferry Purchased by the War Department September 20 1861 USS NEW ERA (Gunboat) Commissioned October 4 1861 USS ESSEX (Gunboat) Extensively upgraded in late 1861 and renamed Decommissioned July 20 1865 NEW ERA (Commercial Service) Sold November 29 1865 Scrapped in 1870

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. Covers Page 1     (DATE RANGE)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Syracuse NY CDS

(1863)-06-22

As ESSEX
Incoming mail to ship on Mississippi River

 

Syracuse NY CDS

(1863)-07-06

As ESSEX
Incoming mail to ship on Mississippi River

 

Other Information

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Civil War Medal

During the Civil War ESSEX was assigned as Guardship at Memphis, TN. for the duration and participated in the following engagements:
Engagement of Confederate gunboats at Lucas Bend MO. in the Tennessee River, January 7 to 11 1862
Capture of Fort Henry, TN., February 6, suffering 11 KIA and 23 WIA
Assault on Vicksburg on July 13 1862
Attacked the Confederate Ram, CSS ARKANSAS below Vicksburg, inflicting considerable damage
Steaming south to Baton Rouge, LA. she joined with the Army in repelling a Confederate attack August 5
Again attacked CSS ARKANSAS on August 6 when she broke down and drifted ashore where she was destroyed by her crew
Capture of Port Hudson, LA., May 8 to July 8 1863
Engagement at Donaldsonville, July 9 and although damaged in the battle, carried out her patrol duty at this point through March 6 1864
Assisted in the capture of Fort de Russy on March 15 and 16

 

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If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

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