USS General Sherman

USS General Sherman 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.

For the destruction of the merchant side-wheel steamer in Korea, see General Sherman incident.
The only known existing photograph of USS General Sherman
History
United States
NamesakeWilliam Tecumseh Sherman
Launched1864
Commissioned27 July 1864
Fate
  • Returned to the Army
  • 3 June 1865
General characteristics
Displacement187 tons
Length168 ft (51 m)
Beam26 ft (7.9 m)
Depth of hold4 ft 6 in (1.37 m)
Propulsion
Armament

Service history

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. 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. 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. General Sherman was returned to the Army Quartermaster Department at Chattanooga, Tennessee, 3 June 1865

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