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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Conestoga (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Side-wheel Gunboat:

Built in 1859 in Brownsville, PA by Daniel Bushnell and Jacob Jay Vandergrift

Launched, date unknown

Purchased in June 1861, by the War Department for service on the Mississippi River and its tributaries

Assigned to the Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla as USS Conestoga, under the command of LT. S. L. Phelps USN

During the Civil War USS Conestoga participated in the following actions / expeditions

Capture of Fort Henry, 6 February 1862

Assault and capture of Fort Donelson, 13 to 16 February

Operations up the White River, 13 June to 9 July and the capture of St. Charles

Transferred to the Navy Department 1 October 1862

Patrol and convoy duty, near the mouth of the Arkansas and White Rivers and on the Mississippi until mid-1863

Siege of Vicksburg, 9 May and 4 July 1863

Expeditions on the Black, Tensas, and Ouachita Rivers, 12 to 20 July 1863 and from 29 February to 5 March 1864

Final Disposition, sunk by collision, 8 March 1864, with USS General Price off Bondurant Point while on her way to join the expedition up the Red River

Specifications:
Displacement 572 t.
Length unknown
Beam unknown
Draft unknown
Depth unknown
Speed unknown
Complement unknown
Armament unknown

Propulsion

steam engine(s)

two sidewheels

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
150k	"Gun-Boats Fitting Out at Cincinnati, Ohio, for Government Service on the Mississippi." Line engraving published in Harper's Weekly, 1861. This example has been hand-tinted in water colors. The scene represents the conversion of the first "timber-clad" gunboats for the Western Gunboat Flotilla, in mid-1861. These ships were USS Conestoga, USS Lexington and USS Tyler, two of which are depicted here. US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59003-KN (Color). Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC.	Robert Hurst
108k	"The Flotilla of Federal Gunboats for the Protection of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, Under the Command of Captain John Rodgers, U.S.N. -- From a Sketch by our Special Artist at Cairo, Illinois." Line engraving published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated ...", 1861, depicting the "timber-clad" gunboats USS Tyler, USS Lexington and USS Conestoga. US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59004.	Robert Hurst
126k	"The 'Conestoga' and 'Lexington,' United States Gun-Boats on the Mississippi." Line engraving, after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1861. It depicts USS Conestoga on the right, with USS Lexington at left. US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59589.	Robert Hurst
85k	USS Conestoga on the Western Rivers during the Civil War. US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 55321.	Aryeh Wetherhorn
77k	"The Gun-boat Attack on the Water Batteries at Fort Donelson". Line engraving, based on a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862, depicting the bombardment of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, by Federal warships, 14 February 1862. Many of the ships were damaged in this action. As identified on the engraving, they are (from left to right): "Timberclads" USS Tyler and USS Conestoga; "Ironclads" USS Carondelet, USS Pittsburgh, USS Louisville and USS Saint Louis. US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58898.	Robert Hurst
114k	"Bombardment and Capture of Island Number Ten on the Mississippi River, April 7, 1862." Colored lithograph published by Currier & Ives, New York, circa 1862. It depicts the bombardment of the Confederate fortifications on Island Number Ten by Federal gunboats and mortar boats. Ships seen include (from left to right): USS Mound City; USS Louisville; USS Pittsburgh; USS Carondelet; USS Benton; USS Cincinnati; USS Saint Louis; USS Conestoga. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # KN 9691	Robert Hurst
126k	"Brilliant Naval Victory on the Mississippi River, Near Fort Wright, May 10th 1862." Brilliant Naval Victory on the Mississippi River, Near Fort Wright, May 10th 1862 by the Union Flotilla of 6 Gunboats, commanded by Com. C.H. Davis, and the Rebel fleet of 8 Iron-clads, under Hollins. The action lasted one hour. Two of the Rebel gunboats were blown up and one sunk, when the remainder retired precipitately under the guns of the fort. Lithograph by Currier & Ives, New York, providing a curious (and quite inaccurate) view of the action off Fort Pillow in which the Confederate River Defense Fleet, under Captain James E. Montgomery, attacked Federal gunboats. The print identifies the following ships (from left to right): CSS Mallory (non-existent vessel), shown sinking); CSS Louisiana (an ironclad that had already been destroyed by this time); USS Cincinnati; USS Benton; USS Cairo; USS Carondelet; USS Saint Louis; and USS Conestoga. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42365. Collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 1936	Robert Hurst
122k	"Battle at St. Charles, White River, Arkansas--Explosion of the USS Mound City". Line engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in Harper's Weekly, 1862. This action between Federal gunboats and Confederate shore batteries took place on 17 June 1862. USS Mound City was disabled by a shot that penetrated her steam drum, causing heavy casualties among her crew. Other U.S. ships present were the ironclad USS Saint Louis (seen in the right foreground) and "timberclads" USS Lexington and USS Conestoga. The gunboat in left center is also a "timberclad". U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #NH 59057.	Robert Hurst

USS Conestoga (I)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Last Updated 7 April 2017