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CSS Forrest
ex
 CSS Weldon N. Edwards (1861 - 1861)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Steam Tug
  • Built in 1855 as the canal boat J.A. Smith by Morgan L. Taylor, New York
  • Launched in 1855
  • Converted to steam in 1856
  • At Norfolk in 1861, she was renamed Weldon N. Edwards in honor of the President of the North Carolina Secession Convention
  • Ordered to Hatteras Inlet by Flag Officer Samuel Barron, CSN, 27 July 1861
  • Weldon N. Edwards patrolled Hatteras Inlet in North Carolina under the command of LT. J. Cook, CSN
  • In August 1861, Cook would report to Flag Officer Barron that his ship was "entirely worthless, the boilers worn out and the timbers of his vessel rotten
  • The tug returned to Norfolk in early October, ordered on the 3rd by Flag Officer French Forrest, CSN to return immediately to Roanoke Island to support the local commander CDR. William Lynch CSN
  • In late 1861, Weldon N. Edwards renamed Forrest
  • Forrest was part of a five gunboat fleet that attacked Union forces at anchor at Hatteras Inlet on 3 November 1861
  • The Union gunboats did not rise to the challenge so the Confederate gunboats retreated with CSS Curlew towing Forrest back home
  • Forrest was towed by Curlew on 30 December 1861 to Edenton for repairs, returning to the Mosquito Fleet by 3 January 1862 at Roanoke Island
  • Forrest participated in the Battle of Roanoke Island on 7 February, during which her commanding officer, LT. J. L. Hoole, CSN, was seriously wounded
  • Forrest was disabled late in the action "by the displacement of her propeller" and towed to Elizabeth City, N.C., for repairs.
  • Final Disposition, on 10 February while out of water on the marine railway at Elizabeth City Forrest was burned to prevent capture by Union forces
    From Wikipedia
    Sources
    US Navy Department, Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I: Volume 6. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894-1922.
    William Lytle & Forrest Holdcamper, Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States, 1790-1868, Steamship Historical Society, New York, 1975.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 109 t.
    Length 93'
    Beam 17'
    Depth of Hull 7'
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    one 32-pdr (bow)
    one howitzers (stern)
    Propulsion
    one steam engine
    one propeller
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    Weldon N. Edwards
    Dictionary of American Navy Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 30 July 2021