On 12 April 1861, the Revenue Cutter Service—a forebear of the U.S. Coast Guard—made its mark in U.S. naval service when its finest cutter, captained by the service’s most distinguished mariner, fired the first naval shot of the Civil War. But this significant event was just a waypoint in this remarkable ship’s life.
The cutter Harriet Lane, named for President James Buchanan’s popular niece and official White House hostess, was built for the Treasury Department by William H. Webb in New York City and launched on 19 November 1857. At that time, Webb was the United States’ foremost shipbuilder and arguably its first true naval architect. His shipyard built 133 vessels between 1840 and 1865, among them some the fastest and most successful clippers and packets. The new cutter was on the cusp of steam technology and thus, despite her inclined, direct-acting steam engine—a first for the service—which turned side-wheel paddles, she also carried a brigantine rig.
After commissioning on 28 February 1858, she was temporarily transferred to the U.S. Navy and assigned to the 19-ship Paraguay Expedition, an early example of gunboat diplomacy. The squadron served as the backdrop for negotiations between U.S. envoy James B. Bowlin and dictator Carlos Antonio Lopez concerning reparations for an unprovoked 1 February 1855 attack on the gunboat Water Witch. The show of force led to a speedy resolution, which four years of diplomacy had failed to obtain. Flag Officer William B. Shubrick singled out the Harriet Lane, under command of Captain John Faunce, for her “invaluable service.” Shubrick’s commendation noted: “All the vessels grounded more than once, and it [is] proper that I express my sense of appreciation of the skill and zeal with which Captain Faunce has used this very efficient vessel in extricating us from our difficulties. . . . USS Fulton would have been lost altogether, if not for the assistance afforded by Harriet Lane.”
On her return, the cutter briefly resumed her Revenue Cutter Service career, operating off the Florida coast against the slave trade. By 1860 she was back in New York, then sent to Washington, D.C. While there, she embarked not only Edward Albert, the Prince of Wales, during the first visit by a member of the British royal family to the United States, but also the ship’s namesake as hostess. In April 1861, the Harriet Lane was assigned to escort a federal expedition to relieve the Confederate siege at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. But en route she became separated from the convoy and arrived off Charleston on 11 April, well before the other ships. Her arrival heralded that reinforcements would soon be arriving, and the Confederates began their artillery bombardment of the fort early the next morning.
Later on 12 April, elements of the convoy arrived, and the cutter attempted to escort them to the fort. Rebuffed by artillery fire, they retreated outside the harbor. The Harriet Lane had taken up station patrolling the harbor entrance when a steamer approached from the sea flying no colors. After she ignored orders to heave to and display her colors, Faunce ordered that a 32-pounder fire a shot across her bow. Lieutenant W. D. Thompson pulled the gun’s lanyard, firing what is considered the first naval shot of the Civil War.
The mysterious ship raised a U.S. flag, and Faunce, noting that the demonstration “had the desired effect,” allowed her to proceed unmolested. (By 14 April, the vessel, later identified as the Nashville, had exchanged her U.S. ensign for a South Carolina state flag; she would soon began a career as one of the most elusive and infamous Confederate privateers.) The next day, garrison commander Major Robert Anderson of the 1st U.S. Artillery surrendered the fort, and the Harriet Lane withdrew with the convoy.
Still in the Revenue Service but assigned to the Navy, the cutter joined two frigates, three gunboats, and transports in the 28–29 August attack against Forts Clark and Hatteras on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The Harriet Lane’s actions were a significant contribution to the success of the first joint-service amphibious operation of the war. She slipped in close to shore to provide direct support for the landings. Harper’s Magazine reported: “Harriet Lane opened fire. With her rifled guns she did good execution. Several projectiles going into the battery and one going directly through the ramparts. The fire was so hot that the enemy went into a bombproof . . . and soon [the] white flag rose.”
The Harriet Lane was decommissioned and transferred to Navy service on 10 September 1861 with Commander Jonathan M. Wainwright, U.S. Navy, relieving Captain Faunce. After serving from October to January 1862 as the Potomac River Flotilla flagship, she was never far from the action. The steamer became flagship for Commander David Dixon Porter’s Mortar Flotilla of fire-support vessels. From 18 to 24 April, they bombarded Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the lower Mississippi prior to Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut’s squadron steaming past the bastions to capture New Orleans. The Harriet Lane later supported the Union Army at Pensacola, Florida, and covered Farragut’s 28 June and 15 July dashes past Vicksburg’s defenses during the first abortive siege of the river strongpoint.
On her return to New Orleans, the cutter was assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. After duty off Mobile Bay, she sailed on 1 October 1862 for Galveston, Texas, which, in company with the Westfield, Owasco, Clifton, and Henry James, she bombarded and helped the Army capture two days later.
But shortly after 0400 on 1 January 1863, a large Confederate infantry force supported by two cottonclads, the CSS Bayou City and Neptune, attacked the small Union contingent there. Despite being outnumbered six ships to two, the Rebel vessels succeeded in ramming, boarding, and capturing the Harriet Lane. During the fierce hand-to-hand fighting, Commander Wainwright and his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Edward Lea, were killed.
The Confederates called for a truce, but Commander William B. Renshaw, leading the Union flotilla, ignored the negotiation offer and attempted to blow up the Westfield, which had run aground, rather than allow her to fall into enemy hands. When the explosives failed to ignite, Renshaw and a number of his sailors reboarded the ship, only to die in the ensuing delayed explosion. Interpreting the blast as a sign their ships were surrendering, Union troops on shore laid down their arms. The remaining U.S. vessels had not surrendered but were flying flags of truce. Nevertheless, they fled to Union-controlled New Orleans.
The Harriet Lane now flew the “Stainless Banner” of the Confederacy with the Texas Marine Department under control of the Confederate Army until 31 March 1863, when civil courts awarded her to the Confederate Navy. Because of her war-weary condition, that service retained her artillery but returned the ship to the Army. District of Texas commander Major General John Bankhead Magruder negotiated a deal with Houston cotton merchant Thomas W. House, who would provide a cargo of cotton in exchange for a healthy chunk of the profits when—and if—the Harriet Lane reached Havana, Cuba, where she and the cotton would be sold.
On 30 April 1864, the cutter, now renamed the Lavinia, under command of Joseph C. Barnard, began her run in company with two other ships, the Alice and Isabel. They successfully evaded blockaders and a week later arrived in Havana with a total of 1,750 bales of cotton. While her consorts returned to blockade running, the Lavinia remained bottled up in Cuba because of political wrangling between the U.S. and Spanish governments over her status.
Although returned to the United States after the war, the former cutter was of little use to a navy with a surplus of newer, more serviceable ships. She was sold at auction in 1867. Her new owners removed her machinery and paddles, converted her to a bark rig, and entered her into commercial service as the Elliott Richie. On 13 May 1884, after being slammed by hurricane-force winds in the Caribbean, the former Harriet Lane was abandoned off Pernambuco, Brazil.
U.S. Revenue Cutter Harriet Lane
Displacement: 674 tons
Length: 180 feet
Beam: 30 feet
Draft: 12 feet, 6 inches
Armament:
1858 1 32-pounder pivot gun
4 24-pounder guns
1 12-pounder gun
1861 3 32-pounder guns
4 24-pounder guns
1862 3 9-inch guns
1 30-pounder gun
Complement: 100 officers and enlisted men