CSS Beaufort
Featured Character – 1861-1862
Jack from CSS Beaufort
Courtesy of New York State Military Museum
Originally called the Caledonia and buiilt in 1854, the iron-hulled gunboat was operated and used in battle in both North Carolina and Virginia. The CSS Beaufort was first commissioned in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 9, 1861, as part of the original North Carolina Navy. Seven months later, it was at the Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Two days after that battle, it was at the Battle of Elizabeth City. While on the Pasquotank River, Lieutenant Parker of the Beaufort ordered the ship to Norfolk by way of the Dismal Swamp Canal to prevent its capture, as it was one of the two surviving ships. The Beaufort went on to fight at the Battle of Hampton Roads as a tender to the CSS Virginia and was finally captured at the fall of Richmond in 1865. After the war, it was sold and changed to a barge on December 2, 1878.