Jefferson Davis (Confederate Privateer Brig, 1861).
Also known as Jeff Davis
Jefferson Davis , a 187-ton brig, was built in Baltimore, Maryland, in about 1845 as the merchant vessel Putnam . As the slaver Echo , she was captured off Cuba on 21 August 1858 by USS Dolphin . Sold by the U.S. Government in January 1859 to a Charleston, South Carolina, owner, she regained the name Putnam .
In May 1861, after the outbreak of the Civil War, Putnam was renamed Jefferson Davis (or Jeff Davis ) and was commissioned as a Confederate privateer in mid-June. She left Charleston later in that month to begin an effective commerce-raiding cruise off the U.S. east coast, capturing nine merchant sailing vessels. Three of these were recaptured, three were released, one was burned and two, able to reach port in the Confederacy, were auctioned for the benefit of the privateer's owners and crew. While attempting to enter harbor at Saint Augustine, Florida, in mid-August 1861, Jefferson Davis went aground and was lost.
Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1861, depicting the recapture of the schooner S.J. Waring on 16 July 1861.
S.J. Waring had been captured by the Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis in the Atlantic on 6 July 1861. Ten days later, her African-American cook, William Tilghman, overwhelmed and killed her Confederate prize crew with an ax. He brought her into New York on 22 July 1861.
Confederate Ironclad 1861-65
Every aspect of Confederate ironclads is covered: design, construction, armor, armament, life on board, strategy, tactics, and actual combat actions.
Confederate Submarines and Torpedo Vessels 1861-65
Interesting information and many excellent illustrations. It addresses the CSA David class torpedo boats and the Hunley (and its predecessors), as well as Union examples such as the Alligator and the Spuyten Duyvil
