Str Clara Poe

You may think of Clara Poe as the daughter Clarissa of Thomas Washington Poe and Phoebe Kinsey born in Georgetown, PA in 1845.  My Clara Poe was a trim sternwheel packet built in California, PA in 1859 (149x32x4’9”) and rated at 208 tons.  Her first master was Capt Thomas W Poe and the original ownership was divided as follows:

                                    Str Clara Poe

Owners and Partners Share
Jacob Poe 1/4
Thomas Poe 1/8
Marin L Poe 1/8
George Poe 1/8
Jonathan Kinsey 1/8
George W Ebbert 1/8

 

The Clara Poe was used in the Pittsburgh to Cincinnati trade until impressed into US service in 1862 according to Fredrick Way’s Packet Directory.[1] 

 

The 78th PA Infantry boarded “on Captain Thomas Poe’s Clara Poe…  At 6:00 PM ropes were released, whistles sounded, anchors weighed, and the Clara Poe… sailed quickly from the Monongahela River into the Ohio River enroute to their jump-off point of Louisville, Kentucky, some three days away.”  This sendoff was vividly recorded on Oct 18, 1861.  The Clara Poe was one of six steamboats chartered by Commodore WJ Kountz, who had charge of the transportation by river of troops and Government supplies.[2]  The other five steamers at the Monongahela Wharf that Oct day were the Moderator, Sir William Wallace, JW Hallman, Argonaut, and the Silver Ware.  The Moderator in May 1863collided at night with the Horizon owned by Capt Jackman T Stockdale of Georgetown, PA.  The collision, a Civil War tragedy where many soldier lives were lost, occurred near Vicksburg. 

 

In Apr 1862, the Clara Poe was a member of the expedition to Pittsburg Landing in support of the battle at Shiloh.  Whether the Clara Poe was chartered or impressed to service is unclear. [3]

 

On May 13, 1863 the Clara Poe transported the 14th Illinois infantry from Memphis to Vicksburg.[4] 

 

As either a troop or supply transport, 13 Jun 1863 found the Clara Poe steaming near Island No 76 on the Mississippi employed by the Quartermaster. [5] 

 

The Clara Poe was chartered from 24 Jun 1863 for an unknown period, from 4 Dec 1863 to 4 Jan 1864, and again from 8 Jul to 15 Aug 1864. [6]  A report in the New York Times on Aug 15, 1864  stated “On Saturday noon of the last week the Clara Poe, bound for the Tennessee River with two heavy barges loaded with government stores, having on her own deck a load of fat cattle was attacked by a rebel force estimated at 700.  The rebel commander Johnson ordered the Clara Poe to bring to, and upon her Captain refusing to comply, a fire of musketry was poured upon her.”  The article goes on to state that the Clara Poe had been pierced with approximately 500 musket bullets.  It goes into great detail about the escape – discarding the barges, running the cattle off the deck into the river, etc.  A good read. [7]  

 

The last charter for the Clara Poe extended from 30 Dec 1864 to 22 Jan 1865.  In Jan 1865, 52 steamboats employed by the Army Quartermaster moved Schofield’s XXIII Corp from Paducah, KY up the Ohio River probably to Parkersburg, WV where they transferred to the B&O Railroad to complete their trip to Annapolis, MD. [8]

 

The last entry for the Clara Poe was on Apr 17, 1865.  The str Clara Poe was set on fire  by the dreaded Rebel steamboat burners at Eddyville on the Cumberland River while transporting supplies and barges of hay to Nashville.  [9]  The war in the west continued for about thirty days after Lee surrendered to Grant on Apr 9, 1865.

 

According to Capt Way, Capt Thomas W Poe was the master during its Civil War service.  Jonathon Kinsey, a neighbor from Georgetown, was one of his pilots.  A military person would have been the commander issuing general orders, but as pilot Capt Poe would have had operational control of the boat.  To date, I have not discovered any evidence that any of the steamboating Poes received any recognition of their service during the Civil War.  Nor have I learned of any compensation – neither pensions nor dollars for the loss of their packets.  When the Clara Poe was contracted by William J Kountz, I assume Capt Poe received a monthly salary of a captain or pilot. 

 

Whether the Clara Poe was under temporary impressment or charter by the Union Army Quartermasters at times is unclear.  Whether impressed or contracted, the subject of military transport by civilian crews generated legal problems in the fields of discipline, pay, handling of prisoners, and eligibility for  pensions.  There was discernable friction between the military and civilian regulatory agencies.  In 1862 Col Lewis B Parsons, in charge of military transportation on western rivers, issued an order that “if anywhere on the Mississippi…if a pilot demanded wages exceeding $200 a month, he was to immediately have his license revoked.” [10]  At that time, the issuance and revocation of pilot’s licenses was controlled by the Steamboat-Inspection Service established by the steamboat act of Aug 30, 1852.  Pilots were the princes of the river.  Without pilots, a packet was worthless.  Not all captains were qualified pilots, and not all pilots aspired to be captains.  Even when serving a captain who himself was a qualified pilot, the pilot reigned supreme during his allotted watch.  This civilian order of control was in conflict with the military chain of command.  Both the pilots and the Steamboat–Inspection Service lost power.  Under Army control, the civilians – pilots, clerks, stewards, deckhands – were subject to military discipline and, if captured, were subject to the same treatment extended to members of the army and navy.  Under the Military Pension Act of 1862, the only civilians recognized were those who served on gunboats and other war vessels owned by the Army Quartermaster.[11]  All in all, a steamer and its civilian crew impressed to service was not a good business proposition.

 

 

 

References.

 


[1] Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 99

[2]  Arthur B Fox, Pittsburgh during the Civil War, 1860-1865, p. 31-32.

[3]  Charles Dana Gibson and E Kay Gibson, Dictionary of Transports and Combatant Vessels Steam and Sail Employed by the Uniion Army 1861 – 1868, (Ensign Press, Cambridge, MA 1995), p 63.

[4]  Internet Complete History of the 46th Illinois Veteran

[5] Charles Dana Gibson and E Kay Gibson, Dictionary of Transports and Combatant Vessels Steam and Sail Employed by the Uniion Army 1861 – 1868, (Ensign Press, Cambridge, MA 1995), p 189.

[6]  Charles Dana Gibson and E Kay Gibson, Dictionary of Transports and Combatant Vessels Steam and Sail Employed by the Uniion Army 1861 – 1868, (Ensign Press, Cambridge, MA 1995), p 189.

[7]  New York Times Aug 15, 1864.

[8]  Charles Dana Gibson and E Kay Gibson, Dictionary of Transports and Combatant Vessels Steam and Sail Employed by the Uniion Army 1861 – 1868, (Ensign Press, Cambridge, MA 1995), p 189.

[9]  Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 99

[10] Charles Dana Gibson, MilitaryTtransport, Civilian Crews, During the Civil War,(Periodical Vol XVI, No 1,Apr 1989), pg 3-20.

[11]  Ibid.

 

 

 

 

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