The str Clara Poe served the entire duration of the Civil War. From 18 Oct 1861 to 17 Apr 1865. Four years. Summer and winter. Transporting troops and supplies on all the watery highways of the western theater.
Capt Thomas W Poe was the master and Jonathon Kinsey was one of his pilots.
Pittsburgh Daily Commercial 5 Mar 1864.
One sentence in the article from the Pittsburgh Daily Commercial dated 5 Mar 1864 indicated that the str Clara Poe was “taken by the government”. The packet was forced into public service by the US Army. That was not unusual. During the war, whether the str Clara Poe was temporarily impressed into service or chartered is unclear at times.
There is no controversy concerning the destruction of the str Clara Poe. The packet was intentionally set afire by men supporting the confederacy. The dispute is whether the steamer was under government orders whether impressed or chartered.
The owners of the str Clara Poe petitioned the US government for compensation to no avail. They contacted their US representative, CC Townsend. The Deputy Quartermaster General determined that the vessel “had been engaged as a common carrier transporting public property”. That decision failed to address the fact that the str Clara Poe was transporting hay and military supplies in an active war zone.
The last of the signature owners of the str Clara Poe, Capt Jacob Poe, died on 13 Mar 1891. The struggle for compensation ended.
Then, in the Pittsburgh Daily Post dated 8 Dec 1903 p9, the claim for compensation, $100K, had been carried on by Capt Thomas W Poe’s heirs. What a shout-out for persistence in spite of the difficulty. Thirty-eight years of struggle.
Pittsburgh Daily Post 8Dec 1903 1.
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