Photo By Chief Petty Officer Patrick Gordon | ST. INIGOES, Maryland (Nov. 4, 2016) - Capt. Jason Hammond, Naval Air Station Patuxent...... read more read more
Naval Air Station Patuxent River personnel conducted a memorial service at the USS Tulip Monument in St. Inigoes, Maryland, Nov. 4, to remember the Sailors lost when Tulip, a Civil War Union gunboat, exploded due to a faulty boiler on Nov. 11, 1864 off of what is now Webster Outlying Field on its way to Washington, D.C. for repairs.
Most of the 69-member crew perished that day. Eight unidentifiable bodies washed ashore near what is now Webster Outlying Field and are buried there, marking the nation’s smallest federal cemetery.
Capt. Jason Hammond, NAS Patuxent River executive officer, spoke to those in attendance, including a group of Jackson family members, descendants of the Tulip’s pilot, 35-year-old James R. Jackson, who also died in the tragedy.
The Descendants
Wallace Jackson and several family members have been attending the ceremony for the past 10 years, ever since Pax River started conducting the annual remembrance.
“As many as 10 or 12 of us usually make the trip,” Jackson said. “There used to be more, but some are getting older and it’s hard for them now.”
The Explosion
Assigned to the Potomac Flotilla, Tulip’s mission was to support Union communications, tow, transport and land Soliders, and maintain the Union blockade of Confederate ports.
With a faulty starboard boiler, the vessel had been ordered to return to Washington for repairs; however, not wanting to be a slow, easy target for enemy cannons during their voyage up the river, Capt. William H. Smith ignored warnings about the boiler and ordered Tulip to proceed full steam ahead. The resulting explosion was heard for miles, and Tulip sank quickly near Piney Point.
Jackson, who through the years has acquired numerous documents related to the incident, shared a copy of the official accident report. The following are selected portions of that report, as told by different survivors:
- “About sixteen minutes past six o’clock, I was on the forepart of the vessel, heard some noise and excitement in the engine room, started aft and saw volumes of steam come up the engine and fire room hatchways, and heard engineer Gordon cry out, “Haul your fires.” At that moment, senior engineer Parks rushed down the engine room and engineer Gordon cried out, “For God’s sake somebody raise the safety-valve.” Seeing there was danger, I walked aft; when I came abreast of the cabin companion way, the explosion occurred, and the after part of the vessel went down in about two minutes.”
- “Her boilers exploded with a terrific crash, rending the upper portion of the vessel to atoms, scalding the officers and crew and hurling them in all directions. Several of those who escaped without serious injury ran immediately to lower the gig, but before they could get it down, the wreck of the Tulip sank, carrying down with it most of those onboard.”
- “Capt. Smith, the pilot, Master’s Mate Hammond and the Quartermaster were on the bridge over the boilers, and must’ve been blown to atoms. The only trace left of Capt. Smith was his hat.”
Just 10 men were rescued, with two of them dying shortly afterward. The only human remains ever found were eight badly burned, unidentifiable bodies that washed ashore and are buried near St. Inigoes Creek, where the secluded USS Tulip Monument now stands, marking the smallest federal cemetery in the nation.
The Ship’s Pilot
Jackson’s great grandfather, James R. Jackson, was 35 years old when he died, leaving behind a wife and three small children in Middlesex County, Virginia, where he owned a 30-acre farm and possibly sympathized with the Confederacy.
“James worked as a ship’s pilot and it’s my understanding, through family lore, that he really didn’t have much choice when the Union came and told him he was going to work for them,” Jackson said. “The markers in the rivers had been torn up and they needed people with knowledge of where the shoals were to safely take up gun boats.”
James Jackson remained a civilian pilot for most of the war, but finally enlisted in the Union Navy on March 29, 1864.
“He qualified for a Navy pension, but it took years to get it,” Jackson noted. “In fact, the family didn’t even apply until 1877 for his kids and widow, who then died in 1879.”
Part of the problem was that Matthews County, where the Jackson’s were married and where their children were born, had sent its records to Richmond, Virginia, where they were destroyed by fire during the Civil War.
“Family and neighbors had to provide affidavits swearing they attended their wedding, witnessed the births recorded in the family bible, and knew the children,” Jackson said. “Some even recalled how they bounced them on their knee while visiting the house.”
Finally, on June 24, 1896, the pension was issued — $15 per month plus the additional sum of $2 per month for each of Jackson’s three children, until reaching the age of 16 years. The pension, which was retroactive, commenced Nov. 12, 1864 and ended Dec. 9, 1877.
Tulip’s Wreckage and Artifacts
Tulip’s wreck was discovered by sport divers in 1966 and was subject to looting for years until the Maryland Historical Trust’s Maryland Maritime Archaeology Program and the U.S. Navy got involved in the 1990s. After a state and federal investigation, over 1,500 illegally collected artifacts were turned over to Naval History and Heritage Command for conservation, study, curation and display.
“One year, we got to hold some of the artifacts [at the Tulip ceremony] and one of those items was an octant,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t standard Navy issue, it was fancy with silver inlay. It was my great grandfather’s personal property. We know because of where it was recovered on the ship; the pilot had his own cabin.”
Jackson plans to keep coming to the memorial ceremony for as long as Pax River continues to hold it.
“It’s another way to be patriotic; to appreciate what the veterans have done,” he said. “And it doesn’t just remember [my ancestor], it remembers all of them.”
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 12.16.2016 13:53 |
| Story ID: | 218024 |
| Location: | ST. INIGOES, MD, US |
| Web Views: | 378 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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