CSSTeaser

For other ships with the same name, seeUSS Teaser.

TheTeaseron repairs after capture.
History
Confederate States
Name	Teaser
Operator	Confederate States Navy
Commissioned	1861
Fate	Captured 4 July 1862
United States
Name	Teaser
Operator	Union Navy
Acquired	4 July 1862
Commissioned	1862
Decommissioned	2 June 1865
Fate	Sold into merchant service at auction 25 June 1865
General characteristics
Displacement	64 tons
Length	80 ft (24 m)
Beam	18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion	Steam engine
Complement	25 officers and men
Armament	1 × 32-pounder rifled cannon 1 × 12-pounder rifled cannon

CSSTeaserin combat withUSSMaratanza,July 4, 1862.

12-pounder on the bow

Deck detail

6.4-inch banded rifle, the stern pivot mount on the CSSTeaser.These guns were made by banding and rifling the 32-pounder smoothbore. This image is from the Library of Congress.

CSSTeaserhad been the agingGeorgetown, D.C.tugboatYork Riveruntil the beginning of theAmerican Civil War,when she was taken into theConfederate States Navyand took part in the famousBattle of Hampton Roads.Later, she was captured by theUnited States Navyand became the firstUSSTeaser.

TheCSSRobert E. Leein the image is confused as the CSSTeaser.

CSSTeaser

Teaserwas built atPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania.Purchased atRichmond,Virginia,by the State of Virginia in 1861, she was assigned to the naval forces in theJames RiverwithLieutenantJames Henry Rochelle,Virginia State Navy,in command. Upon the secession of Virginia,Teaserbecame a part of the Confederate States Navy and continued to operate in Virginia waters. With LieutenantWilliam A. Webb,CSN, in command, she took an active part in the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 8–March 9, 1862, acting as tender toCSSVirginia.She received the thanks of theCongress of the Confederate Statesfor this action.

Teaserwas a pioneer "aircraft carrier", serving as a base for an observationgas-filled balloon;she also became a pioneerminelayerwhen ordered on June 17, 1862, to assistGeneralRobert E. Lee'sArmy of Northern Virginia.Under LieutenantHunter Davidson,CSN, she was used by the Confederate Naval Submarine Battery Service to plant and service "torpedoes" (mines) in the James River. While engagingUSSMaratanzaat Haxall's on the James on July 4, 1862, aUnionshell blew upTeaser's boiler and forced her crew to abandon ship. When seized byMaratanza,Teaserwas carrying on board a balloon foraerial reconnaissanceof Union positions atCity PointandHarrison's Landing.

Commanders

The commanders of the CSSTeaserwere:

• LieutenantJames H. Rochelle(May–June 1861)
• LieutenantRobert Randolph Carter(June–July 1861)
• Acting MasterWilliam H. Face(June 1861 – January 1862)
• LieutenantWilliam A. Webb(February 1862 –)
• LieutenantHunter Davidson(June–July 1862)

USSTeaser

Later that summer,Teaserwas taken into the United States Navy and was assigned to thePotomac Flotilla.With the exception of three brief deployments elsewhere, USSTeaserpliedthe waters of thePotomac RiverfromAlexandria, Virginia,south toPoint Lookout,Maryland,to enforce theblockadeby interdicting a thriving trade incontrabandbetween the Maryland and Virginia shores.

On September 22, she capturedschoonerSouthernerin theCoan River.On October 19, while operating in the vicinity ofPiney PointinSt. Mary's County, Maryland,she captured twosmugglersand their boat as they were nearing the exit of Herring Creek and preparing to cross the river to Virginia. On November 2, near the mouth of theRappahannock River,the tug surprised three men attempting to violate the blockade in acanoe.Teasertook them prisoner and turned their contraband over to pro-Union Virginians living onGwynn's Island.Four days later inChesapeake Bay,Teasertook the cargo-lesssloopGrapeshotand captured her three-man crew.

By December 1862, she had moved to the Rappahannock River with other units of the Potomac Flotilla to support GeneralAmbrose Burnside's thrust toward Richmond. On December 10, she exchanged shots with a Confederate battery located on the southern shore of the river about three miles belowPort Royal, Virginia.After Burnside's bloody rebuff atFredericksburg, Virginia,on December 13,Teaserand her colleagues returned to their anti-smuggling patrol along the Potomac.

TeaserjoinedUSSPrimroseto make March 1863 an active month. On March 24, the two ships sent a boat expedition to reconnoiterPope's Creek, Virginia.The landing party found two boats used for smuggling and collected information from Union sympathizers in the area. Almost a week later, on the night of March 30—March 31, they dispatched a three-boat party toMonroe's Creek, Virginia.The previous day, a Federalcavalrydetachment had surprised a smuggler in the area; and, though the troops captured his goods, the man himself escaped. Boats fromTeaserandPrimrosesucceeded where the Union horsemen had failed, and they gathered some intelligence on other contrabanders as well.

In April 1863,Teaserleft the Potomac for duty with ActingRear AdmiralSamuel Phillips Lee'sNorth Atlantic Blockading Squadronat Hampton Roads. On April 17, she joinedUSSAlertandUSSCoeur de Lionin an expedition up theNansemond Riverwest ofNorfolk, Virginia.However, she ran aground, damaged her machinery, and had to retire from the venture.

By mid-summer,Teaserwas back in action on the Potomac. On the night of July 27, she captured two smugglers with a boatload of tobacco in the mouth of the Mattawoman Creek just south ofIndian Head, Maryland.She destroyed the boat and sent the prisoners and contraband north to theWashington Navy Yard.During the night of October 7,Teaserand another flotilla ship (extant records do not identify her companion) noticed signalling betweenMathias Point, Virginia,and the Maryland shore. The two ships shelled the woods at Mathias Point, but took no action against the signallers on the Maryland shore other than to urge upon theUnited States Army's districtprovost marshalthe necessity of constant vigilance.

On January 5, 1864,TeaserandUSSYankeelanded a force of men atNomini, Virginia,to investigate a rumor that the Southerners had hidden a largelighterand askiffcapable of boating 80 men there. The force, commanded byTeaser'scommanding officer, ActingEnsignSheridan, found both boats, destroyed the lighter, and captured the skiff. During the landing, Confederate soldiers appeared on the heights above Nomini, but the gunboats dampened their curiosity with some well-placed cannon shots.

In April,Teaser,Yankee,USSAnacostia,USSFuchsia,andUSSResoluteaccompanied an Army expedition toMachodoc Creek, Virginia.At 5:00 A.M. on April 13, the five ships cleared theSt. Mary's Riverin company with the Army's steamerUSATLong Branchwith a battalion of soldiers under the command of GeneralEdward W. Hinks.Long Branchlanded her troops at about 8:00 A.M. while the five ships covered the operation. A contingent of Confederate cavalry appeared on the southern bank of the Machodoc, but retired whenTeaserandAnacostiasent four armed boat crews ashore. The landing party netted a prisoner, probably a smuggler, and a large quantity of tobacco. By April 14, General Hinks' troops reembarked inLong Branchand headed for Point Lookout.Anacostiaaccompanied the Army steamer while the other four warships investigatedCurrioman Bayand Nomini. They returned toSt. Mary's, Virginia,that afternoon to resume patrols.

During the summer of 1864,Teaserwas called upon to leave the Potomac once more. On this occasion, the Union forces needed her guns to help defend strategic bridges across the rivers at the head of Chesapeake Bay nearBaltimore, Maryland,againstLieutenant GeneralJubal A. Early's raiders. On July 10, she departed the lower Potomac, rounded Point Lookout, and headed up the Chesapeake Bay. That night, she had to put into thePatuxent Riverbecause of heavy winds and leaks in her hull. Before dawn the following morning, she continued up the bay. During the forenoon, the leaks became progressively worse and, by the time she arrived offAnnapolis, Maryland,she had to remove her exhaust pipe for temporary repairs. Early that evening,Teaserreached Baltimore where she put in for additional repairs.

The gunboat did not reach her destination, the bridge over theGunpowder River,until late on July 12. She was too late; the bridge had already been burned. She returned to Baltimore immediately to report on the bridge and to pick up arms and provisions for the vessels stationed in the Gunpowder River. When she arrived back at the bridge, she found orders to return to the Potomac awaiting her.Teaserdeparted the northern reaches of the Chesapeake and reported back to the Potomac Flotilla atSt. Inigoes, Virginia,on the St. Mary's River in late afternoon on April 14.

For the remainder of the war,Teaserand her flotilla-mates plied the Potomac and contributed to the gradual economic strangulation which brought the South to its knees by April 1865. Less than two months after General Robert E. Lee's surrender atAppomattox, Virginia,Teaserwas decommissioned at theWashington Navy Yardon June 2. Sold atpublic auctionat Washington to Mr. J. Bigler on June 25, the tug was re-documented asYork Riveron July 2, 1865, and she served commercially until 1878.

See also

• Ships captured in the American Civil War
• Bibliography of American Civil War naval history
• Union Navy

References

This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entries can be foundConfederate service hereandUnion service here.