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The '''Star of the West''' was a civilian ship used by James Buchanan to send supplies and reinforcements to Fort Sumter before the American Civil War. The ship was a substitute for the ''Brooklyn'', an armed sloop which continued to escort the ''Star of the West'' on its journey.Star of the West, accessed 2007-9-9

Contents

Background

Popular culture

References

See also

External links

Background

The first shots of the Civil War occurred January 9, 1861 when the ''Star of the West'' was fired upon by Cadets, stationed at Battery Greg on Morris Island, from the The Citadel as she entered Charleston Harbor. This prevented the ''Star of the West'' from resupplying Major Robert Anderson's garrison at Fort Sumter. The ''Star of the West'' was given a warning bowshot but continued towards Fort Sumter. She was then fired on and hit twice at which point she turned around and headed for home port. Note that this did not start a war even though she was under the Stars and Stripes. Lincoln used the same basic idea with Fort Sumter warning the Confederates that Northern ships were on the way.
Hired out of New York as a troop transport for $1,000 a day, under its master, Elisha Howes, the Star sailed for Texas to pick up seven companies of United States troops assembled at Indianola. On April 18, 1861, while anchored off Pass Caballo bar leading into Matagorda Bay, the ship was captured by Colonel Earl Van Dorn and members of two Galveston militia units, the Wigfall Guards and the Island City Rifles. Two days later the ship was taken to New Orleans, where Louisiana's Governor Moore changed its name to the C.S.S. St. Philip. The old name persisted, however, and the Star served as a naval station and hospital ship until Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans. Then the Star carried millions in gold, silver, and paper currency to Vicksburg and continued to Yazoo City, Mississippi. When federal Lieutenant Commander Watson Smith tried to lead two ironclads and five smaller vessels through the Yazoo Pass into the Tallahatchie River to attack Vicksburg from the rear, Confederate defenders hurriedly constructed Fort Pemberton, and Major General William W. Loring had the Star sunk athwart the Tallahatchie near Greenwood to block the passage of the Union flotilla. In a skirmish on April 12, 1863, the Union forces suffered heavy casualties and were forced to withdraw. The owners of the Star collected $175,000 in damages from the United States government for their loss.

Popular culture

The incident looms large in a novel by John Updike, ''Memories of the Ford Administration'' (1992). Although Updike's protagonist is trying (in the early 1990s) to write about the mid-1970s, he spent those years seeking to write a book about President Buchanan, and his mind keeps reverting to the 19th century and, among other incidents, the mission of this sloop to Sumter.

References

★ Memories of the Ford Administration, , John, Updike, Ballantine Books, 1996, ISBN 0-449-91211-6

See also

★ George Edward "Tuck" Haynesworth

External links

★ Star of the West

★ Account by Captain M'Gowan of the shots fired on the Star of the West in Harper's Weekly. Note the date given as 10 January.