"Far away over the lowlands the smoke spreads itself, and if veiling from the view those who might bewatching the annihilation of a vessel once lovely in form, graceful in her notion, and noted for her speed-a vessel for peaceful uses, but by a band of desperadoes turned into a pirate (a bloodless one). The tide of life was at an ebb, and in a short time she would be but a mass of tangled machinery and charred relics."

Harper's Weekly, March 28, 1863

So ended the C.S.S. Nashville, a ship whose history paralleled her times and the demands of the people who sailed her. She had begun as a 1221-ton side-wheel steamer, built at Greenpoint, New York, in 1853. As a Foretopsail schooner, 216 feet long and 34 feet in beam, she was powered by both sail and steam. Reputed to be the finest and fastest passenger liner and mail carrier on the coast, she could achieve a speed in excess of 13 knots in a calm sea. The Nashville's maritime career was further enhanced by successful voyages across the Atlantic.

As Civil War loomed, the vessel continued to ply the coastal trade nearing Charleston, S.C. harbor on a regular run and the precise time that Fort Sumter was shelled by the newly declared Confederate States of America. Witnessing the surrender of the Fort and the lowering of the U.S. flag, the Nashville was immediately involved in the conflict. In early May, 1861 her owners communicated their intent to the new Confederate government to outfit the ship as a privateer. However, the Confederate government had plans of its own. Needing a fast vessel to bring needed supplies from England and possibly transport Confederate Commissioners to England, the new nation authorized the purchase of the vessel for $100,000. Appointing as her captain, Robert C. Pegram, and others as her officers and crew, the C.S.S. Nashville became the first vessel commissioned by the Confederacy.

In this role she began her first combat cruise on October 26, 1861. Sailing first to Bermuda, she set course for England on November 5th. Unfortunately, she encountered a severe storm at sea taking some damage. Nonetheless, she arrived off the Irish coast and immediately encountered the American clipper, Harvey Birch. Moving alongside the ship, Captain Pegram ordered gunports open and demanded surrender. After allowing for the evacuation of passengers and crew, Pegram ordered the United States vessel burned. The captives were taken next day to Southampton and released to the custody of the American Consul.

"the vessel was all out of repair; her officers were boys, who wanted as courage as much as experience; that the crew was a mixture of Irish and other foreigners, who were shipped at first on false pretenses, and then were compelled to sign other articles at the point of the bayonet. They openly talked of their discontent on the passage", and he (Captain Nelson) "did not believe they would have fought. Both officers and crew were in great fear lest they should meet some American war-ship on the ocean, and their armament was so poor that they could have made no resistance to speak of." In short, he expressed that it was plain that the Nashville was "badly fitted out, badly armed, poorly officered and badly manned, and that if she was a specimen of the southern privateer, it must be either in capacity or treachery that prevented our vessels from catching them."

On February 3, 1862 the Nashville received a hearty send off from large and cheering crowds as she slipped her English moorings and headed for open waters. It was reported that the Tuscarora,a Union vessel watched the departure. Apparently, the presence of the British frigate Shannon dampened any intent of the vessel to sail after the Nashville before its appointed departure time. England had again walked a neutral road by careful enforcement of maritime regulations requiring specific staggered departure of belligerent vessels from her ports.

Back in American waters, on February 26, 1862 the C.S.S. Nashville encountered the Northern schooner Robert Gilfillan. As reported by both Lt. Whittle and Francis Dawson, the Confederate vessel hoisted an American flag, ran alongside the schooner and began to converse amiably while reviewing the Captain's papers. Catching the Yankee officer off guard, the boarding party announced the seizure of the vessel by their own, the C.S.S. Nashville. Whittle wrote that the Gilfillan's commander " . . . could not have looked more surprised. He turned pale and yellow and green and finally said 'It's darn hard.'. . . I told him to strike his flag which he did. And she [the Gilfillan] was fired as soon as they got out all their personal effects."

From "The English Voyage of the Confederate Steamer Nashville, an unpublished thesis by Pegram Harrison, Dartmouth College, May 1994.

Despite repeated attempts by the U.S. Navy to track and capture or sink the Confederate ship, the C.S.S. Nashville, successfully ran the Union blockade of Beaufort, North Carolina to deliver its three-million dollar cargo to safe harbor on February 28. A flurry of dispatches and reports were exchanged among Union leaders trying to explain the success of the Confederate naval vessel. The explanations varied from the use of deception as well as speed. Nonetheless, the vessel was soon to end its career with the Confederate Navy.

As Union armies approached the area and the Union blockade was strengthened, the Confederate government struck a deal with private parties in Charleston, S.C. to sell the vessel. Their plan, to outfit the ship as a privateer, was set in motion with the departure of the ship in March. Again successfully running the North Carolina blockade, the ship found the Charleston harbor blocked by sunken vessels and heavily guarded by Union vessels. The vessel escaped into Georgetown, S.C. harbor. The sale was completed and the vessel, now the Thomas L. Wragg, again successfully escaped the blockading ships.

The Thomas L. Wragg continued to run blockades carrying cotton out of Southern ports and bringing needed supplies into Confederate hands. Again, official Union correspondence reflects the frustration her success generated. In June, attempting to escape chase by the federal Keystone State she successfully maneuvered into the Ogeechee River south of Savannah, Georgia. Anchoring at the railroad bridge at King's Ferry upriver, the ship was the subject of rumor and conjecture. Fearing that she was to outfitted as an ironclad, the Union blockade of the Ogeechee was reinforced.

At twenty-two minutes after seven we landed a fifteen-inch shell close to the Nashville, and five and one-half minutes later we sent another-it was our fifth shot-smashing into her hull, just between the formast and paddlebox. Almost immediately followed the explosion. Acting Master
Pierre Geraud was working both guns finely, considering that from his position in the turret below only the masts and smokestack of the vessel could be seen. We were proud to show the enemy that we had a gunner, too. They gave us up, presently, and directed their fire at the
wooden gunboats. Smoke settled about us, and after the eigth shot we ceased firing, to let the air clear. Presently a breath of wind swept
the drift aside, and we say to our great joy a dense column of smoke rising from the forward deck of the stranded vessel. Our exploding shell
had set her on fire. A few minutes more, and flames were distinctly visible, forcing their way up, gradually creeping aft until they had reached nearly to the base of the smokestack.

Hence, the Nashville had finally been stopped. As the ship settled to the bottom of its grave in the Ogeechee River within sight of the Fort that still stands silent guard over her, her story seemed to have ended. Yet, the vessel that had performed so effectively for the Confederacy as naval vessel, blockade runner and privateer brought in death the grudging respect of at least one victorious member of the Montauk crew:

"As these silent witnesses of the havoc drifted past us, they seemed to show a
determination that, if we would not allow the NASHVILLE to run the blockade
as a whole, she was going to run the blockade in pieces."

Journal of the Franklin Institute
Steamer Nashville