Civil War Service
In December 1861 Boggs was given command of the gunboat Varuna. The following April, during the Capture of New Orleans, he commanded her with distinction:
In the attack of the squadron on the Mississippi forts, April 18–24 ... he destroyed six of the Confederate gunboats, but finally lost his own vessel, after driving his antagonist ashore in flames. When he found the Varuna sinking, he ran her ashore, tied her to the trees, and fought his guns until the water was over the guntracks.
Varuna was lost in the battle with 184 casualties. Receiving his Captain's commission in July 1862, during the rest of the American Civil War he was commanding officer of the steam sloops Juniata and Sacramento, with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the steam cruiser Connecticut in the West Indies, and had special duty at the New York Navy Yard.
Read more about this topic: Charles S. Boggs
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