Service With The Union Navy Gulf Blockade
After her capture, Magnolia was sent to Key West, Florida, where she was evaluated and condemned. She was purchased 9 April 1862 at New York City, by the Navy Department from the Key West Prize Court. After repairs, she commissioned at New York City 22 July 1862, Lt. William Budd in command.
The sidewheel steamer departed New York 26 July 1862 to take station near Key West as part of the Union blockade. En route on the 31st, she captured British steamer Memphis near Cape Romain, South Carolina, bound ostensibly from Nassau, Bahamas, to Liverpool, England. Search produced papers revealing that she had actually departed Charleston, South Carolina, the previous night with a cargo of cotton and rosin. Aided by South Carolina, Magnolia convoyed her prize to New York City, arriving 3 August. After repairs, she sailed again for Key West.
Operating off the coast of Florida with the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron, Magnolia took British schooner Carmita 27 December, and 2 days later seized a second blockade runner, British sloop Flying Fish, off Tortugas. By mid January 1863, repeated boiler problems slowed down Magnolia’s activities on blockade, and 15 July she sailed for New York for extensive repairs.
Magnolia sailed to rejoin the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron 25 April 1864, and patrolled off the Bahama Banks. On 10 September, she captured steamer Matagorda with a load of cotton, carrying no papers and flying no colors. She remained on blockade in these waters until February 1865, when she shifted to Apalachee Bay to blockade St. Marks, Florida. Four of the ship's sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for accompanying a Union Army force during the Battle of Natural Bridge on 5–6 March 1865. The four men were Landsman John S. Lann, Seaman George Pyne, Ordinary Seaman Charles Read, and Seaman Thomas Smith. Magnolia put into Key West 15 March, and spent her last war days ferrying supplies to the ships maintaining the blockade.
Read more about this topic: USS Magnolia (1854)
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