Totten was a 460-ton wooden steamship built in 1853 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was rebuilt and renamed Chesapeake in 1857. During the Civil War era she served in the coastal trade between Portland, Maine, and New York City. While off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, en route to Portland on 7 December 1863, Chesapeake was violently seized by a party of Confederate sympathizers operating under the color of a very dubious letter of marque. The captors conveyed their prize to Nova Scotia in an effort to obtain coal and steam her to Wilmington, North Carolina. However, she was captured at Sambro Harbor, N.S., by USS Ella and Annie on 17 December. Turned over to the authorities at Halifax, she was returned to her owners after a legal determination that her original seizure was illegitimate. Chesapeake subsequently continued her commercial employment until 1881.
This page features our only view of the steamship Totten, which was renamed Chesapeake in 1857.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 21 October 2001
Link added 7 July 2002