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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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Photo # NH 59555-KN:  USS Monticello. 1860s vintage color print

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Monticello (1861-1865).
Briefly named Star in May 1861

USS Monticello, a 655-ton screw steam gunboat, was built at Mystic, Connecticut, in 1859 for civilian use. Chartered by the Navy in May 1861, she was named Star for a few weeks and then reverted to the name Monticello. She was purchased by the Navy in September 1861. Her Civil War record was a busy one, involving active employment in the blockade of the Confederacy's Atlantic seacoast and the capture of several prizes. She took part in early wartime actions in the James River area of Virginia and in the August 1861 capture of Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.

In 1863-65, Monticello was commanded by the celebrated naval hero William B. Cushing, and members of her crew were involved in many of his exploits. She accidently rammed and sank the gunboat USS Peterhoff on 6 March 1864. In December 1864 and January 1865, she participated in the attacks on and capture of Fort Fisher, N.C. USS Monticello was decommissioned in July 1865 and sold the following November. She subsequently became the merchant steamer Monticello, and was so employed until she sank off Newfoundland in April 1872.

This page features all the views we have related to USS Monticello (1861-1865).

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.

Photo #: NH 59555-KN (Color)

USS Monticello (1861-1865)

Colored print of 1860s vintage, mounted on a Carte de Visite, depicting the ship under steam at sea.

Donation of Rear Admiral D.L. Braine, USN, who commanded the Monticello during the first part of the Civil War.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 495 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 60661

USS Monticello (1861-1865)


Wash drawing by Clary Ray, circa 1900.

Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 425 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59366

"Merchant Steamers Converted into Gun-boats."


Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume.
It depicts thirteen merchant steamships acquired by the U.S. Navy between April and August 1861 and subsequently converted into warships, plus the steamer Nashville (far left), which became a Confederate cruiser.
U.S. Navy ships, as identified below the image bottom, are (from left to right: Alabama, Quaker City, Santiago de Cuba (listed as "St. Jago de Cuba", Mount Vernon, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Florida, De Soto, Augusta, James Adger, Monticello, Bienville and R.R. Cuyler.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 182KB; 1200 x 470 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59130

"Departure of the Great Southern Expedition, under General Butler, from Fortress Monroe."


Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1861, depicting the departure of the fleet on 26 August 1861, en route to attack Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.
Ships identified in the title line are (left to right): USS Harriet Lane; USS Wabash; USS Minnesota; USS Monticello and USS Pawnee.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 142KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 66576-KN (Color)

"Bombardment of Forts Hatteras & Clark, by the U.S. Fleet"
"Under the command of Flag Officer Silas H. Stringham, on the 28th and 29th of August 1861"

Colored lithograph by J.P. Newell after a drawing by Francis Garland, Seaman on USS Cumberland, published by J.H. Buford, Boston, Massachusetts, 1862.
Features identified below the image are (from left to right): USS Susquehanna; transport Fanny; Fort Hatteras; USS Harriet Lane; Fort Clark; USS Cumberland; steamer Adelaide; USS Minnesota; steamer George Peabody; USS Wabash; USS Pawnee; and USS Monticello.
Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 595 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59253

"The 'Monticello' Shelling the Rebels near Hatteras, October 5, 1861."


Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861, page 677. It depicts USS Monticello breaking up an attack by Confederate troops on Federal forces at Kinnakeet, near Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 147KB; 740 x 575 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59170

"Second Attack upon Fort Fisher, showing the positions of the vessels, and the lines of fire", 13-15 January 1865


Chart by Walter A. Lane, published in "The Soldier in our Civil War", Volume II.
The positions of 58 ships are represented on the chart.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 216KB; 825 x 1225 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 16 October 1999
New images added 21 October 2001