View on James River - Double Turreted Monitor "Onondaga" at Deep Bottom, Va. - Circa 1865

3D red/cyan anaglyph created from glass plate stereograph at Library of Congress - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog at:
www.loc.gov/pictures/

LOC Title: Deep Bottom, Virginia. View on James River with double turreted monitor Onondaga in the foreground

Date: 1864 - 1865

Photographer: Not Identified

Link to glass plates: www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018670809/

Analyph Notes: New version from my previous posting in 2015. This time, I cleaned-up the entire negative (both sides) for a full portrait version, and repaired a large missing section in the tree limbs at right, that I previously cropped out. I also sharpened the boat a bit and increased the overall 3D depth.
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Image Notes: The Onondaga was a double turreted ironclad which carried two 15-inch Dahlgren smoothbores, and two 150–pounder Parrott rifles. It was 226 feet in length, and 49 feet in width, powered by steam engine with twin-screw propellers; it could go 9 knots. The ship carried a crew of 150 men and did service on the James River, guarding the stretch of river from Richmond.

The Onondaga was launched on July 29, 1863 and saw action on the James beginning in 1864. It was involved in the last major naval battle in Jan 1865, when the Confederates sent several warships down the James to attack City Point, Grant’s supply base for operations around Petersburg. At that point in time, the Onondaga was the only ironclad left on this stretch of river, however, the captain of the Onondaga retreated and failed to engage the enemy as ordered; he was later court-martialed for this.

Below, for background info, is an article on the bad luck surrounding the Onondaga's launch in July 1863. Next, an account from a book of Gen. Grant visiting the Onondaga, and later, his reaction to the Jan 1865 James River battle, as the Confederate warships advanced and the Onondaga retreated.
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The Weekly Pioneer and Democrat
Saint Paul
Friday, August 7, 1863
“The launch of the iron-clad battery Onondaga, which took place at New York on the 29th, was attended by an affecting incident and a serious accident, which will be apt to give the vessel an unlucky reputation among the sailors in the navy. The former was the sudden death yesterday of Miss Quintard, the daughter of the constructor of the battery, who was to have christened it today. As soon as the word was given to knock away the blocks, the stern of the vessel slipped, and four men, who were under, were horribly crushed, the entire after portion of the keel falling upon their breasts. They were removed to the hospital, where one of them, John Cornell, is barely expected to recover.”
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Campaigning With Grant,
by General Horace Porter,
Published 1897
Available for free download at: www.archive.org

"Admiral Porter had withdrawn nearly all the naval vessels from the James River in order to increase his fleet for the Fort Fisher expedition. Only three or four light gunboats were left, and one ironclad, the Onondaga a powerful double-turreted monitor carrying two 15-inch smooth-bores and two 150-pound Parrott rifles. This vessel was commanded by Captain William A. Parker of the navy.....

There had been so much talk about the formidable character of the double-turreted monitors that General Grant decided one morning to go up the James and pay a visit to the Onondaga and invited me to accompany him. The monitor was lying above the pontoon-bridge in Trent's Reach. After looking the vessel over, and admiring the perfection of her machinery, the general said to the commander: "Captain, what is the effective range of your 15-inch smooth-bores?" "About eighteen hundred yards, with their present elevation," was the reply. The general looked up the river, and added: "There is a battery which is just about that distance from us. Suppose you take a shot at it, and see what you can do." The gun was promptly brought into position by revolving the turret, accurate aim taken, and the order given to fire. There was a tremendous concussion, followed by a deafening roar as the enormous shell passed through the air; and then all eyes were strained to see what execution would be done by the shot. The huge mass struck directly within the battery, and exploded. A cloud of smoke arose, earth and splintered logs flew in every direction, and a number of the garrison sprang over the parapet. The general took another puff at the cigar he was smoking, nodded his head, and said, "Good shot !" The naval officers indulged in broad smiles of triumph, and tried to look as if this was only one of the little things they always did with equal success when they tried hard.

On the night of January 23 a naval officer, at General Grant's suggestion, was sent up to plant torpedoes at the obstructions which had been placed in the river at Trent's Reach, as he was apprehensive that our depleted naval force might be attacked by the enemy's fleet, which was lying in the river near Richmond. The officer made the discovery that the Confederate ironclads were quietly moving down the river. News of their approach was promptly given, and at once telegraphed to headquarters. The enemy's fleet consisted of six vessels, and by half-past ten o'clock they had passed the upper end of Dutch Gap Canal. The general directed me and another staff-officer to take boats and communicate with all dispatch with certain naval vessels, warn them of the character of the anticipated attack, and direct them to move up and make a determined effort to prevent the enemy's fleet from reaching City Point……

There was an enormous accumulation of supplies at City Point, and their destruction at this time would have been a serious embarrassment. The night was pitch-dark, but our naval vessels were promptly reached by means of steam-tugs; and their commanders, who displayed that cordial spirit of cooperation always manifested by our sister service, expressed an eagerness to obey General Grant's orders as implicitly as if he had been their admiral. Most of these vessels were out of repair and almost unserviceable, but their officers were determined to make the best fight they could.

When I returned to headquarters, the general, Mrs. Grant, and Ingalls were talking the matter over in the front room of the general's quarters. "Well, now that we've got all ready for them," said Ingalls, "why don't their old gunboats come down?" "Ingalls, you must have patience," remarked the general; "perhaps they don't know that you're in such a hurry for them, or they would move faster; you must give them time." "Well, if they're going to postpone their movement indefinitely, I'll go to bed," continued Ingalls, and started for his quarters. News now came that it was thought the vessels could not pass the obstructions, and would not make the attempt; and the general and Mrs. Grant retired to their sleeping-apartment, orders being left that the general was to be wakened if there should be any change in the situation.

Soon after one o'clock word came that the enemy's vessels had succeeded at high water in getting through the obstructions. A loud knock was now given upon the door of the general's sleeping room. He called out instantly: "Yes. What have you heard? "The reply was: "The gunboats have passed the obstructions, and are coming down." In about two minutes the general came hurriedly into the office. He had drawn on his top-boots over his drawers, and put on his uniform frock-coat, the skirt of which reached about to the tops of the boots and made up for the absence of trousers. He lighted a cigar while listening to the reports, and then sat down at his desk and wrote out orders in great haste. The puffs from the cigar were now as rapid as those of the engine of an express train at full speed. Mrs. Grant soon after came in, and was anxious to know about the situation….. Dunn had returned with a report about the movement of the gunboat with which he had been sent to communicate, and Ingalls had also rejoined the party. Mrs. Grant, in the midst of the scene, quietly said, "Ulysses, will those gunboats shell the bluff?" "Well, I think all their time will be occupied in fighting our naval vessels and the batteries ashore,” he replied. "The Onondaga ought to be able to sink them, but I don't know what they would do if they should get down this far."

Just then news came in that upon the approach of the enemy's vessels the Onondaga had retired down the river. The captain had lost his head, and under pretense of trying to obtain a more advantageous position, had turned tail with his vessel, and moved down-stream below the pontoon-bridge. General Grant's indignation knew no bounds when he heard of this retreat. He said: "I have been thrown into close contact with the navy, both on the Mississippi River and upon the Atlantic coast. I entertain the highest regard for the intrepidity of the officers of that service, and it is an inexpressible mortification to think that the captain of so formidable an ironclad, and the only one of its kind we have in the river, should fall back at such a critical moment. Why, it was the great chance of his life to distinguish himself." Additional instructions were at once telegraphed to the shore batteries to act with all possible vigor.

Mrs. Grant, who was one of the most composed of those present, now drew her chair a little nearer to the general, and with her mild voice inquired, " Ulysses, what had I better do?" The general looked at her for a moment, and then replied in a half-serious and half teasing way, " Well, the fact is, Julia, you oughtn't to be here." Dunn now spoke up and said: " Let me have the ambulance hitched up, and drive Mrs. Grant back into the country far enough to be out of reach of the shells." "Oh, their gunboats are not down here yet,'' answered the general; "and they must be stopped at all hazards." Additional despatches were sent, and a fresh cigar was smoked, the puffs of which showed even an increased rapidity. In about two hours it was reported that only one of the enemy's boats was below the obstructions, and the rest were above, apparently aground. More guns had by this time been placed in the shore batteries, and the situation was greatly relieved.

Ingalls, whose dry humor always came to his rescue when matters were serious, again assumed an air of disappointment, and said: "I tell you, I 'm getting out of all patience, and I've about made up my mind that these boats never intended to come down here anyhow—that they've just been playing it on us to keep us out of bed." A little while after matters had so quieted down that the general-in-chief and Mrs. Grant retired to finish their interrupted sleep.

At daylight the Onondaga moved up within nine hundred yards of the Confederate ironclad Virginia the flag-ship, and opened fire upon her. Some of the shore guns were also trained upon her, and a general pounding began. She was struck about one hundred and thirty times, our 15-inch shells doing much damage. Another vessel, the Richmond was struck a number of times, and a third, the Brewry and a torpedo- launch were destroyed. At flood-tide the enemy succeeded in getting their vessels afloat, and withdrew up the river. That night they came down again, and attacked the Onondaga but retired after meeting with a disastrous fire from that vessel and our batteries on the river banks. This was the last service performed by the enemy's fleet in the James River."
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Red/Cyan (not red/blue) glasses of the proper density must be used to view 3D effect without ghosting. Anaglyph prepared using red cyan glasses from The Center For Civil War Photography / Civil War Trust. CCWP Link: www.civilwarphotography.org/

Taken on: June 12, 2020

Sets appears in: • 3D Civil War - 1864 • 3D Civil War Glass Plates more » • 3D Civil War Navy « less

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