Tag: side-wheeler Mary Benton

Photographed at Morris Island, SC in the summer of 1863.

Gibson and Gibson, Dictionary of Transports and Combatant Vessels Steam and Sail Employed by the Union Army, 1861-1868 says: MARY BENTON; sidewheel steamer; 300 tons; 365 tons. Chartered Aug 20-Oct 24, 1862. Purchased by the Quartermaster Department on Apr 3, 1863, at New York City for $54,000. Participated in the attacks against Fort Wagner and Fort Sumter in Aug 1863 and the expedition up the St. Johns River, Florida, in May of 1864. Known to have been owned by the United States on Oct 15, 1864. One of 99 vessels engaged in the supply of Sherman’s army after it reached the sea at Savannah, Georgia in Dec of 1864, and later during the Carolina campaign of early 1865.