U.S.S. UNITED STATES, WAR OF 1812/C.S.S. CONFEDERATE STATES BOAT HOOK, 1861/62

Description

U.S.S. UNITED STATES, WAR OF 1812/C.S.S. CONFEDERATE STATES BOAT HOOK, 1861/62
This War of 1812 iron & wood boat hook was found in the hold of the U.S.S. United States/C.S.S. Confederate States in the Gosport Navy Yard in June 1861 by Confederate Navy Sailmaker William Bennett.
It is 45 ½ overall length with a 42 1/8” wood pole that has an iron U hook & a square headed nut in the middle &
a 3 3/8” hand forged iron hook on the larger front end.
It is in good & very well used condition with the iron hook having light to light/medium pitting & a dark brown patina.
The wood is in fair condition & shows a lot of ware under the hook where it was worn down from being banged against the side of ships or docks for years.
It has several age cracks, worm holes & small gouges from being used for all those years.                                                             This boat hook is most likely the only one left from the old frigate still in
existence
!
Bennett was assigned to command on one of the old frigates boats that took passengers & cargo all across the anchorage until the frigate was sunk in the Elizabeth River in May 1862 as a block ship.
A sad ending to such an historic American Navy ship!
William Bennett had an ancestor that sailed & fought on board the ship in the famous battle with the British frigate H. M. S Macedonia on October 25, 1812 & was one of 12 sailors killed or wounded that day.                                                              Instead of throwing it away he sent it back to his home in Virginia as a prized artifact of his family’s history.
This boat hook was bought by the famous Virginia collector James Anderson who had it on display in the Fort Hell Museum in Petersburg during the Civil War Centennial of 1961 to 1965.                                                                   He purchased over 1500 + artifacts from all over Virginia from it's colonial period through World War II (which he fought in!).                                                                                                                                                                It was bought directly from the Anderson Collection & comes with an Anderson Collection/Fort Hell Museum letter & a certificate of authenticity.
See the Confederate 12 pounder cannonball from this ship listed separately.
William Bennett had been a sailmaker in the U.S. Navy before the war & resigned on May 18, 1861 to enlist in the Confederate Naval service on June 1, 1861.                                                                                                                                                      He was assigned to the old frigate United States now called the Confederate States in Gosport Navy yard until the old frigate was sunk in the Elisabeth River as a block ship in May 1862.                                                                                                       He was one of the last sailors off the ship as it sank!                                                                                                                   He later served on the C.S.S. Patrick Henry & joined the Semmes Naval Brigade after the James River Squadron was destroyed on April 3, 1865.                                                                                                                                                            He reached Danville, Virginia on April 4, 1865 but was unable to continue with the brigade because of health problems.                                                                                                                                                                                       He return home when he heard of General Lee’s surrender, he never surrendered or took the oath of allegiance!
NOTE- The shipping cost listed here is only an estimate, the actual costs will be sent to the buyer when it is purchased.       Any additional costs will have too be paid before it is shipped.
James River Squadron, 1865
The remnant of the James River Squadron had been ordered to join Lee's march south. Admiral Semmes, the commander of the squadron, scuttled his ships on April 2 and then led his 500 sailors and Marines to join Lee, only to find the Army had already left.                                                                                                                                                                                                       Semmes commandeered a train at the railroad station in Richmond and proceeded to Danville, Virginia, arriving there on April 4 to find the Confederate government already established in the little town.                                                                                       On April 5, Semmes's men were organized into a naval brigade, and Semmes was given command of it as a brigadier general of the Confederate Army.                                                                                                                                                                                         On April 10, however, news arrived that Lee had surrendered at Appomattox, and the Confederate government fled farther south.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       The naval brigade marched south but Bennett stayed behind in Danville.