Civil War Veterans in Australia

James Alexander Fleet, son of James A. Fleet/Flett born in 1762 in Rathven, Banff, Scotland and who died in Canada, was born, according to his military service records, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, sometime around 1839, and upon reaching the age of maturity became a seaman. His death certificate, however, states he was born in Portland, St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada. In passing, St. John's is in Newfoundland; but Portland Parish is part of the City of Saint John, Saint John Co., New Brunswick, Canada. The Fleet family next turned up on the census records as living in Salem, Massachusetts in 1860. The Massachusetts record has him as being a “Resident” of New Salem. It appears the name Fleet in Scotland was originally spelt Flett and changed to Fleet after arriving in the new world.

After becoming a seaman, Fleet was said to have been involved in blockade running, supposedly during the early years of the American Civil War, but no documentation has been uncovered to verify that claim. If he did so, it would have been purely for financial reasons; possibly transporting goods to the Southern states. It is highly more likely, however, that the story became confused, as the Union ships James A. Fleet served on during the latter part of his U.S. military career were involved in the Union blockading of southern ports; and being a crew member of those ships the story of his “blockade running” likely became twisted.

In any event, the year 1864 found Fleet, a 24 year old sailor, living in New Salem, Massachusetts in the United States, where he volunteered for service with the unassigned 2^nd Massachusetts Infantry; on April 23, 1864. Details from his Muster Rolls describe him as being a private, 5 feet 11 inches tall, with blue eyes, brown hair and having a dark complexion. For a bounty, paid to all such volunteers, Fleet received $25 when he was mustered into service at Boston, Massachusetts, as a U.S. Volunteer, and assigned to the 2^nd Massachusetts Infantry.

On May 17, 1864, because of his prior experience as a seaman, Fleet was transferred to the U.S. Navy; by General Orders No. 1. On that same date he enlisted in the Navy aboard the receiving ship USS “Ohio” which in 1851 became a receiving ship and continued in that duty until again placed in ordinary in 1875. Normally new recruits stayed on the receiving ship only long enough to be indoctrinated and assigned to other ships. After enlisting aboard the USS “Ohio”, Fleet was then signed aboard the USS “Lackawanna”, remaining for a period of time serving as a seaman, with his residence being listed as New Salem, Massachusetts. The last ship Fleet served aboard was the USS “Sam Houston”, which he remained aboard until his discharge on August 17, 1865.

The first USS “Lackawanna”, on which Fleet served, was launched by the New York Navy Yard on August 9, 1862 and was commissioned on January 8, 1863 with Capt. John B. Marchand in command.

It was a new screw sloop-of-war that departed from New York on January 20^th to join the Union blockade of the southern coast. It reported to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron at Pensacola, Florida early in February and for the remainder of the war served along the gulf coast of the Confederacy; principally off Mobile Bay, Alabama. The “Lackawanna” took her first prize, the “Neptune”, on June 14^th after a long chase during which the 200-ton Glasgow ship jettisoned her cargo while trying to escape. The following day it captured the steamer “Planter” as the Mobile blockade runner attempted to reach Havana, Cuba; laden with cotton and resin. Following duty along the Texas coast, near Galveston in March and April of 1864, the “Lackawanna” returned to the blockade of Mobile, Alabama early in May, to prevent the escape of the Confederate ram “Tennessee”.

It was then that Fleet became a member of the USS “Lackawanna” crew, on May 17, 1864. During that summer the “Lackawanna” served with the Union blockade while preparing for Admiral Farragut’s conquest of Mobile Bay.

On 9 July, with the USS “Monongahela”, “Galena”, and “Sebago”, the “Lackawanna” passed under the guns of Fort Morgan to shell the Confederate steamer “Virgin”; a large Confederate blockade runner that had ran aground at the entrance of Mobile Bay. The Union guns forced one Southern river steamer to abandon its efforts to help the “Virgin”, but the next day the Confederates refloated the blockade runner which eventually reached safety in Mobile Bay. Closing that strategic southern port was an important part of the Union strategy, to isolate and subdue the South.

At dawn on the morning of August 5^th, Farragut’s ships crossed the shallow bar and entered Mobile Bay. A Confederate squadron led by the ironclad ram CSS “Tennessee”, in addition to a field of deadly mines, waited in the bay to block their advance. Farragut’s lead monitor, the “Tecumseh”, struck one of the Confederate mines and sank in seconds. The Confederate flagship “Tennessee” then tried to ram the Union ship “Brooklyn” and the action raged on for more than an hour. At one point in the battle, the “Lackawanna” successfully rammed the “Tennessee” at full speed, causing the Confederate ram to list, and later she collided with the “Hartford” while attempting to ram the “Tennessee” again; shortly before the ironclad struck. That daring operation closed the last major gulf port in the South.

Following the Union victory in Mobile Bay, the “Lackawanna” continued to operate in the gulf, enforcing the blockade until after the end of the Civil War. She departed Key West, Florida on June 24, 1865, reached New York on the 28^th, and was decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard on July 20^th. Fleet, however, had already been transferred to the USS “Sam Houston” and was discharged from the “Sam Houston” on August 17, 1865.

The first USS “Sam Houston”, also called the “Samuel Houston”, was a small Confederate schooner which before the Civil War, had operated along the Texas coast. During the first months of the conflict, she served as a pilot boat. On June 18, 1861, Secretary of the Navy Welles was warned that the schooner “Samuel Houston” was about to sail from Galveston, Texas to carry $100,000 in gold to Havana, Cuba to purchase "arms and munitions of war" for the Confederacy.

On July 7, 1861, the USS “South Carolina” intercepted and captured the “Sam Houston” off Galveston, Texas and the steamer's commanding officer, Comdr. James Alden, took the schooner into the Federal Navy as a tender ship. She served the Union in the Gulf Blockading Squadron, for the most part, as a dispatch vessel operating between Pensacola Bay in Florida and Union blockading ships stationed along the gulf coast. No records have been found giving details of her commissioning, but late in October 1862, she was commanded by Acting Master George W. Wood.

On October 2, 1861, the “Sam Houston” captured the 4-ton Confederate schooner “Reindeer”, off San Luis Pass, Texas; removing its cargo of salt before sinking her.

After Federal naval jurisdiction in the gulf was divided early in 1862, the USS “Sam Houston” operated in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, performing widely varied duties through the end of the war. For almost a year after peace returned, she served as a pilot boat for the Gulf Squadron.

After the war, like many veterans, Fleet found his way to Australia where in 1876 he married Fanny Louisa Clarke at Echuca, Victoria, and they had a son, named William Herbert; who died.

James Fleet, after having lived in Victoria for some forty years, died at 68 years of age of pulmonary tuberculosis, on November 23, 1909, in Foster, Victoria; death certificate number 1909/number 12502. His occupation was recorded as that of a laborer. James Alexander Fleet was buried in the Presbyterian Section of Foster Cemetery in Foster, Victoria.