Red Rover (Packet/Hospital boat, 1857-1865)

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sidewheel
• BOAT TYPE: Packet/Hospital boat
• BUILT: 1857 at Louisville, Kentucky
• FINAL DISPOSITION: Sold to A.M. Carpenter on November 29, 1865; never ran again
• OWNERS: Confederates; U.S.
• OFFICERS & CREW: Captain W. Strong (1860)
• RIVERS: Missouri River; Mississippi River
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - 4701; As a packet she ran Nashville-New Orleans, teamed up with the James Johnson and the James Woods in 1860. She was called "Fife Major's boat". On November 7, 1861 she was acquired by the Confederates, serving at Columbus, Kentucky and then at Island 10. She was hit by a shell at Island 10 and taken ashore and tied. After the Carondelet ran the batteries and U.S. forces had taken Island 10, the Red Rover was discovered moored to the Tennessee shore. She and three other steamers were taken by the U.S. Mechanics from the Mound City repaired the Red Rover and later at St. Louis she was made into a hospital boat. She received bathrooms, laundry, two kitchens, a 300-ton ice box, gauze blinds on the windows, operating room, elevator from main to cabin deck, bedding, furniture, sanitary stores, and a medical dispensary. Her first job as a hospital boat was to go to the aid of the Mound City which had been hit by a shell at St. Charles, Arkansas; many men were wounded or killed. The wounded were taken to Memphis where sisters from the Holy Cross Order offered to serve as nurses on the Red Rover. These sisters were the forerunner of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. Next the Red Rover went to Vicksburg for the Arkansas engagement where many were wounded on the Carondelet. In the winter she returned to Mound City and her decks closed in etc. for winter operations. The Navy took over while she was there. In early 1863 she was at Vicksburg and helped during the siege. The Red Rover remained in that area, with a trip to Memphis with wounded, until the surrender. She was then repaired at Mound City and the following spring went to New Orleans, distributing medical supplies along the way. She did the same down to Donaldsonville, Louisiana in the summer. In early 1865 she left Memphis and returned to Mound City where she spent her remaining days as a hospital boat. She was sold at public auction to A.M. Carpenter for $4,500 on November 29, 1865