Ransom, George Marcellus, 1826-1889

Naval journal, 1843 January 16-1844 September 6
and
1862 February 8-1865 May 7
466 pp.

Ransom, George Marcellus, 1826-1889
Rank:	Midshipman (1839 July), Lt. (1854 Feb.), Lt. Comm. (1862 July), Comm. (1863 Jan.)
Regiment:	United States. Navy
Service:	1839 July 25-1882 June 18

Background note:

George M. Ransom was born in Otsego Co., N.Y., in 1826, and served with distinction in the U.S. Navy for over 40 years. His career included service in both the Atlantic and Pacific squadrons, in the Mexican-American War under the commands of Matthew Perry and David Connor, and in the Civil War as commander of several ships attached to the Mississippi and Gulf fleets. By the time of his retirement in 1882, Ransom has risen to the rank of Commodore on the strength of his merits.

In February, 1843, as a 17 year-old Midshipman aboard the U.S.S. Erie, Ransom left Charlestown, Mass., on a Pacific cruise. The 611 ton Erie made port calls at Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso, Callao, Honolulu, and Papeete before returning home. In February, 1862, Ransom was appointed to Lieutenant Commander of the Gunboat Kineo, joining Admiral Farragut's fleet in the attempt to open up shipping lanes on the Mississippi. The Kineo participated in the reduction of Forts St. Philip and Jackson, the capture of New Orleans, and in the sieges of Vicksburg and Port Hudson. As kept aboard the Kineo, the journal is more fleshed out, containing important information on the fitting out of the ship in the Navy Yard in Boston, regulations for sailors' duties (p. 105), and careful accounts of the movements of Union and Confederate ships. There are very fine descriptions of a number of naval battles, including Forts St. Philip and Jackson, the capture of New Orleans (both in April, 1862), and a fierce engagement at Union-occupied Baton Rouge, in which the Kineo, Essex and Katahdin repelled a Confederate ground assault and disabled the Ram Arkansas. Ransom also made notes of contrabands, guerillas, and the southern citizenry during his service on the Mississippi.

In April, 1863, after two months' leave and a promotion to Commander, Ransom was transferred to the 776 ton steamer Mercedita, attached to the Gulf Blockading Squadron. This service was comparatively uneventful, but the description of the death and burial of a sailor and Mason, Granville Fogg, at Port Royal Harbor is interesting. In September, Ransom was again transfered to the command of the Grand Gulf, a 1200 ton screw steamer that was part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Between September, 1863, and May, 1864, Ransom was involved in apprehending the blockade runners Banshee, Mary Anne, and the Young Republic. He recorded that the Young Republic was "the most most valuable prize, ever taken by the N.A. Block'd'g Squadron." Ransom's service aboard the paddlewheeler, Muscoota, from January through May, 1865 was both short and uneventful.

Scope and Contents:

Ransom's naval journal covers aspects of his service aboard five ships, the storeship, Erie, the Gunboat Kineo, and the U.S.S. Mercedita, Grand Gulf, and Muscoota. During his service with the Erie, the meticulously kept journal contains a record of weather, sailing conditions, rigging, and encounters with other ships. Ransom's impressions of the vast Pacific whaling fleet, including picking up seven unsuccessful mutineers from an American whaler, are particularly interesting.

Ransom's journal, as kept aboard the Kineo, is unusually detailed and well-written, and describes important events in some of the most critical naval engagements of the war. It is important as a record of those engagements, but also as a record of shipboard life, discipline problems, and of relations with civilians and "contrabands" seeking refuge and employment. By contrast, the record of the Mercedita, Grand Gulf, and Muscoota seem tame, though they are equally significant in documenting the blockading action that occupied the Union Navy for much of the war.

M-2554
Cat. 3/92 rsc

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