Charles Carroll Simms
Charles Carroll Simms | |
|---|---|
 First Lieutenant Charles Carroll Simms, CSN | |
| Born | 30 March 1824 |
| Died | 18 December 1884 (aged 60) |
Buried | Rock Creek Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States (1839–1861) Confederate States (1861–1865) |
Branch | Navy |
Service years | 1839–1865 |
Rank | First lieutenant |
| Commands | |
Conflicts | |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth James Nourse
(m. 1852) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relations | Charles Simms (grandfather) |
Charles Carroll Simms (30 March 1824 – 18 December 1884) was an American naval officer. After serving in the United States Navy from 1839 to 1861, he joined the Confederate States Navy. He was commander of the CSS Appomattox at the Battle of Roanoke Island and later set fire to the ship after it was trapped in the Dismal Swamp Canal. At the Battle of Hampton Roads, he manned a gun on the CSS Virginia. As a lieutenant, he commanded several ships during the Civil War.
Early life
Charles Carroll Simms was born on 30 March 1824[1] in Stafford County, Virginia, to Eleanor Carroll Brent and John Douglas Simms.[2] His father was chief clerk of the Navy Department and acting Secretary of the Navy in 1841.[3] His grandfather Charles Simms was an officer in the American Revolution and mayor of Alexandria, Virginia.[2] His half-sister Emily married naval officer French Forrest.[2]
Career
United States Navy
On 9 October 1839, Simms enlisted as a midshipman in the United States Navy.[4][5] In February 1840, he was a midshipman on the USS United States (1797).[6] From May 1840 to at least August 1842, he was a midshipman on the USS Potomac (1822).[7][8] In 1843, he was a midshipman on the USS Truxtun (1842).[9] In 1846, he served on the USS Marion as acting master.[10] In 1850, he was a midshipman on the survey schooner Ewing under William Pope McArthur.[11] In 1851, he was acting master on the steamer USS Massachusetts (1845).[12] In 1853, he was a midshipman on the steamer USS Vixen (1846).[13] He was promoted to master in May 1854.[14]
On 12 August 1854, Simms was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.[5] In 1855, he was placed in command of the USS Release under Henry J. Hartstene to search for Dr. Elisha Kent Kane during the Hartstene expedition.[4][15][16] In 1857, he sailed for China on the USS Minnesota (1855) commanded by Samuel Francis DuPont.[4][17]
Confederate States Navy
In April 1861, Simms resigned his commission with the U.S. Navy. He briefly served in Virginia's Navy before serving in the Confederate States Navy.[4][18][19] In July 1861, he became the commander of the steamer CSS George Page under Samuel Barron.[20][21] He was also assigned to the steamer CSS Rappahannock.[19] By August 1861, he returned to the steamer CSS Richmond. In September 1861, he was stationed near Aquia Creek. He was commander of the Richmond by the end of October 1861 and assisted Franklin Buchanan with setting up the defenses of the Rappahannock River.[21] In November 1861, Simms was transferred to serve on the CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack (1855)) under French Forrest.[21] In 1861, he became commander of the newly converted gunboat CSS Appomattox. In early February 1862, they were engaged at the Battle of Roanoke Island. A few days later, they were routed at the Pasquotank River. After trying to escape through the Dismal Swamp Canal, Simms set fire to the ship because its beam was two inches too wide for passage. The ship subsequently exploded.[22][20] In February 1862, Simms and his friend John Taylor Wood trained their gun crews on the CSS Confederate States (formerly the USS United States) while the Virginia was under construction.[23] He served on the Virginia during its fight with the USS Cumberland (1842) on 8 March 1862, at the Battle of Hampton Roads, he manned the pivot gun, a 7-inch Brooke rifle. After the Virginia rammed a hole in the bow of the Cumberland, Simms shot through the opening and killed all or most of a gun crew and disabled their gun.[24][25][26] He was injured aboard the Virginia.[4]
In February 1864, Simms replaced Julian M. Spencer as commander of the CSS Baltic.[25][19] The state of Georgia gave the Baltic to the navy in a poor state. Simms described the ironclad in a letter as "rotten as punk" and that it was "as fit to go into action as a mud scow". By June 1864, it was labeled as unseaworthy.[26][27] He served in the gunboats CSS Nansemond on the James River and the CSS Selma in Mobile Bay.[19]
During the American Civil War's final year, Simms was assigned to the Mobile Squadron.[27][19] By July 1864, he had attained the rank of first lieutenant and was made commander of the CSS Nashville. He left command of the Nashville in November 1864 and was ordered to Selma, Alabama.[20][27] He helped construct guns and navy monitors in Selma under Catesby ap Roger Jones.[4] In early May 1865, he surrendered to Union forces and was paroled afterwards.[19]
After the Civil War
In 1874, Simms became a clerk of D.C.'s health department, serving under Smith Townshend.[28][29]
Personal life
Simms married Elizabeth James Nourse, daughter of Charles Josephus Nourse, on 18 November 1852.[30][31] They had two sons, Charles Nourse and Richard Douglass.[31]
Simms died of heart disease at his home on 32nd street in Georgetown on 18 December 1884.[4][32] He was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[33]
References
- ↑ "Charles Carroll Simms (1824–1884)". Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Maginnis, William H. (April 1947). "The Simms Family in Kanawha County". West Virginia History. Vol. 8. pp. 290–292, 303–304. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- ↑ Johnson, Andrew; Poore, Benjamin Perley (1868). Trial of Andrew Johnson: President of the United States, Before the Senate of the United States, on Impeachment by the House of Representatives for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. U.S. Government Printing Office – via Archive.org.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "An Old Hero of the Sea". The Evening Star. 24 December 1884. p. 5. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 Navy Register of the United States for the Year 1859. William A. Harris. 1859. p. 36. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- ↑ "List of officers attached to the United States Ship United States, February 13, 1840". The Evening Post. 14 February 1840. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Naval". The Courier. 5 May 1840. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Arrival of the Potomac". The Evening Post. 2 August 1842. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Subjoined is a list of the officers of the Truxton, now at Norfolk, ready for sea". New York Herald. 23 April 1843. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "We have received the following interesting account..." New York Herald. 9 August 1846. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "The U.S. Surveying Schooner Ewing..." The Polynesian. 19 January 1850. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Steamer Massachusetts". The Unio. 23 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Naval". The Republic. 17 March 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Naval Promotions". The Baltimore Sun. 30 May 1854. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "The Arctic Expedition". Evening Star. 10 April 1855. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Searches and Rescue: American Expeditions in Arctic Regions". Evening Telegraph. 24 July 1884. p. 4. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Navy Department". The Daily Times. 29 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Resignations". The Daily Exchange. 23 April 1861. p. 1. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Vol. 2. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, United States Navy Department. 1969. pp. 498, 526, 552. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- 1 2 3 Rawson, Edward K.; Woods, Robert H. (1887). Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 6. pp. 710, 719, 721, 735, 741, 743. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- ↑ Civil War Naval Chronology, 1861–1865. Naval History Division, United States Department of the Navy. 1971. p. 197. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- ↑ Butler, Lindley S. (2000). Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast. The University of North Carolina Press. p. 181. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- ↑ Quarstein, John V. (1999). The Battle of the Ironclads. Arcadia Publishing. p. 61. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- 1 2 Melton, Maurice (1968). The Confederate Ironclads. Thomas Yoseloff. pp. 32, 41, 207. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- 1 2 Lewis, Charles Lee (1929). Admiral Franklin Buchanan: Fearless Man of Action. The Norman, Remington Company. pp. 183–185, 215–216. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- 1 2 3 Stewart, Charles W. (1919). Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 21. pp. 556, 880–881, 884–886, 908, 913–914, 929. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- ↑ "Capt. C. C. Simms's Death". The National Republican. 20 December 1884. p. 5. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Death of an Old Resident". The Washington Post. 19 December 1884. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Married". The Republic. 30 November 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 Moon, Robert C. (1959). Descendants of Samuel Morris, 1734–1812. p. 20. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Archive.org.
- ↑ "Affairs in West Washington". The Evening Star. 18 December 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Simms". The Evening Star. 19 December 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 18 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
Media related to Charles Carroll Simms at Wikimedia Commons