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Photo # NH 52665-KN:  USS Jacob Bell.  Colored lithograph published circa the 1860s

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Jacob Bell (1861-1865)

USS Jacob Bell, a 229-ton (burden) side-wheel gunboat, was built in 1842 at New York City for commercial employment. The Navy purchased her in August 1861, placing her in commission at that time under her civilian name. She served through the Civil War on the Virginia rivers along Chesapeake Bay.

Initially assigned to the Potomac, Jacob Bell patrolled along that river during the last four months of 1861 and into 1862, periodically engaging Confederate batteries along its shores. In April 1862, she steamed up the Rappahannock River on a reconnaissance mission. The gunboat joined Naval forces on the James River in May to support the Army's campaign up the Peninsula toward Richmond. In July, her guns provided firepower to help protect defeated Federal forces during their retreat.

From September 1862 to the end of the conflict, Jacob Bell mainly served on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. While enforcing the blockade, she seized several schooners and small craft that were trading with the Confederates. She also participated in raids against hostile territory and bombarded enemy shore batteries. USS Jacob Bell decommissioned at Washington, D.C., in mid-May 1865. On 6 November of that year, she was lost at sea while under tow to New York.

This page features our only views of USS Jacob Bell.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 52665-KN (Color)

USS Jacob Bell (1861-1865)

Colored lithograph, published circa the 1860s.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 450 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 57838

USS Jacob Bell (1861-1865)


Wash drawing by Clary Ray, August 1896.

Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 55KB; 740 x 415 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59240

Civil War line engravings from "Frank Leslie's Illustrated", 1861


The upper engraving depicts the U.S. Potomac Flotilla in the Potomac between Freestone Point, Va., and Indian Head, Md., to prevent the passage of Confederates from Virginia to Maryland. Features seen include (from left to right): Tugboat Murray; USS Jacob Bell; Indian Head, Maryland; USS Yankee; USS Penguin; USS Satellite; USS Seminole; Confederate battery at Freestone Point; and the mouth of the Occoquan River.
The lower engraving depicts a scene in Falls Village, Virginia, which was occupied by Federal troops. It shows Taylor's Tavern and the northern extremity of the town.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 110KB; 740 x 400 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 1853

"U.S. Gun Boats on James River covering the Retreat."


Engraving after a drawing by C. Parsons, published by Virtue, Yorston & Company, New York, circa the later 19th Century. It depicts the ironclads Monitor and Galena bombarding Confederate forces as General McClellan's army withdraws following the Battle of Malvern Hill, 2 July 1862.
The other two ships visible are probably USS Aroostook (beyond Monitor's bow) and USS Jacob Bell (behind Monitor, at left).

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 97KB; 740 x 595 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 23 June 2001