CSS
Rob Roy – The Confederate Blockade Runner That Lived Up To
Its Legendary Name
Named
for the famous Scottish folk hero, the CSS Rob Roy was a
stoutly built blockade running ship that had an illustrious career in
the American Civil War. Sailing from Galveston, TX as its homeport,
the CSS Rob Roy was commanded by the enigmatic Captain William
Watson who had recently immigrated from Scotland.
Captain
Watson had first enlisted in the Confederate cause at the opening of
hostilities in 1861 and had ably served as a sergeant in the 3rd
Louisiana Volunteer Infantry. Watson had immigrated to the United
States during the late 1850s after having made a name for himself in
the West Indies as a capable and intelligent shipbuilding engineer,
civil engineer, and captain of a number of sailing vessels. When
Watson settled in Baton Rouge as the owner of a small steamship
company, he joined the local militia unit there known as the Rifle
Volunteers, which became a part of the 3rd Louisiana upon
the initiation of hostilities by the Federal actions to reinforce
Fort Sumter, SC. In 1862 after having sustained injuries in combat
with the 3rd Louisiana, then Sergeant, William Watson was
discharged and sent home to Baton Rouge.
Always
one to put his skills to good use, Sergeant Watson was granted a
Captain's commission by the Confederate Navy officers commanding the
Confederate naval vessels in the area around Galveston, TX. In this
new role as Captain Watson, the skilled engineer quickly mustered a
crew and found a fast sailing schooner he aptly commissioned as the
CSS Rob Roy.
Once in
command of the CSS Rob Roy, Watson set about making sure that
the crew developed into a well-disciplined bunch of men who were
intimately connected with their ship. In his book, “The Adventures
of a Blockade Runner,” Captain Watson states, “On that vessel
(the CSS Rob Roy) there was but few of us, old hands well
known to each other, and united together, as it were, by our little
adventures and escapes. All had a kind of veneration for the vessel,
and seemed to take as much interest in everything about her as I did
myself ; all seemed to agree and were happy, and took great delight
at spare times in talking over little incidents where we had eluded
the vigilance of the Yankees.”
During
its career, the CSS Rob Roy bravely ran the Federal blockade
into several southern ports bringing much needed cargo and supplies
from ports in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Bermuda. Of particular
importance was the cargoes brought through the blockade into
Galveston, Texas. By supplying the Confederate forces in Texas and
the West with much needed arms, medicine, and ammunition, the CSS Rob
Roy helped to ensure that Texas
would be the last state to be forced into the submission of surrender
by the Yankee invaders.
Overall,
from 1862 until Captain Watson faced conditions that forced him to
sell the CSS Rob Roy
in early 1865, the vessel provided outstanding service to the
Confederate Navy and to the Southern cause for independence. Captain
Watson would later in 1865 run the blockade for a last time into
Galveston Bay as a navigator aboard the SS Phoenix as
it brought some of the last supplies to be delivered to the dying
Confederacy. All in all, Captain Watson and the CSS Rob Roy
gallantly stood against the
Yankee foes and left another page in history that would certainly
make the famed Scotsman Rob Roy MacGregor proud.
SourcesWilliam Watson, “Adventures of a Blockade Runner,” Google Books https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Civil_War_Adventures_of_a_Blockade_R.html?id=6eV2AAAAMAAJ
“Rob Roy MacGregor,” Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Roy_MacGregor
“Running the Blockade into Galveston: A Personal Narrative,” Denbigh http://nautarch.tamu.edu/PROJECTS/denbigh/Watson.htm
“CSS Rob Roy,” Snipview
http://www.snipview.com/q/CSS%20Rob%20Roy
“William Watson (Sergeant),” Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Watson_(sergeant)
“SS Rob Roy,” Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Rob_Roy
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