AH-WR-1077

Harriet DeFord

Steamer · United States · Lost 1865 · The Potomac & the Virginia Chesapeake

In the war's final days, Confederate cavalrymen seized this Baltimore-bound steamer, sailed her into the Rappahannock, and burned her.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Harriet DeFord was a small steamer engaged in the Chesapeake Bay trade when, on April 5, 1865, thirty Virginia cavalrymen led by Capt. Thaddeus Fitzhugh boarded and seized her while she was bound for Baltimore. The raiders put the passengers and white crew ashore in boats, then sailed the vessel into the Rappahannock River in Virginia. Two days later they unloaded her cargo and burned her. Black crew members who had been retained aboard were reportedly sold at a slave auction soon afterward, in one of the final Confederate actions before Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 149
Propulsion: Steam
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: April 7, 1865
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: Rappahannock River, Virginia
Water: Rappahannock River
Voyage: Baltimore, Maryland
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Black crew members retained by the raiders were reportedly sold at a slave auction after the seizure
Master: Not established