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USLHS Tulip (I)
ex
 USS Isaac N. Seymour (1862 - 1865)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Campaign Medal
Sidewheel Steamer:
  • The wood steamer Isaac N. Seymour (also called Seymour, I. N. Seymour, and J. N. Seymour) was built at Keyport, N.J., in 1860
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased, 28 October 1861 for the US Navy by George D. Morgan from Mr. Schultz for $18,000
  • Commissioned USS Isaac N. Seymour, date unknown at New York, N.Y.
  • USS Isaac N. Seymour was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron 20 November and arrived 3 days later on stationed in Hampton Roads
  • While there she joined three other ships in engaging Confederate steamer CSS Patrick Henry and drove her back up stream
  • A month later Flag Officer Goldsborough ordered Isaac N. Seymour to Hatteras Inlet for impending operations in the sounds of North Carolina
  • She participated in the combined operations which took Roanoke Island 8 February, and at the end of the action she was commended for being "conspicuously in the foreground throughout the bombardment." One of her powdermen was killed and her chief engineer was seriously wounded in the fight
  • The next day Isaac N. Seymour steamed up the Piankatank River to Elizabeth City, N.C., with CDR. Rowan's expedition to destroy enemy gunboats and to break up communications between Albemarle Sound and Norfolk, VA.
  • She continued mop-up operations in the sounds until she struck an abandoned anchor in Hatteras Inlet 20 February and sank before she could be run aground
  • She was raised, repaired, and returned to service in May
  • USS Isaac N. Seymour resumed her former duty and continued to give a good account of herself in the sounds until 24 August when she struck a bank and sank in the Neuse River some 3 miles above New Bern while steaming upstream to cover a landing of troops
  • A month later she was reported raised and on the ways being readied for service
  • Back in fighting trim 23 October, she was ordered to tow schooner Minnehaha to Plymouth, N.C., to deliver provisions
  • Five days later she made the return passage towing damaged steamer USS Whitehead to New Bern for repairs
  • Similar duty maintaining communications and lines of supply between Navy units in the sounds continued until 12 December when Isaac N. Seymour ascended the Neuse River with four other ships to support an Army expedition to destroy railroad bridges and track near Goldsboro, N.C., but the mission was aborted by low water which prevented their advancing more than 15 miles beyond New Bern
  • Confederate troops attacked the Union garrison at Washington, N.C., 31 March 1863 establishing a siege which threatened to starve the Northern troops into surrender. Isaac N. Seymour departed Plymouth 2 April to play an active role in the naval operations which, despite well-served batteries ashore, brought the beleaguered soldiers food and ammunition
  • The Southern troops were finally forced to lift the blockade 16 April. Once again the daring and versatility of the Navy had been decisive in holding a hard-pressed position for the North.
  • Isaac N. Seymour was a part of the task force which started up the James River 11 July to demonstrate against Richmond. The high point of the expedition came 14 July when Rear Admiral S. P. Lee, flying his flag in Isaac N. Seymour, occupied Fort Powhatan, the last Confederate defense on the river below Chaffin's and Drewry's Bluff.
  • USS Isaac N. Seymour continued to serve in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, maintaining Union control of North Carolina's inland waters and supporting Army operations from the James and York Rivers as General Grant supplied and supported by water, relentlessly pressed toward Richmond and victory
  • Isaac N. Seymour was detached in March 1865 and decommissioned at Washington 16 May
  • She was transferred to the Light House Board 20 June which she served as Tulip until sold and redocumented Magnolia 7 June 1882
  • Magnolia was sold to a foreign owner in 1888
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 133 t.
    Length 100'
    Beam 19'8"
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft 6'
    Speed 11 kts
    Complement 30
    Armament
    one 30-pdr Parrott rifle
    one 20-pdr Parrott rifle
    Propulsion
    one single beam steam engines, cylinder diameter 30", stroke 6'
    one boiler
    single screw
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    Isaac N. Seymour
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 1 July 2022