Captain Parker of the Confederate States Navy also had this to say about young midshipman Mallory:  "After serving with me in three engagements, he was ordered to the gunboat Chattahoochee, at Columbus, Georgia, and lost his life by the explosion of her boiler. "He was from Hampton and was an honor to his birthplace.  Had he lived and had the opportunity he would have become a great naval officer." After the explosion, young Mallory, although badly  injured, swam ashore, but died after in the Ladies' Hospital, Columbus, June 2d, 1863, at age of eighteen and a half.   H ..read more

From the Virginia Historical Magazine "Funeral of Charles K. Mallory"  the father of Charles K. Mallory who died in the boiler explosion of the CSS Chattahoochee. Born November 21, 1844.  At the outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed a midshipman in the Confederate States Navy and served as such until his death. He participated  in the naval engagements at Hampton Roads, serving on the  gunboat  CSS Beaufort.  When the USS Congress hoisted the white flag of surrender, he, with Midshipman Foreman and a boat crew, were sent to take charge of her. He brought back ..read more

A letter to the William and Mary College Quarterly from John S. Mallory, brother of Charles K. Mallory, written in 1925. Stephen Blount Mallory was born at Hampton, Virginia, June 15, 1856.  In 1872, as a result of a competitive examination he was appointed a Cadet Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy after taking a short preparatory course at William and Mary College. Upon graduation in 1876 from the Academy, he was appointed midshipman in the U.S. Navy and served as such until his untimely death of yellow fever in 1878, contracted while his ship, the USS Plymouth, lay in the harbor of F ..read more

From "Navy Gray:  Engineering in the Confederate Navy on the Chattahoochee River and Apalachicola Rivers" by Maxine T. Turner. A picture of him is on page 89 with caption: "Midshipman Charles King Mallory.  "Young Mallory" was a great favorite among the Chattahoochee's officers and men.  The first to board the USS Congress after the CSS Virginia had defeated her, he was transferred with Catesby ap  R. Jones to the CSS Chattahoochee. The account of his death following the boiler explosion on May 27, 1863, combined bravery and pathos. His family had his remains sent home ..read more

From Register of Officers in the Confederate States Navy 1861-1865. CHARLES K. MALLORY,  jr. Born in Virginia.  Appointed from Virginia. Acting midshipman, June 12, 1861.  Died June 1, 1863,  from the effect of a boiler explosion.  (CSS Chattahoochee) Served on the C.S.R.S. United States, 1861.  CSS Beaufort, 1861-1862; participated in the Battle of Roanoke Island, February 7-8, 1862, and the Battle of Hampton Roads, Va., March 8-9, 1862; commended for gallant conduct.  (He was still a member of the crew of the CSS Beaufort at this battle.) CSS Chattahoo ..read more

From the April 9, 2024, NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. In the interest of safety and security, the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources announced today that the Fort Fisher Historic Site will temporarily close to the public beginning Tuesday, April 16 as workers relocate exhibits, artifacts and staff offices to the site' new 20,000 square foot visitors center. In addition, work will begin on the restoration of parts of the fort  which were demolished when the fort was used as an anti-aircraft training facility during World War II This temporary closure refers ..read more

From the August 19, 2014, Civil War Talk Forum by Ernie Mac. When I first saw the last name, I thought perhaps he might have been related to Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory but he wasn't. Midshipman Charles K. Mallory was one of the casualties  of the CSS Chattahoochee, severely scalded in the explosion on May 27, 1863.  He died several days later (June 1) of his injuries. Mallory was a native of Virginia who enlisted as a midshipman at the beginning of the war, serving aboard the CSS Virginia during the Battle of Hampton Roads.  He was one of two midshipman wh ..read more

The wreck was relocated  using a proton precession magnetometer and wreck structure exposed on the bottom  surface was mapped.  A test excavation was carried out near the south end of the wreckage to facilitate assessing the nature and scope of the archaeological record and generate  data concerning the remaining wreck structure. (Now, that was some last sentence.  Took me forever to type.) Data recovered during the investigation contributed to a better understanding of the wreck and its scientific and educational value. On the basis of this reconnaissance,  it is ..read more

From 1990 report "CSS Chattahoochee:  An Investigation  of the Remains of a Confederate Gunboat" by Gordon P. Watts and Wes Hall. In the Spring of 1865, the Confederate gunboat CSS Chattahoochee  was scuttles and burned in the Chattahoochee River, just south of Columbus, Georgia.  During the Civil War Centennial the vessel's remains were relocated and the stern of the warship salvaged and preserved at the James W. Woodruff, Jr., Confederate Naval Museum  in Columbus. In 1984, East Carolina University and the Naval Museum cosponsored an investigation designed to relocat ..read more

From the June 6, 2023, Georgia Public Radio "Are sunken ships from the Civil War still lying in the Chattahoochee?  What a historian says"  by Kelby Hutchinson. During the Battle of Columbus (Georgia) on April 16, 1865 (Lee had surrendered in Virginia on April 9), two Confederate warships were destroyed.  One was the ironclad CSS Jackson (also called the CSS Muscogee).  The other was the CSS Chattahoochee. Part of the CSS Chattahoochee still remains at the bottom of its namesake river.  The bow end is still somewhere down below.  The National Civil War Naval Museu ..read more