VERY RARE "U.S.S Lafayette" Summer Cover Flag Swatch Display JG Autographs COA For Sale

Own a piece of American history! Up for sale a RARE "U.S.S Lafayette" Summer Cover Flag Swatch Display.This item is certified authentic by JGAutographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.

ES-4935, ES-4615E
The firstUSSLafayettewasa side wheelsteamer, converted to an ironclad ram, intheUnited States NavyduringtheAmerican Civil War. Lafayettewasbuilt atSt. Louis, Missouri, in1848 asAleck Scott(often spelledAlick Scott).She was purchased by theWar DepartmentasFortHenryon 18 May 1862 for use in thewestern flotilla. She wasconverted to an ironcladramat St. Louis.RenamedLafayetteon 8 September 1862, she was transferred tothe Navy with the entire western flotilla by executive order on 1 October 1862.She was commissioned atCairo, Illinois, 27 February 1863, with CaptainHenry A. Walkein command. The new ram joined RearAdmiralDavid Dixon Porter'sMississippi SquadronaboveVicksburgin time forthefamous dashon 16April 1863 past the deadly batteries which protected the the southern guns as they shepherdedArmy transports through the gauntlet toNew Carthage. RamGeneral Sterling Pricewaslashed to the starboard side ofLafayettefor the passage. Theships were covered with heavy logs and bales of wet hay, which proved to be anexcellent defense. Each ship, exceptBenton, also towed a coal barge.Lafayette,hampered by the ship lashed to her side, received nine "effective"shots through her casemate and had her coal barge sunk. Although under fire for2½ hours, all ships of the squadron were ready for service within half an hourafter the passage. The successful steaming of the squadron past the heavybatteries contributed to the early seizure ofGrand Gulf, the eventualfall of Vicksburg itself, and ultimately the conquest of the entireMississippi River. Five days later Porter, inLafayette,reconnoitered the Confederate works at Grand Gulf. He found a "strongfort" under construction and shelled the workers out. When ConfederatesteamerCharmattempted to land supplies for the fort theUnion gunboats drove her back up theBig Black River.By the 24th, Porter had stationed his gunboats so that they commanded the upperbattery at Grand Gulf and closed off the mouth of the Big Black River. On the29th Porter's ships engaged the heavy Confederate works at Grand Gulf, which,the admiral acknowledged, "were very formidable." In the 5½-hourbattle, the gunboats silenced the lower batteries but could succeed in stoppingthe fire from the upper forts only "for a short time." Meanwhile,Army transports passed safely below the batteries. ThoughBenton,Tuscumbia, andPittsburghwere"pretty much cut up" in the engagement, the expedition wassuccessful, and the net result was summed up by Porter, "We are now in aposition to make a landing where the general [Grant] pleases." Thefollowing nightUlysses S. Granttookadvantage of this mobility and ferried his troops across the Mississippi andlanded them atBruinsburgforlightning operations to isolate Vicksburg from reinforcements. On 3 May Porteronce again moved his gunboats against the Confederate batteries, but thesoutherners, finding their position totally untenable after Grant had taken hisarmy into the country back of Grand Gulf, had evacuated. The great land-seapincer could now close on Vicksburg. As Porter reported toSecretary ofthe NavyGideon Welles,"...the Navy holds the door to Vicksburg." Porter departed Grand Gulfwith his gunboat squadron and rendezvoused that evening with the Farragut fleetat the mouth of the Red River. He preceded up the river the next day Price, ramsSwitzerland, andIvy.EstrellaandArizonajoined enroute. The evening of 5 May the ships arrived atFort DeRussy, "apowerful casemated work" which the Confederates had recently evacuated inthe face of the naval threat. Porter pushed past a heavy obstruction in theriver and proceeded toAlexandria, Louisiana,which he occupied on the morning of the 7th. Subsequently, turning the townover to Army troops and unable to continue upriver because of the low water,Porter's force returned to Fort DeRussy and partially destroyed it. As theUnion noose around Vicksburg tightened,Lafayettesteamed up anddown the river gathering information and dispersing Confederate defensiveworks. WithPittsburgshe shelledSimmesport, Louisiana, 4June, forcing the defenders to abandon strong riverside positions. The gunboatsthen returned to the mouth of the Red River to resume blockade duty. Exactly amonth later, on Independence Day, Vicksburg surrendered, ending a long andvaliant siege. During the summer and fallLafayette, with otherUnion ships, patrolled the river protecting Federal communications. On 29September she andKenwoodarrivedatMorganza, Louisiana,onBayou Fordeche,to support troops under Major GeneralNapoleon J. T. Dana. Theremore than 400 Union troops recently had been captured in an engagement withConfederates under Brig. Gen.Thomas Green. The Unionships deterred the Confederates from attacking the smaller force of GeneralDana, demonstrating the ability of gunboats to vastly strengthen otherwiserelatively weak ground forces.