Flagship of the Anti-Slave Trade

Though the Civil War was a period of great innovation for the navy, with widespread use of steam power and the innovation of ironclads there was still a place in the fleet for sailing ships. Built at the Gosport yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1854, USS Constellation was the flagship of the anti-slave trade African Squadron when the Civil War began in April 1861. The following month it made one of the first captures for the Union when it took the slaver Triton of Charleston, South Carolina. After briefly being recalled to American waters, Constellation was ordered to the Mediterranean where it fulfilled a variety of missions, including protecting American commerce from Confederate raiders. The U.S. Navy's role in the Civil War is often overlooked in favor of the armies, but the navy was crucial to achieving a Union victory. Naval vessels actively blockaded the Southern coastline, strangling the Confederacy's trade, patrolled for commerce raiders, and enabled the army to conduct effective amphibious operations.

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Powder monkey Aspinwall Fuller
Boys such as Aspinwall Fuller were a common sight aboard U.S. Navy vessels during the Civil War. A native of New York, the 13—year-old Fuller enlisted here in Baltimore in 1864, and was assigned to USS New Hampshire. Throughout the war, the Navy recruited 13- to 18-year-olds to serve at sea as ship's boys. These young sailors were entrusted with the important job of bringing the powder charges to guns during combat, and earned the nickname "powder monkeys." During its Civil War cruise, Constellation had 12 of these brave teenagers as part of its crew.

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