USS Glide (1862)

On January 3, 1863, Glide traveled down the Mississippi River to begin service with the Mississippi River Squadron.^[6] The next day, she was assigned to a flotilla of tinclads led by Lieutenant Commander Watson Smith that had been organized for operations against Confederate-held Fort Hindman.^[8] On January 11, Union Army forces assaulted the fort, and Glide, along with other vessels, provided supporting fire against Confederate batteries at Fort Hindman.^[6] Glide moved upriver to fire into the fort from its rear^[9] and, once the fort was captured, attempt to cut off the Confederate retreat.^[3] Along with the tinclad USS Rattler, Glide destroyed a ferry upriver from the fort.^[10] After the battle, Glide saw service on the White River,^[3] being used as both a transport and as a supply ship. In early February, she was sent back to Cairo to undergo repairs.^[6]

While moored near other vessels on the morning of February 7, a fire broke out on Glide,^[11] in the forward part of the ship.^[6] The tugboat USS Dahlia towed her into the channel of the Mississippi River away from the other vessels.^[12] Glide then drifted downstream for 1 mile (1.6 km) or 2 miles (3.2 km), ending up on the Kentucky side of the river near Fort Holt. Some of her ammunition exploded, and while in 5 feet (1.5 m) of water, Glide burned to the waterline. Two of her crew died in the incident.^[13] The Union military later salvaged portions of her machinery, metal fittings (including some of her armor), and at least a portion of her weapons and ammunition.^[13] The origin of the fire is uncertain,^[3] but an investigation into the loss of the ship suggested it may have originated with a fire in an ashpan some of the crew had been using to warm themselves.^[14] Another tinclad named USS Glide served with the West Gulf Blockading Fleet in 1864 and 1865.^[4]

• Christ, Mark K. (2010). Civil War Arkansas 1863: The Battle for a State. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-4433-7.
• Gaines, W. Craig (2008). Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-3274-6.
• Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 1. Vol. 24. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1911.
• Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 2. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1921.
• Palucka, Tim (2017). "Timberclads, Tinclads, and Cottonclads in the US Civil War". MRS Bulletin. 42 (1): 73. Bibcode:2017MRSBu..42...73P. doi:10.1557/mrs.2016.317. ISSN 1938-1425.
• Shea, William L.; Winschel, Terrence J. (2003). Vicksburg Is the Key: The Struggle for the Mississippi River. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-9344-1.
• Silverstone, Paul H. (1989). Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-783-6.
• Smith, Myron J. (2010). Tinclads in the Civil War: Union Light-Draught Gunboat Operations on Western Waters, 1862–1865. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-3579-1.
• Tomblin, Barbara Brooks (2016). The Civil War on the Mississippi: Union Sailors, Gunboat Captains, and the Campaign to Control the River. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813167046.