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Sumner Rogers served on the Glide.

 

Glide

The first Glide was a sternwheel tinclad originally built in Shousetown, Pa., in 1862 and purchased by Read Admiral D. D. Porter at Pittsburgh, Pa., 17 November 1862. She was taken to Cairo, 111., for fitting out and commissioned 3 December 1862, Acting Lt. Selim E. Woodworth in command.

After fitting out, Glide departed 3 January 1863 for the lower Mississippi as part of the Mississippi Squadron. She participated in the fierce engagement at Fort Hind-man, or Arkansas Post, 11 January as part of the division of light draft gunboats under the overall command of Lt. Comdr. Watson Smith. As army forces launched the assault, Glide and the other gunboats helped to silence the powerful batteries. She passed the fort under heavy fire and proceeded upstream to cut off possible escape routes for the garrison.

After aiding in the important victory at Fort Hindman, helping to open the White River, Glide served briefly there as a gunboat and supply ship until she was sent to Cairo for repairs in early February 1863. While she was repairing there, on 7 February an unexplained fire broke out forward and within a few minutes the tinclad was entirely destroyed.

II

The second Glide was a wooden sidewheeler built at Murraysville, Va., in 1863 and purchased 30 November 1863 at Pittsburgh, Pa., by Rear Admiral Porter. She was converted to Navy use and sent to New Orleans for duty with the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron, Acting Ens. L. S. Fickett in command.

From March 1864 to August 1865, Glide served as a blockading ship in Berwick Bay, La. During this period she made numerous short expeditions in the bayous surrounding the bay, suppressing guerrilla activity and capturing small blockade runners. Glide decommissioned 1 August 1865 and was sold at public auction at New Orleans 12 August to J. W. Young. Returning to merchant service, Glide was destroyed by an explosion on 1 January 1869 near New Orleans.v

From:  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Washington: Navy Dept., Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division, 1959-1981, vol. 3, p. 109. Online at: http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs.html