I received some information by email, courtesy of jelora (Many Many Thanks for her efforts, and mickym1951) , and for the record I'll enter some of it on this Board.
Found:
Bowes, Thomas-24; occu.-; enl. July 13, 1861, at Boston, for 2 yrs, as Seaman, credit Boston.
Served on Recg Ship Ohio and U.S.S. Cambridge. Disch. Aug 5, 1863, from Recg. Ship at Boston, as Seaman.
I looked up the ships:
OHIO - Receiving Ship
In both the North and the South it was customary to send the newly recruited men to a receiving ship. These were usually old frigates or other sail-powered ships that were stationed at navy yards in the North and functioned as floating dormitories. In the South old merchant ships were used at Richmond and at other major Southern ports. A recruit arriving on board a receiving ship reported to the officer of the deck. His name and other details went into the ship's books, and be was sent forward. Usually be received only the clothing needed for immediate service. In the North no civilian clothing was allowed, though shortages of uniforms later in the war sometimes made it necessary to modify this rule in the South. When the recruit arrived at the forward part of the receiving ship, he was given a number for his hammock and another for his clothes bag and was assigned to a mess.
While on board a receiving ship the recruit learned the rudiments of navy life. He learned how to address and to respect his officers, petty officers, and shipmates. Much time was spent in various kinds of drills, such as learning to handle sails, rigging, boats, and cutlasses, as well as the procedures for repelling boarders. The manpower demands of the Union and the Confederate navies meant that the amount of time a recruit was on a receiving ship ranged from a few days to a few weeks. Anything not learned on the receiving ship had to be learned in the hard school of active service. Periodically the commander of the receiving ship would receive orders to send a certain number of men to a vessel preparing for active service, or as replacements for a ship that had lost men through death, illness, or desertion.
Once a man reported to a ship in the regular service, he was assigned to various stations at the guns, on deck, in the tops, in a boat, at a mess, and in a hammock. Each had a number to be remembered. So, on a man-of-war, a given recruit or veteran might define his niche in the following way: He belonged to the starboard watch, was stationed in the top of the mizzenmast; he belonged to the third division of the battery, attached to gun number eight, where he was the first loader. In the event of a need to board an enemy vessel, he was the second boarder in his division. When it was necessary to loose or to furl sails, his post was at the starboard yardarm of the mizzen topgallant yard. In reefing sails his position was on the port yardarm of the mizzen topsail yard. When tacking or wearing the ship, his place was at the lee main brace. If the anchor was being raised, his duty was at the capstan. In a boat he pulled the bow oar of the captain's gig. Until all these assignments became second nature to him, the recruit might forget his numbers and have to refresh his memory by consulting the station bill, where everyone's position was recorded. (http://www.civilwarhome.com/sailorlife.htm)
USS CAMBRIDGE - PICTURE: USS CAMBRIDGE
http://americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/Navy_Ships/USS_Cambridge.html
The first USS Cambridge was an armed steamship in use during the American Civil War http://www.answers.com/topic/american-civil-war. It is notable for having picked up escaped slave William B. Gould off Cape Fear, North Carolina.
"In September 1862, William Benjamin Gould escaped from slavery by rowing to the U.S.S. Cambridge, a Union gunboat patrolling off the coast of Wilmington, North Carolina. He served in the United States Navy for the remainder of the Civil War and left a diary of his experiences - one of only three known diaries of African American sailors from the period."
I feel closer to the man than ever. |
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