Buchanan, 1858
Named for the 15th President of the United States, James Buchanan, who served from 1856 to 1860.
History:
Buchanan was a small, 3/4-ton schooner, purchased for use in May, 1858. She was assigned to the 5th Lighthouse District. On 18 April 1861, while under the command of Thomas Cullen, Master, she was taken by Confederate troops while she was on an inspection patrol along the James River. Aboard was the lighthouse inspector of the 5th District. The Confederates took their prisoners and the schooner to Richmond, where the inspector and the tender's crew were released.
The schooner was pressed into service with the Confederacy.
Sources:
Cutter History File. USCG Historian's Office, USCG HQ, Washington, D.C.
Douglas Peterson. United States Lighthouse Service Tenders, 1840-1939. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing, 2000.
U. S. Navy, Naval History Division. Civil War Naval Chronology, 1861-1865. Washington: USGPO, 1971.