As I mentioned previously, I am not familiar with the area, especially the Chickahominy. The information about where the Dragon sank came from Colonial Records, and from Historians. I believe the Mariners Museum has that information as well. My ancestor mentioned in his records that the Dragon Ship docked at the Chickahominy. That is where he and his brother mustered out as Seamen. Later, I was informed that the Dragon Ship sank while docked at the Chickahominy. I would like to find out which statement is true. Could it be that parts of the Chickahominy were renamed? Maybe that is where the confusion comes in.
Anita
-- "Lyle E. Browning" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
On Jun 29, 2005, at 1:10 PM, Anita Wills wrote:
> I am interested in information on the Chickahominy, and its use in the
> Revolutionary War. My ancestors, served as Seamen during the
> Revolutionary War, patrolling the Rappahannock. One of the ships they
> were on, was docked at the Chickahominy. The Dragon sank in 1782, and
> is now at the bottom of the Chickahominy. I wonder if there are other
> ships resting there as well. I have not looked at a map, but there had
> to be a mouth large enough for the ship to go from the Rappahannock to
> the Chickahominy.
>
> Anita Wills
>
>
Joyce Browning
Fairfax County, Virginia wrote:
> I'm very interested in discovering if the upper Chickahominy was once
> deep
> enough for the 9- or 12-foot draft of colonial ships. Did this river
> behave
> like the Mattapony where a merchant ship could sail as far west as
> Aylett -
> about 50 miles west of the Bay? Early development of the upper
> Chickahominy area
> certainly suggests that it was as navagable as the Mattapony, but lost
> records
> in New Kent County may prevent our knowledge of it.
The Chickahominy is a relatively large tributary of the James River.
The Chickahominy Shipyard was 7 miles up and ocean-going ships were
scuttled there during the Rev War, but I don't know if the Dragon was
one of them. There was apparently another shipyard farther up. The head
of navigation in the 18th century was about a mile downstream from
Providence Forge. A canal was built in the middle 18th century up to
the Forge to transport materials to and from the forge. Beyond that it
was not navigable. The Chickahominy above PF is a drowned river valley.
It has not been navigable for at least 3000 years as there are Archaic
Indian sites on the banks on either side at Providence Forge and the
depth is less than 3 feet for most of what's visible there.
Having said that, there are interesting ditches near Mechanicsville
that might relate to ad hoc navigation for small boats such as batteau
or canoes, but certainly not for anything larger. Survey has not been
done to see if it is possible to float the river from Mechanicsville to
PF. One would need a winter helicopter ride to connect the pieces
adequately.
Lyle Browning
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