Gunboats Along the Mississippi
Lowell L. Getz
The Brown Water Navies
During the American Civil War, Union gunboats made a major contribution
toward clearing Confederate strong points from along Midwestern rivers and in
opening up the Mississippi River to Union traffic, effectively isolating the western
Confederate states from those in the east. The primary roll of these gunboats was to
serve as floating artillery bases, providing cannon fire from the river. River artillery
not only was important in shelling the forts, but also was instrumental in diverting
cannon fire away from the Union forces attacking from land. Cannon fire from
within the forts had to be diverted from targeting the attacking land troops to
suppressing fire from the river boats. This greatly reduced Union casualties as they
drove on the Confederates from the land side.
The Confederates also employed a number of gunboats on the Midwestern
rivers, the River Defense Fleet, in an attempt to protect their forts from Union
gunboats. The Confederate gunboats not only were fewer in number to begin with,
but early in the war were so reduced in numbers as to not be an effective deterrent
to the Union boats.
Union and Confederate fleets became engaged in early October 1861, when
the Union attempted to blockade the port of New Orleans. However, few boats on
either side were employed at any one time (Powles (2001). There were only two
major engagements between the two “Brown Water Navies” that involved a number
of gunboats from both river fleets. The first took place on 10 May 1862, the second,
6 June 1862. Whereas both battles lasted only slightly over one hour each, the
action was intense, effectively eliminating the River Defense Fleet as an effective
fighting force. Although Combre (2005) and Joiner (2007) provide excellent
accounts of the actions of the riverboat navies during the war, only brief
descriptions of these two engagements are provided. The bulk of their accounts
involve use of boats as floating artillery in the capture of Confederate forts and
strong points along the river.
The gunboats were instrumental in the capture of Fort Henry on the banks of
the Tennessee River. Appearance of the Union fleet, firing into the fort on 7
February 1862, resulted in the commanding office, Brigadier General Lloyd Tiglman,
sending most of his troops to Fort Donelson and surrendering Fort Henry before the
land forces began their attack. Next followed the bombardment of Fort Donelson on
the Cumberland River, beginning 10 February 1862. For 6 days the Union gunboats
exchanged fire with the cannon of the fort, in the process taking a number of hits
that caused major damage to some of the Union boats and numerous casualties
among the crews. Ft. Donelson surrendered on 16 February. Flag Officer Andrew H.
Foote, in command of the Union boats, was wounded in the leg during the shelling of
Fort. Donelson. Following fall of Fort Donelson, the Union boats were repaired and
moved back to the Mississippi River. There the Union boats commenced an attack
on Island No. 10 that raged from 17 March though 7 April, when the Confederates
surrendered to Flag Officer Foote. In none of these three battles did the Confederate
River Defense Fleet put in an appearance.
With the surrender of Island No. 10, the damaged Union gunboats were again
repaired and made ready for further action down river. For the next few days,
General Polk and Flag Officer Foote planed attacks on their next objectives, first Fort
Pillow, to be followed by capture of the city of Memphis, with the riverboats
providing artillery support for the operations.
In putting together the accounts of these two engagements, I have relied
primarily on the reports that the officers involved submitted at the time of the
actions. Transcriptions of the various reports are available on-line from the U. S.
National Archives. It was difficult to put in sequence the details of the actions. That
both battles were completed within slightly more than an hour’s time, each,
compressed a lot of action within a short time frame. The action was fast and
furious, neither side was exactly certain as to what boat they were attacking or
which one had attacked them. With so much of the action involving several boats in
close proximity of each other, smoke enshrouded the boats, reducing visibility to a
minimum. Thus, the individual accounts differed considerably.
Reconstructing the sequence of events was further complicated in that the
reports of each officer recorded only what they witnessed or what was reported to
them, and even then, they reported only parts of their actions, leaving out some of
the incidents. It was necessary to mesh carefully the sequences detailed in the
reports of the various officers to arrive at the correct sequence of events and the
specific boats involved. Both Union and Confederate records were available, greatly
facilitating “getting it right.” From these reports, I feel that I have reconstructed the
engagements as accurately as possible, leaving the caveat that there is the potential
for error.
The River Boats
Several types of Union and Confederate riverboats were employed in the
battles of Fort Pillow and Memphis: “Ironclads” that had 1 ½-2 ½ inch iron plates
covering the exterior of the boats to deflect cannon fire from the boat (the outside of
the pilot house and the casemate, the armor protecting the gun emplacements,
through which the guns fired). “Cottonclads”, with bales of cotton stacked on the
decks to absorb incoming rounds, reducing the damage to the structure of the boat.
“Rams”, boats with strengthened hulls to withstand the force of striking another
boat and the bow reinforced to facilitate breaking through the enemy hull. The
objective was to, break open the hull, either putting the boat out of action, or sinking
it to the bottom. Added protection was installed on some of the boats in the form of
heavy timbers, railroad rails or bales of cotton to deflect or absorb the force of
incoming shells. All boats were propelled by paddlewheels that were located either
at the stern (“sternwheelers”), inside the center of the boat(“centerlines”), or on
each side (“sidewheelers”) of the boat, either at the stern or at the center. The
following riverboats were involved in these two battles:
Union Fleet
Ironclads:
USS Benton: stern paddlewheel; 16 guns; armor: 2 ½ in, pilot house; 2 ½ in,
casemate
USS Carondelet: centerline paddlewheel; 14 guns; armor: 1 ½ in, pilot house; 2 ½ in,
casemate
USS Mound City: centerline paddlewheel; 14 guns; armor: 1 ½ in, pilot house; 2 ½
in, casemate
USS Cincinnati: centerline paddlewheel; 14 guns; armor: 1 ½ in, pilot house; 2 ½ in,
casemate
USS Cairo: centerline paddlewheel; 16 guns; armor: 1 ½ in, pilot house; 2 ½ in,
casemate
USS St. Louis: centerline paddlewheel; 14 guns; armor: 1 ½ in, pilot house; 2 ½ in,
casemate
USS Pittsburg: centerline paddlewheel; 14 guns; armor: 1 ½ in, pilot house; 2 ½ in,
casemate
USS Louisville: centerline paddlewheel; 14 guns; armor: 1 ½ in, pilot house; 2 ½ in,
casemate
Rams (all sidewheel, only Queen Of The West was armed [with 4 guns]):
USS Queen Of The West
USS Monarch
USS Switzerland
USS Lancaster (did not become engaged)
Confederate River Defense Fleet (all were cottonclad, sidewheeler, rams):
CSS Little Rebel, 3 guns
CSS General Bragg, 2 guns
CSS General Sterling Price, 4 guns
CSS General Sumter, 5 guns
CSS General Earl Van Dorn, 1 gun
CSS General M. Jeff Thompson, no gun
CSS Colonel Lovell, 4 guns
CSS General Beauregard, 5 guns
Fort Pillow
The following boats, and their captains, were deployed by the two sides
during the battle for Fort Pillow:
Union Fleet:
USS Benton (Flag Ship) Lieutenant S. L. Phelps; Captain Charles H. Davis, Flag Officer
USS Carondelet, Commander Henry A. Walke
USS Mound City, Commander, Augustus. H. Kilty
USS Cincinnati, Commander, Roger N. Stembel
USS Cairo, Lieutenant Nathaniel C. Bryant
USS St. Louis, Lieutenant. Henry Erben
USS Pittsburg, Lieutenant Egbert Thompson
Confederate Fleet:
CSS Little Rebel (Flag Ship), Captain James E. Montgomery, Flag Officer
CSS General Bragg, Captain William H. Leonard
CSS General Sterling Price, First Officer J. E. Henthorne
CSS General Sumter, Captain. W. W. Lamb
CSS General Earl Van Dorn, Captain Issac D. Fulkerson
CSS General M. Jeff Thompson, Captain John H. Burke
CSS General Lovell, Captain James C. Delancy
CSS General Beauregard, Captain James H. Hurt
On 12 April, Commander Foote and his flag ship, Benton left New Madrid
accompanied by Cincinnati, Mound City, Cairo and St. Louis to begin moving down
river toward Fort Pillow. As the flotilla passed Tipptonville, they were joined by the
Pittsburg and Carondelet. The Union flotilla set anchor on the 13th, 50 miles down
river, 30 miles above Ft. Pillow.
At 8:00 AM the next day, five Confederate gunboats rounded a point in the
river and advanced toward the Union boats. The Benton, followed by Carondelet and
Cincinnati, lifted anchor and moved downstream to meet the Confederate boats.
The Rebel boats withdrew after an exchange of about 20 shots, retreating 30 miles
south where they came under the protection of the Confederate cannon at Fort
Pillow. The Union gunboats followed the Confederate boats so as to reconnoiter the
river adjacent to Fort Pillow, going to within a mile of the fort and within range of its
batteries. The Union boats then turned and retreated back up stream, taking fire
from Fort Pillow as they did so. The shots were long, however, and went over the
Union boats as they continued upstream until out of range of Fort Pillow cannon.
There, they tied up on opposite sides of the river, three on the eastern bank and four
on the western bank. By so doing, any Confederate boat attempting a run upriver
would be caught in a crossfire between the Union boats. The Confederate fleet
remained below Fort Pillow.
Ten mortar boats also were moved down to where the Union fleet was anchored.
Each morning, beginning on 14 April, two or three mortar boats were towed to
within two miles of Fort Pillow, into which they fired 13-inch bombs for the rest of
the daylight hours. Returning fire from Fort Pillow was ineffective. The mortar
boats were towed back up to the Union fleet for the night. The cannonading of Fort
Pillow continued through 23 April, except for two or three days when heavy rains
made recoils of the mortars on the slippery wet decks too dangerous for the troops
firing the mortars. On 30 April, Flag Officer Foote learned from reliable sources that
there were 13 Confederate gunboats and rams, under command of Commander
George Hollins, a few miles below Fort Pillow.
On 9 May, at his own request, Flag Officer Foote was relieved of duty because
the wound he had received at the Battle of Ft. Henry had not healed properly and
was preventing him from carrying out his duties. He moved to Cleveland, Ohio to
recover. Commander Foote was succeeded in command by Captain Charles H. Davis.
The Benton remained as the Flag Ship of the Union flotilla.
The Confederate River Defense captains held a conference the evening of 9
May, at which time it was decided to move the rams upstream the next morning to
isolate the Union ship protecting the mortar boats from the her mortar boats. The
mortar boats would then be cut loose to drift downstream where they would be
captured. A full-fledged engagement with the Union fleet was not a part of the plans.
At 5:00 AM, 10 May only one mortar boat, No. 16, accompanied by the
Cincinnati for protection, was towed down to within range of Ft. Pillow. Second
Master Thomas B. Gregory began firing at 6:00 AM. Shortly thereafter, at 6:35, eight
Confederate cottonclads, all but one of which were rams, (General M. Jeff Thompson,
General Van Dorn, General Sumter, Little Rebel, General Bragg [gunboat], General
Sterling Price, General Beauregard, and Colonel Lovell) began moving upstream to
separate Mortar Boat No. 16 from the Cincinnati. Captain Davis alerted the
Cincinnati, who immediately slipped her hawser and moved into the river to protect
Mortar Boat No. 16. After having fired 5 bombs into the fort, and as the Confederate
flotilla began to close on Mortar Boat No. 16, Second Master Gregory loaded his
mortars with reduced charges for short range and began firing into the oncoming
Rebel boats.
The other Union boats in the flotilla prepared to move toward the oncoming
Rebel boats. The Carondelet was first to get underway, followed by Mound City. The
Benton and Pittsburg were able to get up steam and move out, following the
Carondelet and Mound City by about a mile.
The Confederate rams, led by the General Bragg, went straight for the
Cincinnati, by-passing Mortar Boat No. 16. As the General Van Dorn came to within
60 feet of No. 16, she fired a shot through the iron blinds, but did not ram, instead
moving on upstream firing on the approaching Union boats. The General Van Dorn
then ran aground and took several hits before she was able to back off into deeper
water.
As the General Bragg approached under full steam, the Cincinnati withheld
fire until just before she was rammed. The General Bragg struck the Cincinnati a
glancing blow on the starboard side that did little damage. The Benton, Carondelet
and Mound City, now within 3/4th mile of the General Bragg, fired into her as she
rammed the Cincinnati. As she was struck, by the General Bragg, the Cincinnati
swung sideways to present a close-in broad side, firing into the attacking boat from
only ten feet away, causing considerable damage to her timbers. Additionally, the
tiller rope of the General Bragg became fouled when she struck the Cincinnati,
causing her to drift back downstream and out of the action. The Carondelet fired
upon the General Bragg with her bow gun until the next two Confederate boats,
General Sterling Price and General Sumter, came within range. She then turned her
bow guns on these two boats, while firing broadsides at the General Bragg. The
General Sterling Price rammed the Cincinnati on the starboard side taking away one
of her rudders, the stern pot and a large section of the stern. The force of the blow
threw the Cincinnati around so that she was struck full-speed in the stern by General
Sumter. The Cincinnati started taking on water and began retreating back up river.
As the General Sumter hit the Cincinnati, Commander Stembel was seriously
wounded by a sharp shooter on the General Sumter. The ball entered from behind,
just above his right shoulder blade. It past on through his neck, coming out in the
front of this throat, just below the chin. Although he was in considerable pain,
fortunately no major artery was hit. For the rest of the engagement, command of
Cincinnati was transferred to Acting Lieutenant William H. Hoel. When the battle
was over, Commander Stembel was sent to Cairo for treatment of his wounds.
Commander Stembel survived. The Rebel sharp shooter who had fired the shot was
killed immediately by a sailor on the Cincinnati.
The General Sterling Price backed off, disabled, after being hit by shells from
the approaching Union boats. The Benton was now in the thick of the battle. She
fired her port bow 42 pound rifle into the General Sumter just as she rammed the
Cincinnati, striking her boilers, resulting in a large explosion. Both the General
Sterling Price and General Sumter then began moving back downstream. By this
time the Carondelet and Mound City had entered into the fray, firing at both
retreating boats. Smoke became so dense it was hard to distinguish the boats.
Carondelet’s decks were hit by fire from the enemy ships below, as well as by grape
shot from the Pittsburg, who also had now joined the action and was firing over the
Carnodelet at the Rebel gunboats.
The General Van Dorn, who had been running to the rear of the General
Sterling Price and General Sumter, went at Mound City, who was firing broadsides
into them, as well as at the approaching General Van Dorn. Even as she was taking
broadsides from the Mound City, the General Van Dorn struck her a glancing blow,
gouging a four foot deep hole in her starboard forward quarter and tearing away
much of the bow. General Van Dorn remained stuck to Mound City as she attempted
to push her ashore. Captain Phelps maneuvered the Benton in between the General
Van Dorn and Mound City forcing the General Van Dorn to disengage before she
could drive the Mound City ashore. As the General Van Dorn moved away from
Mound City, the Benton fired the port 42 pound rifle into the General Van Dorn,
hitting her in a steam pipe or the boiler, resulting in a large explosion. Mound City
was run aground on a shoal to avoid sinking and was replaced in the action by the
newly arrived St. Louis. The General Van Dorn, still maneuverable, was now upriver
of four of the Union boats.
Downstream, the remaining Rebel boats were entering the fight (General M.
Jeff Thompson, Colonel Lovell, General Beauregard). The Cincinnati was sinking in 11
feet of water as the Carondelet passed her to fire on the retreating General Bragg,
General Sumter and General Price and the oncoming Confederate boats.
During all the action, the Little Rebel steamed around within the melee,
unharmed. As the oncoming Rebel ships began firing, Captain Montgomery, on the
Little Rebel, saw that the Union boats were moving into water too shallow for the his
boats to maneuver. Also, he realized he was outgunned both in caliber and number
by the Union fleet and concluded his flotilla had done much more damage to the
Union boats than his boats had received. He, therefore, ordered his boats to move
back downstream to the protection of Fort Pillow.
The Carondelet continued firing on the three down stream Rebel vessels. The
Benton came down to assist, but before she got into range, the Confederate boats
were under the protection of the guns from Fort Pillow. The Union ironclads
returned upstream, except for the Carondelet, who remained on guard duty near
Fort Pillow. The entire encounter lasted only an hour and 10 minutes, and was
indecisive in respect to its outcome. There were no more encounters between the
Union and Confederate fleets at Fort Pillow. The fort was abandoned on 4 June.
City of Memphis
The following river boats were engaged in the battle of the city of Memphis:
Union Ironclads:
USS Benton (Flotilla Flag ship), Lieutenant S. L. Phelps; Captain Charles H. Davis, Flag
Officer
USS Louisville, Commander Benjamin M. Dove
USS Carnodelet, Commander Henry Walke
USS Cairo, Lt. Commander N. C. Bryant
USS St. Louis, Lt. Commandeer Wilson McGunnegle
Union Rams:
USS Queen of the West (Ram Flag ship), Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr.
USS Monarch, Lt. Colonel Alfred W. Ellet
USS Switzerland, First Master David Millard
USS Lancaster (did not enter the battle)
Confederate Rams:
CSS Little Rebel (Flag ship), Captain J. E. Montgomery
CSS General Beauregard, Captain James Henry Hurt
CSS General Sterling Price, First Officer, J. E. Henthorne
CSS General M. Jeff. Thompson, Captain John H. Burke
CSS General Sumter, Captain W. W. Lamb
CSS General Van Dorn, Captain Issac D. Fulkerson
CSS Colonel Lovell, Captain James C. Delancy
On 5 June the Union ironclads left Fort Pillow to move down river toward
Memphis. On the way they encountered the Confederate steamer, Sovereign, which
was captured by Lieutenant Joshua Bishop commanding a small tug with a group of
army soldiers on board. The Union gunboats anchored at 8:00 PM at the lower end
of Island 45, about 1 ½ mile north of Memphis. The rams tied up for the night 18
miles above Memphis.
Queen of the West, flagship of the Union rams, and the other rams moved out
at daybreak on the 6th to join the rest of the fleet. When arriving at the anchorage of
the ironclads, they rounded to and made fast to the Arkansas side of the river.
Colonel Ellet intended to confer with Captain Davis in planning the next actions.
Only a few minutes after having secured to the shore, a shot from down river passed
over the Queen Of The West. Colonel Ellet saw eight Confederate rams arranging
themselves in battle formation in front of Memphis. The Queen Of The West cut her
moorings and moved out into the main channel. Colonel Ellet waved his hat to
signal the other rams to cast off and follow the Queen Of The West as she began
heading downstream. Colonel Ellet expected to be followed by the Monarch,
Lancaster and Switzerland in that order. As the Lancaster cast off to move out and
follow the Queen Of The West and Monarch, her pilot and officers became confused
and backed the boat ashore, disabling her rudder. Because of this, the Switzerland
who had been ordered to remain half a mile behind the Lancaster, was late in getting
underway. Had the officers acted responsibly, the Lancaster and Switzerland would
have gone into battle at the same time as had the Queen Of The West and Monarch.
The rest of the Union flotilla (Benton, Louisville, Carondelet, Cairo, and St.
Louis) prepared to get underway at 4:20 AM. As the Carondelet backed out from her
mooring she began firing at the Confederate boats with her stern gun. After about
15-20 minutes the rest of the flotilla moved out into the river, turned and began
moving downriver to intercept the Confederate fleet. As they moved downstream,
the ironclads targeted the Confederate boats with their bow guns, firing over Queen
Of The West and Monarch. The ironclads were restricted in the firing for fear of
hitting the their own boats as the Queen Of The West and Monarch closed in on the
Rebel boats.
The Rebel fleet began moving upstream at 4:50 AM, firing into the
approaching Union rams and gunboats. The Confederate rams, Colonel Lovell and
General Beauregard headed directly at Queen Of The West, with General Sterling
Price following in support. A bow-to-bow encounter appeared imminent. If such
occurred, both the Queen Of The West and the Rebel boat hitting her most likely
would be sunk immediately. Colonel Ellet could not decide which ram to attack.
Whichever of the leading two boats he attacked would leave him open to being
rammed by the other. And, there was General Sterling Price to consider, also. The
distance between the Rebel boats and the Queen Of The West closed rapidly.
Just before making contact, the commanders of the two front-running Rebel
boats, thinking the better, began to back water and to turn away, in so doing,
presenting their broadsides to an attack by Queen Of The West. The Colonel Lovell
attempted to fire a charge of grape shot at the Queen Of The West, but the charge fell
harmlessly in the water. Colonel Ellet directed the pilots to ram the Colonel Lovell,
hitting her just forward of the wheelhouse with a terrific force. Every thing loose on
the Queen Of The West, tables, pantry ware and half-eaten breakfasts were thrown
about the deck. The force of the ramming was so great that the hull of Colonel Lovell
was crushed in and her chimneys angled over as if they were going to fall on the
Queen Of The West. Many of the crew of the Colonel Lovell, sensing the boat did not
have long to stay afloat, jumped overboard. Approximately 18 of the 86 members of
the crew survived.
Queen Of The West also sustained serious damage from the ramming. Colonel
Lovell, which now was also taking hits from the approaching Union gunboats sank
within a few minutes. Less than 30 seconds from ramming the Colonel Lovell, and as
she was pulling her bow point out of the hull of the Colonel Lovell, Queen Of The West
was struck on her starboard side, apparently accidentally, by General Beauregard.
The Queen Of The West’s tiller rope was broken, her wheel crushed, and a portion of
the hull caved in. As Colonel Ellet left the pilothouse to go out on deck to check the
damage, he was hit in the leg by small arms fire from the General Beauregard.
By this time, the Monarch had passed the Queen Of The West, and was bearing
down on the General Sterling Price, but missed her. In a swirling confusing action,
much of which was enshrouded by smoke from the Union and Confederate boats,
the General Beauregard made a run at the faster, more maneuverable Monarch,
missing hitting her as she back paddled. Instead of the Monarch, General
Beauregard rammed into General Sterling Price, cutting her down to the water line
and tearing away the port wheel and wheel house. As General Sterling Price slowly
sank, her crew of 81 surrendered and were taken aboard the struggling Queen Of
The West. In backing off the General Sterliing Price, General Beauregard exposed her
broadside to the Monarch. The Benton, who had now arrived on the scene, fired a 42
pounder into the boiler of the General Beauregard, scalding 14 sailors and killing an
unknown number, following which she was rammed by the Monarch. The two
vessels hit so hard that numerous pieces of furniture from the General Beauregard
were thrown onto the deck of the Monarch. Monarch pulled back and rammed the
passing Little Rebel, who had just taken a shot into her boiler from the Benton,
putting her out of action. Monarch continued pushing the Little Rebel toward the
Arkansas shore, driving her up onto the bank. The crew of Little Rebel escaped on
land.
After the encounters with the Confederate boats, the Queen Of The West
worked herself to the Arkansas shore, without a rudder and with only one
functional wheel. Monarch, seeing the General Beauregard was sinking, took her in
tow and attempted to get her to the bank, but she sank before she reached the
shallow waters.
Captain Maynadier, commanding the mortar fleet and
accompanying the Squadron in a tugboat, took prisoner the crew from the General
Beauregard. By now the remaining Confederate boats had begun retreating back
downriver
Benton and the other ironclads, which had now come within range, continued
the attack on the retreating boats. General M. Jeff Thompson, was hit hard by cannon
fire, setting her ablaze. She was run aground, shortly thereafter blowing up in an
exceptionally large explosion that sank her. General Sumter likewise was hit by
cannon fire and disabled, followed by the General Bragg. General Sumter ran
aground, her crew escaping over land as the boat was captured by a Union boarding
party.
The Monarch and the Switzerland, which had now entered the battle, gave
chase to the one remaining Confederate boat, General Van Dorn, but she was able to
outrun both boats, escaping downstream. The battle had lasted only one hour and
30 minutes.
The only serious Union injury was a pistol shot to the leg of Colonel Ellet. He
was moved to the Switzerland, where remained in bed, taking reports from his
subordinates and reporting to his superiors until his condition worsened. The
Switzerland was sent north, to transport Colonel Ellet to Cairo for treatment of his
wound and to meet his wife and young daughter, who were to join him there.
Unfortunately, Colonel Ellet died on the 21st, as the Switzerland approached Cairo.
Confederate casualties were impossible to record as so many escaped over
land, never to be heard from again. Crude estimates suggest approximately 100
were killed or wounded and 150 captured.
Epilogue
Thus ended the major naval engagements of the Brown Water Fleets. The
Confederate River Defense fleet was so decimated during the engagement in the
river adjacent to Memphis, it never again was a major deterrent to the Union fleet.
Whereas, there were other encounters between Union and Confederate riverboats
during the rest of the war, most were very limited in scope, involving one or two
boats. Union boats, by and large, had their run of the Mississippi River as they were
utilized in the capture of Confederate strong points along the river.
Illustrations
USS Benton (Naval History & Heritage Command)
USS Benton (Naval History & Heritage Command)
USS Cairo (Vicksburg National Park)
USS Carondelet (Naval History & Heritage Command)
USS Carondelet, stern view (Naval History & Heritage Command)
USS Cincinnati (Library of Congress)
USS Louisville (Naval History & Heritage Command)
USS Louisville, bow view (Naval History & Heritage Command)
Mortar Boats (Archive Society)
USS Mound City (Naval History & Heritage Command)
USS Pittsburg (Naval History & Heritage Command)
USS Queen Of The West (Naval History & Heritage Command)
USS St. Louis (Middle boat; USS Cincinnati, upper right. (Naval History & Heritage
Command)
USS Switzerland (Naval History & Heritage Command)
CSS General Bragg (Naval History & Heritage Command)
CSS General Sterling Price (Book Sales)
Union Ram Fleet (Monarch in foreground, Queen Of The West behind her. Notice
bales of cotton up against the front of the pilot house to absorb enemy shells.
(Harper’s Weekly, Naval History & Heritage Command)
Fort Pillow engagement. Boats from left to right: Colonel Lovell; General Beauregard;
General Bragg; General Sumter; Cardonledet; Little Rebel; Cincinnati (in front of Little
Rebel); Mound City; Benton; St. Louis: tug boat; Pittsburg; Cairo (behind Pittsburg).
(U. S. Naval Institute Archives)
Memphis engagement: General Beauregard [center] being rammed by Monarch; to
the left are the disabled Queen Of The West, General Sterling Price and Little Rebel.
(Naval History & Heritage Command)
Charles H. Davis. He succeeded Commander Foote, who stepped down because of a
wound he received during the battle for Fort Henry, just before the battle for Fort
Pillow. (U. S. Naval Institute Archives)
Colonel Charles Ellet. Commander of the Union Ram Fleet at the battle of the city of
Memphis. He was wounded during the battle for the city of Memphis, dying shortly
thereafter. (Naval History & Heritage Command)
Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Ellet (Brigadier General in this photo). Brother of Colonel
Charles Ellet, commander of the Union ram fleet. Lt. Col. Ellet took command of the
rams when Col. Ellet was wounded at the battle of Memphis.
Andrew H. Foote. Commander Foote stepped down just before the battle for Fort
Pillow because of a wound received earlier during the battle for Fort Henry. (Naval
History & Heritage Command)
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