In 1852, the sidewheel steamerEd Howard was launched at New Albany, Indiana. She was 280 feet (85m) long and had a beam of 35 feet (11m),[1] along with a draft of less than 6 feet (2m).[2] She had a tonnage of 390 tons.[1][3] She was a packet steamer between Nashville, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and in accidental collisions sank the steamboats Henry Lewis and Swallow.[4] With the formation of the Confederate States of America and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the Confederacy began the task of creating a navy from scratch.[5] The Ed Howard was at New Orleans in 1861, and was purchased by the Confederate government,[1] for $8,000 by CommodoreGeorge N. Hollins. Confederate general Leonidas Polk desired the vessel for use on the upper reaches of the Mississippi River, and Ed Howard was in turned named General Polk after him. Polk requested and received the assignment of First Lieutenant Jonathan H. Carter to command of the vessel.[2] The vessel was also known solely as Polk.[3]
The work to convert General Polk from a civilian steamship into a warship took place at Algiers, Louisiana. Part of the labor requirements were met by leasing slave labor, and over $9,000 of materials were required to complete the conversion, which was slowed by the weather. The bow and stern of the ship were armored with iron bars.[6] A total of 77,305 pounds (35,065kg) of iron was ordered by Carter for use on General Polk. Part of her superstructure and passenger spaces were removed during the conversion. Carter wanted General Polk to be armed with true rifled cannon, but none were available so the Confederate authorities converted old smoothbore32-pounder guns into rifled pieces.[6] While her initial armament was two rifled 32-pounders and a smoothbore 32-pounder,[7] at various points during her military service, the armament varied between three and seven cannons.[3] Upon conversion, she had a draft of less than 4 feet (1.2m).[7] Between the cost of purchase, conversion, and repairs, General Polk cost the Confederacy $60,459.99.[8]General Polk was re-launched by the end of September and was commissioned on October 22.[7] On November 10 she left New Orleans for Columbus, Kentucky, which had been occuppied by Polk's Confederate army forces. She arrived there on November 20.[9] On November 10, General Polk, along with two other Confederate gunboats, met the approach of three Union vessels and followed them back towards Fort Holt. January 11, 1862, saw General Polk, the floating batteryCSS New Orleans, the army-operated gunboat CSS Grampus, and fourth vessel whose identity is not certain, skirmished with two Union ironclads in the Battle of Lucas Bend.[10]
In early March 1862, the Confederates abandoned Columbus. The naval forces at Columbus, under the command of Hollins, withdrew to New Madrid, Missouri.[11] Union troops captured Point Pleasant, Missouri, on March 6, and began establishing an artillery position there. General Polk and the gunboat CSS Pontchartrain fired on the position at Point Pleasant on March 7, but were unable to silence it. Further Confederate attempts to silence the guns through March 9 also failed.[12] On March 13, Union forces opened fire on the Confederate positions at New Madrid with heavy artillery. General Polk was struck by four shots, and the Confederates decided to withdraw.[13]General Polk and the gunboat CSS Livingston escorted a transport for the evacuation of one of the Confederate defensive positions, Fort Thompson.[14] On March 18, General Polk joined five other Confederate ships in a failed attempt to silence a Union battery that had taken up a position across the Mississippi River from Tiptonville, Tennessee, at Riddle's Point. General Polk was hit by a Union shot that passed all the way through the vessel, with the exit hole being below the waterline. The damage caused the ship to have to be withdrawn from the fighting.[15]
Map of the Island No. 10, New Madrid, and Point Pleasant areas
Hollins used his ships to transport supplies to the Confederate troops defending Island No. 10, even though the ships now had to pass the Union positions at Riddle's Point and Point Pleasant.[16] Early on the morning of April 8, the Confederates surrendered Island No. 10, and the Confederate fleet withdrew to Fort Pillow in Tennessee.[17] Hollins received information on April 9 that New Orleans was threatened, and he left for that city. First Lieutenant Thomas Huger commanded the Confederate vessels until Commander Robert Pickney could arrive. On April 12, Huger led an abortive attack against the Union fleet near Fort Pillow. The attempt was made by General Polk, three vessels of the River Defense Fleet, and four other Confederate gunboats.[18] While in the Fort Pillow area, General Polk's guns were offloaded for use in Fort Randolph.[19] Pickney took command later that month,[3] and General Polk and Livingston were sent down to Memphis, Tennessee, for refitting.[20]
The fall of Corinth, Mississippi, led the Confederates to abandon Fort Pillow in early June, and Pickney ordered the Confederate warships to scatter into the various tributaries of the Mississippi River.[21] Only two of General Polk's guns at Fort Randolph were retrieved before the evacuation of the area.[19]General Polk and Livingston ended up on the Yazoo River, where they were joined by the cottoncladCSS General Earl Van Dorn, the only River Defense Fleet ship to survive the First Battle of Memphis in Confederate hands.[22] The three vessels defended the Yazoo River at Liverpool Landing, Mississippi, while the ironclad CSS Arkansas was being completed upriver.[19]General Polk's two guns were again offloaded and emplaced in a shore position. On June 26, two Union ships moved up the Yazoo River. Pickney ordered General Polk, General Earl Van Dorn, and Livingston burned to prevent them from falling into Union hands. Arkansas was on a test run down the Yazoo River when the burning occurred, but by the time the ironclad arrived, the vessels had been destroyed.[23] The wreck was removed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1878 and 1879.[24]
Canney, Donald L. (2015). The Confederate Steam Navy 1861–1865. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer. ISBN978-0-7643-4824-2.
Chatelain, Neil P. (2020). Defending the Arteries of Rebellion: Confederate Naval Operations in the Mississippi River Valley, 1861–1865. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie. ISBN978-1-61121-510-6.
CSS Arkansas was the lead ship of her class of two casemate ironclads built for the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Completed in 1862, she saw combat in the Western Theater when she steamed through a United States Navy fleet at Vicksburg in July. Arkansas was set on fire and destroyed by her crew after her engines broke down several weeks later. Her remains lie under a levee above Baton Rouge, Louisiana at 30°29′14″N91°12′5″W.
The Battle of Island Number Ten was an engagement at the New Madrid or Kentucky Bend on the Mississippi River – forming the border between Missouri and Tennessee – during the American Civil War, lasting from February 28 to April 8, 1862. Island Number Ten, a small island at the (Tennessee) base of a tight double turn in the river, was held by the Confederates from the early days of the war. It was an excellent site to impede Union efforts to invade the South by the river, as ships had to approach the island bows on and then slow to make the turns. For the defenders, however, it had an innate weakness in that it depended on a single road for supplies and reinforcements. If an enemy force managed to cut that road, the garrison would be isolated and eventually be forced to surrender.
CSS Oregon was a wooden sidewheel steamer that served as a gunboat in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Built in 1846 for the Mobile Mail Line, she transported mail between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, before the war. In 1861, she was seized by the Governor of Louisiana, Thomas Overton Moore, and served as a blockade runner before being selected for use by the Confederate Army. After transferring men and supplies to Ship Island, she was formally converted into a gunboat and armed with four cannon. Remaining behind on Lake Pontchartrain when many Confederate warships were transferred up the Mississippi River, Oregon served in the Mississippi Sound and Pass Christian areas. She took part in several minor actions involving USS New London, two of which resulted in the Confederates moving into shallow water to avoid close-range action, and the third ending when the Confederate ships abandoned the Pass Christian area. In April 1862, Union pressure confined her and other Confederate ships to Lake Pontchartrain. Later that month, with Union forces closing in on New Orleans, Oregon was sunk as a blockship. Her wreck was removed and destroyed in the early 1870s.
USS Varuna was a screw steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Under construction in 1861, she was purchased incomplete on 31 December. After being commissioned in February 1862, she traveled to join the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. Varuna was present when Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut led an attack against Confederate positions at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip on 24 April. During the action, Varuna ran ahead of the other Union ships, and was engaged in a chase with the Louisiana gunboat Governor Moore. After closing in on the Union ship, Governor Moore rammed Varuna twice, with the gunboat CSS Stonewall Jackson adding a third blow. Varuna sank within 15 minutes, but Farragut was able to capture the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Laurent Millaudon was a wooden side-wheel river steamboat launched at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1856 operating in the New Orleans, Louisiana, area, and captained by W. S. Whann. At the beginning of the American Civil War she was taken into service by the Confederate Navy as CSS General Sterling Price. On 6 June 1862, she was sunk at the First Battle of Memphis. She was raised and repaired by the Union army, and on 16 June 1862 was moved into Union service as USS General Price and served until the end of the war.
The Battle of Plum Point Bend took place on the Mississippi River in Tennessee, U.S., between ships of the Confederate River Defense Fleet and the Union Western Flotilla on May 10, 1862. Fighting for control of the Mississippi River had been ongoing since the prior year, and Union forces had pushed downriver to Fort Pillow, which was 50 miles (80 km) on the river north of Memphis, Tennessee. The Union had been using mortar boats to bombard Fort Pillow, and had settled into a regular routine. Each day, a single mortar boat guarded by an ironclad took a position further downriver to bombard the fort, while the rest of the fleet remained upriver. On the morning of May 10, the Confederates attacked, in the hope of capturing the guard ironclad and then surprising the rest of the Union fleet.
USS Monarch was a United States Army sidewheel ram that saw service in the American Civil War as part of the United States Ram Fleet and the Mississippi Marine Brigade. She operated on the Mississippi River and Yazoo River during 1862 and 1863.
The battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip was the decisive battle for possession of New Orleans in the American Civil War. The two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River south of the city were attacked by a Union Navy fleet. As long as the forts could keep the Federal forces from moving on the city, it was safe, but if they fell or were bypassed, there were no fall-back positions to impede the Union advance.
USS General Bragg was a heavy (1,043-ton) steamer captured by Union Navy forces during the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a U.S. Navy gunboat and was assigned to enforce the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
CSS General Earl Van Dorn was a cottonclad warship used by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. General Earl Van Dorn was purchased for Confederate service at New Orleans, Louisiana, in early 1862 for service with the River Defense Fleet. Her conversion into a cottonclad warship involved installing an iron-covered framework of timbers to her bow to serve as a ram, and protecting her machinery with timber bulkheads packed with cotton. General Earl Van Dorn left New Orleans in late March 1862 and arrived at Memphis, Tennessee, early the next month. On May 10, she fought with the River Defense Fleet against the Union Navy in the Battle of Plum Point Bend, where she rammed and sank the ironclad USS Mound City. On June 6, General Earl Van Dorn was the only vessel of the River Defense Fleet to escape destruction or capture at the First Battle of Memphis. After withdrawing up the Yazoo River to Liverpool Landing, Mississippi, General Earl Van Dorn was burnt by the Confederates along with two other Confederate ships to prevent their capture by approaching Union vessels.
CSS New Orleans was a floating battery used by the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Converted from a floating drydock in 1861, she was commissioned on October 14, 1861. The vessel was unable to move under her own power and lacked facilities for her crew to live aboard, so CSS Red Rover was used to move the floating battery and house her crew. She was then sent upriver to assist in the Confederate defense of Columbus, Kentucky, arriving there in December. After the Confederates abandoned Columbus in March 1862, New Orleans was moved to Island No. 10 near New Madrid, Missouri. The Confederate defenders of Island No. 10 surrendered on April 8, and New Orleans was scuttled that day. Not fully sunk, the floating battery drifted downriver to the New Madrid area, where it was captured by Union forces. In Union hands, New Orleans was used as a floating drydock until the Confederates burned her in August or September 1863.
CSS General M. Jeff Thompson was a warship which served in the River Defense Fleet of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Purchased in January 1862, the vessel was operated by the Confederate States Army and named after M. Jeff Thompson, an officer in the Missouri State Guard. She was equipped with a ram and armored as a cottonclad. General M. Jeff Thompson participated in the Battle of Plum Point Bend in May 1862, before being sunk on June 6 in the First Battle of Memphis. Her wreck remained on the floor of the Mississippi River until it was removed by a snagboat in July 1867; it had caused a shipwreck about six months earlier when another vessel struck it.
CSS Ivy was a sidewheel steamer and privateer purchased by Commodore Lawrence Rousseau for service with the Confederate States Navy, and chosen by Commodore George Hollins for his Mosquito Fleet. The Mosquito Fleet was a group of riverboats converted to gunboats, and used to defend the Mississippi River in the area of New Orleans during the American Civil War.
The Battle of Lucas Bend took place on January 11, 1862, near Lucas Bend, four miles north of Columbus on Mississippi River in Kentucky as it lay at the time of the American Civil War. In the network of the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio rivers, the Union river gunboats under Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote and General Ulysses S. Grant sought to infiltrate and attack the Confederate positions in Tennessee. On the day of the battle, the Union ironclads Essex and St Louis, transporting troops down the Mississippi in fog, engaged the Confederate cotton clad warships General Polk, Ivy and Jackson and the gun platform New Orleans at a curve known as Lucas Bend in Kentucky. The Essex, under Commander William D. Porter, and the St Louis forced the Confederate ships to fall back after an hour of skirmishing during which the Union commander was wounded. They retreated to the safety of a nearby Confederate battery at Columbus, where the Union vessels could not follow.
CSS Pickens was a Cushing-class schooner revenue cutter that saw service in the navies of the United States and Confederate States of America. Built as Robert McClelland in Somerset, Massachusetts, in 1853, she served along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas before transferring her crew and officers to USRC Washington in 1859 and heading to New York for repairs. In 1860, Robert McClelland reported to South West Pass, Mississippi, and was permanently assigned to New Orleans, Louisiana, later that year. After the 1861 secession of Louisiana, her commander turned her over to the state. She entered Confederate service on February 18 and was renamed Pickens. Pickens played a minor role in the Battle of the Head of Passes before being burned to prevent its capture on April 25, 1862, after Union Navy forces entered New Orleans.
CSS Tuscarora was a sidewheel steamer that briefly served as a gunboat in the Confederate States Navy at the beginning of the American Civil War. She was about 100 feet (30 m) long, displaced 400 short tons, and was manned by a 25-man crew. The vessel was purchased in 1861 from the Southern Steamship Company by Confederate authorities in New Orleans, Louisiana. Armed with two cannons, Tuscarora was engaged in the Battle of the Head of Passes on October 12, 1861. Ordered up the Mississippi River to Columbus, Kentucky, in November, she was destroyed on November 23, 1861, when a fire of unknown origin started in her boilers and spread to the ship's munitions.
CSS Maurepas was a sidewheel steamer that briefly served as a gunboat in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Built in 1858 in Indiana as Grosse Tete, the vessel was used in commercial trade until 1860 and then delivered mail until 1861, when she was acquired by the Confederate Navy.
CSS Carondelet was a sidewheel steamer that served in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Construction for the vessel started in 1861, and she was launched on January 25, 1862, and commissioned on March 16. Her sister ship was CSS Bienville. On April 4, Carondelet, along with CSS Oregon and CSS Pamlico, took part in a small naval action near Pass Christian against USS New London, USS John P. Jackson, and the troop transport USS Henry Lewis. Carondelet suffered damage to her wheel during the fight, and likely fired the only two shots that struck John P. Jackson. Later that month, with the Confederates abandoning New Orleans, Louisiana, Carondelet was scuttled by her crew in either Lake Pontchartrain, the Tchefuncte River, or the Bogue Falaya River.
CSS Pamlico was a sidewheel steamer that served in the Confederate States Navy during the early stages of the American Civil War. Originally a passenger vessel on Lake Pontchartrain, she was purchased by Confederate authorities on July 10, 1861, and converted into a gunboat. She participated in two minor naval actions in the vicinities of Horn Island and Ship Island in December, before taking part in two more small battles defending the Pass Christian area in March and April 1862. In late April, Union Navy ships passed the defenses of New Orleans, Louisiana. After ferrying Confederate troops out of the city, Pamlico was burned by her crew on Lake Pontchartrain on April 25 to prevent capture.
CSS Pontchartrain was a gunboat that served in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Built in 1859 for passenger and cotton trade, she was purchased by the Confederates in October 1862. After seeing action against Union land positions during the campaigns for New Madrid, Missouri, and Island Number Ten, she was transferred to serve on the Arkansas River and the White River. In June 1862, two of her cannons were taken to a land fortification at St. Charles, Arkansas, where part of her crew saw action in the Battle of St. Charles while manning the guns. Her other cannons were then offloaded at Fort Hindman, where more of her crew were captured while fighting on land at the Battle of Arkansas Post in January 1863. Pontchartrain herself remained inactive at Little Rock, Arkansas, and was burned to prevent capture in September 1863 when the Confederates evacuated the city.
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