Downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Naval Battle of Memphis, 1862
Photographed By Don Morfe, April 20, 2014
1. Naval Battle of Memphis, 1862 Marker
Inscription.
Naval Battle of Memphis, 1862. . Atop these bluffs in the early morning hours of June 6, 1862, the citizens of Memphis gathered in excited anticipation as the Confederate River Defense Fleet steamed out into the Mississippi to meet the descending Union Gunboat Fleet. The “cotton-clad” Confederate fleet, under the command of Captain James E. Montgomery, was comprised of 8 converted wooden paddlewheel steamboats (Little Rebel, Colonel Lovell, Sumter, General Price, General Beauregard, General M. Jeff Thompson, General Bragg, and General Van Dorn), and was armed with a total of 18 cannon and protected by ‘armor’ of cotton bales and oak planking. The Union fleet (Carondelet, Benton, Cairo, Cincinnati, Louisville, Mound City, Pittsburg, and St. Louis), commanded by Commodore Charles Henry Davis, carried 79 cannon and was clad with iron plating. These ships were followed by nine new unarmed “Ellet” rams., At approximately 5:30 a.m. the fleets engaged in a fierce long-range cannon duel, fighting for 90 minutes with little effect. Suddenly two unarmed Union rams darted through the smoke and joined the action. The Queen of the West immediately sank the Colonel Lovell but was rammed by the Beauregard. The Monarch damaged other vessels, while the ironclads closed to a deadly range. The citizens' exuberance turned to gloom as, one after another, the outgunned Confederate ships were knocked out of action. The raging battle wound to a close with three “cottonclads” sunk, three grounded, one captured, and one escaped. On the Union side, one ram was run aground and another heavily damaged, the rest of the fleet suffered damage but all other ships remained afloat. Charles Ellet, Jr., the designer and commander of the Union Ram Fleet, was the only Union casualty, dying a few days later from a marksman’s gunshot wound., , The City of Memphis, with Confederate troops having previously been ordered away to Corinth, Mississippi, was now defenseless, and U.S. marines were sent ashore to occupy the city. Mayor John Park refused to surrender but conceded that he was powerless to prevent the city’s fall., The loss of Memphis, the Confederacy’s fifth-largest city, home of a naval manufacturing yard, and a key Southern industrial center, now opened up the Mississippi River to Union invasion all the way south to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and opened West Tennessee to occupation., (captions) , (left: top to bottom) United States of America 34-star 1862 National Flag; USS Carondelet 542-ton Cairo-class ironclad river gunboat, Armed with 13 cannon, 251 officers and men; “Colonel Ellet’s Ram Fleet, 1862” Line engraving published in Harper’s Weekly , (right: top to bottom) Confederate States of America First National Flag; CSS General Beauregard (right) is struck by the ram Monarch (with “M” on smokestacks, partially hidden by the Beauregard); CSS General Sterling Price Notice the aft deck gun. Damaged and sunk in shallow water during the battle. Later raised by U.S. forces, repaired and renamed USS General Price.
Atop these bluffs in the early morning hours of June 6, 1862, the citizens of Memphis gathered in excited anticipation as the Confederate River Defense Fleet steamed out into the Mississippi to meet the descending Union Gunboat Fleet. The “cotton-clad” Confederate fleet, under the command of Captain James E. Montgomery, was comprised of 8 converted wooden paddlewheel steamboats (Little Rebel, Colonel Lovell, Sumter, General Price, General Beauregard, General M. Jeff Thompson, General Bragg, and General Van Dorn), and was armed with a total of 18 cannon and protected by ‘armor’ of cotton bales and oak planking. The Union fleet (Carondelet, Benton, Cairo, Cincinnati, Louisville, Mound City, Pittsburg, and St. Louis), commanded by Commodore Charles Henry Davis, carried 79 cannon and was clad with iron plating. These ships were followed by nine new unarmed “Ellet” rams.
At approximately 5:30 a.m. the fleets engaged in a fierce long-range cannon duel, fighting for 90 minutes with little effect. Suddenly two unarmed Union rams darted through the smoke and joined the action. The Queen of the West immediately sank the Colonel Lovell but was rammed by the Beauregard. The Monarch damaged other vessels, while the ironclads closed to a deadly range. The citizens'
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exuberance turned to gloom as, one after another, the outgunned Confederate ships were knocked out of action. The raging battle wound to a close with three “cottonclads” sunk, three grounded, one captured, and one escaped. On the Union side, one ram was run aground and another heavily damaged, the rest of the fleet suffered damage but all other ships remained afloat. Charles Ellet, Jr., the designer and commander of the Union Ram Fleet, was the only Union casualty, dying a few days later from a marksman’s gunshot wound.
The City of Memphis, with Confederate troops having previously been ordered away to Corinth, Mississippi, was now defenseless, and U.S. marines were sent ashore to occupy the city. Mayor John Park refused to surrender but conceded that he was powerless to prevent the city’s fall.
The loss of Memphis, the Confederacy’s fifth-largest city, home of a naval manufacturing yard, and a key Southern industrial center, now opened up the Mississippi River to Union invasion all the way south to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and opened West Tennessee to occupation.
(captions)
(left: top to bottom) United States of America 34-star 1862 National Flag; USS Carondelet 542-ton Cairo-class ironclad river gunboat, Armed with 13 cannon, 251 officers and men; “Colonel Ellet’s Ram Fleet, 1862” Line engraving
Photographed By Don Morfe, April 20, 2014
2. Naval Battle of Memphis, 1862 Marker
published in Harper’s Weekly
(right: top to bottom) Confederate States of America First National Flag; CSS General Beauregard (right) is struck by the ram Monarch (with “M” on smokestacks, partially hidden by the Beauregard); CSS General Sterling Price Notice the aft deck gun. Damaged and sunk in shallow water during the battle. Later raised by U.S. forces, repaired and renamed USS General Price.
Erected 2008 by West Tennessee Historical Society, Forrest Historical Society, Sons of Confederate Veterans, N. B. Forrest Camp 215 and Shelby County Historical Commission.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: War, US Civil • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical date for this entry is June 6, 1885.
Location. 35° 8.802′ N, 90° 3.264′ W. Marker is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It is in Downtown Memphis. Marker is on North Front Street south of Jefferson Avenue, on the left when traveling north. The marker is located in Confederate Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Memphis TN 38103, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Also see . . . First Battle of Memphis. (Submitted on March 27, 2024, by Mike McKeown of Baltimore, Maryland.)
Credits. This page was last revised on March 27, 2024. It was originally submitted on June 24, 2014, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,068 times since then and 99 times this year. Last updated on April 12, 2018, by T. Patton of Jefferson, Georgia. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on June 24, 2014, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.