Battle of Lucas Bend
Encyclopedia
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 timberclad warships General Polk
, Ivy
and Jackson
towing the gun platform New Orleans
at a curve known as Lucas Bend in Kentucky. The Essex, under Commander David 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.
The battle marked one of the first occasions where timberclad warships were convincingly outclassed by the newer ironclad warships, and it would be one of the last naval engagements to see timberclad warships perform a major role.
The USS Essex had been constructed in 1856. She was a 1000-ton river gunboat, converted from her original role as a timberclad ferry named New Era. She was armed with one 32-pounder cannon, three 11 inches (279.4 mm) Dahlgren smooth bores
, one 10 inches (254 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore and a 12-pounder howitzer
. The USS St Louis was a City class ironclad
built in 1861 at Carondelet, Missouri. She was armed with three 8-inch smoothbores, four 42-pounder rifles, six 32-pounder rifles and one 12-pounder rifle at the time of her service at Lucas Bend. Both ships were sent to Cairo, Illinois
, early in the Civil War as part of troop transports moving the army into Tennessee
. Illinois
, a Union state which contributed 250,000 men to the Union Army
, a figure surpassed by only New York
, Pennsylvania
, and Ohio
, was a key theater. Cairo, at the confluence between the Mississippi and Ohio river
s, was a key supply point and headquarters for Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote
and General Ulysses S. Grant
. It was defended by Fort Defiance
. The complex river network provided routes for the Union gunboats into the heart of the Confederate forces; however the water levels – particularly in the Tennessee river – were often not sufficient for gunboats to pass.
The Confederate Ivy
was launched in 1845 as a privately owned commercial vessel originally named Roger Williams, and later the El-Paraguay. Originally based in New Orleans following her commission in 1861, she was armed with one 8 inches (203.2 mm) smoothbore cannon and one 32-pounder rifle. The CSS Jackson
was another privately owned vessel built in 1849 before being acquired in May 1861 by the Confederacy and commissioned into active service in June. She was armed with two 32-pounder guns, and was ordered to Columbus on June 6, 1861, to join Hollins in the defence of the Mississippi river. She had already seen action against the USS Conestoga
on the river. The floating battery New Orleans
had been towed up from her namesake city in Louisiana
. Lastly, the General Polk
was a former side-wheel river steamer named either Ed Howard or Howard. She was built in 1852, and the Confederacy bought her in 1861. She was the vessel from which Hollins commanded the Confederates during the battle, and was known casually as the "Polk".
The Union vessels arrived in October 1861, venturing up the Cumberland River
, a tributary of the Ohio, on October 30. The Essex underwent her conversion to a partly-ironclad warship in nearby dockyards. Over several weeks between December and January, the Union ships had regularly sailed towards the Confederates on the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Rivers in order to provoke an engagement, to be frustrated by blank-cartridge shots from the latter's cannons, the Confederates being reluctant to be drawn into a full engagement. On the evening of January 10, the Union forces in Kentucky having just defeated their opponents at the Battle of Middle Creek
, the Essex and the St Louis moved off in heavy fog from the ferry landings at Cairo in convoy escorting troop transports carrying Brigadier General John Alexander McClernand
's brigade. Their path was blocked for part of the night by a steamer which had run aground north of Cairo, and by Cmdr. David D. Porter moving off-route to investigate two suspicious, but later revealed to be legitimate, boats moored on the riverside.
Having sighted the Confederate vessels early in the morning of January 11, the Essexs commander Porter beat to quarters at 10:00 that morning, and sailed under the cover of fog towards the enemy ships and engaged near Lucas Bend. Lucas Bend was simply a bend or meander
in the Mississippi River roughly four miles north of Columbus and seven miles west of Arlington, Kentucky
. Since the time of the Civil War the Army Corps of Engineers cut off many of the bends, including Lucas Bend, to straighten the river and prevent flooding. The historical location of these bends is often marked by state boundaries, which sometimes appear to be land boundaries on the "wrong" side of the river. Thus, today, Lucas Bend consists of an area of Kentucky which lies on the "wrong side" of the present-day main course of the river. In 1862, it was a bend in the river incorporating the state line.
The enemy consisted of three vessels, the General Polk, Ivy and Jackson – vessels that Porter was aware of from a previous engagement in December – as well as several smaller boats pulling the New Orleans, a floating battery
. Commanding officers in nearby Cairo dispatched the Tyler, carrying Foote, to assist. Until around 11:00 hours, the two ships fought a "running battle" that was "brisk on both sides" according to Porter.
At Columbus
, there was a Confederate battalion, to which the Confederate ships fell back, forcing the Union vessels to call off their pursuit. Porter and his men were under standing orders not to engage the Confederate guns, though Porter had himself long desired a decisive victory since he assumed command of the New Era. The troops at the battery, having heard the battle, were under fear of immediate land attack by Union troops.
Foote, in the Tyler, chose not to proceed to Porter's location, and was instead diverted by McClernand, who had captured a prisoner. Porter instead loitered around the Confederate positions, and spotted a pair of buoys in the water. Following a musket shot which sunk one of them, the other was hauled aboard and examined. Porter concluded that they either marked locations of Confederate submarine batteries or indicated a safe pathway through enemy minefields. It was sent for later examination onshore.
The inferiority of the timberclad vessels to the ironclad warships was ever more apparent following the battle, particularly their lack of a stern gun. Following the incident, one of each of the three Confederate vessels' cannons were moved to point aft. The Lucas Bend engagement would nevertheless be among the last engagements of the Civil War to see timberclad vessels fulfil anything more than a supporting role for either side. The Essex and St Louis would go on to join Admiral Foote's squadron to capture Fort Henry
on February 6. The New Orleans would be scuttled in April.
Columbus, Kentucky
Columbus is a city in Hickman County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 229 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbus is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
on Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
as it lay at the time of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In the network of the Mississippi, Tennessee
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
and Ohio
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
rivers, the Union river gunboats under Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote
Andrew Hull Foote
Andrew Hull Foote was an American naval officer who was noted for his service in the American Civil War and also for his contributions to several naval reforms in the years prior to the war. When the war came, he was appointed to command of the Western Gunboat Flotilla, predecessor of the...
and General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
sought to infiltrate and attack the Confederate positions in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. On the day of the battle, the Union ironclads Essex
USS Essex (1856)
USS Essex was a 1000-ton ironclad river gunboat of the United States Army and later United States Navy during the American Civil War. It was named for Essex County, Massachusetts...
and St Louis
USS Baron DeKalb (1861)
USS Baron DeKalb was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the Union Navy by James B. Eads during the American Civil War....
, transporting troops down the Mississippi in fog, engaged the Confederate timberclad warships General Polk
CSS General Polk
The CSS General Polk was a vessel of the Confederate navy during the American Civil War. Originally a side-wheel river steamer built in 1852 named either Ed Howard or merely Howard, she was purchased for $8,000 by the Confederacy in 1861 and outfitted for service as a timberclad river gunboat....
, Ivy
CSS Ivy
CSS Ivy was a sidewheel steamer and privateer purchased by Commodore Lawrence Rousseau for service with the Confederate Navy, and chosen by Commodore George Hollins for his Mosquito Fleet...
and Jackson
CSS Jackson
CSS Jackson was a gunboat of the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War.Built at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849 as Yankee, the fast side-wheel river tug was purchased at New Orleans on 9 May 1861 by Capt. L. Rousseau, CSN, then strengthened and fitted for service in the Confederate Navy, and...
towing the gun platform New Orleans
CSS New Orleans
CSS New Orleans was a floating battery fitted out at New Orleans, Louisiana in 1861. The craft featured two small boilers with pump connections for repelling boarders by drenching them with scalding water from her hoses. She was deployed under Lt. S. W. Averett, CSN, in the Mississippi River in...
at a curve known as Lucas Bend in Kentucky. The Essex, under Commander David 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
Columbus, Kentucky
Columbus is a city in Hickman County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 229 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbus is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, where the Union vessels could not follow.
The battle marked one of the first occasions where timberclad warships were convincingly outclassed by the newer ironclad warships, and it would be one of the last naval engagements to see timberclad warships perform a major role.
Prelude
Dahlgren gun
Dahlgren guns were muzzle loading naval artillery designed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren USN, mostly used in the period of the American Civil War. Dahlgren's design philosophy evolved from an accidental explosion in 1849 of a 32-pounder being tested for accuracy, killing a gunner...
, one 10 inches (254 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore and a 12-pounder howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
. The USS St Louis was a City class ironclad
City class ironclad
The Pook Turtles, or City class gunboats to use their semi-official name, were war vessels intended for service on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. They were also sometimes referred to as "Eads gunboats." The labels are applied to seven vessels of uniform design built from...
built in 1861 at Carondelet, Missouri. She was armed with three 8-inch smoothbores, four 42-pounder rifles, six 32-pounder rifles and one 12-pounder rifle at the time of her service at Lucas Bend. Both ships were sent to Cairo, Illinois
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...
, early in the Civil War as part of troop transports moving the army into Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, a Union state which contributed 250,000 men to the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
, a figure surpassed by only New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, was a key theater. Cairo, at the confluence between the Mississippi and Ohio river
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
s, was a key supply point and headquarters for Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote
Andrew Hull Foote
Andrew Hull Foote was an American naval officer who was noted for his service in the American Civil War and also for his contributions to several naval reforms in the years prior to the war. When the war came, he was appointed to command of the Western Gunboat Flotilla, predecessor of the...
and General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
. It was defended by Fort Defiance
Fort Defiance (Illinois)
Fort Defiance, known as Camp Defiance during the American Civil War, is a former military fortification located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers near Cairo in Alexander County, Illinois. The strategic significance of the site has been known since prehistoric times with...
. The complex river network provided routes for the Union gunboats into the heart of the Confederate forces; however the water levels – particularly in the Tennessee river – were often not sufficient for gunboats to pass.
The Confederate Ivy
CSS Ivy
CSS Ivy was a sidewheel steamer and privateer purchased by Commodore Lawrence Rousseau for service with the Confederate Navy, and chosen by Commodore George Hollins for his Mosquito Fleet...
was launched in 1845 as a privately owned commercial vessel originally named Roger Williams, and later the El-Paraguay. Originally based in New Orleans following her commission in 1861, she was armed with one 8 inches (203.2 mm) smoothbore cannon and one 32-pounder rifle. The CSS Jackson
CSS Jackson
CSS Jackson was a gunboat of the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War.Built at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849 as Yankee, the fast side-wheel river tug was purchased at New Orleans on 9 May 1861 by Capt. L. Rousseau, CSN, then strengthened and fitted for service in the Confederate Navy, and...
was another privately owned vessel built in 1849 before being acquired in May 1861 by the Confederacy and commissioned into active service in June. She was armed with two 32-pounder guns, and was ordered to Columbus on June 6, 1861, to join Hollins in the defence of the Mississippi river. She had already seen action against the USS Conestoga
USS Conestoga (1861)
USS Conestoga was originally a civilian side-wheel towboat built at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, in 1859. She was acquired by the U.S. Army in June 1861 and converted to a 572 ton "timberclad" river gunboat for use by the Western Gunboat Flotilla, with officers provided by the Navy.-Civil War...
on the river. The floating battery New Orleans
CSS New Orleans
CSS New Orleans was a floating battery fitted out at New Orleans, Louisiana in 1861. The craft featured two small boilers with pump connections for repelling boarders by drenching them with scalding water from her hoses. She was deployed under Lt. S. W. Averett, CSN, in the Mississippi River in...
had been towed up from her namesake city in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Lastly, the General Polk
CSS General Polk
The CSS General Polk was a vessel of the Confederate navy during the American Civil War. Originally a side-wheel river steamer built in 1852 named either Ed Howard or merely Howard, she was purchased for $8,000 by the Confederacy in 1861 and outfitted for service as a timberclad river gunboat....
was a former side-wheel river steamer named either Ed Howard or Howard. She was built in 1852, and the Confederacy bought her in 1861. She was the vessel from which Hollins commanded the Confederates during the battle, and was known casually as the "Polk".
The Union vessels arrived in October 1861, venturing up the Cumberland River
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
, a tributary of the Ohio, on October 30. The Essex underwent her conversion to a partly-ironclad warship in nearby dockyards. Over several weeks between December and January, the Union ships had regularly sailed towards the Confederates on the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Rivers in order to provoke an engagement, to be frustrated by blank-cartridge shots from the latter's cannons, the Confederates being reluctant to be drawn into a full engagement. On the evening of January 10, the Union forces in Kentucky having just defeated their opponents at the Battle of Middle Creek
Battle of Middle Creek
The Battle of Middle Creek was an engagement fought January 10, 1862, in Eastern Kentucky during the American Civil War. The battle, along with the Battle of Mill Springs, positioned the Union armies to invade Middle Tennessee....
, the Essex and the St Louis moved off in heavy fog from the ferry landings at Cairo in convoy escorting troop transports carrying Brigadier General John Alexander McClernand
John Alexander McClernand
John Alexander McClernand was an American lawyer and politician, and a Union general in the American Civil War. He was a classic case of the politician-in-uniform coming into conflict with career Army officers, graduates of the United States Military Academy. He was a prominent Democratic...
's brigade. Their path was blocked for part of the night by a steamer which had run aground north of Cairo, and by Cmdr. David D. Porter moving off-route to investigate two suspicious, but later revealed to be legitimate, boats moored on the riverside.
Sighting and engagement
Meander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
in the Mississippi River roughly four miles north of Columbus and seven miles west of Arlington, Kentucky
Arlington, Kentucky
Arlington is a city in Carlisle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 395 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Arlington is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:...
. Since the time of the Civil War the Army Corps of Engineers cut off many of the bends, including Lucas Bend, to straighten the river and prevent flooding. The historical location of these bends is often marked by state boundaries, which sometimes appear to be land boundaries on the "wrong" side of the river. Thus, today, Lucas Bend consists of an area of Kentucky which lies on the "wrong side" of the present-day main course of the river. In 1862, it was a bend in the river incorporating the state line.
The enemy consisted of three vessels, the General Polk, Ivy and Jackson – vessels that Porter was aware of from a previous engagement in December – as well as several smaller boats pulling the New Orleans, a floating battery
Floating battery
A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries a heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship.An early appearance was during the Great Siege of Gibraltar....
. Commanding officers in nearby Cairo dispatched the Tyler, carrying Foote, to assist. Until around 11:00 hours, the two ships fought a "running battle" that was "brisk on both sides" according to Porter.
At Columbus
Columbus, Kentucky
Columbus is a city in Hickman County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 229 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbus is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, there was a Confederate battalion, to which the Confederate ships fell back, forcing the Union vessels to call off their pursuit. Porter and his men were under standing orders not to engage the Confederate guns, though Porter had himself long desired a decisive victory since he assumed command of the New Era. The troops at the battery, having heard the battle, were under fear of immediate land attack by Union troops.
Foote, in the Tyler, chose not to proceed to Porter's location, and was instead diverted by McClernand, who had captured a prisoner. Porter instead loitered around the Confederate positions, and spotted a pair of buoys in the water. Following a musket shot which sunk one of them, the other was hauled aboard and examined. Porter concluded that they either marked locations of Confederate submarine batteries or indicated a safe pathway through enemy minefields. It was sent for later examination onshore.
Aftermath
After having reluctantly given up the chase, the Essex and the St Louis returned to Cairo to replenish and begin ammunition runs, and were relieved by two other vessels which took up guarding Fort Holt. In the days following, Porter used a buoy to float towards the Confederate positions a challenge: "Hollins: Why don't you accursed, cowardly rebels bring out your gunboats and fight us. Porter." Confederate Captain Miller sent his reply in the same medium: "Sir: The ironclad steamer Grampus will meet the Essex at any point and time your Honor may appoint and show you that the power is in our hands. An early reply will be agreeable." The ships would meet in the coming weeks, however the Confederate vessels proved speedier than the Union ironclads. Porter's later account of the engagement was syndicated in the New York Times, where it was well received for their "lucid and graphic manner".The inferiority of the timberclad vessels to the ironclad warships was ever more apparent following the battle, particularly their lack of a stern gun. Following the incident, one of each of the three Confederate vessels' cannons were moved to point aft. The Lucas Bend engagement would nevertheless be among the last engagements of the Civil War to see timberclad vessels fulfil anything more than a supporting role for either side. The Essex and St Louis would go on to join Admiral Foote's squadron to capture Fort Henry
Battle of Fort Henry
The Battle of Fort Henry was fought on February 6, 1862, in western Tennessee, during the American Civil War. It was the first important victory for the Union and Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater....
on February 6. The New Orleans would be scuttled in April.