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USS Mingo (1862)
Encyclopedia
The first USS Mingo, a stern-wheel steamer built at California, Pennsylvania
, in 1859 and used to tow coal barges, was purchased at Pittsburgh by Lt. Col. Charles Ellet
for the War Department
early in April 1862.
and headed down the Ohio River
April 29 to join a fleet of rams which Ellet was organizing to counter the Confederate River Defense Fleet. This group of southern rams had been fitted out in the lower Mississippi
and threatened to emulate the dreaded southern ironclad ram Virginia
in routing wooden hulled Union ships. On May 10 the Confederate flotilla made a spirited attack on Union gunboats and mortar schooners at Plum Point Bend, Tennessee
, sinking the Cincinnati
and forcing the Mound City
aground. A fortnight later all but one of the rams had joined the Union flotilla above Fort Pillow ready for action. As the ram fleet and Western Flotilla prepared to attack, General Halleck's
capture of Corinth, Mississippi
, on May 30 cut the railway lines which supported the Confederate positions at Forts Pillow and Randolph, forcing the South to abandon these river strongholds.
.
On the evening of June 6, Flag Officer Davis
arrived above the city with his ironclads. Before dawn the next morning the Union ships raised their anchors and dropped downstream by their sterns. Half an hour later the Confederate rams got underway from the Memphis levee and opened fire.
At this point Colonel Ellet ordered his rams to steam through the line of Flag Officer Davis’ slower ironclads and to run down the Confederate steamers. His flagship Queen of the West
headed straight for Colonel Lovell, the leading southern ram. A moment before the two ships crashed, one of Colonel Lovell's engines failed causing her to veer. The Union ram’s reinforced prow smashed into Colonel Lovell’s side, ripping a fatal hole in her hull. When Queen of the West pulled free from Lovell, she ran aground on the Arkansas shore. Meanwhile, Union ram Monarch
crashed into foundering Lovell with a second blow which sent her to the river bottom with all but five of her crew. By then Davis’ ironclads had steamed within easy range of the southern ships and began to score with the effective fire. In the ensuing close action, the Confederate River Defense Fleet was destroyed; all of its ships, except the Van Dorn
, were either captured, sunk, or grounded. Mingo and Lioness
, ordered to protect the rear of Ellet’s column, reached the scene of battle after the rout was over. Memphis surrendered to Flag Officer Davis, and the pressure of relentless naval power placed another important segment of the Mississippi firmly under Union control, an open wound in the Confederate heartland. During the next few days, the rams took on cannon to prepare to fight Confederate ships which they could not reach with their deadly prows.
, Ellet sent a party across the peninsula, formed by a bend in the river opposite the hillside town, to tell Farragut
, just below the fortress, that the Union had won control of the upper Mississippi. Farragut ran the gauntlet past Vicksburg’s guns June 28, and Flag Officer Davis joined him above the city with the Western Flotilla July 1.
The meeting of the fresh water and salt water squadrons helped buoy morale throughout the North, but control of the river which it implied could not be realized until the South lost its Gibraltar-like fortress at Vicksburg. A year of seemingly endless labor and bitter fighting awaited the champions of the Union cause before President
Lincoln
could write: “The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea...”
On July 15, the Confederate ironclad ram Arkansas
, built at Memphis and completed at Yazoo, Mississippi
, raced down the Yazoo River
and fought through the combined Union squadrons to shelter under the guns at Vicksburg. At the first sight of Arkansas, Lancaster tried to ram the southern ship; but when she was a mere 100 yards from her quarry, a broadside from the ironclad opened up her lines and made her unmanageable. As Lancaster drifted downstream, Queen of the West caught her and towed her to safety. The following day ram Mingo came alongside and took Lancaster to Memphis for repairs.
In the coming months Mingo and her sister rams worked tirelessly to control the river and to help capture Vicksburg. In November she sank accidentally at Cape Girardeau, Missouri
.
California, Pennsylvania
California is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Monongahela River. The population was 5,274 as of the 2000 census. California is the home of California University of Pennsylvania. Founded in 1849, the borough was named for the territory of California following...
, in 1859 and used to tow coal barges, was purchased at Pittsburgh by Lt. Col. Charles Ellet
Charles R. Ellet
Charles Rivers Ellet was a medical student who became a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was most noted for his command of the ram Queen of the West during the Vicksburg Campaign in 1863....
for the War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
early in April 1862.
Ellet Ram Fleet
She was fitted out as a ram at PittsburghPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
and headed down the 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...
April 29 to join a fleet of rams which Ellet was organizing to counter the Confederate River Defense Fleet. This group of southern rams had been fitted out in the lower Mississippi
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...
and threatened to emulate the dreaded southern ironclad ram Virginia
CSS Virginia
CSS Virginia was the first steam-powered ironclad warship of the Confederate States Navy, built during the first year of the American Civil War; she was constructed as a casemate ironclad using the raised and cut down original lower hull and steam engines of the scuttled . Virginia was one of the...
in routing wooden hulled Union ships. On May 10 the Confederate flotilla made a spirited attack on Union gunboats and mortar schooners at Plum Point Bend, Tennessee
Battle of Fort Pillow (Naval)
The naval battle at Fort Pillow, Tennessee took place on the Mississippi River between ships of the Confederate River Defense Fleet, which consisted of a number of wooden sidewheel paddleboats converted to naval rams, and ships of the Union Mississippi River Squadron, which consisted of a number...
, sinking the Cincinnati
USS Cincinnati (1862)
The City class ironclad USS Cincinnati was a stern-wheel casemate gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Cincinnati, Ohio and was the first ship to bear that name in the United States Navy....
and forcing the Mound City
USS Mound City
USS Mound City was a City class ironclad gunboat built for service on the Mississippi River and its tributaries in the American Civil War. Originally commissioned as part of the Union Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla, she remained in that service until October 1862...
aground. A fortnight later all but one of the rams had joined the Union flotilla above Fort Pillow ready for action. As the ram fleet and Western Flotilla prepared to attack, General Halleck's
Henry Wager Halleck
Henry Wager Halleck was a United States Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies, he was known by a nickname that became derogatory, "Old Brains." He was an important participant in the admission of California as a state and became a successful lawyer and land developer...
capture of Corinth, Mississippi
Siege of Corinth
The Siege of Corinth was an American Civil War battle fought from April 29 to May 30, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi.-Background:...
, on May 30 cut the railway lines which supported the Confederate positions at Forts Pillow and Randolph, forcing the South to abandon these river strongholds.
Battle of Memphis
The Confederacy charged its River Defense Fleet, the only remaining operational group of southern warships worthy of the name fleet, with the task of stemming the Union advance down the Mississippi. The South’s strategy called for a naval stand at Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
.
On the evening of June 6, Flag Officer Davis
Charles Henry Davis
Charles Henry Davis was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, serving primarily during the American Civil War, and with the United States Coast Survey.-Early life and career:...
arrived above the city with his ironclads. Before dawn the next morning the Union ships raised their anchors and dropped downstream by their sterns. Half an hour later the Confederate rams got underway from the Memphis levee and opened fire.
At this point Colonel Ellet ordered his rams to steam through the line of Flag Officer Davis’ slower ironclads and to run down the Confederate steamers. His flagship Queen of the West
USS Queen of the West (1854)
US Ram Queen of the West, a sidewheel steamer built at Cincinnati, Ohio in 1854, was purchased by the United States Department of War in 1862 and fitted out as a ram for Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr.'s Ram Fleet which operated on the Mississippi River in the U.S...
headed straight for Colonel Lovell, the leading southern ram. A moment before the two ships crashed, one of Colonel Lovell's engines failed causing her to veer. The Union ram’s reinforced prow smashed into Colonel Lovell’s side, ripping a fatal hole in her hull. When Queen of the West pulled free from Lovell, she ran aground on the Arkansas shore. Meanwhile, Union ram Monarch
USS Monarch (1862)
USS Monarch was a side paddle wheel ram in the United States Army. Monarch was built as a towboat at Fulton, Ohio, in 1853. She was converted to a ram in 1862 for service in the Ellet Ram Fleet under Lt. Col. Charles Ellet, Jr...
crashed into foundering Lovell with a second blow which sent her to the river bottom with all but five of her crew. By then Davis’ ironclads had steamed within easy range of the southern ships and began to score with the effective fire. In the ensuing close action, the Confederate River Defense Fleet was destroyed; all of its ships, except the Van Dorn
CSS General Earl Van Dorn
The CSS General Earl Van Dorn, a side-wheel river steamer, was fitted out in early 1862 at New Orleans, Louisiana as a River Defense Fleet "cottonclad" ram....
, were either captured, sunk, or grounded. Mingo and Lioness
USS Lioness
Built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1857, the steam ram Lioness was purchased by the War Department and converted to a ram for Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr.'s U.S. Ram Fleet. Commissioned in 1862, Lieutenant Warren D...
, ordered to protect the rear of Ellet’s column, reached the scene of battle after the rout was over. Memphis surrendered to Flag Officer Davis, and the pressure of relentless naval power placed another important segment of the Mississippi firmly under Union control, an open wound in the Confederate heartland. During the next few days, the rams took on cannon to prepare to fight Confederate ships which they could not reach with their deadly prows.
Battle of Vicksburg
On June 19, Mingo and four sister rams got underway downstream from Memphis. A week later, after the rams had moved down the river to a point just above VicksburgVicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
, Ellet sent a party across the peninsula, formed by a bend in the river opposite the hillside town, to tell Farragut
David Farragut
David Glasgow Farragut was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, usually paraphrased: "Damn the...
, just below the fortress, that the Union had won control of the upper Mississippi. Farragut ran the gauntlet past Vicksburg’s guns June 28, and Flag Officer Davis joined him above the city with the Western Flotilla July 1.
The meeting of the fresh water and salt water squadrons helped buoy morale throughout the North, but control of the river which it implied could not be realized until the South lost its Gibraltar-like fortress at Vicksburg. A year of seemingly endless labor and bitter fighting awaited the champions of the Union cause before President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
could write: “The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea...”
On July 15, the Confederate ironclad ram Arkansas
CSS Arkansas
The CSS Arkansas was a Confederate Ironclad warship during the American Civil War. Serving in the Western Theater, the vessel ran through a U.S. Navy fleet at Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 15 July 1862, in a celebrated action in which she inflicted more damage than she received...
, built at Memphis and completed at Yazoo, Mississippi
Yazoo City, Mississippi
Yazoo City is a city in Yazoo County, Mississippi, United States. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorer Robert La Salle. It is the county seat of Yazoo County and the principal city of the Yazoo City Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the...
, raced down the Yazoo River
Yazoo River
The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Mississippi.The Yazoo River was named by French explorer La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's mouth. The exact meaning of the term is unclear...
and fought through the combined Union squadrons to shelter under the guns at Vicksburg. At the first sight of Arkansas, Lancaster tried to ram the southern ship; but when she was a mere 100 yards from her quarry, a broadside from the ironclad opened up her lines and made her unmanageable. As Lancaster drifted downstream, Queen of the West caught her and towed her to safety. The following day ram Mingo came alongside and took Lancaster to Memphis for repairs.
In the coming months Mingo and her sister rams worked tirelessly to control the river and to help capture Vicksburg. In November she sank accidentally at Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Cape Girardeau is a city located in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in Southeast Missouri in the United States. It is located approximately southeast of St. Louis and north of Memphis. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 37,941. A college town, it is the home of Southeast Missouri...
.
External links
- Photo gallery at navsource.org