The new pilot ran the Queen of the West aground by Confederate Fort DeRussey. The bombardment was intense and Charles Rivers Ellet and his crew were forced to abandon the ship and float downstream on cotton bales.
Confederates repaired the ship and ten days later, the CSS Queen of the West helped capture the USS Indianola. On April 11, 1863, it engaged Union gunboats on the Atchafalaya River and a shell from the USSCalhoun set the Queen of the West's cotton (used for protection) on fire. It then drifted downstream for several hours before running aground and then blowing up.
Charles Rivers Ellet later commanded the ram Switzerland, then infantry from the Marine Brigade before dying of disease October 29, 1863.
The Story of a Boat. --Old B-Runner
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