CSS Missouri, A Timeline-- Part 5: Iron From Railroads, Engines From Riverboat, Guns from USS Indianola

APRIL 29--  Lt. Jonathan H. Carter reported to Mallory that the armoring of the CSS Missouri below the knuckle was almost completed and her boilers installed.  Also the iron cladding of the casemate will begin at once and her engines installed as rapidly as possible.

At this time, Carter had given up trying to obtain iron plate and  now planned on using t-rails seized from the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Texas Railroad and from the Southern Pacific  Railroad Company.  The engines were to be from a riverboat slated to be sunk in the Red River as an obstruction.  The engines had been overhauled and would be reassembled aboard the ironclad.

Finally, Carter reported that Lt. General Edmund Kirby Smith had promised to send two Dahlgren guns captured on the USS Indianola to Shreveport.

Making Slow Progress.  --Old B-R'er

CSS Missouri, A Timeline-- Part 4: The Army Becoming a Major Problem

APRIL 18, 1863--  Lt. Carter reported to Mallory:  "I have experienced great difficulty in obtaining caulkers.  I sent to Port Hudson to procure them, and in addition, went myself, to Gen. Gardiner for men. Some of the men detailed by his order, were stopped by Gen. [Richard] Taylor at Alexandria while on their way to this place."

APRIL 21, 1863--  Carter wrote to Major J.L. Brent, chief of artillery and ordnance for General Richard Taylor, and requested guns salvaged from the captured ironclad USS Indianola be sent to Shreveport for use on the CSS Missouri.

He also reported to Mallory that the Army had taken possession of the T.W. Jones Foundry in Shreveport and that the Navy would now have to build its own foundry and machine shop id it intended to establish an ordnance works.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Missouri, A Timeline-- Part 3: Launching of the CSS Missouri

Continued from July 23, 2018.

APRIL 3,1863--  Carter reported that Captain Smoker had gone to Alexandria to find a steamer with suitable machinery for a second ironclad at Shreveport.

APRIL 14, 186300  The hull of the Caddo (CSS Missouri) was launched into the waters of the Red River at Shreveport.  Carter reported to Mallory:  "I have the honor to announce to you the launching of a gunboat at this place today at 2 o'clock p.m..  The cladding and placing of machinery will commence immediately and be pushed forward as rapidly as possible."

Unhappily for Carter, that same day, Commander Brent informed Carter that Secretary Mallory had ignored his suggestion to name the ship the Caddo and that it would be the CSS Missouri.

Definitely a Proud Day for Lt. Carter.  --Old B-Runner

CSS Missouri, A Timeline-- Part 3: Confederate Army Seized Cannons Intended for the CSS Missouri

FEBRUARY 28, 1863--  Carter still unable to obtain iron plate for the Caddo (CSS Missouri), Carter writes to Vicksburg, Shreveport and Texas Railroad:  "It is sometimes necessary to take public property for public use without the consent of the owner....  It is my wish to obtain the iron with your consent, but if that is refused, I shall certainly use the iron, if needed...."

MARCH 12, 1863--  Naval inspection officer Lt. Robert S. Minor, reported to Mallory that the heavy guns intended for the ironclad at Shreveport had been seized by Hen. John C. Pemberton to be used in the defenses of Vicksburg.

APRIL 1, 1863--  Carter again wrote to Mallory requesting naval guns and said that the army had seized the guns intended for the Caddo for the defense of Grand Gulf, Mississippi.  He also urged that the construction of the second ironclad at Shreveport be started as soon as possible.

--Old B-R'er

CSS Missouri, A Timeline-- Part 2: Looking for Machinery and Waiting

FEBRUARY 18--  Lt. Carter appealed to Lt. General John C. Pemberton, military commander at Jackson, Tennessee, to delay sinking a steamboat as an obstruction in the Big Black River until its machinery could be removed for the Caddo.

FEBRUARY 20--  Lt. Carter told Secretary Mallory that Thomas Moore and John Smoker were the only people west of the Mississippi who could build an ironclad.  He also said the timbers for the second ironclad are nearly ready.  The contractors ready to push forward at their own expense, supposing that the second contract would be approved.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Missouri, A Timeline-- Part 1: The Difficulties of Lt. Jonathan Carter

From the Civil War Navies Message Board by Michael Cassamasse, July 30, 2005.

FEB 1, 1863  Lt. Carter urges Confederate Navy Department to send heavy naval guns for his ironclad.  Also upset that the department has decided not to start a second ironclad at Shreveport, Louisiana until the first one is completed.

The Navy has to take into account the depth of the Red River at all times.

A steamboat had been purchased for $65,000 with suitable machinery for an ironclad.

FEBRUARY 15, 1863  Lt. Carter reported that the entire gun deck and most of the frame was mostly up and that planking would soon be applied.

He suggested that the ironclad be named be named Caddo after the name of the parish in Shreveport was the ironclad was being built.

That same day, engineer John W. Parks arrived in Shreveport to supervise installation of machinery.  By the end of February the framework of the Caddo was completed, planking of the botto=m and sidesnearly finished and the spar deck being laid.

--Old B-Runner

A Book on Lt. Jonathan Carter and His CSS Missouri

I came across a whole book written on Carter and the CSS Missouri.  "A Man and His Boat:  The Civil War Career and Correspondence of Lieutenant Jonathan H. Carter, CSN" by Katherine Brash Jeter.

It is the story of a Confederate officer's struggle to complete a warship in the face of severe wartime material shortages.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Missouri-- Part 3: Surrendered June 3, 1865

In March 1865, the Red River rose and Lt. Jonathan Carter was able to take the CSS Missouri from Shreveport downriver to Alexandria, Louisiana.  On April 8 he anchored and prepared to defend the city.

He didn't have to as the war was in its final stages.  He surrendered June 3, the last Confederate ironclad to surrender.

The Missouri was taken to Mound City, Illinois, and determined to be unsuitable as a Union warship.  Its armor was removed and the ship sold at public auction on 29 November 1865.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Missouri--- Part 2: Lt. Jonathan Carter and the CSS Missouri

Lt. Jonathan Hanby Carter, CSN, signed the papers for the Missouri's construction.  When launched it was commanded by Lt.Cmdr. Charles Fauntleroy who was obviously not happy about his command.  He told Carter that he "hoped the damned boat would sink" and that he "never intended to serve on her if he could help it."

He must have gotten his wish as Lt. Carter commanded the ship later in its career.

Low water prevented the CSS Missouri from leaving Shreveport and taking part in the Red River Campaign.

In September 1864, Carter led a group of sailors and men from the CSS Webb and Missouri in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the USS Rattler.

--Old B-Runner

Surrender of the CSS Missouri-- Part 2

The CSS Missouri was the most formidable Confederate vessel surrendered by Carter.  It was a sternwheel ironclad built at Shreveport and late in March, when the river had risen sufficiently, had steamed down the Red River to Alexandria.

There, Carter had written enthusiastically to General Simon B. Buckner:  "I will ... be pleased to welcome you on te deck of the Missouri, when we arrive at Grand Ecore ... I hope to be a valuable [addition] to your forces defending the valley."

The Missouri, however, never had the opportunity for battle, although she had the distinction of being the last Confederate ironclad to be surrendered in home waters.

--Goodbye Missouri.  --Old B-R'er

Cleaning Up On the Red River-- Part 1: Surrender of the CSS Missouri in the Red River

JUNE 1-6TH, 1865:  Lt. William E. Fitzhugh, in the USS Ouchita, led a naval expedition of seven gunboats up the Red River escorting 4,000 troops under Major General Francis J. Herron.  The troops were moving into the trans-Mississippi theater to garrison forts and posts surrendered by Confederate General Kirby Smith and to establish law and order in the region.

At Alexandria, Louisiana, Fitzhugh met with Lt. Jonathan H. Carter, the senior Confederate naval officer in the trans-Mississippi department and received the surrender of all naval vessels, equipment and personnel in that region.

The most formidable vessel surrendered was the CSS Missouri, commanded by Carter.

--Old B-Runner