Confederate Ram CSS Webb

From Wikipedia.

Also referred to as the CSS William H. Webb.

A 655-ton sidewheel steamship originally built in New York City in 1856 as he William H. Webb.

At the onset of the Civil War, she was seized by the Confederates and received a privateer's commission in May 1861 but instead was used as a military transport until January 1862.  Then she was converted into a cotton clad ram by the Confederate Army after which she served on the Red and Mississippi rivers.

On February 24, 1863, under the command of Captain Charles Pierce, she participated in the sinking of the Union ironclad USS Indianola.

--Old B-R'er

USS Indianola Epilogue

From Wikipedia.

The USS Indianola was built in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1862 and commissioned September 27, 1862.  It was a 174 or 175 foot casemate ironclad mounting 2 eleven-inch Dahlgren smoothbores and 2 nine-inch Dahlgren smoothbores. 

After the Black Terror frightened off the CSS Queen of the West, the Confederates aboard the Indianola trying to raise it might have been intoxicated and threw the nine-inch guns into the river and pointed the eleven-inch ones at each other muzzle-to-muzzle and fired them and then burned the rest of the ship to the waterline.

The remains of the Indianola were raised  on January 5, 1865, and she was towed to Mound City, Illinois, where the remains were sold on January 17.

--Old B-R'er

Queen of the West Epilogue

From Wikipedia.

After the CSS Queen of the West and CSS Webb forced the surrender of the USS Indianola on the Mississippi River below Vicksburg on February 24, 1863, her Confederate career did not end.

On April 11, 1863,  she was attacked on the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana by the Union ships USS Estrella, USS Calhoun and USS Arizona.

A shell from the Calhoun set fire to the Queen of the West's cotton and her burning wreck drifted down the river for several hours before she grounded and exploded.

Ninety members of the Confederate crew were captured and 26 killed.

--Old B-R'er

Charles Rivers Ellet, the Queen of the West and USS Indianola-- Part 5: The Black Terror Causes USS Indianola to Be Destroyed

The chase was on.  The Indianola was moving up the Mississippi River, but slowly.  Even worse, the ship stopped to take cotton on board which cost her time she did not have.  The Confederate pursuit ships were commanded by Joseph L. Brent of the Confederate Army.

The Confederate ships caught up with the Indianola near Palmyra Island, about 30 miles south of Vicksburg.  After being rammed six times in the space of an hour and with the Queen of the West upriver and bearing down hard (along with the current) for a final ramming, the USS Indianola surrendered after also running aground.

The loss of both the Queen of the West and the Indianola derailed the supply line on the railroad.

With the Confederates working rapidly to raise the Indianola, it was decided to make a fake ironclad and send it down river from the Union position north of Vicksburg, so the Black Terror was built.  An old coal barge was lengthened and had a casemate built along with Quaker guns and two smokestacks made out of pork barrels.

The Black Terror was sent downriver on February 27 and frightened Confederates destroyed the Indianola.

--Old B-R'er

Charles Rivers Ellet & the Queen of the West-- Part 4: Going After the Indianola

Ellet and his men escaped to the DeSoto and Era No. 5 by floating downriver on cotton bales.  The Confederates took over the Queen of the West and immediately began repairing it.  Four days later, the Queen was underway with a new crew.  

Of interest, this crew was mostly composed of soldiers who learned their nautical ropes on the way down the Red River.

In the meantime, Admiral Porter ordered the ironclad USS Indianola to steam downriver past Vicksburg and aide Ellet.  Two barges of coal were strapped to the ship on the far side from the Confederate batteries.

Once past Vicksburg, the Indianola blocked the mouth of the Red River until she found out that the Confederates intended to attack her.  This began The Great Chase.  The Indianola started heading up the Mississppi River toward Vicksburg with the Queen of the West, ram CSS William H. Webb and two other vessels full of Confederate troops in hot pursuit.  All of the ships were under the command of Joseph Lancaster Brent, Confederate Army.

--Old Secesh

December 11, 1863: Still Trying for the USS Indianola

DECEMBER 11TH, 1863:  Confederate troops fired on the USS Indianola in the Mississippi River in an attempt to destroy her, but effective counterfire of the USS Carondelet, Acting Master James C. Gipson, drove them off.

The Union Navy was exerting great effort to get the Indianola off the bar on which she had sunk in February, and on 23 November, Gipson had written to Rear Admiral Porter:  "I will do all that lies in my power to protect her from destruction."

--Old B-Runner

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

March 20, 1863-- Part 1: Farragut to Assist Grant and Porter

MARCH 20TH, 1863:  From below Warrenton, Mississippi, Rear Admiral Farragut sent the following message to General Grant and a similar one to Rear Admiral Porter:  "Having learned that the enemy had the Red River trade open to Vicksburg and Port Hudson and that two of the gunboats of the upper fleet [Queen of the West and Indianola] had been captured, I determined to pass up and, if possible, recapture the boats and stop the Red River trade, and this I can do most effectively if I can obtain from rear Admiral Porter or yourself coal for my vessels....

"I shall be most happy to avail myself of the earliest moment to have a consultation with yourself and Rear Admiral Porter as to the assistance I can render you at this place; and, if none, then I will return to the mouth of the Red River and carry out my original designs.

--Old B-Runner

February 13, 1863: USS Indianola Steams Past Vicksburg: Orders to Pay Visit to "Jeff Davis' Plantation"

FEBRUARY 13, 1863:  The USS Indianola, Lieutenant Commander George Brown, ran past the batteries at Vicksburg to join the USS Queen of the West in blockading the Red River.  Rear Admiral Porter's instructions to Brown added:  "Go to Jeff Davis' plantation load up with all the cotton you can find and the best single male Negroes."

Towing two barges filled with coal, the Indaianola steamed slowly past the upper batteries of Vicksburg undetected.    Abreast the point, Indianola was sighted and a heavy fire opened upon her without effect."

A Little "Something" for Jeff Davis.  --Old B-Runner

Joseph Brown and His Ironclads

From the Strategy Page Book Review  "Joseph Brown and His Civil War Ironclads: The USS Chillicothe, Indianola and Tuscumbia"  by Myron J. Smith, Jr..

Smith also wrote "Civil War Biography from the Western Waters, the Timberclads in the Civil War."

This is the first biography to be written on Joseph Brown (1823-1899) and his role in the creation of the Union's Riverine fleet.

Brown was a Scottish immigrant who became a steamboat captain and self-taught naval architect and engineer.  He was also an abolitionist, entrepreneur and politician.

Today, however, he is largely forgotten despite having designed and building the USS Chillicothe, Indainaola and Tuscumbia.  There is a chapter on each of the three ships in his book.

Brown also converted some 55 ships of all types into "tin-clads,"  lightly protected gunboats.  There are also accounts of the performance of his ships at Fort Donelson, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow and the Gulf.

--Old B-Runner

Loss of the USS Arizona: Brown Loses Another Ship

FEBRUARY 28TH, 1865:  The USS Arizona, Lt. Cmdr. George Brown, was destroyed by fire in the Mississippi River below New Orleans.  In his report, the unlucky Brown, who had also lost the USS Indianola on 24 February 1863, noted:  "Not a soul attempted to leave the vessel until I gave the order for them to do so, and the marines were of much service in preventing the boats from being overloaded."

Looks Like Brown Is Trying to Break Thomas O. Selfridge's Record.--Old B-Runner

USS Indianola Refloated

JANUARY 5TH, 1865:  Acting Lieutenant James Lansing succeeded in refloating the USS Indianola in the Mississippi River.  It had been sunk by the Confederates nearly two years earlier and the Union had been attempting to float her ever since.

Rear Admiral Porter, who, as commander of the Mississippi Squadron and now was off Fort Fisher preparing his attack, had been particularly interested in salvaging the ironclad, warmly congratulated Lansing on his success:  "There are triumphs of skill such as you have displayed as glorious as if the result were from combat, and as such you have my highest commendations."

The Indianola was taken upriver to Mound City, Illinois, for repairs.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago-- December 10-11, 1863

DECEMBER 10, 1863:

Confederate troops burned schooner Josephine Truxillo and barge Stephany on Bayou Lacomb, Louisiana. The next day they burned the schooner Sarah Bladen and barge Helana on Bayouu Bonfouca.

DECEMBER 11TH:

Confederate troops fired on the USS Indianola in the Mississippi in an attempt to destroy her, but were driven off by counterfire from the USS Carondolet. The Union Navy was making great efforts to get the Indianola off the bar on which she had been stuck since February.

**  Maj. Gen. D. H. Maury, CSA, wrote from Mobile that he had heard that the Union was planning an attack on Mobile at any time now and predicted they would be able to run past the outer forts (which happened in August the following year).

--Old B-Runner

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: April 19th to 20th-- "Daddy Farragut"

APRIL 19TH

A good day for the Charleston blockade as two blockade-runners captured carrying cotton while trying to slip out of the harbor.


APRIL 20TH

A joint Army-Navy attack captured a key Confederate position on the Nansemond River.  Later that night, Confederates evacuate another key battery on the river and the attack on Suffolk, Virginia, was essentially over although there would be occasional skirmishes for the next two weeks.

Two of the Navy's rising stars, Lt. Cushing and Capt. Lamson, were cited for gallantry and meritorious service in the action.


Union ships reconnoiter down the Mississippi River from New Carthage to the Confederate stronghold at Grand Gulf in preparation for the Union attack.  Confederates are seen rapidly fortifying the place.  Porter wants to attack right away, but needs troops.

Union ships capture Fort Burton at Butte a la Rose, Louisiana.  Third Assistant Engineer George W. Baird noted in his diary:  "The fight was short, sharp and decisive.  It was done after the style of Daddy Farragut: we rush in....We rushed right up to it and the four black vessels all firing made a savage appearance."


Admiral Porter examined the hulk of the USS Indianola, captured by the Confederates and later blown up and sunk below Vicksburg after the fake ironclad floated down past Vicksburg.  Its hull and machinery seemed in good shape.  Much of the iron casemate had been destroyed.  Two guns were recovered and he thinks it could be raised and put into service again.

The CSS Oreto captured and bonded the Kate Dyer at sea, headed for Antwerp, Belgium.

A Lot Happening on the 20th.  --Old B-Runner

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: February 24 to 27, 1863- USS Indianola Surrenders

FEBRUARY 24TH

 CSS Webb, Beatty and Queen of the West engaged USS Indianola, below Warrenton, Mississippi.  The Queen of the West opened action by ramming the coal barge tied up to the Indianola, sank it, but little damage to Indianola.  The Webb rammed the Indianola twice which then was sinking and surrendered.  This ended Porter's efforts to blockade the Red River with detached ships from his fleet above Vicksburg.


A Confederate deserter gave Union details on submarine experiments underway in Mobile.  One was designed by a Frenchman, but sank near Fort Morgan


FEBRUARY 25TH

The light draft gunboat expedition entered Yazoo Pass

Confederates were working hard to raise the Indianola.  Efforts failed and the ship was destroyed.  A huge Union gunboat was reported passing Vicksburg and they feared it would take the Indianola.  It was actually a barge made to look like an ironclad.

The USS Vanderbilt seized the blockade-runner Peterhoff off St. Thomascausing an international incident over royal mail being carried aboard it.  Lincoln returned it, but kept the ship which later became a Union blockader before sinking near Fort Fisher.


FEBRUARY 27TH

The CSS Alabama bonded the ship Washington in the mid-Atlantic.

Old B-Runner