USS Marmora-- Part 3: The Sinking of the Cairo and Actions on the Yazoo River

On December 12, the Marmora led  the USS Signal, Cairo and Pittsburg up the Yazoo River until they spotted several torpedoes. The Cairo commenced firing at the right bank and sent a boat out to investigate the nearest torpedo.  As that boat towed the torpedo back, another one exploded under the Cairo, ripping her bottom out completely.

The Cairo rapidly sank as the other Union ships sent out boats to rescue the crew.

After that, the Marmora continued to remove torpedoes and assist the Army as they probed to find a weakness in the Vicksburg defenses.  On December 27, the Marmora and other ships actively engaged Confederate batteries at Drumgould's Bluff.

The next day, the Union ships aided in the landing of General William T. Sherman's troops in an attempted effort to capture Confederate guns on Chickasaw Bluff upstream from Vicksburg, but that attack failed.

--Old B-Runner

The Fall of Grand Gulf, Mississippi

In the last post, I wrote about Gideon Welles and President Lincoln receiving news of the capture of Grand Gulf on May 8, 1863.  Some more information about it.

From Wikipedia.

The Battle of Grand Gulf was fought April 29, 1863.  Then, i had to wonder why Washington, D.C., didn't get the news until May 8?

The fact is that the Union forces lost the battle on April 29.

Rear Admiral David D. Porter took seven ironclads in to attack Grand Gulf, downriver from Vicksburg.  The Confederates withstood a horrendous bombardment and prevented Federal infantry from landing.

The two major Confederate fortifications were earthen Fort Cobun and Fort Wade.  Union troops were from Major General Jogn A. McClernand's XIII Corps.  Porter's ironclads were the USS Benton, Lafayette, Tuscumbia, Carondelet, Louisville, Mound City and Pittsburg.  The Tuscumbia was put out of action.

The Union fleet withdrew, but after dark ran by the Confederate fortifications.  They landed troops and several days later, the Confederates evacuated Grand Gulf.

--Old B-Runner

The Eunice (Arkansas) Expedition-- Part 4: Captured the Wharf Boat

At around noon on August 30, the small fleet reached Eunice, Arkansas.  The wharf boat was captured and prepared for towing to Helena.

(A wharf boat is a boat moored and used for a wharf at a bank of a river or in a like situation where the height of the water is so variable that a fixed wharf in impracticable.  One source here said that the one at Eunice was being used as a hotel.)

A man named Mason, who was suspected of being a guerrilla was arrested as was the river watchman, John McDonald.

Military supplies left by Confederates were gathered and the Union force returned to Helena, arriving September 3.

The Little-Big Engagement at Eurnice.  --Old B-R'er

The Eunice Expedition, Aug. 28-Sep. 3, 1863-- Part 3:

On August 29, 1862, the USS Pittsburg shelled the shoreline ans 175 soldiers disembarked and marched about 2 miles inland.  The Confederates had already evacuated most of the supplies and after a volley from the Union troops, fled  the area.

Another Union force of 50 soldiers under Captain Manning of Co. A, engaged a Confederate guerrilla force, killing one, wounding one and capturing another.

The Union troops reboarded their transports and disembarked again at Montgomery Point on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi River where they were expecting to find two Confederate cannons, but none were found.

Army-Navy Cooperation.  --Old B-Runner

The Eunice (Arkansas) Expedition-- Part 2: To "Annoy" the Enemy

In August 1862, General Samuel Curtis, commander of the Army of the Southwest, dispatched a Navy-Army force from Helena to Eunice with the purpose of capturing a wharf boat, gather information on Confederates in the Eunice area and to "annoy" the enemy.

On August 28, 1862, 200 men of the 56th Ohio and two pieces of artillery from the 1st Iowa Battery boarded the steamers White Cloud and Iatan.  They were commanded by Colonel William H. Raynor.  The ironclad USS Pittsburg (correct spelling of this ship, so no "h") escorted the two steamships.  The destination was Eunice.

At Carson's Landing they received information from a contraband that there were 200-300 Confederates encamped nearby.  Because of night, no action was taken and the ships anchored.

--Old B-Runner

Eunice Expedition, August 28-September 3-- Part 1: 56th Ohio and 1st Iowa Battery

From the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture.

It was led by Lt. Col. William H. Raynor and Col. Starke and consisted of the 56th Regiment, Ohio Volunteers and the 1st Iowa Battery of Colonel Starke's brigade.

They fought an unidentified Confederate guerrilla band.

Casualties:  U.S.--  none
Confederate--  1 killed, 1 wounded, 1 captured.

Two steamboats, the White Cloud and Iatan, carried the troops and were escorted by the USS Pittsburg.

It was a Union victory.

August 29, 1862: Expedition to Eunice, Arkansas

AUGUST 29TH, 1862:  The USS Pittsburg, Lt. Thompson, escorted steamers  White Cloud and Iatan with Army troops on board to Eunice, Arkansas.  The gunboat shelled and dispersed Confederate forces from a camp above Carson's Landing on the Mississippi shore.

Landing the troops under cover of the Pittsburg's guns for reconnaissance missions en route, Lt. Thompson at Eunice seized a large wharf boat, fitted out as a floating hotel.

This type of persistent patrolling of the Mississippi River and its tributaries by the Union Navy in support if Army operations was instrumental in preventing the Confederates from establishing firm positions.

--Old B-Runner

April 7, 1862: The USS Pittsburg Runs Past Island No. 10

APRIL 7TH, 1862:  The USS Pittsburg, Lt. Egbert Thompson, ran past the batteries at Island No. 10 and joined the USS Carondelet below it in covering the crossing of Major General Pope's army to the Tennessee side of the Mississippi River to move against Island No. 10.

The General's words to Flag officer Foote attested to the importance he attached to naval support:  "...the lives of thousands of men and the success of our operations hang upon your decision.  With the two boats all is safe...."

--Old B-Runner

February 14, 1862: Attack on Fort Donelson Begins

FEBRUARY 14, 1862:  Gunboats USS St. Louis, Carondelet, Louisville, Pittsburg, Tyler and Conestoga under Flag Officer Foote joined with General Grant in attacking Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River.  Donelson, on high ground, could subject the gunboats to a plunging fire and was a more difficult objective than Fort Henry.

Foote did not consider the gunboats properly prepared for the assault on Donelson so soon after the heavy action at Fort Henry; nevertheless, at the "urgent request" pf both Grant and General Halleck to reduce the fortifications, Foote moved against the Confederate works.

Bitter fire at close range opened on both sides.  The flagship, St. Louis, was shit fifty-nine times and lost steering control, as did the Louisville.  Both disabled vessels drifted down stream and the gunboat attack was broken off.

Flag Officer Foote suffered injuries which forced him to give up command three months later.

--Old B-Runner

February 11, 1862: Foote Underway to Fort Donelson

FEBRUARY 11TH, 1862:  Flag officer Foote, foreseeing the realities of the situation into which he was being pulled by the tide of events, wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles:  "I leave [Cairo] again to-night with the Louisville, Pittsburg, and St. Louis for the Cumberland River, to cooperate with the army in the attack on Fort Donelson....

"I shall do all in my power to render the gunboats effective in the fight, although they are not properly manned....  If we could wait ten days, and I had men, I would go with eight mortar boats and six armored boats and conquer."

Despite the serious difficulties they faced, Foote and his gunboat fleet made what General Grant was to term admiringly "a gallant attack."

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: J.B. Eads to Construct Seven Ironclad River Gunboats

AUGUST 7TH, 1861:  The War department contracted with J.B. Eads of St. Louis for construction of seven shallow-draft ironclad river gunboats.  The Eads gunboats, all named for river cities, were the Cairo, Carondelet, Cincinnati, Louisville, Mound City, Pittsburg and St. Louis.

They formed the core of Union naval forces on western waters.

Built with the aid of Naval Constructor Samuel M. Pook, USN, they became known as "Pook's Turtles and were the key to Grant's great series of campaigns beginning in February 1862, which ultimately split the Confederacy and had a decisive influence on the war.

--Old B-R'er