July 15, 1862 CSS Arkansas attacks Union ships
CSS Arkansas, shaves the line between USS Carondelet and USS Tyler
148 years ago on this day, CSS Arkansas, the most powerful ironclad on the Mississippi River, battles with US ships commanded by Admiral David Farragut, severely damaging three ships and sustaining heavy damage herself.
The encounter changed the complexion of warfare on the Mississippi and helped to reverse Rebel fortunes on the river in the summer of 1862.
In August 1861, the Confederate Congress granted funds to build two ironclads in Memphis, Tennessee. The ships were still under construction when the US Navy captured the city in May 1862. Confederates burned one of them to prevent its capture, while Arkansas was towed further south. Similar in design and appearance to the more famous CSS Virginia (ex. USS Merrimack), the vessel was completed by early July.
Building CSS Arkansas. She was an approximately 800 ton ship. 165 feet from stem to stern, about 35 wide at the beam. She needed 11 feet of water and could make 8 knots. Her crew consisted of 232 packed inside her. She sported 10 guns: three 32-pounder 8" guns on each broadside, two 8" Columbiads forward and two 6.5" Brooke rifles aft. Her armor was beaten out railroad rails riveted over wood and compressed cotton.
Scale model of CSS Arkansas. The protruberance at her bow was an iron "ram" with which she could pierce the hull of an enemy ship.
Setting sail and commanded by Isaac Brown, Arkansas steamed to Vicksburg, where Farragut's gunboats were rapidly dominating the river from New Orleans northward.
Safe behind their sloped iron sides, the Confederate crew manned their massive guns. It wasn't all mint juleps and fried chicken though. Service aboard these type vessels. Not only was it hot on the lower Mississippi in mid-July, serving inside a vessel which was essentially a floating metal box propelled by steam power amid coal-fired boilers made it even hotter.
CGI of CSS Arkansas underway
Ventilation was always a problem, and there simply wasn't even a way to let in any cooling breezes. In short, the only relief came at night when the merciless sun stopped beating down on the iron ship and interior temps then dropped into the nineties from highs in the mid 120's at mid-day.
Their misery was compounded when in combat. Not only did her big guns belch acrid and sulpherous blackpowder smoke, the noise was horrible. When enemy shells struck her sides, the men inside were subjected to explosive concussion which sometimes caused ears to bleed.
The food was notoriously bad since anything fresh quickly rotted aboard. It consisted principally of hard crackers and salted beef or pork. Drinking water was contained in wooden casks and quickly turned smelly and brackish.
Add that heat to the fact the crew was physically active serving the boilers with shovelfulls of heavy coal and the hard work of loading and firing heavy projectiles and you had a recipe for heatstroke.
Now, back to our story.
At the mouth of the Yazoo River on July 15, 1862, Arkansas engaged in a sharp exchange with the three US ships sent to intercept the ironclad. After fighting through these ships, Arkansas headed for the bulk of Farragut's fleet. It then sailed through the flotilla blasting away, damaging 16 ships.
Farragut was furious that a single ship wreaked such havoc on his force. The engagement temporarily shifted Confederate fortunes on the Mississippi, but not for long.
Admiral David Farragut. He entered the US Navy pantheon of heroes during the Civil War. Sailing balls to the wall in a seaborne attack at Mobile Alabama in August 1864, his fleet was discouraged by the presence of Confederate submerged mines placed in the bay which exploded on contact with entering vessels and could quickly sink them. Those devices were called "torpedoes" back then. Farragut signaled to his fleet "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
Arkansas, pursued by the US ironclad Essex, fled down the river and experienced mechanical problems. On August 6 1862, less than a month after she began to unleash hell on the Mississippi, the ship ran aground, and the crew blew it up to keep it from falling into Yankee hands.
Stuck fast in the Mississippi mud, Arkansas's crew burned her to avoid her capture by the US fleet closing in for the kill.
Originally Posted by Bourbon St Sooner
