Union River Ironclad 1861-65

by KONSTAM, ANGUSBRYAN, TONY

• ISBN13: 9781841764443
• ISBN10: 1841764442
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2002-08-19
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

At the start of the American Civil War, neither side had warships on the Mississippi River, which was a vital strategic artery. In what would prove the vital naval campaign of the war, both sides fought for control of the river. While the Confederates relied on field fortifications and small gunboats, the Union built a series of revolutionary river ironclads. First commissioned in January 1862, these ironclads spent the next two years battling for control of the Mississippi, fighting in a string of decisive engagements that altered the entire course of the war. This book explains how these vessels worked, how they were constructed, how they were manned and how they were fought.

Author Biography

Angus Konstam is an experienced Osprey author with over 20 books in print. Formerly the Curator of Weapons in the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London, he also served as the Chief Curator of the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida. His maritime titles for Osprey include New Vanguard 45: Union Monitor 1861–65 and New Vanguard 49: Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil War 1861–65. Angus lives in London, where he combines a freelance museum consultancy business with a career as a historian and writer.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(1)
Design	4	(11)
Background
James B. Eads and the creation of a River Ironclad Flotilla
Pook's Turtles: Building the City Class
the Benton and Essex
the second generation of Eads' ironclads
Joseph Brown's second generation ironclads
the Eastport and Ozark
Operations	15	(7)
Role
ironclads in action
Fort Henry and Fort Donelson (February 1862)
Island No. 10 (March-April 1862)
Fort Pillow (Plum Point Bend) and the Battle of Memphis (May-June 1862)
the White River Expedition (June 1862)
the Yazoo River and Vicksburg (July-August 1862)
the Siege of Vicksburg (April-July 1863)
the Red River Campaign (March-May 1864)
Nashville (December 1864)
Mobile (April-May 1865)
A Catalog of Union River Ironclads	22	(21)
USS Essex
USS Cairo
USS Carondolet
USS Cinncinnati
USS Louisville
USS Mound City
USS Pittsburgh
USS St. Louis
USS Benton
USS Chillicothe
USS Eastport
USS Indianola
USS Choctaw
USS Lafayette
USS Tuscumbia
USS Neosho
USS Osage
USS Ozark
Other River Ironclads
Milwaukee class
Marietta class	42	(1)
Bibliography	43	(1)
Color Plate Commentary	44	(4)
Index	48