Showing results for "Mississippi River Squadron"
Unvexed Waters: Mississippi River Squadron, Part 2
Part I of this post introduced the unprecedented U.S. Army Western Gunboat Flotilla—soon to be reorganized as the U.S. Navy Mississippi River Squadron—and carried it through the victorious battles of Forts Henry and Donelson, Tennessee, in February 1862. The next Union objective was the northern stopper in Rebel defenses of the mighty Mississippi: Island No. […]
Read more...The Mississippi River Squadron and the “Great Artery of America” (Part 2)
Emerging Civil War welcomes back guest author Kristen M. Pawlak Part 1 can be found here. As the first of the major naval battles to secure the Mississippi River from 1862 until 1863, Fort Henry also marked a turning point in the strategic use of the Western Gunboat Flotilla. It was now a respected and […]
Read more...The Mississippi River Squadron and the “Great Artery of America” (Part 1)
Emerging Civil War welcomes back guest author Kristen M. Pawlak On June 10, 1862, mere months before the Army of the Tennessee launched its initial operations against the Confederate fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi, newly-promoted Major General William T. Sherman penned a letter to his wife Ellen to describe the importance of the Mississippi River, writing, […]
Read more...Book Review: Bayou Battles for Vicksburg: The Swamp and River Expeditions, January 1–April 30, 1863
Bayou Battles for Vicksburg: The Swamp and River Expeditions, January 1–April 30, 1863. By Timothy B. Smith. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2023. 526 pp. $49.95. Reviewed by Neil P. Chatelain Besides the venerable Ed Bearss, who penned a major trilogy examining campaigns for Vicksburg, Timothy B. Smith has done the most recent work […]
Read more...The Moments Before A Sudden Enemy River Assault
The rebels were approaching! The call woke everyone up on the ram Mingo that early morning in June 1862. “Men dazed with sudden awakening, yet with a soldiers’ instinct, darted hither and thither to prepare for the fight.”[1] Near midnight, Colonel Charles Ellet Jr., commanding Mingo and its fellow rams, noticed “ceaseless lapping of water” […]
Read more...Rolling on the River: Civil War Brown-Water Navies
A blue-coated rider appeared atop the riverbank above the bow of the steamer Belle Memphis. Rebels massed in the cornfield behind him discharged volleys that whistled by the horseman, whanged through the tall smokestacks, and thudded into the vessel’s superstructure. Hundreds of Iowa and Illinois infantry had already slithered down the muddy incline and scrambled […]
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