CSS General Earl Van Dorn

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An 1862 depiction of the Battle of Plum Point Bend; General Earl Van Dorn is the second vessel from the left
History
Confederate States
NameGeneral Earl Van Dorn
NamesakeEarl Van Dorn
OperatorConfederate States Army
Acquired1862
FateBurned to avoid capture, June 26, 1862
General characteristics
TypeSidewheel steamer
Length182 feet (55 m)
Beam28 feet 3 inches (8.61 m)
Depth10 feet 7 inches (3.23 m)
Armament1 32-pounder cannon
ArmorCottonclad
Service record
Part of: River Defense Fleet
Operations:

The CSS General Earl Van Dorn was a cottonclad warship used by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. General Earl Van Dorn was purchased for Confederate service at New Orleans, Louisiana, in early 1862 for service with the River Defense Fleet. Her conversion into a cottonclad warship involved installing an iron-covered framework of timbers to her bow to serve as a ram, and protecting her machinery with timber bulkheads packed with cotton. General Earl Van Dorn left New Orleans in late March 1862 and arrived at Memphis, Tennessee, early the next month. On May 10, she fought with the River Defense Fleet against the Union Navy in the Battle of Plum Point Bend, where she rammed and sank the ironclad USS Mound City. On June 6, General Earl Van Dorn was the only vessel of the River Defense Fleet to escape destruction or capture at the First Battle of Memphis. After withdrawing up the Yazoo River to Liverpool Landing, Mississippi, General Earl Van Dorn was burnt by her along with two other Confederate ships to prevent their capture by approaching Union vessels.

Service history[edit]

Purchase and conversion[edit]

In 1862, the Confederate States of America purchased 14 civilian vessels for conversion into military ships. These constituted the River Defense Fleet, which was commanded by Captain James E. Montgomery.[1] The purchases occurred at New Orleans, Louisiana. The fleet was operated by the Confederate States Army. To emphasize that this force was distinct from the Confederate States Navy, many of the vessels were named after army officers.[2] Some Confederate naval officers believed that the purchase and conversion of these vessels was a waste of resources that should have been focused on ironclads or other existing vessels.[3] Some sources state that the vessel that became General Earl Van Dorn was previously known as Junius Beebe, while other sources state that Junius Beebe instead became CSS General Sumter. General Earl Van Dorn was a sidewheel steamer.[4] She was 182 feet (55 m) long, and had similar dimensions to General Sumter, with a beam of 28 feet 3 inches (8.61 m), and a 10-foot-7-inch (3.23 m) depth of hold.[5] She was named after Earl Van Dorn, the Confederate commander at the Battle of Pea Ridge.[6]

The conversion into warships for the River Defense Fleet vessels adding 1 inch (2.5 cm) of iron plating backed by 4 inches (10 cm) of oak planking, on a framework of one-foot-square timbers to the bow. The engines and boilers were protected by an inner bulkhead of one-foot-square timbers, with an outer bulkhead of six-by-twelve timbers. In between the bulkheads was cotton.[7] The vessels were intended to be used as rams,[8] and were known as cottonclads.[9] General Earl Van Dorn was placed under the command of Captain Isaac Fulkerson,[10] and left New Orleans for Memphis, Tennessee, on March 25.[6] Competing strategic goals had led to the split of the River Defense Fleet, with some of it remaining at New Orleans for the protection of that city, while others were sent up the Mississippi River to the Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri area.[11] General Earl Van Dorn reached Memphis on April 3.[12] A week later, her cottonclad conversion was completed by the finishing of the ironwork.[6] She was sent to Fort Pillow along with CSS General Sterling Price and CSS General Bragg.[12] General Earl Van Dorn was armed with a single 32-pounder cannon, which was placed on her bow.[13]

Plum Point Bend and Memphis[edit]

The destruction of the Confederate fleet at the First Battle of Memphis

General Earl Van Dorn was present on the morning of April 13 when the Confederates made an abortive attempt at a surprise attack against Union Navy ships upriver from Fort Pillow.[14] The Union fleet fell into a pattern of having one mortar boat downriver guarded by one ironclad, and Montgomery decided to attack with the eight ships he had at Fort Pillow.[15] On May 10, the Confederates attacked, bringing on the Battle of Plum Point Bend.[6] Seven of the Confederate vessels were arranged in order of speed, with the fastest vessels at the front; General Earl Van Dorn was fourth in the column.[16] General Earl Van Dorn fired on the Union mortar boat during the attack, hitting it twice,[17] before ramming the Union ironclad USS Mound City.[18] The Union ship was struck on her starboard side near the bow and was badly damaged.[19] General Earl Van Dorn then ran aground and came under Union fire.[20] The Union fire did little damage, although Fulkerson was wounded and one sailor killed. After General Earl Van Dorn became ungrounded, she returned to the rest of the Confederate fleet.[21] The Confederates broke off the fighting when other Union ironclads arrived on the scene; Mound City and the ironclad USS Cincinnati had been sunk but were later salvaged.[22]

The Confederates abandoned Fort Pillow in early June after setbacks further inland,[23] and General Earl Van Dorn and the other Confederate vessels helped cover the withdrawal.[6] Mongomery's ships reached Memphis on June 5, but there was a shortage of coal for their fuel. At a council of war, Montgomery and his captains decided to fight the pursuing Union forces, rather than scuttle their ships and retreat overland with the army or scuttle a portion of the fleet and use the remaining coal to escape with the rest.[24] Montgomery arranged his ships in three rows of two vessels, with General Sterling Price in the rear and CSS Little Rebel not having an assigned position. General Earl Van Dorn was in the third row, along with General Bragg.[25] The Union had five ironclads as well as the United States Ram Fleet consisting of four rams. On the morning of June 6, the Union forces attacked, brining on the First Battle of Memphis.[26] General Earl Van Dorn and General Bragg attempted to escape after the rest of the Confederate fleet was destroyed or captured.[27]

The cotton cladding on General Bragg caught fire and that vessel had to be abandoned.[28] Two of the rams, USS Switzerland and USS Monarch, pursued General Earl Van Dorn and the supply ship Paul Jones, but the Confederate vessels escaped.[29] The historian Mark K. Christ and the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships attribute General Earl Van Dorn's escape to her "superior speed".[6][20] Fulkerson took General Earl Van Dorn up the Yazoo River.[30] On the Yazoo River, General Earl Van Dorn along with CSS General Polk and CSS Livingston took up a position at Liverpool Landing, Mississippi, where they defended a log blockade designed to protect the location where the ironclad CSS Arkansas was under construction upriver at Yazoo City, Mississippi.[31] On June 26, Monarch and the ram USS Lancaster advanced up the Yazoo River.[20] The Confederate commander at Liverpool Landing ordered General Earl Van Dorn, General Polk, and Livingston burned to prevent their capture. By the time Arkansas, which was on a trial cruise, arrived, it was too late to save the three ships.[32]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Christ, Mark K. (December 19, 2022). "CSS General M. Jeff Thompson". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  2. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 79–80.
  3. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 85.
  4. ^ Silverstone 2006, p. 168.
  5. ^ Canney 2015, pp. 164–165.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Christ, Mark K. (May 25, 2022). "CSS General Earl Van Dorn". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  7. ^ Canney 2015, p. 161.
  8. ^ Canney 2015, p. 160.
  9. ^ Calore 2002, p. 141.
  10. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 83.
  11. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 85–87.
  12. ^ a b Chatelain 2020, p. 88.
  13. ^ Canney 2015, p. 165.
  14. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 120–122.
  15. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 122–123.
  16. ^ McCaul 2014, p. 98.
  17. ^ McCaul 2014, p. 104.
  18. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 125.
  19. ^ McCaul 2014, p. 105.
  20. ^ a b c "General Earl Van Dorn". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  21. ^ McCaul 2014, pp. 104–105, 107.
  22. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 125–127.
  23. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 127.
  24. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 128.
  25. ^ McCaul 2014, p. 131.
  26. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 128–129.
  27. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 129–131.
  28. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 131.
  29. ^ McCaul 2014, p. 144.
  30. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 131–132.
  31. ^ Chatelain 2020, pp. 185–187.
  32. ^ Chatelain 2020, p. 188.

Sources[edit]

  • Calore, Paul (2002). Naval Campaigns of the Civil War. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1217-4.
  • Canney, Donald L. (2015). The Confederate Steam Navy 1861–1865. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer. ISBN 978-0-7643-4824-2.
  • Chatelain, Neil P. (2020). Defending the Arteries of Rebellion: Confederate Naval Operations in the Mississippi River Valley, 1861–1865. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie. ISBN 978-1-61121-510-6.
  • McCaul, Edward B. Jr (2014). To Retain Command of the Mississippi: The Civil War Naval Campaign for Memphis. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-1-62190-135-8.
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (2006). Civil War Navies, 1855–1883. New York, New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-97870-5.
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