The Union gunboat USS Lexington
The Confederate army was not overly fond of Union gunboats. At Shiloh in April, 1862 the
The grave of Cpl. Coonrod in Bonham, Texas.
USS Lexington had been one of two gunboats that shelled the Confederate lines. Among the soldiers there was Corporal John Coonrod of the 9th Texas Infantry. Coonrod took a one ounce ball to the leg in that battle, and was wounded again at Kennesaw Mountain, where shrapnel from an exploding shell struck him in the head, and a minie ball took one of his fingers. Fourteen months later, Coonrod’s future father-in-law, Private William Smithey of the 16th Texas Cavalry, was with his regiment when it attacked the Federal garrison at Milliken’s Bend on June 7, 1863. At that time, the 16th Texas Cavalry was attached to the Third Brigade of Walker’s Texas Division under General Henry McCulloch. While the Texas troops were able to push the Federals back to the banks of the Mississippi River, they soon came under heavy fire from none other than the USS Lexington, assisted by the USS Choctaw. The two gunboats pushed McCulloch’s Brigade back from what would certainly have been a Confederate victory. General Richard Taylor, overseeing Walker’s Texas Division, was less than pleased, not because of the interference of the gunboats, but because the Confederate troops pulled back under their fire. I would be less than a year that Taylor would plan a retreat specifically to avoid gunboats.
The USS Choctaw patrolling the Mississippi River. The city of Vicksburg is visible in the background.
The 16th Texas Cavalry, and Walker’s Texas Division as a whole would not see the last of Federal gunboats. In November, 1863, Walker’s Division was stationed near Simmesport, Louisiana, at a point naturally hazardous to river traffic, below the junction of the Red and Mississippi Rivers. There, Edgar’s battery would blast unwary Federal shipping, passenger steamboats, and Federal gunboats, supported by small arms fire from Walker’s Infantry. These craft were often supported by Union gunboats, who fired largely without effect on the well-placed Confederate lines. It was no doubt to the delight of Walker’s Texans when the selfsame USS Choctaw that had shelled them at Milliken’s Bend months earlier came to the defense of their first victim, the gunboat USS Signal. The Choctaw blasted shrapnel shells at the artillery position, causing the gunners to scramble to save their guns, and to seek shelter against the bank. The infantry, however, continued to pour a stream of lead at the ironclad beast. Among the other, more serious victims of Walker’s gunners was the transport Black Hawk, whose pilot house was shattered by canister shot, and the pilot killed. The boat, already on fire, ran aground, and the passengers quickly jumped ship and ran into the nearby woods. The Captain’s brother had his leg torn of by shot, and a James Keller of the 22nd Kentucky Vols. had his arm shattered, dying soon after. Another passenger, a young black man by the name of Alfred Thomas was decapitated.
On December 8th the USS Neosho was escorting the steamer Henry Von Phul upstream to St.
The Henry Von Phul
Louis, when she came within the gunsights of Walker’s Texans. The ship’s Captain, Patrick Gorman, was struck in the abdomen and disemboweled by a round shot which penetrated the pilot house. The ship’s barkeeper was also killed. A reporter who happened to be on board wrote afterward that ” a sheet of wet paper would afford as much resistance to a paving-stone as the walls of a steam cabin to a six-pound shot.” An estimated twenty shells penetrated the unfortunate ship, three below the water line. The selfsame reporter had one explode
Surviving veterans of the 165th New York Infantry Zouaves march in a parade
beneath his cabin. Those not struck by projectiles were likely to be hit by large wood splinters. Though Walker’s Division could not have known it, their actions were making headlines as far away as Great Britain. The Henry Von Phul was their last victim, as they left for Simmesport the next day. It was to be their last encounter with the Union gunboats, but what became of these ironclad monsters? A large number of their flesh-and-blood counterparts lived well into old age, including their last foes at Mansfield, the 165th New York Infantry Zouaves. For enemies made of wood and metal, life was far shorter.
The USS Lexington was timberclad, sidewheel steamship. It had joined the war in the West
The USS Lexington
in August, 1861, and operated under Ulysses Grant in attack on Paducah and Smithland, Kentucky in September. She also heavily damaged the Confederate gunboat CSS Jackson days later at Lucas Bend, Missouri. The Lexington also took part in the battles of Belmont, Fort Henry, Shiloh, St. Charles, Arkansas, Yazoo River, the capture of Fort Hindman, where Walker’s Division got their first sight of her, Milliken’s Bend, and the Red River Campaign. The Lexington covered General Nathaniel Banks and his men as they retreated from Pleasant Hill, and was one of the gunboats firing on the Confederates when General Tom Green of Walker’s Texas Division was decapitated by a Union shell. She saw her last action in June 1864, when she captured two Confederate steamships laden with cotton, and then pushed back a Confederate attack at White River Station. On June 5, 1865, she sailed into Mound City, Illinois, and was decommissioned there the next month. One of her successors was an aircraft carrier, which played a vital role in World War II’s Pacific Campaign. Today, it can be seen drydocked in Corpus Christi, Texas, the State against whose troops her namesake fought so many times.
The USS Choctaw
The USS Choctaw was also a sidewheel steamer, constructed in 1853, and launched in 1856. Originally a merchant ship, the United States Navy bought her in late 1862, and converted her to an ironclad gunboat and ram with a crew complement of 106. Her arms included one 100lb rifle, three 9-inch smoothbore cannons, and two 30lb rifles. On April 23, 1863 she took part in a diversionary action at Haynes Bluff, Mississippi, during which she was hit no less than 53 times. On June 7, 1863 she participated in the battle of Milliken’s Bend, and for the rest of the war, patrolled the Mississippi. Between March and May 1864, she also took part in the capture of Fort DeRussy, Louisiana. On July 20, 1865, she sailed into Algiers, Louisiana, and was decommissioned there two days later. She was sold into private hands at New Orleans the following March.
The USS Black Hawk, while not a gunboat, was a troop transport. Built in 1848, she was
The USS Black Hawk
purchased by the Union Navy in November, 1862, and christened the New Uncle Sam. Less than a month later, she was renamed the Black Hawk. She took part in the siege of Vicksburg, and the capture of Fort Hindman alongside the Lexington. She also took part in actions at Haines Bluff, and the Red River Campaign. On April 22, 1865, she caught fire and sank near Cairo, Illinois. Two years later, she was raised, and then sold at St. Louis.
USS Neosho
The USS Neosho was unique among the gunboats that Walker’s Division faced. Purpose-built in 1863, she came in at a hulking 523 tons (less than the Choctaw, which weighed 1,004). Her main gun turret was steam-operated, and consisted of two 9-inch Dahlgren guns. The guns weighed 16,000lbs each, could fire a 136lb shell over 3,500 yards, and were protected by 6-inch
A Dahlgren gun
armor. She saw action on the Cumberland River, and the battle of Nashville. The Neosho also supported Federal troops during the Red River Campaign, and in a fight at Bells’ Mill, Tennessee on December 6, 1864, she escaped serious damage, despite being hit over 100 times. In her last action, she shelled Confederate positions at the battle of Nashville. On July 23, 1865, she was decommissioned at Mound City, Illinois, and put in reserve. Her name was changed twice in 1869, first to Vixen, and then to Osceola. She remained out of service until 1873, when she was sold for a total of $13, 600; less than the cost of a modern car.
The gunships of the Civil War had a fearsome reputation. Perhaps the most famous clash was the USS Monitor against the CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack). They undeniably had an impact on Confederate troops, who had a very healthy fear of them. Despite their power, their era passed quickly, and gave rise to the modern warship.
The drydocked USS Lexington, with deck guns and the bridge in the background.
Fitzhugh's Regiment 