The USS ''Cincinnati'' was a stern-wheel

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...

gunboat in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. She was named for

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and was the first ship to bear that name in the United States Navy.

Service history

''Cincinnati'' was built in 1861 under a War Department contract by

James Eads James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, and commissioned at Mound City, Illinois, January 16, 1862, Lieutenant

George M. Bache George Mifflin Bache, Jr. (November 12, 1841 – February 11, 1896) was an officer in the United States Navy, fighting on the Union side in the American Civil War and continuing to serve for a decade after the war's end. The ''Fletcher''-class d ...

in command. Assigned to duty with the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in the Western Gunboat Flotilla under U.S. Navy Flag Officer

Andrew H. Foote Andrew Hull Foote (September 12, 1806 – June 26, 1863) was an American naval officer who was noted for his service in the American Civil War and also for his contributions to several naval reforms in the years prior to the war. When the war cam ...

, ''Cincinnati'' participated in the attack and capture of Fort Henry (February 6, 1862); the operations against Island No. 10 (March 12 April 7, 1862); the engagement with the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

gunboat fleet at Plum Point Bend and the bombardment of Fort Pillow (May 10, 1862). This important series of operations was aimed at splitting the Confederacy. During the last engagement ''Cincinnati'', the lead vessel, was repeatedly struck by enemy rams and sunk. Raised and returned to service, ''Cincinnati'' was transferred to the

Navy Department Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy, * Navy Department (Ministry of Defence), in the United Kingdom, 1964-1997 * Confederate States Department of the Navy, 1861-1865 * Department of the Na ...

1 October 1862 with other vessels of the Western Gunboat Flotilla. She participated in the Army-Navy operation against

Arkansas Post The Arkansas Post (french: Poste de Arkansea) (Spanish: ''Puesto de Arkansas''), formally the Arkansas Post National Memorial, was the first European settlement in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and present-day U.S. state of Arkansas. In 168 ...

or Fort Hindman, a Confederate fort on the Arkansas River, and installations on the White River in January 1863, then was ordered to the

Yazoo River The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the ...

where she took part in Steele's Bayou Expedition (March 14–27, 1863). On May 27, 1863, during the Siege of

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vic ...

, ''Cincinnati'' was ordered to steam down the Mississippi River and destroy two Confederate artillery guns which were impeding the advance of General William Tecumseh Sherman's right flank. Between ''Cincinnati'' and the two guns was a Confederate eleven-piece heavy artillery battery which, from its position atop a bluff, had command over that entire stretch of the river. This "Upper River Battery" was composed of the remnants of Hoagley's Battery, CS and referred to simply as the "Arkansas Battery." The Union forces had been aware of the battery, but, shortly before ''Cincinnati'' received its orders, the battery had disappeared and was assumed to have been moved elsewhere. Unbeknownst to them, the battery's guns had been removed from view by simply lowering them from their carriages, both to protect them from the fire of ships on the river and to deceive the Union forces. The commander of the battery, Capt. William Pratt Parks, (CS Army) had discovered the Union signal code, and when he intercepted a message describing ''Cincinnati''s mission, he had the guns re-assembled during the night and concealed them in brush. On the morning of May 27, ''Cincinnati'' headed downstream and reached its target, the two artillery guns. Just as it fired its first shots, the hidden battery on the bluff also opened fire, completely surprising the Union ship. The first Confederate shell scored a direct hit, passing through ''Cincinnati's''

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and exiting through the bottom of the ship. Another shell disabled the ship's steering mechanism. ''Cincinnati''s own guns could not be elevated enough to return fire on the high battery. Knowing his ship was doomed, the commander, Lieutenant

, headed ''Cincinnati'' full-steam back up the river in search of a place on which to

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

the ship. A suitable spot being found, ''Cincinnati'' was run aground, a

hawser Hawser () is a nautical term for a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship. A hawser passes through a hawsehole, also known as a cat hole, located on the hawse.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, third edition, ...

tied to a tree, and gangplank laid out. Before the men could evacuate, the hawser came loose and the ship slipped from the bank out into the river, where it began to sink in about of water. Many of the crew, including the commander, could not swim; those who could began to abandon ship. Still under intense fire four sailors, Landsman Thomas E. Corcoran, Boatswain's Mate Henry Dow, Seaman Thomas Jenkins, and Seaman Martin McHugh, swam back and forth, helping their crewmates to shore. They then reboarded ''Cincinnati'', hastily repaired a small boat which had been damaged by the Confederate fire, and loaded it with men who were too badly wounded to be dragged through the water. After Lieutenant Bache also climbed into the boat, they towed it to the safety of a Union flotilla. Six crewman from ''Cincinnati'' were awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

for their actions during the sinking: Quartermaster Frank Bois, Landsman Thomas E. Corcoran, Boatswain's Mate Henry Dow, Quartermaster Thomas W. Hamilton, Seaman Thomas Jenkins, and Seaman Martin McHugh. Raised again in August 1863, ''Cincinnati'' returned to patrol duty on the

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and its tributaries until February 1865 when she was transferred to the

West Gulf Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederate States of America, Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required ...

. She patrolled off Mobile Bay and in the Mississippi Sounds until placed out of commission August 4, 1865 at Algiers, Louisiana. She was sold at

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

on March 28, 1866.

References

External links

Bombardment of Fort Henry (Feb. 2–6, 1862)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cincinnati Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in St. Louis Gunboats of the United States Navy History of Cincinnati Steamships of the United States Navy 1861 ships Maritime incidents in May 1862 Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks of the Mississippi River Maritime incidents in May 1863

Service history

See also

References

External links