USS ''Sumter'' was a 525-ton sidewheel paddle steamer captured by the Union Navy during the Union blockade of the American Civil War. ''Sumter'' originally was 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 ...

cottonclad Cottonclads were a classification of steam-powered warships where a wooden ship was protected from enemy fire by bales of cotton lining its sides. Cottonclads were prevalent during the American Civil War, particularly in the Confederate States Navy ...

ram CSS ''General Sumter''. She was placed into Confederate service and then United States Navy service, each for a short period of time, before she ran aground and was destroyed.

Acquired by the Confederacy in 1861

''Sumter'' was a sidewheel steamer. She operated on the Mississippi River and its tributaries as a towboat until early 1861, when she was purchased by the State of Louisiana from Charles H. Morgan′s Southern Steamship Company. In January 1862, Confederate States Navy

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

James E. Montgomery for the Confederate States War Department's

River Defense Fleet The River Defense Fleet was a set of fourteen vessels in Confederate service, intended to assist in the defense of New Orleans in the early days of the American Civil War. All were merchant ships or towboats that were seized by order of the War De ...

. The steamer was refitted at Algiers as a cottonclad ram by the James Martin yard. Her bow was strengthened by 4-inch (10.2-cm) oak sheathing covered by 1-inch (2.54-cm) iron plates. In addition, cotton bales were compressed between double pine bulkheads for added strength.

Confederate service

Renamed ''General Sumter'', the ram proceeded to Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on 17 April 1862 to be armed. On 10 May 1862, defending the main avenue to Memphis, Tennessee, Montgomery′s fleet of eight vessels attacked a force of Union ironclads. In the resulting Battle of Plum Point Bend, 4 miles (6.4 km) above Fort Pillow, ''General Sumter'', with Raphael Semmes in command, steamed within 20 yards (18.3 meters) of the Union Navy ''Mortar Boat No. 16'', whose projectiles were threatening the fort, and fired everything she had, including a rifle volley; two 32-pound (14.5-kg) shot pierced the iron blinds of the Union mortar boat. Then the sidewheel steamer CSS ''General Sterling Price'' and ''General Sumter'' cooperated in a well-executed coordinated attack, one after the other, ramming the

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 at full speed so that she lost her rudder and much of her stern; ''Cincinnati'' (which Montgomery reported as the ironclad gunboat ) had to be run ashore to avoid sinking. Next, ''General Sumter'' rammed and damaged the gunboat , but was damaged by gunfire herself. Thus, the Confederate rams held off the Union flotilla until the fort was successfully evacuated on 1 June 1862. They then retired to Memphis to refuel. Quickly following up the capture of Fort Pillow, U.S. Navy Flag Officer Charles H. Davis appeared off Memphis in force on 6 June 1862. Montgomery, cornered without enough coal to retreat to

Vicksburg Vicksburg most commonly refers to: * Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States * The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign * The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle Vicksburg is also the name of ...

, Mississippi, yet unwilling to Scuttling, scuttle his fleet, fought it out desperately in the Battle of Memphis. ''General Sumter'' rammed and seriously damaged the sidewheel paddle steamer , but eventually most of the Confederate vessels were destroyed or surrendered. ''General Sumter'' did not sink; badly shot up, she ran on the Arkansas river, Arkansas shore, was captured, refloated, and renamed ''Sumter'' by the Union Navy.

Union service

While in Union service, she grounded again on 14–15 August 1862 downriver from Memphis off Bayou Sara, Louisiana, and was abandoned except for spare-part raids on her machinery by the rest of the squadron at periods of low water. Before the local populace completed stripping her, Confederate authorities succeeded in setting fire to the hulk, destroying her.Gaines, W. Craig, ''Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks'', Louisiana State University Press, 2008
, p. 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumter, USS Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in New Orleans Steamships of the United States Navy Rams of the United States Navy Captured ships 1853 ships Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks of the Mississippi River Shipwrecks in rivers Maritime incidents in June 1862 Maritime incidents in August 1862

Acquired by the Confederacy in 1861

Confederate service

Union service

See also

References