Purchase and conversion In 1862, the
Confederate States of America purchased 14 civilian vessels in
New Orleans, Louisiana, for conversion into military ships. These became the
River Defense Fleet, which was commanded by
Captain J. E. Montgomery. The ships were intended to
defend the Confederate-held part of the
Mississippi River. 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. Some Confederate naval officers believed that purchasing and converting these vessels was a waste of resources that should have been focused on
ironclads or other existing vessels. Several sources state that the vessel that became
General Earl Van Dorn was previously known as
Junius Beebe; others state that
Junius Beebe instead became
CSS General Sumter.
General Earl Van Dorn was a
sidewheel steamer. She measured in length, and had similar dimensions to
General Sumter, with a
beam of , and a
depth of hold . She was named after
Earl Van Dorn, the Confederate commander at the
Battle of Pea Ridge. The vessels of the River Defense Fleet were intended to be used as
rams, and they were known as
cottonclad warships. Their conversion into warships involved the addition of of iron plating to the
bow, backed by of oak planking on a framework of timbers. The engines and boilers were protected by an inner bulkhead of one-foot-square timbers with an outer bulkhead of timbers. In between the bulkheads was cotton.
General Earl Van Dorns armament consisted of a single
32-pounder cannon on her bow, which was a common naval gun that was
smoothbore and
muzzleloading.
General Earl Van Dorn was placed under the command of Captain Isaac Fulkerson. Competing strategic goals had led to a split of the River Defense Fleet. The
Confederate States War Department desired that the ships serve in the
Tennessee,
Kentucky, and
Missouri area to protect this portion of the Mississippi River, but local interests pushed for the ships to remain at New Orleans. Rather than sending all of the ships upriver, the Confederate commander at New Orleans,
Major General Mansfield Lovell, retained part of the fleet at New Orleans after a river barrier defending New Orleans failed.
General Earl Van Dorn left New Orleans on March 25, The Union fire caused minimal damage, although Fulkerson was wounded and one sailor was killed. After
General Earl Van Dorn was freed, she rejoined the rest of the Confederate fleet. The Confederates broke off the engagement when other Union ironclads arrived on the scene;
Mound City and the ironclad
USS Cincinnati had been sunk but were later
salvaged and rejoined the Union fleet. The Confederates abandoned Fort Pillow in early June after they were defeated at the
Siege of Corinth, and
General Earl Van Dorn and the other Confederate vessels helped cover the withdrawal. Montgomery'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. 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. 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, bringing on the
First Battle of Memphis.
General Earl Van Dorn and
General Bragg attempted to escape after the rest of the Confederate fleet was destroyed or captured. The heavy guns of the ironclads and the ramming tactics of the United States Ram Fleet were decisive at Memphis. The cotton cladding on
General Bragg caught fire and she was abandoned. 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. The historian Mark K. Christ and the
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships attribute
General Earl Van Dorns escape to her "superior speed". Fulkerson took
General Earl Van Dorn up the
Yazoo River. 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 barrier designed to protect the construction of the ironclad
CSS Arkansas upriver at
Yazoo City, Mississippi. On June 26,
Monarch and the ram
USS Lancaster advanced up the Yazoo River. 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. The wreckage was removed by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1878 and 1879. ==Notes==