USS Louisville (1861) was a City class ironclad

City class ironclad

The Pook Turtles, or City class gunboats to use their semi-official name, were war vessels intended for service on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. They were also sometimes referred to as "Eads gunboats." The labels are applied to seven vessels of uniform design built from...

 gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

 constructed for the U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 by James B. Eads during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. [While initially owned by the Army, the City Class gunboats were commanded by U.S. Navy officers, and were eventually transferred to the Navy.]

Louisville was built at St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, by James B. Eads

James Buchanan Eads

Captain James Buchanan Eads was a world-renowned American civil engineer and inventor, holding more than fifty patents.-Early life and education:...

 in 1861, under contract with the War Department

United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...

 for the price of $89,000. Designed by U.S. Navy "Constructor" (Naval Engineer) Samuel M. Pook

Samuel M. Pook

Samuel Moore Pook was a Boston-based American naval architect and father of Samuel Hartt Pook, the noted clipper ship naval architect. In 1861, at the outbreak of the American Civil War, he designed the City class ironclads for James B. Eads...

, she was accepted 15 January 1862; and commissioned 16 January 1862, Commander

Commander (United States)

In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military title, depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Naval rank:In the United States...

 Benjamin M. Dove, U.S.N. in command. Despite being designed by naval personnel, budgetary concerns led the War Department

United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...

 to fund construction of the Louisville with Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 funds. As such, she was turned over to Army command upon completion and joined the Army's Mississippi River Squadron

Mississippi River Squadron

The Mississippi River Squadron was the Union naval squadron that operated on the western rivers during the American Civil War. It was initially created as a part of the Union Army, although it was commanded by naval officers, and was then known as the Western Gunboat Flotilla and sometimes as the...

. Eventually the entire western river flotilla would be transferred to Navy command.

Operational history

Louisville assisted the Army in the capture of Fort Donelson

Battle of Fort Donelson

The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11 to February 16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The capture of the fort by Union forces opened the Cumberland River as an avenue for the invasion of the South. The success elevated Brig. Gen. Ulysses S...

 on the Cumberland River

Cumberland River

The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...

 14 to 16 February 1862. From 1 to 5 March, she aided in the occupation of Columbus, Kentucky

Columbus, Kentucky

Columbus is a city in Hickman County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 229 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbus is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

, the "Gibraltar of the West." Departing Cairo, Illinois

Cairo, Illinois

Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...

, 14 March, she served in the capture of Island No. 10

Battle of Island Number Ten

The Battle of Island Number Ten was an engagement at the New Madrid or Kentucky Bend on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War, lasting from February 28 to April 8, 1862. The position, an island at the base of a tight double turn in the course of the river, was held by the Confederates...

 and New Madrid, Missouri

New Madrid, Missouri

New Madrid is a city in New Madrid County, Missouri, 42 miles south by west of Cairo, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. New Madrid was founded in 1788 by American frontiersmen. In 1900, 1,489 people lived in New Madrid, Missouri; in 1910, the population was 1,882. The population was 3,334 at...

, through 7 April, and helped to prevent southern ships from ascending the river.

In May, Louisville was ordered to Fort Pillow and participated in the Battle of Memphis

Battle of Memphis

The First Battle of Memphis was a naval battle fought on the Mississippi River immediately above the city of Memphis on June 6, 1862, during the American Civil War. The engagement was witnessed by many of the citizens of Memphis. It resulted in a crushing defeat for the Rebels, and marked the...

 6 June. Commanded by Rear Admiral

Rear admiral (United States)

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...

 Charles Henry Davis

Charles Henry Davis

Charles Henry Davis was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, serving primarily during the American Civil War, and with the United States Coast Survey.-Early life and career:...

, her squadron captured and sank the Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 Mississippi flotilla. On 15 June, she attacked the upper batteries at Vicksburg, before shifting efforts to the White River

White River (Arkansas)

The White River is a 722-mile long river that flows through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Missouri.-Course:The source of the White River is in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas, in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest southeast of Fayetteville...

, departing Helena, Arkansas

Helena, Arkansas

Helena is the eastern portion of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, this portion of the city population was 6,323. Helena was the county seat of Phillips County until January 1, 2006, when it merged its government and city limits with...

, 5 August. Escorting and to the mouth of the river, she met little resistance. In late September 1862 she was transferred to the Navy and assigned a new commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant commander (United States)

Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...

 Richard W. Mead

Richard Worsam Meade

Richard Worsam Meade III was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

.

After escorting transport Meteor, disembarking troops at Bledsoe's and Hamblen's landings 21 October, Louisville returned to Helena to join the gunboat fleet, Mississippi Squadron. She joined , , , , , , , and later in the month on an expedition up the White River in support of Major General William T. Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...

's army. Louisville captured the steamer Evansville near Island No. 36 on 1 November.

Now under the command of Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 Elias K. Owen

Elias K. Owen

Elias K. Owen was a United States Navy officer.-Biography:Born November 21, 1834, in Chicago, Owen entered the Navy in 1848. During the Civil War he served in the Mississippi Squadron, commanding Louisville and a division of Admiral David Porter's squadron.Owen died April 8, 1877 at Kaskaskia,...

, Louisville aided in the capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, 4 to 11 January 1863, and formed part of the expedition through Steele's Bayou, 14 to 28 January. She was ordered to the Yazoo River the 31st and moved to stop Confederates felling trees across the bayou on 21 March. She then turned her attention to the batteries on the river, running past those at Vicksburg on 16 April, and engaging the lower ones on the 29th. She joined , and on that date, silencing the guns of the fort on Grand Gulf and helping to establish the siege which forced Vicksburg's surrender 4 July 1863.

From 12 March to 22 May 1864, Louisville joined in the expedition up the Red River

Red River (Mississippi watershed)

The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...

. On 2 June she engaged Confederate batteries seven miles below Columbia, Arkansas, silencing the guns. She landed Union troops at Sunnyside

Sunnyside

- Australia :*Sunnyside , house of Ellen G. White, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church- Canada :* Sunnyside, a suburban area of South Surrey, in turn a town centre of Surrey, British Columbia...

 6 June and anchored off Shipwith's Landing the 20th, to learn that Confederates were traveling upriver with a heavy force, and had crossed Cypress Creek and Bartholomew's Bayou 20 June with cavalry, infantry, and artillery. On learning that Parsson's brigade was 10 miles back of Gaines' Landing, providing reinforcements, Louisville departed immediately for that point, and helped break up the Confederate attack.

Louisville continued service on the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 until decommissioning 21 July 1865. She was sold at public auction

Public auction

A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....

 at Mound City, Illinois

Mound City, Illinois

Mound City is a city located along the Ohio River in Pulaski County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 692. It is the county seat of Pulaski County.-Geography:Mound City is located at ....

 29 November 1865.

Armament

Like many of the Mississippi theatre ironclads, the Louisville had its armament changed multiple times over life of the vessel. To expedite the entrance of Louisville into service, she and the other City-class ships were fitted with whatever weapons were available; then had their weapons upgraded as new pieces became available. Though the 8-inch Dahlgren

Dahlgren gun

Dahlgren guns were muzzle loading naval artillery designed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren USN, mostly used in the period of the American Civil War. Dahlgren's design philosophy evolved from an accidental explosion in 1849 of a 32-pounder being tested for accuracy, killing a gunner...

smoothbore cannons were fairly modern most of the other original armaments were antiquated; such as the 32-pounders, or modified; such as the 42-pounder "rifles" which were in fact, old smoothbores that had been gouged out to give them rifling. These 42-pounder weapons were of particular concern to military commanders because they were structurally weaker and more prone to exploding than purpose built rifled cannons. Additionally, the close confines of riverine combat greatly increased the threat of boarding parties. The 12-pounder howitzer was equipped to address that concern and was not used in regular combat.

Ordinance characteristics
January 1862	September 1862	Early 1864
• 3 × 8-inch smoothbores • 4 × 42-pounder rifles • 6 × 32-pounder rifles • 1 × 12-pounder rifle	• 3 × 9-inch smoothbores • 1 × 8-inch smoothbore • 2 × 42-pounder rifles • 6 × 32-pounder rifles • 2 × 30-pounder rifles • 1 × 12-pounder rifle	• 4 × 9-inch smoothbores • 1 × 100-pounder rifle • 6 × 32-pounder rifles • 2 × 30-pounder rifles • 1 × 12-pounder rifle