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River Defense Fleet Confederate State of America
Active
March to June 1862
Country
Confederate States of America
Branch
Army (see article)
Engagements
Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip Battle of Plum Point Bend First Battle of Memphis
Military unit
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 Department in Richmond and converted into warships by arming each with one or two guns, protecting their engines by an interior bulkhead, and strengthening their bows so they could be used as rams. Although they were nominally a part of the Confederate States Army, all of their officers and most of their crews were civilians. A portion of the fleet was retained in the south part of the Mississippi River and a portion was sent north to defend against Union movement from the north.
The portion of the fleet in the south took part in the battles at Forts Jackson and St. Philip. The portion of the fleet in the north took part in the battles at Plum Point Bend and Memphis. Experience showed that they could stand up to the opposing Union vessels only under very special circumstances; when those conditions were not met, they were overwhelmed. By the middle of 1862, the entire fleet had been eradicated, either by enemy action or at their own hands.
Map depicting Louisiana and the Lower Mississippi during the time of the Civil War.[1]
^ORN I, v. 18, p. 131.
and 23 Related for: River Defense Fleet information
The RiverDefenseFleet was a set of fourteen vessels in Confederate service, intended to assist in the defense of New Orleans in the early days of the...
The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States, mostly merchant vessels, that have been mothballed but can be activated...
The RiverDefenseFleet was also to have retreated to Vicksburg, but it could not get enough coal in Memphis. Unable to flee when the federal fleet appeared...
Beaumont Reserve Fleet, was established by act of Congress in 1946, as a component of the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF). The fleet is located in...
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Bend took place on the Mississippi River in Tennessee, U.S., between ships of the Confederate RiverDefenseFleet and the Union Western Flotilla on May...
Commodore George Hollins Riverdefensefleet that opposed the Union Gulf Blockade fleet in the Battle of the Head of Passes. A fleet of small steam vessels...
service at New Orleans, Louisiana, in early 1862 for service with the RiverDefenseFleet. Her conversion into a cottonclad warship involved installing an...
ram fleet operated in coordination with the Mississippi River Squadron during the Union brown-water navy battle against the Confederate RiverDefense Fleet...
fleet of five river gunboats to the Imperial Japanese Navy in Harbin on 15 February 1932. This flotilla formed the core of the Sungari RiverDefense Fleet...
The Hudson River Reserve Fleet, formally the Hudson River National Defense Reserve Fleet and popularly the Mothball Fleet, was established by act of Congress...
Arkansas, south down the Mississippi River and east up the Tennessee River. The Confederate RiverDefensefleet sank two Union ships at Plum Point Bend...
of the British Government CSS Defiance, a ship in the Confederate RiverDefenseFleet during the American Civil War Defiance, Iowa Defiance, Kentucky Defiance...
mortars, and the successful passage of the forts by much of Farragut's fleet on the night of April 24. During the passage, one Federal warship was lost...
remain in the fleet. The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) military caretaker oversees the National Defense Reserve Fleet, which serves as...
Several ships of the RiverDefenseFleet also took part. The Nationalists were pushed back to the north of the province and the Sungari River was secured. First...
War. It was a naval raid made by the Confederate riverdefensefleet, also known as the “mosquito fleet” in the local media, on ships of the Union blockade...
the United States Ram Fleet, a fleet of ram ships to counter the Confederate RiverDefenseFleet controlling the Mississippi River. Ellet purchased nine...
Mississippi River Squadron during the Union brown-water navy battle against the Confederate RiverDefenseFleet for control of the Mississippi River and its...
during the Union brown-water navy battle against the Confederate RiverDefenseFleet and land based forces. The brigade was independent of the Union Army...
confirmation the fleet began to anchor in a line of battle formation. Confederate commander James Montgomery's RiverDefenseFleet moved up the river to engage...
Global Information
Confederate States of America
Army (see article)![Map depicting Louisiana and the Lower Mississippi during the time of the Civil War.[1]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Lower_Mississippi_River_Map.jpg/350px-Lower_Mississippi_River_Map.jpg)