Combat· American Civil War
CSS Arkansas action
A dramatic ironclad dash through the heart of the Union fleet.
On 15 July 1862 the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Arkansas, newly built up the Yazoo River, came down and ran straight through the combined Union squadrons lying above Vicksburg, fighting her way past ship after ship in a running battle to reach the protection of the city's batteries. Marines aboard the Union vessels manned secondary guns as the Arkansas drove through, and the fleet poured fire into her, but though battered she got through and anchored under the Vicksburg guns. No Marine casualties are recorded. The Arkansas's passage was a humiliation for the Union navy and a tonic for the Confederate cause, and she remained a threat to Federal operations on the river until she was destroyed a few weeks later, disabled by engine failure and blown up by her own crew, during the fighting at Baton Rouge in August.
Podcast episodes on American Civil War
Record no. 446