CSS McRaeMcRae, often erroneously identified by Union leaders as Miramon or General Miramon, was the former bark-rigged pirate ship Marques de la Habana which had been captured by USS Saratoga in March 1860. She was purchased by the Confederate States at New Orleans on 17 March 1861 and fitted out as CSS McRae. She was placed under command of Lt. T. B. Huger, CSN, and assigned to the fleet under Flag Officer G. N. Rollins, CSN, entrusted with the defense of the lower Mississippi River. Part of this time, as in her last battle, she was Rollins' flagship. McRae gave protection to blockade runners slipping in and out of the Mississippi and Mobile Bay. She gave a good account of herself in a spirited engagement with ships of the Federal blockading fleet at the Head of the Mississippi River Passes on 12 October 1861. Her last fight was a gallant defense of Forts Jackson and St. Philip on 24 April 1862. In this engagement the conduct of her officers and crew was reported "rarely surpassed in the annals of naval warfare." With their ship cut to ribbons they fought on and would not surrender in an unequal contest which was conducted simultaneously against several Union warships and which left most of her crew dead or injured on her deck. Though severely damaged, McRae came up river to New Orleans under a flag-of-truce on the evening of 27 April 1862, landing Confederate wounded from the forts below. There she was left to her fate and was found the following morning by Union forces sunk alongside the city wharf. |
 Confederate Ironclad 1861-65 Every aspect of Confederate ironclads is covered. |
|
|
Fort Monroe, VA, Blockade Runner Teaser, Civil War Giclee Print 24 in. x 18 in. Buy at AllPosters.com Framed Mounted |
|
CSS McRae, from photograph, courtesy of Mr. Frederick Way, Jr., of Sewickley, Pennsylvania
DVD Halls of Honor The U.S. Navy Museum takes you on an informed and entertaining romp through one of North America s oldest and finest military museums. The museum has been in continuous operation at the Washington Navy Yard since the American Civil War |
DVD Raise The Alabama She was known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France |
 Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy : The Journal and Letters of John M. Brooke Information about the Confederate Navy's effort to supply its fledgling forces, the wartime diaries and letters of John M. Brooke tell the neglected story of the Confederate naval ordnance office, its innovations, and its strategic vision. |
 Confederate Phoenix: The CSS Virginia The CSS Virginia of the Confederate States Navy destroyed two of the most formidable warships in the U.S. Navy. Suddenly, with this event, every wooden warship in every navy in the world became totally obsolete |
 Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine For more than a century the fate of the Hunley remained one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Civil War. Then, on August 8, 2000, with thousands of spectators crowding Charleston Harbor, the Hunley was raised from the bottom of the sea and towed ashore. |
 Wolf of the Deep: Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama In July 1862, the Confederate captain Raphael Semmes received orders to report to Liverpool, where he would take command of a secret new British-built steam warship. His mission: to prey on Union commercial vessels and undermine the North's ability to continue the war |
 Duel on the Roanoke - The True Story of the CSS Albemarle A 158-foot Confederate ironclad ship built in a cornfield 90 miles up North Carolina's Roanoke River, under the direction of an 18-year-old boy, and the deadly cat-and-mouse game between the two opposing captains. |
 Ironclad of the Roanoke: Gilbert Elliott's Albemarle The story of a Confederate Ironcald that was a powerful force until sunk by a Union Torpedo Boat after its brief stormy life. Ironic in the fact it was built in a Cornfield. Confederate Ingenunity at it finest! |
American Military Gear Recruiter and History
United States Marines gear history and support of Semper Fi Fund
United States Army History Timeline
Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress
US Naval Archives