CSS Queen of the West
Civil War Confederate Naval Ship

C.S. Ram Queen of the West (1863-1863)

On 14 February 1863, the U.S. Ram Queen of the West was sunk off Fort de Russy, on the Red River, Louisiana. Raised and repaired, she was quickly placed in service by the Confederate Army under her old name. On 24 February 1862, she joined CSS Webb in forcing aground and capturing the Federal ironclad USS Indianola near the mouth of the Red River. Queen of the West was later sent to the Atchafalaya River area of Louisiana. On 14 April 1863, while in Grand Lake, she was attacked by three U.S. Navy gunboats. Hit by a shell fired at long range, Queen of the West was set afire and destroyed.

U.S. Ram Queen of the West (1862-1863)

Queen of the West , a 406-ton side-wheel towboat built at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1854, was converted to a ram in 1862 for Colonel Charles Ellet's U.S. Ram Fleet. As Ellet's flagship, she played a prominent role in the 6 June 1862 Battle of Memphis, which largely cleared the Mississippi of Confederate naval forces. On 15 and 22 June, Queen of the West twice engaged the ironclad CSS Arkansas .

During the rest of 1862 and into 1863, she was involved in operations around Vicksburg, Mississippi, including an expedition up the Yazoo river in November and December. On 2 February 1863, under the command of Colonel Charles Rivers Ellet , Queen of the West attacked the Confederate steamer City of Vicksburg under the guns of the Vicksburg fortress. Though damaged, she then moved down the river. For nearly two weeks, she operated independently on the Mississippi and its tributaries, where she captured four Confederate steamers. On 14 February, while seeking another prize on the Black River, Queen of the West ran aground near an enemy shore battery and was captured. Repaired, she became the Confederate warship Queen of the West .

The Loss of the Queen of the West
Line engraving after a sketch by Mr. McCullagh, published in "Harper's Weekly", 21 March 1863, depicting the capture of the U.S. Ram Queen of the West while she was operating on the Red River, Louisiana, 14 February 1863.


The Hunt for the Albemarle: Anatomy of a Gunboat War
The Confederate ironclad Albemarle was the key to the river wars in North Carolina.




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.




Confederate Ironclad 1861-65
Every aspect of Confederate ironclads is covered: design, construction, armor, armament, life on board, strategy, tactics, and actual combat actions.


Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida'S Gulf Coast, 1861-1865
Coastal Florida had a refugee crisis as the war progressed. Escaped slaves ("contrabands") sought out the blockaders. Some joined the U.S. Navy. White men and their families sought to avoid conscription or vengeful neighbors/regulators and eventually sought refuge with the blockaders





Confederate Ironclad vs Union Ironclad: Hampton Roads 1862
The Ironclad was a revolutionary weapon of war. Although iron was used for protection in the Far East during the 16th century, it was the 19th century and the American Civil War that heralded the first modern armored self-propelled warships.






War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor
The experience of the men aboard the Monitor and their reactions to the thrills and dangers that accompanied the new machine. The invention surrounded men with iron and threatened their heroism, their self-image as warriors, even their lives

Bache's Quaker' Driving the Queen of the West, and Causing the Rebels to Blow Up the 'Indianola
Line engraving after a sketch by Theodore R. Davis, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting the 25 February 1863 operation in which a dummy ironclad (left) was floated down the Mississippi River by the U.S. Navy, causing the Confederates to destroy the captured ironclad USS Indianola . CSS Queen of the West is depicted at the right.

Destruction of the Queen of the West by Union Gun-Boats
Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting CSS Queen of the West being destroyed in Grand Lake, Louisiana, during an attack by USS Estrella (extreme left), Calhoun (extreme right) and Arizona (second from right), 14 April 1863.

"The Total Annihilation of the Rebel Fleet by the Federal Fleet under Commodore Davis."
"On the Morning of June 6th 1862, off Memphis, Tennessee"
Lithograph by Middleton, Strobridge & Co.
In the foreground, the print depicts the Confederate ships (from left to right): General M. Jeff Thompson (shown sinking); Little Rebel (shown burning); General Sterling Price ; General Beauregard (shown being rammed by the Ellet Ram Monarch ); General Bragg (shown aground) and Colonel Lovell (shown sinking).
In the background are the Federal warships (from left to right): Queen of the West ; Cairo ; Carondelet ; Louisville ; Saint Louis ; a tug; and Benton .
The city of Memphis is in the right distance, with a wharf boat by the shore.



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American Civil War Naval Book Titles

Confederate Submarines and Torpedo Vessels 1861-65
Interesting information and many excellent illustrations. It addresses the CSA David class torpedo boats and the Hunley (and its predecessors), as well as Union examples such as the Alligator and the Spuyten Duyvil
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!
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

Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles

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
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
The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one
Civil War Combat: America's Bloodiest Battles
The violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor



American Military Gear Recruiter and History
United States Marines gear history and support of Semper Fi Fund

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress
US Naval Archives