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.

Dual on the Roanoke CSS Albemarle
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.



Kindle Available
Wolf of the Deep

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





Fort Monroe, VA, Blockade Runner Teaser, Civil War
Fort Monroe, VA, Blockade Runner Teaser, Civil War
24 in. x 18 in.
Buy at AllPosters.com
Framed   Mounted


Contrbands
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




Kindle Available
Ironclad vs Monitor

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.





USS Monitor
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.



Enfield Rifle
1860 Enfield Civil War Musketoon
This piece is a full-size non-firing reproduction of the rifle used in the Civil War. The body is made of European hardwood




Civil War Cannon Collectible
Civil War Cannon
Collectible Models and childrens playsets
Miniature Collectible Civil War Cannon12 pound Civil War field cannon replica weapon

Civil War Ships and Battles


Civil War Submarines

RAM Ships

Civil War Naval Timeline

American Civil War Exhibits

State Battle Maps

Civil War Summary

Civil War Timeline

Women in the Civil War

Battles by Campaign
Sid Meiers
Sid Meier's Civil War Collection
Take command of either Confederate or Union troops and command them to attack from the trees, rally around the general, or do any number of other realistic military actions.


Nation Divided
History Channel
Civil War A Nation Divided

Rally the troops and organize a counterattack -- Your strategic decision and talent as a commander will decide if the Union is preserved or if Dixie wins its independence


American Civil War Naval Book Titles
Kindle Available
Hunley the Confederacy Secrect Hope

The H. L. Hunley
The Secret Hope of the Confederacy

On the evening of February 17, 1864, the Confederacy  H. L. Hunley sank the USS Housatonic and became the first submarine in world history to sink an enemy ship. Not until World War I "half a century later” would a submarine again accomplish such a feat. But also perishing that moonlit night, vanishing beneath the cold Atlantic waters off Charleston, South Carolina, was the Hunley and her entire crew of eight

Confederate Blockade Runner 1861-65
The blockade runners of the Civil War usually began life as regular fast steam-powered merchant ships. They were adapted for the high-speed dashes through the Union blockade which closed off all the major Southern ports, and for much of the war they brought much-needed food, clothing and weaponry to the Confederacy
Union Monitor Civil War Ironclads
Union Monitor 1861-65
The first seagoing ironclad was the USS Monitor, and its profile has made it one of the most easily recognised warships of all time. Following her inconclusive battle with the Confederate ironclad Virginia on March 9, 1862, the production of Union monitors was accelerated. By the end of the year a powerful squadron of monitor vessels protected the blockading squadrons off the Southern coastline, and were able to challenge Confederate control of her ports and estuaries
Confederate Subs
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

Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles
Halls of Honor
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
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
Civil War
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
Conflict Begins
Civil War Journal
The Conflict Begins

These four programs from the History Channel series Civil War Journal cover critical aspects of the early days of the war.



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