The above lithograph image was published by Currier & Ives, New York and depicts the bombardment of the Confederate fortifications on Island Number #10 (April 7, 1862) by Federal gunboats and mortar boats. Ships seen in the image include (from left to right): Mound City, Louisville, Pittsburg, Carondelet, Flagship Benton, Cincinnati, Saint Louis and Conestoga. Mortar boats are firing from along the river bank. This image is courtesy of the United States Navy.

Many ironclad ships of the Union's brown water fleet navy were built by James B. Eads & Co. at Carondelet, Missouri (a city now incorporated within the city limits of St. Louis).  Eads was a well known riverboat salvager and engineer in St. Louis at the time of the Civil War.  Construction on the boats was primarily at Eads’ Union Marine Works (also known as Union Iron-Works or Marine Railway). Eads’ facility was located just north of Jefferson Barracks at the confluence of the River des Peres and the Mississippi River. 

The boatyard was formerly known as the Carondelet Marine Railway Company and it was situated at the terminus of Marceau Street off of South Broadway.  It consisted of a series of tracks and cranes that could transport ships in or out of the river using a railway car.  The railway car could move a short distance into the water, then up a shallow slope and into one of the handful of sheds where 800 artisans, laborers and shipwrights were employed.  The yard was built in the 1850's by Primus Emerson and then leased to James Eads for his operations. To support the shipyard operations, Eads also had at his disposal a rolling mill, five sawmills and two metal foundries all designed to supply his materials.

 

Eads' shipyard at Carondelet, Missouri constructing federal gunboats.
Source: Harper's Weekly, Oct 5, 1861. Sketch by Alexander Simplot.

Under a contract with the United States government, James Eads was to build seven identical "city class" ironclad warships by October 5, 1861.  A penalty of two hundred dollars ($200.00) per day would be assessed against Eads for each boat not completed and delivered to Cairo, Illinois by that date.   To assist in this endeavor, Eads had three of these ships (Cairo, Mound City, and Cincinnati), constructed by the Hambleton & Collier Company in Mound City, Illinois.  The remaining four ships (St. Louis, Carondelet, Louisville and the Pittsburgh) were built at his boatyard in Carondelet just south of St. Louis.  Even with the help of the Mound City facility, Eads lost considerable amounts of money as a result of the Oct. 5th deadline. The first ironclad, the "St. Louis," was completed and launched on October 12th from the Carondelet boatyard.  Even though the ships didn’t make the October 5th deadline, all seven of the ships were "finished and ready for armament within one hundred days after the signing of the contract," which had been awarded on August 7, 1861.

The ironclad gunboat, U.S.S. St. Louis (later renamed the U.S.S. Baron De Kalb).
She was sunk July 13, 1863 by a Confederate mine in the Yazoo River of Mississippi. Photo Source: United States Naval Archives

The above "city class" gunboats were designed by Samuel Pook. In general, these gunboats "were about 175 feet in length and traveled about nine miles per hour.  They were steam-driven, had five boilers and two engines.  A casemate enclosed the wheel, which was placed in a recess area near the stern of the vessel. Their hulls were made of wood with the bottoms being made of five-inch plank and the sides of four-inch plank.  The vessel was then sealed all over with two-inch planking. The sides projected from the bottom of the boat to the water-line at an angle of about 45 degrees and then from the water-line the sides fell back at about the same angle to form a casemate of about 12 feet high. This slanting casemate extended across the hull near the bow and stern of the boat forming a quadrilateral gun-deck.

The casemates were made of three-inch planking and well fastened. The knuckles of the main deck at the base of the casemate were made of solid wood timber about four feet in thickness. The boats were caulked and sealed all over both inside and outside.  They were then sheathed on the outside with two and a half-inch thick iron plating that was 13 inches wide and riveted on the edges to make a more perfect joint.  The iron plating covered the casemates above and below the waterline for ultimate protection against cannon fire and water mines.  The boats also had independent interior compartments to help prevent the vessel from sinking in case of damage to any particular part of the boat. The gun-deck was about a foot above waterline and the gunboats were designed to carry 13 heavy guns.  Three nine or 10-inch cannons were placed in the bow; four smaller cannons were located on each side of the boats and two more cannons located astern. 

Ironclads being constructed simultaneously at the Carondelet shipyard.
Photo Source: U.S. Naval Historical Center

Two "city-class" ironclads, under construction at Carondelet.
The boats are docked bow to bow with the five boilers of the nearest ship visible.
Photo Source: U.S. Naval Historical Center

Others ships that James Eads built at the Carondelet shipyard  were the “Fort Henry” and “Essex” (ironclad),  “Neosho” (river monitor), “Osage” (river monitor, twin of the “Neosho”),  “Choctaw" (ironclad ram), "Winnebago" (double turreted river monitor),  "Milwaukee" (monitor), and the Chickasaw" (river monitor). The last three ships were propeller-driven (as opposed to having paddle wheels).  In addition, two light-draft ironclad monitors (the "Etlah" and "Shiloh") of the Ericsson (or Eriksson) design were built by another company, McCord & Steel at their St. Louis National Iron-Works yard. Another ship the "Benton," was formerly a U.S. snag boat and converted for military use.  It was bought and converted by Eads to be his "submarine wrecking-boat No. 7."  In 1861, Eads sold the boat back to the Federal government for $26,000.  It was converted into an ironclad gunboat by Morse & Daggett of the St. Louis Dry Dock Company under the supervision of Eads. It is reported to have been the "most powerful ironclad afloat."

Ironclad mortar boats being constructed at Carondelet.

Ironclad mortar boats were non-propelled armored floating barges that housed large mortars.  Some of these were used against the Confederates at Missouri's Battle of Island No.10 on the Mississippi River. Thirty-eight of these mortar boats were ultimately built at Eads' naval works. Each armored mortar boat would carry one 13-inch mortar. Because of the extreme noise, the crew would load the gun, exit through an escape hatch, and then fire the gun by pulling a lanyard. The mortar shells would travel a distance of two miles before coming straight down from the sky and directly on top of the Confederate positions.

Mortars were an ideal weapon to use on forts that had exterior barrier walls or other barrier improvements because the mortar rounds could be shot high into the air in an arching-type trajectory over obstacles like walls and into the center of a fort or target.  Regular field artillery cannons usually shot their projectiles in more of a direct flattened line of fire instead of a high arching type of trajectory hat mortars were capable of doing.  Therefore, field artillery would usually overshoot their targets or they would have to re-adjust and be shot directly at a barrier wall and try to literally smash their way through the side of a fortification.

The monitor as invented by John Eriksson (or Ericsson). The U.S.S. Etlah and U.S.S. Shiloh, built in St. Louis, were of this design. Technically this warship was not an ironclad (wood clad (covered) in iron), but rather a ship made entirely of iron metal.  Unfortunately for the Union, the Etlah and Shiloh were completed too late for service during the Civil War.

  Building of ironclad mortar boats at Eads' Carondelet Iron Works.
As depicted in Frank Leslie's Magazine

Inside the gun deck of a "city class" ironclad. From Harper's Weekly
Courtesy of U.S. Naval Historical Center

Artist drawing of the U.S.S.Benton, by R. G. Skerrett.
Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center

U.S.S.Benton: Originally a U.S. snag-boat, she was altered and plated as an ironclad. She was considered to be the most powerful of all the union vessels in the western gunboat flotilla. She "was one hundred and eighty-six feet long on deck, and seventy-five feet wide at the beam; her hold was eight and one-half feet in depth, and she drew about five feet of water. She had a double hull, with the wheels working in the recess near the stern. Her hull was of four-inch plank and timbers eight by ten inches and she was divided by five fore-and-aft bulkheads and thirteen cross bulkheads, making forty-five water tight compartments. The deck-frame beams were ten inches square and the main deck was planked with four-and-one-half inch planking. The forward casemate ran down to the two-foot water-line, and was of twenty-four-inch iron plating. The entire boat was sealed with three and four-inch oak plank, caulked and made perfectly water tight. Its casemates extended around the whole vessel and were made of twelve-inch timber.  At the knuckle on the main deck the timber was from three to four feet in thickness. Her eighteen guns ranged anywhere from 32-pounders to 42-pounders in caliber. "There were also two nine-inch Dahlgren guns in the forward part of the boat and two smaller ones at the stern.  The machinery, boilers, etc. were all under the deck. The cylinders were twenty inches in diameter and double-flued. The wheels were twenty feet in diameter, with nine-and-one-half feet bucket.  The wheel-house was protected by timbers from six to eight inches in thickness and sheathed with heavy iron. The pilot-house was protected by twelve-inch oak timbers placed at an angle of about thirty degrees with the upper deck and they were conical in shape and sheathed in heavy iron."  

[History of Saint Louis City and County, by J. Thomas Scharf; Louis H. Everts & Co.; 1883]. The Benton was commanded by Capt. John Scott and served as Capt. Andrew Hull Foote's flagship during the March 1862 assault on Island No. 10.  She became Capt. Charles H. Davis' flagship during the battles of Plum Point and Memphis and was engaged in a fight against the Confederate ironclad C.S.S. Arkansas at the mouth of the Yazoo River.  The Benton also took part on the failed July 22, 1862 mission to destroy the C.S.S. Arkansas at Vicksburg.  In August of 1862 she was on expedition to Milliken's Bend.   The Benton then served as the flagship in a sortie against rebel batteries at Hayne's Bluff.  On April 29, 1863 she took on the Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf where she received severe damage with numerous casualties. She also participated in the Red River Expedition.

Image of the U.S.S. Carondelet depicting the common use of a canvas
awning over ironclads in order to reduce the searing heat from the sun.
Photo Source: U.S. Naval Historical Center

U.S.S.Carondelet: She was the first ship to run past the Confederate batteries on Island No. 10 as well as being a part of the naval force that forced the surrender of Ft. Henry.  She played the leading role in the naval attack on Ft. Donelson where it suffered four killed and 30 wounded on board. The Carondelet was then sent to Cairo, Illinois for repair of the damages it had sustained.   She participated in the March 1862 operation against Island No. 10 and New Madrid. The Carondelet sunk the Confederate ship "General Sumter" at the Battle of Plum Point and engaged and destroyed the Confederate fleet at the Battle of Memphis. On July 15, 1862, she was run aground by Commander Henry Walke to avoid sinking after an attack by the Confederate ironclad "C.S.S. Arkansas."   The Arkansas damaged the Carondelet’s broadside that destroyed its water pipes and steam gauges as well as cutting away its wheel ropes.  During this engagement she received four killed, 16 wounded, and 10 missing. By March 1863, the Carondelet was repaired and back to duty for General Grant's expedition up the Yazoo to Steele's Bayou. She participated in the expedition to Hayne's Bluff.  On April 29, 1863, she took on Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf and was involved in operations on the Red River.

U.S.S. Chickasaw
Drawing courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center

U.S.S.Chickasaw:  The launching of this ship on February 10, 1864 resulted in an unexpected calamity and death.  After the wine-breaking ceremony, the ship "plunged into the river, rising again, and floating like a cork. The anchor was jerked overboard, and the immense rope was being paid out with fearful rapidity. The huge coils of rope swept overboard the following guests: Miss Jenny Eads, daughter of J.B. Eads; Miss Mary Maguire, daughter of Mr. John Maguire; Mr. O.B. Filley, son of Mr. O. D. Filley; and Mr. and Mrs. Wm. P. Bradley.  The chair on which Miss Stewart sat was pulled into the river, and she herself thrown on the coil of ropes, where she was grasped by two gentlemen and literally dragged away from the rope.  The unfortunate persons supported themselves in the water by getting hold of pieces of timber until two skiffs pushed out into the river and picked them up.  Everyone survived the incident except Mrs. Bradley who was supposed to have been stunned by striking one of the timbers and drowned." 

Despite the tragedy, the Chickasaw was commissioned on May 14, 1864 and saw service before the Civil War ended.   She primarily patrolled the Mississippi River but saw action at the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1865.  The Chickasaw was decommissioned on July 6, 1865 and docked at New Orleans, Louisiana until it was sold on September 12, 1874.

[History of Saint Louis City & County, by Thomas Scharf; Louis H. Everts & Co.; 1883]

The U.S.S. Choctaw was originally a merchant sidewheel steamer built in 1853
but later converted at James Eads' shipyard in 1862 into an ironclad ram.
Watercolor by Ens. D. M. N. Stouffer, ca. 1864-65. David Dixon Porter Papers,
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

U.S.S.Choctaw: Designed by Capt. Wm. D. Porter was 225 feet long and originally designed for to have a turret and two heavy guns.  She was afterwards altered so that she could be used either as a ram (bell metal of two feet in length) or as gunboat.  The Choctaw was commissioned on March 23, 1863.  Besides patrolling the Mississippi River as well as its tributaries, it was used against Confederate fortifications at Haynes' Bluff, Yazoo City and saw action at Milliken’s Bend, La.  Between March and May of 1864 she was used in the attack on Fort DeRussy.  The Choctaw was decommissioned on July 22, 1865 in Algiers, Louisiana and then eventually sold on March 28, 1866.

U.S.S Essex moored in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1862.
Photo Source: Library of Congress

U.S.S.Essex:  The Essex was a large 1,000 ton ironclad river gunboat that was converted from the steam ferry New Era. Originally constructed at New Albany, Indiana, in 1856, the ship was purchased in September 1861 by the U.S. Army for its Western Gunboat Flotilla. Modified into a 355 ton "timberclad" gunboat, and retaining the name New Era, she took part in an expedition up the Cumberland River in November 1861. Renamed Essex soon thereafter, she received iron armor and other changes and was then actively employed in operations during early 1862, engaging Confederate gunboats near Lucas Bend, Missouri, on January 11th.

On February 6, 1861 she was badly damaged by enemy gunfire during an attack on Fort Henry, Tennessee. During subsequent repairs, the Essex was upgraded into one of the most powerful ironclads on the western rivers.  The Essex participated in operations against Vicksburg, Mississippi and battled the Confederate ironclad Arkansas along the way.  After joining Rear Admiral Farragut's squadron as the only Federal ironclad on the lower Mississippi, she helped repel an attack on Baton Rouge, Louisiana and took part in the destruction of the Arkansas the next day.

The Essex was in service throughout the Civil War. She bombarded Port Hudson, Louisiana, and helped with the occupation of Baton Rouge in December 1862. In May-July 1863 she participated in the capture of Port Hudson and in 1864 she took part in the Red River Expedition.   She was decommissioned in July 1865 and sold where her name was once again changed back the New Era. The ship was finally scrapped in 1870.

U.S.S.Etlah:  Built under the supervision of D. G. Wells, government engineer. "The keel of the Etlah was laid in August, 1863, but owning to alterations found necessary, from actual experiments with monitors of this class, the completion of the vessel was delayed beyond the original contract time. The Etlah was the largest vessel ever built on the Mississippi up to that time, and when she was launched, on July 2, 1865, a vast concourse assembled to witness the trial."   The Etlah weighed about 1,800 tons, "carried two guns, one 11-inch Dahlgren and one 150-punder rifled Parrott." Its "extreme length was 225 feet with a breadth of beam of forty-five feet; depth of hold was eleven feet; thickness of side armor was three inches; thickness of deck armor was one inch; internal diameter of turret was twenty feet; thickness of turret was eight inches; internal diameter of pilot house was six feet;" thickness of armor on pilot house was ten inches; two motive-engines; twenty-two inch diameter cylinders; stroke length: thirty inches; two nine inch diameter propellers. [History of Saint Louis City and County, by J. Thomas Scharf; Louis H. Everts & Co.; 1883]  Since she and her twin, the U.S.S. Shiloh, were completed at end of war, they never saw combat service. It was sold 12 September 1874.

U.S.S.Fort Henry: Designed by Capt. Wm. D. Porter. Launched from Marine Railway Company in Carondelet on Sept. 22, 1862. Was 280 feet long and about 40 feet wide.  [History of Saint Louis City and County, by J. Thomas Scharf; Louis H. Everts & Co.; 1883]

U.S.S.Louisville: Commissioned on January 16, 1862, she participated in the battles of Fort Donelson, Columbus, Ky, Island No. 10, New Madrid, Fort Pillow, Battle of Memphis, Vicksburg, and Fort Hindman.  She was involved in the White River expedition and captured the steamer Evansville.  The Louisville also participated in Steele's Bayou Expedition, Grand Gulf, and the Red River Expedition, as well as patrol duty on the Mississippi River. She was decommissioned on July 21, 1865 and sold at auction on November 29, 1865 at Mound City, Illinois.

U.S.S. Milwaukee, probably in Mobile Bay in 1865.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Naval Historical Center

U.S.S.Milwaukee: The Milwaukee was the sister ship of the U.S.S. Winnebago. She took part in the Battle of Mobile Bay and operations against Ft. Blakely. While in the Blakely River she struck a Confederate torpedo and sunk but the ship’s crew did survive.

U.S.S Neosho lithograph depicting it in battle with Rebel batteries near Nashville, TN.
Photo Source: Image was in December 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly

U.S.S.Neosho:    The Neosho was built at Carondelet (St. Louis) and was commissioned in May of 1863. She operated on the Mississippi River and its tributaries through the rest of the Civil War, and was one of several ironclads that took part in the Red River campaign in March-May 1864.  She also engaged Confederate shore batteries in Louisiana in June 1864 and on the Cumberland River in Tennessee in December of that same year.  The Neosho was decommissioned in July 1865 and in 1869 she was renamed several times first becoming the Vixen in June and then the Osceola in August.  She was eventually sold in August 1873.

U.S.S Osage
Photo Source, Library of Congress

U.S.S.Osage: The smallest ship of her class. The Osage was "one hundred and eighty feet long by forty-five feet wide and had an iron hull divided into six compartments. When fully complete and armed she had a draft of only three and a half feet of water. She was of the monitor pattern, and carried two long-range eleven-inch guns placed in a turret on the forward deck. Her hull was strengthened on the outside and two feet below the water-line by a plating of four-inch iron. Her deck, the outer edges of which extended  twelve inches above the water was slightly oval instead of being flat as was the case with the other gunboats built on the Mississippi."

[History of Saint Louis City & County, by Thomas Scharf; Louis H. Everts & Co.; 1883] 

The Osage was a river monitor built by James B. Eads at the Carondelet shipyard.  The Osage was propelled by a stern paddlewheel and it was the first U.S. Navy ship to use a periscope in combat.  The Osage saw action on the Red River Campaign and was used both on rivers as well as in the saltwater of Mobile Bay. She was sunk by a Confederate torpedo (mine) in the Blakely River in Alabama on March 29, 1865.

U.S.S. Pittsburg (Pittsburgh)
Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center

U.S.S.Pittsburgh:   The Pittsburgh saw action at Ft. Henry but was put out of action in the assault on Ft. Donelson.  Due to damage she sustained in battle, she was sent to Cairo, Ill. for repairs. Afterwards, the Pittsburgh took part in the attack on Island No. 10, Grand Gulf, and the Red River Campaign.

U.S.S.Shiloh:  Was a sister ship of the U.S.S. Etlah. However its maker, McCord & Steel "had considerable difficulty in launching the "Shiloh," but she was finally put into the water. This vessel was built in three separate divisions or compartments. Her turret was composed of one hundred and sixty plates of iron one inch in thickness by forty inches in width and nine feet high, each plate weighing about twelve hundred pounds. The plates were riveted together by bolts of one and a half inches in thickness, which, with the arrangement of the planed joints of the plates, rendered it one solid mass of iron weighing over one hundred tons. The turret, when occasion required it, was revolved by two turret engines, and moved upon a stationary ring. (see above description of U.S.S. Shiloh for other details) Completed at the end of the Civil War and never saw action. Eventually sold at auction on 12 September 1874.

U.S.S.Winnebago: Built in Carondelet (St. Louis) she was commissioned on April 27, 1864.  She patrolled the Mississippi River and participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay and was also involved in shelling of Ft. Morgan and operations against Ft. Blakely.   The Winnebago later served on the Tombigbee River against Confederate forces in Montgomery and Selma, Alabama. She remained in U.S. Navy service for some time and was stationed at Mobile Bay and later New Orleans, LA. The ship was sold at auction on September 12, 1874 to Nathaniel McKay who then sold it to the Peruvian Navy where it was renamed the "Manco Capac."

Brief History of Eads' Mound City Ironclads

U.S.S.Cairo: Commissioned on January 26, 1862 she patrolled the Cumberland River at Clarksville and Nashville, Tennessee and escorted mortar boats during the siege of Ft. Pillow. She also took part in the naval battles of Plum Point and Memphis and patrolled the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. On December 12, 1862 she struck a mine and sunk.

U.S.S.Cincinnati: Commissioned at Mound City, Illinois on January 16, 1862 she fired the first shot against Fort Henry, but was heavily damaged during the battle and had to return to Cairo, Illinois for repairs.  The ship took part in operations against Island No. 10 and was sunk in 11 feet of water at the Battle of Plum Point after being rammed by the Confederate ships, "General Bragg" and "Sterling Price."  After two months, she was raised and back in action. She took part in the expedition up the Yazoo River to Steele's Bayou. On May 27th, 1863 she was sunk again in three fathoms of water during an operation against Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Raised a second time in August of 1863 she took part once again in patrolling the Mississippi River and Mobile Bay. Decommissioned on August 4, 1865 she was sold in New Orleans in March 1866.

U.S.S.Mound City: Took part in operations against Island No. 10. Sunk May 10, 1862 in 12 feet of water at the Battle of Plum Point after being rammed by the Confederate ship, "General Van Dorn." Was raised the next day, and on June 12th, 1862, became Capt. Charles H. Davis' flagship during his expedition up the White River. At St. Charles, Arkansas, the "Mound City" was crippled after a Confederate shell penetrated her iron-plating and exploded her steam drum. Of the crew of 187 men, 125 were killed and 25 wounded (including Capt. Davis). Aug 16th 1862, the "Mound City" was back in operation at Milliken's Bend, north of Vicksburg. Took part in the sortie up the Yazoo river to Steele's Bayou, and against the Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf. Participated in the Red River campaign, including the assault on Ft. De Russy.

Written By:
Scott K. Williams

Sources:
United States Navy
U.S. Navy Historical Society
Library of Congress
MCWM Records & Archives
History of Saint Louis City and County, by Thomas Scharf, Louis Everts & Co., 1883