The Mississippi Marine Brigade.

While we are on the topic, I wish to put in another tale of the effectiveness of the said rams little discussed. There was yet another rebel fleet, be it a loosely called fleet, that we may laid claim that the Ellet’s rams played a major role causing its destruction. Immediately after the Battle of Memphis, the Federals send a raid force down the Mississippi River, and they eventually went up the Yazoo River before ending the operation. This force was composed mostly of Ellet’s rams and their speed caught the Confederates by complete surprise. Here is the background: they by chance stubble upon a collections of Confederate gunboats and maybe a few other vessels who had been mainly the survivors/escapees of the Battle of the Forts (New Orleans). These rebels were trying to concentrate and organize into somewhat of an effective force at this Yazoo River base/landing. Upon appearance of the Federals, for reasons not clear, the Rebels were seized by panic and set ablaze their entire fleet without firing a shot. Thus, another fleet is destroyed, and we are robbed of another Memphis style melee. Maybe the rebels steam barrels were not fired up of movement or they lack adequate crew members as many deserted or they read about Memphis in their newspapers. The conflagration is so immense that a few Federal vessels nearly caught fire themselves.
 
The best source to refer to here (definitely not the first time I've recommended it):
  • Hearn, Chester G. Ellet's Brigade: The Strangest Outfit of All. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press, 2000. 256 pp.​

Hearn ably covers the Brigade's creation from Ellet's ram fleet, its operations, and its (many) problems. It appears to have caused nearly as much confusion and annoyance to the Union forces as to the Confederate... Enjoyable reading, too.

There was a somewhat similar formation in the East during the Bermuda Hundred campaign (Graham's Naval Brigade) but it is tough to find information on, probably because it caused less of a headache.
 
The Mississippi Marine Brigade did not have anything to do with the US Marine Corps.

Definitely not.

There was very little involvement of real Marines in the river war. The Marine Guards aboard Farragut's warships of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and a handful of guards at the Mound City naval base were all there were in-theater, despite naval officers' frequently begging the department for them. The substitute was to break up an infantry regiment, usually one that had already been decimated by casualties, and put them on board the river gunboats, but I don't think this really sufficed.
 
Definitely not.

There was very little involvement of real Marines in the river war. The Marine Guards aboard Farragut's warships of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and a handful of guards at the Mound City naval base were all there were in-theater, despite naval officers' frequently begging the department for them. The substitute was to break up an infantry regiment, usually one that had already been decimated by casualties, and put them on board the river gunboats, but I don't think this really sufficed.
The Marines could not even meet their modest 2,000 man authorized strength levels. I wrote a paper about the CW era Marines. A friend sent me a photo of his CW ancestor who had Russian knots instead of shoulder boards on his shoulders. I had never seen a photo of a US Marine officer & originally speculated that he was… Russian… because of the knot. That’s what I like about CW history, there is always something that you never knew.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I have posted 50 corrections to posts about the Mississippi Marine Squadron. The name is a wellspring for all manner of misconceptions. The later stage of the MMS operations was nothing Marines would want in their history.

The few Marines who distinguished themselves in CW combat were members of gun crews on warships.
 
Did the US navy consider creating their own marine brigade?
The United States Marine Corps, especially at that time has always " belonged" to the Navy in some very real and some not so real ways, that is why they are Department of the Navy, (the Men's Department). The Corps was much smaller then mostly ship detachments and some shore ( guard) detachments. The Corps didn't have enough Marines to go around so Ellets Infantry Volunteers were made an Ad-hoc Landing Force for the Mississippi Squadron in place of a USMC formation.
 
If not mistaken, I seem to recall the soldiers who were to serve on the Ellet Fleet were from the 59th ILL. They may have been under the command of Charles Ellet's brother Alfred. They were in active battle at Pea Ridge and were at that part of the Federal battle line that decisively defeated the most important Rebel assault of the day on the right flank on that first day. Charles was allowed to enroll them after this battle. They may have been armed with carbine (maybe be wrong here) but I am almost certain they had them when placed on the rams. What a shame they did not shoot down that Rebel Pilot before he shot Charles Ellet at Memphis. I believed the Rebel drown afterwards in the river upon his boat sinking. I further understand Ellet's soldier played hell upon the Rebel pivot bow gun crews who were in the open and on each Rebel ram during the battle at Memphis.
 
Coincidentally, my wife has just determined that one of her direct ancestors served aboard the ram Monarch as a second assistant engineer. Looks like I'll have to dig into this topic a little deeper than I have in the past; I started by downloading a PDF of Crandall's history from Google Books, and we'll see where I go from here...
 
My copy of Military Images summer issue arrived today. The summer issue has an article about the Mississippi Marnie Brigade by Paul Russinoff. In MMP Mr. Russinoff discusses the Mississippi Marine Brigade.
 
Good morning!
My ACW infantry company has "expanded it's horizons" and a member purchased a Gatling in 45lc. this summer. We got to use it this past Oct. at a small local event utilizing BOTH cartridge and hand loaded BP rounds. We currently have four 20rd cartridge magazines and one 40rd. We also have 160-80 BP rds that use shotgun primers for ignition. These just get dropped in utilizing a magazine as well.

The gun that WE have, uses firing pins need to be switched out depending on the rds being used. That can take 30-45min under optimal conditions (and imagine will get faster we we get used to servicing the piece).

I can attest that our successful firing rate utilizing the BP rounds was approx 63% fired. Note: these rounds WERE loaded in the field & not in optimal conditions & could improve w/ addtl. testing etc. Our firing success utilizing cartridges was 99.5%.. The smoke was heavy and the sound was incredible. It was also a LOT of fun!!!

We are looking for a reason to bring this out & still maintain authenticity. Sadly living here in the East, there aren't may battles that allow us to do so even though OUR Company itself was stationed predominantly in the Western Theatre of the war. We are considering a "secondary impression" utilizing the Mississippi Marine Brigade as I read that they also had one...?
MMB LEADERSHIP: These album pages from the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) Massachusetts Commandery collection document the men who led the Brigade. U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center.

"Houts, one of Crandall's early recruits, signed up on Jan. 14, 1863, and joined Company A, commanded by Capt. Isaac D. Newell. Houts and his fellow Marines received shell jackets with brass shoulder scales or cloth epaulettes and Germanic wheel-hats with leather visors trimmed with green bands and white facings."

Action around Vicksburg:
"Days later, Houts and Company A participated in another unconventional action. On May 30, Ellet's fleet landed at Snyder's Bluff, along the Yazoo River several miles north of Vicksburg. Ellet sent Company A off to help secure a supply of fresh water located opposite the Confederate-held city and its bristling defenses. Armed with Spencer and Henry rifles supplied by the Navy at Ellet's request, Company A protected crewmembers and Black laborers as they dug rifle pits behind a levee, and then gathered water for thirsty Marines.

By this time, enemy observers got wind of the activity and soon lobbed shells in their direction. Houts and his pards put their rifles to good work as they harassed Vicksburg's defenders, who retaliated with a more directed fire on their position. No one was reported injured. The water gathering continued for some days, during which Company A and its rifles were replaced by a Gatling Gun that kept up a steady and effective fire on the works & a Parrot Rifle into the city until Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton surrendered the city on July 4."

Is this doable? Would this only be practical if reenacting a "Vicksburg Event/Specific Scenario"?

Secondly, I believe that there were in- fact effective according to Confederate reports.

"Ellet assigned the task of building a second fleet of seven landing crafts for the Marines to his quartermaster, Capt. James Brooks. These vessels were outfitted with oak planks dotted with musket loopholes, iron-plated pilot houses, cranes that lowered a generous gangplank to deploy men, horses and equipment, and hoses capable of spraying scalding jets of boiler water on enemies that attempted to board."

"On April 26, 1863, at a place where the Duck River empties into the Tennessee, elements of the 6th Texas Cavalry watched and waited for an opportunity to strike enemy targets. When Ellet's Marines steamed into range, the rebel troopers opened fire with four field cannon and raked three of the vessels with iron. The Texans looked on with evident pleasure at the effects of their handiwork. Their satisfaction turned to shock when the supposed "cattle boats" returned the compliment and fired back. Then, the Union crews pulled the vessels up to the riverbank, lowered the drawbridges and released charging blue knights.

One of the Confederate veterans later recalled it was "the worst his command was ever sold out." The Marines broke off their pursuit after a 12-mile chase. They returned to their boats, but not before pillaging local farms and a smokehouse. The day's casualty list included two dead Marines and another wounded, and nine Confederates killed. Two of Ellet's Rams, the Switzerland and the Lancaster, then ran the gauntlet of Confederate guns in early 1863."

"Another incident about a month later started under similar circumstances. The Marines were on the way to Vicksburg when their trailing supply vessels came under guerrilla fire near Austin, Miss. Ellet landed 200 cavalry and infantry in the face of surprised villagers. The Union cavalrymen mounted up and dashed off after the enemy—about 800 Arkansas and Mississippi partisan troops armed with artillery. After an 8-mile pursuit, the federals caught up to the Confederates and fought them for two hours until elements of the Marine infantry arrived and forced the enemy to retreat. The Brigade suffered two dead and 19 wounded in the action."

Did their success outweigh their "headaches"? Probably not, HOWEVER, I truly believe that if they were under "Local Command" rather than that of Stanton in Washington City, things probably would have played out much more favorably.

Just wanted to share and get your opinion.

Cheers,
Capt.Bluker

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