Happy 150th, Captain James Montgomery!

Mark F. Jenkins

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150 years ago today (10 May), it was a warm, hazy morning on the Mississippi a few miles above Fort Pillow, Tennessee. The Union Western Gunboat Flotilla had been at anchor for some time. Ever since General John Pope's Army of the Mississippi had been ordered away to join Halleck's army group for the advance on Corinth, the flotilla had not had enough land support to repeat its successful operations against Island No. 10. To mark time and to harass the Confederates, a mortar boat was towed down every day below Plum Point Bend near Osceola, Arkansas, to anchor behind Craigshead Point and loft occasional shells into Fort Pillow.

On this day, it was Acting Master Gregory and Mortar Boat #16's turn in the rotation. As the sun rose murkily through the river mist, the big 13-inch mortar roared, followed about thirty minutes later by another shell. Some ways off, toward the middle of the channel, the gunboat Cincinnati lay at anchor and her crew engaged in cleaning ship.

Suddenly, the crews on both mortar boat and gunboat became aware of the characteristic loud "whuff" of steam jetting from exhaust pipes, and billows of black smoke below Craigshead Point, indicating approaching Rebel steamers. The Cincinnati sprang the rattle, brought steam up, and cleared for action. Acting Master Gregory sent another shell arcing toward Fort Pillow, then instructed his gun crew to prepare to defend themselves.

Around the point came the eight boats of Captain James E. Montgomery's River Defense Fleet, the sidewheeler General Bragg and her great walking-beam engine pounding in the lead. She was followed by the General Earl Van Dorn, General Sterling Price, General Sumter, Little Rebel, General M. Jeff. Thompson, General Lovell and General Beauregard. Commander Roger N. Stembel ordered the Cincinnati about (it was usual for the "Pook Turtles" to anchor with their bows facing upstream), and as she came around, she sent a broadside toward the General Bragg.

The heavy haze had completely hidden the movements of the Cincinnati from her sister gunboats upstream, but her broadside brought them to full alert. On the Tennessee shore were the flagboat Benton and the turtles Carondelet and Pittsburg; only Commander Henry Walke's Carondelet had steam up and was ready to move, so Flag Officer Davis signaled her to get underway to go to the Cincinnati's assistance without waiting for the rest. Out of sight in the mist, across the river, the Mound City, St. Louis, and Cairo were anchored; here also, only the Mound City had steam up, and Commander Augustus Kilty decided to head her downstream as well, the other two to follow as soon as they were able.

The Cincinnati was in trouble. The General Bragg rammed her full amidships as she turned, the force of the impact turning her again upstream. Her broadside disabled the Bragg, which commenced drifting downriver, out of the fight; but the Bragg's consorts came on, and two of them rammed the Cincinnati in turn. Commander Stembel received a painful wound in the mouth from a rifle bullet as he stood on the top of the casemate for a better view. The Cincinnati, taking on water, began to head across the river for shallow water. Meanwhile, Mortar Boat #16 was firing big mortar shells with dangerously low powder charges and short fuses, attempting to lob them over the Confederate boats. (Although he was not successful in doing so, Acting Master Gregory was commended for this action.)

The Mound City appeared out of the mist on the Arkansas bank, and the Carondelet approached from the Tennessee side, both firing their heavy bow guns. The ram General Van Dorn ran past the mortar boat (firing a volley of small arms fire at it that perforated the boat but did no substantial injury) and smashed head-on into the Mound City's bow. His gunboat taking on water rapidly, Commander Kilty turned her head into the bank.

By this time, the Benton and Pittsburg were making their belated appearance, with the St. Louis and Cairo trailing behind; and along with the Carondelet, their shells were beginning to make the bend a hot place for the Southern rams. Montgomery and his fellow skippers decided they had done enough, and came about and retreated to the protection of Fort Pillow's guns.

Although they had not managed to cut out the mortar boat, sinking two of the enemy's hated "turtle" gunboats was a good morning's work. Although Union reports indicated sinking several of the Confederate rams, in reality only the General Bragg suffered appreciable damage, and that was quickly repaired.

For their part, within days, the Union forces pumped out and raised both the Cincinnati and Mound City, and sent them north for repairs. Both would see action again.
 
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Following is a series of graphics that reproduce and expand/explain Carondelet skipper Henry Walke's diagrams of the Battle of Plum Point Bend, as related in Naval Scenes and Reminiscences... while they are not actually the official record, I find that Walke's diagrams serve to explain the battle visually in a way that text descriptions can't.

PPBend_01.jpg


PPBend_02.jpg


PPBend_03.jpg
 
Thank you. Yours is the clearest explanation I have seen of this battle.

So I thought to try you with a couple of unfair questions which, probably, nobody can answer:

1. Have you an idea of the navigable breadth of river at this point?

and

2. Have you any idea of how large the turning circles of the Confederate rams might have been.

The two are, of course, related. I am interested in the position at around 8, when the Confederates turn to disengage. I wonder how wide the circles they would have had to describe might have been.


Alan
 
1. Have you an idea of the navigable breadth of river at this point?

I'm not 100% clear on the exact extent, but if you look at the diagrams and draw an imaginary curving line from the Pittsburg (Union boat 6 in the first diagram), swooping through the Cincinnati (boat 4) and down to the Confederate vessels, that approximates where the channel/deepest water was. It was definitely shallower towards the outside of the "S" bends of the river. IIRC, the Pook Turtles were of generally shallower draft than any other armed boat on the river (except for the tinclads, which came later on), so they had a somewhat wider swath of the river available to them, which was taken advantage of by both the Cincinnati and Mound City to get clear of the rams and to settle in shallow water. (Neither boat went entirely under.) The river as a whole was on the order of a mile to a mile and a half from bank to bank.

2. Have you any idea of how large the turning circles of the Confederate rams might have been.

I'm honestly not certain. I imagine that they would have been able to turn more tightly than the Union boats, though; since they were headed upriver, the current would help turn them once they began to go about. Also, all or all but one (I think) of the Confederate boats were sidewheelers, which would have allowed them to virtually pivot in place at low speed... though they were almost certainly moving rather fast. I wouldn't imagine their turn circles would have been too large, but I really can't guess at a number.
 
IIRC, the Pook Turtles were of generally shallower draft than any other armed boat on the river (except for the tinclads, which came later on), so they had a somewhat wider swath of the river available to them, which was taken advantage of by both the Cincinnati and Mound City to get clear of the rams and to settle in shallow water. (Neither boat went entirely under.)

One time when shallow draft is a disadvantage - trying to run yourself aground :wink:
 
They did have to go quite a ways to manage it.

I think I remember reading once of the (Cincinnati's?) crew sitting on top of the casemate and cheering the rest of the Union gunboats as they went by, but that doesn't square with Walke's diagrams or a reasonable timeline-- the crew really would have been too busy working the boat to get her to the shallows rather than stand around as spectators. Misremembered bravado, perhaps, or maybe reporter's fluff.
 
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