Sinking of the Cincinnati

Tompre

Sergeant
Joined
Dec 16, 2014
Location
Vicksburg Miss.
Vicksburg National Military Park


Loss of the USS Cincinnati

On May 26, 1863, Major General William T Sherman received reports that the powerful rebel guns atop Fort Hill appeared to have been removed. If this was in fact accurate, Sherman believed the fort could be taken and his troops could smash through the extreme left of the Confederate line. After conferring with Admiral David D. Porter, the two agreed that without the heavy guns guarding the bend in the Mississippi River the Navy could easily support Sherman’s assault.

The following morning the USS Cincinnati, sister ship of the USS Cairo, rounded De Soto Point to reconnoiter and test the strength of Pemberton’s northern shore batteries. In short order the question was answered, Fort Hill’s guns had not been removed. The Confederates had broken the Union signal codes, alerting the gunners of the First Tennessee Heavy Artillery that the Cincinnati would be coming past the next morning. The guns had been taken off their carriages, but were quickly remounted, and camouflaged the evening before.

As the cumbersome ironclad turned to reverse course, a well-placed shot passed through the unprotected stern, the magazine, and then through the ship’s bottom, causing the Cincinnati to fill rapidly. The Tennessean’s gunnery was fast and accurate, and with its rudder shot-away, the Cincinnati’s commander, Lt. George Bache, attempted to beach his ill-fated ironclad as it continued to sink. Many of the sailors on board were dead or wounded and others clamored off the stricken gunboat and into the turbulent waters only to be swept away and drown. Several sailors started swimming back and forth to the shore, rescuing their shipmates as the deadly shelling continued. The intrepid sailors then re-boarded the ship, repaired a small boat and loaded the wounded crew members on board. Then, as the deck of the Cincinnati was completely covered with water and going down, Lt. Bache was helped aboard, and the lifeboat made its way to the safety of the Union fleet.

Out of the Cincinnati’s 175-man crew, 25 were killed or wounded, and 15 drowned, including several formerly enslaved African American sailors. Six members of the ironclad’s crew received the Medal of Honor for their gallantry that day. Among them were the four sailors that swam, taking survivors unable to swim from ship to shore: Thomas Jenkins from Australia, Henry Dow from Scotland, and Thomas Corcoran and Martin McHugh from Ireland.

#ThisDayInHistory #158yearsagotoday #VicksburgNationalMilitaryPark #vicksburgnps #vicksburgcampaign

[image description one: Black and white Civil War image of the USS Cincinnati, ironclad gunboat. Ship is pictured from the right side anchored in the water.]

[image description two: Black and white Civil War image of the Confederate cannon known as “Whistling Dick”. Cannon is pictured from the side on top of a wooden carriage. There is soldier behind the cannon aiming it.]

[image description three: Modern color photo a red marker tablet with text. Text include a description of the artillery unit it commemorates – the First Tennessee Heavy Artillery.]

[image description four: Modern day color photo showing a row of cannon mounted on top of carriages. They are lined along a roadside with telephone poles and the roadway in the background.]

[image description five: Color line map showing the locations of the river gun emplacements along the river.]
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Great Info. Thanks
 
There is a veteran of the Cincinnati buried in the cemetery where I volunteer but he served on the ship a year earlier and wasn't present at the sinking.
 
Vicksburg National Military Park


Loss of the USS Cincinnati

On May 26, 1863, Major General William T Sherman received reports that the powerful rebel guns atop Fort Hill appeared to have been removed. If this was in fact accurate, Sherman believed the fort could be taken and his troops could smash through the extreme left of the Confederate line. After conferring with Admiral David D. Porter, the two agreed that without the heavy guns guarding the bend in the Mississippi River the Navy could easily support Sherman’s assault.

The following morning the USS Cincinnati, sister ship of the USS Cairo, rounded De Soto Point to reconnoiter and test the strength of Pemberton’s northern shore batteries. In short order the question was answered, Fort Hill’s guns had not been removed. The Confederates had broken the Union signal codes, alerting the gunners of the First Tennessee Heavy Artillery that the Cincinnati would be coming past the next morning. The guns had been taken off their carriages, but were quickly remounted, and camouflaged the evening before.

As the cumbersome ironclad turned to reverse course, a well-placed shot passed through the unprotected stern, the magazine, and then through the ship’s bottom, causing the Cincinnati to fill rapidly. The Tennessean’s gunnery was fast and accurate, and with its rudder shot-away, the Cincinnati’s commander, Lt. George Bache, attempted to beach his ill-fated ironclad as it continued to sink. Many of the sailors on board were dead or wounded and others clamored off the stricken gunboat and into the turbulent waters only to be swept away and drown. Several sailors started swimming back and forth to the shore, rescuing their shipmates as the deadly shelling continued. The intrepid sailors then re-boarded the ship, repaired a small boat and loaded the wounded crew members on board. Then, as the deck of the Cincinnati was completely covered with water and going down, Lt. Bache was helped aboard, and the lifeboat made its way to the safety of the Union fleet.

Out of the Cincinnati’s 175-man crew, 25 were killed or wounded, and 15 drowned, including several formerly enslaved African American sailors. Six members of the ironclad’s crew received the Medal of Honor for their gallantry that day. Among them were the four sailors that swam, taking survivors unable to swim from ship to shore: Thomas Jenkins from Australia, Henry Dow from Scotland, and Thomas Corcoran and Martin McHugh from Ireland.

#ThisDayInHistory #158yearsagotoday #VicksburgNationalMilitaryPark #vicksburgnps #vicksburgcampaign

[image description one: Black and white Civil War image of the USS Cincinnati, ironclad gunboat. Ship is pictured from the right side anchored in the water.]

[image description two: Black and white Civil War image of the Confederate cannon known as “Whistling Dick”. Cannon is pictured from the side on top of a wooden carriage. There is soldier behind the cannon aiming it.]

[image description three: Modern color photo a red marker tablet with text. Text include a description of the artillery unit it commemorates – the First Tennessee Heavy Artillery.]

[image description four: Modern day color photo showing a row of cannon mounted on top of carriages. They are lined along a roadside with telephone poles and the roadway in the background.]

[image description five: Color line map showing the locations of the river gun emplacements along the river.]View attachment 402178

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View attachment 402181
Is that red plaque at the Water Battery?
 
Six members of the ironclad’s crew received the Medal of Honor for their gallantry that day. Among them were the four sailors that swam, taking survivors unable to swim from ship to shore: Thomas Jenkins from Australia, Henry Dow from Scotland, and Thomas Corcoran and Martin McHugh from Ireland.
I'll be looking for more information on those sailors. Well done gentlemen!
 
There is a veteran of the Cincinnati buried in the cemetery where I volunteer but he served on the ship a year earlier and wasn't present at the sinking.
Might you be able to post a picture of his gravesite somewhere in CWT if you haven't already?
 
The Cincinnati was something of an unlucky boat. She had previously been sunk by Confederate rams at Plum Point Bend above Memphis. She was raised and put back into service.

That history would repeat after her Vicksburg sinking; once again, she was raised and put back into service, and she served in Mobile Bay in 1865.
That's good information sir.
 
Then like now, plunging shots are deadly to warships as often the decks are the least armored.

The Pook Turtles were really designed around the concept of fighting a near-water-level position (or vessel) head-on. If you look at a bow elevation view, you'll see that everything you're looking at (other than the chimneys) are armored. This worked just fine at Fort Henry, which was at (or, since it was flooding, below) water-level... not so great at Fort Donelson (or Vicksburg).
 
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