The Cottonclad

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

A nice thank you to both posters above. The drawing is excellent and may I ask if it is based on some official source or is it your personal research? I did locate and read the other thread which is very well done by all. I was aware the vessel was not officially a CSN but was doing something to allow the readers to know it was not a Federal vessel. My favorite tale about the COTTEN was the problem of the issue that she had no gun port shutters or any protection for the Pilot House. In an engagement, the Federals used the tactic of sending elements of the First Louisiana Cavalry (composed of Louisiana white southerners Unionists) as sharpshooters to fire upon those open areas cited above. The COTTEN's gun crew was soon shot down and the pilot/captain shot in both arms. The latter (his name escapes me but I have him in a source somewhere) used his legs to work the Wheel while sitting in his Pilot House chair to reverse the COTTEN back up the Teche out of the ambush site.

 

[rebelatsea]

A nice thank you to both posters above. The drawing is excellent and may I ask if it is based on some official source or is it your personal research? I did locate and read the other thread which is very well done by all. I was aware the vessel was not officially a CSN but was doing something to allow the readers to know it was not a Federal vessel. My favorite tale about the COTTEN was the problem of the issue that she had no gun port shutters or any protection for the Pilot House. In an engagement, the Federals used the tactic of sending elements of the First Louisiana Cavalry (composed of Louisiana white southerners Unionists) as sharpshooters to fire upon those open areas cited above. The COTTEN's gun crew was soon shot down and the pilot/captain shot in both arms. The latter (his name escapes me but I have him in a source somewhere) used his legs to work the Wheel while sitting in his Pilot House chair to reverse the COTTEN back up the Teche out of the ambush site.

The plan was based on contemporary sketches some of which were supplied by CWT Naval forum members, using dimensions taken from ORNs.

 

[georgew]

Here is J.A.Cotton (correct spelling) She never carried the CSN designation. There is an earlier thread on this vessel.
View attachment 321437

Hi Rebel. Your drawing caused me to think bout the implications of the overhead deck above the bow chasers. It must have been reinforced to carry the weight of the light field piece above and would have given some protection from sun for the crews of the guns on the main deck. Depending on how heavily the upper deck had been reinforced it should have given some protection from air bursts for the gun crews below. They remained vulnerable to flat trajectory fire which unfortunately was the most common the bayous. One good point for the Cotton was the use of low pressure engines. Apparently Captain John A. Cotton, the original owner, had been burned on a pre-war packet early in his career and had seen the horrific consequences of high pressure steam on human beings. So he opted for a low pressure system on his own boat later in his career. The gun crews were Army, but Lt. Stevens, CSN, served as gunnery officer for a brief period before he was killed in action aboard the Cotton. She was arguably the most formidable of the CS Army gunboats in Louisiana. Captain Fuller was an aggressive commander, a local politician billed as the "King of the Swamps". His original militia company served aboard several of the Army gunboats. He was captured with the loss of the Queen of the West on Grand Lake and died of pneumonia in a Union prison camp.

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

I had always believed from what materials I had read that the COTTEN did not have an open pivot bow gun. That she had a bow gun inside the railroad iron railing and timbered casemate which made her so formidable. However, they rush her in combat without fixing any type of gun shudder at the open gunports. I am not the expert on the subject simply having read some accounts in the past. I would be nice if someone had conclusive factual document or photo to clear this up.

 

[georgew]

I had always believed from what materials I had read that the COTTEN did not have an open pivot bow gun. That she had a bow gun inside the railroad iron railing and timbered casemate which made her so formidable. However, they rush her in combat without fixing any type of gun shudder at the open gunports. I am not the expert on the subject simply having read some accounts in the past. I would be nice if someone had conclusive factual document or photo to clear this up.

The only graphics I've seen on this vessel indicate that her boilers were in a casemate which ended short of the gun circles on her bow. It isn't clear whether the forward bulkhead of the casemate was of "cow catcher" configuration. A sketch done on sight after she was scuttled clearly depicts two of the gun circles forward. The third is still a matter of dispute among researchers.

 

[rebelatsea]

The only graphics I've seen on this vessel indicate that her boilers were in a casemate which ended short of the gun circles on her bow. It isn't clear whether the forward bulkhead of the casemate was of "cow catcher" configuration. A sketch done on sight after she was scuttled clearly depicts two of the gun circles forward. The third is still a matter of dispute among researchers.

There is a complete thread on this ship, but I couldn't find it this morning under the name so it must have been part of another subject.

 

[Robert/4thIndiana]

cotton-cladding of vessels actually preceded the civil war. I've read an account of a steamer in Texas being cotton clad during the first war with Mexico. I also read somewhere that a vessel in Alabama had been cotton-clad even earlier. There were several variations of cotton cladding. The most basic simply piled cotton bales upon a vessels deck and relied on the weight of the bale to secure it. As field artillery and naval guns began using heavier loads and shells, it became prudent to erect a wooden bulkhead behind the bale to keep it in place. The bales were subject to deterioration over time, so it later became common to build an exterior barricade as well as a rear barricade to protect the bales. The original Texas cotton-clads of the civil war were quick modifications of river and coastal steamers and basically piled bales aboard in a manner similar to pre-war transport practice between the growing areas and the ports. One real concern was potential vulnerability to fire from a heated solid shot. Union vessels cotton clad had orders from Adm Porter to soak the bales with water before going into action. There were also hybrid systems in which compressed cotton bales were bulkheaded and the outer bulkhead faced with ironing from thin boiler iron to reversed T-rails (Arkansas). Union rams initially used compressed hay bales to protect their pilot houses at the battle off Memphis in June of 1862.

Yes the Battle of Memphis saw cottonclads. Wrote a paper on when at Purdue in 1964!

 

[Pollaco]

It is understood how or why you'd use of what material is mostly available, which explains why cottonclads seemed to be mainly a "Western"thing. Was cotton less available and iron more so in the Eastern theater? Or was iron just the preferred material?

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

I found some of my very old notes from an old source called CONFEDERATE INRONCLADS by MAURICE MELTON pub. 1968. It apparently had some information on the J. A. COTTON and I will cited the following from those notes. (If anyone has this old reference book please provide any additional information to this thread would be kindly appreciated!) The notes goes as follows:

"The COTTON, built for the Bayou Sara Trade, was a large river steamer of the classic lines captained by E.W. Fuller, a long time western steamboat man. Fuller briefly commanded the armed tug MUSIC, and now determined to convert his steamer into an ironclad gunboat. To accomplish this, he south the help of Major J.L. Brent, Chief of Artillery and Ordance on General Richard Taylor's staff." ---- "Timber and planking went up on the COTTON's deck, FORMING A CASEMATE BACKING. This was PADDED WITH COTTON BALES, then "PLATED WITH RAILROAD IRON. THE CASEMATE EXTENDED AFT FAR ENOUGH TO GIVE ONLY PARTIAL PROTECTION TO HER ENGINES AND BOILERS. A 32 POUNDER AND TWO 24 POUNDERS, ALL SMOOTHBORES, WERE MOUNTED ON THE HURRICANE DECK," ------ " SHEERS OF LEADEN MUSKET BALLS POURED THROUGH GUN PORTS AND UNARMORED WOODWORK" ------- "ALL OVER THE DECK GUNNERS WERE CUT DOWN. THE PILOTS KILLED. A BALL SMASHED CAPTAIN FULLERS ARMS. HE BACK THE BOAT UP THE RIVER AND OUT OF DANGER, STEERING WITH HIS FEET."

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

Looking over my old notes it is pressing to determine if the bow gun was a pivot open deck gun or a casemated bow gun. If all the guns were open deck bow pivot guns why have gun ports on the casemate behind them? It had always seemed the gun crews were cut down due to the open gun ports without shudders and being too wide ports. However, the old newspaper sketch (Harper's?) of the suppose accurate depiction of the wrecked COTTON does have those pivot bow gun rail track on the bow part of deck. But it is the only know such sketch and there were no photos. The Federals boats who fought the COTTON had bow pivot guns so could have the Yankee Federal newspaper man simply drew up a sketch based on those Federal gun boats and the said sketch is not an accurate sketch of the COTTON.? Here we would have a lazy newspaper man who did not known if the COTTON had a bow open deck pivot gun or a casemated gun. Finally, could we all agreed that the above account that the COTTON's guns were on the hurricane deck is a complete falsehood! I do not know of any Civil War gun boat with such heavy artillery guns on a frail hurricane deck.

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

Polloco
In my humble opinion, iron plating was highly sought after and preferred, but more complicated to obtain as it was rare. Overall you seem correct in your position from my view thereof.

 

[rebelatsea]

The thread I was looking for is "An interesting little mystery re: a siege gun on Bayou Teche. Be careful not to confuse "J.A. Cotten" with the later "Cotton". You will find illustrations there of how her bow guns were mounted.

 

[Phantom]

Just to make sure the subject of cotton armor is more complete, some blockade runners used cotton deck loads as armor around the boilers and engine amidships at times. Of course speed was more important, so if they needed to run they tossed that "armor" overboard to gain speed. That idea continued and led to some late war blockade runner designs that not only used coal bunkers all the way around the engine room, but had a narrow cotton hold/compartment outside that.

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

We should make note that cotton bales had another advantage: a safety escape device. If your ship is grounded under fire from an enemy fort and with a steam boiler and/or pipe exploded; just cut loose a cotton bale, throw it into the river, and float away to freedom. Federal Commander Charles Rivers Ellet and others did that very thing under fire from Fort DeRussy in Louisiana when the USN QUEEN OF THE WEST was captured by the Confederates. I have read other accounts of using cotton bales to escape. Ellet and friends floated down the Red River until a Federal steamer picked them up and they all escape back to Federal control near Vicksburg. It was a fairly cool escape story.

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

Having read some correspondence of Lieut. Commanding the USS CALHOUN forward to Major General Butler, Commander of Department of the Gulf dated 11/04/1862 here are some parts thereof in reference to combat with CSN COTTON on the Tech River, Louisiana:
"We engaged them for two hours and drove them off as we also did the COTTON (CSN). The KINSMAN (USN) bore the brunt of it, and received fifty four shells in her upper works and hull, and had one man killed and five wound."-----"The COTTON is iron cased, and did some splendid shooting. She mounts one long 32 pdrs. 4-24 pdrs. And 2-6 pdrs. Rifled guns. The ironcasing on the KINGSMAN (USN) and the DIANA (USN) turned the shot beautifully."------"I think the COTTON is casemated, as our shell glanced off. We had him on fire once. We could plainly see our shot strike him; but he fights bow on."

Here's some correspondence from Col. Com. Vols J.W. McMillan to Gen. George C. Strong dated 11/05/1862 in regard to combat with the COTTON:
"The iron-cald of the KINGSMAN is splendid, turning a 32-lb shot fired at a less distance than 1000 yards."

 

[Louisiana Jayhawker]

It appears from reading the above that the Federal Commander who combated the COTTON believed his own eyes that the COTTON was casemated with iron (rail road iron rails) and I assume his meaning is the bow gun (32 pounder) was within the casemate and not a pivot gun on deck at the bow. I suppose a pair of 24 pounders were on the port side broadside and a pair on the starboard side broadside. The 6 pounders were field guns on the hurricane upper deck???
Note also (which I was not aware) that some of the Federal vessels apparently had iron plating casemate around their engine and/or boiler rooms. I had read correspondence (could not locate it now) which stated the Federals found and confiscated Confederate iron naval plates at New Orleans which was placed as protection on some of these involved Federal wooden gunboats on the Tech battling the COTTON.

 

[Pollaco]

There are a dozen or so words or phrases that are uniquely "Civil War". Cottonclad is one of those .

 

[georgew]

It appears from reading the above that the Federal Commander who combated the COTTON believed his own eyes that the COTTON was casemated with iron (rail road iron rails) and I assume his meaning is the bow gun (32 pounder) was within the casemate and not a pivot gun on deck at the bow. I suppose a pair of 24 pounders were on the port side broadside and a pair on the starboard side broadside. The 6 pounders were field guns on the hurricane upper deck???
Note also (which I was not aware) that some of the Federal vessels apparently had iron plating casemate around their engine and/or boiler rooms. I had read correspondence (could not locate it now) which stated the Federals found and confiscated Confederate iron naval plates at New Orleans which was placed as protection on some of these involved Federal wooden gunboats on the Tech battling the COTTON.

In the correspondence of Gen. B. Butler, USA, is reference to the conversion of three steamers including the Diana and Barataria into what were essentially tin-clads. They used captured plate intended for the CSS Mississippi but the plating was very thin (1.25 to 1.5 inch). Barataria was only partially plated, but they used boiler plate in other areas.

 

[rebelatsea]

In the correspondence of Gen. B. Butler, USA, is reference to the conversion of three steamers including the Diana and Barataria into what were essentially tin-clads. They used captured plate intended for the CSS Mississippi but the plating was very thin (1.25 to 1.5 inch). Barataria was only partially plated, but they used boiler plate in other areas.

Thanks Georgew, I often wondered what happened to Mississippi's plating. It is more often quoted as 1.25", which is what I have always used, but in fact that is a very strange thickness, unless DaveBrt can find a railroad plate to correspond, however these plate were 8 -10" in width and 20ft long. Never be able to prove it now but I suspect they were actually 1.5", making her protection 4.5" We know at least one other CSN vessel which had 4.5" plating - CSS Montgomery.

 

[georgew]

Thanks Georgew, I often wondered what happened to Mississippi's plating. It is more often quoted as 1.25", which is what I have always used, but in fact that is a very strange thickness, unless DaveBrt can find a railroad plate to correspond, however these plate were 8 -10" in width and 20ft long. Never be able to prove it now but I suspect they were actually 1.5", making her protection 4.5" We know at least one other CSN vessel which had 4.5" plating - CSS Montgomery.

Hi Rebel. I'm curious about why they didn't strip the crew from one of the poorly protected steamers above Mobile and put them aboard the Montgomery. You would have thought that in a shoot-out with Union shore batteries the southern gun crews would have had better protection.