Confederate Ironclad 1861-65
Every aspect of Confederate ironclads is covered: design, construction, armor, armament, life on board, strategy, tactics, and actual combat actions.

New Madrid Missouri


American Civil War
February 28-April 8, 1862


P.G.T. Beauregard: Napoleon in Gray
Beauregard often gets overlooked, he was never as beloved as Lee or Stonewall Jackson, but he was capable, the man had a sharp mind and Lee understood this, even if Jefferson Davis did not

With the surrender of Forts Henry and Donelson, Tennessee, and the evacuation of Columbus, Kentucky, General P.G.T. Beauregard, commander of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi, chose Island No. 10, about 60 river miles below Columbus, to be the strongpoint for defending the Mississippi River.

Nearby was New Madrid, one of the weak points. Brigadier General John Pope, commander of the Union Army of the Mississippi, set out from Commerce, Missouri, to attack New Madrid, on February 28. The force marched overland through swamps, lugging supplies and artillery, reached the New Madrid outskirts on March 3, and laid siege to the city. Brigadier General John P. McCown, the garrison commander, defended both New Madrid and Island No. 10 from the fortifications. He launched a sortie, under Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson, Missouri State Guard, against the besiegers and brought up heavy artillery to bombard them.

On the 13th, the Confederates bombarded the Yankees to no avail. Since it did not appear possible to defend New Madrid, the Confederate gunboats and troops evacuated to Island No. 10 and Tiptonville.

On the 14th, Pope's army discovered that New Madrid was deserted and moved in to occupy it. A U.S. Navy flotilla, under the command of Flag-Officer Andrew H. Foote, arrived March 15 upstream from Island No. 10. The Ironclad Carondelet on the night of April 4 passed the Island No. 10 batteries and anchored off New Madrid. Pittsburgh followed on the night of April 6.

The ironclads helped to overawe the Confederate batteries and guns, enabling Pope's men to cross the river and block the Confederate escape route. Brigadier General William W. Mackall, who replaced McCown, surrendered Island No. 10 on April 8.

The Mississippi was now open down to Fort Pillow, Tennessee.

Result(s): Union victory

Location: City of New Madrid, Missouri; Lake County, Tennessee

Campaign: Joint Operations on the Middle Mississippi River (1862) Next Battle in Campaign Campaigns

Date(s): February 28-April 8, 1862

Principal Commanders: Brigadier General John Pope and Flag-Officer Andrew H. Foote [US]; Brigadier General John P. McCown and Brigadier General William W. Mackall [CS]

Forces Engaged: Army of the Mississippi [US]; Garrisons of New Madrid and Island No. 10 [CS]

Estimated Casualties: Unknown


Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy : The Journal and Letters of John M. Brooke
Information about the Confederate Navy's effort to supply its fledgling forces, the wartime diaries and letters of John M. Brooke tell the neglected story of the Confederate naval ordnance office, its innovations, and its strategic vision.

Kindle Available
Raising the Hunley

Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine
Hunleyremained one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Civil War.



Gunboat, The Cairo
Ironclad River Gunboat, The Cairo
24 in. x 18 in.
Buy at AllPosters.com
Framed   Mounted


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Reign of Iron

Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack
The first ironclad ships to fight each other, the Monitor and the Virginia (Merrimack), were the unique products of American design genius


USS Carondelet
, a 512-ton Cairo class ironclad river gunboat, was built at Saint Louis, Missouri, for the U.S. Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla.

USS Corondolet Ironclad Civil War Vessel
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Naval Strategies

Naval Strategies of the Civil War: Confederate Innovations and Federal Opportunism
Compare and contrast the strategies of the Southern Secretary of the Navy, Mallory, against his rival in the North, Welles. Mallory used technological innovation and the skill of individuals to bolster the South's seapower against the Union Navy's superior numbers

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Missouri State Battle Map
State Battle Maps
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Confederate President Jefferson Davis
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Monitor 21" Civil War Ship Wood Model Fully Assembled
  • Dimensions 21" Long x 5" Wide x 3" High
  • Meticulously painted to the actual Monitor
  • Museum quality model. Fully assembled and ready to display.
  • The model rests perfectly on a polished marble base and 4 arched dolphins
  • Built with rare, high quality rosewood.

American Civil War Book Titles

Guide to Missouri Confederate Units
The origins and history of Missouri Confederate units that served during the Civil War. Deeply torn, some Missourians chose sides enthusiastically, others reluctantly. The several thousand that sided with the Confederacy earned reputations for hard fighting exceeded by few other states, North or South

Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border
The western front was the scene of some of that conflict's bloodiest and most barbaric encounters as Union raiders and Confederate guerrillas pursued each other from farm to farm with equal disregard for civilian casualties

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I wanted to know more about Jesse James and what was going on in Missouri during the time of the war. This book gave me a good basic understanding. It was very easy reading and helpful

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In 1861, Americans were preoccupied by the question of which states would join the secession movement and which would remain loyal to the Union. In Missouri, it was largely settled at Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861, in a contest that is rightly considered the second major battle of the Civil War

Three Years With Quantrill: A True Story Told by His Scout John McCorkle
Quantrill is often maligned as a psychopathic killer and a despot. McCorkle refutes this common claim by the writers of the winner's history, shows that Quantrill was a compassionate and honorable man. He shows a side to the War of Northern Aggression that is rarely told

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A True History Of His Guerilla Warfare On The Missouri And Kansas Border During The Civil War Of 1861-1865

This book was written just as Captain Harrison Trow told it to John P. Burch, giving accounts of fights that he participated in, narrow escapes experienced, dilemmas it seemed almost impossible to get out of, and also other battles
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The "Thunderbolt of the Confederacy" John Hunt Morgan from Tompkinsville, Kentucky to Greeneville, Tennessee.

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Gettysburg / Gods and Generals
The tide of the war changes during three fierce days of combat at Gettysburg [Disc 1] the gripping saga of the tactics command errors and sacrifices behind the bloodiest battle ever fought on U.S. soil. Gods and Generals [Disc 2] reveals the spirited allegiances and fierce combat of earlier Civil War struggles

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Comprehensive four-DVD set presents a complex portrait of a man who many consider to be our greatest commander-in-chief, but who considered himself "the loneliest man in the world." Bringing to life the tumultuous times in which Lincoln led his country, some of his finest Civil War moments, and his final hours

Unsolved History ~ Plots to Kill Lincoln
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Before John Wilkes Booth fired that fatal shot in the balcony of Ford's Theater, President Lincoln was the target of at least five other assassination conspiracies.

Halls of Honor
The U.S. Navy Museum takes you on an informed and entertaining romp through one of North America s oldest and finest military museums. The museum has been in continuous operation at the Washington Navy Yard since the American Civil War

Raise The Alabama
She was known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France
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It was the most tragic episode in American history. During four years of bitter and bloody fighting between the states, more than 600,000 troops from the Union and Confederate sides lost their lives. The bloody events at places such as Antietam, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Cold Harbor, Vicksburg and Fredericksburg are still burned deep into the American psyche, never to be forgotten

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Current Weather conditions and City History for Saint Louis Missouri

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.

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