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The CSS ''General Earl Van Dorn'', a side-wheel river steamer, was fitted out in early 1862 at
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
River Defense Fleet "cottonclad" ram. It was named for Confederate general
Earl Van Dorn Earl Van Dorn (September 17, 1820May 7, 1863) started his military career as a United States Army officer but joined Confederate forces in 1861 after the Civil War broke out. He was a major general when he was killed in a private conflict. A g ...
, born and raised in Mississippi. In late March, the ship steamed up the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...
to
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...
, where outfitting was completed. In the naval action off Fort Pillow on May 10, the ''Van Dorn'' attacked a Union mortar boat with gunfire and rammed the ironclad . On June 1, the steamer was used to help cover the Confederate evacuation of Fort Pillow. It retreated to Memphis, where, on June 6 it was the only survivor of the River Defense Fleet's final battle. After escaping to
Yazoo City, Mississippi Yazoo City is a U.S. city in Yazoo County, Mississippi. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorer Robert La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's ...
, ''General Earl Van Dorn'' was burned by its Confederate crew on June 26, 1862, to avoid capture by Federal warships.


See also

* Bibliography of early American naval history *
Seth Ledyard Phelps Seth Ledyard Phelps (January 13, 1824 – June 24, 1885) was an American naval officer, and in later life, a politician and diplomat. Phelps received his first commission in United States Navy as a midshipman aboard the famous USS ''Independen ...
(''Battle of Memphis'' section)


References

Cottonclad rams of the Confederate States Navy Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Ship fires Shipwrecks in rivers Maritime incidents in June 1862 {{AmericanCivilWar-stub