CSS ''General M. Jeff Thompson'' was a warship which served in the

River Defense Fleet The River Defense Fleet was a set of fourteen vessels in Confederate service, intended to assist in the defense of New Orleans in the early days of the American Civil War. All were merchant ships or towboats that were seized by order of the War D ...

of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Purchased in January 1862, the vessel was operated by the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

and named after M. Jeff Thompson, an officer in the

Missouri State Guard The Missouri State Guard (MSG) was a military force established by the Missouri General Assembly on May 11, 1861. While not a formation of the Confederate States Army, the Missouri State Guard fought alongside Confederate troops and, at variou ...

. She was equipped with a

ram Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

and armored as a cottonclad. ''General M. Jeff Thompson'' participated in the

Battle of Plum Point Bend The Battle of Plum Point Bend took place in Tennessee during the American Civil War on May 10, 1862, on the Mississippi River, between ships of the Confederate River Defense Fleet and the Union Western Flotilla. Fighting for control of the ...

in May 1862, before being sunk on June 6 in the

First Battle of Memphis The First Battle of Memphis was a naval battle fought on the Mississippi River immediately north of the city of Memphis, Tennessee on June 6, 1862, during the American Civil War. The engagement was witnessed by many of the citizens of Memphis. ...

. Her wreck remained on the floor of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

until it was removed by a

snagboat A snagboat is a river boat, resembling a barge with superstructure for crew accommodations, and deck-mounted cranes and hoists for removing snags and other obstructions from rivers and other shallow waterways. USA During the American Civil ...

in July 1867; it had caused a shipwreck about six months earlier when another vessel struck it.

Service history

In 1862, the

purchased 14 civilian vessels for conversion into warships to serve in the

. The naval vessels were operated by the

. One of those purchased in January 1862 by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

J. E. Montgomery became the CSS ''General M. Jeff Thompson''. The ship was named for M. Jeff Thompson, a senior officer in the

. The ship's civilian name is unknown, and in Confederate service was also known as ''Jeff Thompson''. A

sidewheel steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

, she was commanded by Captain John H. Burke. The vessel's dimensions are not known. The Confederacy decided to convert the ship into a

. The process of converting the civilian vessel into a ram began on January 25, and took place at

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Her bow was thickened with of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

wood, and of iron. She was also converted to a cottonclad by adding bulkheads that were filled with cotton. ''General M. Jeff Thompson'' was completed on April 11, and then sent from New Orleans up the

. Thompson himself described ''General M. Jeff Thompson'' as "the largest and best, but slowest boat of the fleet". ''General M. Jeff Thompson'' was sent to Fort Pillow, where she participated in the naval defense of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, which was roughly to the south. The Confederate ships were facing the Union Navy's Mississippi Flotilla. Union vessels approached Fort Pillow and began shelling it. In response, Montgomery decided to attack on May 10, using his ram ships and the element of surprise to capture some of the Union ships. The morning of the planned attack, the Confederates attacked, bringing on the

. ''General M. Jeff Thompson'' was involved in the battle, but only to the extent of firing her cannons. The battle was a

tactical victory In military tactics, a tactical victory may refer to a victory that results in the completion of a tactical objective as part of an operation or a result in which the losses of the "defeated" outweigh those of the "victor" although the victori ...

for the Confederates, but brought no long-term strategic advantage. The Confederates abandoned Fort Pillow on June 4, falling back to Memphis. The Confederate vessels served as a rear guard until the fort was evacuated. Montgomery and the River Defense Fleet reached Memphis on June 5, with fuel supplies low. By this time, the Confederates had decided to abandon Memphis, with the only other Confederate forces in the city being a land rear guard commanded by Thompson. The night of June 5/6, Montgomery held a

council of war A council of war scuttling Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel ...

their ships, scuttling a portion of the fleet and escaping on the remainder, or fighting the Union fleet, the council voted to fight. Unbeknown to the Confederates, the Union ships had been reinforced by a group of ram ships. During the ensuing

on June 6, all but one of the Confederate ships present were lost. ''General M. Jeff Thompson'' was struck by Union cannon fire during the battle and began to burn. Her crew intentionally grounded the vessel and then abandoned it; the vessel blew up when the fire reached her

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

. Wreckage was strewn over the area, and the ship burned to the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. A waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is parallel to the water's surface when the ship is afloat in a level trimmed position. Hence, wate ...

. The cotton from her wreck was later salvaged. Her wreck remained on the river bottom near

President's Island President's Island is a peninsula on the Mississippi River in southwest Memphis, Tennessee. The city's major river port and an industrial park are located there. History The name ''President'' or ''President's'' Island appeared as early as 1801 ...

, and caused another wreck in January 1867 when a steamboat named ''Platte Valley'' hit ''General M. Jeff Thompson''s remains with loss of life. Deemed a hazard to river traffic, the wreck was removed by a

in July 1867.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:General M. Jeff Thompson Cottonclad rams of the Confederate States Navy Maritime incidents in June 1862 Naval magazine explosions American Civil War shipwrecks in the Mississippi River