CSS ''J. A. Cotton'' was a Confederate sidewheel partial

ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

that was burned by her own crew in

Bayou Teche Bayou Teche ( Louisiana French: ''Bayou Têche'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, 2011 waterway of great cultural significance in south central Louisiana in ...

off Brashear City, Louisiana, United States, on 15 January 1863 to prevent her being captured by

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

forces after she was badly damaged in a battle against

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

gunboats.

Construction

''J. A. Cotton'' was built in Jeffersonville, Indiana,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 1861. Where she was launched and completed that same year. The ship was taken into Confederate service by 1862. She was assessed at and was armed with a 32-pounder

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without s ...

and a 9-pounder rifle. The ship was also modified with a

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

-and-timber

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mean ...

. She also had a small amount of railroad iron fitted onto her side, which could classify her as an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
Service and Loss

''J. A. Cotton'' was in use as a

for the Confederate side of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

and mainly operated in

Berwick Bay Berwick Bay is the section of the Lower Atchafalaya River in Louisiana from Morgan City north to Sixmile Lake. U.S. Route 90 crosses Berwick Bay connecting the town of Berwick on the west bank of the Atchafalaya to Morgan City on the east ban ...

and

. It was in

where she would see her first action of the war as on 3 November 1862, ''J. A. Cotton'' engaged the four

gunboats ''USS Kinsman'', ''USS Calhoun'', ''USS Estrella'' and ''USS Diana'' near Cornay's Bridge. ''J. A. Cotton'' stood her ground against the combined 27 gun barrage from the Union gunboats for one and a half hours, being only hit a few times but without causing major damage to the vessel. In comparison all Union gunboats were hit and slightly damaged with ''USS Kinsman'' being hit more than 50 times, resulting in the deaths of two crew with four more being wounded. During the following two days, the Union gunboats engaged ''J. A. Cotton'' twice more in battle. Both encounters had the same outcome as the first with both sides suffering only light casualties and damage.Gaines, p. 67. ''J. A. Cottons next encounter would occur on 14 January 1863 as she was ordered to attack Union general

Godfrey Weitzel Godfrey (Gottfried) Weitzel (November 1, 1835 – March 19, 1884) was a German-American major general in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was the acting Mayor of New Orleans during the Union occupation of the city and also captured ...

's forces at

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

. However Weitzel had learned of her plan and send out the four gunboats which had encountered ''J. A. Cotton'' in November 1862 to fight her again. The Union gunboats steamed into the

alongside Union transports to attack ''J. A. Cotton'' and Confederate

shore batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...

stationed at

below

Franklin, Louisiana Franklin is a small city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,660 at the 2010 census. The city is located on Bayou Teche, southeast of the cities of Lafayette, () and New Iberia () and ) ...

. When the opposing forces finally met, the Union gunboats fought ''J. A. Cotton'' again while the Union's land-based units engaged the Confederate infantry in

rifle pits A defensive fighting position (DFP) is a type of Earthworks (engineering)#Military use, earthwork constructed in a military context, generally large enough to accommodate anything from one soldier to a fire team (or similar sized unit). Termin ...

. The battle would carry on into the following day and by the night of 15 January 1863 with ''J. A. Cotton'' had gotten badly damaged in the fighting. Seeing no way of saving the ship, her crew set the ship ablaze to potentially serve as a

blockship A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914 ...

and especially to avoid being captured by the enemy off Brashear City, Louisiana, United States.

Wreck

The ''J. A. Cotton'' was scuttled by her own Confederate crew and sank in Louisiana's Bayou Teche. In 1871, government officials commissioned the removal of all obstructions impeding steamboat travel along the waterway, including the wreckage of ''J. A. Cotton'' and other sunken vessels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:J. A. Cotton, CSS Paddle steamers of the United States Paddle steamers Gunboats of the Confederate States Navy Maritime incidents in January 1863 Gunboats 1861 ships Shipwrecks in rivers Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Louisiana in the American Civil War Ships sunk with no fatalities Scuttled vessels

Construction

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ... Service and Loss

Wreck

References

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
Service and Loss