| History | |
|---|---|
 Confederate States | |
| Name | Colonel Lovell |
| Namesake | William S. Lovell |
| Launched | 1843 |
| Acquired | 1862 |
| Fate | Rammed and sunk, 6 June 1862 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Side-wheelcotton-cladram |
| Tonnage | 521long tons (529 t) |
| Length | 162 ft (49 m) |
| Beam | 30 ft 10 in (9.40 m) |
| Draft | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam engine, side paddle wheels |
| Complement | 86 |
| Armor | Two cannons, including an 8-inchsmoothbore |
CSSColonel Lovell was acottoncladram operated by theConfederacy during theAmerican Civil War. Built atCincinnati, Ohio, in 1843 as thetowboatHercules, the vessel was purchased by the Confederates in early 1862 and became part of theRiver Defense Fleet, which was operated by theConfederate States Army. Sent up theMississippi River,Colonel Lovell was part of the Confederate fleet at theBattle of Plum Point Bend on May 10, 1862, but did not reach the site of the battle until it was almost over. On June 6,Colonel Lovell participated in theFirst Battle of Memphis. Early in the battle,Colonel Lovell was rammed by theUnited States Ram Fleet vesselUSSQueen of the West with such force that the Confederate vessel nearly broke in two; she sank quickly with the loss of most of her crew.
Built as thesidewheel steamerHercules atCincinnati, Ohio,[1] in 1843.[2] She was operated by the Ocean Towing Co. until theAmerican Civil War;[1] this company was based out ofNew Orleans, Louisiana.[2]Hercules had tonnage of 521 tons,[3] abeam of 30 feet 10 inches (9.40 m),[4] a length of 162 feet (49 m), and adraft of 11 feet (3.4 m).[2] She was primarily used as atowboat, bringing ships upriver from theHead of Passes to New Orleans.Hercules likely had onefunnel and was probably equipped withhog chains.[5]
In 1862, theConfederacy purchased 14 civilian vessels, includingHercules, for conversion into military vessels for service on theMississippi River. The purchased occurred under the auspices of ConfederateMajor GeneralMansfield Lovell. These ships became theRiver Defense Fleet and were operated by theConfederate States Army, not theConfederate States Navy.[6]
Known ascottonclads,[7] the vessels were intended to be used asrams. To convert the civilian vessels into warships, iron plating was added to theirbows, and wooden bulkheads packed with cotton were added as protection for the ships' critical machinery.[8] These conversions were oversaw byLieutenant Colonel William S. Lovell (brother to Mansfield Lovell), who had been educated at theUnited States Naval Academy.[9] William Lovell also oversaw the arming of the vessels, as the ordnance and disbursing officer for the fleet.[3]Hercules was renamedColonel Lovell after William Lovell, who became one of the first graduates of the Naval Academy to be the namesake of a warship.[10] Of the River Defense Fleet vessels,Colonel Lovell was the second slowest, faster than onlyCSSGeneral M. Jeff Thompson.[3] Under the command of vetern riverboat pilot Captain James C. Delancy,[1][11]Colonel Lovell left the shipyard in New Orleans where she was converted on April 17, 1862.[12]Union reports claimed she was armed with four cannons,[5] while the naval historian Edward B. McCaul notes that the eight River Defense Fleet vessels sent up the Mississippi River combined for a total armament of two cannons; the unarmed ships were armed with a single32-pounder gun placed at thestern after reachingFort Pillow. Subsequent to theBattle of Plum Point Bend,[13] which was fought on May 10,[2] four of the ships (includingColonel Lovell) had their armament augmented by a 8-inchsmoothbore cannon at the bow.[13]
The eight River Defense Fleet ships which had gone upriver were at Fort Pillow were under the command of Captain James E. Montgomery. Fort Pillow was under bombardment by mortar boats fromUnion Navy force commanded by CaptainCharles Henry Davis. The Union fleet had fallen into a routine of having a single mortar boat bombard the fort each day from a position downriver of the rest of the fleet, guarded by a singleironclad. Montgomery saw an opporutinty and decided to attack with his cottonclad rams.[14] The resulting attack, known as theBattle of Plum Point Bend, occurred on May 10.[2] Montgomery had his ships approach the Union position in order of speed, which leftColonel Lovell as the second-to-last ship in the Confederate line.[15] The crew of the downriver ironclad,USSCincinnati, were caught by suprise andCincinnati was rammed and sunk. Davis's other ironclads moved downriver as the became ready, andUSSMound City was also sunk.[16]Colonel Lovell,General M. Jeff Thompson, andCSSGeneral Beauregard arrived later in the battle;[17] the remaining Union ironclads had reached the battle site by this time and Montgomery soon ordered a withdrawal.[18]
The Confederate position at Fort Pillow was rendered untenable by the Union victory at theSiege of Corinth which ended on May 30; the fort was abandoned on June 4. The Confederate ships which had been at Fort Pillow retreated downriver toMemphis, Tennessee, where the arrived on June 5. That night, faced with a shortage of coal, Montgomery and his captains held acouncil of war which resulted in the decision to fight the approaching Union fleet rather thanscuttle part or all of the fleet.[19] With Davis's ships approaching Memphis on the morning on June 6, Montgomery deployed his ships into two columns, each of which was arrayeden echelon. The two front ships wereGeneral M. Jeff Thompson andColonel Lovell, the latter of whom was part of the left column. These two ships were in the front rank due to their slower speed and because both were equipped with the 8-inch cannon, which was more effective against the armored Union ironclads.[20] TheFirst Battle of Memphis followed as Davis, with nine warships, fought Montgomery's fleet. The Union fleet consisted of five ironclads and four vessels of theUnited States Ram Fleet.[21]
Two of the rams,Monarch andQueen of the West, were in the lead of the Union approach. Montgomery countered by sendingCSSGeneral Sterling Price andColonel Lovell to fight the rams.Colonel Lovell headed directly for one of the Union rams. The naval historian Neil Chatelain writes that Delancy "lost his nerve at the last minute" and tried to steer the ship out of the way by having the engines backed;[22] while theDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships instead attributes what happens next to the ship suffering an engine malfunction.[2]Colonel Lovell was rammed byQueen of the West with such force that the Confederate ships was nearly broken in two.[22]Monarch struckColonel Lovell a second blow afterwards.[23] She sank quickly; 68 of her 86 crewmembers perished.[22] Delancy was one of the survivors.[2] Montgomery's fleet was defeated in the battle and Union forces took Memphis;[24] all but one of the Confederate ships were destroyed or captured.[25]
