General Bragg (1862)
CSS General Bragg, a 1043-ton side-wheel steamer, was built at New York City in 1850 as the commercial steamship Mexico. In January 1862, she was taken over by the Confederacy at New Orleans, converted to a "cottonclad" ram and renamed General Bragg. As part of the River Defense Fleet, she took part in the defenses of Memphis, Tennessee, and its vicinity. In an action off Fort Pillow on 10 May 1862 she helped disable the U.S. ironclad Cincinnati and was herself put out of action. On 6 June, she was run aground and captured during the naval battle off Memphis. After repairs, she became USS General Bragg.
This page features our only views of CSS General Bragg.
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Photo #: NH 2049 "Battle of Fort Pillow, First position" Engraving published in Rear Admiral Henry Walke's "Naval Scenes and Reminiscences of the Civil War in the United States ..." (1877), depicting the action between the Confederate River Defense Fleet and Federal ironclads near Fort Pillow, Tennessee, 10 May 1862. Confederate ships, seen at right, include (from left to right): General Earl Van Dorn, General Sterling Price, General Bragg, General Sumter and Little Rebel. The Federal ironclads, in the center and left, are (from left to right): Mound City, Carondelet and Cincinnati. A Federal mortar boat is by the river bank in the lower right. |
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Photo #: NH 42755 "Battle of Fort Pillow, 3rd Position" Engraving published in Rear Admiral Henry Walke's "Naval Scenes and Reminiscences of the Civil War in the United States ..." (1877), depicting the action between the Confederate River Defense Fleet and Federal ironclads near Fort Pillow, Tennessee, 10 May 1862. Confederate ships, seen at left, include: Colonel Lovell, General Beauregard, General M. Jeff Thompson, General Bragg, General Sumter, Little Rebel and General Earl van Dorn. The Federal ironclads, in the center and right, are: Carondelet, Cincinnati, Mound City, Benton, Saint Louis, Cairo and Pittsburg. A tug is seen in the right foreground. |
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Photo #: NH 42367 "The Total Annihilation of the Rebel Fleet by the Federal Fleet under Commodore Davis." "On the Morning of June 6th 1862, off Memphis, Ten." Lithograph by Middleton, Strobridge & Co. In the foreground, the print depicts the Confederate ships (from left to right): General M. Jeff Thompson (shown sinking); Little Rebel (shown burning); General Sterling Price; General Beauregard (shown being rammed by the Ellet Ram Monarch); General Bragg (shown aground) and Colonel Lovell (shown sinking). In the background are the Federal warships (from left to right): Queen of the West; Cairo; Carondelet; Louisville; Saint Louis; a tug; and Benton. The city of Memphis is in the right distance, with a wharf boat by the shore. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. |
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