USS Neosho, first of a class of two 523-ton single-turret ironclad river monitors built at Carondelet, Missouri, was commissioned in May 1863. She operated on the Mississippi River and its tributaries through the rest of the Civil War, and was one of several ironclads that took part in the Red River campaign in March-May 1864. She also engaged Confederate shore batteries near Simmsport, Louisiana, in June 1864 and on the Cumberland River, in Tennessee, in December of that year. Neosho was decommissioned in July 1865 and laid up at Mound City, Illinois. In 1869, she was twice renamed, becoming Vixen in June and Osceola in August. She was sold in August 1873.

This page features our only views of USS Neosho.

Photo #: NH 60617 USS Neosho (1863-1873) Watercolor by Dr. Oscar Parkes. Courtesy of Dr. Oscar Parkes, London, England, 1936.
Photo #: NH 51799 Red River Campaign, 1864 Rear Admiral Porter's fleet above the falls at Alexandria, Louisiana, awaiting the rise of the river, circa May 1864. Ships moored along the far river bank include (from left to right): ironclad Mound City, two "City" class ironclads (either Carondelet, Louisville or Pittsburg), transport William H. Brown, steamer Benefit, tug Dahlia and ironclad Neosho (in the distance, barely visible).
Photo #: NH 55972 USS Dahlia (1862-1865) (left) Moored to the river bank above the falls at Alexandria, Louisiana, during the Red River campaign, circa May 1864. USS Neosho (1863-1873) is at right. Courtesy of Frederick Way, Jr., 1941.
Photo #: NH 91999-A-KN (Color) Red River Expedition, March-May 1864 Watercolor by James Alden, depicting the monitors USS Neosho and Osage running through a break in the Red River dam to pass safely over the rapids, 9 May 1864. This passage took advantage of an accidental break in the dam, which was being built by Army engineers to raise the river level enough to permit passage of all the vessels trapped above. Four gunboats passed through at this time: Lexington (which went first), Neosho (second), Fort Hindman and Osage. Collection of Cdr. George M. Bache, USN.
Photo #: NH 58894 "The United States Monitor 'Neosho' Engaging Three Rebel Batteries on the Cumberland, Below Nashville, Dec. 6, 1864" Line engraving, after a sketch by Adam Rohe, published in "Harper's Weekly", 31 December 1864, depicting the action near Bell's Mills, Tennessee.