Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

CSS General Lovell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CSS General Lovell
Remove ads

CSS General Lovell was a cotton-clad sidewheel ram of the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War.

Quick Facts History, General characteristics ...

Originally built in 1845 as a steam tug in Cincinnati, the ship was purchased for service in the Confederacy and refitted at New Orleans, where she was converted into a cottonclad ram with cotton bales sandwiched between double pine bulkheads to protect her boilers and machinery and iron casing over her bow.[1] She was recommissioned in March 1862, and named for Major General Mansfield Lovell, commander of the defenses of New Orleans.[2] She became part of the River Defense Fleet, under the overall command of Captain J. E. Montgomery, at New Orleans.[3]

Remove ads

Service history

General Lovell's conversion was completed on 22 April 1862. Under Captain B. Paris she was detached from Montgomery's main force and sent to Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the lower Mississippi to cooperate in the Confederate defense of New Orleans.[1] There, with five other vessels of Montgomery's fleet, all under Capt. J. A. Stevenson, she joined the force under Capt. J. K. Mitchell, CSN, commanding Confederate naval forces in the lower Mississippi.

On 24 April 1862 a Union fleet under Flag Officer David Farragut, USN, ran past Forts Jackson and St. Philip on its way to capture New Orleans. General Lovell was abandoned by her crew after being set on fire to keep her from falling into Union hands.[4]

Remove ads

See also

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads