WELCOME TO THE
OHIO VALLEY
CIVIL WAR ASSOCIATION
The Single Most Destructive Shot of the Civil War
---By Kevin Richard“One cannot even imagine the carnage …” said Flag Officer Charles H. Davis soon after the tragic incident took place. He heard the unfortunate and wounded men make “cries, prayers, groans, and curses. They suffered, writhed, and twisted like a coil of serpents over burning fagots.”What was the single most destructive shot of the Civil War has been a highly contested debate since it was first fired nearly 150 years ago. Some will argue that it was the firing on Fort Sumter, the first recognized battle of the war, that eventually led to the deaths of over 600,000 Americans over the course of four years. Others claim it was the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 which helped to trigger the secession of the southern states. Still others maintain that the most costly shot of the war was the “friendly fire” mortal wounding of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, arguably the Confederate’s best answer in the form of a man for victory. But in fact, the most destructive shot was fired from a single cannon at a gunboat in Arkansas in 1862. A Confederate-manned siege gun concealed on a high bluff at a bend in the White River fired an artillery shell that caused an explosion on the U.S.S. Mound City that resulted in the immediate death of over 120 men.By June of 1862, the Confederates wielded the upper hand of the Civil War after 14 months of fighting. Victories at Fort Sumter, Bull Run, and in the Eastern Theater were decidedly won by the Rebel armies. Up until that point, the only decisive victories awarded to the Yankees were in the Western Theater at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and the Battle of Island Number Ten. Most of these involved the integral use of gunboat fleets. While attempting to gain control of the Mississippi River to isolate the southern states and split the Confederacy in half, the Federal forces had made it past Memphis and as far south as the White River in the southeast part of Arkansas. They had already conquered New Orleans and controlled the mouth of the great Mississippi and were targeting the last major holdout at Vicksburg which was located about 135 miles downriver.The Battle of St. Charles
Early on a Tuesday morning on June 17th of 1862, a Federal fleet of eight vessels pushed up the White River to resupply a detachment of Union Army troops at Jacksonport. The Confederates were by no means willing to give up Mississippi and Arkansas and lay in wait at several places along the river ways to ambush Union boats. At one such place just south of St. Charles, two Rebel batteries in the formation of a mini fort with an upper and lower battery patiently waited on guard with several massive artillery pieces positioned for action on the river below. The Federal fleet drew an attack about 7 a.m. Two regiments of Indiana volunteers had already disembarked and gained on the fort from the ground while the gunboats were busy exchanging fire with the batteries.Soon after the battle began, the Mound City was hit on its port side by a Confederate shell that fortuitously entered a suddenly opened port window. The shot penetrated the 2 ½ inch iron casement and passed through a steam drum that resulted with an explosion. Several sailors were killed instantly while others perished as the steam vapors uncontrollably convulsed with force throughout the ship. The escaped vapor filled the vessel and nearly everyone on board was scalded.Commander Davis further stated that “The gunboat was covered with miserable perishing wretches. Some of the officers who were in the cabins rushed out frantic with pain to fall in writhing tortures …” Some of the scalded were temporarily relieved of their pain after jumping overboard into the cool water only to be shot at by Rebel sharpshooters and a deluge of grape and canister shot from the field pieces of the lower battery. Those that weren’t picked off like fish in a barrel from snipers on shore either drowned or died from their wounds before they could make it to the banks or to one of the other boats. Estimates indicate that 80 men were scalded to death and 43 drowned or were shot in the water. Some of the crew were wounded or injured in the aftermath while trying to stem the destruction inside the vessel. Some were shot while scurrying around on deck during the melee while they attempted to provide care for their wounded shipmates. Overall, 148 men of the crew’s 175 were believed to have been killed (nearly 75% of the men on board.) Only 23 members of the crew escaped injury. Twenty sailors were reported missing after most of the dead were later recovered. Among the wounded was the ship’s commanding officer, Captain Augustus H. Kilty, who lost his left hand from the wounds that he received.After the Mound City was disabled, the other vessels within range of the Confederate artillery were able to silence the lower battery and then temporarily withdrew. Meanwhile, the infantry troops that had been dropped off earlier were preparing to assault the batteries from the ground. Led by Colonel Graham N. Fitch, the 46th and 43rd Regiments of Indiana Infantry carried the second battery by storm at the point of the bayonet. Thirty Rebel soldiers and eight of the nine guns were captured including the commanding officer, Captain Joseph Fry, who was taken after receiving a wound in his shoulder. The engagement lasted an hour and a half. Even though the Mound City was disabled and her crew decimated, the operations on the White River resulted in a Union victory and the remaining vessels were able to make safe passage to Jacksonport.“Single shot destroys gunboat” was the headline of an Arkansas newspaper soon after the battle, but that was not entirely true. The steam drum had indeed exploded and the vapors wiped out the crew, but the ship itself did not explode and was only slightly damaged. While the other boats continued upriver, the U.S.S. Conestoga towed the Mound City back to Memphis for repair. The gunboat was able to return to the fleet two months later. A new crew was sent from the navy yard in Cairo, Illinois to replace the men lost on June 17th.History of the Mound City
The U.S.S. Mound City was built in late 1861 by James B. Eads and was named after the city in Illinois where it was assembled. It was a “city-class” ironclad gunboat, one of a series of boats that were constructed and named after a northern city. They were also known as “Ead’s gunboats” and became the core of the Western (Gunboat) Flotilla and later part of the Mississippi River Squadron and were essential for the control of the Mississippi River. The Mound City was commissioned into service in January of 1862 and departed Cairo to participate at the lengthy Battle of Island #10. The gunboat also captured the C.S.S. Red Rover which had been converted to service in the U.S. Navy as the first hospital steamer. A large ship for use on a river weighing 512 tons and at a length of 175 feet, the Mound City cost $191,000 to build and was designed as a steam driven screw propulsion vessel. Capable of traveling at 8 knots (about 10 mph), it was armed with 12 guns and fortified with iron armor that was as thick as 2 ½ inches.New inventions to naval warfare at the time, the ironclads were the only vessels of the era to combine mobility, firepower, and armor but were also vulnerable and weak at numerous and crucial points because of how quickly they were pressed into service before a complete design could be mastered. Not all of the boat was clad in iron armor. The hull, deck, and stern were unprotected with the hull being the weakest and extremely vulnerable to mines and ramming. (Ironically, the Mound City was disabled again after it was repaired when it was rammed at the hull.) Gaps in the armor left the steering cables uncovered, so the steering could be knocked out rather easily at times and no provision was made during the construction of gunboats for confining escaped steam. The Mound City continued to serve in the U.S. Navy until it was decommissioned and scrapped three years later.Remembering the Mound City
The “deadliest shot of the war” was memorialized at nearby St. Charles, Arkansas with a monument erected to the memory of those who perished at the battle that was named after the town. It is the only monument of its kind that is dedicated to both Union and Confederate soldiers. Another marker is located along the White River near the actual scene. A large grain silo now stands in the quiet location of where the upper battery once existed. Although not forgotten, the Battle of St. Charles and the tragedy on the U.S.S. Mound City have become lesser known in comparison to the readily taught history of the Civil War as have so many major incidents that were instrumental to the course and outcome of the war.-Kevin Richard is a historian who studies and researches American history from the 19th Century. He resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. "The Single Most Destructive Shot of the Civil War" Copyright by Kevin Richard, 2009.
Sources:
Charles H. Davis quotes were published in Harper’s Weekly on July 12, 1862
(Photo) "U.S.S. Mound City" from the Library of Congress (Public Domain)
(Photo) "Battle of St. Charles" from Harper's Weekley on July 12, 1862
FEATURE ARTICLE
May, 2009
