HARD LUCK IRONCLAD: THE USS CAIRO
By Edwin C. Bearss

FIRST  U.S. WARSHIP SUNK BY  TORPEDO  (MINE)
U.S.S. CAIRO IRONCLAD RIVER GUNBOAT, CITY CLASS, 
TORPEDOED AND SUNK DEC. 12, 1862

The USS CAIRO was commissioned on January 16th, 1862 and spent less than one year in active service to the Union before being sunk in the Yazoo River in Mississippi on December 12th 1862 at 11:55 AM.

Eads ironclads under construction at the Carondelet boatyard near St. Louis. The Cairo, although not built here, would have looked much the same at this stage. Note the five large boilers in the foreground.

PHASE I: Construction
The Cairo was one of the weapons designed by the north to wrest the lower Mississippi River away from the South, a move decided on early in the war as part of a program of vigorous action needed to bring victory. One of those who expounded the strategy was James B. Eads of St. Louis, MO., who had retired at 37 after making a fortune salvaging wrecked craft on the Western Rivers. An engineer known to every river man on the Mississippi, he had long experience at the business of designing and building boats. In mid-summer 1861, Eads noticed ads in the St. Louis newspapers inviting bids to build the gunboats for the new inland river navy. According to the specifications, the vessels were to be 175 feet long, with a 50-foot beam, and to draw 6 feet of water. They would have flat bottoms, with three keels, and an oblong casemate sloping up to a flat spardeck, 45 degrees in front 35 degrees on each side. The forward end was to be pierced for three guns, the port and starboard beams for seven guns each and the stern three guns. (As built, however, there were four ports on each side of the casemate, three on the forward face, and two on the stern.)

Each vessel was to be fitted out with a paddle wheel, two engines, five 36-inch boilers 24 feet long with a firebox under each, and two 44-inch chimneys 28 feet high. They would have plain cabins with two staterooms, two mess rooms, and eight staterooms for officers, as well as suitable magazines, shell rooms, and shot lockers. Officer's quarters were to be equipped with berths, bureaus, and washstands.

When bids were opened August 5, 1861, Eads was the lowest of seven. In it he agreed to build four to sixteen of the boats, at a price of $89,600 each, by October 5 of that year. If not delivered on time, he would forfeit on each vessel $600 per day it was late. The contract Eads signed called for seven gunboats, moved the delivery date to October10, and reduced the forfeit to $250 per day. Every 20 days, superintendents appointed by the Government would Estimate the amount of work done, and the treasury would pay Eads 75% of the estimate. The Government retained the right to suspend work at any time, and it was definitely specified that no part of the contract was to sublet. Government representatives would inspect the material used in constructing the vessels and reject all considered defective. To his benefit, Eads obtained an agreement that the government would require no change in the specifications which might delay completion of the contract as specified.

Eads began work immediately, starting four of the vessels at the Carondelet Marine Ways on the outskirts of St. Louis, and three at the Marine Railway and Shipyard at Mound City, ILL. Labor troubles set in early. Although wages were comparable with the rates prior to the war, workers threatened to strike for more money. The contractor in the meantime advertised for additional boat carpenters, offering to pay $2 per 10 hour day and 25 cents per hour over time. At the end of August, Eads had 600 men and 12 sawmills at work on the seven hulls.

Commissioning Photograph taken in 1862 of the USS CAIRO.

PHASE II: Commissioning and her early war exploits

The first boat was launched October 12, two days late. It came down the runway at Carondelet in the presence of a large crowd and was promptly named the Carondelet. It was January 16th, 1862 when the Cairo was commissioned. By that time the Western Flotilla had come under the command of Andrew H. Foote, formerly commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and a veteran of 40 years service in the Navy. It was Foote who decided that the ironclads would be named for cities and towns along the Ohio and Upper Mississippi Rivers, and not for Union military leaders as Eads Proposed.

As an aftermath of the campaign to the ironclads built, Eads made claims against the Government for failing to make prompt payment on estimates, maintaining this had delayed completion of the contract. Moreover, he charged that the numerous changes Foote had insisted upon had added materially to his costs, for which he wished to be reimbursed, and had delayed the delivery date. In return the Government made claims against the builder for tardiness in delivering the boats. Finally, a member of the Quartermaster General's office was assigned to make a study of the contract, and the subsequent report led to a satisfactory settlement without penalty upon either party.

The Cairo's first captain was 39-year-old Lt. Nathaniel Bryant, member of the Maine shipbuilding family and formerly assigned to the steam sloop Richmond. The commissioning of the new vessel took place on January 16th. She was newly painted and her decks had been holystoned (scrubbed) until, as one member of the crew recorded, they were as white as linen sheets. Everything was snug and clean from top to bottom. On board were 14 guns, ranging from rifled 42- pounders to a 12 - pound howitzer.

Map of Region of Riverine Flotilla Operations, 1862.

In the beginning, the Cairo's engines failed to function properly, and she was taken to anchorage near Cairo for repairs. While there with a skeleton crew, news was received of the Union Victory scored by ironclads at Fort Henry. The story was different at Fort Donelson, where Foote's gunboats were mauled by Confederate water batteries, but the Cairo's men complained because they had been unable to take part in either affair.

On February 16th, a month after her commissioning, Foote ordered the Cairo to the Cumberland River. As she moved up the Ohio, she met a steamboat bringing the news that Fort Donelson had surrendered. Her crew did more grumbling, fearing the war would end before they had a chance to fire at the enemy.

Following a conference between Foote and General Grant, commanding at Fort Donelson , the Cairo with the Conestoga, was ordered on a reconnaissance to Clarksville, Tenn. Along the way they passed Forts Defiance and Clark, both of them abandoned and flying the white flags of surrender. At Clarksville they found the Confederates had also evacuated that point.

The Cairo remained at Clarksville on a standby basis for several days and then was ordered to Nashville, where she arrived on February 25, again to find that the Confederates had gone. She lay idle on the Cumberland river for several weeks; then she was ordered to the Tennessee River, reaching Savannah, Tenn., where Grant had his headquarters, on the evening of March 31st.

On April 1st the Cairo with the gunboats Lexington and Tyler, accompanied Brig. General William T. Sherman's command on an Expedition against the Confederate Batteries at Eastport, Miss and Chickasaw, Ala. At Eastport, guns were ran out and a few rounds fired, but there was no reply. The Confederates had fled. Chickasaw also was deserted. Although the expedition proved disappointing , it did give the Cairo's men their first chance to fire their guns except in practice.

Painting of Confederate Ram Manassas by Daniel Dowdey.

Upon her return from Eastport and Chickasaw, the Cairo received orders to move to the Cairo Naval Base and defend it against a threatened Confederate attack. Foote learned that the South had completed 13 gunboats at New Orleans, and he feared these would join the ram Manassas and run up the Mississippi River against the Union Fleet and Bases. The Cairo arrived at the Naval Station on April 5th. The following day the Shiloh Campaign opened, giving her crew new cause to complain about their inability to take part in battle action.

While the vessel lay at Cairo, Lieutenant Bryant took advantage of the opportunity to strengthen her pilothouse. His action was based on what had happened to the Union gunboats at Fort Donelson (where Confederates scored damaging hits by centering hits on the pilothouses, killing and wounding several men, among them Flag Officer Foote, who was struck on the ankle by a piece of iron). Other changes included the addition of timber, iron plating and flaps.

The work was completed by April 10th and Bryant, following orders, set out the next day for Island #10. There he joined a fleet of transports, mortar boats, gunboats, and tugs, which moved down the Mississippi several miles and anchored off New Madrid, Missouri. The next point of attack would be Fort Pillow, a stronghold guarding the approach to Memphis, but the Cairo's job was to wait behind with the unwieldy mortar scows.

By remaining with the mortars, the Cairo's crew missed the flurry of action that took place with some Confederate boats at Hale's Point, some 50 miles below New Madrid. As the Southern craft fled down stream, the Union Fleet followed to within range of the guns of Fort Pillow, then turned about and tied up at Plum Point, a short distance upriver. The Cairo drifted in later with the mortar scows and took station the morning of April 14th to hurl 200-pound shells in a bombardment that would last for seven weeks. Her guns were trained so as to protect the mortar scows from possible interference by Confederate gunboats. Day after day, sometimes at the rate of one a minute, shells were dropped upon the fort; the Southerners fired back, occasionally scoring hits, but never inflicting serious damage.

Flag Officer: Henry Foote

In the meantime, Foote's wound had become worse and finally had to retire. On May 9th he turned command of the Western Flotilla to Captain Charles H. Davis, a Harvard student who had followed a naval career. That afternoon a Confederate steamer came within range bearing a white flag of truce under the pretense of exchanging two surgeons captured at Belmont, Mo. The Federals presumed correctly that the move was one of reconnaissance. The morning after Davis took command, a Confederate fleet of rams steamed up from Fort Pillow just as mortar boat #16, guarded by the Cincinnati, was being moored at Craighead Point to begin the daily bombardment. This move by the Southerners caught the Union ironclads unprepared, some of them without sufficient steam to hold against the current of the stream. But the engineers reacted to the emergency, throwing oil, and anything else that was flammable with was available to them, into the fireboxes in an effort to raise steam.

The Confederate attack was opened on the Cincinnati, farthest downstream. The three rams, first the General Bragg and then the Sterling Price and the Sumter, struck the ironclad, inflicting considerable damage. Other Union vessels came to her rescue as rapidly as they could. The Cairo moved from across the river and had her first chance for battle action. As her bow guns were rapidly fired, a ball from the Van Dorn struck near the center port, but glanced off without doing any damage. Then she turned her attention to the Mound City, a sister ironclad which had been struck by a ram and had a hole smashed in her starboard forward quarter, accompanying her until she grounded herself. As the furious action ended and the Confederates steamed south to the protection of the heavy guns of Fort Pillow, the Cairo assisted in running the Mound City onto a shoal opposite Plum Point, where she sank. The Cincinnati also went down. (Both would be raised and repaired under the guidance of Eads.)

The Cairo's crew at last had something to talk about. They had taken part in what was described as the first strictly "fleet action" of the war, but there was a question as to the glory of the role they played. Some officers were disappointed that the vessel had not participated more prominently.

One result of the Battle of Plum Point, which lasted little more than a hour, was the further strengthening of the ironclads. To protect against another attack by rams, railroad iron was placed around the ends of the vessels and other points were buttressed with cypress logs.

The bombardment of Fort Pillow continued after the action at Plum Point, with two ironclads being assigned daily to guard the mortar boats on duty for the day. May 25th marked the arrival of a fleet of nine rams and two floating batteries under command of Col. Charles Elliot, a civil engineer who had drawn attention to himself by advancing the idea of converting steamboats into rams. At the start, he and Davis disagreed over a plan of joint action, so Elliot, having orders to that effect, prepared action of his own. He sent men ashore on June 2, and they came back with a report the Confederates appeared to be evacuating. Next day two of the Union Vessels ran down towards Fort Pillow and sighted a Confederate gunboat, The Jeff Thompson, lying under the Confederate guns of the fort, but before they could attack, cannoneers opened fire from above and drove them back. Later in the day, while the Cairo was helping guard the mortar boats, the Confederate fleet appeared and exchanged a few shots before withdrawing.

Close of the Battle of Memphis, June 6, 1862 (Looking North) After a Drawing by Rear-Admiral Walke. USS Cairo is on right.

A joint attack on Fort Pillow, with troops moving in from the land side, was planned for June 5th, but the Southerners upset the schedule. The fort had been ordered evacuated and was virtually empty on the 3rd, while on the evening of the 4th demolition teams began applying the torch. By noon of the next day, the Confederate fleet was at Memphis, a shortage of men for the fort caused the evacuation.

The Federals now advanced on Memphis, arriving there the evening of the 5th. At dawn, the Confederate fleet, consisting of eight rams and gunboats and facing such a shortage of coal that it was unthinkable to go farther downstream, drew up in line in front of the city to await battle.

Action began at 5:30 AM and ended in a running fight 1 1/2 hours later. All the Confederate vessels were either sunk or captured except the Van Dorn and a storeboat, the Paul Jones, both had of which had enough coal to escape down river.

The Cairo opened the battle when she fired her 42-pounder starboard bow rifle. Throughout the action she kept busy, firing, rescuing men from the water, and finally taking part in the running battle; but her role was not one to cause her to be singled out in the official reports.

For the next 6 days the Cairo lay with the other ironclads at Memphis. On June 12th she was ordered back to Fort Pillow, where she would remain for 3 month while her crew guarded public property, undertook patrols on each side of the river, and strengthened the boat. From a nearby sawmill and from the Fort Pillow fortifications, lumber and iron was obtained to build a barricade around the engines, steam drums, and boilers.

PHASE III: A UNLUCKY CHANGE OF COMMAND

Some men and some ships seem fated for bad luck. It was the Union ironclad Cairo's fate to have as her second and last captain a man who, although a hard worker, was a repeated slave to misfortune. Three of the vessels on which he served, their names all beginning with the letter "C", went to the bottom in the order named - the Cumberland, the Cairo, and the Conestoga- no matter if he was credited with gallantry and exonerated of blame by some of his superiors.

Thomas O. Selfridge, Cairo's second captain and her last. One sailor later recalled he doomed our vessel the minute he stepped onboard.

Thomas O. Selfridge Jr,, son of the commandant of the Navy Yard at Mare Island, Calif., was a member of a seafaring family. He was dedicated and ambitious, but, as fate would have it, he served mostly on doomed vessels and was unable to get along with his men. Perhaps his fellow seamen had reason to be displeased with him, for he seemed always to flirt disaster, barely escaping further serious mishap early in the war while experimenting with the crude submarine Alligator on a trial run from the Washington Naval Yard. So bad was his luck with that the Cairo's career ended just three months to the day Selfridge first stepped aboard her.

September 12th brought the Cairo a change of command. For months Lieutenant Bryant had been in failing health and, as he grew steadily worse, a medical board recommended that he be allowed extended sick leave. On orders, he headed his vessel downstream to Helena to rendezvous with the flotilla and there, on September 12th, he turned his command over to Lt. Comdr. Thomas O. Selfridge Jr.

The new captain was more youthful than Bryant, was a man who had seen more service during the war than most other officers. He had appeared briefly in the limelight at Norfolk, VA,. in the opening stages. There as a lieutenant on board the USS Cumberland, he had been interested in stopping some of the Confederate shenanigans that led to the evacuation and destruction of the by the North of the Gosport Navy Yard. Later, he was assigned the responsibility of finding out what could be done about the blockade running that was going on so successfully along the North Carolina coast, especially at Hatteras. He studied the situation and recommended in a fleet of tugboats, steamers, gunboats and launches to patrol Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, claiming this would clear up matters in three weeks. In effect he was prescribing the end of a system of signals between ship and shore that the South operated with great results until the fall of Fort Fisher in January 1865.

On March 10th, 1862, the day after the famous battle between the CSS Virginia (former USS Merrimack) and the USS Monitor, he was ordered to command the latter vessel. This order was countermanded by Flag Officer L.M. Goldsborough, who reported plans already had been made to place the ship under Lt. Comdr. W. M. Jeffers.

Selfridge's first assignment after assuming command of the Cairo was to guard transports taking prisoners down the Mississippi for exchange at Vicksburg and to return with the repatriated Federals. On the run back, he got into an argument with Chief Pilot Oscar B. Jolly, one of the best on the river, who promptly resigned. After this incident, members of the crew began forming their own opinions of the new captain.

The responsibility for the Western Flotilla, which had been under the command of the Army, was assigned by Congress on October 1st to the Navy Department. Resulting changes caused Captain Davis to be called to Washington as chief of the Bureau of Navigation and to be succeeded as flotilla commander by David Dixon Porter, foster brother of the immortal David G. Farragut, the Navy veteran who had conducted the successful campaign against New Orleans the preceding spring.

Admiral David Dixon Porter

Shortly after returning to Helena, the Cairo received orders to accompany the ammunition steamer Judge Torrence to Memphis. This was an opportunity for which Selfridge had been waiting for. The fire linings in his vessel had deteriorated to the point at which they were dangerous, and he had been unable so far to get replacements. He felt confident he could find them at Memphis.

After a 2-day trip up the Mississippi, the Cairo tied up at Memphis, with instructions to remain there for further orders. This gave Selfridge a chance to make the necessary repairs, and he had them completed by Nov. 7th.

The weeks that followed were spent by the Cairo's crew in gunnery practice and in patrolling the river above Memphis in a effort to break up the smuggling ring which was so evident at that point. They did an effective job. Meanwhile, Selfridge received notice from Porter that an active campaign on the Mississippi was about to begin.

The campaign was to be another advance on Vicksburg, this time by land as by water. The Army of the Tennessee under General Grant was already moving southward from Tennessee. These troops, according to plan, were to advance by way of Grenada, down the corridor between the Yazoo and Pearl rivers, and seize the Confederate base of operations in Jackson, Mississippi. The Navy was to clear the Yazoo of the enemy as far up as Greenwood, where the light drafts would turn into the Yalobusha River and ascend it to Grenada, and there destroy the railroad bridges. An attempt would also be made to capture the large number of steamers the Confederates had hidden in the twisting waterways of the Delta.

Porter on November 22, ordered Selfridge to bring his vessel to Helena. Three days later the Cairo's commander sent word that he had been asked by the Army to remain at Memphis and that he thought he would be doing right to fulfill the request. This brought a reply from Porter that was full of sarcasm: " I would feel better satisfied to dispose of the vessels under my command as it seems best to me!" He also said he would send a replacement for the Cairo, which was needed on the expedition he was planning.

Drawing of one of the Confederate mines also called "Torpedoes" They were very simple in construction a 5 gallon glass demijohn was packed with black power connected to a primer that was fired by a galvanic cell (Telegraph battery) on shore. A wooden float was attached to the demijohn and an anchor with a rope to the shore line.

While waiting for the replacement, Selfridge continued to strengthen his vessel, more railroad iron was added to reinforce the casemate protecting the boilers and machinery. His relief arrived on the morning of the 4th, and he set out of the mouth of the Yazoo immediately. arriving on the 8th. The fleet that gathered there was ready to go upstream was under command of Capt. Henry Walke, a Mexican War Veteran, a fine artist and a dauntless fighter.

The next two days were spent in recoaling. Then, on the 11th, plans for a reconnaissance up the Yazoo was carried out. This was done by the tinclads, Marmora and Signal, light draft stern-wheelers covered with 1 1/4 inches of iron that afforded protection against shells but not heavier projectiles. They ran up the river some 20 miles and prepared to round to, as the lookouts spotted several suspicious objects floating on the water. A man on the Marmora fired a musket at one and set off a huge explosion that shook the boat and threw water all over the place. Another explosion occurred shortly afterwards near the Signal. No damage was caused by either one. However, it was recognized that contact had been made with some of the vaunted Confederate mines, more commonly known as torpedoes.

Back at the mouth of the river that night, the captains of the two tinclads told of their experience. With the "Damned infernal Machines." They said the number of small scows and stationary floats they saw at the point where they had turned around indicated the presence of other torpedoes, but if protected by one or two gunboats, they believed they could safely lift the "Infernal Machines" from the water and deactivate them.

Selfridge requested permission to use the Cairo on such a venture and Walke consented. He also designated the gunboat Pittsburg and the Ram Queen of the West to go along.

The fleet commander repeated his instructions, addressing his words particularly to Selfridge, who would be in command. The officers were told to avoid the channel where the mines were set. The tinclads were to move in close to shore and, by using small boats, haul the infernal machines out and destroy them before proceeding upriver. the ram would follow immediately behind the tinclads, and the two gunboats would bring up the rear, shelling the banks whenever necessary. He concluded by advising that, if there was an apparent danger in the execution of these orders, the project was to be abandoned and they were to return until a better means was found to carry out the plan.

PHASE IV: A Day of Destiny

Admiral Porter's Fleet at the Mouth of the Yazoo River. The CAIRO is in the far left hand corner with the USS BENTON in the center firing the morning gun. The QUEEN OF THE WEST is in the Center of the drawing. Several other transport steamers and tugs are moving through the water in preparation of the 7 AM departure of the scouting mission up the Yazoo River.

At 7 AM, on December 12th, the expedition proceeded up the Yazoo, with the vessels in the order designated. Here and there along the way sharpshooters fired from trees on shore, and an occasional shell was tossed at the gunboats and tinclads.

Frequently on the way up, Selfridge displayed impatience. He would peremptorily shout orders to Capt. Edwin Sutherland, commander of the Queen of the West, moving directly ahead of the Cairo, to go faster. Other officers recognized the more speed imperiled the safety of the boats in advance, for, if they had been compelled by some unexpected danger to stop quickly or to back up in the narrow tortuous stream, they would have been inevitably run down by the ram.

Sometime after 11:00, the Marmora moving 100 yards or so in advance, came in sight of the torpedoes and stopped partially hidden by a bend in the river. Selfridge heard heavy fire of musketry and supposed she was being attacked from shore. As the little fleet closed, he saw that the firing was coming from the Marmora , tinclad #1, then backing up and was aimed at a block of wood floating in the river.

"Why don't you go ahead?" Shouted Selfridge. Someone on the Marmora shouted back, "here is where the torpedoes are!"

Selfridge ordered the firing stopped and a boat lowered to examine the object. At the same time, he directed that the right shore be bombarded and a boat sent out from his own vessel.

Men in small boats recovered one torpedo and debris from the ones exploded the day before. In the meantime, the bow of the Cairo had turned towards the shore. Selfridge seemed to have little fear of the torpedoes backed out to proceed upstream and then ordered the Marmora to move ahead slowly. The Cairo took the lead and advanced into unreconnoitered waters. Her big wheel had made only a dozen revolutions when there were two explosions in quick succession, one close to her port quarter and the other under her starboard bow. Opinions varied as how long it took the Cairo to go down 8 to 15 minutes, the estimates ran. However long it was, the vessel was run in toward shore where she sank, leaving only her chimneys above water, The Queen of the West came to the aid of the Cairo's crew, all whom were rescued. Nothing was saved except some small arms and personal items and a few hammocks and bags which floated away from the wreckage.

Sketch of submerged USS Cairo after her escort USS Queen of the West drifted downstream knocking down her chimneys and jackstaffs.

Before moving downstream, the Queen of the West knocked down the chimneys and jackstaffs to keep the Southerners from finding the sunken ironclad. (This was an act that would have its benefits a century later, when a enterprising group of men, no longer taking sides between North and South, sounded for the Cairo until they found her and then brought her to the surface to be restored.)

The Cairo's value to the Union must be estimated in terms of disappointment. At the start, she failed to function properly. In addition, she fired a few shells at the river bank at Eastport, took her share of Guard duty at Fort Pillow, and played a rather inconspicuous role in the battle of Plum Point and later at Memphis. She added little to the Northern offensive and the records gave her very little mention. From a practical standpoint, her major contribution lies in what she took down with her when she sank in the Yazoo, for therein was preserved for future generations first-hand information on the type of fighting boat that fought along the inland rivers in the Civil War and the sort of life lived by the crewmen on board.

Raising the Cairo