CSS Arkansas The CSS " Arkansas " was a Confederate Ironclad warship which served during the American Civil War in the Western Theater . " Arkansas " ran through a U . S . Navy fleet at Vicksburg , Mississippi , on 15 July 1862 , in a celebrated action in which she inflicted more damage than she received . She was later destroyed by her crew to prevent capture by Union forces . History . Construction . Her keel was laid down at Memphis , Tennessee , by J . T . Shirley in October 1861 . In April 1862 , " Arkansas " was removed to Greenwood , Mississippi on the Yazoo River to prevent her capture when Memphis fell to the Union Navy . Her sister ship , CSS " Tennessee " , was burned on the stocks because she was not near enough to completion to be launched . In May 1862 Capt . Isaac N . Brown of the Confederate States Navy received orders at Vicksburg from the Navy Department in Richmond , Virginia , to proceed to Greenwood , and there assume command of the " Arkansas " . His orders were to finish and equip the vessel . When Captain Brown arrived , he found a mere hull , without armor , engines in pieces , and guns without carriages . Supplies of railroad iron , intended as armor for the ship , were lying at the bottom of the river . A recovery mission was ordered , and the armor was pulled up out of the mud . Captain Brown then had the " Arkansas " towed to Yazoo City , where he pressed into service local craftsmen , and also got the assistance of 200 soldiers from the Confederate Army as construction crews . After five strenuous weeks of labor under the hot summer sun , the ship had to leave due to falling river levels . She had been fully outfitted , except for the curved armor intended to surround her stern and pilot house . Boiler plate was stuck on these areas " for appearances ' sake " . Breaking through to Vicksburg . During this time , the Federal Navy had attacked Vicksburg with a large force made up of a squadron of ships , under Flag Officer David G . Farragut , that had come up from the Gulf of Mexico and a flotilla of United States Army gunboats and rams , under Flag Officer Charles H . Davis , from upriver . Soon thereafter , General Earl Van Dorn , commanding the Confederate Army forces at Vicksburg , and as such in control of " Arkansas " , ordered Captain Brown to bring his ship down to the city . Brown filled out the crew of " Arkansas " with more than 100 sailors from vessels on the Mississippi , plus about 60 Missouri soldiers . These soldiers had never served big guns , and most of them had probably never even served aboard a ship before . Brown stated , " The only trouble they ever gave me was to keep them from running the " Arkansas " into the Union fleet before we were ready for battle . " He then set sail for Vicksburg and the Union fleet . After approximately 15 miles ( 24 km ) , it was discovered that steam from the boilers had leaked into the forward magazine and rendered the gunpowder wet and useless . Captain Brown and his men found a clearing along the bank of the Yazoo River , landed the wet powder and spread it out on tarpaulins in the sun to dry . With constant stirring and shaking the powder was dry enough to ignite by sundown . " Arkansas " proceeded on her way . Shortly after sunrise on 15 July 1862 , three Federal vessels were sighted steaming towards " Arkansas " — the ironclad " Carondelet " , the wooden gunboat " Tyler " , and the ram " Queen of the West " . The Federal vessels turned downriver , and a running battle ensued . " Carondelet " was quickly disabled with a shot through her steering mechanism , causing her to run aground . Attention was turned to " Tyler " and the ram , which ran for their fleet with the " Arkansas " pursuing . Soon the Federal fleet came into view around the river bend above Vicksburg , " a forest of masts and smokestacks . " Captain Brown determined to steam as close to the enemy vessels as possible in order to prevent his vessel being rammed and to sow confusion . The Federal ships were largely immobile , as they did not have their steam up . They and " Arkansas " exchanged shots at close range , but she soon passed to safety beyond them . " Arkansas " arrived at Vicksburg to the sound of enthusiastic cheering from the citizens and within sight of the lower Federal fleet . That night , Farragut ' s fleet ran past the batteries at Vicksburg and attempted to destroy " Arkansas " while doing so . They did not move until so late in the day , however , that they could not see their target . Only one shell hit home , killing two men and wounding three . Although " Arkansas " did not destroy any enemy vessels , she inflicted severe losses among the personnel of the Federal fleets . In the engagement on the Yazoo and her passage of the fleet at Vicksburg , their total loss was 18 killed , 50 wounded , and an additional 10 missing ( probably drowned ) . Farragut ' s fleet lost another 5 killed and 9 wounded when they ran past the Vicksburg batteries . The cost to " Arkansas " for the entire day ' s action was 12 killed and 18 wounded . Under the Vicksburg bluffs . After repairs , the " Arkansas " again appeared to threaten her enemies , forcing them to keep up steam 24 hours a day in the hottest part of the summer . To remove the problem , the Union fleet tried once again to destroy the ironclad at her mooring . At this time , the severely reduced crew of " Arkansas " could man only three guns , so she depended for protection on the shore batteries . On the morning of 22 July , USS " Essex " , " Queen of the West " , and " Sumter " mounted an ill - coordinated attack . First " Essex " attempted to ram , but as she approached , the " Arkansas " crew were able to spring her . As a result , " Essex " missed her target and ran aground instead , where for ten minutes she remained under fire from both " Arkansas " and the shore batteries . The armor on " Essex " protected her crew , however , so she lost only one man killed and three wounded . On the other hand , one of her shots penetrated the iron plating on " Arkansas " , killing six and wounding six . When " Essex " worked off the bank , she continued downstream , where she joined Farragut ' s squadron . Meanwhile , " Queen of the West " was making her run . Her captain misjudged her speed , so she ran past " Arkansas " and had to come back and ram upstream . Although she struck fairly , her reduced momentum meant that the collision did little damage . She then returned to the flotilla above the city . She had been riddled by shot from the batteries , but surprisingly suffered no serious casualties . Farragut had already been pressing the Navy Department for permission to leave Vicksburg . It was clear that he would need assistance from the Army to capture the city , assistance that was not forthcoming . Sickness among his sailors , unacclimatised to the heat of summer in Mississippi , reduced their fighting strength by as much as a third . Furthermore , the annual drop in the level of the river threatened to strand his deep - draft ships . The constant vigilance now necessitated by the presence of " Arkansas " finally tipped the balance . He got permission to return to the vicinity of New Orleans , and on 24 June his fleet left . With nothing his flotilla could do , Davis also withdrew . He took his vessels back to Helena , Arkansas , where he could still watch the river north of Vicksburg . Final fight at Baton Rouge . With the Federal fleet gone , Captain Brown requested and was granted four days of leave , which he took in Grenada , Mississippi . Before leaving , he pointed out to General Van Dorn that the engines of his ship needed repairs before she could be used . He also gave positive orders to his executive officer , Lt . Henry K . Stevens , not to move her until he returned . Unfortunately for the ship , Van Dorn disregarded his subordinate . He ordered Lt . Stevens to take " Arkansas " down to Baton Rouge , where she would support an attack on the Union position there by a Confederate Army force led by General John C . Breckinridge . Stevens demurred , citing his orders from Brown , and referred the question to " a senior officer of the Confederate navy . " The " senior officer " chose not to intervene . Stevens , now under the orders of two superior officers , had to rush the ship down the river . Confirming Brown ' s fears , the engines broke down several times between Vicksburg and Baton Rouge . Each time , the engineer was able to get them running again , but it was clear that they were unreliable . Nevertheless , the ship was able to get all the way to Baton Rouge , where she prepared for battle with a small Federal flotilla that included her old opponent USS " Essex . " On the morning of 6 August , " Essex " came in sight , and " Arkansas " moved into the stream to meet her . Just at this time , crank pins on both engines failed almost simultaneously , and " Arkansas " drifted helplessly to the shore . Stevens prepared to abandon ship . He ordered the engines to be broken up , the guns to be loaded and excess shells spread around , and then the ship set afire . The crew then left . About this time , the ship broke free and began to drift down the river , and Stevens , the last man to leave , had to swim ashore . The burning vessel drifted down among the attacking Federal fleet , which watched from a respectful distance . At about noon , " Arkansas " blew up . Current disposition . The Arkansas currently rests , aligned north / south , deep under a levee roughly 1 . 4 miles south of the auto / rail bridge just below Free Negro Point . The wreck is 690 feet past river mile 233 .