John Miller Srodes John Miller Srodes ( July 17 , 1809 – September 30 , 1882 ) , was the captain of the U . S . Ram of the Mississippi Marine Brigade from April 28 , 1862 to July 16 , 1862 . He played an important role in the Battle of Memphis . Early life . John Miller Srodes was born on Grant ' s Hill in Pittsburgh , Allegheny County , Pennsylvania on July 17 , 1809 . A story from his childhood says that he got angry at his brothers one day and ran away . He was captured by Indians , and his brothers could not find him . He pretended to like the Indians in order to escape . In reality , it seems that he enjoyed living with the Indians since he stayed with them for two or three years . He did finally return home , however , when an opportunity arose to do so . His granddaughter Lida Olive Bickerstaff remembers him telling her stories about when he lived with the Indians and teaching her their language , life , and customs . Srodes experience living with the Indians probably shaped his life in the following two areas . First , it probably shaped his attitude towards those of other races . Many years later , when his granddaughter Lida saw a " colored " person for the first time , she ran away into the house . But Srodes went inside , picked her up , took her outside , and had her talk with the man . His long journey overland from the Indians to his home also may have set the stage for future journeys he would take . Three times Srodes walked from New Orleans to Pittsburgh after having arrived in New Orleans on a flatboat . Military career . Srodes was a ship captain who piloted boats from Pittsburgh to Cairo , Illinois and Memphis , Tennessee . He served his country as a captain in the Mexican War under General Zachary Taylor and fought in several battles on Taylor ' s drive to Mexico City . In the Civil War , John served as captain of the Ram " Lioness " of the Mississippi Marine Brigade from April 28 to July 16 , 1862 , when he was discharged . The " Lioness " was part of the Ram Fleet under the command of Colonel Charles Ellet , Jr . The Ram Fleet was a fleet of nine steam - powered rams that played a role in winning domination of the Mississippi River by the Union . Ellet ' s nine rams were converted steam ships fitted with a reinforced prow . Unarmed , the ships were designed simply to ram into the side of enemy ships and sink them . Rams were an old idea that was revived after the development of steam propulsion . Ellet initially tried to convince the Navy to let him develop a ram fleet , but he was rejected . So he took his idea directly to Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton , who gave Ellet permission to build and command the fleet . Ellet personally led the fleet in the Battle of Memphis on June 6 , 1862 . After handily defeating the Confederate flotilla , Ellet noticed a white flag flying over Memphis . Having been wounded , Ellet sent his son , Medical Cadet Charles Rivers Ellet , to attend to the surrender of the city . Charles Rivers Ellet was escorted to shore by Srodes aboard the " Lioness " , which was the last ram to arrive on the scene because it was hauling coal for the fleet . Charles Rivers Ellet , who had joined the fleet just five days earlier on his nineteenth birthday , took a rowboat ashore along with three other Union soldiers and demanded the surrender of the city from Mayor John Park . Since the Confederate army had already left , the mayor was powerless to surrender and the Union army was not ready to occupy Memphis . Ellet , however , demanded that they be permitted to hoist the American flag over the post office as a symbol of the fall of Memphis . The mayor advised them against doing so , saying that he could not ensure their safety . Ellet , however , did not listen to the mayor and convinced the mayor to escort his party of four to the post office . When they arrived at the post office , several civilians escorted Ellet and one other to the fourth floor , and they created a makeshift flag stand to fly the Union flag . As they admired their work , someone closed the trapdoor and stranded them on the roof . The people of the city , noticing the Union flag , began to yell and fire shots at the men of the roof . The mayor , fearing that the city would be bombarded because of the antics of the people , made his way back to the " Lioness " and yelled for help . Srodes then came ashore and threatened to fire on the city " if those men are not released in ten minutes . " He then suggested that the mayor assemble the police force to disperse the crowd . What the people of Memphis didn ' t know was that the " Lioness " had no guns ! To give a show of force , however , Srodes sent all of the ship ' s marines ashore armed with carbines and hand grenades . Thousands of people jeered at the marines as they made their way to the post office . Soon , however , a warehouse below town exploded , and the people dispersed to investigate the explosion . Srodes placed four men on guard at the entrance of the post office and sent others up to the fourth floor to rescue their comrades . Srodes details the aftermath of the Battle of Memphis in his diary . During his military service , Srodes was injured by a shell that went through his back and caused an injury to his spine . This happened in May or June 1862 while he was on the Yazoo River . Srodes also contracted malarial fever . He was treated for his injury and illness on board the " Lioness " by medical officers from the Ram Fleet . Family and later life . On October 14 , 1830 , Srodes married Eliza Quinn . They had seven children : William Quinn , Sarah Ann , John Q . , Ellen Hood , Margaretta Pugh , Mary Alwilda , and Anna Eliza . Eliza died of consumption on Christmas Day in 1856 . Srodes was away on one of his trips as a riverboat captain and did not find out about her death until he arrived back home . Srodes remarried Nancy Galbraith Chase in Pittsburgh on December 17 , 1857 . In his latter years , Srodes was an innkeeper in Phillipsburg , Beaver County , Pennsylvania . He died of paralysis at his home along the Ohio River bank in Phillipsburg on September 30 , 1882 .