Demise of the USS. Benton Union Flagship (1 Viewer)

[steveemmo]

In the spring of 1862, she was present at the captures of Island Number Ten, Fort Pillow and Memphis, Tennessee. During the summer, Benton was in action with the Confederate ironclad Arkansas near Vicksburg, Mississippi, and participated in an expedition up the Yazoo River. She was transferred to the Union Navy in October 1862, and continued her service as the Mississippi Squadron's flagship into 1863.
In December 1862, Benton was damaged by Confederate gunfire during another operation on the Yazoo River. She was one of the ships that ran past Vicksburg, Mississippi on 16 April 1863 and bombarded Grand Gulf, Mississippi, later in that month. She participated in an attack on Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, in May, then provided gunfire support for the siege of Vicksburg.
In March-May 1864, Benton was involved in the Red River expedition, in Louisiana, and according to Admiral Porter's memoirs "Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War" she fired one volley from her bow battery on Fort DeRussy; the only ship in the fleet proported to have fired on the fort before its surrender to Union General A.J. Smith.
The Benton returned to the Red River vicinity in June 1865 during operations that followed the formal end of the Civil War...... now she`s in the bin..so it goes

 

[steveemmo]

cannot believe i left it there, all of these ironclad ships were bought and are destined to be displayed in a diorama setting in a shop in Colne Lancashire.