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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Louisville (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Cairo Class Centerwheel casemate Iron-clad River Gunboat :

Built in 1861, for the War Department as the Ironclad steamer Louisville at St. Louis, MO., by James B. Eads

Launched, date unknown

Commissioned, USS Louisville, 16 January 1862, CDR. Benjamin H. Dove in command

1 October 1862 custody transferred to the US Navy

During the Civil War USS Louisville participated in the following actions:

14 to 16 February 1862 capture of Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River

1 to 5 March the occupation of Columbus, KY.

14 March to 7 April the capture of Island No. 10 and New Madrid, MO.

6 June the Battle of Memphis

15 June attack on the upper batteries at Vicksburg

October White River expedition in support of General Sherman's army

4 to 11 January 1863 capture of Fort Hindman, AR.

14 to 28 January the expedition through Steele’s Bayou

31 January to March 21 the Yazoo River

29 March Grand Falls Gulf

12 March to 22 May 1864 the Red River expedition, June action around Columbia AR.

Decommissioned, 21 July 1865

Sold at public auction at Mound City, 29 November 1865

Final Disposition, fate unknown

Specifications:
Displacement 468 t.
Length 175'
Beam 51' 6"
Draft 6'
Speed 9 mph
Complement 251

Armament

six 42-pdrs

three 8" smoothbore

four 42-pdrs rifles

one 12-pdr howitzer

Propulsion

two Thomas Merrett, Cincinnati, O. horizontal non-condensing steam engines

five 36 inches x 24 feet diameter boilers

twin propellers

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
	104k	"United States Mississippi Gun-boats being built at Carondelet, near St. Louis, Missouri". Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 5 October 1861. It depicts, rather inaccurately, the construction of four of the "City" class ironclads by James Eads, including *Carondelet, Louisville, Pittsburgh* and *Saint Louis. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59001*	Robert Hurst
	89k	"City" Class armored gunboats under construction by James Eads, at St. Louis, Missouri, prior to October 1861. This view shows four ships being built in pairs, at two levels on the shore, with casemate side timbers largely installed. Vertical timbers extending above the slanting casemate sides are framing for the ships' paddle-wheel boxes. The four ships of this class built at St. Louis were *Carondelet, Louisville, Pittsburgh* and *Saint Louis. Note building and flagpole in the right background, timber stockpile in the foreground, and twin rudder posts at the ships' sterns with the paddle raceway between them. U.S. National Archives. Photo #: 165-C-703*	Robert Hurst
	111k	"City" Class armored gunboats under construction by James Eads, at St. Louis, Missouri, prior to October 1861. This view looks along the main deck on one gunboat, with its boilers in the foreground and casemate timbers at the sides. Another vessel is beyond, with some spar deck beams atop the casemate side timbers and upright framing in place for her wheel box. The four ships of this class built at St. Louis were *Carondelet, Louisville, Pittsburgh* and *Saint Louis. Note flagpole in the left background. U.S. National Archives. Photo #: 165-C-702*	Robert Hurst
	59k	Wash drawing of USS Louisville by F. Muller, circa 1900. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C. US Navy photo # NH 55827 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command	Aryeh Wetherhorn
	101k	USS Louisville alongside a barge at a Western Rivers city, during the Civil War. US Navy photo # NH 49996 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command	Aryeh Wetherhorn
	60k	Halftone reproduction of a photograph of USS Louisville on the Western Rivers, during the Civil War. Copied from Francis Trevelyn Miller's "The Photographic History of the Civil War", Volume 6, page 150. US Navy photo # NH 51426 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command	Aryeh Wetherhorn
	166k	Wood-cut engraving "WAR IN THE WEST--THE NEW GUNBOAT FLOTILLA, COMMODORE FOOTE BUILT AT CARONDELET MISSOURI, FOR THE DESCENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI", published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated" December 1861, Left to Right; USS Louisville USS Carondelet Transport, name unknown USS Pittsburgh Transport, name unknown USS St. Louis	Tommy Trampp
	80k	"Commodore Foote's Gun-boat Flotilla on the Mississippi". Line engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in Harper's Weekly, 1862. Ships are identified below the image as (from left to right): USS Mound City, USS Essex, USS Cairo, USS Saint Louis, USS Louisville, *USS Benton,* USS Pittsburgh. and USS Lexington. US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo #: NH 59002	Robert Hurst
	77k	"The Gun-boat Attack on the Water Batteries at Fort Donelson". Line engraving, based on a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862, depicting the bombardment of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, by Federal warships, 14 February 1862. Many of the ships were damaged in this action. As identified on the engraving, they are (from left to right): "Timberclads" USS Tyler and USS Conestoga; "Ironclads" USS Carondelet, USS Pittsburgh, USS Louisville and USS Saint Louis. US Navy History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58898.	Robert Hurst
	114k	"Bombardment and Capture of Island Number Ten on the Mississippi River, April 7, 1862." Colored lithograph published by Currier & Ives, New York, circa 1862. It depicts the bombardment of the Confederate fortifications on Island Number Ten by Federal gunboats and mortar boats. Ships seen include (from left to right): USS Mound City; USS Louisville; USS Pittsburgh; USS Carondelet; USS Benton; USS Cincinnati; USS Saint Louis; USS Conestoga. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # KN 9691	Robert Hurst
	177k	"The Great Naval Battle before Memphis, June 6, 1862". Engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in "Harper's Weekly", depicting the action between the Confederate River Defense Fleet and Federal warships off Memphis, Tennessee. In the foreground, the print depicts the Confederate ships (from left to right): CSS General M. Jeff Thompson (shown sinking); CSS Little Rebel (shown burning); CSS General Sterling Price; CSS General Beauregard (shown being jammed by the Ellet Ram USS Monarch; CSS General Bragg (shown aground) and CSS Colonel Lovell (shown sinking). In the background are the Federal warships (from left to right): USS Queen of the West; USS Cairo; USS Carondelet; USS Louisville; USS Saint Louis; a tug; and USS Benton. The city of Memphis is in the right distance, with a wharf boat by the shore. Harpers Weekly, 28 June 1862. Sons of the South - Memphis Naval Battle US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58891	Robert Hurst
	152k	Currier & Ives Lithographed and hand colored Civil War Battle Scene print from 1960. "THE BOMBARDMENT AND CAPTURE OF FORT HINDMAN, ARKANSAS POST, ARK., JAN.11, 1863". Hand colored though silk-screen stencils this Civil War print came from a limited edition in 1960. Ships participating in the bombardment include: USS Baron De Kalb USS Cincinnati USS Louisville USS Black Hawk and USS Rattler	Tommy Trampp
	76k	An 1883 print of the Civil War depicting Union gunboats USS Louisville, USS Carondelet, USS Pittsburgh and mortar boats in Deer Creek shelling a Confederate battery during the Battle of Steele Bayou, March 14 to 27 1863.	Tommy Trampp
	358k	"Admiral Porter's Fleet Running the Rebel Blockade of the Mississippi at Vicksburg, April 16th 1863." Text under the print's title reads: "At half past ten P.M. the boats left their moorings & steamed down the river, the *Benton, Admiral Porter, taking the lead -- as they approached the point opposite the town, a terrible concentrated fire of the center, upper and lower batteries, both water and bluff, were directed upon the channel, which here ran within one hundred yards of the shore. At the same moment innumerable floats of turpentine and other combustible materials were set ablaze. In the face of all this fire, the boats made their way with but little loss except the transport Henry Clay* which was set on fire & sunk." Ships depicted are (from the front to the rear: USS Benton (flagship); USS Lafayette with USS General Price alongside; USS Louisville; USS Mound City; USS Pittsburgh; USS Carondelet; transports SS Silver Wave; SS Forest Queen; SS Henry Clay; and SS Tuscumbia. Currier & Ives, New York. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Beverley R. Robinson Collection. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 76557-KN (Color)	Robert Hurst
	48k	"Attack on Grand Gulf," 29 April 1863, from Harper's Weekly. The attack by USS Benton, USS Lafayette, USS Tuscumbia, USS Carondelet, USS Louisville, USS Mound City, and USS Pittsburgh.	Tommy Trampp
	155k	"Battle of Grand Gulf, First position, R. Ad. D.D. Porter Commanding". Engraving published in Rear Admiral Henry Walke's Naval Scenes and Reminiscences of the Civil War in the United States ... (1877), depicting U.S. Navy ironclads engaging Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, 29 April 1863. US ships present, as identified on the print, are (from left-center to right): USS Benton, USS Tuscumbia, USS Pittsburgh, USS Lafayette, USS Louisville, USS Baron de Kalb, (Identified in the engraving as *St. Louis) and USS Carondelet,. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 1852*	Robert Hurst
098677402	192k	Battle of Grand Gulf, Second Position. The Battle of Grand Gulf was fought on April 29, 1863, during the American Civil War. During Major General Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg campaign, Union Army forces had failed in attempts to bypass the strategic city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Grant decided move his army south, cross the Mississippi River, and then advance on Vicksburg. Seven Union Navy ironclad warships commanded by Admiral David Dixon Porter bombarded Confederate fortifications at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, in preparation for a crossing of the river. Union fire was able to silence one of the two Confederate fortifications at Grand Gulf, but the position was still strong enough that Grant decided to cross the river elsewhere. USS Benton, mislabeled as Trenton USS Lafayette, USS Tuscumbia, USS Carondelet, USS Louisville, USS Mound City, and USS Pittsburgh. From p. 592 of the 1887 book 'Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers, based upon Òthe Century War Series"', volume 3. Uploaded by the British Library to Flickr	Tommy Trampp
098606706	123k	USS Louisville on the Red River. Photographed by McPherson & Oliver, No. 132 Canal Street, New Orleans. 1 January 1864. (carte de visite format). United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division, digital ID ppmsca.40619	Robert Hurst