Battle of Plum Point Bend

The Battle of Plum Point Bend took place on the Mississippi River in Tennessee, U.S., between ships of the Confederate River Defense Fleet and the Federal Western Flotilla on May 10, 1862. Fighting for control of the Mississippi River had been ongoing since the prior year, and Federal forces had pushed downriver to Fort Pillow, which was 50 miles (80 km) on the river north of Memphis, Tennessee. The Federals had been using mortar boats to bombard Fort Pillow, and had settled into a regular routine. Each day, a single mortar boat guarded by an ironclad took a position further downriver to bombard the fort, while the rest of the fleet remained upriver. On the morning of May 10, the Confederates attacked, in hopes of capturing the guard ironclad and then surprising the rest of the Federal fleet.

When the attack came, most of the Federal ironclads did not have steam pressure built up and were not prepared to move. Three of the eight Confederate vessels, CSS General Bragg, CSS General Sterling Price, and CSS General Sumter, rammed the guard ironclad, USS Cincinnati; the Federal vessel later sank from its damage. Two further ironclads were able to steam from the main group upstream and join the action: USS Carondelet and USS Mound City. In turn, CSS General Earl Van Dorn rammed Mound City; the Federal vessel was damaged so severely that it was later run aground on a shoal, where it sank.

A third Federal ironclad, USS Benton, arrived later in the fighting. The Federal ironclads had lighter drafts than the Confederate vessels, and maneuvered into shallower water where they were safe from Confederate ramming attempts. As the Confederate ships' armaments were inferior to those of the Federal ships, the Confederates withdrew, pursued by Benton and Carondelet. The bombardment of Fort Pillow resumed after the battle, and on June 4, the fort was abandoned after Federal forces captured Corinth, Mississippi. On June 6, the River Defense Fleet was destroyed in the Battle of Memphis, and the Federals gained control of the Mississippi River in July 1863.