CSS Jackson

This article is about the river tug converted to a gunboat which operated on the Mississippi River. For the ironclad ram that operated on the Chattahoochee River, see CSS Muscogee.

The CSS Jackson was a river tugboat converted to a gunboat by the Confederate States Navy at the beginning of the American Civil War. Originally named Yankee, the tug had been built in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849. Yankee was purchased for the Confederate States Navy in New Orleans, Louisiana in May, 1861. As CSS Jackson, the boat participated in engagements with Union gunboats at Hickman, Kentucky, and Lucas Bend, Missouri in September, 1861. In October, 1861 Jackson participated in an attack on Union blockaders at Head of Passes near the entrance to the Mississippi River, helping to drive them away. CSS Jackson then joined the defense of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip on the Mississippi below New Orleans. When the Union Navy forced its way past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, CSS Jackson returned to New Orleans, where she was destroyed by the Confederates before Union forces captured New Orleans.

References

• The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Online - Confederate States Navy - retrieved July 28, 2006