Research Catalog

Title

Ellet's Brigade : the strangest outfit of all / Chester G. Hearn.

Author

Hearn, Chester G.

Publication

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, 2000.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xv, 289 p. ill. , maps; 24 cm.

Summary

• "Soon after the start of the Civil War, during the naval buildup on the central Mississippi River, celebrated engineer Charles Ellet, Jr., formed the Ram Fleet under U.S. secretary of war Edwin M. Stanton. Perhaps the most bizarre unit organized by the Union, the rams were shunned by both the army and the navy as useless instruments of war. However, on June 6, 1862, they proved their worth by defeating the Confederate ironclads at Memphis while the U.S. Navy simply watched. In this lively study, the first on the rams since 1905, Chester G. Hearn details the formation and wartime exploits of Ellet's fleet, reviving the history of this fascinating but forgotten brigade."
• "The army lost or destroyed many of the brigade's records upon its dissolution, but through painstaking research Hearn has constructed its colorful history, Filling a void in the annals of operations along the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Red Rivers, Ellet's Brigade will be welcomed by scholars and buffs alike as a rare glimpse into one of the few remaining unexplored facets of the Civil War."--Jacket.

Subject

• Ellet, Charles, 1810-1862
• Stanton, Edwin M. 1814-1869
• Stanton, Edwin M. 1814-1869
• United States. Mississippi Marine Brigade
• Mississippi River Valley > History > Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States > Riverine operations. > Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States > Regimental histories > Civil War, 1861-1865
• Mississippi River Valley > Regimental histories. > Civil War, 1861-1865

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-279) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Mr. Stanton's Navy -- The rams at Memphis -- Campaigning with Davis -- Admiral Porter takes command -- Charlie Ellet and the Admiral -- The capture of Queen of the West -- The escape of Era No. 5 -- Expeditions above Vicksburg -- "Rash, ambitious, even insubordinate ..." -- The Mississippi marine brigade -- Campaigning with General Ellet -- Operations at Vicksburg -- Grant takes command -- Chasing Wirt Adams -- The quest for cotton -- Greetings from Colonel Greene's brigade -- The last campaigns of the horse marines -- Dissolution.

ISBN

0807125598 (alk. paper)

LCCN

^^^99050668^

OCLC

• 42866113
• SCSB-12239770

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library