| Battle of Plum Point Bend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of American Civil War | |||||
 Battle of Plum Point Bend, Tennessee, May 10, 1862. The Confederate vessels are to the right, while the Union ironclads are in the center and left | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 United States of America |
 Confederate States of America | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Charles Henry Davis | James Montgomery | ||||
| Units involved | |||||
| Western Flotilla | River Defense Fleet | ||||
| Strength | |||||
| 7 ironclad warships and 1 mortar boat | 8 cottonclad rams | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
|
2 ironclads sunk 4 men killed or wounded | c. 12 men killed or wounded | ||||
The Battle of Plum Point Bend took place in Tennessee during the American Civil War on May 10, 1862, on the Mississippi River, between ships of the Confederate River Defense Fleet and the Union Western Flotilla. Fighting for control of the Mississippi had been ongoing since the prior year as Union forces pushed downriver to Fort Pillow, about 50 miles (80 km) north of Memphis. The Union had been using mortar boats to bombard Fort Pillow, and had settled into a regular routine. The Union's daily tactic was to send a single mortar boat guarded by an ironclad warship to a position further downriver to shell the fort, while the rest of the fleet remained upriver. On the morning of May 10, the Confederates attacked in the hope of capturing the guard ironclad and then surprising the rest of the Union fleet.
When the attack came, most of the Union ironclads did not have steam pressure built up and so were unprepared 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 Union vessel later sank from her damage. Two further ironclads were able to steam from the main group upriver and join the action: USS Carondelet and USS Mound City. In turn, CSS General Earl Van Dorn rammed Mound City; the Union vessel was damaged so severely that she was later run aground on a shoal, where she sank.
A third Union ironclad, USS Benton, arrived later in the fighting. The Union ironclads had lighter drafts[a] than the Confederate vessels and maneuvered into shallower water where they were safe from Confederate ramming attempts. As the Confederate ships' guns were inferior to those of the Union ships, the Confederates withdrew, pursued by Benton and Carondelet. Several of the Confederate ships were damaged during the battle. The loss of Cincinnati and Mound City prompted the Union to strengthen the waterline of their ships. The two ironclads were refloated and returned to service. The battle was a Confederate victory, but with little long-term benefit. The bombardment of Fort Pillow resumed after the battle with altered procedures, and on June 4, the fort was abandoned as the Confederates withdrew from Corinth, Mississippi. On June 6, the River Defense Fleet was destroyed in the First Battle of Memphis, and the Union gained control of the Mississippi River in July 1863. Plum Point Bend was among the few fleet actions of the war.
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