By that point, Union ironclads and speedy rams had squashed the measly Confederate River Defense Fleet at Memphis. As northern armies began to march overland toward Vicksburg and elsewhere ...

It would be the U.S. Navy’s biggest defeat until World War II and threatened to change the balance of power in American ...

The seven city-class ironclads, sometimes called the turtles, were the most recognizable boats in the fleet, but northern laborers also converted a few existing steamboats into armored vessels. The ...