The Union Fleet

On March 13, 1863, Union Rear Admiral David D. Porter commanded a squadron of five City Series ironclads and the ram General Sterling Price on an expedition to find a route into the Yazoo River above the Confederate fortifications north of Vicksburg. The force went seven miles up the Yazoo River from the Mississippi and entered Steele's Bayou at Johnson's plantation, then continued north to Black Bayou and turned east to the confluence of Black Bayou and Deer Creek at Hill's plantation. The boats then moved north on Deer Creek toward its confluence with Rolling Fork Creek, which led to the Big Sunflower River, and the route then ran southeast to the Yazoo River at a point upriver from the Confederate fortifications above Vicksburg. The flotilla consisted of the ironclads Carondelet, Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Mound City, and Louisville, accompanied by four tugs that towed mortar scows and coal barges.

Mississippi · United States