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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Benton

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Ironclad steamer:

Built, circa 1861, as a catamaran snagboat at St. Louis, MO. for the US Army

Commissioned, 24 February 1862, as USS Benton, LT. J. Bishop in command

During the Civil War USS Benton participated in the following engagements:

Captures of Island Number Ten, Fort Pillow and Memphis in the Spring of 1862

Action with the Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas near Vicksburg, MS. in the Summer of 1862

Yazoo River expedition in summer1862

Transferred to US Navy control, 1 October 1862

In September 1862 LCDR. William Gwin took command of the big ironclad Benton. On 27 December 1862, in a heated engagement with Confederate artillery on the Yazoo River, his ship was seriously damaged and Gwin mortally wounded. LCDR. William Gwin died from his wounds on 3 January 1863. In reporting his death to the Navy Department, Gwin's squadron commander, Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter, remarked: "The country has lost one of its bravest officers." Photo from the collections of the Library of Congress.

Damaged by Confederate gunfire on the Yazoo River in December 1862

Ran past Vicksburg, April 1863 and bombarded Grand Gulf, MS in May

An attack on Fort DeRussy, AK. in May

The siege of Vicksburg. In March through May 1864

The Red River expedition, in Louisiana in 1864

Decommissioned, 20 July 1865

Final Disposition, sold November 1865, fate unknown

Specifications:
Displacement 633 t.
Length 202'
Beam 72'
Draft 9'
Speed 5.5 kts
Complement 176
Armament

two 9" smoothbores

seven 32-pdr smoothbores

seven 41-pdr rifles
Propulsion steam

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
88k	USS Benton off Natchez, Mississippi, in July 1864. US Navy photo # NH 56664 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command	Aryeh Wetherhorn
63k	Wash drawing by F. Muller, circa 1900, depicting USS Benton on the Western Rivers during the Civil War. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C. US Navy photo # NH 55828 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command	Aryeh Wetherhorn
96k	Wash drawing by R.G. Skerrett, 1900, depicting USS Benton off Natchez, MS., in July 1864. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C. US Navy photo # NH 75623 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command	Aryeh Wetherhorn
99k	Inboard and outboard drawings prepared at the time USS Benton was converted for Civil War emplacement. "The Iron Clad Gunboat Benton designed and constructed by Jas. B. Eads, St. Louis, Mo. By order of Maj. Genl. J.C. Fremont, U.S.A.. Commanding Western Department -- Sept. 1861." Courtesy of Lieutenant Commander Lyle W. Eads, USN (Retired). US Navy photo # NH 68439 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command	Aryeh Wetherhorn

There is no DANFS history for USS Benton at NavSource

Commanding Officers
01	LT. Bishop, Joshua	24 February 1862 - 15 May 1862
02	LT. Phelps, Seth Ledyard	11 May 1862 - 15 September 1862
03	LCDR. Gwin, William	15 September 1862 - 3 January 1863 (KIA)
04	Acting Master Lord, George P.	3 January 1863 - February 1863
05	LCDR. Greer, James Augustine	February 1863 - September 1864
06	LCDR. May, Robert L.	September 1864 - 7 November 1864
07	LCDR. McCauley, Edward Yorke	7 November 1864 - 20 July 1865


Courtesy Bill Gonyo

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Pook's Turtles by Aryeh Wetherhorn

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 21 September 2012