USS Marmora (1862) - Vicksburg Campaign

Vicksburg Campaign

Early the next morning she stood downriver to join the Mississippi Squadron in operations against the Confederate river stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Marmora's first action occurred when she attacked and destroyed several barges at Lake Providence, captured two skiffs and demolished a flatboat further down stream. On 29 November Marmora discovered heavy enemy fortifications 20 miles from the mouth of the Yazoo River; taking special care to avoid any encounter with them until in company with the fleet.

On 5 December, Marmora helped to refloat the ram Queen of the West, aground on Paw Paw Island. On 11 December she ran 20 miles up the Yazoo River and discovered several suspicious looking objects floating on the river. When she fired into one of them, a tremendous explosion occurred which shook the ship from stem to stern, though at a distance of 50 feet or more. She carefully avoided the others and left final destruction of the remaining mines to riflemen ashore.

The next day, Marmora led Signal, Cairo, and Pittsburg up the Yazoo until the Union ships sighted several torpedoes. Cairo commenced shelling the right bank and sent out a boat to investigate the nearest torpedo. As the boat towed the torpedo alongside, another exploded under Cairo, ripping the bottom entirely out. As she rapidly sank, Marmora and the other Union ships sent boats to the rescue and saved everyone.

Marmora and her sister ships continued to remove torpedoes and to cooperate with the Army during probing actions seeking to find a weakness in Vicksburg's defenses. On 27 December the squadron heatedly engaged Confederate batteries at Drumgould's Bluff. That day, Admiral David Dixon Porter reported the Yazoo clear of torpedoes within one-half mile of the southern guns.

The next day, his gunboats' mobile fire kept Confederate troops off balance while General Forrest Sherman's troops landed to attempt to capture strong southern works at Chickasaw Bluff, a vantage point upstream from Vicksburg. Two days later, despite excellent support from naval guns. Sherman's troops, hindered by heavy rains and opposed by strongly reinforced Confederate units, withdrew.