USS Lexington (1861) - Battle of Milliken's Bend

Battle of Milliken's Bend

Ordered down the Mississippi on 2 June to support final operations against Vicksburg, Lexington joined Choctaw in defending Union troops at Milliken's Bend, Mississippi, from the assault of numerically superior Confederate soldiers on the 7th. For the next month she continued to operate against the mighty Confederate fortress until it fell on 4 July.

After reconnaissance work and patrol duty in the Mississippi during the summer Lexington was ordered back to the Tennessee River on 29 October to assist General Sherman at the beginning of his drive through the Confederate heartland. However, at the end of February 1864, she returned to the Mississippi for operations in support of the Red River Campaign. With paddle wheel monitor Osage and four other gunboats she moved up the Black River to gather information about Confederate sharpshooters as they entered the Ouachita River and proceeded up the Bayou Louis where shallowing water compelled them to return, capturing Confederate artillery and large quantities of cotton before reaching the mouth of the Red River on 5 March. A week later the Mississippi Squadron moved up the Red River in force.