Thousands of Memphis civilians watched from the riverbanks as Union ironclads smashed the Confederate river fleet in less than two hours, then surrendered their city by noon.
On the morning of June 6, 1862, the citizens of Memphis climbed onto rooftops and riverbanks to watch what they expected would be a Confederate naval defense of their city. Instead, they watched their fleet get annihilated in less than two hours as Union gunboats and rams tore through the Confederate vessels.
The Confederate river defense fleet consisted of eight 'cottonclad' rams — commercial riverboats hastily armored with compressed cotton bales. They faced five Union ironclad gunboats and four purpose-built rams in a fight that was, from the start, hopelessly one-sided.
Union Colonel Charles Ellet Jr. led his ram fleet with reckless personal courage, steering directly into the Confederate line. His ram Queen of the West struck a Confederate vessel on the first pass — but Ellet himself was hit by a pistol shot during the battle and died of the wound two weeks later, one of the very few Union officers killed in the engagement.
Seven of the eight Confederate vessels were destroyed or captured. Confederate casualties were approximately 100 killed and wounded, with 150 taken prisoner. Union losses were minimal — essentially one disabled vessel and their most aggressive commander.
Memphis surrendered by noon the same day, with the mayor formally capitulating to a Union officer who rowed ashore. The city would remain under Union occupation for the rest of the war, becoming a key logistics base for operations down the Mississippi.
The battle effectively ended Confederate naval power on the upper Mississippi River and accelerated the Union's Anaconda Plan to split the Confederacy. With Memphis and New Orleans both in Union hands, only the fortress at Vicksburg stood between complete Union control of the entire river.