USS General Bragg
USS General Bragg probably photographed at Cairo or Mound City, Illinois, circa 1862-63.
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| History | |
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  United States
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| Namesake: | General Braxton Bragg, who was born in 1817 in Warrentown, North Carolina, and graduated from West Point in 1837. |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 1851 in New York City |
| Acquired: | 30 September 1862 by the War Department |
| Commissioned: | circa 9 July 1862 at Cairo, Illinois |
| Decommissioned: | 24 July 1965 at Cairo, Illinois |
| Struck: | 1865 (est.) |
| Captured: | by Union forces, 6 June 1862 |
| Fate: | Sold, 1 September 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,043 tons |
| Length: | 208 ft (63 m) |
| Beam: | 32 ft 8 in (9.96 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine, side-wheel propelled |
| Speed: | 10 knots (12 mph; 19 km/h) |
| Complement: | Not known |
| Armament: |
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USS General Bragg (1851) was a heavy (1,043-ton) steamer captured by Union Navy forces during the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a U.S. Navy gunboat and was assigned to enforce the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.
General Bragg was originally the 1043-ton side-wheel river steamer Mexico and was built in New York City in 1851. She was owned by the Southern Steamship Co. at the start of the American Civil War
Mexico was pressed into Confederate service as CSS General Bragg at New Orleans, Louisiana 15 January 1862. She was converted to a "cottonclad" ram and renamed for General Braxton Bragg, a western theater commander. As part of the River Defense Fleet, she took part in the defenses of Memphis, Tennessee, and the surrounding area.
In an action off Fort Pillow on 10 May 1862 she helped sink the Union Navy ironclad Cincinnati (later raised and refitted) and was put out of action herself. On 6 June, she was run aground and captured during the naval battle off Memphis. After repairs, she became USS General Bragg.
Following General Bragg's capture by the Union's Western Flotilla, she was transferred to the War Department 30 September 1862. Her first commanding officer was Lieutenant Joshua Bishop.
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