Editing CSS Arkansas (section)

===Action on the Yazoo===
By this time, a [[Union Navy]] fleet commanded by [[Flag officer#United States|Flag Officer]] [[Charles Henry Davis|Charles H. Davis]], had captured Memphis and occupied the Mississippi River north of [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]], threatening the city.{{sfn|Chatelain|2020|p=132}} Two unarmed Union ships approached Liverpool Landing on 26 June, causing Commander [[Robert Pinckney]] to order his gunboats burned. The Union ships returned to the Mississippi River and ''Arkansas'' arrived at the scene after they had left. Brown ordered his crew to try to put out the flames, but they were unsuccessful. Although nothing could be salvaged from the gunboats, quantities of supplies and material, including cannon, had been off-loaded earlier.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=127–129}} Two days later [[Commodore (United States)|Commodore]] [[David G. Farragut]] passed the defenses of Vicksburg to unite with Davis' ships north of the city.{{sfn|Chatelain|2020|pp=183–184}}

Brown briefly returned to Yazoo City to test his engines, but otherwise remained at Liverpool Landing trying to fix the engines, finishing outfitting the ironclad, and integrating the crews of the destroyed gunboats into his own crew. As his ship became more combat worthy, Brown sent Lieutenant [[Charles Read (naval officer)|Charles Read]] to Vicksburg on July 8 to find out what the Confederate commander of the area, Major General [[Earl Van Dorn]], wanted him to do and to scout out the Union fleet between him and the city. Van Dorn ordered him to [[sortie]] into the Mississippi to attack the Union ships north of the city and then to proceed south of Vicksburg and destroy the [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]] boats there if the condition of his ship allowed him to do so. Around 11 July{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=135, 137–138}} 60 Missouri artillerymen{{sfn|McGhee|2008|pp=36–37}} who had volunteered to serve aboard ''Arkansas'' en route to Vicksburg arrived and were given a crash course in operating heavy artillery.{{sfn|Smith|2011|p=138}}

[[File:Gunboat Tyler, where W.W. Stuart served during the Civil War LCCN2014646296.jpg|thumb|The timberclad ''Tyler'']]
A passage was cut through the raft barrier at Liverpool Landing on July 12, and ''Arkansas'' continued downriver to [[Satartia, Mississippi]], accompanied by the [[tugboat]] {{ship|CSS|St. Mary}}. Brown spent all day there on the 13th, exercising his gun crews. Problems occurred on July 14, when the gunpowder in the forward [[magazine (artillery)|magazine]] was discovered to have been dampened by steam escaping from her engines. ''Arkansas'' had to stop at the riverbank for her crew to allow the powder to dry in the sun. Brown reloaded the dry powder later that day and continued to Haynes Bluff, where he anchored about midnight, intending to surprised the Union ships in the Mississippi at dawn.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=140–145}}

[[File:USSCarondelet.jpg|thumb|The ironclad ''Carondelet'', circa 1862]]
Farragut had been alerted by Confederate deserters that ''Arkansas'' was on the Yazoo, although the latest Union intelligence was that she was still incomplete and upriver from Liverpool Landing. Nonetheless, Farragut and Davis agreed to send a reconnaissance mission up the Yazoo to search for the ironclad,{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=145–146}} consisting of the [[timberclad warship|timberclad]] gunboat {{USS|Tyler||2}}, the ram {{USS|Queen of the West||2}}, and the ironclad {{USS|Carondelet|1861|2}}.{{sfn|Miller|2019|pp=158{{en dash}}159}} Leaving ''St. Mary'' behind, Brown departed his anchorage about 03:00 and spotted the Union ships about three hours later a few miles from the mouth of the Yazoo. Brown ordered his pilots to steer for the ''Carondelet'', intending to ram the Union ship, about {{convert|2|mi|km|spell=in}} astern of ''Tyler'' and ''Queen of the West''. He only authorized his forward guns to fire if they bore directly on a target as he did not want to be slowed down by the cannons' [[recoil]]. ''Tyler'' drew the first blood of the engagement when a Confederate soldier was decapitated by a projectile while leaning out of a gun port. The two unarmored ships reversed course to fall back on ''Carondelet'', but ''Arkansas'' was able to close within a range of {{convert|150|–|200|yd|m}} from ''Tyler''. A [[shell (projectile)|shell]] from one of her Columbiads detonated inside ''Tyler''{{'}}s engine room, killing 9 men and wounding 16, but the gun recoiled off its mount and it took 10 minutes of hard labor to remount the gun. Although ''Queen of the West'' was not armed, she attempted to maneuver into a position from which she could ram the Confederate ship, but was dissuaded by a broadside from ''Arkansas'', and turned downstream.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=145, 155–160}}
[[File:Arkansas vs. Carondelet, Yazoo river action July 15.jpg|left|thumb|385x385px|Desperate naval combat between the confederate Ironclad ram Arkansas and a group of Union ships at the mouth of the Yazoo river, 15th July 1863.]]
''Tyler'' followed shortly afterward, continuing to engage the ironclad with her single 30-pounder [[Parrott rifle]] [[stern chaser]] from a range of {{convert|200|–|300|yd|m}}. As ''Carondelet'' and ''Arkansas'' closed the range, the former's shells bounced off the Confederate ship's armor while the latter's shells began to penetrate the Union ironclad's thinner frontal armor. Commander [[Henry A. Walke]], ''Carondelet'''s captain, then ordered his ship to reverse course so that the ''Arkansas'' could not ram him, even though the maneuver exposed his unarmored stern with its pair of 32-pounder smoothbore [[Stern chaser|stern chasers]]. ''Arkansas'' was able to close within {{convert|50|yd|m}} of the retreating Union ironclad, but could not get any closer. Within a half hour after the start of the battle, ''Carondelet''{{'}}s armor had been pierced by at least eight 64-pounder shells, although one of ''Tyler''{{'}}s shots had struck her pilothouse, wounding both pilots familiar with the Yazoo river. Around this time the [[sharpshooter]]s aboard ''Tyler'' opened fire, shooting at ''Arkansas''{{'}}s smokestack, gun ports and Brown himself, who had been commanding his ship from the top of the casemate. One [[Minié ball]] grazed his head as he was about to descend into the casemate,{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=160–164}} but only temporarily knocked him unconscious.{{sfn|Miller|2019|p=159}} ''Arkansas''{{'}}s fire had cut ''Carondelet''{{'}}s steering ropes and she ran aground in a bend of the river. Brown ordered a broadside fired into the Union ship as ''Arkansas'' passed by at [[point-blank range]], intent on reaching the Mississippi.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=165–168}} By this time ''Arkansas''{{'}}s smokestack had been riddled with holes by Union fire and the weakened [[draft (boiler)|draft]] for the boilers had gradually reduced their efficiency and the ship's speed during the battle,{{sfn|Miller|2019|p=160}} so much so that she was only capable of about {{convert|3|mph|kph}} with the current. Other damage to her steam piping and the connection between the funnel and the boilers raised the temperature in her [[fire room]] up to {{convert|130|F|C}} and {{convert|120|F|C}} in the casemate as a result.

The July 15 battle between the ironclads caused heavy damage to the ''Carondelet'' and inflicted 35 casualties.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/ | archive-url=https://archive.today/20011005083318/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/#Anchor-Editoria-14954 | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 5, 2001 | title=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships | publisher=[[Naval Historical Center|Naval History Division]] | year=1963}}</ref> About 25 of the ''Arkansas'' crew had been killed or wounded during the battle.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=175–176, 178}}