Editing CSS Arkansas (section)

===To Vicksburg===
[[File:CSS Arkansas h73378.jpg|thumb|''Arkansas'' running through the Federal fleet above Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 15 July 1862]]
In order to reach Vicksburg, ''Arkansas'' needed to force her way through the Union fleet. The crews of Farragut's and Davis' ships had thought that the sound of the guns firing up the Yazoo were from a land engagement and the ''Queen of the West''{{'}}s captain failed to alert the fleet upon his return. The Confederates had made some repairs to the boiler exhausts and  ''Arkansas'' able to generate a moderate head of steam by burning oily material by the time she pursued ''Tyler'' into the Mississippi at 08:30. Only the ironclad {{USS|Benton||2}} had her boilers lit as there was a shortage of coal at that time, but the continued gunfire between ''Arkansas'' and ''Tyler'' caused the Union ships prepare for action by attempting to raise steam and manning their guns. For his part Brown initially decided to close all his gun ports{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=178–183}} and to keep his ship close to the Federal vessels, in order to prevent Union rams from getting much momentum on any ramming attack.{{sfn|Marcello|2016}} The gunboat {{USS|Pinola|1861|2}} opened the fight which prompted Brown to return fire, badly damaging the Union ship. ''Arkansas'' was continuously fired upon from all directions with all of her guns replying as they saw targets at a range of about {{convert|75|yd|m}}. Brown remained on the casemate roof as his ship approached Farragut's largest ships, the wooden [[sloop-of-war|sloops]] {{USS|Richmond|1860|2}} and {{USS|Hartford|1858|2}}.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=183–185}} Before the ''Arkansas'' could reach them, the ram {{USS|Lancaster|1855|2}} passed by the ironclad in an attempt to ram her, but was disabled by a shot through the [[steam drum]].<ref name="Barnhart" /> Her exact casualties are unknown, but the Union ship was hit many times by friendly fire as she maneuvered into position.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=185–186}}

[[File:Steamer Richmond.jpg|thumb|''Richmond'' anchored at [[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]], 1863]]
The clouds of smoke produced by all the shooting greatly reduced visibility and the Union ships were additionally handicapped by the presence of Union transports and [[hospital ship]]s on the other side of the river that might be damaged if they missed ''Arkansas''. ''Hartford'' had to wait until the ironclad moved further downstream before she could open fire and was only able to fire a single [[volley fire|volley]] before her guns could no longer bear. One of her shots penetrated the Confederate ship's casemate and killed four men and wounded another. Another shot by the sloop {{USS|Iroquois|1859|2}} killed or wounded the entire 16-man crew of one of the Columbiads and started a small fire that was quickly extinguished. One shot by either the gunboat {{USS|Wissahickon|1861|2}} or her sister {{USS|Winona|1861|2}} penetrated the casemate near a Dahlgren gun, killing three men and wounding three others, travelled through the boiler exhaust to strike the far side of the casemate, killing or injuring 15 men at another gun. By this time the ironclad had little steam available and was mostly drifting with the current. Temperatures in the fire room required the crewmen  to be rotated every fifteen minutes so they would not be overcome by [[heat exhaustion]]. Brown had thus far spent the entire battle either in the pilothouse or on the casemate's roof and he returned to the latter position to seek relief from the heat. Despite his exposed position, he was only slightly wounded during the battle.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=186, 190–195}}

The improved visibility atop the casemate allowed him to see that the only remaining ships that he had to pass were a few of Davis' ironclads, although only two were combat worthy at that time. ''Benton'' had steam up and was able to move slowly as ''Arkansas'' approached, slowly enough that Brown attempted to ram her. The Union ironclad was able to speed up enough to evade the Confederate ship, although she was lightly damaged when the ''Arkansas'' fired a broadside into ''Benton''{{'}}s stern as she passed by. The ironclad {{USS|Cincinnati|1861|2}} was the last ship barring the way to Vicksburg, but she barely had any speed up and was easily evaded. The two Union ironclads pursued the ''Arkansas'' until a brief gun duel with the city's defenses caused them to head back upstream. The mortar boats below the city were warned that the ironclad was passing through the Union fleet and they temporarily withdrew downstream, during which time the [[schooner]] {{USS|Sidney C. Jones|1861|2}} ran hard aground and was burned to prevent her capture. The Confederate ship had fired 97 shots during the day, only 24 of which had missed a Union ship.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=195–200}}

''Arkansas'' received an enthusiastic welcome at Vicksburg. A crowd formed at the wharf where the ship docked, and Van Dorn embraced Brown. However, several spectators observed the gory carnage within the ironclad and were unnerved.  Thirty men had been killed or wounded on the vessel.{{sfn|Miller|2019|pp=160–161}} Brown and his crew spent the rest of the day taking care of the dead and wounded, replenishing the ship's supply of coal and making temporary repairs. An unknown number of volunteers from the city's garrison were received to at least partially replace the day's losses. During this time, the ironclad was ineffectually fired upon by the mortar boats and Union artillery and infantry units across the river.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=210–215}} Farragut decided to run his fleet past the Vicksburg batteries and destroy ''Arkansas'' that evening. He had originally planned for the movement to begin at 16:00, but a storm came up, delaying the advance until 21:00. By then, it was getting dark. The ''Arkansas'' was rust-colored and was docked against a red riverbank, which made her much less visible and significantly degraded the accuracy of the Union guns.<ref name="Barnhart" /> The fire from Farragut's ships was generally ineffectual, although a shot from the sloop {{USS|Oneida|1861|6}} destroyed ''Arkansas''{{'}}s [[sickbay]], damaged her machinery and killed three crewmen and wounded three others. While the effect of the ironclad's fire upon the Union ships is generally unknown, the shot that disabled the gunboat ''Winona''{{'}}s engines is attributed to the ''Arkansas''.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=222–223, 226–227}} While Farragut's fleet made it downriver past Vicksburg, it had been unsuccessful in destroying its target and the Confederate guns were similarly ineffective.{{sfn|Marcello|2016}} The Union fleet had suffered 92 casualties during the day's actions.<ref name="encylo of arkansas">{{cite web |last1=Spurgeon |first1=John |title=CSS Arkansas |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/css-arkansas-2854/ |publisher=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |access-date=March 5, 2021 |date=February 26, 2013}}</ref>

The next day, July 16, saw Union ships begin firing at ''Arkansas'' with mortars, necessitating the frequent moving of the ship to keep the Union ships from getting the ironclad's range. The Missourians had only joined the ship's crew for duration of the run to Vicksburg, and returned to their commands on July 16.{{sfn|Gosnell|1949|p=126}}  This left ''Arkansas'' with a serious crew shortage.<ref name="Barnhart" /> Brown had permission from Van Dorn to recruit men from Vicksburg's army garrison, but getting volunteers to serve on the ship was difficult due to the off putting effect of the damage from the ship's fight with the Union fleet.{{sfn|Gosnell|1949|p=126}}