All were merchant ships or towboats that were seized by order of the War Department in Richmond and converted into warships by arming each with one or two guns, protecting their engines by an interior bulkhead, and strengthening their bows so they could be used as rams.

Immediately after the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, the seceded states had to confront the blockade against their ports that was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln.

They also had to consider the threat posed by Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan, which envisioned a thrust down the Mississippi that would culminate in the conquest of New Orleans.

Although the Anaconda was never formally adopted as a basis for Federal strategy (in fact, it was more or less explicitly rejected by Scott's successors), its mere existence reminded Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his government of the importance of the Mississippi River.

The proposal put forth by the two captains was to utilize ships with appropriate characteristics of size and speed, converting them into rams by strengthening their bows with strips of railroad iron.

[2] Bypassing the War and Navy Departments in Richmond, Montgomery and Townsend had their scheme endorsed by the entire Mississippi delegation to the Confederate Congress, and also by Major General Leonidas Polk, who was a personal favorite of President Davis.

Their political method was proven effective when Congress approved their plan, appropriating $1,000,000 even before Townsend had returned to New Orleans to supervise the conversions.

He immediately objected to the irregular nature of the fleet, delivering the prescient remark, "Fourteen Mississippi River captains and pilots will never agree about anything once they get underway.

"[6] The conversion process for the cottonclads reached completion in the month of 16 March to 17 April 1862, which was coincidentally just the time that the Union fleet under Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut began its buildup in the lower river, as they prepared for the attack on New Orleans.

Although the finished rams were supposed to be sent up the river to aid in the defense of Island Number 10 and Memphis, Lovell persuaded the War Department to let him retain the first six in the vicinity of New Orleans.

The order was met with a flat refusal by Captain Stephenson, who argued that "[every] officer and man on the river defense expedition joined it on the condition that it was to be independent of the Navy."

[10] On the night of 24 April, Farragut's fleet made its historic run past the Mississippi River forts that defended New Orleans from the south.

Because the Rebel leaders had not coordinated the responsibilities of the forts and the associated river fleet, the action was divided into two independent parts.

Each ship of the attacking column was past the forts before she had to contend with the defending Confederate vessels, which therefore received the undivided attention of the Yankee gunners when they met.

Holed by shots from other Federal ships assisting Varuna and unable to reply, she was run ashore by her crew, where they abandoned her and set her afire.

Suffering the effects of multiple collisions, USS Cincinnati and Mound City had to be grounded in shoal water to keep them from sinking.

Less than a month after the engagement at Plum Point, the River Defense Fleet was again in action against the Western Gunboat Flotilla, but conditions were far from the same.

The strange divided command system of the fleet, in which the guns were manned by artillerymen who were not part of the crews, unraveled in the face of mounting Confederate losses that affected morale adversely.

The increasing divergence between merchant ships and warships meant that the latter had to be commanded, and largely manned, by men who devoted their lives to the profession.