CSS Webb
Confederate States Navy steam ram in the American Civil War
CSS Webb, a 655-ton side-wheel steam ram, was originally built in New York City in 1856 as the civilian steamship William H. Webb. She received a Confederate privateer's commission at New Orleans in May 1861, but was instead employed as a transport until January 1862. Converted to a "cotton clad" ram by the Confederate Army, thereafter served on the Mississippi and Red Rivers. On February 24, 1863, under the command of Captain Charles Pierce, she participated in the sinking of the Federal ironclad USS Indianola. Webb was transferred to the Confederate Navy in early 1865.
On April 23–24, 1865, under the command of Charles S. Read, Webb broke through the Federal blockade at the mouth of the Red River, Louisiana, and made a dramatic run down the Mississippi toward the Gulf of Mexico. After eluding several United States Navy vessels and passing New Orleans, she was confronted by the powerful steam sloop USS Richmond. Rather than face the veteran ship's broadside, the Webb was run ashore and destroyed by her crew.
See also
Blockade runners of the American Civil War
List of ships of the Confederate States Navy
Confederate River Defense Fleet
Mississippi River campaigns
Red River Campaign
References
Sources
Stern, Philip Van Doren (1962). The Confederate Navy.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “CSS Webb” is confederate States Navy steam ram in the American Civil War. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Webb, Confederate and States, not as a finished interpretation.
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5014367. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1856, 1861, 1862 and 1863.
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