General Sterling Price began her long and varied career as the commercial steamer Laurent Millaudon, built in 1856 at Cincinnati, Ohio. In January 1862, the Confederates began converting her into a lightly armored (cottonclad) ram in New Orleans, and by March she was sent up the Mississippi River to Memphis to have iron fitted to her bow.

When completed she joined the small Confederate fleet at Fort Pillow where she played a major role in the engagement with Federal ironclads on May 10, 1862. She rammed the Cincinnati, causing substantial damage, but in return received sufficient fire to begin leaking.  But she was repaired in time to cover the hasty Confederate evacuation forced by the steady Federal advance.

On June 6 General Stirling Price joined the other Confederate rams in a desparate attempt to halt a much larger Federal force at Memphis.  She was captured by a Union squadron after her crew was forced to abandon her as she sank on a sandbank.

Now in Union hands, she was towed to Cairo, illinois, where she was repaired and served in numerous actions outside on Tennessee, including Grand Gulf, Alexandria, and Vicksburg.

Despite sinking again in March 1863 after colliding with the Conestoga, she survived the war and was sold to J. W. Livingston  in Mound City (Illinois) in October 1865.

Specifications of CSS General Stirling Price:

Displacement:  633 tons
Length:  182'
Beam:  30'
Draft:  6'

Confederate Warships

Last update:  December 5, 2001