After the Confederate River Defense Fleet,
commanded by Capt. James E. Montgomery and Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson
(Missouri State Guard), bested the Union ironclads at Plum Run Bend,
Tennessee, on May 10, 1862, they retired to Memphis. Confederate Gen.
P.G.T. Beauregard ordered troops out of Fort Pillow and Memphis on June
4, after learning of Union Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck's occupation of
Corinth, Mississippi. Thompson's few troops, camped outside Memphis, and
Montgomery's fleet were the only force available to meet the Union
naval threat to the city. From Island No. 45, just north of Memphis,
Flag-Officer Charles H. Davis and Col. Charles Ellet launched a naval
attack on Memphis after 4:00 am on June 6. Arriving off Memphis about
5:30 am, the battle began. In the hour and a half battle, the Union
boats sank or captured all but one of the Confederate vessels; General
Van Dorn escaped. Immediately following the battle, Col. Ellet's son,
Medical Cadet Charles Ellet, Jr., met the mayor of Memphis and raised
the Union colors over the courthouse. Later, Flag-Officer Davis
officially received the surrender of the city from the mayor. The
Indiana Brigade, commanded by Col. G.N. Fitch, then occupied the city.
Memphis, an important commercial and economic center on the Mississippi
River, had fallen, opening another section of the Mississippi River to
Union shipping.