The United States Ram Fleet was a Union Army unit of steam powered ram ships during the American Civil War. The unit was independent of the Union Army and Navy and reported directly to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton. The ram fleet operated in coordination with the Mississippi River Squadron during the Union brown-water navy battle against the Confederate River Defense Fleet for control of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The unit was created and led by Colonel Charles Ellet Jr. until his death due to a wound received during the First Battle of Memphis. Command of the unit went to Charles Ellet Jr.'s brother, Alfred W. Ellet. The unit became part of the Mississippi Marine Brigade led by Alfred W. Ellet and command of the Ram Fleet was given to his nephew Charles Rivers Ellet and then to his nephew John A. Ellet. The unit was subsequently transferred to Army command and disbanded in 1864. Formation Charles Ellet Jr. was a well-known civil engineer who was known for building the first ever suspension bridge in the United States across the Schuykill River in Philadelphia and the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time, across the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia. When the Civil War broke out, Ellet advocated for the development of steam powered naval rams especially in light of the Confederate build up of ram ships. The Confederate forces captured the USS Merrimack at the Norfolk Navy Yard and converted her to a ram ship. Despite being bulky and slow-moving, the Union forces became convinced of the possibility of ram ships when the CSS Virginia sank the USS Cumberland and USS Congress at Hampton Roads. In March 1862, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton appointed Ellet colonel of engineers and authorized him to form the United States Ram Fleet on the Mississippi River. The Union Navy's Mississippi River Squadron and the Confederate River Defense Fleet were battling for control of the Mississippi and Stanton was convinced by Ellet that the Union Navy efforts would benefit from the addition of ram ships. Ellet and the ram fleet were outside of Union Army or Navy command and reported directly to Stanton. Ellet purchased the nine fastest river steamboats available on the Ohio River and converted them to rams. Their hulls were reinforced, the forward ends filled with hard oak wood,