 This group of southern rams had been fitted out in the lower Mississippi and threatened to emulate the dreaded southern ironclad ram "Virginia" in routing wooden hulled Union ships.On 10 May the Confederate flotilla made a spirited attack on Union gunboats and mortar schooners at Plum Point Bend, Tennessee, sinking and forcing the "Mound City" aground.A fortnight later all but one of the rams had joined the Union flotilla above Fort Pillow ready for action.