The American ram. On the cover of a patriotic song dedicated to Lincoln's secretary of the navy Gideon Welles Uncle Sam rides a ram, or ironclad steam vessel, down the Mississippi River. The Library's copy of the music cover was deposited for copyright on August 22, 1863, soon after two decisive Union victories on the Mississippi: Vicksburg (July 4) and Port Hudson (July 9). Welles was responsible for ushering the Union navy into the age of ironclad steamers. Several lines of verse on the cover praise the ironclad rams as shaking the world with rampant dismay! Iron-harnessed, steam-driven, t sweeps o'er the sea, Our American Rampart, the shield of the free!. Date 1863. The American ram. On the cover of a patriotic song dedicated to Lincoln's secretary of the navy Gideon Welles Uncle Sam rides a ram, or ironclad steam vessel, down the Mississippi River. The Library's copy of the music cover was deposited for copyright on August 22, 1863, soon after two decisive Union victories on the Mississippi: Vicksburg (July 4) and Port Hudson (July 9). Welles was responsible for ushering the Union navy into the age of ironclad steamers. Several lines of verse on the cover praise the ironclad rams as shaking the world with rampant dismay! Iron-harnessed, steam-driven, t sweeps o'er the sea, Our American Rampart, the shield of the free!. Date 1863.