Tinclads in the Civil War

Prolific author Myron J. Smith, Jr., is emeritus library director and professor at Tusculum University, Greeneville, Tennessee.

“extensive research...clear...recommended”—Choice; “this attention is long overdue. The subject is very important, and a knowledge of it is essential to an understanding of the war. Smith’s research is most impressive—even awe-inspiring”—Blue & Gray Magazine; “excellent...highly recommended”—The Coast Defense Journal; “an impressive bibliography...a wonderful resource”—Nautical Research Journal; “essential”—Civil War News; “If it sailed on the brown water of America’s Western rives during the Civil War and flew the Stars and Stripes of the Union Navy, Myron Smith more than likely knows about it”—America’s Civil War; “a well-researched, thoroughly documented, comprehensive study of the subject. Not only does Smith discuss the ships and the men who built and operated them, but he has plumbed the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion and archival holdings to provide a detailed history of their myriad operations. His study is so thorough that the story will not need to be told again”—United States Naval Institute; “deserves a spot on a Civil War aficionado’s shelves”—The Nautilus; “a monumental naval series...an extraordinarily comprehensive yet minutely detailed look at the gunboat war on the western waterways”—Civil War Books and Authors; “wow!”—The Lone Star.

• Table of ContentsAbbreviations      viiiIntroduction      1. Rivers and Steamboats      2. Insurgents and Gunboats      3. The Coming of the Tinclad      4. Early Rounds, August–December 1862      5. Tinclad River Guardians, January–April 1863      6. Guerrilla Attacks and Morgan’s Raid, May–December 1863      7. Troubled Rivers, January–March 1864      8. Fort Pillow, the Petrel, and Red River, April 1864      9. The Big Guns of Brig. Gen. Major, Col. Greene, and Capt. Creuzbauer, May 1864      10. Long, Hot Summer, 1864      11. Decatur and Johnsonville, October–November 1864      12. Nashville and Beyond, December 1864–April 1865      13. Winding Down, May to the Fall of 1865      Appendix I: Tinclad Acquisition Chronology, 1862–1865      Appendix II: Tinclad Postwar History, 1865–1876      Chapter Notes      Bibliography      Index