Confederate ambush and capture of the USS Isaac Smith

One hundred and fifty years ago this afternoon, Acting Lieutenant Francis S. Conover skippered the USS Isaac Smith up the Stono River outsi...

Ironclads on the Georgia Coast - Monitor vs. Fort I

USS Montauk (left) laid up in 1902. The proud warship would be scrapped a couple years later. Image source: Naval History and Heritage Comma...

MLK and the Rights of Men: A Sesquicentennial Introspective

Dr. King during the March on Washington Today (January 21, 2013) we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King was...

Counter Offensive at Galveston and the Capture of Harriet Lane

 USN map of the 1863 action at Galveston Confederate offensives took a sharp increase in 1863.  On the western side of the Confederacy...

Gideon Welles' Thoughts on Emancipation

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of Lincoln , by Francis Bicknell Carpenter (Welles is seated in the middle next to Abra...

CSS Florida Escapes Out of Mobile Bay

CSS Florida during the height of her career. Image source: US Navy History and Heritage Command After being partially outfitted in the Baha...

The U.S. Navy's Three Headed Monster-USS Roanoke

One perceived flaw in the design of the original USS Monitor was its lack of firepower. With only two XI-inch guns, many in the U.S. Navy f...

Brick by Brick: LEGO Shipbuilding at HRNM

Participants from last year's LEGO Event building the USS Monitor .  Calling all ship builders!  Bring your LEGO ships to the Hampton Ro...

Defensive preparations at Mobile Bay

Water batteries on Mobile Bay. Source: State of Alabama photo archives. In prior posts, I introduced you to the port of Mobile, Alabama and ...

Civil War Navies page at Civil War Trust

The Civil War Trust, a non-profit organization focused on battlefield preservation, announced their new Civil War Navies page at the end of ...