"The enemy entered Palatka"

Palatka (where I live) is a small town on the St. Johns River about 40 miles south of Jacksonville, Florida. The name of the town comes from...

How to catch a train with a gunboat

During the occupation of Fernandina, Florida, in early March 1862, one the weirdest events of the Civil War involving a US Navy ship transpi...

Building the "90-day" Gunboats

Unadilla, Winona, and Ottawa under construction As part of its emergency building program to put ships on the blockade, the U.S. Navy design...