In the fall of 1861, Captain Jesse Taylor accepted command of the artillery at Fort Henry, a Confederate garrison on the Tennessee River near the Kentucky–Tennessee border. The Tennessee flows from eastern Tennessee southwest into northern Alabama before turning north and returning to Tennessee. It empties into the Ohio River at Paducah, Kentucky, and was an [...]
Continue reading about The Capture of Fort Henry, Tennessee February 1862
By the winter of 1863, Union forces controlled the Mississippi River with the exception of the approximately 110 miles between the Confederate strongholds of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Port Hudson, Louisiana. Between these two points, the Red River emptied into the Mississippi from the west. The Red River was an important supply line, not only for [...]
Continue reading about Admiral Farragut Passes the Port Hudson Batteries March 14, 1863
As part of the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program, the United States Mint will release quarters honoring Gettysburg National Military Park and Vicksburg National Military Park in 2011. The Gettysburg Quarter will be released on January 25th and the Vicksburg Quarter is set for release on August 29th. The America the Beautiful Quarters® Program is [...]
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The U.S. Navy played a vital role in the Civil War, and will be commemorating its part in the war during the upcoming Civil War Sesquicentennial. Early in the conflict, the Navy set up a blockade around the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts to cut off the Confederacy’s trade with the outside world. With [...]
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From the very beginning of the Civil War, both sides understood the importance of control of the Mississippi River. To that end, the United States government built gunboats specifically designed for military operations in the Mississippi and its tributaries. Among those river vessels was a series of seven ironclad gunboats designed by naval architect Samuel [...]
Continue reading about The Sinking and Raising of the U.S.S. Cairo
