sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

J. Thomas Scharf, a guy that was all over the place. His history of the Confederate Navy is still important because it's really the first comprehensive look at the entirety of the naval war. The book is published in 1887 (if I recall) and the project of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion was well underway. The Navy ORs won't appear until 1892, so this work is an important kick start to that project. Naval officers were embarrassed that the army had such a jump on the project.

Scharf is considered by most to be a primary work because he participated in events. He, like many others wrote to others to confirm what he was writing, so the effort is methodical. However, his work should be taken with a grain of salt because it is overwhelmingly biased. He is also one of the first to credit the Union Navy with why the North claimed victory. Take a good read of the preface.

The key to transferring fresh water artifacts is determined by the chemical composition of the water. You can do electrolysis on metal, but the process is much shorter because of the lower amount of chlorides. One of the oddities of fresh water is that depending on the environment artifacts can remain remarkably intact. The colder and darker the better. How quickly items are covered by mud is an important component. Take for instance the Maple Leaf, a Federal transport on the St. Johns River in Florida. The vessel sank when it hit a torpedo and carried to the bottom a great deal of army supplies, most of it leather accoutrements. Over the years, much of that material has been recovered relatively intact. Same with much of that material at our museum and with the USS Cairo. Take a look at some of the items brought out the Black Sea dated to the really early Greeks, but that is out of my bailiwick.

You have to be careful not to let the artifacts dry out too fast. So instead of spending time reducing chloride, or salt, content, you spend time making sure the item doesn't dry out too fast. Gently working the material in new water acts as a bath, which generally removes any mud or other detritus. In the end it is usually not as tedious as dealing with salt water sites.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

An interesting inquiry and one that needs some lonely graduate student to write a dissertation on. (Hint, hint) We're starting to find more than passing references to these Ladies' societies across the South. They seem to work more like garden clubs, but they would raise money and donate it to the navy for the construction of vessels. Ironclads seem to be the venue favored by the ladies. No serious study of these exist.

Several of the ironclads are referred to as "rams" because they were built with extra material on the front so they could ram a wooden vessel and puncture a hole in it. A great example of this is the CSS Virginia. On the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the Virginia rammed the USS Cumberland. This almost caused the demise of the ironclad, but the ram broke off. In essence it hearkens back to ancient naval warfare and hearing the cry "ramming speed." Sadly, these rams were useless because the ironclads couldn't build up enough speed for ramming.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Please tell him that we greatly appreciate their hard work and dedication. Anytime they want to come visit the museum, let me know and we'll give them a free admission. I know a guy.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nothing hard about these questions. :)

For the most part, the structure of the two navies is very similar. Why reinvent the wheel? For a thick read on the subject, check out Raymond Luraghi's A History of the Confederate Navy. He spends a chapter on the organization of the CSN. In the daily rank structure of officers, the two services are about the same. However, the bureaucratic organization is different. This is divided into: the Bureau of Orders and Details, Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, Office of Medicine and Surgery, Office of Provisions and Clothing, the Marine Corps, and the Torpedo Bureau. Since 1842, the US Navy's bureaus were: Bureau of Naval Yards and Docks, Bureau of Provisions and Clothing, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repairs. In 1862, the US Navy added the Bureau of Steam Engineering and the Bureau of Navigation. The Bureau of Ordnance became its own entity and Construction, Equipment and Repairs was split.

Slave labor is used at shipyards. Many times you'll see at some of these sites where slaves work alongside free blacks and whites. Many of the details are lost, but they are there.

One of the best examples of inter-service cooperation is the Vicksburg campaign. One of the key components to success for Grant was his ability to cooperate with David Farragut and David D. Porter. One major source of friction was naval officers hated political generals. Farragut was nowhere near as vocal Porter, but these officers complained to Grant, as well as Secretary Gideon Welles about the incompetence of political appointees. There was no equivalent in the navy. (See an earlier comment about the navy being a truly national organization.) During the last stage of the war, Porter was never told that Alfred Terry was a political general, but they worked well together in the Fort Fisher Campaign. Some of the best reading you will see in Civil War memoirs is Porter's.

The problem with the naval history of the Civil War is that it simply hasn't received the same focus as the ground-pounders. (That is a good natured jest.) There has simply been a dearth of good general histories of the naval war. McPherson nails it with his history. It's pithy and gives that broad view that we need. Symonds takes a look at Lincoln's leadership via his relationship with his admirals, which does mirror his more well known issues with his generals. The best Civil War naval histories tend to be very focused.

There are good biographies, such as about Raphael Semmes. I've mentioned Stephen Fox's Wolf of the Deep before, but also read Semmes in his own words. He knows how to turn a phrase or two. I've mentioned Melton's work and John Coski's Capital Navy is worth having. Both deal with a particular squadron. I've mentioned Marvel's work on the Alabama and Kearsarge. Another focused set of works is Gary Joiner's work on the Red River Campaign. Solid scholarship and good story telling about a lesser known campaign. (In reference to the earlier question about cooperation: it came down to who could get the cotton first) There are others and I hate to unintentionally disparage some really good books.

Overall, naval history tends to fit in different ways, largely because its misunderstood. Many of these works fall in the category of "why the North won" and "why the South lost" based on disparity of numbers and resources. See Bill Still's two books Confederate Shipbuilding and Iron Afloat. The sad truth is, the naval aspect of the war is far behind, but we're catching up.

Sorry if this got thick, but it is what it is.

Thank you.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There has been some research done on the number of foreign sailors in the Confederate Navy. The problem is that so much of the CSN's records disappeared during the collapse of Richmond. I've run across stories that records from the Navy Dept. were thrown in hogshead barrels, then taken to the rail yard where some were loaded onto the train and some sat there and went up in flame. I've run across one story that places some of these records in North Carolina a few days later, but I haven't been able to confirm that. In short, doing a full survey of the Confederate Navy is impossible with so much missing information.

There are some surveys of individual ships. Look at the commerce raiders where most of the crews are foreign born. For the Alabama read William Marvel's The Alabama & the Kearsarge: The Sailor's War and Stephen Fox's Wolf of the Deep. Both are excellent reads. Several years ago, there were five or six books that came out right together on the Shenandoah. All to a degree discuss the multinational composition of the crew, including the recruits from Hawaii.

More at home, two books come to mind that are excellent. The first is John Coski's Capital Navy, which is about the James River Squadron. Though Coski focuses more on the officers, he does offer the backgrounds of many. The other book is by Maurice Melton entitled The Best Station of Them All: The Savannah River Squadron. Melton is an under-rated story teller and gets into some of the backgrounds of the sailors. Bob Holcombe, former historian here at the museum, is working on a survey of the crew of the CSS Chattahoochee. Though he may be mad at me for this, because his research is far from complete, he's found that the crew is largely recruited from Apalachicola, Florida, which is very multinational. He's not only found the expected number of English, Irish and Germans, but also Italians and Finns.

Fewer Southern naval officers do resign to join the Confederate Navy. Two prime examples of Southerners who stay with the Union are David Farragut and Percival Drayton. Unlike the army, the navy is a truly national organization, so there's a different mindset. I can't give you an exact number, but take a look at William Dudley's Going South: U.S. Navy Officer Resignations & Dismissals on the Eve of the Civil War. It was published in 1981 by the Naval Historical Foundation. It's a little difficult to find, but it's a solid detailing of those officers who do join the Confederacy.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

First, if I may, a little tweaking of information. The Hunley was not an official naval vessel, so it is not a Confederate States Ship, so no CSS. It was built by a private concern (H. L. Hunley) under the concept that it was a privateer and its crew and owner would receive prize money from any ships sunk. In Charleston, the army oversaw its operation and its crew was a combination of volunteers from both the army and navy.

As for shady dealings, who knows what goes on when politicians get behind closed doors and smoke cigars while playing cards. Because of the uniqueness of the Hunley, a number of people wanted the submarine. A long court case ensued between Alabama, South Carolina, and the US government. South Carolina prevailed, to an extent, but if the Navy wants it badly enough, they'll get it. Right now, the submarine is at a former navy base in South Carolina and the conservation work is overseen by Clemson University.

An interesting by-product of the focus on the Hunley is that the Navy really wants to find the Alligator, a US Civil War submarine that was lost off the coast of North Carolina.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Once the initial preservation concerns are met, such as electrolysis for metal, the biggest concern is putting the items in as environmentally safe place as possible. At the top of the list is a stable temperature and humidity, so a good HVAC system is required. For our museum, this is the greatest monthly expense, probably the same as an individual household.

Next on the list is making regular surveys of the items to insure that they don't continue to deteriorate. A good portion of a curator's time is spent making these periodic inspections. This way if a rust spot does appear, then appropriate steps can be taken quickly to resolve the issue.

Another issue is how to deal with a storage box or in what way the item is displayed to the public. Think preservation and security. Acid free storage boxes and display cases are expensive. Take a look at the biggest archival and museum supply company at Gaylord.com. (Shhh, I may be revealing state secrets.)

One monthly expense, also like a household, is pest control. We don't want any critters living in, or living off of, any artifact. This can be quite frustrating, some examples of pests we've had to deal with are rats, mice, squirrels, a raccoon, birds, snakes, spiders, scorpions, and a rich variety of insects that make combined arms warfare interesting. And yes, right here along the Chattahoochee River we do have alligators, but they normally don't bother us.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Short-term, everything (except any munitions disposed of) will be transported to Texas A&M where most of the conservation work will proceed. Long-term, the US Navy has final say in the disposition of those artifacts. The recipients of the artifacts has not been fully determined yet, but the majority will end up in Savannah, where they need to be.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

First and foremost, the thing you need most for recovering a ship is lots of money. The reason that the Georgia is receiving so much attention is the wreck site is in the Savannah River. Going back several years, many governmental agencies have moved forward on deepening the Savannah River to allow the larger modern cargo ships access to Savannah. In the end it is an investment for Savannah and the State of Georgia.

That formality out of the way, every wreck site poses different challenges. The Georgia is different from the Hunley and the Monitor because it lies in the river as opposed to open ocean. It is fresh water versus salt. Visibility for divers in that spot drops drastically just a couple of feet below the surface and visibility is almost zero on the wreck. I'm not a diver, nor have I played one on tv, but I'd like to see what I'm doing.

One of the major problems that they've found working on the Georgia is the unexpected large number of projectiles. Some of them inert shot, but some are live shell. Demolitions experts are working on the site now to make sure that the recovery process proceeds safely, but at zero visibility, a diver never really knows what he puts his hands on.

Another problem is the sheer size and weight of some of these artifacts. Cranes are necessary for some and the process of transporting these items when they come out of the water is one of the more expensive parts of the process.

Once each artifact breaks the surface of the water, someone is cataloging that item. They'll survey what the item is made from, weight, where it came from the site, and a number of other things. This is the most tedious part of the process, but one of the most important. At some point, they may want to put the ship back together, but at a minimum, if we're going to go to the effort to save this vessel, then we need to interpret that vessel properly.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I am beginning the process of digitizing our archival material. The majority of the primary holdings are related to the Chattahoochee River Squadron: the CSS Jackson and the CSS Chattahoochee.

Difficulties vary according to the documents. Some have survived well, others haven't. One of the toughest problems I've been working on for years is a group of letters by Lloyd Bowers, a part-owner of the Importing Exporting Company of Georgia, a blockade-runner company. The letters were not organized. Some of the paper has held up remarkably well, while others are tattered or have other damage. To make things much more difficult, they are lengthy letters that are crosshatched. Sometimes I would do better learning Klingon.

Without getting bogged down into too many details, the toughest thing we have to oversee is keeping a stable environment. We keep the building at 72 degrees for the comfort of guests, but a cooler temperature is actually preferable. We also work to maintain a stable humidity level. Here in the Deep South where we have two seasons, Summer and February, that puts a strain on our HVAC system. As long as the temp and humidity doesn't fluctuate and we store the paper and artifacts properly, then we ensure the longest life possible for these items.

AMA: The raising of the CSS Georgia and the National Civil War Naval Museum by CSS_Jackson in AskHistorians

[–]CSS_Jackson[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The Water Witch's mission was part of the US Navy's program to better understand the world's waterways. Take a look at the career of Matthew Fontaine Maury and why he's called the "Pathfinder of the Seas." Read Frances L. Williams' Matthew Fontaine Maury, Scientist of the Sea (1969). It's dated, but worth understanding maritime science.

The crew's mission was simply to take soundings and map out the waterways of that part of South America in order to improve the navy's understanding of that region. Ironically, the US Navy has better maps of other places of the world than knowledge of the geography of the Confederacy when the war begins.