Trivia 3-13-2020 Who am I & Bonus

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Born 1821 in North Carolina, I moved for health reasons to my adopted state by horse. After living in a now abandoned
village, I took up residence in a town called "alligator" and played a major role in changing its name. I was a lawyer and
judge before and after the Civil War and a legislator during the war. A county was named after me in my adopted state.
Who am I?
What was the new name of the town?

credit: @sarladaise

Bonus:
During the Vicksburg Campaign what was The Opossum and who named it.

credit: @Brenal

James McNair Baker.

Lake City.

Bonus: Opossum was a flat bottomed barge, commandeered, and armed with a howitzer, and named by men of McClernands brigade.

Edit - McClernand is mentioned in Pvt. Kitselman's account, referenced in the book given as the source for the official answer.

hoosier
 
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The only town formerly known as alligator I can find is Lake City, Florida. It's name was changed by Mayor Matthew Whit Smith when his wife, Martha Jane, refused to hang curtains in a town named alligator. So he changed it. Smith was a Lt. Colonel of a Florida regiment (the Sunny South Guards from Tampa) during the Civil War.

The Opossum was a flatboat used by the 69th Indiana to ferry troops over the flooded bayous of the Mississippi River. It was named by Major General P. J. Osterhaus.

Edit - Smith was involved in the name change of Lake City, but he does not fit the rest of the clues given in the question.

hoosier
 
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Primary Questions:

1. Who am I ? James McNair Baker
2. What was the new name of the town ? Lake City

Bonus:
1. What was The Opossum ? During a movement toward New Carthage, MS, Union troops encountered the Bayou Vidal. Rebel troops had removed most of the boats (those that they had) to their side of the bayou; they missed a few, which would be sufficient for the Yanks to move troops across the bayou, but not horses and artillery. A rundown flatboat was located on the Union side of the bayou and was converted into a make-shift gunboat, complete with cotton bales and a howitzer. Thus was born "The Opossum"; it did the trick in ferrying horses and men across the bayou, and the move on New Carthage continued.

2. Who named it ? MG P.J. Osterhaus, who scrawled the name "The Opossum" on the side of the improvised gunboat with a piece of charcoal.
 
Born 1821 in North Carolina, I moved for health reasons to my adopted state by horse. After living in a now abandoned
village, I took up residence in a town called "alligator" and played a major role in changing its name. I was a lawyer and
judge before and after the Civil War and a legislator during the war. A county was named after me in my adopted state.
Who am I?
What was the new name of the town?

credit: @sarladaise
James McNair Baker (1821-1892). Baker was one of the parties who led the change of the name of the Florida town of Alligator to Lake City.

Bonus:
During the Vicksburg Campaign what was The Opossum and who named it.

credit: @Brenal
The Opossum was the name given to "an old scow" that soldiers of the 69th Indiana converted to look like a gunboat. They boarded up the sides and placed a howitzer in the bow behind bales of cotton. When they came under fierce fire while approaching Carthage, Mississippi, they positioned a steam pipe to look like a Parrot Gun. The sight of this deadly weapon caused the rebels to retreat.
<Steve Martin, "Our Past: Civil War Soldiers' Gambit Pays Off", The Palladium-Item, Richmond, Indiana, April 10, 2016. https://www.pal-item.com/story/news...-civil-war-soldiers-gambit-pays-off/82478034/>
 
James McNair Baker (20 July 1821 – 20 June 1892)
Lake City, Florida
Source

The Opossum was an old flat-boat which was modified in April 1863 by mounting a small mountain howitzer to the bow. The vessel transported Union troops (specifically 20 members of the 69th Indiana Infantry) who provided the "naval support" that enabled Osterhaus to occupy New Carthage, LA.
Maj Gen Peter Joseph Osterhaus (4 January 1823 – 2 January 1917) selected the name.
Source Pages 113 - 116
 
Main question: To answer the second part first, the new name of what was once called Alligator Town was Lake City, FL.

I'm not so sure about the answer to the first part, but the only name I can find associated with the name change is that of Lake City's first mayor, M. Whit Smith, so he's my answer.

Bonus: The Opossum was a captured flatboat converted into an assault craft. She was named by a an exploratory force of soldiers from Indiana who called themselves the Argonauts.

Edit - While Whit Smith was associated with renaming Lake City, he does not satisfy the other clues given in the bonus question.
 
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Bonus: The Opossum was a flatboat captured by Union troops near New Carthage. The Federal troops reinforced, mounted a howitzer on it and used it as an assault vessel. The Federal troops involved were two companies of cavalry commanded by Lt. Col. Oran Perry (69th Indiana Infantry) that spearheaded Grant's movement down the west bank of the Mississippi River in April 1863. The group of men called themselves the Argonauts and were responsible for naming the Opossum.

 
James McNair Baker
Lake City, Florida
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bonus Answer: The Opossum was an old flatboat converted to a makeshift gunboat, built by the men of the 69th Indiana, armed with a small mountain howitzer (some sources say a couple of howitzers) and powered by 2 men with poles.
Named by Major General Peter J Osterhaus

Source:
These Men Were Heroes Once: The Sixty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry
.https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ALxyZpd3sScC&pg=PA116&lpg=PA116&dq=opossum/Vicksburg+campaign&source=bl&ots=lphr-sjEUp&sig=ACfU3U0bGDZXDg7au4r1dwr6x-TWqldGYg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjc0JeX1LrnAhWmQxUIHapgCNEQ6AEwF3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=opossum/Vicksburg campaign&f=false


Also mentioned in "Grant Moves South" by Bruce Catton page 410

Edit - There were a wide variety of descriptions of what the Opossum was, and a wide variety of choices as to who was responsible for naming her (note that the question did not specify that it was looking for a single individual). I accepted all answers supported by a source.

hoosier
 
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