bdtex
Major General
★★ Sr. Moderator
Silver Patron
Annual Winner
Regtl. Quartermaster Chickamauga 2018 Vicksburg 2019
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2015
- Location
- Texas
I recall that discussion when we were at Grand Gulf but it still amazes me that ships like the USS Cairo were able to operate in those waters. The length of the Star Of The West was actually longer than the width of the Tallahatchie River at the point in Greenwood where it was sunk to block Union vessels. They had to scuttle it an angle to make it fit.Well, the one thing to keep in mind too is that when the Corps of Engineers built a massive levee system along the Mississippi River it prevented the river from meandering. The water flow became narrow and swift, which meant the inland rivers like the Yazoo and Big Black drained much quicker and thus remain at a lower average level today than it did during the war.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine rivers like the Big Black, for example, could sustain river traffic so far upstream. But before the Mississippi River levee system, the Mississippi flowed much slower and wider which backed up the rivers like the Yazoo and Big Black, making it easier for steamboats to operate.