Transport steamer "Wauhatchee"

tmh10

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Pipestem,WV
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Original Caption: Transport steamer "Wauhatchee"
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 111-B-667
From:: Series: Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes, (Record Group 111)
Photographer: Brady, Mathew, 1823 (ca.) - 1896
Coverage Dates: ca. 1860 - ca. 1865
 
4153015933_680f15a50e_z.jpg


Original Caption: Transport steamer "Wauhatchee"
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 111-B-667
From:: Series: Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes, (Record Group 111)
Photographer: Brady, Mathew, 1823 (ca.) - 1896
Coverage Dates: ca. 1860 - ca. 1865

Just out for a quiet cruise on the river, great photo mate.
 
That's a purty little boat, right there. Built by USQMD at Bridgeport, Alabama at a cost of $9,000. Two more images from the Tennessee State Archives:

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Transport fleet on the Tennessee River. Shows four steamboats, including the "Wauhatchie" and the "Missionary."'

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Spur of Lookout Mountain. Shows steamboats docked and warehouses on the riverbank. Steamboats include the "Wauhatchie" and the "Missionary."
 
That's a purty little boat, right there. Built by USQMD at Bridgeport, Alabama at a cost of $9,000. Two more images from the Tennessee State Archives:

Expired Image Removed
Transport fleet on the Tennessee River. Shows four steamboats, including the "Wauhatchie" and the "Missionary."'

Expired Image Removed
Spur of Lookout Mountain. Shows steamboats docked and warehouses on the riverbank. Steamboats include the "Wauhatchie" and the "Missionary."

Nice pictures Andy.
 
That's a purty little boat, right there. Built by USQMD at Bridgeport, Alabama at a cost of $9,000. Two more images from the Tennessee State Archives:

Expired Image Removed
Transport fleet on the Tennessee River. Shows four steamboats, including the "Wauhatchie" and the "Missionary."'

Expired Image Removed
Spur of Lookout Mountain. Shows steamboats docked and warehouses on the riverbank. Steamboats include the "Wauhatchie" and the "Missionary."
That little boat got around.:smile:
 
Based on the positions of the four steamers these two photos appear to have been taken by the same photographer within minutes of each other, but the question is "Where?". Is anyone sufficiently familiar with the Tennessee river valley to know for certain where these vessels are docked? The two hills in the background don't seem right for Bridgeport, Alabama, where the vessels were built, but I've never been there. The sizes of the warehouses are more consistent with Chattanooga. If this is Chattanooga the big hill on the right has to be Cameron Hill (the "cluster" of white buildings to the left on this hillside might be the hospitals and the disturbed soil on the right side about half way up would be Fort Sheridan as shown in Blacklee's 1863 Map --- this hill was pretty much leveled in the 1960s to build the Aetna Insurance Building). The big hill on the left would be Lookout Mountain, but it's shape seems wrong to me. Where is the "bench" on which the Craven House stood? If this is Chattanooga the photo that shows the vessels and buildings might have been taken from the Military Bridge built by the 1st Michigan Mechanics and Engineers from the foot of Market Street to the north bank of the River. It was completed in July, 1864. And if this was a Mathew Brady photograph does someone know enough about him to place him (or one of his many employees) at Chattanooga after this date? The photo that shows the 4 vessels and the "scenic" opposite bank does seem to me consistent with the appearance of Stringer's Ridge, inland from the north bank of the TN River at Chattanooga about a 1/4 mile and tappering to the left (SW) where Moccasin Bend is found. Does anyone know for certain when the Wauhatchie and the Missionary were built? Any thoughts?
 
The question has come up before, but not been really answered that I've seen, of how the recoil of a gun like the one on Wauhatchie's bow would be handled, assuming it's there for use and not just being transported. It was fairly common for ships to carry guns on two-wheeled land type carriages:

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The question has come up before, but not been really answered that I've seen, of how the recoil of a gun like the one on Wauhatchie's bow would be handled, assuming it's there for use and not just being transported. It was fairly common for ships to carry guns on two-wheeled land type carriages:

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Thank you for your info.
 
There are women on most of the transports in this series- wish we knew who any of them were!

Besides the woman you can see on deck here, at least one woman was on board Lookout.
woman lookout  steamer look nurse maybe.jpg


women bridgeport.jpg

I ' think ' three children as well as four women were present for the photograph of Bridgeport.

women chickamauga wiwp.jpg

And Chickamauga. Boy we clung to fashion! Can anyone imagine wearing those hoops and walking what always looks like just a long plank getting on these transports?
 
And Chickamauga. Boy we clung to fashion! Can anyone imagine wearing those hoops and walking what always looks like just a long plank getting on these transports?
Interesting---Note the "water fountain" on the deck below the two women. See the pump and the basin? Looks like a wash board leaned against the wall.

These civilians have to be passengers. If so, then I would think they were rich enough to afford a ticket and to dress nice for the trip. You may recall a time when people dressed nice to fly on passenger flights.
 
There are women on most of the transports in this series- wish we knew who any of them were!

When the US Navy first started assigning women to sea duty, someone commented to then Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwalt that when he was starting his career, he must have found it hard to imagine women on ships. He replied, on the contrary, we spent a lot of time imagining women on ships! :wink:
 
I do not know if it is simply the photography of the time fooling me, but I seem to descry that the ladies on these transports are women of color. Given the proximity of the washboard, I believe they may be civilian employees of the Army, hence their presence aboard the transport.
 
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