Yazoo City shipyard

[georgew]

One thing we haven't discussed in any detail is the scope of the facilities at the Yazoo City shipyard, numbers and types of workers, and how many vessels were actually built or modified there under Confederate occupation. The following list some, but not all, of the vessels involved.
New Construction
large armored frigate with composite propulsion (paddle wheels and screws) Not completed.

Completion work
ironclad sloop Arkansas (conversion from uncompleted gunboat to ironed sloop with overhead protection against air bursts)

Conversion work
tinclad ironed gunboat Mobile (wood work completed, not ironed, burned and scuttled)

conversion of river steamers to steam rams
Republic
others?

Two shipways
1 for new construction
1 smaller for conversions

Equipment
sawmill?
numerous blacksmith forges
salvaged equipment from steamer Capitol (later sunk as barrier in gap of Yazoo obstructions when Arkansas broke out.

 

[rebelatsea]

One thing we haven't discussed in any detail is the scope of the facilities at the Yazoo City shipyard, numbers and types of workers, and how many vessels were actually built or modified there under Confederate occupation. The following list some, but not all, of the vessels involved.
New Construction
large armored frigate with composite propulsion (paddle wheels and screws) Not completed.

Completion work
ironclad sloop Arkansas (conversion from uncompleted gunboat to ironed sloop with overhead protection against air bursts)

Conversion work
tinclad ironed gunboat Mobile (wood work completed, not ironed, burned and scuttled)

conversion of river steamers to steam rams
Republic
others?

Two shipways
1 for new construction
1 smaller for conversions

Equipment
sawmill?
numerous blacksmith forges
salvaged equipment from steamer Capitol (later sunk as barrier in gap of Yazoo obstructions when Arkansas broke out.

I don't think I have anything to add to that Georgew.

 

[bradford011]

I too have a particular interest in this shipyard as Issac Newton Brown was in charge until it was destroyed.

Some of the vessels listed as being built/converted seem to be rather large for such an interior shipyard.

My grandfather (Mom's dad) was going to use his influence to try and see if there was any way to see what currently remains of it but he sadly passed away before he could do so.

 

[tony_gunter]

 

[tony_gunter]

 

[DixieRifles]

This ship wasn't there for conversion but the STAR OF THE WEST was a tender ship to the CSS ARKANSAS.

 

[Trout and Apples]

One thing we haven't discussed in any detail is the scope of the facilities at the Yazoo City shipyard, numbers and types of workers, and how many vessels were actually built or modified there under Confederate occupation. The following list some, but not all, of the vessels involved.
New Construction
large armored frigate with composite propulsion (paddle wheels and screws) Not completed.

Completion work
ironclad sloop Arkansas (conversion from uncompleted gunboat to ironed sloop with overhead protection against air bursts)

Conversion work
tinclad ironed gunboat Mobile (wood work completed, not ironed, burned and scuttled)

conversion of river steamers to steam rams
Republic
others?

Two shipways
1 for new construction
1 smaller for conversions

Equipment
sawmill?
numerous blacksmith forges
salvaged equipment from steamer Capitol (later sunk as barrier in gap of Yazoo obstructions when Arkansas broke out.

George,
You are correct that the "Mr. Waggner" Shirley sent to General Polk was William Waggner, Acting Naval Constructor, and not John H. Waggener, purveyor of Military uniforms.
Only Myron J. "Jack" Smith could make such an ridiculous statement.

On page 56 of Smith's Arkansas book he states:

"Writing out a cover note, Shirley asked his colleague, the military tailor John H.

Waggener, who was visiting Columbus a day or so after Christmas, to personally deliver

the communication into Polk's hands. Waggener and his partner, Thomas H. Creek, ran

their establishment out of the Ayers Building on 2nd Street. Advertising "Military Uniforms

for Officers and Privates, made in the most approved style," Waggener had been patronized

by the Columbus commander and many of his officers. "But he was compelled to come

away without a reply," Shirley later testified......."

The correct "Mr. Waggner" apparently remained with Shirley and the two ironclads from the time he was sent to Gen. Polk, until after the Arkansas was moved from Memphis.

I have never found any indication that his assignment with Shirley's ironclads was interrupted.

To address some of your questions about Waggner's activities, let me state that by orders from the Navy department he was reassigned and sent East in early June, 1862, very shortly after the Arkansas and her consorts returned to Yazoo City from Greenwood. He did not remain at Yazoo City under Brown, and never returned to Western waters.
He was on duty in Savannah from as early as mid September 1862 until late November 1862, when was was ordered to report to D. Ingraham at Charleston

 

[Trout and Apples]

George,
You are correct that the "Mr. Waggner" Shirley sent to General Polk was William Waggner, Acting Naval Constructor, and not John H. Waggener, purveyor of Military uniforms.
Only Myron J. "Jack" Smith could make such an ridiculous statement.

On page 56 of Smith's Arkansas book he states:

"Writing out a cover note, Shirley asked his colleague, the military tailor John H.

Waggener, who was visiting Columbus a day or so after Christmas, to personally deliver

the communication into Polk's hands. Waggener and his partner, Thomas H. Creek, ran

their establishment out of the Ayers Building on 2nd Street. Advertising "Military Uniforms

for Officers and Privates, made in the most approved style," Waggener had been patronized

by the Columbus commander and many of his officers. "But he was compelled to come

away without a reply," Shirley later testified......."

The correct "Mr. Waggner" apparently remained with Shirley and the two ironclads from the time he was sent to Gen. Polk, until after the Arkansas was moved from Memphis.

I have never found any indication that his assignment with Shirley's ironclads was interrupted.

To address some of your questions about Waggner's activities, let me state that by orders from the Navy department he was reassigned and sent East in early June, 1862, very shortly after the Arkansas and her consorts returned to Yazoo City from Greenwood. He did not remain at Yazoo City under Brown, and never returned to Western waters.
He was on duty in Savannah from as early as mid September 1862 until late November 1862, when was was ordered to report to D. Ingraham at Charleston

George,

Please excuse the two mistakes I made in my post as this is my first post on CWT.

A. I meant to post this to your "thread" titled
"CS Naval Superintendents of Construction and civilian contractor constructors for CSS Arkansas"
Since both threads relate to Yazoo City and were initiated by you, I assume that you will find my reply.

B. I apparently hit the "post reply" tab without meaning to.

I intended to state that Waggner was on duty in Charleston beginning in late November 1862. He was definitely stationed there from the beginning of February 1864 until at least early September 1864. I cannot state positively that he was on duty without in Charleston without interruption from Nov 1862 until Sept 1864 (or later), but it seems fairly likely.

Regarding your statement in the actual post about the Yazoo City shipyard "conversion of river steamers to steam rams - Republic - others", please allow me to state that the Republic was not being converted to a steam ram, nor ever considered for such a purpose.
She was "laid up" or "taken out of service at the shipyard. Her engines and machinery was removed and sent to Alabama for use in one of the ironclad vessels being constructed there.
The statement that she was being converted to a steam ram is frequently seen, but is simply false. The origin of this false idea may come from a Federal account of the destruction of the YC shipyard. The Republic was in flames when they arrived, and is was not unknown for accounts to be inflated
If memory serves me, somewhere in my "archives" I have a statement by I.N. Brown that the Republic was "old and rotten", or words to that effect.
I do know that "torpedoes" or "infernal machines" were stored on the Republic for a while in the early months of 1863. This was because the vessel was not being used for other purposes. There may have also been an implication that the vessel was somewhat expendable in case there was a "ka boom."

 

[rebelatsea]

The Republic, built at Jefferson Indiana in 1855 was said to be a very fast steamer used as a transport. She had smaller wheels than usual at 25ft x 9ft and faster running machinery than most of her comtemporaries. Isaac Newton Brown did indeed intend to convert her to a tinclad ram - before he discovered her true condition, as Trout and Apples said. The boilers, machinery and wheels were sent to James H Warner at Columbus. By a process of elimination I have tried to find what Warner did with it. There seem to two possibilities: 1) CSS Powell the sidewheel "Bigbee boat" that was sent down to Mobile for completion or, 2) that it was converted to screw propulsion and employed in CSS Jackson. I'm open to other suggestions.

Assistant Constructor Waggner (I have seen it spelt Waggonner) was indeed at Charleston, assigned to assist the shipbuilders there. He seems to have left Charleston around the time of CSS Columubia's completion. Where did he go from there?

 

[georgew]

The Republic, built at Jefferson Indiana in 1855 was said to be a very fast steamer used as a transport. She had smaller wheels than usual at 25ft x 9ft and faster running machinery than most of her comtemporaries. Isaac Newton Brown did indeed intend to convert her to a tinclad ram - before he discovered her true condition, as Trout and Apples said. The boilers, machinery and wheels were sent to James H Warner at Columbus. By a process of elimination I have tried to find what Warner did with it. There seem to two possibilities: 1) CSS Powell the sidewheel "Bigbee boat" that was sent down to Mobile for completion or, 2) that it was converted to screw propulsion and employed in CSS Jackson. I'm open to other suggestions.

Assistant Constructor Waggner (I have seen it spelt Waggonner) was indeed at Charleston, assigned to assist the shipbuilders there. He seems to have left Charleston around the time of CSS Columubia's completion. Where did he go from there?

Thank you Rebel, I didn't realize that the Powell was intended for sidewheels. Was this the case with both Bigbee boats? I wonder if Waggner may have been sent to one of the late inland build yards. Perhaps those in Georgia? Based upon a separate discussion on this board of CSS Montgomery and your writeup in your book, there is a clear pattern from about mid 1864 that there was not as high a priority in completing some of the late vessels because of a lack of available crewmen. In the Trans-Mississippi this problem appeared early and the attempted remedy was to supply seamen to operate the vessel with Army gun crews. By 1865 Confederate Army commanders were loathe to detach artillerymen for such purposes.

 

[georgew]

George,

Please excuse the two mistakes I made in my post as this is my first post on CWT.

A. I meant to post this to your "thread" titled
"CS Naval Superintendents of Construction and civilian contractor constructors for CSS Arkansas"
Since both threads relate to Yazoo City and were initiated by you, I assume that you will find my reply.

B. I apparently hit the "post reply" tab without meaning to.

I intended to state that Waggner was on duty in Charleston beginning in late November 1862. He was definitely stationed there from the beginning of February 1864 until at least early September 1864. I cannot state positively that he was on duty without in Charleston without interruption from Nov 1862 until Sept 1864 (or later), but it seems fairly likely.

Regarding your statement in the actual post about the Yazoo City shipyard "conversion of river steamers to steam rams - Republic - others", please allow me to state that the Republic was not being converted to a steam ram, nor ever considered for such a purpose.
She was "laid up" or "taken out of service at the shipyard. Her engines and machinery was removed and sent to Alabama for use in one of the ironclad vessels being constructed there.
The statement that she was being converted to a steam ram is frequently seen, but is simply false. The origin of this false idea may come from a Federal account of the destruction of the YC shipyard. The Republic was in flames when they arrived, and is was not unknown for accounts to be inflated
If memory serves me, somewhere in my "archives" I have a statement by I.N. Brown that the Republic was "old and rotten", or words to that effect.
I do know that "torpedoes" or "infernal machines" were stored on the Republic for a while in the early months of 1863. This was because the vessel was not being used for other purposes. There may have also been an implication that the vessel was somewhat expendable in case there was a "ka boom."

I think a more complete description of the situation up the Yazoo was that upon assignment there Lt. Brown believed that he could muster a rump force of converted transports, but the logistic problems of keeping them manned and running resulted in only a few being seriously considered. There was an organized program of stripping a number of the steamers up the Yazoo of their machinery. Several prominent steamer Captains ran these teams including J.E. Montgomery (former RDS commander). Most of this equipment was shipped directly to building sites.

 

[georgew]

This ship wasn't there for conversion but the STAR OF THE WEST was a tender ship to the CSS ARKANSAS.

Which ship are you citing?

 

[georgew]

View attachment 425464

Thank you for posting this. The description of the equipment at the yard sound plausible, but I was under the impression that the large ironclad project was still on the building ways. One source says it burned for two or three days. It seems a bit odd that this large vessel would have tandem side-wheels. You would think that the flow from the forward wheels would impede the efficiency of the after wheels unless the wheels were widely separated, creating other problems. Brown had a tendency to have only limited vertical protection for the wheels on other projects and you wonder if that would have been the case with this project.

 

[DixieRifles]

Which ship are you citing?

Do you refer to the STAR OF THE WEST?
It was a paddle wheeler steamship that tried to bring supplies to Fort Sumter in January 1861. It was captured by Confederates in Galveston and later brought to Yazoo City. It was scuttled at Fort Pemberton in March 1863 to stop the US Navy's advance to Vicksburg.

 

[Missouri Swampfox]

This ship wasn't there for conversion but the STAR OF THE WEST was a tender ship to the CSS ARKANSAS.

I think you mean the CSS Capitol was the tender for the Arkansas.

 

[georgew]

One thing we haven't discussed in any detail is the scope of the facilities at the Yazoo City shipyard, numbers and types of workers, and how many vessels were actually built or modified there under Confederate occupation. The following list some, but not all, of the vessels involved.
New Construction
large armored frigate with composite propulsion (paddle wheels and screws) Not completed.

Completion work
ironclad sloop Arkansas (conversion from uncompleted gunboat to ironed sloop with overhead protection against air bursts)

Conversion work
tinclad ironed gunboat Mobile (wood work completed, not ironed, burned and scuttled)

conversion of river steamers to steam rams
Republic
others?

Two shipways
1 for new construction
1 smaller for conversions

Equipment
sawmill(s) up to 5 per the news item posted on this topic.
numerous blacksmith forges Lt Read stated up to 200 forges/blacksmiths in an article after the war.
salvaged equipment from steamer Capitol (later sunk as barrier in gap of Yazoo obstructions when Arkansas broke out.

Just a few additional comments re the Capitol at Yazoo City. She was used as a berthing vessel for CSN personnel assigned to the Arkansas. There are reports that her winches and "doctor" steam equipment was used to assist in ironing the Arkansas. Interestingly, I haven't run into any data suggesting that she was actively steaming under her own engines. So a valid question would be whether her engines and boilers were removed early and she was essentially a wharf boat using her doctor boiler to run winches and gear for drilling T-rail brought in from a RR line about 25 miles from the yard (Waterson, Conf Vet). The Confederates really stripped her and there are reports of misc gear from the Capitol appearing all over the south east.

 

[Biscoitos]

Do you refer to the STAR OF THE WEST?
It was a paddle wheeler steamship that tried to bring supplies to Fort Sumter in January 1861. It was captured by Confederates in Galveston and later brought to Yazoo City. It was scuttled at Fort Pemberton in March 1863 to stop the US Navy's advance to Vicksburg.

You seem to be confused about the Star of the West, let me state the facts.

The vessel was not captured in Galveston Bay, much less in Galveston, but in Matagorda Bay, more than 100 miles southwest of Galveston (actually closer to Corpus Christi than to Galveston). Earl Van Dorn commanded the force that captured the ship.

"She" was taken to New Orleans and turned over to the CS Navy and used, among other things, as a hospital and receiving ship. The CS Navy renamed her the St. Philip, was the name never stuck, primarily because she was so well known before her capture.

The Star of the West went upriver from New Orleans just before New Orleans fell.
When she stopped at Vicksburg, she offloaded a great deal of Confederate property, including, it is said, the assets of the Confederate Government treasury (mint included) from New Orleans.
The Yazoo City area then became her home until February 1863, when was taken up to Fort Pemberton and on the afternoon of March 10, she was scuttled to complete the blockade of the Tallahatchie River.
Her masts had been removed at Yazoo City, in order to make it possible for her to navigate the Yazoo.

There is a wealth of other information about the Star of the West, but there are some statements about her correct history.

 

[Missouri Swampfox]

Just a few additional comments re the Capitol at Yazoo City. She was used as a berthing vessel for CSN personnel assigned to the Arkansas. There are reports that her winches and "doctor" steam equipment was used to assist in ironing the Arkansas. Interestingly, I haven't run into any data suggesting that she was actively steaming under her own engines. So a valid question would be whether her engines and boilers were removed early and she was essentially a wharf boat using her doctor boiler to run winches and gear for drilling T-rail brought in from a RR line about 25 miles from the yard (Waterson, Conf Vet). The Confederates really stripped her and there are reports of misc gear from the Capitol appearing all over the south east.

I refer you to the following references:
1) Way, Frederick, Jr. Way's Packet Directory, 1848-1983. (Athens, OH, Ohio University, 1983), 71.
2) Civil War Naval Chronology, 1861-1865, (Naval History Department, Navy Department, Washington: 1971), p. VI-207
3)Times Picayune, New Orleans, LA, Wednesday, 13 May 1891, p.6, col. 4
I only wish part of her cabin had survived to show the plantation landscapes that were painted throughout by Ure.

 

[Biscoitos]

The Republic, built at Jefferson Indiana in 1855 was said to be a very fast steamer used as a transport. She had smaller wheels than usual at 25ft x 9ft and faster running machinery than most of her comtemporaries. Isaac Newton Brown did indeed intend to convert her to a tinclad ram - before he discovered her true condition, as Trout and Apples said. The boilers, machinery and wheels were sent to James H Warner at Columbus. By a process of elimination I have tried to find what Warner did with it. There seem to two possibilities: 1) CSS Powell the sidewheel "Bigbee boat" that was sent down to Mobile for completion or, 2) that it was converted to screw propulsion and employed in CSS Jackson. I'm open to other suggestions.

Assistant Constructor Waggner (I have seen it spelt Waggonner) was indeed at Charleston, assigned to assist the shipbuilders there. He seems to have left Charleston around the time of CSS Columubia's completion. Where did he go from there?

Please cite your source for the the statement: " Isaac Newton Brown did indeed intend to convert her (the Republic) to a tinclad ram - before he discovered her true condition, as Trout and Apples said.
Italics are mine.

Or cite any source that says Brown ever intended or even discussed converting any vessel on the Yazoo River system into a "tinclad ram."

I am not asking if you think he might have considered doing so, but what is your source that Brown " did indeed intend to convert her to a tinclad ram,"

There is a distinction between speculation and historical fact.

 

[rebelatsea]

Civil War Naval Chronology Part IV, page 292. "......was selected prior to May 1863 for conversion to a ram".
I may be wrong and her selection may have been by the CSN rather than Brown himself - but he was in charge at Yazoo City and responsible for what happened there.