Kudos to Joe, Walt, and Starbuck for the answers to the question I posed here a few days ago. Here’s as much as I know from an exhibit at Vicksburg.
I believe a larger number of folks south of the Mason-Dixon Line know a lot more about the Civil War than most of us up here: even though it’s the sesquicentennial, we don’t have markers like this to remind us. Behold the USS Cairo, which only exists today because it had an incomplete journey, lasting only a few years before . . .
boom! and then getting preserved in Yazoo mud.
If ever you’re in the vicinity of Vickburg, it’s a sight to behold.
From midships below the pilot house, looking forward.
From same position looking over the boilers and through the paddlewheel aft.
From starboard,
from behind the stern looking at the rudders,
And an example of the next generation of ironclads, USS Indianola.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who was born south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Related: A West Point-trained Confederate officer charged with defending Vicksburg was a General John C. Pemberton, uncle to the person credited with the invention of an obscure drink called Coca-Cola.
tugster: a waterblog 
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January 16, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Joe
Thanks Will, though I am not from the south, I held the platform at Ft. Eustis for a while. For those who may be more interested in the Civil War there are some excellent Naval photos on the Naval History Website and in the Washington Navy Yard.
January 17, 2013 at 10:29 am
starbuck5250
Will, this is an exquisite display! Thanks for sharing these photos; these ironclads are very rare indeed. I got to see a similar exhibit at the Steamboat Arabia museum in Kansas City. In addition to Joe’s excellent suggestion, Cornell University of all places is digitising Civil War records as part of their ‘Making of America’ program: http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/m/moawar/ofre.html
January 17, 2013 at 11:59 am
walt
Thanks as usual for sharing,
The CSS’s Naval Architecture is really something!
The Hunley, a Submarine made from locomotive boilers! Those Southern
Gentlemen were really clever. Our Cast Iron Bell and Spigot DWV piping came from Birmingham! Alas, we couldn’t even sing Steven C. Foster’s Old Black Joe in school!!