River gunboats.
Lying at anchor in the
Ohio River this little wooden gunboat is having the finishing touches put to her equipment while her officers and men are impatiently waiting for the opportunity to bring her into action.
A side-wheel river steamer originally, she was purchased at
Cincinnati by
Commander John Rodgers in the spring of 1861 and speedily converted into a gunboat.
Her boilers and steam pipes were lowered into the hold and the oaken bulwarks five inches thick which we see were put on her and pierced for guns.
She got her first taste of fighting when, at Lucas Bend, she engaged the land batteries and a Confederate gunboat, September 10, 1861.
She was present at
Fort Henry in the second division of the attacking fleet, and also at
Fort Donelson.
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The adventurous gunboat Conestoga |
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