I J K L New South Assciates • 6150 East Ponce de Leon Avenue • Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083 CSS Georgia: Archival Study CONTRACT NO. DACW21-99-D-0004 DELIVERY ORDER 0029 Report submitted to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District 100 West Oglethorpe Avenue Savannah, Georgia 31402-0889 Report submitted by: New South Associates 6150 East Ponce de Leon Avenue Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083 _____________________________________ Mary Beth Reed - Principal Investigator Authors: Mark Swanson, New South Associates – Historian and Robert Holcombe, National Civil War Naval Museum – Historian New South Associates Technical Report 1092 January 31, 2007 CSS GEORGIA iii ARCHIVAL STUDY Table of Contents Introduction 1 Part One: Historical Context 3 The Setting: Geography of the Savannah Area 3 Pre-War Economic Developments, 1810-1860 5 Changes in Warfare, 1810-1860 6 Initial Development of Confederate Navy, 1861 – March 1862 8 Confederate Navy Reorganization, 1862-1863 17 Josiah Tattnall and the Beginnings of the Savannah Squadron, Early 1861 20 War Comes to Savannah, November 1861 – April 1862 23 Impetus for Georgia: The Ladies Gunboat Association 28 Construction of Georgia, March – October 1862 32 The Placement of Georgia, Late 1862 34 The Savannah Station and Squadron, 1862-1864 36 Fall of Savannah, December 1864 39 Part Two: CSS Georgia - Research Themes 41 Planning and Construction 41 1. Individuals and Organizations Involved in Fund-Raising 41 2. Evidence for Conception of Construction Plans for the Vessel; Background and Skill of Those Involved and an Estimate of How Long They Worked on the Project 45 3. Evidence for the Location of the Construction Site, the Site Where the Engine and Machinery Were Installed, and a Description of These Facilities 48 4. The Organizations, Military Units, and Individuals Involved in Constructing the Vessel and its Machinery, their Skills, and the Amount of Time Spent 51 5. The Ship’s Architecture and Layout, Equipment Distribution, etc. 55 6. The Origin and Design of the Machinery (Engine And Boiler), Equipment and Tools That May Have Been on Board for Ship Maintenance 63 7. The Origin and Quality of Materials Used in Construction, Specifi cally Timber and Railroad Iron 68 8. A. Description of the Vessel 71 Manning and Outfi tting 76 1. Offi cers With Their Ranks and Periods of Service on the Vessel, Brief Biographies of the Offi cers, Their Training and Military Careers, Manning of the Vessel 76 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 2. Military Units and Names of Individual Crew Members Who Served, Showing Their Ranks, Job Titles, and Periods of Service 79 3. The Vessel’s Ordnance 79 4. Changes in Ordnance Over Time 80 5. Possible Origins of Major Pieces of Ordnance with Identifying Marks 81 6. Typical Military Equipage for the Offi cers and Crew of the Confederate Navy Including Typical Clothing Items and Food 83 Operation and Maintenance 86 1. Overview of Operations With Day-To-Day Description, Detail of Campaigns Involving The Vessel and Her Offi cers 86 2. Operations (Engine Problems, Grounding) That Might Have Physically Altered the Boat or its Contents. 90 The Sinking 90 1. Disposition Planning: Why Scuttling Was Preferred and How It Was Achieved 90 2. Condition of Evacuation of the Crew and Materials Taken With Them as well as Materials Left Behind 91 Salvage Operations 91 1. Nineteenth-Century Operations 91 2. Twentieth-Century Operations 94 Summary 97 References Cited 99 List of Figures Figure 1. Artist’s Conceptions of CSS Georgia 2 Figure 2. USGS Savannah, GA.-SC. Quadrangle of the Lower Savannah River Showing Its Creeks and Islands as well as the Location of CSS Georgia 4 Figure 3. A View of CSS Virginia in Section 12 Figure 4. Illustrations of Dahlgren Gun, Brooke Rifl e and Pounder Rifl e as well as Ammunition 14 Figure 5. Richmond Class Ironclad in Plan and Section 18 Figure 6. Diamond Hull Ironclad in Plan and Section 19 Figure 7. Detail from an 1862 Federal Map of the Savannah Region Made by Lt. Wilson 26 Figure 8. 1862 Map of Fort Jackson Showing Hand Illustrations of the Locations of Obstructions in the Savannah River. 35 Figure 9. Boutelle 1865 Map of Fortifi cations Near Fort Jackson 36 Figure 10. Map of Confederate Naval Facilities in Savannah (Still 1997) 48 Figure 11. Cooper 1856 Map of Savannah Showing the Eastern Wharves 49 CSS GEORGIA v ARCHIVAL STUDY Figure 12. Hogg 1868 Map of Savannah 50 Figure 13. CSS Georgia, drawn December, 1862 56 Figure 14. CSS Georgia. Illustration from Harper’s Weekly, February 14, 1863 and December 1862 56 Figure 15. CSS Georgia. Illustration from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, February 21, 1863 57 Figure 16. CSS Georgia, erroneously labeled Atlanta. Illustration from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, March 14, 1863 57 Figure 17. John L. Porter’s 1861 Harbor Defense Ironclad 59 Figure 18. Illustration of a Rice Barge, a Potential Prototype for Georgia’s Hull 60 Figure 19. CSS Mississippi, designed by Asa and Nelson Tift, 1861 61 Figure 20. CSS Louisiana, designed by E. C. Murray, 1861 61 Figure 21. CSS Savannah Berth Deck Plan Superimposed Over the Hold Plan 63 Figure 22. CSS Macon Berth Deck Plan and Machinery Spaces 63 Figure 23. Boulton and Watt Steam Engine in Profi le 64 Figure 24. Illustrations of the Bell Crank Engine, Crosshead Engine and Walking Beam Engine 65 Figure 25. Section, Railroad T-iron, from the CSS Georgia 71 Figure 26. A Photograph Believed to be of CSS Georgia 74 Figure 27. Holcombe’s Reconstruction of CSS Georgia 75 Figure 28. Illustration Showing the Removal of Obstructions from the Savannah River 92 Figure 29. Gilmore and Ludlow 1871 Map Showing the Location of Georgia 93 Figure 30. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Map Showing the Location of Georgia 95 List of Tables Table 1. Known Members of the Ladies Gunboat Committee (Association) of Savannah 41 Table 2. Sub-Committee Heads and Members around Georgia 43 Table 3. 1863 Inventory of Guns of Georgia 79 Table 4. List of Large-Gun Ammunition on Board CSS Georgia, July 17, 1863 81 Table 5. Georgia Ordnance Stored in Savannah, July 17, 1863 81 Table 6. Guns and Ordnance on CSS Georgia 82 Table 7. List of Small Arms on Board Georgia, July 17, 1863 83 Table 8. List of Provisions on Board Georgia, July 17, 1863 84 vi CSS GEORGIA 1 ARCHIVAL STUDY Introduction CSS Georgia, a Confederate ironclad constructed in Savannah in 1862 and scuttled in the Savannah River two years later, was virtually forgotten for over a hundred years. It was “rediscovered” in 1968, when a pipeline dredge working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers struck the remains of the vessel in 20 feet of water north of Fort Jackson (Lawson 1978a, Pt. 2:13; Garrison et al. 1980:4). The wreck site, located three miles below Savannah and 11 miles above the mouth of the river, is adjacent to the main navigation channel of the Savannah River (Design Memorandum 1983:I-1). Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, CSS Georgia is identifi ed as possibly one of the 10 most signifi cant wreck sites in U.S. waters. The signifi cance of the site has led to discussions about stabilizing the wreck, and possibly raising it, as well as planning for mitigation of adverse impacts to the wreck that may result from future dredge activities. Archaeological mitigation at Georgia site would have the potential to answer some basic questions about life on a Confederate ironclad. Unlike other ironclads of the Savannah Squadron, Georgia was not blown up or burned prior to sinking. As a result, the potential for the recovery of material possessions on board the vessel is great. Such a project would offer unique challenges as well. Compared to many other ironclads from the Civil War, relatively little is known about Georgia (Figure 1; Garrison et al. 1980: front; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, c. 1985; Design Memorandum 1983). It is one of the few ironclads for which plans have not been found, and are not likely to be found (Babits 1993:30). Although it was constructed in Savannah virtually by committee, the size of the vessel is in dispute, with lengths ranging from 260 to 150 feet, and beam widths ranging from 50 to 60 feet (Garrison et al. 1980:24). Modern sounding equipment tends to support a length closer to the 150-foot range, but the measurements of the wreck are simply not known (Judy Wood, personal communication, 2002). There are three Civil War era engravings of Georgia, and no two agree as to its size and appearance. The only surviving photograph is of poor quality and questionable attribution. All of which suggests that relatively little is known about a wreck site identifi ed as one of the most signifi cant in the nation. To help pull together information on Georgia, New South Associates of Stone Mountain, Georgia, has conducted an archival study of the vessel for the Savannah District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Together with materials gathered over the past 35 years, New South has gathered additional data from the U.S. Army Military History Institute in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and the University of Texas at Austin. Other locations visited as part of this archival investigation included the National Archives in College Park, Maryland; the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond; the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Tulane University in New Orleans; the Dun & Bradstreet Collection at the Baker Library, Harvard University; and the University of Texas at Austin. Also included were historical resources in the city of Savannah itself: the Georgia Historical Society and the Coastal Heritage Society, including Old Fort Jackson.