ePub Race and Rights: Fighting Slavery and Prejudice in the Old Northwest; 1830-1870 (Northern Illinois University Press - Early American Places) by Dana Elizabeth Weiner in History

Description

In 1862 a Confederate team torpedoed the Union's showpiece gunboat; the USS Cairo. It sank into the Yazoo River in minutes and rested there for 102 years; until it was salvaged in 1964 to become a premier exhibit at the Vicksburg National Military Park. This is the story of the USS Cairo. Using family oral history and newly examined documents found in the US National Archives; this text aims to disprove some previous theories and to correct factual errors found in earlier reports; including details of the weapon; identification of the torpedo crew; and illustrations of the five gunboats that engaged in the Yazoo battles.