River Blast 2011 Day 2

13 March 2011

9:00 AM. Arrived back at the site. Since Sunday morning was a bit slow, in terms of visitors, I took some time to roam through the Port Columbus museum. In yesterday's post, I mentioned a few of the things the museum features. It is a treasure trove of artifacts, exhibits, displays, artwork and information on the US and CS Navies in the Civil War. The museum boasts one of the largest collections of jacks and flags flown on ships of both navies. Exhibits include a full-size replica of a portion of the hull of the USS Hartford (which you can walk through to view berth deck, wardroom and captain's cabin), a full size replica of the turret of the USS Monitor, a full-size replica of the gun deck of the CSS Albemarle, and their signature piece; the remains of the CSS Jackson.


The Jackson display consists of the remains of the wooden hull of the gunboat, and a metal framework suspended over the hull indicates the dimensions of the iron casemate. Oval shapes on the framework show the locations of the gunports in the casemate. Behind the museum in a storage area are some of the actual iron plates used on the casemate.



11:00 AM. Worked on a gun crew again firing the Brooke rifle. The museum also has a 12 pdr Dahlgren boat howitzer which they periodically fired. Like the Brooke, this howitzer is real, not a replica.


12 Noon to 4:00 PM. Spent some more time on the Water Witch and in camp talking with visitors. The museum estimated that they had 400-500 visitors over the weekend.








Museum director Bruce Smith (as USN Captain) and members of the USS Fort Henry Living History Association. Yours truly on the right.

River Blast 2011 Day 1

A week ago, fellow CWNS Blogger Matt Eng provided reports from the Battle of Hampton Roads event in Virginia. He inspired me to do the same for the 2011 River Blast event held at the Port Columbus Museum of Civil War Naval History in Columbus, GA the weekend of 12-13 March.

12 March 2011

9:00 AM. Arrived on-site and found the other guys of my unit that came up from Florida for this event. We had a display in the navy encampment with other units and volunteers from the museum.

10:00 AM. Wow! I was "drafted" to serve on one of the gun crews that fires the museum's 7" Brooke rifle every hour. This piece is the real thing, not a replica, salvaged from the wreck of the CSS Jackson, which was raised several years ago from the adjacent Chattahoochee River. The hourly firing of the rifle is one of the signature events at River Blast. My crew was made up of sailors and marines from the USS Pawnee Living History Group and my own unit, the USS Fort Henry.

11:00 AM. Spent some time hanging out on the full-size replica of the Water Witch and talking to museum visitors. This ship was a side-wheel steamer which saw service on both sides during the war. She served as a US gunboat during much of the war, as part of the S. Atlantic Blockading squadron, and was captured by the Confederates in 1864. She was burned near the conclusion of the war to prevent recapture; museum staff report that her remains may have been found in the Savannah River.

12 Noon to 5:00 PM. Spent some time inside the museum on their USS Hartford display talking to visitors about the naval history of the Civil War, as well as additional firings of the Brooke rifle and hanging out with my shipmates at our display in the navy camp.

Thanksgiving Tours of USS Water Witch

From The National Civil War Naval Museum, Port Columbus, GA:

Blood and thunder stories of the capture of the USS Water Witch in a midnight attack by the Confederate Navy will be recreated on Friday and Saturday, November 26-27 for the second annual Cool History program at Port Columbus. “This story is the main reason we picked this ship to reproduce,” said museum director Bruce Smith, “everything about it is dramatic and mostly unknown.” Three tours are set for each day and will feature many of the museum’s living history volunteers protraying characters actually on the ship during the fight. There is no special event fee for the Cool History program, just regular museum admission will be charged.

For more information, please go to the website here.

Confederate Marines Living History Weekend at Port Columbus

Several units of Confederate Marines will appear at Port Columbus this weekend for a special Cool History program called "Marines of the South." March 20-21 will feature training of these marines in various Civil War era tactics including crewing large naval guns, small arms drill and firing, and amphibious landings. Three big cannon firings per day are scheduled. The event is included in normal admission fees at Port Columbus.

For more information, go to: http://www.portcolumbus.org/ or http://portcolumbuslivinghistory.blogspot.com/2010/03/draft-schedule-for-march-cool-history.html

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (subject to change):

DRAFT Schedule

Saturday
9 a.m. Raise flag on Water Witch

11a.m. Cool History Begins
Cannon Firing and Drill

11:30 0r s0 till 1 Small Arms, Drill and On-Ship Activities

1 p.m. Cannon Firing and Drill

1:30 CSMC Birthday Party on USS Water Witch (Weather Permitting)

2:30 River Activities - Landings etc.

4:00 Cannon Firing and Drill

Sunday
Morning Boat activities if desired

Noon Cannon Firing and Drill

Afternoon Daily Sailor Activities