The USS Carondelet: A Civil War Ironclad on Western Waters
By Myron J. Smith Jr
(August 2010 Civil War News)

Illustrated, bibliography, index, 288 pp., 2010, McFarland  , www.mcfarlandpub.com, $55, softcover.

On Oct. 12, 1861, the first of seven “City Class” ironclad gunboats built by James B. Eads was launched at Carondelet, Mo. Named the Carondelet, the vessel was involved in more combat than any other U.S. Navy ship prior to World War II, according to author Myron Smith.

These gunboats’ odd shape, with sharply sloped sides to deflect cannon shots, earned them the nickname “Pook’s Turtles,” after their designer, naval constructor Samuel M. Pook.

Following the Carondelet’s subsequent career provides a history of the war on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Early on, she was involved in the attacks on Forts Henry and Donelson.

Under her commander, Capt. Henry Walke, she made a daring run past Island No. 10. Walke, a talented artist, drew scenes of naval combat, a number of which are reproduced in the book.

The Carondelet met the feared Rebel ram Arkansas while on a reconnaissance up the Yazoo River and escaped with heavy damage. She was in the thick of action at Plum Point Bend, Fort Pillow and the Battle of Memphis.

She ran past the Vicksburg guns on April 15, 1863, and participated in the attack on Grand Gulf on April 29. She was in the Red River campaign the following year and was the first vessel to escape the Rebel trap at Alexandria, La., when a hastily built dam was constructed to raise the river level.

Myron Smith, library director and professor of history at Tusculum College in Tennessee, has written a series of long-needed books on the so-called Brown Water Navy. This is the very best of the series as it covers so much of the combat on the inland waterways.

Thoroughly researched and clearly written, Smith’s book is a “must-buy” for those interested in the Civil War Navy and the war in the West.

Reviewer: Patrick E. Purcell

Patrick E. Purcell, a graduate of Northeastern University, is a retired railroad manager. He is a former president of the Old Baldy Civil War Round Table in Philadelphia and was on the Board of Governors of the Civil War Library and Museum in Philadelphia.