USS Fort Hindman
US Navy Tinclad River Gunboat
American Civil War

USS Fort Hindman (1863-1865, "Tinclad" # 13).
Formerly named James Thompson and Manitou .

USS Fort Hindman , a 286-ton side-wheel "tinclad" river gunboat, was built in 1862 at Jeffersonville, Indiana, as a civilian steamer. Purchased by the Navy in March 1863, she commissioned the following month as USS James Thompson . She was twice renamed, becoming USS Manitou in June 1863 and USS Fort Hindman in November 1863.

In July 1863, she participated in an expedition up the Little Red River which captured the Confederate steamer Louisville (later USS Ouachita ). Fort Hindman engaged enemy artillery in early March 1864, during operations on Louisiana's Black and Ouachita Rivers. During the next few months, she was part of the Red River expedition, then patrolled in the lower Mississippi River area for most of the remainder of the Civil War.

USS Fort Hindman was sold in August 1865. As a merchant steamer, she was renamed James Thompson and remained in use until about 1874.

Photographed during her Civil War service on the Western Rivers.

Union Ironclad
Union River Ironclad 1861-65
At the start of the American Civil War, neither side had warships on the Mississippi River. In what would prove the vital naval campaign of the war, both sides fought for control of the river. While the Confederates relied on field fortifications and small gunboats, the Union built a series of revolutionary river ironclads




Marines
American Civil War Marines 1861-65
Marines wearing blue and grey fought in many dramatic actions afloat and ashore – ship-to-ship engagements, cutting-out expeditions, and coastal landings. This book offers a comprehensive summary of all such battles, illustrated with rare early photographs

Kindle Available
Reign of Iron

Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack
The first ironclad ships to fight each other, the Monitor and the Virginia (Merrimack), were the unique products of American design genius




Kindle Available
Naval Strategies

Naval Strategies of the Civil War: Confederate Innovations and Federal Opportunism
Compare and contrast the strategies of the Southern Secretary of the Navy, Mallory, against his rival in the North, Welles. Mallory used technological innovation and the skill of individuals to bolster the South's seapower against the Union Navy's superior numbers

The following images depict crewmen of USS Fort Hindman who were awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism

Ordinary Seaman Duncan throwing a burning cartridge overboard on USS Fort Hindman , after it was set afire by an exploding shell. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in this incident, which took place during an engagement with an enemy battery near Harrisonburg, Louisiana, on 2 March 1864.
James K.L. Duncan was born at Frankfort, PA, in 1845.

Ordinary Seaman Molloy was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in serving a gun from an exposed position on the forecastle of USS Fort Hindman during an engagement with an enemy battery near Harrisonburg, Louisiana, on 2 March 1864.



Civil War Replica Musket
Civil War Musket
Wood & Steel Frontier Rifle Designed After The Original Rifle





Civil War soldier toys 102 pieces
Civil War Soldier 102 Piece Playset
 
  • 25 Union and 25 Confederate Soldier Figures, 18 Horses, 10 Cannon
  • 2 Covered Wagons, 2 Tents, 2 Canoes, 2 Flags, 16 Fences
  • Size: Figures Stand up to 2-1/8 inches tall
  • Scale: 1/32nd, Wagons and Horses slightly smaller
 

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Confederate Kepi
Civil War Confederate
Suede Grey Kepi Hat





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American Civil War Naval Book Titles
       

Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles
Halls of Honor
Halls of Honor
The U.S. Navy Museum takes you on an informed and entertaining romp through one of North America s oldest and finest military museums. The museum has been in continuous operation at the Washington Navy Yard since the American Civil War
Raise the Alabama
Raise The Alabama
She was known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France
Blue and Grey
The Blue and the Gray
The Complete Miniseries

The Civil War proved a backdrop for this 1982 miniseries. Complete and uncut three disc set. Two families divided by the War Between the States. A Southerner caught when he becomes a war correspondent for the Northern newspaper. He finds himself  where history's in the making from the Battle of Bull Run to Abraham Lincoln's assassination
Blue vs Grey
Blue Vs. Gray - Killing Fields
Relive the most vicious fighting of the Civil War, in which General Ulysses S. Grant forcibly reversed the tide of the conflict by paying with the blood of thousands. It was a desperate time for the Union

 

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress
US Naval Archives



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