USS General Putnam , a 149 ton tug, was built in 1857 at Brooklyn, New York, as the civilian tug William G. Putnam . She was purchased by the Navy in July 1861 and placed in commission in mid-September under the name General Putnam . Assigned to what soon became the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, she mainly served in North Carolina waters for the next year. During this time the tug helped in sinking blockships to restrict Confederate blockading efforts, took part in the February 1862 capture of Roanoke Island, and assisted in expanding Federal control of the North Carolina Sounds.

In November 1862 General Putnam was transferred to the Hampton Roads area and the rivers tributary to Chesapeake Bay. For the rest of 1862 and much of 1863 she was primarily stationed on the York River and in 1864 moved to the James. Her duties included protecting Yorktown and other Union-held positions, clearing mines, enforcing the blockade, covering landings of Federal troops and engaging enemy forces ashore. In May 1865, after fighting had ended in Virginia, General Putnam went to Washington, D.C., where she was decommissioned early in June. Turned over to the Treasury Department, she was renamed Putnam and employed on lighthouse service until scrapped in 1885.

USS William G. Putnam (1861-1865) and
USS Satellite (1861-1863)

Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861
depicting these former civilian tugs being prepared for Naval service at New York City, circa July-September 1861.

War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor
The experience of the men aboard the Monitor and their reactions to the thrills and dangers that accompanied the new machine. The invention surrounded men with iron and threatened their heroism, their self-image as warriors, even their lives




Kindle Available

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

Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy
A tantalizing glimpse into the hardships endured by the naval leadership to build and recruit a fighting force. The seaman endured periods of boredom, punctuated by happy social times and terrifying bouts of battle horror

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Glory in the Name: A Novel of the Confederate Navy
From Norfolk to Hampton Roads, from Roanoke Island to the nighttime battle on the river below New Orleans, Glory in the Name tells the story of the Confederate States Navy, and the brave men who carried forward against overwhelming odds

Ironclad Down: USS Merrimack-CSS Virginia from Design to Destruction
A treasure trove of detailed information about one of history s most famous vessels. Describing Stephen Russell Mallory, John Mercer Brooke, John Luke Porter, et al.--who conceived, designed and built one of the world's first ironclads

American Civil War Fortifications
Coastal Brick and Stone Forts
The design, construction and operational history of fortifications, such as Fort Sumter, Fort Morgan and Fort Pulaski. Stone and brick forts stretched from New England to the Florida Keys, and as far as the Mississippi River. A handful of key sites remained in Union hands throughout the war, the remainder had to be won back through bombardment or assault.

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
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

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. 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