USS Neosho (1863-1873).
Later renamed Vixen and Osceola

USS Neosho , first of a class of two 523-ton single-turret ironclad river monitors built at Carondelet, Missouri, was commissioned in May 1863. She operated on the Mississippi River and its tributaries through the rest of the Civil War, and was one of several ironclads that took part in the Red River campaign in March-May 1864.

She also engaged Confederate shore batteries near Simmsport, Louisiana, in June 1864 and on the Cumberland River, in Tennessee, in December of that year. Neosho was decommissioned in July 1865 and laid up at Mound City, Illinois.

In 1869, she was twice renamed, becoming Vixen in June and Osceola in August. She was sold in August 1873.

The United States Monitor 'Neosho' Engaging Three Rebel Batteries on the Cumberland, Below Nashville, Dec. 6, 1864
Line engraving, after a sketch by Adam Rohe, published in "Harper's Weekly", 31 December 1864, depicting the action near Bell's Mills, Tennessee.

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





American Civil War Marines 1861-65
Marines wearing blue and grey fought in many dramatic actions afloat and ashore

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Confederate Ironclad vs Union Ironclad: Hampton Roads 1862
The Ironclad was a revolutionary weapon of war. Although iron was used for protection in the Far East during the 16th century, it was the 19th century and the American Civil War that heralded the first modern armored self-propelled warships.

Year on a Monitor and the Destruction of Fort Sumter
Personal view of the Civil War Navy. The monitor saw action in several significant naval assaults by the Union's Squadron. It took part in the failed Federal attack on Sumter in April 1863. The "Nahant" also participated in the capture of the Confederate Ram "Atlanta," and in the assault on Fort Wagner

Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida'S Gulf Coast, 1861-1865
Coastal Florida had a refugee crisis as the war progressed. Escaped slaves ("contrabands") sought out the blockaders. Some joined the U.S. Navy. White men and their families sought to avoid conscription or vengeful neighbors/regulators and eventually sought refuge with the blockaders

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

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