THE USS WINONA ON THE GULF COAST AND MISSISSIPPI RIVER, 1861-1863,
"The USS Winona was a wooden-hulled, sloop-rigged, two-mast steamer, armed originally with an XI-inch Dahlgren, a 20-pdr. Parrott rifle and two 2-pdr. howitzers. She was one of the original "90-day gunboats," quickly built after the Union blockade was established.
The Winona's first cruise found her fighting at the Battle of the Passes below New Orleans, at Vicksburg before and during the siege, at other places on the Mississippi, and the blockade of Mobile.
Present during all this was Montgomery P. Griffis, a coal heaver in the machinery space. Called a "smut" in those days (in today's Navy and Coast Guard he would be called a "snipe") Griffis kept a journal of his and the ship's activities.
He provides an outstanding view of life in the machinery space of a man-of-war during and between battles. He must have had some education because his entries are well written. He would later be commissioned as an acting third assistant engineer.
"The Jolly Little Gunboat" title comes from lines in a poem Griffis wrote in his journal:
"This jolly little gunboat, Winona was her name.
"She was called after an Indian girl of sad romantic fame."
An appendix contains more poems from the journal.
This volume has a foreword by distinguished Civil War scholar and author Ed Bearss. It is well researched and edited. Civil War Navy memoirs from enlisted men are rare, and those from "smuts" are even rarer.
Purcell's work has added much to Civil War naval history. It will appeal to naval enthusiasts and those interested in the Mississippi River Campaign and the common man who fought the Civil War. It is highly recommended."
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