ers. On the forward deck there was a rectangular
casemate, twenty-two feet long in each vessel, but of differing
widths, as the vessels were of different size. Thus that of the
Tuscumbia was sixty-two feet wide, that of the Chillicothe only
forty-two. The sides of the casemate sloped at an angle of thirty
degrees from the perpendicular, and they, as well as the hull before
the wheels, were plated with two-or three-inch iron, according to the
locality; the heaviest plating being on the forward end of the
casemate. In the Tuscumbia this forward plating was six inches thick.
The casemates were pierced with ports for all their guns at the
forward end only; on each beam one port, and two aft. The ports were
closed with two three-inch iron shutters which slid back on tracks on
either side. In these casemates the Tuscumbia carried three XI-inch
guns, the Indianola and Chillicothe each two XI-inch. In the two
larger vessels there was also, between the wheels, a stern casemate
seventeen feet long, built of thick oak, not armored on the forward
end, but having two-inch plating aft and one-inch on each side. In
this stern casemate, pointing aft and capable of being trained four
points (45 deg.) on each quarter, the Tuscumbia carried two 100-pound
rifles, and the Indianola two IX-inch guns. The hulls inside and abaft
the wheels, and the decks, except inside the main casemate, were
plated, but more lightly than the forward parts. In the Tuscumbia and
Indianola, iron bulwarks, half an inch thick and pierced with
loop-holes for musketry, extended all round the boats, except against
the wheelhouses; they were so arranged as to let down on deck when
desired. When ready for service, with guns and stores on board, these
boats drew from five to seven feet of water; but they were so weakly
built as to be dangerous and comparatively inefficient vessels,
quickly "disabled," as is apt to be the case with such preparations
for war as are postponed to the time of its outbreak. The contingency
of civil war on our inland waters was not indeed to be anticipated nor
prepared for; but what was the history of the ocean navy, on whose
hasty creation such harmful boasts and confidence were and are based?
They served their turn, for that enemy had no seamen, no navy, and
few mechanics; but they were then swept from the list, rotten and
broken down before their time. At this day nearly every ship that can
carry the United States flag was built before the w