Housesing The Historic Warfare Technology That Was Used And Brought Down During The Civil War
During the height of the American Civil War the U.S.S Cairo, a Union gunboat, patrolled up the Yazoo River just outside of Vicksburg, Miss. working to eliminate underwater mines from the river and support a siege to take Mississippi’s largest city.
Historian Gordon Cotton relates that taking Vicksburg would help secure the south and stop an inflow of supplies to the Confederate states from Texas and Mexico.
Cut to early morning of Dec. 12, 1862. Things were quiet. The Cairo was one of the Union Army’s series of ironclads. It was an innovative and a piece of immerging warfare technology that had a devastating effect on the Confederate advancement. As part of a small flotilla patrolling in the fog, the boat, under the auspice of Lt. Commander Thomas O. Selfridge Jr., came under artillery attack.
Two large explosions went off in succession, piercing the Cairo. Twelve minutes later the boat lay 36 feet underwater resting in the silty bottom of the Yazoo. Only 6 were injured in the explosion and subsequent sinking, but no one perished. Soon after, the crew found evidence along the river shore that an underwater mine was set off using an electrical detonator and batteries, making the attack one the first in history to use an electrical fuse to set off a bomb, according to historians
Cotton, curator of the Vicksburg Old Courthouse Museum, said the bomb’s designer was most likely William Weldon, who also designed the very courthouse the museum is located in.
It was nearly 100 years after the fateful incident that sunk the ship that the Cairo was raised and is now showcased as part of the Vicksburg National Military Park, one of many historical attractions in the area. Will Wilson, park guide interpreter, said park visitors, among the other attractions, are lucky enough to be able to go onto the sunken Cairo to see firsthand what it was like during the Civil War to be on a gun ship.
“The ship that is on display is actually about 45 percent of the original materials on the ship,” explains Wilson. The U.S.S. Cairo Museum, located next to the ship, contains many of the original items used in the day to day life of the sailors that were brought up from the bottom of the Yazoo. This included personal items like smoking pipes or cutlery engraved with initials so they would not be mixed up during meal times.
Other items include things like special brass tools used on the ship so sparks — which could cause gunpowder to catch fire — would not be created.
Although the area is rich in Civil War history, with a 16 mile trail throughout the park which features literally thousands of monuments, Wilson relates that it wasn’t until 1955 that the Cairo was actually found, ironically enough by one of his predecessors in the park.
“The Cairo was thought to be in one location when in fact it was in another location,” he continues. “In 1955 Edward Bearss became a historian at the park. He [traveled] to an area on the Yazoo River, north of Vicksburg, where the Confederates had a lot of cannon in place.”
According to Wilson, the confederates had sunk a regular paddle steamer in the river to block the channel and protect the city from approaching gunships.
As years passed, it was assumed that the sunken ship was the Cairo, but after some research Bearss was not so sure. Cotton interjects that Bearss used historical records, such as letters of accounts of the sinking, to verify his information.
Wilson says that Bearss was determined the ship was in a different location further up the river after reading reports written by Lt. Commander Selfridge after the sinking.
“Soon after, they had men were probing the river bottom using poles and a compass to detect metal. Soon, the 122 ton ship was found.
In 1958 Navy divers came in and examined the wreck and were even successful in bringing up artifacts.
Wilson explains that the ship was eventually brought up in “Operation Cairo”, a completely non-profit endeavor, which was years in the making and took hundreds of hours of manpower.
The ship was actually cut into three pieces, and lifted from the bottom with cables. Everything was disassembled, cleaned and reassembled in a museum. The total operation took more than a decade. In the 1970s the ship was incorporated into the park. Because no sailor died during the incident — making the wreck dissimilar to other Navy wrecks that are considered tombs — it could be put on public display and provide education on the era to the public.
“This is a tangible link to our nation’s past and gives us great insight into what it must have been like for these sailors
The items found on the ship include attack weapons such as pistols, powder, shots and even hand weapons but also personal mementos like a preserved “tin type” photograph of a woman and child. The mess hall gear of the sailors, neatly packed into trunks, and even brass tools can be seen. The tools were made of the specific metal to prevent creating sparks and causing an explosion.
The park were the Cairo rests was established in 1899 through an act of Congress and is the fifth national military park in the nation, consisting of 1,800 acres of land that was once a battlefield where the three-month Siege of Vicksburg took place.
It was preserved by the veterans themselves,” he said. “They wanted it preserved for posterity and so we would remember the service and the sacrifice of those men”. The war monuments from individual state units to regimental markers commemorate and honor both sides of the Civil War.
Cotton relates the town of Vicksburg, which was the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, was also a prize for the Union because it was the largest city in Mississippi and birthplace of the Davis Family. He said the town always backed Bearss and were excited to bring up the ship. Locals and the Warren County Board of Commissioners worked to raise money for a salvage company to do the work in raising the ship.
Cotton said because many in the town were related to Confederate soldiers, they felt the ship was theirs because it was sunk by their kin.
A lot of the anecdotal history of the sinking can be found inside the Vickburg Old Courthouse Museum which was active during the Civil War. It was constructed in 1860 and used as a courthouse until 1940. The structure was only hit a few times by mortars during the Civil War with fixable damage. However, unlike the Cairo, eight soldiers were killed in this onslaught.
There are many legends of history, of what men and women did throughout the ages, but there are few chances to actually immerse one’s self in an actual historic piece the size and significance of the Cairo. The site is a direct link to our nation’s past.
On a sprawling patch of land along the Yazoo River, many intersecting lines of conflict collided….Union and Confederate….slave and free man. Now nearly 150 years later, visitors can experience and understand the sacrifice, peril, stamina and intensity that permeated Vicksburg during those years through portal of the raised USS Cairo and its surrounding military park.
Jason Ogden
A graduate of Central Michigan University in Journalism, Jason has served as a news reporter for the Oscoda County Herald, Oscoda Press and Iosco County News-Herald. He is also an avid fisherman.
Make Sure To Stay At:
River Town Campground, located on Highway 61 South, with spacious sites and peaceful surroundings. Only minutes away from historical downtown Vicksburg and the Vicksburg National Military Park.