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A Scottish immigrant to Illinois, Joseph Brown made his pre-Civil War fortune as a miller and steamboat captain who dabbled in riverboat design and the politics of small towns. When war erupted, he used his connections (including a friendship with Abraham Lincoln) to obtain contracts to build three ironclad gunboats for the U.S. War Department--the Chillicothe, Indianola and Tuscumbia. Often described as failures, these vessels were active in some of the most fer"documents the life and career of Joseph Brown, a miller and steamboat captain who built three ironclad gunboats for the US War Department"ocious river fighting of the 1863 Vicksburg campaign. After the war, "Captain Joe" became a railroad executive and was elected mayor of St. Louis. This book covers his life and career, as well as the construction and operational histories of his controversial trio of warships.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments deleteix
Introduction
1-Joseph Brown: The Honorable Steamboat Captain
2-War and Gunboats
3-Building Capt. Brown's Ironclads
4-The Chillicothe Goes to War: Yazoo Pass and Red River
5-Indianola: The Shortest Cruise
6-Tuscumbia: The "Broad Giant" vs. Vicksburg
7-Joseph Brown, Enterpreneur and Mayor Again:
Life After Gunboats
Chapter Notes
Bibliogaphy
Index
About the author
Prolific author Myron J. Smith, Jr., is emeritus library director and professor at Tusculum University, Greeneville, Tennessee.
