The Ladies Gunboat

From the April 29th Augusta (Ga) Chronicle.

Former Augusta mayor Bob Young spoke at the Confederate Memorial Day observance at West View Cemetery in Augusta.  About 68 Confederate soldiers are buried there.

His topic was the Confederate floating battery CSS Georgia whose career and final resting place is at Savannah.  Lt. Thomas Pelot, who led and was killed in the attack on the USS Water Witch, commanded this vessel at one time.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning to raise it as it is an obstacle to river navigation.

This ship is sometimes referred to as the "Ladies Gunboat" as $75,000 of the final $115,000 cost was raised by various members of a women's group called the Ladies Gunboat Association, many of whom were from Augusta.  The rest of the money to build it came from the State of Georgia.
As thanks for their efforts, the women were able to name the captain of the Georgia and they could also name the cannons after Georgia cities.  The first so-named cannon was the Augusta because the ladies there raised the most money.

I Wonder If the Cannon Augusta Is Still On Board?  --Old B-Runner