Information On Union Disposition Along James River Before the Ironclad Attack

JANUARY 20TH, 1865: Flag Officer Mitchell wrote Major James F. Milligan of the Confederate signal corps seeking information "as to the number and disposition of the enemy's ironclads, gunboats, armed transports, torpedo boats, and vessels generally on the James...."

The commander of the Confederacy's James River Squadron was readying his ships for a thrust down the James River at the Union supply base at City Point at the time.

That attack came Jan. 23-24th and ended in failure.

--Old B-R'er