CSS J.A. Cotton-- Part 2: Some More Information About the Ship

**  It was named for its owner, John A. Cotton, a Unionist before the war but he put the ship at the disposal of the state of Louisiana.

**  It was a large ship and Confederates had some flexibility in armament and hardening machinery spaces (protecting them).  It's beam was on the downside of the ledger.

**  There was a lot of mention of the Cotton continually backing up during fighting.  Was this because it was too difficult to turn?

**  The ship's commander, Fuller, said that the reason for the backing was that that the partial iron rail cladding was forward of the wheels and it was cotton clad aft of them.  He kept his protection where it would do the best good.

**  The ship's gun crews, however, were left out on the open forward deck and suffered heavy losses.  They had a small rifled gun on the deck above, but likewise, it wasn't inside the casemate.

--Old B-Runner