Joseph Brown and His Ironclads

From the Strategy Page Book Review  "Joseph Brown and His Civil War Ironclads: The USS Chillicothe, Indianola and Tuscumbia"  by Myron J. Smith, Jr..

Smith also wrote "Civil War Biography from the Western Waters, the Timberclads in the Civil War."

This is the first biography to be written on Joseph Brown (1823-1899) and his role in the creation of the Union's Riverine fleet.

Brown was a Scottish immigrant who became a steamboat captain and self-taught naval architect and engineer.  He was also an abolitionist, entrepreneur and politician.

Today, however, he is largely forgotten despite having designed and building the USS Chillicothe, Indainaola and Tuscumbia.  There is a chapter on each of the three ships in his book.

Brown also converted some 55 ships of all types into "tin-clads,"  lightly protected gunboats.  There are also accounts of the performance of his ships at Fort Donelson, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow and the Gulf.

--Old B-Runner