"The ordinary gunboats" : the CSS Chicora, the CSS Palmetto State, and the battle off Charleston Harbor, January 31, 1863

Resource Information

The work "The ordinary gunboats" : the CSS Chicora, the CSS Palmetto State, and the battle off Charleston Harbor, January 31, 1863 represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Charleston County Public Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, http://bibfra.me/vocab/marc/Manuscript, Books.

Label

"The ordinary gunboats" : the CSS Chicora, the CSS Palmetto State, and the battle off Charleston Harbor, January 31, 1863

Title remainder

the CSS Chicora, the CSS Palmetto State, and the battle off Charleston Harbor, January 31, 1863

Statement of responsibility

by Charles James Wexler

Title variation

• CSS Chicora, the CSS Palmetto State, and the battle off Charleston Harbor, January 31, 1863
• "Ordinary gunboats"
• C.S.S. Chicora, the C.S.S. Palmetto State, and the battle off Charleston Harbor, January 31, 1863

Title variation remainder

the C.S.S. Chicora, the C.S.S. Palmetto State, and the battle off Charleston Harbor, January 31, 1863

Creator

• Wexler, Charles J

Subject

• Charleston (S.C.) -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
• Chicora (Steamship)
• Confederate States of America, Navy -- History
• Armored vessels -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
• Gunboats -- History -- 19th century
• Palmetto State (Steamship)
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Naval operations, Confederate
• Gunboats -- Design and construction | History -- 19th century

Language

eng

Summary

"The Chicora and Palmetto State, two Confederate ironclad gunboats, were built to help defend Charleston Harbor from a Union naval assault. This paper is the first effort to examine the construction of these vessels in Charleston during the spring and summer of 1862. It is based on a multitude of primary sources generated at the state and local level. The arrival of General Pierre G.T. Beauregard in September 1862 as the commander of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and East Florida dictated a change in strategy. The general favored the construction of torpedo boats, designed by Army Captain Francis Lee, over additional ironclad gunboats. Lee's design served as part of a naval revolution utilizing torpedoes as a primary weapon. However, Lee's efforts to construct his torpedo boat in late 1862 and early 1863 were undermined by a lack of resources and the Confederate Navy's stubborn insistence on building a third gunboat. The battle off Charleston Harbor, on January 31, 1863, was an important tactical victory for the Confederate Navy. Yet, the battle also demonstrated the limitations of the Chicora and Palmetto State as offensive weapons, and justified Beauregard's initial decision to invest resources into torpedo boats."--Leaf 2

Dissertation note

Thesis (M.A.)--College of Charleston and The Citadel, 2008.