The CSS Arkansas - by Myron J Smith (Paperback)

About the Book

"The makeshift CSS Arkansas, completed by Lt. Isaac Newton Brown and manned by a mixed crew of volunteers, gave the South a surge of confidence when it launched in 1862. The saga of the CSS Arkansas represents the last significant Confederate naval activity in the war's Western theater"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

While the Monitor and Merrimack are the most famous of the Civil War ironclads, the Confederacy had another ship in its flotilla that carried high hopes and a metal hull. The makeshift CSS Arkansas, completed by Lt. Isaac Newton Brown and manned by a mixed crew of volunteers, gave the South a surge of confidence when it launched in 1862. For 28 days of summer, the ship engaged in five battles with Union warships, falling victim in the end only to her own primitive engines. The saga of the CSS Arkansas represents the last significant Rebel naval activity in the war's Western theater.

Review Quotes

"an excellent account...highly recommended"-Choice; "an incredibly detailed chronicling of the river gunboats's career from construction to self-destruction...the ship's 23 day operational career is meticulously recounted...the most thorough, and best by far, treatment for the vessel's history"-Civil War Books and Authors; "If it sailed on the brown water of America's Western rives during the Civil War and flew the Stars and Stripes of the Union Navy, Myron Smith more than likely knows about it"-America's Civil War; "Smith provides a well-written and thoroughly engrossing account of this extraordinary vessel...this is a truly outstanding book, essential to any student of naval warfare...it highlights the essential role played by the Union and Confederate navies on the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers in 1862"-Civil War News.

About the Author

Prolific author Myron J. Smith, Jr., is emeritus library director and professor at Tusculum University, Greeneville, Tennessee.