Civil War Coast Survey Maps Online

Confederate Defenses, Craney Island, Norfolk, 1861

During the Civil War, both the U.S. Navy and Army benefited greatly from topographical engineers of the United States Coast Survey.  In a time where everything was hand drawn, these engineers were among the finest mapmakers in the world.  The maps themselves are not only to be greatly admired for their accuracy, but also as stand alone art.  The modern day Coast Survey (now under the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) has placed all of their office's Civil War maps online in a searchable database.  The maps are ready to be inspected and downloaded.  Be prepared to spend several hours admiring the engineers' work.

Founded in 1807, the Coast Survey is one of the Federal government's oldest scientific organizations.  Their main responsibility was the tedious task of proving accurate charts of American harbors, rivers, and coastline for both civilian and military ships.  Other parts of the Government called upon the office to work other projects such as slave population density and defining national borders.  Despite its name, several Coast Survey engineers accompanied U.S. Army ground forces during major campaigns such as Sherman's march on Atlanta. 

Approaches to Charleston Harbor, 1863

A Little Bit of March Madness for CWN 150 Fans

USS Benton Ship Plans

 As many of you know, college basketball season is winding to a close with its annual tournament of 64.  Now in the clutches of the last four remaining teams, it would seem fitting to introduce a little bit of bracketology into this blog once again.

How does this relate to the Civil War Navy you ask?  For our longtime readers, you may recall we did something similar (albeit a bit drawn out) back in 2011 with the "Greatest Naval Officer of the Civil War." 

As a way to get some more interaction on the blog, here is our list of the "Elite Eight" vessels of the Union and Confederate navies.  Who would make your final four? Who would be the champion?  We will leave answers blank as a rubric below to help you out.  Post your answers here or on the CWN 150 Facebook page, and we will publish the results!

Union Vessels:
1. USS New Ironsides
2. USS Onondaga
3. USS Minnesota
4. USS Monitor
5. USS Hartford
6. USS Cairo
7. USS Kearsarge
8. USS Benton


Confederate Vessels:
1. CSS Virginia
2. CSS Arkansas
3. CSS Richmond
4. CSS Albemarle
5. CSS Alabama
6. CSS Tennessee
7. CSS David
8. HL Hunley

Which ships would be your Final Four (Top Two Union Confederate Vessels):

(Union) __________  VS. (Union) __________

(Confederate) __________  VS. (Confederate) __________

Which ships would be in your Final (Top Union/Confederate Vessel):

(Union) __________ VS. (Confederate) __________

Winner: __________

Let us know who makes the cut in your mind!  Do you have other vessels in mind?  Which ones? Let us know! 

Civil War Naval Aviation

Of all the discussion about Civil War naval warfare and technology, the use of barges as balloon carriers always produces at least a short discussion. Early aeronauts Thaddeus Lowe, John La Mountain, and many others all attempted to get the U.S. Army's attention with their respective balloon corps projects.

In naval warfare history, the project that gets the most attention is Lowe's George Washington Parke Custis (often written as G.W.P. Custis for short). A self-taught chemist who made several ground breaking discoveries into the chemical properties and application of hydrogen, Lowe had an invented a machine that created hydrogen gas with sulfuric acid and hot pieces of iron. He poured the acid over the iron, which liberated the hydrogen atoms from the sulfur. The hydrogen was then pumped into the balloon. Historians and writers often referred to G.W.P. Custis as USS G.W.P. Custis. The Navy, however, never granted the vessel such an honor. Additionally, Lowe himself did not seem to think much of the vessel. In one letter, he referred to the vessel simply as a ""lighter (formerly the G.W.P. Custis)."

When Lowe made his ascent from the Potomac River using Custis as his carrier, he attempted to claim to be the first person ever to launch a balloon from water. La Mountain, however, clearly gets the honor when he made an ascent in Hampton Roads three months earlier. His report to General Ben Butler was quite useful as he described the number of Confederate tents, the location of Confederate shore batteries, and the number of large ships anchored in downtown Norfolk.

Unfortunately, no one took maritime application of ballooning seriously. Like many ideas, it would have to wait.

Hampton Roads is Over, Now What?

 Okay.  So the Battle of Hampton Roads Weekend is over.  It was a great series of events.  Now that its over, let's do a little deductive reasoning:

• The Battle of Hampton Roads is likely to become the biggest event for the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial
• The CWN 150 prides itself at being the one stop source for the flow of information, events, and activities surrounding the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial.

Drawing back from my scarce knowledge of If-Then statements, one might assume that the Sesquicentennial as a whole is over.  No more huge events that could rival that of Gettysburg, Antietam, Vicksburg, etc. 

WRONG. It's 2012 and we are just getting warmed up!

For one, there is an upcoming Flags Over Hatteras conference coming up in the Outer Banks.  Will you be there?  I would also be remiss if I didn't mention one last post about the weekend from Laura June Davis, contributing editor for The Monitor.   She had some very nice things to say about the weekend and the CWN 150.  Thank you again, Laura. 

So, what is on the radar for the CWN 150, you ask?  Here is a little taste:

More LEGOs:
That's right.  Back from popular demand from the Brick by Brick: LEGO Shipbuilding program at HRNM, we are going to be offering FREE designs for several more Civil War ships (including the CSS Virginia in the very near future).  All designs will be located on the Hampton Roads Naval Museum website, the HQ for the CWN 150. 

More Posts, More Information:
We want to ensure that you are coming to the CWN 150 blog for the best possible information available on the events, activities, and information surrounding the sesquicentennial.  That being said, we will continue providing readers with timely posts on commemorative events and aspects of the navies during the Civil War.  

More contests, more prizes:
I think the title says it all.  More fan-focused contests and ways to get YOU involved in the CWN 150.  Win cool prizes for participating and joining in on the conversation!

More Videos:
If you haven't noticed, our Youtube page is rather lacking.  I would like to rectify that with some more videos for the CWN 150.  These will include educational pieces as well as some commentary on the CWN 150 and its relevance in an ever-increasing social media world. 

Want to be part of the CWN 150? "Enlist" your blogging talents!
We are still looking for more writers for the CWN 150!  If you have an interest in social media or blogging about the Civil War navies, please send an email to matthew.t.eng@navy.mil for more information.  This commemoration is for everybody, so why not get everybody involved!  Like us on Facebook, follow our Twitter feed, or just keep reading.  Have an idea for the CWN 150?  Don't be afraid to email us with a message.  You might be surprised what happens! 

To take from the famous poster you see all over the place:

- Matthew T. Eng