SEA HISTORY AT COLUMBUS

The nearly $8 million museum now occupies 39,000 square feet, spacious enough for the hulls of the CSS Chattahoochee, a wooden gunboat, and the CSS Jackson, an ironclad ram, to be displayed indoors.

Both Confederate warships were recovered from the Chattahoochee River in 1963 and 1964 respectively. Led by Union Gen. James Wilson, the Jackson was scuttled in 1865, while Confederate forces sunk the Chattahoochee to avoid its capture by northern forces.

The 141-foot CSS Chattahoochee was launched in 1862, its beam close to 31 feet with a draft approximately seven feet and armed with four 32-pounders, one nine-inch Dahlgren and one rifled and banded 32-pounder.

I only wished I hadn’t missed the official opening last March when the historic past became the present during four days of re-enacting life on board the ships during the Civil War. Still, I am able to see replicas of the CSS Albemarle, USS Hartford (with a longboat salvaged from the original Hartford) and a recreated version of the deck and gun turret of the USS Monitor (the original sank in a storm on its way from Hampton Roads South to the coast of North Carolina.)

But nothing was more mesmerizing that the naval battle scenes in The Battle Theater, especially the role of the powder monkeys - young boys whose fleet-footed efforts meant life or death to the crew. The fascinating lives they led are re-told in stories that keep you riveted to the end. Once such book (available at the museum gift shop) is the Young Americans Series Volume 4, The Powder Monkey by Carole R. Campbell.

If you are a Civil War Navy buff, you will find a fascinating array of genuine artifacts such as the hat and jacket of the U.S. Navy surgeon who was held by the Confederates at Fort Wagner. His crime? He bore witness to the Confederates’ decision to hold hostage the remains of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the white officer who led the 54th Massachusetts, a black regiment.

Exhibits include the executive officer’s sea chest from the famous raider CSS Alabama and the coat worn by Catesby Jones, the CSS Virginia’s skipper, on the day of battle with the Monitor. Mounted on the wall is the “previously unknown First National Flag” from the CSS Arkansas. The eight-foot, two inch by 17-foot, one inch flag was taken aboard by the Queen of the West’s civilian engineer as the ships battled at Vicksburg in 1862. In 1999 the family donated the flag to the museum – it had remained hidden in Ohio for over a century!

Ship murals cover River Campaign Fleets, Coastal Fleets and Deep Water Fleets. Details of naval history are recorded on a timeline (you can spend a long at this display to sharpen your expertise on this subject.)

I would recommend taking at least a day to wander through this vast assembly of Civil War naval memories. Afterwards visitors are welcome to share a continued association with this Columbus landmark by joining any one of the six membership levels and it makes perfect all-occasion gifts too! As a shipmate, lieutenant, commander, captain, commodore or admiral you are entitled to free admission, museum store discount, subscription to the “Port City Ram” newsletter and a car decal. In addition, all members are included on the guest list for special events.

It is true that this museum ranks among the largest Civil War institutions in America, but it is totally unique because it is the sole location where visitors are privileged to discover the “comprehensive story of the Civil War at sea.”

Even its opening ceremony was set to coincide with the 139th anniversary of the battle staged between two ironclads, CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor in Hampton Roads, Virginia.