As surprising as it may sound, Indiana actually did play a naval role in the American Civil War. Indiana’s southern border is, of course, the Ohio River, and during an age when goods of every description were moved primarily by water, southern Indiana bustled with shipyards and shipping. During the Civil War, ships built in Indiana were taken into the U.S. river squadrons, and although a landlocked state (lacking an ocean coastline) in the heart of the Midwest, Indiana contributed a total of 1,078 Hoosier men to the Union Navy and Marines during the War.

Of the Indiana-built ships, one was featured in a national newspaper and soon became a popular and enduring symbol of the conversion of hundreds of civilian ships for military duties during the Civil War; it was also involved in the destruction of one of the Confederacy’s most powerful ironclads. Three Hoosier-built ships served the Confederacy before being re-captured and “drafted” into the U.S. Navy—one of these being captured by another Indiana-built ship! Another was involved in a battle that produced two Medals of Honor among her crew; and one served as flagship for the Navy’s Mississippi Squadron. At the October meeting, Indianapolis Civil War Round Table Vice President Steve Hill will discuss these ships and Indiana’s overall naval contributions in a presentation of words and pictures.