Port Columbus

My primary reason to visit Columbus Georgia was to see Port Columbus, the National Civil War Naval museum. It was fantastic, as good as I had been led to believe. There are a ton of flags, dioramas and you can even walk onto two ships, the USS Hartford and the CSS Albemarle. The crown jewel is the CSS Jackson.

You can't walk onto the Monitor but they have a full size replica, complete with dents from its battle with the Merrimac.

There is also a plate of iron from the Monitor.To the right is the USS Hartford.

On the Hartford:

The CSS Jackson was built in Columbus but when the city was captured in 1865 the ship war burned. In 1961 it was raised from the Chattahoochee River for the Centennial. The museum has built a framework that hangs over the remains so that you can see the outline of what the ship would have been.

Its a dark picture but these are the propellers.

One can also walk onto the CSS Albemarle. On the night of October 27, 1864 Union Lieutenant William Cushing led an expedition to destroy the ship as it sat at the dock at Plymouth, North Carolina. They were successful and Cushing earned the Thanks of Congress. There is a good book about him, Lincoln's Commando by Charles Van Doren (of quiz show fame).

The museum also has a scale model of the Albemarle.

One thing I really found interesting in the Albemarle display was that you got a good view of the layers of wood and iron plates.