"One fleet, slightly used." Was lowkey the best thing in this episode.

During the battle of Island #10, there was an amusing incident that can be found in the official archives. The battle took place just upstream from New Madrid on the TN/ KY border where there was an S-curve in the river. There was a battery that looked straight up the river and that was getting attention from the Bombardment barges as first threat. At one point the Union forces stopped firing and the battery commander watched a small steam boat approach is battery under a flag of truce and inquire about terms of surrender. The battery Lt. was confused and asked what the union officer was talking about. The union officer, now confused basically said,”Sir, your battery is flying the white flag. Don’t you want to surrender?” The confederate looked to his signal flag he had been using to communicate with the local headquarters and realized to his chagrin that the flag was white. There was then an apologetic conversation about the improper use of a white flag to communicate with the rear and that he had no intentions to surrender. I can imagine the Union officer had a bit of a chuckle at the mistake. He then apologized for his mistaken intent, went back up stream and the bombardment continued. When I read this in the Official archives, I had a good laugh at the absurdity of it and show the weird things that can happen in war. This report is in the archives (it was on a right hand page) but I read it back in the early nineties so I may be wrong about some of the details. Edit: I am familiar with many of the etiquette of the time period and the above incident a great example of those courtesies in action. For those who would like to look into this, I believe it was a report from the Confederate officer and should be found in the Confederate's records. Further Edit: See below for post with sited report per official archives

"This time we are going to talk about an interesting subject" You make it sound like interesting subjects are the exception rather than the rule here. :P

The guest is talking just like he is fighting a Demon inside trying to possess him.

"Spoilers: The Union won" - Drach *Surprised Pikachu face*

There is one Civil War ironclad still in existence which can be visited, the USS Cairo was raised from the mud of the Yazoo in the 1960s and is currently housed at the Vicksburg National Monument.

"Put your faith in God and gunboats." Americans are second only to the Spartans in war-time rhetoric.

"But Have Ironclad" -Jefferson Davis when Lee surrendered

That the Union had functional ironclads 1000 miles inland prior to the Battle of Hampton Roads has always been one of my favorite obscure history facts. So excited to see you covering the Brown Water Navy.

"Row row row your boat, gentle down the ri.." *_BOOM_*

Hunley is technically still "sunk", only in a tank of treated water in a preservation lab.

the fact that the Union Navy was able to go from a few ships to being able to blockade THE ENTIRE SOUTH in a few short years is mind boggling because you had to have people, ships, ships to supply those ships, people on those ships, and so on and so forth, and they started with next to nothing

The Battle of Vicksburgs was brilliant and it is still being studied for the hybrid warfare in terms of amphibious operations.

There’s a life-sized mock-up of the USS Monitor at the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, Virginia as a part of their Monitor exhibit. This also includes mock-ups of the Monitor’s turret when it was first discovered and what it was like prior to it sinking. I know about this because I was there opening day of the exhibit with my reenacting unit.

At Vicksburg, you can see the remains of the USS Cairo that was sunk and recovered in more recent times. As it was under river silt, there were lots of artifacts recovered.

Maybe when you discuss maps again have like small arrows pointing at the river or location because I had a hard time following on the map.

As a 40 year enthusiast of Civil War ironclads I didnt know I needed you to do this until you did it.

Union: **Walks into New Orleans** This is mine now.

I never thought a Drach video would ever mention my neck of the woods since I'm so far inland, but here we are. I'll even let that 'Nashville not as important as New Orleans' swipe slide.

The one thing I liked about this period.. when I was young.. was that you could make models of the monitors in about 5 minutes..

Cottonclads, now that's one hell of a trade off, stop/reduce iron shot damage at the expense of inflammable armour 😏

Great to hear Sean Chick! His book on Petersburg is a must read for Civil War buffs. My great-great grandfather was there with the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry so I had a special interest. His contribution here on the river campaigns was just fabulous and I am so glad you had him on!

Did not know that the Union had armored warships other than monitors. Very cool.

World: the civil war Will see the development of the ironclad. Confederacy: introduces cottonclads.

The funny thing about river-based warfare in that era is that they could more or less slap shit together and put it into the water, stick a gun on it, and it'd have a use. So all sorts of crazy ideas and improvised measures were used, and could actually be affordably employed by both sides.

When he said "It was one of the Confederacy's main sources of beef" I thought he meant "beef" like "disagreement".... I think I need to go get a coffee.

Confederate shipbuilding be like: Oi, boss! Look what the Mekboy has come up with!

When you guys talk about personalities being important during this war it’s even true for senior officers on opposing sides! A lot of officers above colonel knew each other personally.

This expert guest dude is such a great storyteller! Could listen to him talk about stuff for hours

General Winfield Scott to Lincoln: My Anaconda Plan don’t, my Anaconda Plan don’t want none. Until you give it ironclads and guns, hun.

Things I did not expect to learn watching Drach: US Geography!!

I think it's an artifact of the microphone, but Sean's voice seems to drop register and get really deep occasionally and it's a little freaky. I imagine it would give me a bad acid trip, if I was, you know, on acid. Other than that, great video, love Drach's work hope he keeps it up!

There's a full size replica of CSS Neuse in Kingston, North Carolina, along with the remains of the original ship.

Would love to see a video on the Confederate gun boat CSS Pee Dee. The state of South Carolina has been doing a lot of archeological work in rediscovering her and raising her three cannons out of the Pee Dee River near Florence, SC.

Battle of Memphis, Union Commander: "I'm going to imitate Nelson and defeat the Rebels!" Confederate Sniper: Sees him and shoots him! Therefor the Union Commander did indeed imitate Nelson!!!

I always love your longer form documentaries about these niche topis. Keep up the amazing work!

Few people has a voice fit to documentaries more the drach. Love hearing him explain things 😍

I love Sean's streams with Thersites. Excellent choice of guest, Drach.

What I'm taking away from this is that McClellan was *WAY* more important in riverine combat than I thought.

US Army and Navy cooperating-WW2 Japanese military men must have been sick the day that part was covered in class...

Both the wrecks of the CSS Neuse (Albemarle Class Ironclad Ram) and the CSS Jackson another casemate Ironclad have been raised and are on display in North Carolina and Georgia respectively. The Monitor’s turret, guns, engine, screw, etc. are raised from the Atlantic off Cape Hatteras and are on Display in Norfolk Virginia. The Cairo as mentioned is also above water in the Vicksburg Military Park. The CSS Neuse in addition to being preserved in a climate controlled museum, has a FULL SCALE wooden replica built just a few blocks from the museum that you can tour on Saturdays for FREE. I have been recently and it was amazing to step onboard a replica of a Civil War Ironclad and if your even near Kinston North Carolina I highly recommend you see both the raised wreck and the replica!

Absolutely love this episode, love hearing my home state of Louisiana being talked about in depth.

Sean Chick is a big contributor to the KZfaq channel "Thersites The Historian". Sean is a good guy and knows more about the U.S. Civil War than anyone. But he is also fairly knowledgeable about history in general. He also knows alot about the Napoleonic Wars.

Looking at the armored trains of this time I was struck by the cross over between the armour on river boats and the armour on the trains. So you will see the use of cotton bales to protect some Confederate trains and railroad rails one some Federal trains.

I'm so glad you mention the James River. So many people forget anything that isn't the Mississippi because of the Anaconda Plan. But the James is strategically imperative because of Richmond. I've spent summers in Richmond and I've seen the James with my own eyes. There are places in modern Richmond, mere miles from the old city, where it would be easy to land troops. The Confederates can't let the Union forces anywhere near there. As our guest says, the real strength of the Confederate river combat was the use of coastal artillery. You've mentioned before, Drach, that for most of history, coastal artillery trumps warships. It's more stable and usually big. This is true in the Civil War too. Cliff side artillery is devastating.

This guy's voice all if a sudden drops like 3 octaves... is he letting his demon out?

I would be interested in a video on the Monitor class as a whole. Looking at the photographic record with an amateur's eye , the later variations appear to me to be substantial improvements on the prototype. The question of seaworthiness interests me especially given the fate of the USS Monitor. It seems a lucky thing that the Monitor's original trip to Hampton Roads did not end its career early! Presumably all monitors would have to make similar fraught journeys from shipyard to station.

Iron clad Drach on a Wednesday is a good Wednesday well spent. The fun stories are an added bonus.

Am I the only person that much prefers videos with drach narrating the entirety. Not to disparage any of the guests but I definitely prefer 100% pure drach crack

Great video. Could we have a video on the Royal Navy's own riverine warfare efforts on the Yangtze River?

Nashville, while not as important as New Orleans, was still important as a town with BOTH kinds of music.

Yeeeeeesssss, I've been waiting for something like this!! The ACW naval scene, and the Brown Water theatre in particular is a huge interest of mine, so thank you for doing this and thank you for Sean Chick for helping you discuss it!

Love the name of this episode. Had me smiling before we even got to the juicy naval history

It was a Civil War because everyone used their best manners during the fighting. Pinkies extended during bayonet charges!

One of the most important factors for the Union in controlling the major rivers was there function as stable supply lines and avenues for military offensives which could not be disrupted by confederate cavalry and guerillas

Great, often overlooked, subject.

Is it me, or did the recording of this make the guest Sean Chick, at times, sound a bit like he was possessed?

While it is not a particularly well known river in the US, the James River is a fairly large one, in breadth if not in length. I work right on the river near were it empties into the Chesapeake Bay, and the river is just over 5 miles wide from bank to bank at that point.

The Tyler and Lexington came up the Tennessee River during the Battle of Shiloh, and fired on the South, Thus relieving the pressure on my great grandfather who was wounded earlier in the day defending for the North. Excellent production, Thank you Drach and Sean!!

The way in which Grant's Ironclads ran the vaunted Vicksburg defenses on the Mississippi River was quite a stroke of genius. Apparently, the fort guns couldn't deflect down far enough to cover the river bank closest to the city.

Drach gets his civil war info first person via exorcism.

If and when you are able to come over to the states, I would gladly show you around the Richmond/Petersburg area; Drewry's Bluff, Tredegar Iron Works, City Point, and the remnants of the William Trigg Shipbuilding Company

The CSS Hunley was found intact in the outer extent of Charleston Harbor. The wreck was so complete that the bodies of the final crew were found at their duty stations. The gold piece mentioned at 1:03:44 is on display at the very neat museum/preservation facility where the Hunley and many artifacts are on excellent display. It is worth a trip to see; not to be confused with the so-so sub-scale replica at the entrance to the Charleston Museum on Meeting Street.

This is how I know it's Wednesday. Coffee and one of my favorite subjects- Our Civil War.

An interesting book covering some of the river campaigns is 'Ironclad Captain: Seth Ledyard Phelps and the U.S. Navy 1841-1864' by Jay Slagle. It is many years since I've read it but I very much enjoyed reading it when I used it for my Advanced Higher History dissertation in school many years ago

I’m s simple man. I see a Drach video, I sip my tea or coffee and press play.

The "Brown Water Navy" has always been of interest. IN the past I have read a book by Gary Joiner and one by Angus Konstam on the subject. During 1967, after having been drafted, the US Army sent me to Ft Eustis, VA which is on the James River between Newport News and Williamsburg. There I learned how to operate landing craft and tug boats.

McClellan would’ve been a great chief of staff for a “fighting” general.

I live near Petersburg in Virginia. I have been to the battlefield site. One can still see the remnant of The Crater.

Union General Fremont was the first to order the building of ironclads by the conversion of salvage vessels on the Ohio River.

The Monitor was actually found off the coast of North Carolina past the Outer Banks. It is currently undergoing the long process of restoration (as much as can be done) at the Mariner's Museum in Hampton, VA. The same museum has a replica of the CSS Virginia. This is the museum you showed at 1:05:15

I never ever ever expected Sean to be on here, I was like, WTF, love his channel though.

Thanks For another fascinating episode … The Virginia WVA highlands is the Home of some of the most beautiful river Basins The Potomac … the James … the Roanoke … the New “ironically the worlds 2nd oldest and north flowing ‘ and the Holsten … this area is also rich in coal , iron , lead , and potassium nitrate … the local Railroad Bridge over the New wasn’t captured until the last week of the war …The James River Canals Went as far north as what is now the I81 corridor …and the Potomac canal was Washington’s pet project

my favorite quote the captain of the Arkansas , barely moving with asthmatic engine descent the Mississipi alone past the whole union fleet everybody start madly shooting with much friendly fire hits while the Arkansas was firing at a solid wall of armor-clad on both boards "I proceeded without the chance to miss an enemy or hitting a friend "

Probably the best episode yet. Very fascinating. So glad this is a series

"I shall commission my own gunboat"-Drachinifel...You heard him, man your patreon stations!(disclaimer Drac in no way condones me doing this...I just want it to happen lol🤣)

Great discussion, but in Part 2 can you go over the use of shipborne mortars on Confederate defense works?

I was only about 8 when an older friend turned me on to history. Scouring the history shelves of the public library, I found a book about the naval part of the American Civil War. It was not written for children and was way above my reading level, but I fought my way through it. I think my mother started having me fit for a children’s straight jacket. It had lots of maps, pictures and illustrations. I remember seeing pictures of the USS Cairo and CSS Manassas and saying, „Cool!“. 54 years later, I‘m still fascinated.

In WW2, I'm pretty sure British General Slim requisitioned some ships for his army in Burma. He named one of them after his daughter. The British Admiralty weren't happy with this as only they get to name HM ships. I'm pretty sure I read it in Slim's book "Defeat into Victory." Great book. Great video as always

Thanks Drach, for my Wednesday night( in Tasmania) dog walking time entertainment😀 you never fail to come up with the goods, and give me an excuse to keep on walking and listening.

I've been to the Cairo at Vicksburg, fascinating museum in the park.

the pictures of ships during this period are fantastic.

Very interesting talk, I very much appreciated it. Our thanks to Sean for sharing his time and expertise!

Well shit, Sean Chick. This is probably the closest we’ll get to a Drachinifel and Thersites The Historian crossover.

It's awesome, seeing Sean on this channel. He often makes videos with the youtube channel Thersites the Historian and did some extensive tier lists about Japanese and allied Admirals in the Pacific, for example.

The log jam that Captain Shreve removed on the Red River was about 160 miles long and is believed to have been there since the 12th century. It’s removal spurred the development of some of the first steam powered “snagboats” where a steam crane lifted the logs from the jam. Also recommend American Battlefield trust and Atun-shei films for more US civil war history videos.

Well done. Thank you! "General Banks, the fleet is stranded in the Red River and capture is imminent!" "Impossible! I have a map here that clearly shows a blue line on it!"

love all the armored sidewheelers, its absolutely absurd

Wonderful presentation, thank you, Drach.

A fascinating look at the American Civil War Navy. One of the most interesting periods in Naval History.

I'm really glad I discovered this one after listening to part 2 - great content as always, thank you 😁

Drach, when you do make it to the United States you absolutely must see Vicksburg. The physical space of the city and river must be seen to appreciated.

This Civil War was such an interesting conflict.

Thanks for inviting Sean to discuss the war on the rivers. Joint warfare during the Civil War is very interesting and I’m looking forward to the 2nd installment.

Yay, they mentioned shiloh, my ancestors lived there before and after the battle

14:40 everyone thought about how Hornblower destroyed that army in Spain using Sutherland's great guns against them.

This is going to be an interesting series. The guy you were talking too, though... was his voice dipping low because of connection issues, or is he a lizard person?

I like WW2 battles and big gun ship designs. All really started here. Another interest is the Texas Navy. Small junk boats asked to shoot above their grade.

I just got into Drachinifeld recently as I love his coverage of navel history and it being something I wanted to learn more about subscribed. I was very pleasantly surprised to hear Sean Chick on as I am a big fan of listening to him and Thersites talk about military history and the like, history in general really. So I am happy to hear two informed and lively entertaining people hash it out for over an hour while I game away in my living room.

Not "up the creek with paddles"? Great stuff though. The river war in the ACV is very interesting and important to the campaign yet so little spoken of compared to the big land battles.