Jefferson Davis (Confederate Privateer Brig, 1861).
Also known as Jeff Davis

Jefferson Davis , a 187-ton brig, was built in Baltimore, Maryland, in about 1845 as the merchant vessel Putnam . As the slaver Echo , she was captured off Cuba on 21 August 1858 by USS Dolphin . Sold by the U.S. Government in January 1859 to a Charleston, South Carolina, owner, she regained the name Putnam .

In May 1861, after the outbreak of the Civil War, Putnam was renamed Jefferson Davis (or Jeff Davis ) and was commissioned as a Confederate privateer in mid-June. She left Charleston later in that month to begin an effective commerce-raiding cruise off the U.S. east coast, capturing nine merchant sailing vessels. Three of these were recaptured, three were released, one was burned and two, able to reach port in the Confederacy, were auctioned for the benefit of the privateer's owners and crew. While attempting to enter harbor at Saint Augustine, Florida, in mid-August 1861, Jefferson Davis went aground and was lost.

Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1861, depicting the recapture of the schooner S.J. Waring on 16 July 1861.
S.J. Waring had been captured by the Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis in the Atlantic on 6 July 1861. Ten days later, her African-American cook, William Tilghman, overwhelmed and killed her Confederate prize crew with an ax. He brought her into New York on 22 July 1861.

Confederate Blockade Runner 1861-65
The blockade runners of the Civil War usually began life as regular fast steam-powered merchant ships. They were adapted for the high-speed dashes through the Union blockade which closed off all the major Southern ports, and for much of the war they brought much-needed food, clothing and weaponry to the Confederacy





Confederate Submarines and Torpedo Vessels 1861-65
Interesting information and many excellent illustrations. It addresses the CSA David class torpedo boats and the Hunley (and its predecessors), as well as Union examples such as the Alligator and the Spuyten Duyvil

1860 Enfield Civil War Musketoon
This piece is a full-size non-firing reproduction of the rifle used in the Civil War. The body is made of European hardwood





Civil War Cannon
Collectible Models and childrens playsets
Miniature Collectible Civil War Cannon12 pound Civil War field cannon replica weapon

Sid Meier's Civil War Collection
Take command of either Confederate or Union troops and command them to attack from the trees, rally around the general, or do any number of other realistic military actions.



History Channel
Civil War A Nation Divided
Rally the troops and organize a counterattack -- Your strategic decision and talent as a commander will decide if the Union is preserved or if Dixie wins its independence

American Civil War Marines 1861-65
Marines wearing blue and grey fought in many dramatic actions afloat and ashore – ship-to-ship engagements, cutting-out expeditions, and coastal landings. This book offers a comprehensive summary of all such battles, illustrated with rare early photographs

Union River Ironclad 1861-65
At the start of the American Civil War, neither side had warships on the Mississippi River. In what would prove the vital naval campaign of the war, both sides fought for control of the river. While the Confederates relied on field fortifications and small gunboats, the Union built a series of revolutionary river ironclads

Kindle Available

Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine
For more than a century the fate of the Hunley remained one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Civil War. Then, on August 8, 2000, with thousands of spectators crowding Charleston Harbor, the Hunley was raised from the bottom of the sea and towed ashore.

The Story of the H.L. Hunley
During the Civil War, Union forces blockade the port of Charleston so the Confederate army seeks a way to attrack the Yankee Ships. George Dixon is part of the group of men given the task of creating and building the "fish boat," a submarine. The H.L. Hunley ultimately sets out on its mission to sink Yankee ships, but fails to return, its whereabouts unknown.

Halls of Honor
The U.S. Navy Museum takes you on an informed and entertaining romp through one of North America s oldest and finest military museums. The museum has been in continuous operation at the Washington Navy Yard since the American Civil War

Raise The Alabama
She was known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France

The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one

Civil War Journal
The Conflict Begins
These four programs from the History Channel series Civil War Journal cover critical aspects of the early days of the war.