![]() Columbus, meanwhile, expanded its industrial production and began manufacturing many of the Confederate navy’s steam engines. The strategic importance of the blockade was threefold: Columbus, Georgia, one of the most industrialized cities in the Deep South, sat at the head of the navigable portion of the Chattahoochee River Apalachicola, a major shipping center, lay on the coast and a fertile cotton-growing region, the lifeblood of the Southern economy, sprawled between the two.Īpalachicola became a ghost of its antebellum self as farmers and industrialists to the north began using the railroad system to ship their goods. Within a year of the Union navy’s arrival, military and civilian life on the lower Chattahoochee ground to a frustrating standstill while engineers, officers, politicians, and businessmen upriver struggled to convert industrial strength into naval might for the Confederacy. The Union navy settled into a long, dull presence on the coast, while Confederate officers and engineers upriver struggled to build a ship that could break the blockade and restore trade to the region. However, the shallow coastline, the Chattahoochee’s unpredictable flow, and a series of management and engineering mishaps prevented the enemies from engaging in battle throughout the course of the war. ![]() In response, the Confederate navy built both a steam-powered gunship, the CSS Chattahoochee, and an ironclad, the CSS Jackson (also known as CSS Muscogee), to descend to open seas and break the blockade. Navy closed access to the Chattahoochee River system at Apalachicola, Florida, on June 11, 1861, and maintained its coastal presence there for the remainder of the war. ![]() As part of the Union naval strategy to blockade Southern ports during the Civil War (1861-65), the U.S.
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