This model is of an ironclad City Class river gunboat; the boats were 175 feet long, 51 feet wide and weighed 512 tons; the crew consisted of 251 officers and men. The boats were built by James B. Eads & Company, St. Louis, Missouri, at a cost of $89,000 each; armament varied according to what was available at the time they were built. The boats were vital to the Union war effort on the western rivers, being used to patrol and keep rivers open for Union forces and to lay siege to shore areas such as Vicksburg.
Examples of City Class river gunboats include USS Carondelet, USS Cincinnati, USS Louisville, and USS St. Louis. At the end of the war they were decommissioned, with the majority being sold for scrap.
It is unknown when and by whom the model was built.
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30287
