Third Friday Presents: Tracking Aviation's Trailblazers: By the Waterways
Friday, May 16th at 7pm
Joseph Gamble presents his research on a little-known Civil War gunboat fleet from Chicago.
With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the US Navy realized it would need a fleet of gunboats to control the western rivers from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. To furnish the sailors and equipment for this fighting 'brown water navy' the city of Chicago took up the challenge. While the connections between Chicago and the Union Army are well-documented, the city's impact on the Naval service has often been overlooked.
This presentation will showcase new research on the impact and experiences of Chicago sailors in the Western Gunboat Fleet during the Civil War.
Speaker Joseph Gamble is an associate at the McCormick Bridgehouse Museum, and has a background in history and archaeology. He relocated from his home of East Tennessee to Chicago in 2024.