National Civil War Naval Museum

The National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus, located in Columbus, Georgia, is a 40,000 square foot facility that features two original American Civil War military vessels, uniforms, equipment and weapons used by the Union and Confederate navies. It is the only museum in the nation that tells the story of the two navies during the Civil War.

Origin

The museum opened in 1962 at 202 4th Street in Columbus as the James W. Woodruff, Jr. Confederate Naval Museum, named after the man whose financial support made the museum a reality. In March 2001, the museum relocated to it's present $8 million facility at 1002 Victory Drive and received a new name to reflect new exhibits that showcase both the Union and Confederate navies.

Exhibits

The highlight of the museum is the 180-foot hull of the CSS Muscogee (also known as the CSS Jackson), an ironclad ram put to fire in the Chattahoochee River by the Union troops of Gen. James H. Wilson and recovered from the bed of the river in the 1960s. Also on display are what's left of the CSS Chattahoochee and an intact rowboat from the USS Hartford. Two models of the warships USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (the former USS Merrimack), used in the Turner Broadcasting film Ironclads, and recreated full-scale sections of three other civil war-era warships are among the hundreds of Civil War artifacts located in the museum. There is also a battle experience theater that will put visitors right in the middle of a Civil War battle and an interactive Confederate ironclad ship simulator offering visitors an opportunity to experience 19th century naval combat first hand.

A large Civil War naval flag exhibit is the newest addition to the museum. According to executive director Bruce Smith, it is the largest display of navy related flags from the Civil War anywhere in the nation. Fourteen flags representing ships and forts from the entire scope of the Civil War are seen in this new exhibit, which is entitled “Ramparts to Topmast: Flags of Triumph and Despair.”

USS/CSS Water Witch project

The museum has just made plans to construct a full scale reproduction of the USS/CSS Water Witch, using her original plan drawings. At more than 160 feet in length, the ship will become a new landmark in Columbus. The masts will be nearly 90 feet tall and plans call for the ship's massive side paddle wheels to actively turn and for smoke to billow from the smokestack.

The original Water Witch was stationed as a Union blockader in Savannah, Georgia during the war and was captured during a Confederate Navy commando raid in 1864 and put into service for the Confederacy. The story of the Water Witch is compelling because she served the navies of both sides during the course of the war, and also because her capture was led in-part by an African-American Confederate pilot, Moses Dallas.

Other activites at Port Columbus

The museum holds an annual symposium, summer camps, and living history programs among the other special events it schedules throughout the year. Another part of the rapidly growing Port Columbus operation is site rental. The museum regularly rents out its galleries for various events from weddings to business meetings.