This volume is the reference companion to the Gibsons' award-winning study Assault and Logistics: Union Army Coastal and River Operations, 1861 - 1866. The Dictionary is an annotated, cross-indexed work with operational notes on vessels owned, chartered, or otherwise hired by the US government during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The entries describe 1,966 steamers of river and ocean classes as well as 2,003 sailing vessels.
Sample entries.
RIVAL; brig; 568 tons. Chartered Sept 7-11, 1863. [HR-337, Ocean, lake, p 86] RIVER see STONE RIVER
RIVER QUEEN; schooner; 141 tons. Seized vessel. Chartered Feb 27, 1864, for unknown period. [HR-337, Ocean, lake, p 86; Doc 17]
RIVER QUEEN; steamer; 536 tons. Chartered Dec 18, 1864-Oct 30, 1865. This vessel was the site of a meeting between Grant, Sherman, and President Lincoln in Mar 1865 at City Point, Virginia. [HR-337, Ocean, lake, p 86; Doc 17; Doc 56; Sherman; ORA, I, 42, 46]
ROANOKE; steamer; 1100 tons. Chartered Oct 5-Dec 30, 1861, during the expedition to Port Royal Sound, South Carolina. Was a troop transport during the Burnside expedition to Roanoke Island Sound, North Carolina. During storm en route, it was necessary for her to jettison a portion of her cargo. [ORN, I, 12; HR-337, Ocean, lake, p 86; Saxton list; ORA, I, 6, III, 2; IV, 1, 2]
ROANOKE; steamer; 266 tons. Pressed July 11-19, 1864. Utilized during 1865 on the Missouri and the Yellowstone rivers in part to supply Army garrisons. Was lost that Dec on the Missouri. [HR-337, Western Rivers, pp 160-227; Brown; Way]
Rob MoNroe; steamer; 382 tons. Utilized May 23, 1865, for unknown period. [Doc 56]