Dale Cox's Civil War in Florida blog had an entry about Confederate sailor Lorenzo Coonrod who served aboard the CSS Chattahoochee. The Chattahoochee was commissioned January 1, 1863 at the Confederate Naval Yard at Saffold, Georgia, after taking eighteen months to build. It was the most powerful Confederate vessel to operate in Florida waters
Lt. Catesby ap R. Jones was the commander. He and several officers and men had been aboard the CSS Virginia in its famous battle against the USS Monitor in 1862.
Lorenzo Coonrod had been drafted into the Confederate Army but transferred to the Navy. The Chattahoochee took its maiden voyage on the Apalachicola River in January 1863. Coonrod was aboard when the terrible boiler explosion occurred at Blountstown May 27, 1863, during a hurricane, but Lorenzo was uninjured. Eighteen others, however, died.
He was later assigned to the squadron at Savannah, but became ill and spent most of the last year off duty. After the war, he lived in Jackson County and was one of three known former Chattahoochee crew members buried there.
I recommend Mr. Cox's blog which has much information on a state that is usually overlooked. http://civilwarflorida.blogspot.com
Confederate Brown Water Navy.
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