23. The Dummy Ironclad That Made Dummies Out of the Rebels
Union naval commander David Porter ordered the construction of a dummy ironclad out of an old coal barge. It was made to resemble a real warship, with paddle boxes, and fake gun emplacements out of which stuck “cannons”. The guns were actually wooden logs painted black, and the funnels were just barrels stacked atop one another, with smoke produced by smudge pots to mimic the output of a steam engine.
The dummy warship was then floated past Vicksburg. When word that a powerful “ironclad” was headed their way reached the Confederate salvage crews working to repair and refloat the recently captured Indianola, they panicked. In order to prevent the Indianola’s recapture, the Confederates set fire to the ship’s magazine, and blew her up, thus depriving themselves of a valuable prize.