UNION
Stretching some 3,734km north to south, both sides of the American Civil War recognised the Mississippi River’s strategic importance.The war for the Mississippi would be one of not just riverine naval forces but also of fortifications and gun batteries situated on its banks. US Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles approved the formation of a gunboat force to fight for control of the river. As an inland waterway, the US Army claimed jurisdiction over the Mississippi and the many other rivers that fed into it, but the navy sent experienced officers to command the boats and whip them into fighting shape.