Review - "The Old War Horse: The USS Benton on Western Waters, 1853-1865" by Myron Smith

[The Old War Horse: The USS Benton on Western Waters, 1853-1865 by Myron J. Smith, Jr. (McFarland, 2024). Softcover, maps, photos, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. Pages main/total:viii,190/264. ISBN:978-1-4766-8689-9. $49.95]

Students of Civil War naval matters associated with the West's most strategically significant inland waterways owe a great deal to Myron Smith and his prodigious body of work. The author of ten volumes published beginning in 2007 that include ship histories, vessel class histories, officer and builder biographies, operational studies, and reference guides, Smith has been remarkably prolific. Though there is considerable overlap among those wide-ranging publications, it's undeniable that the amount and quality of information conveyed inside them about the men, ships, and actions of the Union Brown Water Navy and (to a lesser extent) their western Confederate counterparts are far more than anyone has the right to expect from a single person. The value of the narrative history work is also very considerably enhanced by Smith's willingness to scour libraries and archives for relevant photographs, design drawings, period maps, and popular illustrations, all kinds of which are liberally distributed throughout the pages of his books. With the release of his eleventh title from McFarland Publishing, The Old War Horse: The USS Benton on Western Waters, 1853-1865, Smith is still going strong.

Combining new research with a deep understanding of the existing scholarship (while also building upon his own previous work), Smith's new book effectively allows the Benton's story to freshly shine amid coverage of well-trodden ground. At times the flag vessel of the Mississippi Squadron and operating under a series of commanders, the Benton's role in a number of major waterborne actions—including engagements against Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, Memphis, and Vicksburg's Yazoo and Mississippi river defenses—is recounted in great detail and in stirring fashion. Smith is the author of a standalone CSS Arkansas ship study, and this volume offers further perspective of that flawed ironclad's famous run through and past the Union river fleet. The Benton's role in combating the theater's intractable contraband trade is also discussed, along with the notoriety the ironclad earned by being among the western squadron's premier exploiters of the Navy's cotton prize system. Supplementing the relatively few photos we have of the Benton are a great number of period drawings and illustrations of the vessel in action. Day to day life aboard the Benton is not a major focus of the narrative, though aspects of it such as the effects of leadership changes and the role widespread tropical sickness played in crew health and composition are duly noted.

But the Civil War years comprise only part of Smith's research and writing efforts. While details of the squadron-level naval actions associated with the Benton are familiar to this book's intended reading audience, the ironclad vessel's own origin story, conversion process, and early history are much more likely not. Comparable in depth and insight to the aforementioned Civil War sections (and just as heavily illustrated) are those that explore the Benton's earlier career as the catamaran marine salvage vessel Submarine No. 7. In devoting so much space to the innovative vessel's prewar activities, Smith gifts readers a fascinating view into both the omnipresent dangers inherent to the West's early to mid-nineteenth century riverboat trade and the lucrative business that was built around salvaging lost vessels and their cargoes. Brilliant engineer and inventor James B. Eads, who became one of the Mississippi River Valley's wealthiest salvage company operators, is at the center of an expansive narrative that provides numerous insights into the West's river economy during the antebellum period. Though many of the cutting-edge mechanical features and systems (such as a diving bell and steam-powered winches and cranes) that went into Submarine No. 7 were removed during the warship conversion process, Smith's descriptions of them and how their workings made Eads a rich man in the steamboat salvage business comprise a fascinating side story.

Smith's in-depth discussions of Eads's struggles coordinating the vast material requirements, labor, and financing (all on a time-compressed schedule) that went into the construction of both his purpose-built City Class ironclads and the Benton conversion offer an informative window into the nuts and bolts of the U.S. government's military contracting and procurement processes, which were full of interpersonal, professional, and political-level pitfalls and challenges. Bidding and conflict of interest issues, such as those associated with Eads's success in getting the government to buy his own vessel for the conversion, are addressed as are the independent inspection and valuation procedures devised to help combat the types of fraudulent and/or unethical practices that plagued the army and navy procurement systems.

Following Smith's absorbing point by point explanation of the conversion process itself (with its meaningful insights into key design features) is an objective assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the resulting warship. As Smith reveals, the great size and punching power of the Benton proved to be both asset and limitation. Benton and the City Class ironclads shared unfortunate traits of dangerous vulnerability to plunging fire, plodding maneuverability, and suboptimal motive power, but the Benton, at nearly twice the displacement, was especially deficient in the latter two qualities. Initial tests revealed the Benton to be little better than a floating battery. In its first propulsion configuration, the Benton's insufficient power plant could not make headway against the Mississippi's current, and though it was never replaced it was reconfigured to at least offer passable upriver efficiency. A City Class ironclad could not match the Benton in total armament array, but there were places that those smaller vessels could go with a modicum of safety that the massive Benton could not.

Myron Smith's The Old War Horse is a marvelous history of the USS Benton from birth to dismantlement. For those interested in the practices and technologies involved, the book's lively and informative discussion of the steamboat salvage business is interesting enough to stand on its own. Nevertheless, it is the Civil War coverage that will draw the largest audience. In addition to providing a comprehensive account of the ironclad's warship's western river service, the book offers noteworthy contributions to our knowledge and understanding of a host of people, policies, and events associated on a wider basis with the birth and early history of the Union's Brown Water Navy.