Thomas F. (hardtack) -
A great account of the career of the U.S.S. Monitor and George Geer, a landlubber who shipped aboard her at the Monitor's commissioning and stayed aboard until the ship sunk.
Based on Geer's fascinating letters home to his wife, the story of the Monitor and the officers and seamen who served aboard her unfolds in a very human tale. Geer is eventually commissioned as third assistant engineer after the Monitor sinks and stays in the U.S. Navy until the end of the war.
Only the last chapter deals with the Monitor's discovery on the seabed and the preparations to bring her to the surface once again.
I really enjoyed Geer's letters and his numerous misspelling of words. Civil War reenactors could use this book as a guide to write those letters--complete with authentic mispellings--home or for mail call at living histories.
Based on Geer's fascinating letters home to his wife, the story of the Monitor and the officers and seamen who served aboard her unfolds in a very human tale. Geer is eventually commissioned as third assistant engineer after the Monitor sinks and stays in the U.S. Navy until the end of the war.
Only the last chapter deals with the Monitor's discovery on the seabed and the preparations to bring her to the surface once again.
I really enjoyed Geer's letters and his numerous misspelling of words. Civil War reenactors could use this book as a guide to write those letters--complete with authentic mispellings--home or for mail call at living histories.
