One compelling story of the American Civil War is that of the steamer Nashville. One naval historian described the ship as “a ghost that for months ran the sea lanes of the globe with scores of ships on her trail.” Originally a mail ship for the Union, the Nashville would serve as a raider, a blockade runner, and even a privateer- because, don’t all good stories involve pirates?
During the civil war, the manufacture of powder and explosives was often handled by the most vulnerable, young women and children, whose labor was needed when so many men had been sent off to war. On March 13, 1863, the confederacy experienced a munitions disaster, in the confederate capitol of Richmond.