MPL Talks: USS Michigan & the Civil War

The USS Michigan was one of the Navy’s first iron-hulled ships and it sailed the Great Lakes for more than a century.

It represented the transition between wood to iron and sail to steam. The USS Michigan also played a pivotal role in the Civil War when Confederates attempted to hijack it.

Ted Karle discussed the historic ship during our monthly Civil War program with James A. Garfield National Historic Site.

He discussed:

• the USS Michigan’s role in the assassination of James Strang
• how it was nearly hijacked during the Civil War by Confederate pirates
• how the lauded vessel ended up as scrap metal

Our Civil War series continues at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at our Main Branch. The topic will be General Winfield Scott Hancock. The talk is free and open to all.

If you’re interested in Civil War history, some other previous talks in our Civil War series can be viewed online in their entirety:

• the Civil War and the Grand Army of the Republic
• from Civil War to Civil Rights
• political cartooning during and after the Civil War