Shawn,

Thank you for the response! Johnston was extremely well connected, which is what led to his contract to build the Chattahoochee in 1861 (even though he had absolutely no experience). He also was involved in the salvage operation after the accidental boiler explosion on the Chattahoochee in 1863 and did work on other steamers on the river that year as well.

I suspect he planned to use boilers and engines from river steamers, as there were a ton of them sitting idle on the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola at that point.

Due to his earlier construction project and the size of his plantation, Johnston had a large force of enslaved laborers with experience at boat building. In addition, records indicate that detachments of Confederate militia and reserves were regularly stationed at his yard.

I have a Eufaula, Alabama, newspaper article from 1864 indicating that Johnston had signed contracts to build two vessels and another from the Marianna, Florida newspaper that year reporting that work had begun. In addition, either he or one of his neighbors seemed to enjoy heckling the officers at the shipyard in Columbus, Georgia, by writing letters to newspapers there touting his ability to actually finish ships.

The efforts on the Chattahoochee were extremely slow. Johnston actually finished the Chattahoochee, and the crews at Columbus finished the Viper (a torpedo boat). The Jackson had been launched by the time of Wilson's raid and was finally within weeks of completion. The three boats, along with several converted river steamers, would have given them a fairly powerful flotilla to send down to Apalachicola, but they ran out of time.

Dale