Thank you for posting this. Assuming the proportions are roughly correct (and they seem to be consistent with the proportions of the sister-ship), then it becomes a lot easier to understand what layout was used on her conversion into a gunboat. She has the typical river steamer forward boiler position (hidden in the sketch by cotton bales). The first issue would be protection of the boilers. What we don't know is whether they used a slanted wood casement forward of the wheels or a vertical one. In either case, they frequently lightly ironed the exterior of the boiler area. I've never seen anything on whether they used boiler plating, RR strip iron, or iron rails. We know she was laid up at Little Rock, reportedly for application of heavier ironing. Union reports on the condition of the wreck while it was still burning mentioned the presence of numerous rails on the river bottom around her. There are also Union reports that she was to be ironed over a wooden casement all the way to the wheels. There doesn't appear to have been any source of boiler plate west of the Mississippi, so it probably came from RR sources. A question arises as to whether she would have required more bracing to prevent hogging. She has a very short forward deck, but is relatively wide. It is likely that at least two of her heavier pieces would have been forward, but exposed. Other Confederate conversions sometimes used pressed cotton bales as a foredeck bulwork. The guncrews were very exposed. It also seems likely that she had a stern chaser. Both Pontchartrain and Maurepas were converted about the same time at New Orleans and according to the ORN's had an almost identical armament. At one point they are cited as having 7 guns each. A later report states 5 guns each. The question is, where did they put what were probably two boardside pieces (1 on each side)? I seem to remember that Doyle on the Arkansas tracked down several surviving guns from this vessel. I get the impression that the majority were shipped to Arkansas Post for the water batteries on the river side of the fort. Perhaps Union records may tell us what they captured. I do know that at least one of the big Confederate guns is claimed to have received a direct hit and the barrel was split.