I have been working with the Arkansas for some time now and here is what I have re: her drive shafts.

“The shafts for the two projected ironclads were ordered from Leeds and Company of New Orleans,” wrote Raimondo Luraghi in 1996. The 50-year old foundry of future mayor Charles J. Leeds and his brother Thomas L.,was also heavily engaged with both the production of ordnance and the Crescent City armorclad projects, modified and reworked a pair of shafts salvaged earlier from the wrecks of two Lower Mississippi steamboats. Contracting early for this important component from an established firm was a very prudent move. When the builder of the Louisiana approached Leeds for shafts, the manufacturer had to decline because they were “making the shafting, of pieces of shafting they had on hand, for the two boats at Memphis.”

I believe the Adams street foundry referred to by Gift was fairly adequate, along with several others in Memphis. I don't have any quibble with whether or not the machinery (save for the 7-foot diameter propellers) could have been made there. I am not certain that Shirley and Emerson had the work done at their Fort Pickering building site, which was afterall 12 miles below the town. Suspect they had it done in town and then wagoned or barged the components over for final assembly.

Confederate naval operations on the Upper Mississippi were a mush. The official senior officer was George Hollins, 'till Montgomery showed up at Fort Pillow just before Hollins went back to New Orleans to help with the defense. Hollins provided almost no support to Shirley and Emerson, being mainly concerned with countering the timberclads and later Foote's ironclads. On the other hand, much of the direction was supplied not by the CSN or Hollins but by Gen. Polk, who had at least three CSN officers working for him at various times, all lieutenants: Brown, Carter, and Guthrie. Polk wanted his own flotilla (he was rightly concerned over the Tennessee and Cumberland which Hollins didn't address) and so sent Brown to build or rebuild boats on the Tennessee and Cumberland prior to Fort Henry.

Richmond and Secretary Mallory in particuar seemed to reside in la la land re: Western naval defenses. It was, according to testimony at the 1863 Congressional hearings, not until Rep. Conrad prodded Mallory that he paid much attention to the Memphis project, being overly concerned with operations on the NC coast and at New Orleans. Pleas from Shirley for help didn't seem to help. There was one savior in the matter, however, who is often overlooked: Gen. Beauregard. In the spring of 1862 not long before Shiloh, he took an interest in the project and sent Lt. Guthrie to check out Shirley's progress. He then stayed with the boat and whatever progress was made with her from that point until Brown showed up in May was probably due to Guthrie, the future commander of the Albemarle.

Does this help or, no pun intended, muddy the water? Jack