As I continue to look into the story of the Arkansas, a point comes up that I never thought of before and hope you all can lend me your expertise. How in the world did folks load coal into the armorclad (or any of the other Confederate ironclads for that matter), as well as supplies?. I understand the City Series Eads boats used their gunports, but those ab oard the Arkansas were not as large. Was there an entry port somewhere? Thanks.