James
This is from "Guns on the Western Waters". "We were not a day too soon, for the now rapid fall of the river (Yazoo) rendered it necessary for us to assume the offensive without waiting for the appartus to bend the railway iron to the curve of our quarter and stern, and to the angles of the pilot house. Though there was little thought of showing the former, the weakest part, to the enemy, we tacked boiler plate iron over it for appearance sake, and very imperfectly covered the pilot house shield with a double thickness of one inch bar iron." The author was quoting Captain Brown.
Chuck Lee