Confederate Navy Yard, Saffold
At Saffold, "accessible bu steamboats from all points on the river ", David S. Johnston operated the Southern Confederate States Navy Yard. Here the gunboat Chattahoochee was built under contract signed October 19, 1861. Lt. Catesby ap R. Jones, CSN, formerly executive and ordinance officer aboard the Virginia (Merrimack) and her commander during a portion of her battle with the Monitor, was ordered in July 1862, to Saffold to supervise completion of the Chattahoochee and to assume command of this gunboat. Lt. Jones remained with the Chattahoochee until January 1863.
May 27, 1863, the Chattahoochee, J.J. Guthrie, Lieutenant Commanding, determined to recapture the Schooner FASHION captured by the Federals below Blountstown, Fla., on the Apalachicola River. A boiler on the Chattahoochee exploded, killing sixteen of her crew. sunk to her decks after the explosion, she was raised and taken to Columbus for repairs and destroyed there by Confederates at the close of the war.
Lt. J.J. Guthrie also commanded the Naval forces at Staffold during a portion of the War Between the States
GHM 049-9 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1961
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Ken Moser.