The Pirate Steamer Nashville, lying at the R.R. Bridge on the Ogeechee River. [February 1863]. Pencil on paper. Titled to lower margin. Inscription to upper left: "From a sketch from a deserter from Savannah via Ogeechee River." A slightly altered version of the sketch was published in the 14 March 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly, attributed to "a Naval Officer."

A wartime sketch of the famed "CSS Nashville" turned privateer ship "Rattlesnake." A slightly altered version of this sketch was published in the 14 March 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly, attributed to "a Naval Officer." Though unsigned, this piece may have been produced or procured by the artist Theodore Davis (1840–1894). Other sketches by Davis originally accompanied this example.

The Nashville was originally a United States Mail Service ship built in 1853, running between New York City and Charleston, South Carolina. She sailed into Charleston harbor without flying the American flag in 1861 and was fired upon by the USRC Harriet Lane, making her the recipient of the first naval shot of the Civil War. After the surrender of Fort Sumter, she docked at Charleston and was captured by Confederate forces. Outfitted as cruiser, the CSS Nashville became a blockade runner under the command of Lieut. Robert B. Pegram.

On 28 February 1862, the Nashville was sold to privateers to continue blockade running under the new designation "Thomas L. Wragg." On 4 November 1862, she was commissioned as the privateer Rattlesnake. Shortly thereafter in February 1863, she ran aground in the Ogeechee River, near Savannah, Georgia. There, on 28 February 1863, she was destroyed by the USS Montauk.

An excellent Civil War sketch from the battlefront that was eventually published in Harper's Weekly.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Art, Sketches, Battlefield Art, Harper's Weekly, Ephemera, Prints, Newspapers]