Confederate Navy Yard, Saffold

At Saffold, "accessible by 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 Chatahoochee, 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 Saffold during a portion of the War Between the States.