[CIVIL WAR]. Manuscript "Fire Bill" of the CSS Savannah, with detailed instructions on dealing with a fire on board the Confederate ironclad.

4 pages, 7 15/16 x 12 11/16 in., creased, with separation and discoloration at folds and wear to edges. A list of step-by-step instructions, 14 in all, detailing how to deal with a fire aboard the ship.

Instructions outline duties for the men on the ship according to their roles and ranks, including: "3d The Executive Officer will proceed immediately to the place on Fire and give such orders as he may deem proper. The men of the Powder Division will form on the Berth Deck as they are stationed at Quarters;" "6th The Master-at-Arms will remove all combustible material from the scene of the Fire close air ports and stop all draughts;" and "The Surgeon and his Steward will be in readiness to destroy all inflamable (sic) material susceptible of ignition." The 14th and final step reads, "The Officers of the respective Divisions will enforce the strictest observance of order and silence from those under their Command and allow no one to leave his station unless by permission. Men who have not immediate duties herein assigned them will remain at their Quarters and quietly await orders from the Officers of Division."

The CSS Savannah was an ironclad steam sloop built by H. F. Willink and delivered to the Confederate Navy on June 30, 1863. The Savannah mounted four guns including two 7-inch Brooke single banded rifles and two 6.4-inch Brooke double banded rifles designed by John Mercer Brooke. She was commanded by Commander Robert F. Pinkney, who had previously commanded the CSS Livingston in Louisiana and on the Mississippi River. The Savannah carried a complement of 27 officers and 154 men. At the siege of Savannah it fired on Union troops attacking Fort Jackson. It was abandoned and burned on December 21, 1864 to keep it from falling into Union hands, an event illustrated in Harper’s Weekly: "The Destruction of the Rebel Ram, Savannah by the Enemy on the eve of the Federal Occupation of Savannah" (February 1865).

Property from William H. Itoh, collector, historian and retired Foreign Service Officer

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

[CIVIL WAR]. Manuscript "Fire Bill" of the CSS Savannah, with detailed instructions on dealing with a fire on board the Confederate ironclad.