Robert A. Mattson

I am an environmental scientist by profession, but for the past 10 years have been active in the Civil War Living History/Re-enacting hobby, portraying a Union Navy Seaman with the USS Ft. Henry Living History Association. The Ft. Henry was a New York City ferryboat purchased by the U.S. Navy at the beginning of the Civil War and converted into a gunboat. Our group specializes in interpretation of Union Navy and Marine personnel in the Civil War. In addition, for the past 5 years I have been a contributing blogger to the "Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial," an official U.S. Navy web site which spotlights historic and current events related to the Union and Confederate Navies in the Civil War during the 150th Anniversary of the war observed 2011-2015. Between my research to accurately portray a Union Seaman at living history events and my contributions to the CWN150 Blog, I wondered if I could put together a book describing the activities of the U.S. and C.S. Navies in Florida during the war. There are other great books out there which do this, but many only cover one region of Florida. I hope my contribution adds to the existing scholarship on the Navies in Florida during the war and certainly hope that you enjoy reading the accounts in the book.