Life aboard the U.S.S. Cairo gunboat was full of challenges for her inexperienced crew. When they were not in battle, the men had a daily routine, kept busy with a variety of leisure time activities, and gathered in the mess to eat three meals a day.

The Crew
Daily Routine
Personal Hygiene
Meals aboard the Cairo

The Crew
A full complement for the U.S.S. Cairo consisted of 175 men. There were 17 officers and 158 sailors. The youngest crew member was 14 at enlistment and the oldest was 64. Many were immigrants.  They came from Ireland, France, England, Canada, Russia, Germany, Norway, Nova Scotia, Scotland and Sweden.  The crew's former occupations were diverse. They included a blacksmith, brewer, farmer, machinist, painter, sail maker, school teacher, stage driver, stone cutter, whip maker, and finally, a sailor.  As many serving on the Cairo and her sister ships had no prior naval experience, they had to learn the duties of manning a gunboat on board.  One sailor on the U.S.S. Carondelet wrote his brother the following: “If you are ignorant of your duties, it is nothing more than is the case with everyone, with the exception only of the Captain and a few eastern Officers… Indeed, I have been surprised to find so many totally ignorant of their duties and like myself have to pick up gradually   two thirds of them do not know anymore about their requirements than I do [Experience] is not particularly essential; …all that will be required below the Captain can be learned and performed in the course of a few weeks.”

Daily Routine
The crew had a rigid schedule. Up at 5:30 am, they dressed, and then rolled and stored their hammocks. Breakfast of hard biscuit or hard tack and coffee was served between 6:00 – 6:45 am.  Then to the top deck or hurricane deck to perform the morning ritual of scrubbing, swabbing and "holystoning" the decks. Holystoning involved using a flat stone to clean and scrape the deck of dirt and salt residue. As 1st Class Boy, 14-year old George Yost wrote in his journal, “….the decks were holy stoned until they were white as a linen sheet…”

The crew spent much of their time training on the 13 guns.  The Cairo’s armament included three 42-PDR Army Rifles, three 64-PDR Navy Smoothbores (also called 8”), six 32-PDR Navy Smoothbores and one 30-PDR Parrott Rifle. Each gun required six men for firing. Each man had to perform the duties of his assigned position flawlessly. Lieutenant Thomas O. Selfridge, Captain of the Cairo, was a strict disciplinarian who woke the crew in the middle of the night to hold surprise drills. It was critical that the men were able to respond in a safe and timely manner. Gun drill continued until 4:00 p.m. during the winter and 5:00 p.m. in the summer.

The men had free time after the evening meal. Those who could write, penned letters to their loved ones, others read. Men whittled and carved the time away. They played musical instruments, and games such as dominoes. By 9:00 p.m. those not on watch duty were expected to be asleep in their hammocks.

Personal Hygiene
Once the decks were cleaned, the men were given a brief period to clean and ready themselves for the daily inspection. Cleanliness was very important. If during an  inspection, a crewmember was found to fail, the penalty was fearful. For on the night of the offense, the offender would be ordered to strip off his clothing and he would be given a sand bath, which was extremely painful. After undergoing such harsh treatment, the offender would take extra measures so as not to repeat this offense.

Meals aboard the Cairo
Meals aboard the ironclad were usually served three times a day. The morning meal was served at 6:00 a.m. The midday meal included salted beef and beans or salted pork and beans. The evening meal was served at around 5:00 p.m. Occasionally, if it was deemed safe, the men went ashore to hunt deer. They also fished from the sides of the gunboat to supplement their meals. The men ate in messes or groups of thirteen. Officers ate separately from the enlisted men.