This morning the sun came out bright and warm, as the winter storm moved on to the east.
As the J.C. Snow continued down the river, the men of the 130th Illinois Infantry took great interest in the gunboats that passed by. The men on these patrol boats always came near and shared the points where passing vessels were most likely to be fired on by guerrillas.
Charles Johnson observed that,
The sailors on the gunboats always seemed clean and well dressed, and the deck and all parts of the vessel in sight appeared neat and orderly. In more than one instance, too, it was noticed that Jack, having just done his washing, had hung it out to dry upon a line stretched upon the gunboat deck.Most of the gunboats were heavily covered with iron. However these ironclads were not all covered with the same pattern.
