When most people think of the Civil War they envision large armies clashing at notable battlefields such as Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Of equal importance were the numerous contributions of the US Navy which secured the nation's rivers, choked the Confederate economy through the blockade, and protected American commerce. Helping to support these efforts was USS Constellation (left). The last of its kind, the all-sail warship provided invaluable service first combating the slave trade off Africa and then protecting commerce in the Mediterranean. Now preserved as a museum ship in Baltimore, Constellation is an icon of a bygone age.

Photograph Courtesy of the USS Constellation Museum, Baltimore, MD.