Joseph M. Jones Steamboat Collection
"The first Lafayette, a sidewheel steamer built at St. Louis, Mo., in 1848 as Aleck Scott (often spelled Alick Scott), was purchased by the War Department as Fort Henry 18 May 1862 for use in the western flotilla; converted to an ironclad ram at St. Louis; renamed Lafayette 8 September 1862; transferred to the Navy with the entire western flotilla by executive order 1 October 1862; and commissioned at Cairo, III., 27 February 1863, Capt. Henry Walke in command." For more information, please see the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
