The Essex was originally the ferryboat New Era at St. Louis where she was purchased by the Army for conversion to a gunboat. She was originally furnished with a six-sided, open topped casemate of timber and armed with three 9" Dahlgren SBs. She operated like this from Sept. 1861 to Nov. 1861. She was then rebuilt into a more conventional, armored casemate gunboat and her armament increased to three 9" Dahlgren SBs, one 32 pdr, and one 10" Dahlgren SB. The Essex operated in this configuration from Dec. 1861 until Feb. 1862, but was too slow and unmanueverable, so she was sent back for one more rebuild. This time, about fifty feet was added to her length and she received better engines and a larger, taller casemate. This was her final configuration except for the addition of deckhouses fore and aft of her wheelhouse. The configuration shown in the picture is as she appeared in 1862.

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