I think there could be some fun, swashbuckling movies that could be made out of naval battles on rivers, running flotillas past confederate forts, the emergence of ironclads, etc. Bailey's Dam is a fun story www.crt.state.la.us/dataprojects...

Also the USS Kearsarge fighting the CSS Alabama in the English Channel off the coast of Cherbourg, France in front of a crowd of onlookers.