In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Mr. Lincoln’s Brown Water Navy: The Mississippi Squadron
  • Spencer C. Tucker
Mr. Lincoln’s Brown Water Navy: The Mississippi Squadron. By Gary D. Joiner . Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7425-5098-8. Maps. Photographs. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xiii, 198. $24.95.

The Union inland (brown water) navy played an important role in the North's victory in the Civil War. Operating in close coordination with the Union army, it won control of the great Western rivers, severed the Trans-Mississippi West from the remainder of the Confederacy, and secured the support of the Midwest for the Union war effort. Gary Joiner's new book is a fine introduction to this often overlooked but critical theater of war.

Joiner is an assistant professor of history at Louisiana State University at Shreveport and director of the Red River Regional Studies Center. He has written two excellent books on the 1864 Red River Campaign. In this well-researched and crisply written overview, Joiner examines the entire Union naval effort in the West.

Joiner's first chapter traces the history of the U.S. Navy from the War of 1812 to 1860. He then turns to a discussion of Union naval strategy at the beginning of the war, especially U.S. Army General in Chief Lieutenant General Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan and the army's decision to proceed with the construction of ironclads for operations in the West. Remaining chapters proceed more or less chronologically, beginning with the Battle of Belmont and proceeding through the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson and Island No. 10, the Union assault on the Mississippi River's mouth, the capture of New Orleans, and the role of the navy (often overlooked) in the campaign against Vicksburg. The book's last chapter details the fiasco of the Red River Campaign.

Joiner provides excellent short portraits of some of the leading figures of the naval war. These include Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles; Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox; and James B. Eads, who built the Union's first ironclads. Surprisingly, other equally important figures, such as [End Page 247] Andrew Hull Foote, David Dixon Porter, and James G. Farragut do not receive the same treatment, although they are certainly mentioned frequently in the text.

Joiner is at his best when he is discussing strategy and the sometimes stormy army-navy relationships. His second chapter detailing the construction of the first ships of the Union river flotilla is especially strong. In his discussion of naval ordnance Dahlgren guns did indeed appear in larger than 13-inch size. The 15-inch gun found its way into the turrets of the larger monitors. There were even two monster 20-inch Dahlgrens, which, however, did not see wartime service. The navy also did not employ breechloading rifled guns. Indeed, Dahlgren's rifled muzzle-loaders proved a failure and were later withdrawn from service. The most successful common large rifled gun aboard ship was the muzzle-loading Parrott, although Dahlgren rifled muzzle-loading boat howitzers (3.4- and 4-inch) did render effective service. Also, it is worth pointing out that Brigadier General Gideon Pillow threw away an opportunity for the Confederates to escape from Fort Donelson when he chose to continue the attack against the Union lines in the belief that he might win a complete victory over Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant's forces. He might easily have held open the escape route to Nashville and this could have had great consequences for the subsequent Battle of Shiloh. Such quibbles aside, this is an excellent short introduction to the often-neglected yet vitally-important naval war in the West.

...

pdf

Share