In this Book
- War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861-1865
- Book
- 2012
- Published by: The University of North Carolina Press
- Series: Littlefield History of the Civil War Era
summary
Although previously undervalued for their strategic impact because they represented only a small percentage of total forces, the Union and Confederate navies were crucial to the outcome of the Civil War. In War on the Waters, James M. McPherson has crafted an enlightening, at times harrowing, and ultimately thrilling account of the war's naval campaigns and their military leaders.
McPherson recounts how the Union navy's blockade of the Confederate coast, leaky as a sieve in the war's early months, became increasingly effective as it choked off vital imports and exports. Meanwhile, the Confederate navy, dwarfed by its giant adversary, demonstrated daring and military innovation. Commerce raiders sank Union ships and drove the American merchant marine from the high seas. Southern ironclads sent several Union warships to the bottom, naval mines sank many more, and the Confederates deployed the world's first submarine to sink an enemy vessel. But in the end, it was the Union navy that won some of the war's most important strategic victories--as an essential partner to the army on the ground at Fort Donelson, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Mobile Bay, and Fort Fisher, and all by itself at Port Royal, Fort Henry, New Orleans, and Memphis.
McPherson recounts how the Union navy's blockade of the Confederate coast, leaky as a sieve in the war's early months, became increasingly effective as it choked off vital imports and exports. Meanwhile, the Confederate navy, dwarfed by its giant adversary, demonstrated daring and military innovation. Commerce raiders sank Union ships and drove the American merchant marine from the high seas. Southern ironclads sent several Union warships to the bottom, naval mines sank many more, and the Confederates deployed the world's first submarine to sink an enemy vessel. But in the end, it was the Union navy that won some of the war's most important strategic victories--as an essential partner to the army on the ground at Fort Donelson, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Mobile Bay, and Fort Fisher, and all by itself at Port Royal, Fort Henry, New Orleans, and Memphis.
Table of Contents
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- Introduction
- pp. 1-10
- One: Mobilizing for War
- pp. 11-30
- Two: Establishing the Blockade
- pp. 31-49
- Three: We’ve Got New Orleans
- pp. 50-69
- Four: The River War in 1861–1862
- pp. 70-95
- Five: The Confederacy Strikes Back
- pp. 96-117
- Six: Nothing but Disaster
- pp. 118-134
- Seven: A Most Signal Defeat
- pp. 135-153
- Eight: Unvexed to the Sea
- pp. 154-169
- Ten: From the Red River to Cherbourg
- pp. 187-206
- Eleven: Damn the Torpedoes
- pp. 207-223
- Conclusion
- pp. 224-226
- Acknowledgments
- pp. 227-228
- Bibliography
- pp. 253-268
Additional Information
ISBN
9781469601588
Related ISBN(s)
9780807835883, 9780807837320, 9780807838150, 9781469622842
MARC Record
OCLC
966854588
Pages
288
Launched on MUSE
2017-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No