American Naval History, 1607-1865: Overcoming the Colonial Legacy

6 The Civil War, 1861–1865 / Map of the Mississippi Valley

i The navy was caught unprepared when, in response to the election of Abraham Lincoln, the states of South Carolina, Mississippi , Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas chose to leave the Union. In early February 1861, through a self-proclaimed “Congress,” the first six states named themselves the Confederate States of America, adopted a constitution, and selected former secretary of war Jefferson Davis as their president . (Texas, awaiting the results of a referendum, did not join until the end of the month.) They had no navy of their own, but the American navy faced the challenge of blockading the rebels’ coast; once the original members were joined by the coastal states of Virginia and North Carolina and the inland states of Tennessee and Arkansas, the Confederacy had some 3,500 miles of coastline. To meet this challenge, the navy had only thirty-nine warships in commission (including a dozen in the Home Fleet), 1,500 officers (a quarter of whom left the navy when war broke out), and 7,500 seamen.1 The army’s problems were just as daunting. Although the states remaining in the Union had twice the population of The Civil War, 1861–1865 six 84 the civil war those departing, the Confederacy had the great advantage of being on the defensive. It thereby had shorter supply lines, interior lines of communication, and, for the most part, the support of local civilians. In spite of the obstacles, the North possessed a number of advantages, not all of them immediately obvious. Far more than the Union, the Confederacy inherited the colonial legacy that had for so long hindered the growth of the American army and navy: an underdeveloped economy overwhelmingly based on agriculture, a central government with inadequate funds, rivalry among its states, and a shortage of trained military and naval officers; it particularly lacked the merchant shipping, sailors, infrastructure, and public support necessary to establish an effective navy of its own. The North, in contrast, had the underpinnings of a formidable war economy , particularly when it came to the navy: a huge shipbuilding industry, one of the world’s largest iron industries, and facilities for producing arms such as the new shell guns invented by John Dahlgren, commander of the Washington Navy Yard. Its population was far larger and its transportation system , particularly railroads, was far superior to the South’s.2 It had an established naval bureaucracy, soon headed by the shrewd and forceful Gideon Welles, a former chief of the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing. Welles was able to overcome the stranglehold that tradition and seniority had put on the navy. He created new ranks such as ensign, lieutenant commander , and rear admiral (first called “flag officer”); since rear admiral appointments were open to all senior officers without regard to seniority, even a mere commander like the ambitious David D. Porter could hope for command of a fleet.3 The navy could draw on the merchant marine for officers and 85 the civil war sailors to replace those who departed. Among the officers remaining from the old navy were such bold leaders as Porter, Andrew Foote, and David G. Farragut.4 After the departure of Southern congressmen, President Lincoln had a Congress with which he could work, even though the Union (i.e., the states remaining loyal) still was plagued by political, regional , and state rivalries. Finally, and perhaps most importantly , the Union had in Lincoln a tough, decisive, and politically astute war leader who vastly expanded the power of the presidency in numerous areas from education (establishing land grant colleges) to transportation (starting work on a transcontinental railroad) to taxation. Above all, he expanded the president ’s ability to make war. In spite of the Confederacy’s enormous size (comparable in area to the Union states), it had geographical weaknesses that the Union was able to exploit. Its huge coastline made it difficult to blockade but also difficult to defend. Because of its need to import war materiel and consumer goods, it had to protect its ports; moreover, powerful local politicians insisted that troops be allocated to defend them. Thus it could not devote its resources just to protecting its long northern border. The defense of ports like Charleston drained troops from its major armies. A second problem was the American river system , which helped the Union. Washington and the Midwest were protected by...