By Sea And By River: The Naval History of the Civil War

Less bloody and less known than the land campaigns of the Civil War, the naval battles—and especially the naval blockade of the South—were crucial factors in the outcome of the war. The spectacular battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack marked the debut of ironclads, a revolution in naval warfare. Ships supported McClellan's Peninsula Campaign and Grant's conquest of the Mississippi Valley. The raiding of the Confederate cruisers Sumter, Florida, and Alabama, Farragut's capture of the...