War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861-1865

by James M. McPherson

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469622842
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/01/2015
Series:	Littlefield History of the Civil War Era
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	434,228
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

James M. McPherson taught U.S. history at Princeton University for forty-two years and is author of more than a dozen books on the era of the Civil War. His books have won a Pulitzer Prize and two Lincoln Prizes.

Hometown:

Princeton, New Jersey

Date of Birth:

October 11, 1936

Place of Birth:

Valley City, North Dakota

Education:

B.A., Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, MN) 1958; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1963

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Mobilizing for War 15

2 Establishing the Blockade 47

3 We've Got New Orleans 79

4 The River War in 1861-1862 111

5 The Confederacy Strikes Back 153

6 Nothing but Disaster 189

7 A Most Signal Defeat 218

8 Unvexed to the Sea 249

9 Ironclads, Torpedoes, and Salt, 1863-1864 276

10 From the Red River to Cherbourg 304

11 Damn the Torpedoes 337

Conclusion 365

Acknowledgments 369

Notes 373

Bibliography 415

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Wonderfully written and researched. . . . Balanced, objective, and highly readable.—Howard Jones, University of Alabama



James McPherson's many admirers in the Civil War community will be thrilled that he has turned his keen eye and eloquent pen to the naval war. In this new, concise history of the war at sea, McPherson not only tells an important story well, he shows how the Union Navy, with only five percent of Union military assets, had a disproportionate impact on the war.—Craig L. Symonds, author of Lincoln and His Admirals



With all the narrative grace, original scholarship, and equal grasp of both big picture and telling detail, Civil War historian nonpareil James McPherson has provided his admirers with another authoritative entry in his roster of essential books. McPherson never argues that the Union Navy won the Civil War, but readers will argue that no Civil War library will ever be complete without this volume.—Harold Holzer, Chairman, Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation

Editorial Reviews

The aim of this compact book is to prove to modern students of the war that naval superiority throughout the conflict—on the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Southern river systems—was an indispensable ingredient of Union military victory. Like his Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom, War on the Waters displays the technique that has become something of a trademark for the Princeton historian. He uses impeccable scholarship in the service of narratives that have appeal for the general reader…McPherson has spiced his book with lots of true but largely unexploited facts and vignettes.
—Howell Raines

The Washington Post

McPherson, professor emeritus of Princeton and dean of Civil War historians, enhances our knowledge with this history of the conflict’s naval aspects. As definitive as it is economical, the work establishes beyond question the decisive contributions of maritime power to Union victory. The Confederate Navy, though materially outnumbered tenfold, was technologically advanced in such fields as mines and ironclads. Its commerce raiders devastated Union merchant shipping. Nevertheless, on the sea, along the coasts, and on the inland river systems, the North’s warships and landing parties independently achieved politically and strategically important victories: Port Royal, S.C., and Fort Henry, Tenn., Memphis and New Orleans. The fleet synergized with the army in combined operations from North Carolina to the Mississippi River and Texas. The Union Navy established and sustained a blockade without which “the Confederacy might well have prevailed,” These achievements were above all a product of pragmatism. From Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, through admirals like David Farragut and D.D. Porter, to the seamen and rivermen who joined for the duration, the Union Navy designed ships and developed doctrines to fit circumstances. Not everything worked. But as McPherson indisputably shows, the Civil War’s outcome was in good part shaped by Northern naval power A Main Selection of the History Book Club and a selection of the Military Book Club, BOMC, and BOMC2 online, (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

As definitive as it is economical, [War on the Waters] establishes beyond question the decisive contributions of maritime power to Union victory.—Publishers Weekly starred review



Well-researched. . . . This important addition to scholarship on the naval aspects of the Civil War is recommended for academic audiences. With maps of several key battle sites clearly depicting ship and fort locations.—Library Journal



McPherson's accounts of set-piece battles—Farragut's assault on Mobile Bay, the duel between the Monitor and the Merrimack—are vivid. Much of this briny story is provided through the words of the participants, and the maps are excellent throughout.—Wall Street Journal Gift Guide 2012



A sound collection-development investment.—Booklist



McPherson displays his massive knowledge of the Civil War. . . . A solid contribution to Civil War scholarship.—Kirkus Reviews



[McPherson] uses impeccable scholarship in the service of narratives that have appeal for the general reader.—Howell Raines, Washington Post



Readers of Battle Cry of Freedom well may wish to add this sequel to their bookshelf.—The Washington Times



[James McPherson is] the dean of Civil War historians.—Publishers Weekly



A tremendous addition to Civil War literature, and McPherson has demonstrated his mastery of a new subject.—Sea History



Anyone wishing to acquire an immediate grasp on the main narrative points of the Civil War at sea, while enjoying a masterful summation of past and current historical thinking, should read this book.—Daybook

From the Publisher

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian McPherson (history, emeritus, Princeton Univ.; Battle Cry of Freedom), who has written extensively on various aspects of the American Civil War, now turns his authoritative attention to the naval campaigns that played a crucial but underappreciated role in the war's outcome. He provides thorough analyses of Union and Confederate strategies and detailed descriptions of pivotal battles in Memphis, New Orleans, Charleston, and elsewhere. His concise but comprehensive account includes explanations of how the Union navy and army cooperated, sometimes reluctantly and clumsily, to win the war's most critical sea battles, while the undermanned Confederates used torpedoes and tenacity to try to thwart their opponent's mostly successful attempts at blockading Southern ports. VERDICT McPherson's well-researched book is too dense and detailed for general readers, who would benefit from William Fowler's more accessible Under Two Flags: The American Navy in the Civil War, but this important addition to scholarship on the naval aspects of the Civil War is recommended for academic audiences. With maps of several key battle sites clearly depicting ship and fort locations.—Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

Library Journal

McPherson gives a straightforward but often exciting history of the naval side of the Civil War. Joe Barrett’s delivery is soft-spoken and a little melancholy sounding, but his voice is likable and engaging, even over long periods. His pacing is good, his intonations fit the material well, and he’s expressive without being showy—not accentuating, for instance, the sometimes horrific details of battle. While his choice of voices in which to render quotations can seem arbitrary and his accents are sometimes weak, they do help indicate who is speaking; his Southern is better than his British. As with most audio military history, one feels the lack of maps, a problem of the medium. Still, this is an interesting, informative program. W.M. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2013 - AudioFile

Pulitzer and Lincoln Prize winner McPherson (Abraham Lincoln, 2009, etc.) displays his massive knowledge of the Civil War, this time specifically concerning the naval battles. The Union Navy far outnumbered the Confederate, but it was still much too small to effectively blockade the coastline from Chesapeake Bay to Texas. In addition, the forces were required to patrol in the rivers, which were so vital to transportation. Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles was lucky in that Congress quickly eliminated the requirement to promote according to seniority of service before older leaders did too much damage. Cooperation with the Army was another hurdle, as traditional rivalry between forces made teamwork difficult. Samuel Francis Du Pont managed to take Port Royal in South Carolina without help from the Army, and other actions at Hatteras Inlet, New Orleans and Memphis proved the Navy's value. Actions in North Carolina in 1862 and on the Southern coast, especially Mobile Bay, were examples of the most successful combined operations. David Farragut's success in taking New Orleans enabled his push up the Mississippi in order to connect with Andrew Foote's Western Flotilla. These two navies opened the Mississippi and aided Grant's attack on Vicksburg. The use of ironclads, timberclads and even tinclads proved to be of more use in defending the Union ships and ramming the Confederates. However, when they met up with each other, it was usually a draw. While the navies may not be on the top of the list for most Civil War enthusiasts, this is a solid contribution to Civil War scholarship.

Kirkus Reviews