While fighting on land continues to hold center stage, recently much
more attention has been focused on the Civil War at sea. And for good
reason. Naval operations decided the outcome of the war as the North
exploited its significant naval and maritime advantage to turn the war
on land in its favor.
In A Short History of the Civil War at Sea, Spencer C. Tucker, eminent
naval and military historian and endowed chair at the Virginia Military
Institute, provides a concise and lively overview of the 'blue water'
Civil War, or fighting on the seas and attacks directed from the sea.
This volume covers the drama of significant naval battles, like the
first clash of ironclads at Hampton Roads, the Union capture of New
Orleans, fierce action in the Charleston Harbor, and the Battle of
Mobile Bay.
A Short History of the Civil War at Sea also discusses important themes,
like the technological revolution in naval warfare; the impact of naval
operations on U.S. and Confederate foreign relations; the Confederate
use of torpedoes, submarines, and commerce raiders; and the Union's
successful strategy of blockade.
The struggle at sea might not have been as bloody as the fighting on
land, but it was every bit as interesting and included a colorful cast
of characters, like David G. Farragut, the North's highest ranking and
most accomplished naval officer, and Confederate naval officer, commerce
raider, and 'Rebel Seadog' Raphael Semmes. And the advances of naval
technology during the Civil War are fascinating-from the use of new
Dahlgren guns to the design and redesign of the ironclads to the
extensive use of mines and the development of submarines.
Prof. Tucker covers it all in this new book, and his knowledge and
skills as a storyteller shine. A Short History of the Civil War at Sea
will entertain and inform students, scholars, and Civil War enthusiasts.
