What did it take--logistically and operationally--for the small and
underfunded US Navy to face the battle-hardened Royal Navy in the War of
1812? Find out in this book, the magnum opus of one of the deans of
American naval history.
When the War of 1812 broke out, the newly formed and cash-strapped
United States faced Great Britain, the world's foremost sea power, with
a navy that had largely fallen into disrepair and neglect. In this
riveting book, William S. Dudley presents the most complete history of
the inner workings of the US Navy Department during the conflict, which
lasted until 1815. What did it take, he asks, for the US Navy to build,
fit-out, man, provision, and send fighting ships to sea for extended
periods of time during the War of 1812?
When the British blockade of 1813-14 severely constrained American sea
trade, reducing the government's income and closing down access to
American seaports, the navy was forced to innovate: to make improvements
through reforms, to redeploy personnel, and to strengthen its industrial
capacity. Highlighting matters of supply, construction, recruitment,
discipline, medical care, shipbuilding, and innovation, Dudley helps
readers understand the navy's successes and failures in the war and
beyond. He also presents the logistics of the war in relation to fleet
actions on the lakes and selected ship actions on the oceans, stresses
the importance of administration in warfighting, and shows how reforms
and innovations in those areas led to a stronger, more efficient navy.
Refuting the idea that the United States "won" the war, Dudley argues
that the conflict was at best a stalemate. Drawing on twenty-five years
of archival research around the world, Inside the US Navy of 1812-1815
will leave readers with a better appreciation of how the navy
contributed strategic value to the nation's survival in the conflict and
assisted in bringing the war to an honorable end. This book will appeal
to scholars and students of naval and military history, veterans,
current officers, and maritime-oriented history buffs.
