ePub Rethinking Pluralism: Ritual; Experience; and Ambiguity by Adam B. Seligman; Robert P. Weller in History

Description

Continuing in the vein of his Lincoln Prize-winning book Lincoln and His Admirals; acclaimed naval historian Craig L. Symonds presents a masterful history of the Civil War navies--both Union and Confederate--and places them within the broader context of the emerging industrial age. Symonds begins with an account of the dramatic pre-war revolution in naval technology--the advent of steam propulsion; the screw propeller; and larger and more powerful rifled guns that could fire explosive shells as well as solid shot. These extraordinary changes were epitomized in the famous "Battle of the Ironclads"--one of the great stories of the Civil War--pitting USS Monitor against the larger and more heavily armed CSS Virginia (also known as Merrimack). Symonds also offers an overview of Lincoln's blockade of the South; a vast campaign involving as many as 500 ships and 100;000 men; discusses the fierce naval war for control of the rivers in the West; and looks at the important siege of Charleston; which would last three years and involve 40;000 men and sixty warships. Symonds concludes with three key episodes from the end of the war--the dramatic Battle of Mobile Bay; where Farragut delivered his famous cry: "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"; the battle of Wilmington; where combined naval and army forces successfully overran Fort Fisher; a giant earthwork fort called by one historian "the mightiest fortress in America"; and the remarkable cruise of the CSS Shenandoah; a round-the-world voyage of 58;000 miles; during which she captured thirty-eight prizes--mostly after Lee had surrendered; alas. The Civil War at Sea illuminates a little-discussed and greatly undervalued aspect of America's national conflict. Concise yet comprehensive; this volume is a lively addition to the field of naval history.