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War On The Waters: The Union And Confederate Navies, 1861-1865 (2012)

by James M. McPherson(Favorite Author)

3.99 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0807835889 (ISBN13: 9780807835883)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

University of North Carolina Press

review 1: Engrossing account of the Civil War at sea. Despite the title, McPherson focuses overwhelmingly on the Union side, showing the frustrations of maintaining their blockade of Southern ports and operations on the Mississippi River. Coordinating land-sea operations with the Army stands out as a particular bugbear, causing Vicksburg and Charleston to last longer than they ought. The vastly outmanned Confederacy must resort to contraptions like ironclads, mines and submarines to keep pace. McPherson's accounts of specific campaigns are succinct; more interesting are his description of personalities, from the heroic David Farragut to the arrogant Samuel DuPont and impish Confederate raider Raphael Semmes. Recommended for Civil War buffs.
review 2: McPherson provides t... morehe reader with a very good general introduction to almost every Federal and Confederate water born operation of the war. It is nicely balanced in perspective, although of necessity, due to the North's greater strategic aims as well as its materially larger size, there is greater coverage of Union naval efforts. McPherson liberally sprinkles quotes from diaries, letters and official documents throughout to maintain the human perspective, but for the most part this is almost exclusively a top down view of the naval aspects of the War, with emphasis on the principal figures involved in the respective navies. It is well illustrated with drawings, photographs and maps of the major engagements. Coming in at 226 pages this is a relatively quick read. If you are a diehard CW buff, you may not learn a great deal that is new. However, there is still value here in getting an overall picture of how naval involvement, both politically and physically, seriously impacted the conflict from start to finish. If one knows little of this dimension of the War, this is a good place to get started. less

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