The Civil War on the Water: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War(Dwight Sturtevant Hughes & Chris Mackowski NH)

Edited by Dwight Sturtevant Hughes and Chris Mackowski Although primarily a land conflict, the Civil War also raged on the water. Nothing in the history and traditions of the U.S. Navy prepared it for civil war. The sea service expanded tenfold from a third-rate force to, at least temporarily, one of the most powerful and advanced navies in the world. Former shipmates now serving in the Confederacy, meanwhile, struggled to construct some semblance of a navy from practically nothing, applying innovative technologies and underdog strategies that would achieve more than anyone thought possible. The resulting war on the water stretched from the Arctic Circle to the Caribbean in a stunning display of machine-age technologies that included ironclads, torpedoes, submarines, steam propulsion, and improved heavy artillery. Swift Rebel raiders like the CSS Shenandoah decimated Union commerce while hundreds of storm-tossed blockaders patrolled the meandering southern coastline from Hatteras to Ga