The Civil War at Sea

Symonds, professor emeritus of history at the U.S. Naval Academy, combines his expertise as a scholar of both sea power and the Civil War in this study of an aspect of the conflict largely neglected until now (James McPherson’s War on the Waters comes out in September). Symonds covers the operational history of navies that on both sides were products of improvisation. Synergizing chronology and themes, the text begins by discussing the effect of the mid-century technological revolution. Steam engines, armor plate, and rifled cannon shaped both the war on the high seas and a riverine/littoral dimension unique in naval history. The Confederacy, Symonds says, was initially more creative, introducing ironclads, torpedoes, and a submarine. Southern commerce raiders devastated Union shipping, The Union’s repeated failures before the first battle of Charleston showed a ship could still be a fool to fight a fort. But the new technology of naval war eventually enabled the Union to overwhelm or bypass even complex, well-sited defenses. The Union blockade, though never complete, contributed heavily to the South’s “ growing sense of isolation and eventually depression, both economic and psychological.” Sea power, itself not decisive, significantly influenced the Civil War ’s duration and trajectory, concludes Symonds in this substantive analysis. 24 b&w illus., 4 maps. (Oct.)