By Sea and River: The Naval History of the Civil War

SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Book Review

Anderson , Bern . By Sea and River

The Naval History of the Civil War . De Capo Press , 1989

The naval history of the Civil War is by and large a neglected This book , among a few others , seeks to rectify that . The basic thesis of this book is that the naval history of the Civil War holds the key to its outcome . This thesis can be unpacked in the following way

1 . The Union blockade against the major port cities of the Confederate States of America

(CSA ) was one of the key strategies of the Civil War and defined the war itself and the Union victory

2 . Lincoln , through his benign neglect of the naval services , permitted to organizational geniuses within the Department of the Navy , Gideon Wells and Gustavus Fox , free rein to run this all-important department as they saw fit . A basic methodological focus of this book is on individuals : in other words , without talented individuals , even the best strategies and strongest materials would amount to nothing

3 . While some might say that he downplays the role of the Confederate Navy , the lack of such an institution in 1861 has much to do with the outcome of the war itself . What little the Confederacy was to develop was based on ingenuity and luck . This is not to say that he does not give the CSA its due on the seas . He most certainly does , but it was the clear superiority in...