S. Tucker – The Civil War. Naval Encyclopedia

Автор: S. Tucker
Название книги: The Civil War. Naval Encyclopedia
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Военная история
Страницы: 952
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

Long overlooked in favor of land engagements, this is the first encyclopedia to analyze the naval aspects of the American Civil War.

• Introductory essay unifies the material in the encyclopedia, providing an overview of the history of the navies of the American Civil War

• Contains over 450 reference entries, listed alphabetically and with accompanying images

• Chronology provides historical perspective and highlights the most important naval events of the war

• Comprehensive bibliography serves as a gateway to further study

In the nearly century and a half since the end of the American Civil War, the fighting on land has held center stage in histories of the conflict. Indeed, a steady flow of biographies of generals, campaigns and battles, and unit histories has fed the continued public appetite for books on the war. Until recent years, books on the naval aspects of the Civil War were few and far between. Even today few Americans know anything about the Civil War at sea, apart from perhaps having heard of the clash in Hampton Roads between USS Monitor and CSS Virginia and the fate of CSS H. L. Hunley off Charleston, South Carolina. Most know nothing of the Union naval blockade of the South or especially the important role played by the U.S. Navy in riverine warfare in the western theater. The result has been a decidedly unbalanced treatment of the war and the belief that the naval effort counted for little. Yet by war’s end, the U.S. Navy, with more than 51,500 men and 671 ships, was the second largest in the world, behind only Great Britain.
This state of affairs is changing. In recent years there have been a number of new overviews of the naval war, studies of the command relationships between President Abraham Lincoln and his senior naval officers, biographies of leading figures in the naval war (North as well as South), social histories of the navies, and studies of ships and naval technology. In addition, edited diaries and recollections by participants in the war have also appeared.
To my knowledge, this is the first encyclopedia of Civil War naval operations to be published. In it we have included an overview of the conflict; articles on the strategies of both North and South; key bodies of waters and ports; important amphibious campaigns such as that for Vicksburg, on the Red River, and for Fort Fisher; influential battles involving squadrons, such as Plum Point Bend and Memphis; individual ship engagements, including the Virginia versus the Monitor and the Alabama versus the Kearsarge; well-known ships, such as USS Hartford; key individuals, including not only naval officers but also constructors and government officials; and weapons systems, such as the Dahlgren and Brooke guns as well as submarines, spar torpedoes, and the coal torpedo.
The encyclopedia was suggested by William Whyte, who holds a master’s degree in history with a specialization in the Civil War (his thesis was on Union riverine
warfare in the Mississippi River basin) and is an adjunct professor of history at Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania. Whyte helped develop the overall entry list, handled the assignment of entries to other contributors, wrote a number of entries himself, entered them in the database when written, and then helped me with a final edit of the work. Associate editor Paul G. Pierpaoli Jr., my good right hand with whom I work closely in the ABC-CLIO America at War series of multi�volume encyclopedias on U.S. military history, also suggested entries, wrote a number of entries, and helped me with the editing of all of them. I am most grateful to both individuals, although I accept full responsibility for the finished work.
Spencer C. Tucker