civil war | Naval Historical Foundation

BOOK REVIEW – The Blockade-Runner Denbigh and the Union Navy: Including Glover’s Analysis of the West Gulf Blockade and Archival Materials and Notes

April 15, 2016AdminBook Reviews, Books, Featured, History, Newsarchival materials, blockade runner denbish, book review, civil war, mark lardas, naval history, union navy, west gulf blockade

By J. Barto Arnold III and Robert W. Glover, Denbigh Shipwreck Project Publication, Institute of Nautical Archaeology, College Station, TX (2015) Reviewed by Mark Lardas In May 1865, a month after Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, the blockade runner Denbigh ran aground attempting to enter Galveston Harbor, and was subsequently destroyed by Union

BOOK REVIEW – In the Shadow of the Alabama: The British Foreign Office and the American Civil War

January 31, 2016AdminBook Reviews, Books, Featured, History, Newsbook review, civil war, civil war navy, css alabama, in the shadow of the Alabama, Kenneth blume, naval history, renata eley long

By Renata Eley Long, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by Kenneth J. Blume, Ph.D. Built and launched at the Laird shipyard in 1862, CSS Alabama became the most notorious of the Confederacy’s commerce raiders, devastating Union merchant shipping and contributing to an irreversible “flight from the flag.” Her career ended two years later

BOOK REVIEW – To Retain Command of the Mississippi: The Civil War Campaign for Memphis

December 24, 2015AdminBook Reviews, Books, Featured, History, Newsbook review, civil war, civil war navy, Edward mccaul, Memphis, Mississippi river, riverine warfare, robet largess

By Edward B. McCaul, The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN (2014) Reviewed by Robert P. Largess Seldom has a naval campaign been more critical to the future of the United States than the drive to control the Mississippi River and split the South in two during the Civil War. Along with the naval blockade,

BOOK REVIEW – General Henry Lockwood of Delaware; Shipmate of Melville, Co-builder of the Naval Academy, Civil War Commander

October 26, 2015AdminBook Reviews, Books, Featured, History, NewsAmerican civil war, book review, civil war, delaware, general henry lockwood, Lloyd Matthews, Melville, nathan wells, united states naval academy

By Lloyd J. Matthews, University of Delaware Press, Newark, DE (2014) Reviewed by Nathan D. Wells Those who watch the annual Army-Navy football game and be not a bit awestruck by the competing corps of cadets and midshipmen might not realize that these two friendly rival institutions have an interesting connection. Henry Lockwood was an

The Prize of History: USS Monitor Prize-Money Claims

August 7, 2015AdminBill Bodmer, Featured, Guest Blogger, History, Newsbattle of hampton roads, civil war, civil war navy, css virginia, uss monitor2 Comments

By Bill Edwards-Bodmer The events during the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 8 and 9, 1862 are well-known. From an objective viewpoint, the battle was tactically a draw. Neither ship was disabled to the point of being unable to continue the fight. A misinterpretation of each other’s movements caused both ships to withdraw. Beginning

Cracking Gibraltar: The Union Takes Fort Fisher (PART III)

January 20, 2015AdminFeatured, History, Newscivil war, civil war navy, civil war navy sesquicentennial, Commemoration, cracking gibraltar, fort fisher, north carolina, sesquicentennial

Cracking Gibraltar is a blog series from the Naval Historical Foundation that will discuss the Army-Navy relationship involved in taking Fort Fisher, the last remaining Confederate stronghold in the Atlantic. READ PART I and PARTII. PART III: Cracking Gibraltar Following the embarrassing show of force at Fort Fisher in December, General Grant and other wartime

Cracking Gibraltar: The Union Takes Fort Fisher (PART I)

January 7, 2015AdminFeatured, History, Newsbenjamin butler, civil war, civil war navy, civil war navy sesquicentennial, david dixon porter, fort fisher2 Comments

Cracking Gibraltar is a blog series from the Naval Historical Foundation that will discuss the Army-Navy relationship involved in taking Fort Fisher, the last remaining Confederate stronghold in the Atlantic. PART I: The Jonah of the Fleet President Abraham Lincoln awoke on the morning of December 27th to disheartening news. Less than a week after

The Anchored Roots of Naval History: American Export Explores Storied Family Past at Navy Department Library

October 20, 2014AdminDonation, Featured, History, Newsancestry, civil war, donation, family history, navy department library, talman, torpedo, world war two7 Comments

By Matthew T. Eng “Every family has a history. Every family has a story. This helps explain why you are the way you are.” It’s fall here in Washington, D.C. The hot summer heat and brown grass are finally giving way to cooler temperatures and changing leaves. For some, this pleasant change in weather can

Titan? Try Again: Josiah Tattnall, USS Saratoga, and the 1843 Snow Storm

March 3, 2014AdminFeatured, History, News1843, 2014 winter, civil war, confederate navy, navy weather, tattnall, titan, titan 2014, weather history, winter storm 2014, winter storm titan, winter storms2 Comments

The 2013 winter storm is one of the most interesting weather anomalies in recent memory. Most Americans are by now familiar with terms like “polar vortex” and “snow squalls.” Winter Storm Titan is currently wreaking havoc on the mid-Atlantic state causing thousands of flight delays and closures. This current is not, however, the only time

McPherson at SMH Dinner: “The Moral Courage of Risk Taking”

January 7, 2014AdminBooks, Featured, History, News, Speakers2014 events, Admirals, civil war, civil war navy, civil war navy sesquicentennial, Commemoration, cwn 150, dupont, farragut, history, james mcpherson, McPherson

By John Grady The Navy was more successful in its campaigns like Port Royal, S.C. and New Orleans than the Army during the American Civil War particularly in the Virginia Theater. According to Pulitzer Prize-winning author James McPherson, it was “partially due to the professionalism of Navy leadership in high positions.” Dr. McPherson answered these

Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. and the USS Cairo: The “Jonah Man” of the Civil War Navy

December 12, 2013AdminFeatured, History, Newsbattle of hampton roads, cairo, civil war, Commemoration, conestoga, css virginia, selfridge, thomas selfridge, uss cumberland, uss monitor, Vicksburg, yazoo pass2 Comments

Today, we commemorate the 151st anniversary of the sinking of the ironclad USS Cairo. The Cairo sank in the river during the 1862 Yazoo Pass Expedition. This article is the beginning of a series of articles in partnership with the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial, an official U.S. Navy commemoration. Americans today revel in stories of people

Tag Archives: civil war