Overview

The Civil War is often considered a soldiers' war, but Life in Jefferson Davis' Navy acknowledges the legacy of service of the officers and sailors of the Confederate States Navy. In this full-length study, Barbara Brooks Tomblin addresses every aspect of a Confederate seaman's life, from the risks of combat to the everyday routines which sustained those sailing for the stars and bars. Drawing upon diaries, letters, newspaper accounts, and published works, Tomblin offers a fresh look at the wartime experiences of the officers and men in the Confederate Navy, including those who served on gunboats, ironclads, and ships on western rivers and along the coast and at Mobile Bay, as well as those who sailed on the high seas aboard the Confederate raiders Sumter, Alabama, Florida, and Shenandoah. The author also explores the daily lives, deprivations, and sufferings of the sailors who were captured and spent time in Union prisoner of war camps at Point Lookout, Elmira, Camp Chase, Johnson's Island, Ship Island, and Fort Delaware. Confederate prisoners' journals and letters give an intimate account of their struggle, helping modern audiences understand the ordeals of the defeated in the Civil War.

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9781682471180

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Reviews

Expanding Civil War naval scholarship, Tomblin provides a vivid portrait of daily life in the Confederate Navy along the coastal, blue, and brown waters. Utilizing sailors' own words, she recreates their shipboard routine, highlighting the highs of combat and liberty as well as the doldrums, disease, and deprivations of duty. --Laura June Davis, Assistant Professor of History, Southern Utah University There is finally a major publication dedicated to the life of the Confederate sailor. In Life in Jefferson Davis' Navy, Dr. Barbara Tomblin lavishly draws upon a plethora of letters, diaries and journals to weave a fascinating story about the southern tar. She includes every aspect of their daily life at sea and ashore including topics from enlistment, victuals, discipline, courage under fire, illness, liberty and the hardships of prison life. Dr. Tomblin has accomplished for the Confederate Navy what Bell Irvin Wiley did for Johnny Reb over a half century ago. Her outstanding work is a masterpiece ready to take its place in the annals of Naval and Civil War literature. --Commander Dennis J. Ringle, USN (Ret.), author of Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy Using letters, journals and diaries from both sailors and officers, Tomblin has produced a well-researched, lively and detailed first-hand account of naval life in the Confederate States Navy, both afloat and ashore. This is a valuable contribution to Civil War naval scholarship. --Robert M. Browning Jr., Author of Lincoln's Trident: The West Gulf Blockading Squadron During the Civil War Barbara Brooks Tomlin draws extensively on letters, journals, and the official records to discuss such topics as shipboard routine, medical care, discipline and desertion. Extensive quotation allows the individuals to speak for themselves in this most welcome addition to our understanding of the Confederate States Navy during the Civil War. --Spencer C. Tucker, author of Blue and Gray Navies, is a retired professor and holder of the John Biggs Chair of Military History at the Virginia Military Institute Though studies of camp life in Civil War armies have been available for decades, Barbara Brooks Tomblin is the first to provide us with a study of daily life in the Confederate Navy. Hers is not a statistical analysis; instead she mined memoirs, newspapers, and diaries to offer a myriad number of personal glimpses into all the various aspects of a Confederate sailor's life. --Craig L. Symonds, Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History, U.S. Naval War College and author of World War II at Sea

Using letters, journals and diaries from both sailors and officers, Tomblin has produced a well-researched, lively and detailed first-hand account of naval life in the Confederate States Navy, both afloat and ashore. This is a valuable contribution to Civil War naval scholarship. --Robert M. Browning Jr., Author of Lincoln's Trident: The West Gulf Blockading Squadron During the Civil War Barbara Brooks Tomlin draws extensively on letters, journals, and the official records to discuss such topics as shipboard routine, medical care, discipline and desertion. Extensive quotation allows the individuals to speak for themselves in this most welcome addition to our understanding of the Confederate States Navy during the Civil War. --Spencer C. Tucker, author of Blue and Gray Navies, is a retired professor and holder of the John Biggs Chair of Military History at the Virginia Military Institute Though studies of camp life in Civil War armies have been available for decades, Barbara Brooks Tomblin is the first to provide us with a study of daily life in the Confederate Navy. Hers is not a statistical analysis; instead she mined memoirs, newspapers, and diaries to offer a myriad number of personal glimpses into all the various aspects of a Confederate sailor's life. --Craig L. Symonds, Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History, U.S. Naval War College and author of World War II at Sea

The study adopts a pretty comprehensive perspective on what it was like to be a Confederate sailor. Chapters cover recruitment, shipboard induction, duties and routine, how sailors spent their free time, naval discipline, healthcare, and the POW experience. --Civil War Books and Authors Expanding Civil War naval scholarship, Tomblin provides a vivid portrait of daily life in the Confederate Navy along the coastal, blue, and brown waters. Utilizing sailors' own words, she recreates their shipboard routine, highlighting the highs of combat and liberty as well as the doldrums, disease, and deprivations of duty. --Laura June Davis, Assistant Professor of History, Southern Utah University There is finally a major publication dedicated to the life of the Confederate sailor. In Life in Jefferson Davis' Navy, Dr. Barbara Tomblin lavishly draws upon a plethora of letters, diaries and journals to weave a fascinating story about the southern tar. She includes every aspect of their daily life at sea and ashore including topics from enlistment, victuals, discipline, courage under fire, illness, liberty and the hardships of prison life. Dr. Tomblin has accomplished for the Confederate Navy what Bell Irvin Wiley did for Johnny Reb over a half century ago. Her outstanding work is a masterpiece ready to take its place in the annals of Naval and Civil War literature. --Commander Dennis J. Ringle, USN (Ret.), author of Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy Using letters, journals and diaries from both sailors and officers, Tomblin has produced a well-researched, lively and detailed first-hand account of naval life in the Confederate States Navy, both afloat and ashore. This is a valuable contribution to Civil War naval scholarship. --Robert M. Browning Jr., Author of Lincoln's Trident: The West Gulf Blockading Squadron During the Civil War Barbara Brooks Tomlin draws extensively on letters, journals, and the official records to discuss such topics as shipboard routine, medical care, discipline and desertion. Extensive quotation allows the individuals to speak for themselves in this most welcome addition to our understanding of the Confederate States Navy during the Civil War. --Spencer C. Tucker, author of Blue and Gray Navies, is a retired professor and holder of the John Biggs Chair of Military History at the Virginia Military Institute Though studies of camp life in Civil War armies have been available for decades, Barbara Brooks Tomblin is the first to provide us with a study of daily life in the Confederate Navy. Hers is not a statistical analysis; instead she mined memoirs, newspapers, and diaries to offer a myriad number of personal glimpses into all the various aspects of a Confederate sailor's life. --Craig L. Symonds, Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History, U.S. Naval War College and author of World War II at Sea

Author Information

Barbara Brooks Tomblin is a naval and military historian and author of G.I. Nightingales, With Utmost Spirit, Bluejackets and Contrabands, and The Civil War on the Mississippi . She has a doctorate in American history from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey where she was a lecturer in military history.

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