Overview

Although previously undervalued for their strategic impact because the represented only a small percentage of total forces, the Union and Confederate navies were crucial to the outcome of the Civil War. In War on the Waters, James M. McPherson has crafted an enlightening, at times harrowing, and ultimately thrilling account of the war's naval campaigns and their military leaders. McPherson recounts how the Union navy's blockade of the Confederate coast, leaky as a sieve in the war's early months, became increasingly effective as it choked off vital imports and exports. Meanwhile, the Confederate navy, dwarfed by its giant adversary, demonstrated daring and military innovation. Commerce raiders sank Union ships and drove the American merchant marine from the high seas. Southern ironclads sent several Union warships to the bottom, naval mines sank many more, and the Confederates deployed the world's first submarine to sink an enemy vessel. But in the end, it was the Union navy that won some of the war's most important strategic victories--as an essential partner to the army on the ground at Fort Donelson, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Mobile Bay, and Fort Fisher, and all by itself at Port Royal, Fort Henry, New Orleans, and Memphis.

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9780807838150

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Reviews

Wonderfully written and researched. . . . Balanced, objective, and highly readable - Howard Jones, University of Alabama

An outstanding survey by someone who brings to bear a grand knowledge of the complex social/political/military tapestry against which this tale unfolds. . . . An effective, eminently readable introduction to the subject, with good maps to boot. - United States Naval Institute

McPherson displays his massive knowledge of the Civil War. . . . A solid contribution to Civil War scholarship. <br>- Kirkus Reviews

A concise, fact-filled and exciting work in the Civil War's naval aspects. . . . Shows that the Civil War--a war of intense technological innovation on both seagoing sides--was won in large part by the Union Navy. <br>- Tampa Bay Times

As definitive as it is economical, [ War on the Waters ] establishes beyond question the decisive contributions of maritime power to Union victory. - Publishers Weekly starred review

Author Information

James M. McPherson taught U.S. history at Princeton University for forty-two years and is author of more than a dozen books on the era of the Civil War. His books have won a Pulitzer Prize and two Lincoln Prizes.

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