The American Civil War: Naval Operations -- The U.S. Navy

Figure 1.--This 'Harper's Weekly' illustration was entitled, 'Tween Decks: After Action -- News From Home' It apperared in the final months of the War (January 28, 1865). Notice the boy and ship's dog. As he is covered in soot, he is probanly a 'powder monkey'. He seems very young even by Civil War standards, but a small size was important fir yhe job. Why he is pictured in a white uniform is anyone's guess. I have never seen a U.S. Navy Civil War boy weearing a white uniform. The cannon seems similar to the acannon on the previous page.

President Abraham Lincoln from the outset of the War, at Gen. Winfield Scott's urging, gave the U.S. Navy an enormous task -- to blockade the entire Southern coast. This was a huge coast from Virginia west to Texas. The goal was to cut off Southern imports of war material and exports of the Confederacy's cotton, its major crop. For this a huge navy would be required--a navy the Union at the time did not have. Fortunately, unlike the Army, most of the Navy remained loyal to the Federal Government and Union. About 80 percent of the officers stayed with the Union. And unlike the Army, the U.S. Navy was a force in being, albeit small, that the United States could immeditely deploy. The Navy was, however, not prepared for War when it came. It was a small force of 1,457 officers and 7,600 men and wee scattered when the fighting broke out at Charleston Harbor (April 1861). Many vessels were even on overseas missions. And wihout overseas cables and radios, bringing the fleet home expeditions was not an easy undertaking. Many vessels were old and obsolelete. One assessment suggests that less than half of the 90 U.S. Navy ships were ready for combat and extended patrolling. President Linclon appointed Gideon Welles his Secretary of the Navy. Wells and his able Assistant Secretary Gustavus V. Fox oversaw the construction of one of the world's major navies. The Federal Government immediately began building dozens of new warships. That would take time. More immedistely they purchased hundreds of merchant ships which could deasoly be converted into blockaders by simply adding a few cannons. The result was what might be seen as a motley assortment. It caried from old sailing ships to even New York harbor ferryboats. At the time some Critics called it Welles' 'soapbox navy'. But it worked. By 1862 an effective blockade was in place that was growing in effectiveness. The U.S. Navy in just 4 years expanded from 23 major combat ready vessels to an incredible 641 ships including both powerful traditional sail ships, but also innovative ironclads that would fundamentally change naval warfare. Ships at the time could be built relatively quickly. Even the revolutionary USS Monitor was in action in less thsn a year (March 1862). Most of these ships were wooden ships, but ironsides play an important role. There was also the issue of training the naval personnel. The United States had a very substantial merchant flee to execute the Anaconda Plan. We are unsure to what extent that personnel was obtained fron the merchant fleet or trained from scratch. The Confederacy did not have a substantial battle fleet. A riverine navy was also needed because rivers played a huge role in the War--especially the Mississippi River. Here the goal was not just economic (in yhis case splitting the Confederscy in two) but to directly support the armiers in the field.

Created: 10:30 AM 8/26/2023
Last updated: 10:30 AM 8/26/2023