Life In Jefferson Davis Navy

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.

The Confederate Navy's medical service is usually overlooked in histories of the Civil War, yet it was vital in maintaining the fighting strength of the South's navy and marine corps. Confederate medical officers not only manned war vessels, they staffed navy yards and land-based hospitals, gathered supplies, participated in raids, examined recruits, and even served at defensive shore batteries. Many such officers had served in the United States Navy, while others were recruited from civil life. Enlisted personnel and civilian physicians also helped the navy provide medical care--used in managing battle wounds and other injuries but more often devoted to preventing and treating disease. Malaria was particularly common among sailors and marines stationed in the swampy regions of the South. This book, the first devoted entirely to the medical corps of the Confederate navy, provides a carefully researched look at the men, structure, facilities, and activities of the organization. A complete list of men known to have been commissioned as naval medical officers is included.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, North and South quickly saw the need to develop the latest technology in naval warfare, the ironclad ship. After a year-long scramble to finish first, in a race filled with intrigue and second guessing, blundering and genius, the two ships -- the Monitor and the Merrimack -- after a four-hour battle, ended the three-thousand-year tradition of wooden men-of-war and ushered in "the reign of iron." In the first major work on the subject in thirty-five years, novelist, historian, and tall-ship sailor James L. Nelson, acclaimed author of the Brethren of the Coast trilogy, brilliantly recounts the story of these magnificent ships, the men who built and fought them, and the extraordinary battle that made them legend.

The book tells of Stephen R. Mallory's support of naval inventions, strategy, and ideas. It also sheds light on the the successes and failures of Jefferson Davis. Durkin gives a well-balanced biography of Mallory and his life in the Confederate navy.

Presents a comprehensive reference to the American Civil War, including a chronology of major events, biographical sketches, related articles and a collection of maps.

Excerpted memoirs included are: - Incidents and Anecdotes of the Cival War by Admiral Porter, including sections dealing with the political schism of the navy at the war's outbreak, as well as accounts of various naval campaigns around the gulf. - Recollections of a Rebel Reefer by James Morris Morgan , the memoir of a midshipman's coming of age in the Confederate navy including his part in the retreat further south of CSA President Jefferson Davis and his family. - Autobiography of George Dewey, Admiral of the Navy by Admiral George Dewey who, while a wet-behind-the-ears lieutenant, served under the legendary naval master and Lincoln's Admiral David Farragut. - Two years on the Alabama by Arthur Sinclair - CSS Shenandoah: The Memoirs of LT. Commanding James I. Waddell At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.