Recollections Of A Confederate Naval Officer

At sea with the United States Navy John Batten joined the United States Navy in 1864 and was appointed as an Assistant Surgeon and posted to the steamer, USS Princeton. He was later transferred to the USS Valley City where he experienced most of his service principally patrolling the North Carolina coastline. Batten underwent many hardships and riveting experiences including torpedoing, artillery duels and sniper attacks by Confederate sharpshooters before a final transfer to the monitors Oneota and Catawba and wars end. An interesting first hand account by a Civil war naval officer and a first rate source work for those interested in the history of the period. Available in soft cover and hard cover with dust jacket, head and tail bands and gold foil lettering to the spine. A credit to your book shelves!

This fascinating memoir offers a firsthand account of naval life during the American Civil War, as seen through the eyes of Confederate officer John McIntosh Kell. From the daring exploits of the Sumter and the Alabama to the political turmoil of the South, Kell's recollections provide a unique perspective on this turbulent period in history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Adventures evading Lincoln's strangle hold on the Southern states During the American Civil Wart the Union blockade operated to ensure that few trade goods or war materials entered the Confederacy by way of its Atlantic or Gulf Coast ports. The 'runners' themselves were mostly newly built, high speed vessels, with a small cargo capacity, which raced between the Confederacy and neutral ports in the West Indies and Cuba. One thousand five hundred blockade-runners were destroyed, but still 5 out of 6 runners made it through the Union fleet to safety and the delivery of their essential cargoes. This book was written by a serving officer of the Confederate States Navy. He experienced naval battle, the loss of his ship, capture, release and many hairsbreadth escapes as he continued his precarious and perilous vocation until the end of the Civil War.

Published in 1900, this is the memoirs of John McIntosh Kell of his time serving in the Confederate States Navy as an officer aboard the C.S.S. Sumter and infamous C.S.S. Alabama.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ... Chapter II The first day of May I parted from my family at Macon, Georgia, as I thought for a few short months, but as it proved in the Providence of God, and in the line of my duty, for three years and four months of the most eventful period of my life. Fort Sumter had surrendered and the times were assuming a warlike aspect, foreshadowing our years of deadly strife. Of this great war I do not propose to write a history. Abler pens than mine have undertaken this work, some satisfactorily. The book written by my great commander and senior, Admiral Semmes, -- worthy an honored place in the library of every cultivated American, --discussed the questions of national and political significance of those troublous times. I only wish to give to posterity and to history in these recollections of my life the part it was my duty and my privilege to act in the great drama of the Civil War between the States. I trust I have in some measure outlived the animosities of those "times that tried men's souls," at least sufficiently so to hold the impartial pen of truth, without which history (no matter how sensationally or attractively adorned or bedecked) must be utterly valueless! Arriving in New Orleans on the third day of May I reported for duty to Captain Semmes, who had preceded me by a week or ten days. During a long talk with him I found that a steamer had been purchased by the Confederate Government, which he was to command, and that at his request I had been ordered to this vessel as executive officer. I found her a neat, fast passenger steamer that could be converted into a vessel of war, but many alterations were required for this purpose. The captain had immediately upon arrival commenced this work of remodelling. I found her at Algiers, the...