Free Downloads

A History Of The Confederate Navy

A landmark study that credits the Southern navy for its strategic successes, international range, and technical advances.

Hardcover: 514 pages

Publisher: US Naval Institute Press; 1ST edition (July 1996)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1557505276

ISBN-13: 978-1557505279

Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 2 pounds

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #441,496 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #18 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Naval Operations #202 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Confederacy #267 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Transportation > History > Ships

This book is without a doubt the best history available of the Confederate Navy. It is is extremely detailed, but also very readable throughout. It covers all of the military operations of the CSN in memorable, though brief, fashion but it truly shines in making clear the logistic, technical, and strategic challenges and objectives of the CSN. In particular, this book shatters the pervasive myth that the only strategic goal of the Confederate Navy was to break the blockade. Instead it makes clear the multifaceted objective of the CSN to deny the Federal Navy access to the Southern littorals, thereby preventing the use of amphibious operations against crucial points and Confederate land armies, and to do so by use of technological and tactical surprise. Luraghi makes abundantly clear the massive challenge facing the CSN and the amazing achievement in creating a functioning navy, not too mention the industrial base necessary to support it, essentially from scratch. He also makes a compelling argument that the Confederate Navy largely succeeded in meeting its strategic objectives and that, with two notable exceptions involving Admiral Farragut, the navy was rarely defeated in battle. Instead, most Southern naval vessels had to be scuttled to prevent their capture after the outflanking or defeat of Confederate land forces.While there are many good books about the Civil War at sea, most are largely focused on the US Navy. This is understandable given its huge size, but it, combined with the destruction of much of the CSN archives at the end of the war, has had the effect of reducing the Confederate Navy to a failed force with one simple objective. Luraghi spent over two decades researching for this book and has very clearly demolished that misconception.

A History of the Confederate Navy Gray Thunder: Exploits of the Confederate States Navy The Battle of South Mountain: The History of the Civil War Battle that Led the Union and Confederate Armies to Antietam Lee and His Army in Confederate History (Civil War America) Confederate Charleston: An Illustrated History of the City and the People During the Civil War Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine (American Civil War) War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861-1865 (Littlefield History of the Civil War Era) War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861-1865 (The Littlefield History of the Civil War Era) The Rebel Raiders: The Astonishing History of the Confederacy's Secret Navy (American Civil War) Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy Co. Aytch: A Confederate Memoir of the Civil War Diary of Carrie Berry: A Confederate Girl (First-Person Histories) Confederate Alphabet The Chickamauga Campaign_Barren Victory: The Retreat into Chattanooga, the Confederate Pursuit, and the Aftermath of the Battle, September 21 to October 20, 1863 The Devil Knows How To Ride: The True Story Of William Clarke Quantril And His Confederate Raiders The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War (Civil War America) Opposing the Second Corps at Antietam: The Fight for the Confederate Left and Center on America's Bloodiest Day Antietam: The Maryland Campaign of 1862 : Essays on Union and Confederate Leadership (Civil War Regiments, Vol 5, No 3) Battle-Fields of the South: From Bull Run to Fredericksburgh; With Sketches of Confederate Commanders, and Gossip of the Camps (Collector's Library of the Civil War) From Bull Run to Appomattox: The Recollections of a Confederate Army Trooper of Company 'a, ' Sixth Virginia Cavalry During the American Civil War