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21 - War on the Waters

from Part II - Places

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2019

By
Kurt Hackemer
Edited by
Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University
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Summary

The naval history of the American Civil War is often reduced to a discussion of the blockade, the clash between ironclads at the Battle of Hampton Roads, and a vague sense that gunboats and transports played an important role in the riverine campaigns of the western theater. The Union and Confederate navies certainly participated in those aspects of the larger conflict, but they also clashed on the high seas, made sophisticated combined arms operations possible on the coast, and influenced the strategic and diplomatic direction of the larger struggle between the North and the South. The naval war also defined the Civil War military experience for more than 90,000 combatants, a relatively small but not insignificant number. Although the war was ultimately won and lost on land, naval operations affected the pace, tempo, and outcome of the conflict.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of the American Civil War , pp. 427 - 448
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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References

Key Works

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