Civil War Navy Andreana Nourie

North VS. South

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SOUTH -Began with little to no

navy. -Few facilities to build traditional ships, no shops to build large

enough ship engines. -Surplus of human

resources. -Focused on specialised

task.

NORTH -Had a strong ship-building capacity.

-Had stronger leadership. -42 union warships in operation during the

beginning of Lincoln’s presidency.

-At the end, more than 260 warships were on

duty.

NORTHERN Influential Naval Figures

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GIDEON WELLES

●  “Father of the Sea”

●  Secretary of Navy 1861-1869

●  Helped expand the navy tenfold.

●  Carried out the Union Blockade.

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GUSTAVUS V. FOX

●  Architect of the Fort Sumter expedition.

●  Assistant Secretary to Gideon Welles.

●  3 ships in the US Navy have been named USS Fox in his name.

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SOUTHERN Influential Naval Figures

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STEPHEN MALLORY

●  Chairman of Committee of Naval Affairs.

●  Helped create Southern navy from scratch.

●  Decided to test out Ironclad ships in the Confederate navy.

○  Added sparring rods to combat the Union Blockade. 7

JAMES D. BULLOCH

●  Chief of Foreign Affairs for the Confederacy.

●  Operated blockade runners and commerce raiders.

●  14 years of experience in the US navy and 8 years in commercial shipping.

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Growth of the Navy During the Civil War

7600+ Seamen

90 Available Warships

1457 Officers

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BEGINNING OF WAR

1861

N O R T H

51,500 Seamen

260+ Available Warships

7500 Officers

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END OF WAR

1865

N O R T H

NAVAL TECHNOLOGICAL GROWTH

●  Southern Navy expanded to ○  Tugboats

○  Revenue Cutters

○  River Steamboats

○  Mounted Torpedos

○  Rebuilt the U.S.S. Merrimack

●  Sourced Britain for materials + ships, although Britain had a neutral stance.

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NAVAL TECHNOLOGICAL GROWTH

●  Both sides increased and expanded upon- ○  Steam power

○  Screw propeller

○  Shell guns

○  Rifled ordnance

○  Ironclads

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Union’s Naval Strategy During Civil War

BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS

●  Battle of New Orleans, April 24-25 (1862). ○  43 Union ships entered around New Orleans.

○  Confederacy withdrew its 3,000 troops while Union led 15,000 troops inward to take control.

●  City fell on April 25th. ○  Loss of New Orleans is considered one of the worst disasters

suffered by Confederacy in Western Theater.

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VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN

●  Vicksburg Campaign (1862-63) ○  Union plans to take confederate stronghold, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

○  Vicksburg surrendered.

●  Union uses ironclads on an expedition to conquer union strongholds.

○  Attempted but failed.

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Confederacy had around 3500 miles of coastline including-

▰  10 major ports

▰  180 inlets

▰  Bays

▰  River Mouths

UNION SOLUTION- B L O C K A D E

Importance of the Blockade During the Civil War

ANACONDA PLAN

●  Union generals liked the comparison of the blockade to an anaconda because of the suffocation aspect.

●  Northern Plan-

○  Suppress Confederate trade

○  Split Confederacy into two by travelling down the Mississippi River.

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NORTHERN PROBLEMS

●  PROBLEM- Too few ships to apprehend more than 1/12 merchant vessels running the blockade.

○  SOLUTION- Additional blockaders were commissioned and chartered, boats such as: frigates, sidewheeler ferry boats, sailing brigs.

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▰  PROBLEM- Only two Union naval ports in South. Ships would spend half the time getting resupplied and repaired.

▻  SOLUTION- Seize new ports and harbours to act as bases.

HOW THE SOUTH FOUGHT BACK

●  Fast and agile ships called “Blockade Runners” slipped through Union’s blockade to bring supplies (guns, ammunition) to the confederacy.

○  Had to carry small amounts of material.

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EFFECTS OF UNION BLOCKADE

●  Southern trade decreases by 90%.

○  Countries dependent on Southern cotton (France, Britain) also suffered economic loss.

●  Both sides push for better innovation in naval affairs.

○  North- Stronger blockade ships.

○  South- Battering rams, submarines, blockade runners.

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Monitor Vs. Merrimak National and Global Effects

IRONCLAD BASICS

●  Prior to the clash between Monitor and Merrimack, warships were traditionally wooden.

○  Steam had recently been used over sails for ship movement.

●  Ironclad ships were researched and tested by the British and French.

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THE MERRIMACK- SOUTHERN IRONCLAD 25

Looked like floating barn roof

Poor Engines

-Incredible draft which allowed it to traverse shallow waters, had a draft of 22 feet. -Maximum speed of 4-5 knots (around 1.2 mph) -Hope that the vessel's weird would inspire fear in the North and hope in the South.

THE MONITOR- NORTHERN IRONCLAD 26

Smaller Hull

Round Turret

-Can navigate shallower waters -Double the speed of the Merrimack

What happened at the battle between THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK?

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MARCH 8TH

●  Merrimack destroys ○  Twenty-four gun U.S.S. Cumberland (shells into the side, tore 7 foot

hole into hull) ○  Fifty gun U.S.S. Congress (started fires on ship, blew up when fires

reached powder magazine). ●  Steadily closing in on the Minnesota ●  240 Union Navy soldiers killed, more than on any other day in the

war. ●  Union fleet did little to damage the Merrimack.

○  Two of Merrimack’s guns were knocked out. ○  Two of crew were wounded, several injured. ○  Battering ram knocked off.

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MARCH 9TH, BATTLE OF MONITOR VS. MERRIMACK

●  Clash at Hampton Roads, on March 9th 1862. ○  Both crews were ineffective at firing at one another.

■  Monitor cracked Merrimack's outside plating ■  Merrimack tried to ram Monitor without success.

●  Limitations- ■  Monitor could only fire once every 7-8 minutes. ■  Merrimack’s engines were barely functioning.

●  12:30, Merrimack turns to another railyard. ○  Battle ends in a draw.

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“ Whereas we had available for immediate purposes one hundred forty nine first-class warships, we now have two.

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GLOBAL EFFECT

●  Frigates and wooden sailing war ships would be practically extinct.

●  Fortified steamships were the new form of Naval warfare.

●  English adopted the ships into their fleet. ○  Britain’s experimental ironclads were named Warrior and

Ironside.

●  Regarding the Civil War- ○  Union: 58 ○  Confederacy: 21

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FATE OF THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK

●  C.S.S. Virginia (Merrimack) was blown up by her crew after being stranded in Federal territory.

●  U.S.S. Monitor, on the last day of 1862, she sank on a blockade assignment.

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Commerce Raiders Pirates, Mercenaries, and more!

PIRATES? PRIVATEERS? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE! ●  Privateers were legal pirates.

○  In any war, enemy’s merchant shipping becomes fair game.

●  Southern ship owners gone privateer were offered Letters of Marque.

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NORTH RESPONDS ●  April 19, 1861, North issued a proclamation claiming

that all privateer groups would be caught and treated as pirates.

○  By midsummer many crews were now in Northern jails awaiting trial.

●  Pirates would usually have the criminal punishment of hanging.

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SOUTH RESPONDS ●  The confederacy responds by stating that for every

privateer hanged, the Confederacy would hang a Union prisoner of war.

●  Lincoln Administration, not willing to risk a blood bath, backed down.

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WHY COMMERCE RAIDERS?

●  Concept was successful before, in the revolutionary war.

●  Designed to sink rather than capture.

○  Cruisers would attack ships leaving the crew and cargo to burn.

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FAMOUS COMMERCE RAIDERS

●  Sumter, commanded by Raphael Semmes.

○  Captured 18 Northern merchantmen early in the war.

●  Florida, commanded by John Maffitt.

○  1863, seized 37 Federal prizes.

●  Shenandoah, commanded by James Waddell.

○  Took 38 Union merchant ships.

●  Alabama, commanded by Raphael Semmes.

○  Captured 69 Federal ships in two years. 38

EFFECT OF COMMERCE RAIDING

●  Some cruisers were immensely successful.

○  Limited by only having a handful of raiders at sea.

●  Increased Northern insurance premiums.

○  Pulled some ships away from blockade duty.

●  Overall, little effect on weakening the blockade.

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Thank you for your time!

FUN FACT- The animal mascot of the Navy is Bill the Goat.

BIBLIOGRAPHY McPherson, James M. Battle cry of freedom. Vol. 6, Oxford University Press, 1988.

"Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack." Britannica LaunchPacks, Encyclopædia Britannica, 29 Oct. 2012. packs.eb.com/social-studies/149574/article/53365. Accessed 17 Sep. 2017.

Beck, Tim. “The Monitor and the Merrimac and their Effects.” 23 July 2007.

"Battle of New Orleans." Britannica LaunchPacks, Encyclopædia Britannica, 28 Oct. 2016. packs.eb.com/social-studies/149574/article/55495. Accessed 17 Sep. 2017.

"American Civil War." Britannica LaunchPacks, Encyclopædia Britannica, 21 Jul. 2017. packs.eb.com/social-studies/149574/article/6104?toc=229878. Accessed 17 Sep. 2017.

"Vicksburg Campaign." Britannica LaunchPacks, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Jul. 2017. packs.eb.com/social-studies/149574/article/75235. Accessed 17 Sep. 2017.

U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/milestones/1861-1865/blockade. Accessed 17 Sept. 2017.

“Civil War Ships.” Civil War Academy - American Civil War, www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-ships. Accessed 17 Sept. 2017.

“Ironclads.” The London Times, 1862. In reference to the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac (C.S.S. Virginia)

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