- Table View
- List View
The Civil War Lover's Guide to New York City
by Bill MorganThis fascinating illustrated guide is “a must for any Civil War buff visiting or living in New York City” (New York Journal of Books). Few Americans associate New York City with the Civil War, but the most populated metropolitan area in the nation, then and now, is filled with scores of monuments, historical sites, and resources directly related to those four turbulent years. Veteran author Bill Morgan’s The Civil War Lover’s Guide to New York City examines more than 150 of these largely overlooked and often forgotten historical gems. Morgan’s book takes readers on a journey of historical discovery. Walk inside the church where Stonewall Jackson was baptized, visit the building where Lincoln delivered his famous Cooper Union Speech, and marvel that the church built by the great abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher is still used for worship. A dozen Civil War–era forts still stand (the star-shaped bastion upon which the Statue of Liberty rests was a giant supply depot), and one of them sent relief supplies to besieged Fort Sumter in Charleston. Visit the theater where “Dixie” was first performed and the house where Stephen Crane wrote The Red Badge of Courage. After the war, New York honored the brave men who fought by erecting some of the nation’s most beautiful memorials in honor of William T. Sherman, Admiral David Farragut, and Abraham Lincoln. These and many others still grace parks and plazas around the city. Ulysses S. Grant adopted New York as his home and is buried here in the largest mausoleum in America (which was also the most-visited monument in the country). See the homes where many generals, including Winfield Scott, George B. McClellan, and even Robert E. Lee, once lived. Complete with full-color photos and maps, Morgan’s lavishly illustrated and designed volume is a must-have book for every student of the Civil War and for every visitor to New York City.
The Civil War Letters of Sergeant Onley Andrus
by Onley AndrusSergeant Andrus served in Co. D, 95th Illinois Infantry. Here are reprinted 61 letters written home during the war, beginning in September 1862 and continues through the end of the War. The regiment fought in the Vicksburg Campaign, the Red River Campaign, the pursuit of Sterling Price, Nashville, New Orleans, and Mobile.
The Civil War Letters of Joseph Taylor
by Kevin C. MurphyLetters of a civil war Massachusetts soldier to his father
The Civil War Letters of David R. Garrette,: Detailing the Adventures of the 6th Texas Cavalry, 1861-1865
by David R. GarretteWith annotations and background information from the great grandson of David Garrett, this book details the adventures of the 6th Texas Cavalry (1861-1865) during the Civil War. It contributes to the soldier's viewpoint of the war; though beset by incredible hardships that soldier yet managed to find time to write the folks back home. The book includes a facsimile letter as well as maps, historic photographic images and genealogical information.
Civil War Journal
by Albert A. NofiDID YOU KNOW THAT... * The room in which Robert E. Lee was born was also the birthplace of two signers of the Declaration of Independence * Philip Sheridan was suspended from West Point for a year because of a "quarrel of belligerent character" * During the election of 1860, Northern States cast a quarter of a million more votes against Lincoln that did the entire South * George McClellan had to secure special permission to be admitted to West Point--because he was only 15 * At least one woman served as a "drummer boy" during the Civil War * The famed U.S.S. Monitor was the first warship to have flush toilets From the fascinating to the frivolous, A Civil War Journal presents little-known facts that will both entertain and enlighten you. This entertaining and informative chronicl e of the Civil War and the people who waged it shines a new light on the hidden corners of history, bringing you more than 500 surprising episodes, eye-opening anecdotes, and little-known facts. From the private eccentricities of well-known figures to sobering statistics about the war itself, these pages reveal: * What Union victory took place in Japan * How many cigars Grant smoked each day * Why Abraham Lincoln grew a beard * Why Major General James Longstreet wore carpet slippers at the battle of Antietem * Why a Union warship was named after a Confederate general * How many Confederate flags were captured at Gettysburg * How much money the U.S. spent on the war per day in 1865 * Who the last surviving Civil War general was and open your eyes to the tremendous impact the war had on soldiers and civilians alike. The perfect browsing book for Civil War buffs, trivia mavens, and the insatiably curious, A Civil War Journal is a treasure trove of odd information and unusual insights.
Civil War Ironclads: The Dawn Of Naval Armor
by Robert MacbrideCivil War expert Robert MacBride charts the history of the ironclads of the Civil War, heavily illustrated with plans and diagrams.The battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (nee Merrimack), at Hampton Roads was neither the beginning nor the end of the story of the ironclad warships in the Civil War. Both the Union and the Confederate navies not only had other ironclad ships in commission at the time of the battle, they already had used them in combat. The months following saw the appearance of squadrons of monitors and casemate ironclads of the general design of the Virginia. It is with the sequels to the Battle of Hampton Roads that this book is primarily concerned.
Civil War Ironclads: The U.S. Navy and Industrial Mobilization (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology)
by William H. RobertsHonorable Mention, Science and Technology category, John Lyman Book Awards, North American Society for Oceanic HistoryCivil War Ironclads supplies the first comprehensive study of one of the most ambitious programs in the history of naval shipbuilding. In constructing its new fleet of ironclads, William H. Roberts explains, the U.S. Navy faced the enormous engineering challenges of a largely experimental technology. In addition, it had to manage a ship acquisition program of unprecedented size and complexity. To meet these challenges, the Navy established a "project office" that was virtually independent of the existing administrative system. The office spearheaded efforts to broaden the naval industrial base and develop a marine fleet of ironclads by granting shipbuilding contracts to inland firms. Under the intense pressure of a wartime economy, it learned to support its high-technology vessels while incorporating the lessons of combat.But neither the broadened industrial base nor the advanced management system survived the return of peace. Cost overruns, delays, and technical blunders discredited the embryonic project office, while capital starvation and never-ending design changes crippled or ruined almost every major builder of ironclads. When Navy contracts evaporated, so did the shipyards. Contrary to widespread belief, Roberts concludes, the ironclad program set Navy shipbuilding back a generation.
The Civil War In The Western Theater 1862 [Illustrated Edition] (The U.S. Army Campaigns of the Civil War #2)
by Col. Charles R. Bowery Jr.Includes 8 maps and numerous other illustrationsThe Mississippi River had figured prominently in the North's strategic planning from the outset of the war. In May 1861, then-General in Chief of the U.S. Army Winfield Scott had drafted the so-called Anaconda Plan. Scott had proposed that the Federal armed forces squeeze the life out of the Confederacy by blockading the Southern coastline and launching an amphibious thrust down the Mississippi. He had argued that his plan would end the war with minimal bloodshed, conveniently ignoring the fact that it would take years for the North to build a sufficient navy. President Abraham Lincoln thought the Anaconda Plan had merit, but he knew that the Army would have to play a far more active role than Scott had envisioned--especially in Kentucky and Missouri--where Unionist and secessionist forces were already maneuvering for power.Lincoln was determined not only to keep the two crucial border states in the Union, but to rescue eastern Tennessee. One senator, Andrew Johnson, and one congressman, Horace Maynard, from that region remained in Washington to represent their Unionist supporters.On 4 August, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, the Army of the Potomac's new commander, presented his own strategic plan for the West that accorded with Lincoln's wishes yet proved more elaborate. He recommended a grand campaign involving two western armies--one based in Kentucky and the other in Missouri. The first army would divide into two columns in order to capture eastern Tennessee and Nashville. They would reunite at Chattanooga and proceed to Atlanta and then Montgomery, Alabama. After gaining control of Missouri, the second army would launch an amphibious expedition down the Mississippi River and seize New Orleans. All that remained was for the president to find generals willing and able to put these ambitious plans into action.
The Civil War in the West
by Earl J. HessThe Western theater of the Civil War, rich in agricultural resources and manpower and home to a large number of slaves, stretched 600 miles north to south and 450 miles east to west from the Appalachians to the Mississippi. If the South lost the West, there would be little hope of preserving the Confederacy. Earl J. Hess's comprehensive study of how Federal forces conquered and held the West examines the geographical difficulties of conducting campaigns in a vast land, as well as the toll irregular warfare took on soldiers and civilians alike. Hess balances a thorough knowledge of the battle lines with a deep understanding of what was happening within the occupied territories.In addition to a mastery of logistics, Union victory hinged on making use of black manpower and developing policies for controlling constant unrest while winning campaigns. Effective use of technology, superior resource management, and an aggressive confidence went hand in hand with Federal success on the battlefield. In the end, Confederates did not have the manpower, supplies, transportation potential, or leadership to counter Union initiatives in this critical arena.
The Civil War in the Northwest: Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas
by Robert Huhn JonesTHERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 34,000 volumes written on the Civil War, and the approaching centennial of that awesome event will insure the outpouring of many more. In this most explored facet of American history, it is curious that there still remain areas to examine, and people and events to reconsider, re-evaluate, and reinterpret. One of the neglected areas is the northwestern frontier. The problem is unusual, for there two turbulent streams of history, the frontier and the rebellion, converge and flow together until the newer ends in a muddy backwash as the older flows on. It is far too arbitrary to paddle one stream without the other, yet most often this has been done. The Civil War has been forgotten as historians probed the Indian massacre, or vice versa.
The Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles (Heritage of Mississippi Series)
by Michael B. BallardFrom the first Union attack on Vicksburg in the spring of 1862 through Benjamin Grierson's last raid through Mississippi in late 1864 and early 1865, this book traces the campaigns, fighting, and causes and effects of armed conflict in central and North Mississippi, where major campaigns were waged and fighting occurred. The Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles will be a must-read for any Mississippian or Civil War buff who wants the complete story of the Civil War in Mississippi. It discusses the key military engagements in chronological order. It begins with a prologue covering mobilization and other events leading up to the first military action within the state's borders. The book then covers all of the major military operations, including the campaign for and siege of Vicksburg, and battles at Iuka and Corinth, Meridian, Brice's Crossroads, and Tupelo. The colorful cast of characters includes such household names as Sherman, Grant, Pemberton, and Forrest, as well as a host of other commanders and soldiers. Author Michael B. Ballard discusses at length minority troops and others glossed over or lost in studies of the Mississippi military during the war.
The Civil War In Kentucky: Battle For The Bluegrass State
by Kent Masterton BrownTop scholars contribute to this book of essays on the complex series of battles and political maneuvers for control of Kentucky during the Civil War.
A Civil War Gunboat in Pacific Waters: Life on Board USS Saginaw (New Perspectives on Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology)
by Hans Konrad Van Tilburg"An epic shipwreck tale. Sacrifice and heroism are recounted in a comprehensive study of a ship that embodied America's role in the nineteenth-century Pacific as Yankee enterprise helped open Asia to trade. Well-researched, well-written, this book also takes readers for the first time intoSaginaw's long-lost grave beneath the sea."--James P. Delgado, president, The Institute of Nautical Archaeology "An impressive study of a naval vessel from construction to destruction."--William Still Jr., author of Crisis at Sea The USS Saginaw was a Civil War gunboat that served in Pacific and Asian waters between 1860 and 1870. During this decade, the crew witnessed the trade disruptions of the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion, the transportation of Confederate sailors to Central America, the French intervention in Mexico, and the growing presence of American naval forces in Hawaii.In 1870, the ship sank at one of the world's most remote coral reefs; her crew was rescued sixty-eight days later after a dramatic open-boat voyage. More than 130 years later, Hans Van Tilburg led the team that discovered and recorded the Saginaw's remains near the Kure Atoll reef.Van Tilburg's narrative provides fresh insights and a vivid retelling of a classic naval shipwreck. He provides a fascinating perspective on the watershed events in history that reshaped the Pacific during these years. And the tale of archaeological search and discovery reveals that adventure is still to be found on the high seas.
The Civil War Guerrilla: Unfolding the Black Flag in History, Memory, and Myth (New Directions in Southern History)
by Matthew C. Hulbert Joseph M. Beilein Jr.Most Americans are familiar with major Civil War battles such as Manassas (Bull Run), Shiloh, and Gettysburg, which have been extensively analyzed by generations of historians. However, not all of the war's engagements were fought in a conventional manner by regular forces. Often referred to as "the wars within the war," guerrilla combat touched states from Virginia to New Mexico. Guerrillas fought for the Union, the Confederacy, their ethnic groups, their tribes, and their families. They were deadly forces that plundered, tortured, and terrorized those in their path, and their impact is not yet fully understood.In this richly diverse volume, Joseph M. Beilein Jr. and Matthew C. Hulbert assemble a team of both rising and eminent scholars to examine guerrilla warfare in the South during the Civil War. Together, they discuss irregular combat as practiced by various communities in multiple contexts, including how it was used by Native Americans, the factors that motivated raiders in the border states, and the women who participated as messengers, informants, collaborators, and combatants. They also explore how the Civil War guerrilla has been mythologized in history, literature, and folklore. The Civil War Guerrilla sheds new light on the ways in which thousands of men, women, and children experienced and remembered the Civil War as a conflict of irregular wills and tactics. Through thorough research and analysis, this timely book provides readers with a comprehensive examination of the guerrilla soldier and his role in the deadliest war in U.S. history.
Civil War Graves of Northern Virginia (Images of America)
by Charles A. MillsMany reminders of the Civil War were left behind in Northern Virginia for future generations to ponder. Also left behind were the graves of those who took part in the tumultuous events of war. Northern Virginia is a treasure house of history, perhaps more so than any other part of the country. One unique way of experiencing that history is by visiting one of the region's many historic cemeteries. Cemeteries have been called open-air museums, and every gravestone has a story to tell. There are some 1,000 cemeteries in Northern Virginia, ranging from small family plots to huge national cemeteries covering hundreds of acres. Many of these cemeteries contain the remains of Civil War veterans. This book is not meant to be an inclusive survey of every cemetery in the region, but rather it is a presentation of the Civil War history of Northern Virginia through the medium of cemeteries.
Civil War Ghost Trails: Stories from America's Most Haunted Battlefields
by Mark NesbittRiveting ghost stories with history from all the major engagements of the war.Civil War Ghost Trails examines the major engagements of the Civil War and their connections to the paranormal world. The history of each battlefield is followed by the classic ghost stories that have been around since the guns fell silent. Mark Nesbitt also collected newer stories and attempted a paranormal investigation, including Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), at many of the sites to see what could be found. In some cases, the results were astounding. Some of the spirits included in the book are the Headless Zouave at Bull Run, the Drummer Boy at Shiloh, and the Phantom Battalion at Gettysburg. Ghosts appear at the Bloody Lane at Antietam and Caroline Street in Fredericksburg, as well as sites at Chancellorsville, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Petersburg, and Appomattox Court House. A special section of the book explores the haunted Civil War prisons at Johnson&’s Island in Ohio, Point Lookout in Maryland, and Andersonville in Georgia. Abraham Lincoln&’s many White House apparitions are discussed in a section on wartime Washington, D.C.
Civil War Generals of Tennessee
by Randy BishopFrom James Patton Anderson to Felix Zollicoffer, author Randy Bishop, a native Tennessean, offers compelling portraits of the sons of a state regarded by many as the most torn asunder by the War Between the States. This collection brings together biographies of the fifty-one Confederate and Union generals born in Tennessee as well as those with significant ties to the state. Each entry focuses on the major military contributions of the individuals—no matter their affiliations—and also teases out the most intriguing aspects of their civilian life, particularly how they fared after the war. With fascinating details, including the men&’s relationships before the divisiveness of war drove intruded, Bishop provides an insight into lives that have rarely been seen as a whole. Arranged in alphabetical order for ease of reference, the work includes such luminaries as Nathan Bedford Forrest and Leonidas Polk, while also detailing the contributions of many lesser-known figures, including Samuel Powhatan Carter and Otho French Strahl. Each entry spans approximately five pages and provides, as the author states, &“insight into the contributions of selfless men who offered their best, in years of their lives as well as time, that could have been spent with their families.&”
Civil War Generals of Indiana (Civil War Series)
by Carl E. KramerMeet the Hoosier Generals of America's ConflictWhen the Civil War erupted, the Union and the Confederacy faced the challenge of organizing huge armies of volunteers with little or no military experience. Crucial to this task was finding generals, and Indiana answered this call with approximately 120 of them. Though a competent division and corps commander, Ambrose E. Burnside's leadership of the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg proved disastrous. Jefferson Columbus was a relentless commander but murdering his superior in a Louisville hotel halted his probable rise to major general. As commander of the Louisville Legion, Lovell H. Rousseau was the only Civil War general commissioned by a city.Compiling years of research, historian Carl E. Kramer provides biographical sketches of every identifiable Indiana general who attained full-rank, brevet, and state-service status in the tragic struggle.
The Civil War Generals: Comrades, Peers, Rivals: In Their Own Words (Civil War America Ser.)
by Robert I. Girardi“An excellent contribution to Civil War literature . . . . [A]n excellent reference resource. Civil War buffs in particular will greatly enjoy this book.” —ArmchairGeneral.comThe Civil War Generals offers an unvarnished and largely unknown window into what military generals wrote and said about each other during the Civil War era. Drawing on more than 170 sources—including the letters, diaries, and memoirs of the general officers of the Union and Confederate armies, as well as their staff officers and other prominent figures—Civil War historian Robert Girardi has compiled a valuable record of who these generals were and how they were perceived by their peers. The quotations within paint revealing pictures of the private subjects at hand and, just as often, the people writing about them—a fascinating look at the many diverse personalities of Civil War leadership. More than just a collection of quotations, The Civil War Generals is also a valuable research tool, moving beyond the best-known figures to provide contemporary character descriptions of more than four hundred Civil War generals. The quotes range in nature from praise to indictment, and differing opinions of each individual give a balanced view, making the book both entertaining and informative. A truly one-of-a-kind compilation illustrated with approximately one hundred historical photographs, The Civil War Generals will find a home not only with the casual reader and history buff, but also with the serious historian and researcher.
Civil War Field Artillery: Promise and Performance on the Battlefield
by Earl J. HessThe American Civil War saw the creation of the largest, most potent artillery force ever deployed in a conflict fought in the Western Hemisphere. It was as sizable and powerful as any raised in prior European wars. Moreover, Union and Confederate artillery included the largest number of rifled pieces fielded in any conflagration in the world up to that point. Earl J. Hess’s Civil War Field Artillery is the first comprehensive general history of the artillery arm that supported infantry and cavalry in the conflict. Based on deep and expansive research, it serves as an exhaustive examination with abundant new interpretations that reenvision the Civil War’s military. Hess explores the major factors that affected artillerists and their work, including the hardware, the organization of artillery power, relationships between artillery officers and other commanders, and the influence of environmental factors on battlefield effectiveness. He also examines the lives of artillerymen, the use of artillery horses, manpower replacement practices, effects of the widespread construction of field fortifications on artillery performance, and the problems of resupplying batteries in the field. In one of his numerous reevalutions, Hess suggests that the early war practice of dispersing guns and assigning them to infantry brigades or divisions did not inhibit the massing of artillery power on the battlefield, and that the concentration system employed during the latter half of the conflict failed to produce a greater concentration of guns. In another break with previous scholarship, he shows that the efficacy of fuzes to explode long-range ordnance proved a problem that neither side was able to resolve during the war. Indeed, cumulative data on the types of projectiles fired in battle show that commanders lessened their use of the new long-range exploding ordnance due to bad fuzes and instead increased their use of solid shot, the oldest artillery projectile in history.
Civil War Dynasty: The Ewing Family of Ohio
by Kenneth J HeinemanFor years the Ewing family of Ohio has been lost in the historical shadow cast by their in-law, General William T. Sherman. In the era of the Civil War, it was the Ewing family who raised Sherman, got him into West Point, and provided him with the financial resources and political connections to succeed in war. The patriarch, Thomas Ewing, counseled presidents and clashed with radical abolitionists and southern secessionists leading to the Civil War. Three Ewing sons became Union generals, served with distinction at Antietam and Vicksburg, marched through Georgia, and fought guerrillas in Missouri. The Ewing family stood at the center of the Northern debate over emancipation, fought for the soul of the Republican Party, and waged total war against the South.In Civil War Dynasty, Kenneth J. Heineman brings to life this drama of political intrigue and military valor—warts and all. This work is a military, political, religious, and family history, told against the backdrop of disunion, war, violence, and grief.
The Civil War Diary of Gideon Welles, Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy: The Original Manuscript Edition
by William E. Gienapp Gideon Welles Erica L. GienappGideon Welles's 1861 appointment as secretary of the navy placed him at the hub of Union planning for the Civil War and in the midst of the powerful personalities vying for influence in Abraham Lincoln's cabinet. Although Welles initially knew little of naval matters, he rebuilt a service depleted by Confederate defections, planned actions that gave the Union badly needed victories in the war's early days, and oversaw a blockade that weakened the South's economy. Perhaps the hardest-working member of the cabinet, Welles still found time to keep a detailed diary that has become one of the key documents for understanding the inner workings of the Lincoln administration. In this new edition, William E. and Erica L. Gienapp have restored Welles's original observations, gleaned from the manuscript diaries at the Library of Congress and freed from his many later revisions, so that the reader can experience what he wrote in the moment. With his vitriolic pen, Welles captures the bitter disputes over strategy and war aims, lacerates colleagues from Secretary of State William H. Seward to General-in-Chief Henry Halleck, and condemns the actions of the self-serving southern elite he sees as responsible for the war. He can just as easily wax eloquent about the Navy's wartime achievements, extoll the virtues of Lincoln, or drop in a tidbit of Washington gossip. Carefully edited and extensively annotated, this edition contains a wealth of supplementary material. The several appendixes include short biographies of the members of Lincoln's cabinet, the retrospective Welles wrote after leaving office covering the period missing from the diary proper, and important letters regarding naval matters and international law.
The Civil War Diary Of Cyrus F. Boyd, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, 1861-1863 [Illustrated Edition]
by Lieut. Cyrus F. BoydIncludes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities."[One of] the Union side's most revealing and realistic views of soldier life....The diary is especially important for the light which it throws on such basic matters as the tortuous progression from civilian to veteran, the course of morale, the character of soldier life in a volunteer army, the quality of leadership, the awesomeness of battle, and the brutality of war."--Bell Irvin Wiley, in the Journal of Southern HistoryA native of Warren County, Iowa, Cyrus F. Boyd served a year and a half as an orderly sergeant with the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry before becoming first Lieutenant in Company B of the Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry. His diary--expanded in 1896 from a pocket diary he carried on his campaigns from Indianola, Iowa, to Lake Providence, Louisiana--offers a full account of soldiering in the Union army. Before his promotion, Boyd was an intermediary between privates and company officers, a position that offered him unique opportunities to observe the attitudes and activities of both the unit leaders and their men. The outspoken Boyd frankly expresses his opinions of his comrades and his commanders, candidly depicts camp life, and intricately details the gory events on the battlefield. Although not always pleasant reading, The Civil War Diary of Cyrus F. Boyd is a vibrant, honest chronicle of one man's experiences in the bloody conflict.The diary has been heavily edited to ensure it can be understood, initially there was little to no punctuation included.
The Civil War Day by Day: 1861-1865
by E. B. Long Barbara LongIn all the vast collection of books on the American Civil War there is no book like this one. It has been needed for a long time, both by the student and by the man who simply likes to read about the Civil War, but until now no one had the dedication or the encyclopedic knowledge to produce it. Here it is, at last—an almanac, or day-by-day recital down to the close conflict, written by Professor E. B. Long of the University of Wyoming. If there was a battlefield in the Civil War that this man has not visited personally, I do not know where it is; if there is an important collection of papers shedding light on the war that he has not examined, it would be hard to name it. It is no exaggeration whatsoever to say that this man knows more facts about the Civil War than any other man who ever lived. To know a subject thoroughly, of course, is one thing; to put the results of that knowledge into lucid prose of manageable compass is something else again. One does not need to examine many pages of this almanac to realize that Professor Long has succeeded admirably in the second task. Crammed into the margins of each page with facts, this book is never soporific. It is for the casual reader as well as for the specialist; it can even, as a matter of fact, be read straight through as a narrative, in which the dramatic and heart-stirring events of America’s greatest time of trial pass before the eye on a day-to-day basis. A book like this has been needed for a long time, but up to now no one was able to write it. It should have a long life, and no one will ever need to do it again. It belongs on the somewhat restricted shelf of Civil War books that will be of permanent value.
Civil War Commando: William Cushing and the Daring Raid to Sink the Ironclad CSS Albemarle
by Jerome PreislerCivil War Ironclads and Commandos Here at last is an action-packed portrait of one of America&’s greatest but little-remembered Civil War heroes, Commander William Barker Cushing, who sank the Confederate ironclad Albemarle in a spectacular mission in 1864. Regarded as erratic and insubordinate, Midshipman Cushing was drummed out of the Naval Academy in March 1861. But with the outbreak of war, the Union needed every trained officer it could find— and whatever his flaws, Cushing was an extremely talented naval officer. Ferocious, uncompromising, courageous, and loyal, he became a U.S. Navy commando and at the age of twenty-one was sent to destroy the South&’s ultimate naval weapon—the Albemarle, an unsinkable vessel with a devastating iron ram. This death-defying mission succeeded in sinking the Albemarle, helped reelect President Abraham Lincoln, and earned Cushing a hero&’s grave in the Naval Academy&’s cemetery. Here is that story, told with all the verve and drama it deserves, shining new light on one of the most important naval encounters of the war. Civil War Commando is a masterpiece of naval history that reads like a thriller and gives a neglected hero his due.