About
The Federal blockade of the Confederate coast during the American Civil War (1861-1865) did not cause the ultimate Federal victory, but it contributed to that victory to a significant degree.
In this highly informative book, readers will learn the story of blockade running from a nuanced, all-points-of-view perspective. Without recounting hundreds of encounters between pro-Confederate blockade runners and Federal blockading forces, it traces the ebb and flow of events as the U.S. Navy, blockade runners, and foreign governments (primarily the British) all pressed for advantage. At first unable to detect blockade runners, the Federals developed tactics that made them increasingly effective at making captures, although they did not eliminate blockade running altogether until they captured the principal Confederate ports. And although blockade running sustained the Confederates' ability to continue the battle for four years, the effect of this economic warfare substantially weakened the armies upon which the Confederate assertion of independence rested.
Gil Hahn's new survey of the Civil War on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts is more than just the conventional account of the U.S. Navy's blockade of the Confederacy. It embraces ship and weapons technology, coastal fortifications. charts and data on coastal sailing vessels, even sailors' rations. This is the single best survey of the conflict for the Confederacy's coastlines on offer, and its conclusions will surprise both the skeptics and the advocates of the blockade's effectiveness.
In this highly informative book, readers will learn the story of blockade running from a nuanced, all-points-of-view perspective. Without recounting hundreds of encounters between pro-Confederate blockade runners and Federal blockading forces, it traces the ebb and flow of events as the U.S. Navy, blockade runners, and foreign governments (primarily the British) all pressed for advantage. At first unable to detect blockade runners, the Federals developed tactics that made them increasingly effective at making captures, although they did not eliminate blockade running altogether until they captured the principal Confederate ports. And although blockade running sustained the Confederates' ability to continue the battle for four years, the effect of this economic warfare substantially weakened the armies upon which the Confederate assertion of independence rested.
Gil Hahn's new survey of the Civil War on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts is more than just the conventional account of the U.S. Navy's blockade of the Confederacy. It embraces ship and weapons technology, coastal fortifications. charts and data on coastal sailing vessels, even sailors' rations. This is the single best survey of the conflict for the Confederacy's coastlines on offer, and its conclusions will surprise both the skeptics and the advocates of the blockade's effectiveness.