Naval Books

[klatham]

Does anyone know of a good Naval book, much like The Life of Johnny Reb, or Billy Yank? I am looking for as much detail on the day to day life of the common sailor, North and South. Thanks.
Ken Latham
Bon Aqua TENN

[Kenneth Moran]

Re: Naval Books

Ken:

THE book on the subject is "Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy" by Dennis Ringle. About as close as your going to get to a Wiley type work although it deals only with the boys in blue. Just finished it myself and found it spot on and written by a prior naval officer. A secondary recommendation would be "Union Jacks" by Michael Bennett. I am currently reading this one and while it is not too bad it falls well short of the former recommendation. Steve Hessons could probably eloborate in more specific detail. For general "period" maritime life I most enjoyed the first person accounts "Cruise of the Cachalot"by Bullen and Dana's "Two Years Before The Mast". Hope that helps!

Ken

[Marine Mike]

Re: Naval Books

Another good one is 'By Sea and by River: The Naval History of the Civil War' by Bern Anderson or 'Under Two Flags' by William M. Fowler, Jr. Most of the others begin to specialize.
Two good ones for life on monitors are 'The Monitor Chronicles', Edited by William Marvel and 'A Year on a Monitor and the Destruction of Fort Sumter' by Alvah F. Hunter.
Several on each of the Blockade Fleets to read starting with the North Atlantic are 'From Cape Charles to Cape Fear' Robert M. Browning Jr., South Atlantic is 'Success Is All That Was Expected' by Robt. M. Browning Jr., East Gulf is 'Blockaders, Refugges, & Contrabands' by George E. Buker.
Leadership, I recommend 'Lincoln And His Admirals' by Craig L. Symonds.
Life on flagship would be 'Under The Blue Pennant' by John W. Grattan, Acting Ensign, USN.
Check out 'Lincoln's Commando: The Biography of Ccr. William B. Cushing, USN' by Ralph J. Roske and Charles Van Doren
The authors I like reading are Craig L. Symonds, Spencer C. Tucker and Robert M. Browning Jr.
I've read mainly the Union side but have several for the Confederate side on my stack to read or wish list.

Here's a good link to check out for reading material.

http://www.navyandmarine.org/Library/index.html

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Naval Books

All of the above mentioned are worth reading. I would add one small one for CS Navy : "Confederate Service on Land and Sea: The Journal of Robert Watson". Since Watson was both an orderly sergeant of the 7th Florida and a chief on the CSS Savannah, it makes for some interesting views.

[Chad Teasley]

Re: Naval Books

I'll second Comrade Moran's recommendation of "Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy", and "Union Jacks". I've read the former three times, and the latter twice. Bennett's analysis of the lives of Union tars is a bit darker than Ringle's, but taken together they provide a comprehensive view of life on the deck plates in the Union Navy. Also recommended are "Lincoln's Navy, The Ships, Men, and Organization 1861-1865" by Donald L. Canney, and "The Confederate Navy, The Ships, Men, and Organization 1861-1865" edited by Dr. William N. Still. A treasure trove of period Union Navy images is Ron Field's incredible "Bluejackets, Uniforms of the United States Navy in the Civil War Period 1852-1865". Of course, the starting point for any serious study of the Confederate Navy is Raimando Luraghi's opus, "A History of the Confederate Navy". Luraghi doesn't focus too much on the common Sailors on the deckplates, but his book is such a masterpiece that it is essentially required reading re. the Confederate Navy. Another great one is James L. Nelson's "Reign of Iron", about Monitor vs. Virginia. Nelson brings a novelist's skill with language to his history writing, and his book is a page turner, as exciting as any of his fictional sea yarns.
There are a number of other great books on the Civil War at sea (Craig L. Symond's "The Civil War at Sea" is so good that I would be remiss not to mention it, although it isn't specifically about common Sailors), but the ones listed above are the best I've read about life on the deckplates.
I'm sure Bob Dispenza and Steve Hesson will likely give some more great suggestions.
I also recommend checking out the U.S. Naval Landing Party website. Their handbook for Civil War Naval Reenactors is a gold mine. I recommend it very highly.

Fair winds, Shipmate.

[Utley]

Re: Naval Books

A good read for the Western Theater is also Ironclad Captain by Seth Ledyard Phillips. He was active in the river navy and makes many comments about river towns, etc.

[klatham]

Re: Naval Books

Thanks gents, I will ook them all up. Started reading the Watson book recently and am reading Navies Blue & Gray right now....