Current Events

1
Current Events

• Honoring Coretta Scott King
• Balloon in car creates XL explosion
• BIG GAME TONIGHT DUKE VS. UNC

2
Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 7 The Civil War, 1861-1865

3
Learning Objectives

• Comprehend the role of the Union Navy in the
  strategy for the defeat of the Confederacy.
  
• Comprehend the role of the Confederate Navy in
  the strategy for the defeat of the Union.
  
• Know the reasons for vital importance of
  acquisition of European allies in the Souths
  Naval Strategy.
  
• Know the innovations in naval weapons and
  technology that emerged during the Civil War.

4
War between the States

• Dispute between slave and free states over status
  of western territories.
  
• Missouri Compromise - 1820.
• Kansas-Nebraska Act - 1854.
• Dred Scott Decision - 1857.
• Southern states secede after Lincoln elected in
  1860.
  
• Confederate States of America established - Feb
  1861.
  
• Status of federal territory in the Confederacy in
  question.
  
• Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina
• Attacked by Confederate forces on April 12, 1861.

5
Common Operational HeritageUnion and Confederate
Navies

• War of 1812 Coastal defense and commerce
  raiding
  
• Fighting from an inferior position against an
  enemy that has command of the sea.
  
• 1815-1846 Global deployments
• Protection of American maritime commerce
  overseas.
  
• 1846-1848 Mexican-American War
• U.S. Navy controls the seas throughout the war.
• Ports established on the Pacific Coast.

6
Naval Comparison

• The Confederate Navy
• Inferior naval strength.
• U.S. Navy traditions prior to the
  Mexican-American War - Defensive.
  
• Coastal defense.
• Commerce raiding (Guerre de course).
• The Union Navy
• Superior naval strength built up throughout the
  war.
  
• Royal Navy traditions and U.S. Navy traditions in
  the Mexican-American War - Offensive.
  
• Establish control of sea lines of communication.
• Blockade of enemy coast.
• Power projection through amphibious assault.

7
Diplomacy of the Civil War

• The Norths goal Keep Great Britain truly
  neutral.
  
• Reconcile the blockade of Southern ports with
  British freedom of trade.
  
• Problem Strong pro-Confederacy sentiment in
  important segments of British policy-making
  elites.
  
• The Souths goal Win British recognition and
  naval aid.
  
• Problems
• War is viewed as a rebellion - not a conflict
  between sovereign states.
  
• Outcome of the war is uncertain.
• Diplomatic inexperience and a weak State
  Department.
  
• Fallacy of the "King Cotton" thesis.
• The Trent Affair
• Union Navy violates neutral rights of British
  ship.

8
Outcome of Diplomacy

• Ultimately a Failure
• Naval Agent James Bulloch gets that aid
• - Commerce raiders (Alabama, Florida,
  Shenandoah)
  
• - Blockade Runners
• - Laird rams (clearly warships blockade
  breakers
  
• Battle of Antietam (September 1862) and Charles
  F. Adams protests end aid.
  

9
Union Naval Strategy

• Part of General Winfield Scotts master Anaconda
  Plan for victory.
  
• Blockade the entire Confederate coast.
• Capture Southern ports for coal, water, food
  bombardment and amphibious assaults.
  
• Control of Mississippi River.
• Vital line of communication for Confederacy.
• Cut off Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
• Riverine operations in western areas.
• Combined Army-Navy operations against Confederate
  forces.
  
• Union Army -- Capture Confederate capital at
  Richmond.

10
Confederate Naval Strategy

• Part of overall strategy of Attrition Warfare.
• Army will defend territory and threaten
  Washington.
  
• Coastal defense
• Army forts and new naval weapons systems.
• Blockade-running
• Attempt to continue commercial trade with
  Europe.
  
• Operations hurt by Southerners desires for
  luxury goods.
  
• Union blockades increasing effectiveness
  increases profits.
  
• Commerce raiding
• Successful cruises divert Union ships from
  blockade duty.
  
• Privateers (1861)
• Declaration of Paris - 1856.
• Unable to secure prize courts (sovereignty
  problems).

11
Early Naval Operations

• Norfolk Navy Yard
• Largest naval base and arsenal in the United
  States.
  
• Captured by Confederate forces on 21 April.
• USS Merrimack scuttled by retreating Union
  forces.
  
• Large number of guns captured by Confederates.
• Battalion of Marines fights at Bull Run under
  Army command.
  
• Union blockade of the Confederacy
• Paper Blockade needs to become real as soon as
  possible.
  
• Forward bases required for an effective
  blockade.
  
• Amphibious operations launched to seize bases in
  the South.

12
Battle of Port Royal

• Attempt to establish first Union base on
  Confederate territory at Port Royal Sound -- 7
  November 1861.
  
• Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
• Commodore Stephen F. DuPont
• Commands Union fleet.
• Superior naval gunfire
• Directed against Confederate forts defending the
  Sound.
  
• Confederates abandon forts.
• Union soldiers and Marines land unopposed.
• Other Union amphibious operations will resemble
  Port Royal operation.
  
• Unsuccessful assault on Charleston in 1863 under
  Dahlgren.

13
Battle of Hampton Roads

• First engagement between ironclad ships.
• CSS Virginia
• USS Merrimack raised at Norfolk.
• Iron armor and ram added by Confederate Navy.
• Renamed Virginia and commanded by Franklin
  Buchanan.
  
• Defeats conventional Union ships on 8 March 1862.
  
  
• USS Monitor moved to Norfolk area to engage
  Virginia.
  
• Designed by John Ericcson.
• Highly armored with low freeboard.
• Single turret mounting two Dahlgren guns.
• Tactical draw but a strategic Union victory -
  Confederate Navy unable to break the blockade of
  Norfolk.

14
Western River Campaigns

• Combined Union Army - Navy offensives.
• Goal Control of the Mississippi River.
• Navy gunboats and transports used to support
  Army.
  
• Union forces advance down Tennessee and
  Cumberland Rivers to the Mississippi.
  
• Battle of New Orleans
• David Dixon Porter -- Uses mortar boats to
  neutralize forts.
  
• David Glasgow Farragut commands Union assault.
• Seige of Vicksburg
• General Ulysses S. Grant in command.
• David Dixon Porter runs the Vicksburg batteries.
• Red River Campaign

15
Battle of Mobile Bay

• M. F. Maury
• Proponent of the use of torpedoes to defend
  Confederate ports.
  
• Torpedoes - floating containers of explosives
  anchored to the bottom.
  
• Union fleet commanded by David Glasgow Farragut.
• Confederate fleet commanded by Franklin
  Buchanan.
  
• Entrance to Mobile Bay heavily defended.
• Torpedo buoys placed in entrance to the Bay.
• Guns of Fort Morgan defend only open channel.
• Union fleet outnumbers and outguns the
  Confederate fleet waiting in Mobile Bay.
  
• Farragut positions monitors between the rest of
  his fleet and Fort Morgan.
  
• Brooklyns captain stops and blocks the channel.

16
Confederate Commerce Raiders

• Highly successful in the disruption of Union
  maritime commerce.
  
• Captain Raphael Semmes
• CSS Sumter
• CSS Alabama
• Captures 68 Union vessels.
• Sunk at Cherbourg, France in duel with USS
  Kearsarge.

17
Fort Fisher Expeditions

• Defends the only remaining supply line to General
  Lees Army of Northern Virginia through
  Wilmington, North Carolina.
  
• Highly-defended by Confederate guns.
• Combined Union Army-Navy operation.
• Union fleet commanded by David Dixon Porter.
• First assault fails - Christmas 1864.
• Second Assault
• Sailors and Marines attack the fort with Army
  forces.
  
• Only successful amphibious assault against a
  heavily defended fort.
  
• Heavy, constant, targeted naval gunfire necessary
  for success.

18
Tactical Trends in the Civil War

• Introduction of ironclads
• Strengths Heavily armored for coastal
  assault.
  
• Weaknesses Low mobility on the open ocean.
• Question of a fleet's ability to suppress coastal
  fortifications unanswered.
  
• Appreciation for combined (Army-Navy)
  operations.
  
• Proper planning and coordination essential for
  success.
  

19
Technological Innovation

• North Monitor Class
• Combination of steam, screw, armor, and a gun
  turret.
  
• Large numbers built.
• Dahlgren Guns effective at close range.
• Gives Union Navy the advantage on coastal and
  inland waterways.
  
• South
• CSS Virginia -- Steam power and iron armor.
• The Davids
• CSS Hunley - submarine.
• Torpedoes
• Laird rams.

20
Conclusions

• Decline of U.S. Merchant Marines due in large to
  the obsolescent sailing vessels used.
  
• Northern success in application of British-like
  offensive naval warfare PLUS
  
• Failure of Southern commerce raiding to win the
  war at sea QUESTION
  
• Will American naval officers still regard
  commerce raiding as the proper strategy in time
  of war ???????
  
• The Alabama Claims cause a lasting diplomatic
  debate with Great Britain.

21
Conclusions

• Union blockade sets a precedent that Woodrow
  Wilson finds inconvenient in 1914-1917.
  
• Joint Navy-Army Operations reach an unprecedented
  level of high efficiency on the Mississippi
  River.
  
• Joint Ops reach high point in the second amphib
  landing at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, closing
  down the confederacys last open port supporting
  R. E. Lees Army.

22
Learning Objectives

• Comprehend the role of the Union Navy in the
  strategy for the defeat of the Confederacy.
  
• Comprehend the role of the Confederate Navy in
  the strategy for the defeat of the Union.
  
• Know the reasons for vital importance of
  acquisition of European allies in the Souths
  Naval Strategy.
  
• Know the innovations in naval weapons and
  technology that emerged during the Civil War.

23
Discussion

• Next TimeDevelopments of Naval Technology and
  their Impact on Strategy Ch-6 This Peoples Navy