Ironclads And Big Guns Of The Confederacy

Author : George M. Brooke, Jr.
Publisher : Univ of South Carolina Press
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2023-06-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781643364063

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Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy by George M. Brooke, Jr. Pdf

An inside look at the Confederacy's military science and technology Loaded with previously unavailable information about the Confederate Navy's effort to supply its fledgling forces, the wartime diaries and letters of John M. Brooke (1826–1906) tell the neglected story of the Confederate naval ordnance office, its innovations, and its strategic vision. As Confederate commander of ordnance and hydrography in Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War, Brooke numbered among the military officers who resigned their U.S. commissions and "went South" to join the Confederate forces at the onset of conflict. A twenty-year veteran of the United States Navy who had been appointed a midshipman at the age of fourteen, Brooke was a largely self-taught military scientist whose inventions included the Brooke Deep-Sea Sounding Lead. In addition to his achievements as an inventor, Brooke was a draftsman, diarist, and inveterate letter-writer. His copious correspondence about military and personal matters from the war yields detailed and often unexpected insights into the Confederacy's naval operations. Charged with developing a vessel that could break the Union blockade, Brooke raised the Merrimack, a wooden vessel scuttled by the Union Navy, and outfitted it with armor plates as the CSS Virginia. Brooke's papers trace his conception of the plan to create the first Confederate ironclad warship and offer insight into other innovations, revealing a massive amount of factual information about the Confederacy's production of munitions.

Author : John Mercer Brooke
Publisher : Univ of South Carolina Press
Page : 286 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : History
ISBN : 1570034184

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Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy by John Mercer Brooke Pdf

His copious correspondence about military and personal matters from the war yields detailed and often unexpected insights into the Confederacy's naval operations."--BOOK JACKET.

Author : Saxon Bisbee
Publisher : University of Alabama Press
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2018-08-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9780817319861

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Engines of Rebellion by Saxon Bisbee Pdf

The development of steam propulsion machinery in warships during the nineteenth century, in conjunction with iron armor and shell guns, resulted in a technological revolution in the world's navies. Warships utilizing all of these technologies were built in France and Great Britain in the 1850s, but it was during the American Civil War that large numbers of ironclads powered solely by steam proved themselves to be quite capable warships. This book focuses on Confederate ironclads with American built machinery, offering a detailed look at marine steam-engineering practices in both northern and southern industry prior to and during the Civil War. It gives a contextual naval history of the Civil War, the creation of the ironclad program, and the advent of various technologies. The author analyzes the armored warships built by the Confederate States of America that represented a style adapted to scarce industrial resources and facilities.

Author : Andrew R. English
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 214 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2021-10-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781476643670

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The Laird Rams by Andrew R. English Pdf

Built in Birkenhead, England, from 1862 to 1865, the "Laird rams" were two innovative armored warships intended for service with the Confederate Navy during the Civil War. The vessels represented a substantial threat to Union naval power, and offered the Confederacy a potential means to break the Union blockade of the Southern coastline. During 1863, the critical year of the Confederacy's last hope of recognition by the British and French, President Lincoln threatened war with Britain if the ships ever sailed under Confederate colors. Built in some secrecy, then launched on the River Mersey under intense international scrutiny, the ships were first seized, and then purchased by Britain to avoid a war with the United States. These armored warships were largely forgotten after the Admiralty acquired them. Historians rarely mention these sister warships--if referred at all, they are given short shrift. This book provides the first complete history of these once famous ironclads that never fired a shot in anger yet served at distant stations as defenders of the British Empire.

Author : R. Thomas Campbell
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 277 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2019-02-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9781476676401

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Confederate Ironclads at War by R. Thomas Campbell Pdf

Hampered by lack of materials, shipyards and experienced shipbuilders, even so the South managed to construct 34 iron-armored warships during the Civil War, of which the Confederate Navy put 25 into service. The stories of these vessels illustrate the hardships under which the Navy operated--and also its resourcefulness. Except for the Albemarle, no Confederate ironclad was sunk or destroyed by enemy action. Overtaken by events on the ground, most were destroyed by their own crews to prevent them from falling into Union hands. This account covers the design and construction and the engagements of the Confederate ironclads and describes the ingenuity and courage, as well as the challenges and frustrations of their "too little, too late" service.

Author : Pamela Chase Hain
Publisher : University of Missouri Press
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780826264947

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A Confederate Chronicle by Pamela Chase Hain Pdf

"Focuses on the struggles of Civil War veteran Thomas L. Wragg, Confederate officer, prisoner of war, and successful doctor. Documents General Joseph E. Johnston's army at Harpers Ferry and the Battle of Bull Run, Wragg's training on the CSS Georgia, his imprisonment, his courtship, and the effects of posttraumatic stress"--Provided by publisher.

Author : Ron Field
Publisher : Osprey Publishing
Page : 84 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2008-11-18
Category : History
ISBN : IND:30000122523776

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Confederate Ironclad Vs Union Ironclad by Ron Field Pdf

The Ironclad was a revolutionary weapon of war. Although iron was used for protection in the Far East during the 16th century, it was the 19th century and the American Civil War that heralded the first modern armored self-propelled warships. With the parallel pressures of civil war and the industrial revolution, technology advanced at a breakneck speed. It was the South who first utilized ironclads as they attempted to protect their ports from the Northern blockade. Impressed with their superior resistance to fire and their ability to ram vulnerable wooden ships, the North began to develop its own rival fleet of ironclads. Eventually these two products of this first modern arms race dueled at the battle of Hampton Roads in a clash that would change the face of naval warfare. Fully illustrated with cutting-edge digital artwork, rare photographs and first-person perspective gun sight views, this book allows the reader to discover the revolutionary and radically different designs of the two rival Ironclads - the CSS Virginia and USS Monitor - through an analysis of each ship's weaponry, ammunition and steerage. Compare the contrasting training of the crews and re-live the horrors of the battle at sea in a war which split a nation, communities and even families.

Author : William R. Trotter
Publisher : G.P Publications
Page : 488 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 1989
Category : North Carolina
ISBN : WISC:89059422634

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Ironclads and Columbiads by William R. Trotter Pdf

Author : William H. Roberts
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2004-01-01
Category : History
ISBN : 0803238614

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Now for the Contest by William H. Roberts Pdf

In a detailed examination of the Civil War at sea, the author of Civil War Ironclads describes the conflict in the context of three campaigns, as well as how both sides mobilized and employed their resources for the war.

Author : C. Russell Horres Jr.
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
Page : 149 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2019-04-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781439666548

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Morris Island and the Civil War by C. Russell Horres Jr. Pdf

From Charleston's doorstep, Morris Island held a critical position in the Civil War. It was first used by Confederates to assist in the bombardment of Fort Sumter and later became the scene of an epic struggle to prevent Union forces from gaining control. After the battle, the roles reversed, and Union forces used the site to bombard Fort Sumter and Charleston. Hundreds lost their lives, and both sides expended a vast amount of war capital for what appeared to be little value. Confederates greatly underestimated how events at Morris Island played into the hands of the Civil War's master strategist, Abraham Lincoln. Author C. Russell Horres Jr. offers the complete story of Morris Island in the War Between the States.

Author : Myron J. Smith, Jr.
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2018-11-15
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781476666365

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Ironclad Captains of the Civil War by Myron J. Smith, Jr. Pdf

From 1861 to 1865, the American Civil War saw numerous technological innovations in warfare--chief among them was the ironclad warship. Based on the Official Records, biographical works, ship and operations histories, newspapers and other sources, this book chronicles the lives of 158 ironclad captains, North and South, who were charged with outfitting and commanding these then-revolutionary vessels in combat. Each biography includes (where known) birth and death information, pre- and post-war career, and details about ships served upon or commanded.

Author : Ethan S. Rafuse
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
Page : 422 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2022-12-09
Category : History
ISBN : 9780700633531

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From the Mountains to the Bay by Ethan S. Rafuse Pdf

From January to July of 1862, the armies and navies of the Union and Confederacy conducted an incredibly complex and remarkably diverse range of operations in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Under the direction of leaders like Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, George McClellan, Joseph E. Johnston, John Rodgers, Robert E. Lee, Franklin Buchanan, Irvin McDowell, and Louis M. Goldsborough, men of the Union and Confederate armed forces marched over mountains and through shallow valleys, maneuvered on and along great tidal rivers, bridged and waded their tributaries, battled malarial swamps, dug trenches and constructed fortifications, and advanced and retreated in search of operational and tactical advantage. In the course of these operations, the North demonstrated it had learned quite a bit from its setbacks of 1861 and was able to achieve significant operational and tactical success on both land and sea. This enabled Union arms to bring a considerable portion of Virginia under Federal control—in some cases temporarily and in others permanently. Indeed, at points during the spring and early summer of 1862, it appeared the North just might succeed in bringing about the defeat of the rebellion before the year was out. A sweeping study of the operations on land and sea, From the Mountains to the Bay is the only modern scholarly work that looks at the operations that took place in Virginia in early 1862, from the Romney Campaign that opened the year to the naval engagement between the Monitor and Merrimac to the movements and engagements fought by Union and Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley, on the York-James Peninsula, and in northern Virginia, as a single, comprehensive campaign. Rafuse draws from extensive research in primary sources to provide a fast-paced, complete account of operations throughout Virginia, while also incorporating findings of recent scholarship on the factors that shaped these campaigns. The work provides invaluable insights into the factors and individuals who shaped these operations, how they influenced the course of the war, the relationships between political leaders and men in uniform, and how all these factors affected the development and execution of strategy, operations, and tactics.

Author : H. Jackson Knight
Publisher : Conflicting Worlds: New Dimens
Page : 424 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2011-06-10
Category : History
ISBN : UIUC:30112096720591

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Confederate Invention by H. Jackson Knight Pdf

The formation of the Confederate States of America involved more than an attempt to create a new, sovereign nation -- it inspired a flurry of creativity and entrepreneurialism in the South that fiercely matched Union ingenuity. H. Jackson Knight's Confederate Invention brings to light the forgotten history of the Confederacy's industrious inventors and its active patent office. Despite the destruction wrought by the Civil War, evidence of Confederate inventions exists in the registry of the Confederate States Patent Office. Hundreds of southerners submitted applications to the agency to secure patents on their intellectual property, which ranged from a "machine for operating submarine batteries," to a "steam plough," to a "combined knapsack and tent," to an "instrument for sighting cannon." The Confederacy's most successful inventors included entrepreneurs, educators, and military men who sought to develop new weapons, weapon improvements, or other inventions that could benefit the Confederate cause as well as their own lives. Each creation belied the conception of a technologically backward South, incapable of matching the creativity and output of northern counterparts. Knight's work provides a groundbreaking study that includes neglected and largely forgotten patents as well as an array of other primary sources. Details on the patent office's origins, inner workings, and demise, and accounts of southern inventors who obtained patents before, during, and after the war reveal a captivating history recovered from obscurity. A novel creation in its own right, Confederate Invention presents the remarkable story behind the South's long-forgotten Civil War inventors and offers a comprehensive account of Confederate patents.

Author : William Norwood Still (Jr.)
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 278 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 1971
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015019111924

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Iron Afloat by William Norwood Still (Jr.) Pdf

Author : John V. Quarstein
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2007-02-28
Category : History
ISBN : 9781614231554

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A History of Ironclads by John V. Quarstein Pdf

One of history's greatest naval engagements, the Battle of Hampton Roads, occurred on March 8 and 9, 1862. On the first morning, the Confederate ironclad the CSS Virginia, formerly known as the Merrimack, sank two Union wooden warships, proving the power of the armored vessels over the traditional sailing ships. The next morning, the Virginia engaged the Union ironclad USS Monitor to a draw in a battle that significantly altered naval warfare. It was the first engagement between ironclads and ushered in a new era of warship construction and ordnance. The 25, 000 sailors, soldiers and civilians who witnessed the battle knew then what history would soon confirm: wars waged on the waters would never be the same. The seemingly invincible Monitor and Virginia were experimental ships, revolutionary combinations of new and old technology, and their clash on March 9, 1862, was the culmination of over 2, 000 years of naval experience. The construction and combat service of ironclads during the Civil War were the first in a cascade of events that influenced the outcome of the war and prompted the development of improved ironclads as well as the creation of new weapons systems, such as torpedoes and submarines, needed to counter modern armored warships.