This “fine, perhaps definitive, biography” of the man who guided the U.S. Navy’s stellar Civil War campaigns “should be on every naval bookshelf” (Washington Times). Gustavus Vasa Fox began his naval service in 1838, when he went to sea as a midshipman. He sailed in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Africa, in the Gulf of Mexico, and with the East India Squadron in the Pacific. His experiences working on the Coast Survey, navigating the lower Mississippi River, and captaining a steamer that ran from New York to Havana to New Orleans and back, would all prove invaluable in the Civil War. During the war, Fox was instrumental in mounting the blockade of the southern coast, from the Chesapeake Bay to the Rio Grande. In planning and coordinating expeditions, Fox deserves much of the credit for the navy’s successes at Hatteras, Port Royal, New Orleans, Mobile Bay, and Fort Fisher. Passionately committed to preserving the Union, Fox also became an advocate of freedom and voting rights for African Americans. He was a skilled administrator who understood politics and developed a close working relationship with Abraham Lincoln. Along with officers like Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs and coordinator of military railroads Herman Haupt, Fox played a critical but overlooked role in the Union victory.

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Pushing aside the long-held belief that the answers went up in flames when the Confederate Navy archives were torched during the evacuation of Richmond, Luraghi combed fifty archives in four countries and uncovered information that shattered prevailing myths about that service's contributions.

Long overlooked in favor of land engagements, this is the first encyclopedia to analyze the naval aspects of the American Civil War. The brilliance of both sides' secretaries of the navy, Stephen Mallory and Gideon Welles. The Dahlgren guns of the Union forces and the Confederate Navy's Brooke guns that were essential in battles involving ironclad ships. The significant contributions of African Americans in the ship crews of the U.S. Navy during the Civic War. These are examples of the fascinating details contained in The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia that provide readers with a complete understanding of the naval aspects of the American Civil War. The entries in this sweeping text provide comprehensive treatment of overall strategies on each side, the role of diplomacy, leading naval officers and other personalities, battles and important engagements, ship types, well-known individual warships, naval ordnance and weapons systems, and new developments such as mines and submarines. Topics such as shipboard life, major waterways, prominent seaports, and the role of logistics in determining the outcome of the war are also covered.

From 1861 to 1865, the Civil War raged along the great rivers of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. While various Civil War biographies exist, none have been devoted exclusively to participants in the Western river war as waged down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Red River, and up the Ohio, the Tennessee and the Cumberland. Based on the Official Records, county histories, newspapers and internet sources, this is the first work to profile personnel involved in the fighting on these great streams. Included in this biographical encyclopedia are Union and Confederate naval officers down to the rank of mate; enlisted sailors who won the Medal of Honor, or otherwise distinguished themselves or who wrote accounts of life on the gunboats; army officers and leaders who played a direct role in combat along Western waters; political officials who influenced river operations; civilian steamboat captains and pilots who participated in wartime logistics; and civilian contractors directly involved, including shipbuilders, dam builders, naval constructors and munitions experts. Each of the biographies includes (where known) birth, death and residence data; unit organization or ship; involvement in the river war; pre- and post-war careers; and source documentation. Hundreds of individuals are given their first historic recognition.