2023 ECW Symposium Early Bird Ticket – $200.00
ECW Archives
-
Recent Posts
Search by Post Categories
Subscribe BY RSS
Email Subscription
Category Archives: Navies
Civil War Medicine: Andrew Henderson, John Pope, and a Challenging Medical Decision at Sea
Civil War era warships were cramped with little privacy with sailors still sleeping in hammocks instead of beds. Officers generally had better living conditions, with the tradeoff of separation from the enlisted crew in status, activity, and expectations. Though they … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership--Federal, Medical, Navies
Tagged Andrew Henderson, Battle of the Head of Passes, binding-a-nations-wounds, Captain John Pope, Charles Darwin, Civil War medicine, David D. Porter, Frederic Hill, Hiram Paulding, Joseph Shively, Mississippi River, Patrick O'Brian, USS Richmond, USS Vincennes, William McKean
3 Comments
What If. . .Vicksburg Had Fallen in July ’62?
In his memoirs, Admiral David D. Porter recollected a November 1861 meeting with President Lincoln and navy secretary Gideon Welles in which—he says—he suggested the plan to seize New Orleans from the sea. Lincoln liked the idea and added: “while … Continue reading
Posted in Campaigns, Leadership--Federal, Navies, Western Theater
Tagged Andrew H. Foote, Battle of Memphis, Battle of Plum Point, Charles H. Davis, David D. Porter, Gen. Henry Halleck, General William T. Sherman, Gideon Welles, Gustavus Fox, Mississippi River Squadron, Siege of Corinth, USS Hartford, Vicksburg Campaign, West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Western Gunboat Flotilla, What if?, What-If-2022
15 Comments
The Contextualized Statue of Raphael Semmes
Until June 2020, Raphael Semmes stood on a traffic median along Government Street in Mobile, Alabama—at least his bronze statue did. On the far side of the intersection, the Bankhead Tunnel plunges below the city street and beneath the empty … Continue reading
Posted in Memory, Monuments, Navies
Tagged commerce raiders, Confederate Navy, CSS Alabama, History Museum of Mobile, Mobile, Monuments, Raphael Semmes, Semmes statue, statues, USS Kearsage
15 Comments
Shellbacks, Polliwogs, and Crossing the Equator Amid Civil War
Anyone watching a movie about sailing ships can quickly become confused with the overwhelming distinct terminology. There are much more than words that signify a sailor, however. Spending months at a time at sea, sailors have developed their own vocabulary, … Continue reading
Unpublished — The International War: Alabama Claims Documentation
This source is not exactly unpublished, but close. It was printed once—long ago—by the U. S. government. Until recently, it was scarce and mostly unknown. And it is a treasure trove of primary source material for the international and naval … Continue reading
The Battle of Memphis and the Fog of War
The battle of Memphis took place on the Mississippi River on June 6, 1862. (You can read posts about it here and here.) Even on the water, the fog of war sometimes hangs heavy over a battlefield. By June 11, … Continue reading
Posted in Battles, Memory, Navies
Tagged Battle of Memphis, Charles Ellet, Memphis, Mississippi River, Queen of the West, ram fleet
5 Comments
The Battle of Memphis and Its Fallen Federal Leader
One of the most consequential battles of the war—and one of the shortest—took place on June 6, 1862: the battle of Memphis. Federals suffered only a single casualty, Col. Charles Ellet, Jr., the man most responsible for the victory in … Continue reading
Posted in 160th Anniversary, Battles, Civilian, Leadership--Federal, Navies
Tagged Battle of Memphis, Charles Ellet, Edwin Stanton, Fallen Leaders, Flag Officer Charles H. Davis, Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, George Gorham, Gideon Welles, Henry Halleck, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Memphis, Mississippi River, Montgomery Meigs, Philadelphia, Queen of the West, ram fleet
8 Comments
A Newly Uncovered Letter in the Most Ungentlemanly Porter-Miller Exchange
Anyone who has read their fair share of Civil War correspondence knows it is often very cordial, even when notes are exchanged between officers on opposing sides. However, occasionally it devolves into arguments akin to modern-day social media rants, especially … Continue reading
“New Orleans gone and with it the Confederacy” – The Fall of New Orleans
ECW welcomes back guest author Patrick Kelly-Fischer The signposts of my mental outline of the Civil War have always been major land battles – Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg, Vicksburg. The histories we grew up on are framed around these titanic battles. They’re … Continue reading
