Description
Book Synopsis Thousands of Black sailors served with valor during the Civil War. Yet few histories have highlighted their contributions to the Union''s impressive naval victories throughout the war, which prompted Lincoln''s Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, to declare that if the army could not win the war, the navy would have to. Drawing on official naval records, personal letters and journals, and oral histories of formerly enslaved Americans, this volume documents the service of fugitive, freemen and freed Black sailors, 1861-1865.
Trade ReviewFinally, there is a book that gives African-American sailors the credit they’re due for the winning the Union’s war on the waters." —Claude Berube, PhD, director, United States Naval Academy Museum, author of
On Wide Seas: The US Navy in the Jacksonian Era"In researching the history of the naval reserve which came into existence just before World War I, I discovered African-Americans proved to be the manpower reserve enabler to allow for the rapid expansion of the Union Navy to suppress the southern rebellion. James Bruns explains how cultural differences between the army and navy facilitated the recruitment and integration of colored sailors into the ranks and how they contributed to Union success on multiple fronts. Using artifact and manufacts as focal imagery, Bruns goes far to fill a critical void in Civil War naval historiography!" —David F. Winkler, Ph.D. Naval Historical Foundation, author of
Ready Then, Ready Now, Ready Always: More Than a Century of Service By Citizen SailorsTable of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1. "That will do": Towards Freedom
- 2. Runaways
- 3. Robert Smalls
- 4. Northern Black Mariners
- 5. Recruiting in Major Cities
- 6. Welcome to the Navy
- 7. The Need for Army Contrabands and Its Fleet
- 8. From Overseers to Boatswains Mates
- 9. Blue-Water Black Bluejackets
- 10. Brown-Water Black Bluejackets
- 11. The Great Exodus in 1862 and 1863
- 12. Seizing the Lower Mississippi: David Farragut, the Minority Flag Officer
- 13. Capturing the Upper Mississippi: Andrew Hull Foote, the Union's Pious Sailor
- 14. Vicksburg: The Gibraltar of the Confederacy
- 15. Prizes and Problems Along the Red River
- 16. Coffee
- 17. The Safest Service
- 18. Marked Passing
- 19. Black Bluejacket Valor
- 20. The Union Navy's War on Salt
- 21. Mobile Bay
- 22. The Union's Starships
- 23. The Aftermath
- Chapter Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
