The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia battled for hours before reaching a stalemate-neither carried the kind of armor-piercing shells necessary to pierce an iron hull. The new technology made its historical debut when the world witnessed the first engagement between ironclad warships at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862. In addition to giving ships far more freedom to maneuver against winds and currents, the extra power allowed them to carry heavier guns and heavier armor. The refinement of steam-powered ships changed the face of naval warfare in the late 19th century. In terms of the number of sailors involved and the miles of river contested, the scale of the Civil War on “brown water” exceeds all other American wars, with Vietnam second.įact #4: The Civil War featured the first battle between ironclad ships. Successful river operations demanded high-tech ironclad and steam-powered fleets and led to the development of naval strategies that are still used by the American military. Grant claimed that he could not have taken the fort at Vicksburg, Mississippi without the navy. The western theater was particularly defined by the struggle for control of the Mississippi River, which was a major factor of the final outcome of the war. River combat played a pivotal role in the conflict-armies could use rivers for supply routes, for fast infantry transport, and for the bombardment of enemy positions. The Union navy grew to comprise more than six hundred ships by 1865, the largest in the world at the time, giving the North a consistent advantage in the war on the water.įact #3: Naval dominance on the rivers allowed the Federals to gain an edge in the war on land. Passenger ferries, their sturdy decks built to hold horse carriages, adapted especially well to their new role as river gunboats.
Hundreds of civilian ships were pressed into service as well. Old ships were filled with stones and sunk in blocking positions around Southern harbors to buy time for the engineers rushing to lay down a new fleet of warships. The central demand of Scott’s Anaconda Plan-a blockade roughly 3000 miles in length-was far beyond what the navy was able to provide. Although the slow and relentless squeeze of the plan was disparaged by critics who thought the conflict would be over in a matter of months, Lincoln stuck by Scott’s blueprint throughout the war.įact #2: The Union navy grew by 600% to meet the demands of the war.Īt the outset of the Civil War, the Federal navy was composed of around ninety ships, only around forty of which were close to combat-capable. These operations would strangle the Confederate economy, based so heavily on the international cotton trade, and split the rebellious nation apart. The “ Anaconda Plan” called for a stiff blockade of Southern seaports in conjunction with an amphibious advance along the line of the Mississippi River. Winfield Scott, brevet lieutenant-general in command of the entire Federal army, presented Abraham Lincoln with a grand strategy for the war shortly before the Battle of Bull Run. Please use these ten facts to expand your understanding of this oft-overlooked theater of action.įact #1: The Union “Anaconda Plan” relied heavily on sea supremacy. On the seas and on the rivers, the dueling navies of the Civil War irrevocably shaped the fates of the armies on land.
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