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Under Two Flags: The American Navy in the Civil War
Vividly written and well researched by a noted historian of the period, this succinct history credits the Union Navy as an essential element in the northern victory. Neither ponderous nor hagiographic, the work presents characters and events that have been previously neglected and offers candid assessments of officers, men, and material. Originally published in 1990, when it was a Military History Book Club selection, the work is considered a must for Civil War buffs. It is an authoritative and gripping story of the battles waged. The author provides a rare look at the war fought by primitive northern gunboats drifting through Louisiana's muddy bayous, Yankee merchantmen captured by rebel privateers at sea, and Union ironclads subduing hotly defended Southern forts. Nor does William Fowler neglect the subtler sparrings behind the scenes: War Secretary Stanton and Navy Secretary Welles competing for Lincoln's favor and Welles's fierce duel of strategies with his Confederate counterpart, Stephen Mallory. Finally, the author describes the astonishing transformation of the Navy itself from a ragtag fleet of aging steamers and paddleboats to one of the most powerful waterborne forces in the world.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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About the author
William M. Fowler Jr.
22 books14 followersWilliam Morgan Fowler Jr. is a professor of history at Northeastern University, Boston and an author. He served as Director of the Massachusetts Historical Society from 1998 through 2005. He earned his BA from the University of Indiana in 1967 and his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 30, 2024
This is a rather concise history of the two navies in the American Civil War, published in 1990. It made for a fast read but if one wants more detail on some of the aspects of the naval war of the ACW, one will have to find other books. Fowler does make some good points, particularly in his Conclusion. It should go without saying that the Union would not have won without having naval superiority over the South. We think of the blockade and its starving of the South. But Fowler makes the point that the blockade itself was largely ineffective. It only worked when the Union seized the actual ports used by the blockade-runners. Farragut's capture of New Orleans in 1862 was certainly a brilliant victory as the North gained control of the South's biggest port. But one of the Union's biggest failures was in not thrusting as fast as possible up the Mississippi River to take Vicksburg, following the fall of New Orleans. Furthermore, it's amazing to me that it took so long to go after the major port of Mobile--it was not until 1864 that Farragut moved into Mobile Bay. And that it wasn't until 1865, just a couple of months before Appomattox, that Wilmington, NC, was taken was a great oversight. Perhaps one of the biggest problems for the Union was a lack of Army-Navy cooperation, particularly the Army's unwillingness to release troops for use in combined operations on the seacoast. Grant's close cooperation with the Navy on the rivers in his Western campaigns (west of the Alleghenies) should be all the more appreciated as contributing to his victories in "the West.". On the other hand, Fowler points out that the Confederate high- seas raiders such as the CSS ALABAMA, as glamorous as they were, had no effect whatsoever on the Union war effort. Despite all the damage done to the US merchant marine, Northern overseas trade actually increased between 1861 and 1865. In the end,the US Navy reflected the North's superiority in manpower, financing, industrial production, organization, and logistics-and it happened to be competently led by Sec. of the Navy Gideon Welles, who served throughout the entire war. The US Navy contribution to Union victory was a vital one and should not be forgotten.
May 16, 2020
Under the opposing flags of the Union and the Confederacy, the American Navy achieved, during the Civil War years, important innovations that prepared it for the global challenges that the Navy would face in the 20th century. That exploration of how the naval history of the Civil War fits into the larger history of the United States Navy may be the most important contribution of William M. Fowler Jr.’s 1990 book Under Two Flags. Fowler, a professor of history at Northeastern University in Boston, and a former director of the Massachusetts Historical Society, provides a rigorous and well-researched look at The American Navy in the Civil War (the book’s subtitle).
Part of what helps Under Two Flags make a distinct contribution to the always-crowded field of Civil War studies is the way in which Fowler focuses not only on the dramatic stories of Civil War naval warfare, but also on the practical business of administering a navy department. The two navy secretaries, Gideon Welles for the Union and Stephen Mallory for the Confederacy, could not have been more different – Welles was a stern and pessimistic journalist from Hartford, Connecticut; Mallory was a pleasure-loving Floridian from Key West – but both understood the importance of taking advantage of the innovations then occurring within the field of naval technology, and both had to fight to keep their naval services from being overlooked or ignored by army-focused government bureaucrats.
Many of the highlights of Civil War naval combat that knowledgeable readers might expect to see are here – the March 9, 1862, Battle of Hampton Roads between the U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Virginia, the first instance of naval combat between ironclad warships; the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley successfully sinking the Union warship U.S.S. Housatonic in Charleston Harbor on February 17, 1864, before itself sinking with all hands; the June 19, 1864, sea battle off the coast of France in which the Union sloop-of-war U.S.S. Kearsarge sank the Confederate raider C.S.S. Alabama. The challenge, for the Union Navy, of blockading a Confederate coastline that stretched all the way from the Delmarva Peninsula to the Rio Grande also receives appropriate emphasis.
But amidst all that “blue-water” action, Fowler also provides a helpful focus on the “brown-water” naval actions through which the Union Navy achieved important successes against strategically important Mississippi River targets like New Orleans, Memphis, and Vicksburg.
An abiding theme of Fowler’s Under Two Flags is that of opportunities missed because naval contributions to the Union cause were overlooked. When considering the Union Navy’s successful February 1862 campaign against Roanoke Island, North Carolina, for instance, Fowler writes that “More prescient commanders would have seized the opportunity to move inland as quickly as possible. But at this point, fatigue infected the Federal forces. Having used up too much of their ammunition and other supplies, they elected to rest before pushing their advantage” (p. 250). The defeated rebels regrouped, and the decisive moment that could have opened what Civil War historian James M. McPherson has called “a back door to Richmond” was lost.
An example of Fowler’s ability to convey the drama of naval combat comes amidst his discussion of the long Union campaign against Vicksburg, when Union General Ulysses S. Grant was doggedly trying one way after another to take the city known as “the Gibraltar of the Confederacy.” A fateful moment overtook the gunboat U.S.S. Cairo on December 12, 1862, when it was involved in mine clearing during the Yazoo Pass period of Grant’s operations on the Mississippi River. The Cairo’s captain was under orders to let smaller ships like the stern-wheel paddle steamer U.S.S. Marmora clear mines first, before getting his larger ship underway; and the fate of the Cairo shows what can happen if safety-oriented orders are ignored.
As Marmora rounded a bend in the river, she was partly screened from Cairo’s view. At the same moment Cairo’s captain, Thomas Selfridge, heard heavy gunfire ahead. A prudent commander would have reacted cautiously, but Selfridge ordered full steam and came up on Marmora, only to find Marmora’s crew firing at a suspected mine….Cairo had barely moved ahead half a length when two quick explosions lifted first her port quarter, then her port bow. The powerful second explosion threw her guns into the air. Twelve minutes later, Cairo went to the bottom, with her funnel barely showing above the river. Thanks to quick action by the captain and crew, no one was killed, but that was cold comfort to Selfridge. (p. 201)
Captain Selfridge achieved an unfortunate distinction – his was the first warship ever sunk by a hand-detonated mine. But the U.S.S. Cairo, well-preserved beneath the surface of the Mississippi River, was salvaged in 1965, and has been on display at the Vicksburg National Military Park since 1977. It is one of only four Civil War ironclads still in existence.
Fowler in Under Two Flags also does well at sketching the characters of the major figures of the naval Civil War, particularly in his description of the war’s pre-eminent naval hero, David Glasgow Farragut, who led the successful Union expedition that took New Orleans (the Confederacy’s largest city) in 1862, and won the crucial 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay that closed the Confederacy’s last port on the Gulf of Mexico.
Farragut was a Southerner from Tennessee, but when the secession crisis came, he unhesitatingly stayed with the Union. Farragut, living in Norfolk when the war broke out, told his secession-minded fellow officers, “Mind what I tell you: You fellows will catch the devil before you get through with this business” (p. 106).
There is a fine, understated irony in Fowler’s description of Farragut:
Welles wanted a Horatio Nelson, but Farragut hardly fitted the bill. He lacked dash, was not particularly eloquent, and was never a romantic figure. But his uninspiring appearance was misleading. Behind this drab mask was an officer who was to become the nation’s first admiral and the modern American navy’s first great commander. (p. 107)
Living as I do in Northern Virginia, I often find myself thinking of Fowler’s description of Farragut when I drive by Farragut Square in Washington, D.C. The statue of Farragut, cast from the bronze propellers of his flagship U.S.S. Hartford, expresses eloquently the great naval officer’s resolution, as he stands holding a naval spyglass in both hands, his right foot resting on a ship’s capstan. He looks ready to call out now, as he did at Mobile Bay when a Confederate torpedo mine sank the Union monitor U.S.S. Tecumseh, “Damn the torpedoes! Four bells! Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed!” – a famous command later shortened to “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”
Placing the naval action of the Civil War within the larger context of the American Navy’s history, Fowler writes that “Out of the chaos of the Civil War, the United States Navy emerged as one of the most powerful seaborne forces in the world. It boasted more than six hundred ships, fifty thousand men, and extensive combat experience with new shot, shell, and armored vessels” (p. 303). Even if, as Fowler acknowledges, “The American navy lapsed into a period of decline and neglect” (p. 303) after the war, an important precedent had been set, and the U.S. Navy had shown the kind of courage and innovation that would make it a decisive force in defense of democracy during two world wars and a protracted “cold war” in the following century. Under Two Flags encourages the history-minded reader to admire the courage and pertinacity of these sailors from long ago.
Part of what helps Under Two Flags make a distinct contribution to the always-crowded field of Civil War studies is the way in which Fowler focuses not only on the dramatic stories of Civil War naval warfare, but also on the practical business of administering a navy department. The two navy secretaries, Gideon Welles for the Union and Stephen Mallory for the Confederacy, could not have been more different – Welles was a stern and pessimistic journalist from Hartford, Connecticut; Mallory was a pleasure-loving Floridian from Key West – but both understood the importance of taking advantage of the innovations then occurring within the field of naval technology, and both had to fight to keep their naval services from being overlooked or ignored by army-focused government bureaucrats.
Many of the highlights of Civil War naval combat that knowledgeable readers might expect to see are here – the March 9, 1862, Battle of Hampton Roads between the U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Virginia, the first instance of naval combat between ironclad warships; the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley successfully sinking the Union warship U.S.S. Housatonic in Charleston Harbor on February 17, 1864, before itself sinking with all hands; the June 19, 1864, sea battle off the coast of France in which the Union sloop-of-war U.S.S. Kearsarge sank the Confederate raider C.S.S. Alabama. The challenge, for the Union Navy, of blockading a Confederate coastline that stretched all the way from the Delmarva Peninsula to the Rio Grande also receives appropriate emphasis.
But amidst all that “blue-water” action, Fowler also provides a helpful focus on the “brown-water” naval actions through which the Union Navy achieved important successes against strategically important Mississippi River targets like New Orleans, Memphis, and Vicksburg.
An abiding theme of Fowler’s Under Two Flags is that of opportunities missed because naval contributions to the Union cause were overlooked. When considering the Union Navy’s successful February 1862 campaign against Roanoke Island, North Carolina, for instance, Fowler writes that “More prescient commanders would have seized the opportunity to move inland as quickly as possible. But at this point, fatigue infected the Federal forces. Having used up too much of their ammunition and other supplies, they elected to rest before pushing their advantage” (p. 250). The defeated rebels regrouped, and the decisive moment that could have opened what Civil War historian James M. McPherson has called “a back door to Richmond” was lost.
An example of Fowler’s ability to convey the drama of naval combat comes amidst his discussion of the long Union campaign against Vicksburg, when Union General Ulysses S. Grant was doggedly trying one way after another to take the city known as “the Gibraltar of the Confederacy.” A fateful moment overtook the gunboat U.S.S. Cairo on December 12, 1862, when it was involved in mine clearing during the Yazoo Pass period of Grant’s operations on the Mississippi River. The Cairo’s captain was under orders to let smaller ships like the stern-wheel paddle steamer U.S.S. Marmora clear mines first, before getting his larger ship underway; and the fate of the Cairo shows what can happen if safety-oriented orders are ignored.
As Marmora rounded a bend in the river, she was partly screened from Cairo’s view. At the same moment Cairo’s captain, Thomas Selfridge, heard heavy gunfire ahead. A prudent commander would have reacted cautiously, but Selfridge ordered full steam and came up on Marmora, only to find Marmora’s crew firing at a suspected mine….Cairo had barely moved ahead half a length when two quick explosions lifted first her port quarter, then her port bow. The powerful second explosion threw her guns into the air. Twelve minutes later, Cairo went to the bottom, with her funnel barely showing above the river. Thanks to quick action by the captain and crew, no one was killed, but that was cold comfort to Selfridge. (p. 201)
Captain Selfridge achieved an unfortunate distinction – his was the first warship ever sunk by a hand-detonated mine. But the U.S.S. Cairo, well-preserved beneath the surface of the Mississippi River, was salvaged in 1965, and has been on display at the Vicksburg National Military Park since 1977. It is one of only four Civil War ironclads still in existence.
Fowler in Under Two Flags also does well at sketching the characters of the major figures of the naval Civil War, particularly in his description of the war’s pre-eminent naval hero, David Glasgow Farragut, who led the successful Union expedition that took New Orleans (the Confederacy’s largest city) in 1862, and won the crucial 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay that closed the Confederacy’s last port on the Gulf of Mexico.
Farragut was a Southerner from Tennessee, but when the secession crisis came, he unhesitatingly stayed with the Union. Farragut, living in Norfolk when the war broke out, told his secession-minded fellow officers, “Mind what I tell you: You fellows will catch the devil before you get through with this business” (p. 106).
There is a fine, understated irony in Fowler’s description of Farragut:
Welles wanted a Horatio Nelson, but Farragut hardly fitted the bill. He lacked dash, was not particularly eloquent, and was never a romantic figure. But his uninspiring appearance was misleading. Behind this drab mask was an officer who was to become the nation’s first admiral and the modern American navy’s first great commander. (p. 107)
Living as I do in Northern Virginia, I often find myself thinking of Fowler’s description of Farragut when I drive by Farragut Square in Washington, D.C. The statue of Farragut, cast from the bronze propellers of his flagship U.S.S. Hartford, expresses eloquently the great naval officer’s resolution, as he stands holding a naval spyglass in both hands, his right foot resting on a ship’s capstan. He looks ready to call out now, as he did at Mobile Bay when a Confederate torpedo mine sank the Union monitor U.S.S. Tecumseh, “Damn the torpedoes! Four bells! Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed!” – a famous command later shortened to “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”
Placing the naval action of the Civil War within the larger context of the American Navy’s history, Fowler writes that “Out of the chaos of the Civil War, the United States Navy emerged as one of the most powerful seaborne forces in the world. It boasted more than six hundred ships, fifty thousand men, and extensive combat experience with new shot, shell, and armored vessels” (p. 303). Even if, as Fowler acknowledges, “The American navy lapsed into a period of decline and neglect” (p. 303) after the war, an important precedent had been set, and the U.S. Navy had shown the kind of courage and innovation that would make it a decisive force in defense of democracy during two world wars and a protracted “cold war” in the following century. Under Two Flags encourages the history-minded reader to admire the courage and pertinacity of these sailors from long ago.
September 19, 2019
The writer writes in such a way and includes first hand account that make the history of the U.S. Navy during the Civil War come alive.
September 7, 2020
This is a fun book about various naval actions during the Civil War. It covers most of the major events and does so in a well written enjoyable manner.
That being, I'm a little disappointed with the content. The title implies that the book will discuss the US and CSA navy--- "Under two flags". Instead it was alsmot exclusively the Union Navy. There are paragraphs about the Confederate Navy and the last chapter is about various raiders.
Still it was a pretty tight little book on the Navy.
That being, I'm a little disappointed with the content. The title implies that the book will discuss the US and CSA navy--- "Under two flags". Instead it was alsmot exclusively the Union Navy. There are paragraphs about the Confederate Navy and the last chapter is about various raiders.
Still it was a pretty tight little book on the Navy.
November 5, 2018
During the American Civil War both sides discovered a need for an active navy. Under Two Flags examines the development, handicaps, and strategies of both the Union and the Confederacy. Most of the text concerns the struggle for the rivers with some attention being paid to the efforts to instill a coastal blockade. A scant chapter is devoted to blockade runners and the commerce raiders. The book is a decent introduction to the naval side of the American Civil War.
November 24, 2016
A concise, clearly written naval history of the war.The book is more an introduction to the topic and should serve well as such to any interested reader. Fowler is, however, more interested in technology and strategy than battles or command.
In a smooth,lively, and evenhanded narrative Fowler covers the Confederate raiders, the river campaigns, the Union blockade, and Union operations against the Confederacy’s harbors. Fowler argues that the North could not have won the war without a powerful navy, and covers all of the naval victories, defeats, successes, and failures in a fair manner. His assessment of Mallory and Welles is shrewd, and his portraits of the various naval heroes is entertaining and those of the battles vivid.
A primarily fact-based but fast-paced, readable work.
In a smooth,lively, and evenhanded narrative Fowler covers the Confederate raiders, the river campaigns, the Union blockade, and Union operations against the Confederacy’s harbors. Fowler argues that the North could not have won the war without a powerful navy, and covers all of the naval victories, defeats, successes, and failures in a fair manner. His assessment of Mallory and Welles is shrewd, and his portraits of the various naval heroes is entertaining and those of the battles vivid.
A primarily fact-based but fast-paced, readable work.
December 20, 2009
Dr. Fowler's books are always entertaining, interesting and Under Two Flags doesn't disappoint. This book was well organized and gives the reader an understanding of the complexities of the naval campaigns of the Civil War. This book is highly recommended as an introduction to the naval campaigns of the Civil War then the reader can read the specific histories.
June 12, 2019
My friend Gary McQuarrie is managing editor for a specialty magazine "Civil War Navy". Though it was not something of innate interest to me, I thought it would be fun to subscribe and then learn more about, perhaps to see if I could research something and contribute to the magazine. This book came up in a search on Abe Books (https://www.abebooks.com/), and for $4, I thought it would be a good background reading.
The author does a reasonable job organizing the subject and taking the reader through the Civil War in this particular area. His writing style includes many quotes, and all of the text has documentation on sources. He also does well in describing the times, the state of technology, and the context for what happened and why it happened. There is an excellent Bibliographic Notes section at the end that scratches the surface of the compendiums of primary source material, including the 31-volume "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion" and the 128-volume "The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies." Who knew?
In any case, the book fulfilled my objective in an entertaining way, and I have a much better background for understanding my magazine subscription! The biographies of the principle characters in the drama, especially the two opposing Secretary of Navy, Stephen Mallory for the CSA and Gideon Welles for the USA, are of future reading interest. Of special interest for me would be learning more about privateering, the wartime practice of essentially pirating on the seas commissioned by governments. An interesting tidbit is that a treaty among the larger colonial powers in the world was signed just prior to the Civil War era, and though the USA was solicited to sign the treaty, it decided not to, only to enable the CSA 'license' it would not have had.
The author does a reasonable job organizing the subject and taking the reader through the Civil War in this particular area. His writing style includes many quotes, and all of the text has documentation on sources. He also does well in describing the times, the state of technology, and the context for what happened and why it happened. There is an excellent Bibliographic Notes section at the end that scratches the surface of the compendiums of primary source material, including the 31-volume "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion" and the 128-volume "The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies." Who knew?
In any case, the book fulfilled my objective in an entertaining way, and I have a much better background for understanding my magazine subscription! The biographies of the principle characters in the drama, especially the two opposing Secretary of Navy, Stephen Mallory for the CSA and Gideon Welles for the USA, are of future reading interest. Of special interest for me would be learning more about privateering, the wartime practice of essentially pirating on the seas commissioned by governments. An interesting tidbit is that a treaty among the larger colonial powers in the world was signed just prior to the Civil War era, and though the USA was solicited to sign the treaty, it decided not to, only to enable the CSA 'license' it would not have had.
July 3, 2022
I imagine most Civil War buffs will learn something by reading Under Two Flags.
Most standard histories don’t emphasize the naval elements of the Civil War fighting. Both Northern and Southern leaders thought the navies were important, and so they were.
Stephen Mallory, naval secretary of the Confederate States, had a job no one would have wanted in 1860. He came up short in most respects, because the Confederacy just couldn’t afford to build and maintain a potent navy.
Gideon Welles, his Northern counterpart, had only a somewhat easier job.
The naval commanders never managed to convince their respective commanders-in-chief that the navies were as vital as the armies in the Civil War conflict.
The sailors on both sides were brave men, but they get second billing
Read more of my book reviews and poems here:
www.richardsubber.com
Most standard histories don’t emphasize the naval elements of the Civil War fighting. Both Northern and Southern leaders thought the navies were important, and so they were.
Stephen Mallory, naval secretary of the Confederate States, had a job no one would have wanted in 1860. He came up short in most respects, because the Confederacy just couldn’t afford to build and maintain a potent navy.
Gideon Welles, his Northern counterpart, had only a somewhat easier job.
The naval commanders never managed to convince their respective commanders-in-chief that the navies were as vital as the armies in the Civil War conflict.
The sailors on both sides were brave men, but they get second billing
Read more of my book reviews and poems here:
www.richardsubber.com
May 16, 2023
Although I've had this book in my collection for a long time, I hadn't made it a priority to read. I'm sorry I waited so long. The naval war was important to both sides with the blockade, the river boats and the raiders. The book dispels some myths and puts the navy's role into the war's context. The story of both navies, north and south enhances understanding to the overall war. Great primer for those, like me, who knew little to nothing about the war on the ocean and rivers.
January 31, 2025
Fine book. Interesting stories from a topic that is rarely covered in most mainstream history of the Civil War.
Not much thorough analysis, and the bits we get of Welles and Mallory through the course of the book feel more like interludes than anything.
Additionally, the “Lost Cause” business just puts a sour taste in my mouth, even if the book is over 30 years old.
Not much thorough analysis, and the bits we get of Welles and Mallory through the course of the book feel more like interludes than anything.
Additionally, the “Lost Cause” business just puts a sour taste in my mouth, even if the book is over 30 years old.
August 12, 2011
The writing is sloppy and so is this analysis. Ultimately this isn't even a good introductory work.
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October 4, 2016I think that this book is an interesting that to know what was over 160 years ago
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews