Charles H. Bogart’s Top Ten Civil War Books

Originally published November 2020 · pp. 25–26

Charles H. Bogart’s Top Ten Civil War Books My main interest in the Civil War centers around naval operations. I do not care if the action takes place on the high seas, in coastal waters, or upon inland rivers. If my Civil War book purchase choice is between a book on naval or land operations, the naval book will be the book purchased. I had a hard time cutting my list of must-read Civil War naval books to ten. Actually, I list twelve books, but three are part of one set. Read and enjoy. 1. Civil War Naval Chronology 1861–1865 by Naval History Division. Navy Department. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971. This book can be considered as a primer for those wishing to explore the contents of The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of Rebellion. The book is more than a chronology of naval actions as it contains a number of appendices on other Civil War naval topics, including an appendix on Civil War naval sheet music. The book contains a listing, with details, of Confederate warships and blockade runners. 2. The Diary of Gideon Wells 1861–1869, 3 vols., edited by Edgar T. Wells. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1909. Clausewitz’ is famous for writing “War is nothing but the continuation of policy by other means.” In reading Gideon Wells’ diary entries, one can see first hand how complicated war can become, as the policy guiding it changes and evolves not only during the war but in the postwar years. One should read Wells’ first volume of diary entries in conjunction with the book The Confidential Papers of Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy. 3. Stephen R. Mallory: Confederate Navy Chief by Joseph T. Durkins. University of North Carolina Press, 1954. While Gideon Wells had the building blocks of a seagoing fleet at the start of the Civil War, Stephen Mallory, upon assuming the office of Confederate Secretary of the Navy, started with a blank sheet. Joseph Durkins outlines in his book how Mallory, with the odds stacked against him, a weak industrial base, poor governmental financial resources, and an uncooperative government, was able to build a seagoing and brown water navy. Mallory proved to have a mind that was able to comprehend the technical advancements taking place around him in naval warfare and adopt them for use by the Confederacy. His list of accomplishments includes funding ironclads, torpedo boats, submarines, mines, and steam powered commerce raiders. 4. Campaigns of the Civil War: The Atlantic Coast by Daniel Ammen, The Blockade and the Cruisers by James Russell Soley, and The Gulf and Inland Waters by Alfred T. Mahan. Reprint Blue & Gray Press, 1960. This three-volume set provides an introduction into the U.S. Navy’s operational involvement in the Civil War. Any operational study of the U.S. Navy during the Civil War must start with reading these three books. When originally published by Scribner’s in 1882–1883, this three volume set was well received by the surviving members of the Union Navy. 5. Naval History of the Civil War by Admiral David D. Porter. Reprint Castle, 1984. The details provided in this book of U.S. Navy actions during the Civil War are overwhelming. Yet, it is this detailed description, supported by maps, drawings, and photos, that make this book a must read by the serious historian of the naval side of the Civil War. 6. Union Jacks: Yankee Sailors in the Civil War by Michael J. Bennett. University of North Carolina Press, 2004. Not quite up to the standards of Bell I. Wiley’s The Life of Johnny Reb and Billy Yankee, but the account, provided by the author of sailors in the Union Navy, is still the standard reference book on this topic. The author examines the life of a Union Navy’s enlisted man from enlistment to discharge. Almost all facets of the life of a U.S. Navy sailor during the Civil War are dissected and examined in this work. 7. History of the Confederate States Navy: From Its Organization to the Surrender of Its Last Vessel by J. Thomas Sharf. Reprint Fairfax Press, 1977. As one reads this book, one will encounter tale after tale of Confederate Navy pluck and courage, and at the end of the book be surprised to find the Confederate Navy destroyed and the Union Navy triumphant. Yet, this book is the best account of the Confederate Navy. It is shown as a serious contender in seeking to be the dominant naval force exercising control of the Confederacy’s coastal waters and river systems. 8. Life in Jefferson Davis’ Navy by Barbara Brooks Torblin. U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2019. This book provides a look at the organizations and men who formed the Confederate Navy. The author’s principle focus is on internal organizations that shaped the Confederate Navy. This is more an administrative history than an operational history. The men of the Confederate Navy formed less than five percent of the Confederate’s total military manpower, but they played a vital role in ensuring the Confederate Army was supplied with weapons, clothing, and medicines. 9. The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe by James D. Bulloch. Reprint Sagamore Press, 1959. Since the Confederacy lacked the financial and industrial wherewithal to build a navy, it was dependent on overseas institutions to provide this support. James D. Bulloch was the person who oversaw the Confederacy’s raising of money, buying of equipment, and the building of ships in Europe. This is his story of how he did it. I would suspect that this book is on the must reading list of any organization engaged in or investigating covert financial operations. 10. The Army’s Navy Series: Volume 1: Dictionary of Transports and Combat Ships Employed by the Union Army 1861–1868 & Volume 2: Assault and Logistics, Union

Army Coastal and River Operations 1861–1866 compiled by Charles D. Gibson and E. Kay Gibson. Ensign Press, 1995. The Civil War was won by the side that developed and employed the superior logistical system. The two authors of this book explore the U.S. Army’s use of ocean-going ships, coastal craft, and riverboats to move men, equipment, and supplies around the periphery of the Confederacy and into its interior. By reading this book, one quickly grasps that, yes, railroads were an important Civil War transportation artery, but without waterborne logistical support, the Union would never have defeated the Confederacy. Charles H. Bogart has a BA in History from Thomas More University and a Masters in Planning from Ohio State University. He has written numerous books and articles on railroads, military and naval history. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Civil War Roundtable and is President of the Frankfort Kentucky Civil War Roundtable.