THE GREAT CONTEST AFLOAT: The Civil War on the Seas, Coastline, Rivers, and Oceans

Unpacks each of the four naval theaters in the Civil War. The offshore blockade was an economic and logistical campaign waged to determine whether Southern armies would remain properly supplied -- sailors worked in tandem with armies to assault cities and coastal areas to deny the Confederacy its ports and coastal infrastructure, while Confederate sailors fought to both break the blockade and keep control of its ports. Fleets on both sides battled for control over the Mississippi River Valley in an effort to cleave off the Trans-Mississippi Theater from the rest of the Confederacy. Details how an economic and diplomatic war was waged across the oceans, where Southern privateers and commerce raiders prowled for Federal merchant ships. Contains 192 images and 17 maps.