Acknowledgements
Introduction
1861: GETTING UNDER WAY
1. "What Have I Done Wrong?" Lincoln and the Fort Sumter Crisis
2. "A Competent Force" Lincoln and the Blockade
3. "No Affront to the British Flag" Lincoln and the Trent
Affair
1862: CHARTING A COURSE
4. "I Wont Leave Off Until It Fairly Rains Bombs" Lincoln and the
River War
5. "It Strikes Me There's Something In It" Lincoln and the
Monitor
6. "We Cannot Escape History" Lincoln and the Contraband
1863: TROUBLED WATERS
7. "The Peninsula All Over Again" Lincoln, Charleston, and
Vicksburg
8. "I Shall Have to Cut This Knot" Lincoln as Adjudicator
9. "Peace Does Not Appear So Distant as it Did" Lincoln and Wartime
Politics
1864: FULL SPEED AHEAD
10. "It Becomes Immensely Important to Us to Get the Cotton"
Lincoln and the Red River Campaign
11. "A Vote of Thanks" Lincoln and the Politics of Promotion
12. "I Must Refer You to General Grant" Lincoln and the Fort Fisher
Expedition
1865: FINAL HARBOR
Epilogue: "Thank God I Have Lived to See This"
Abbreviations Used in Notes
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Craig L. Symonds is Professor Emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy and the author of ten previous books, including Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History, which won the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Prize in 2006.
"Lincoln and His Admirals is that rare thing, an important Lincoln
book of genuine originality."--Michael F. Bishop, Washington Post
Book World
"Splendid...By the end of the Civil War, Mr. Symonds shows us the
Navy, both on the oceans and on the Western rivers, had played a
major role in bringing about a Union victory, thanks in no small
part to Lincoln's persistent naval leadership."--The Wall Street
Journal
"Outstanding...[T]he wide-ranging naval war was fought on vast
oceans and inland rivers, and Mr. Symonds restores Lincoln's
passion for the Navy to its proper place."--James L. Swanson,
Washington Times
"Scores of books have detailed Lincoln's struggles with reluctant
generals during the Civil War, but few have examined his
relationship with naval leaders. Craig Symonds, professor emeritus
of history at the Naval Academy, sets out to change that in
'Lincoln and his Admirals'...Symonds delivers a fast-paced, crisply
written account of the naval war and Lincoln's patient handling of
Welles, Fox and the men who served them, including such famous
admirals as David
Glasgow Farragut, David Dixon Porter and John Dahlgren."--Seattle
Times
"We know a great deal about President Lincoln's relations with his
generals but much less about his dealings with his admirals and his
Navy Department. Craig L. Symonds, a professor emeritus at the U.S.
Naval Academy, has filled this gap with a compelling tale about
Lincoln's dealings with the Navy and the prickly men who ran
it...Mr Symonds has provided more than a splendid study of the
Civil War at sea; he offers fresh insights into Lincoln as
commander in
chief."--John M. Taylor, Washington Times
"Craig Symonds took the challenge, and the retired Naval Academy
professor has produced a study as fascinating as it is
revealing...Symonds has the rare ability to bring history alive
through individuals who made it...Symonds has given us one of the
year's best additions to Civil War history, whether or not you are
a landlubber."--Roanoke Times
"Readers already familiar with Lincoln's experiences with the army
will find much to commend in Symonds' eye-opening Lincoln and His
Admirals, as McPherson attests in a dust-jacket comment on the
book. The book, he says, finally gives the Union navy and its
commander in chief the credit they deserve for their important role
in winning the Civil War."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Symonds, a prize-winning historian who taught at the U.S. Naval
Academy, brings us yet another new way of looking at Lincoln - as a
commander in chief who, by his own admission, knew 'little about
ships.' Lincoln's relationship with his generals is one of the
better-known side stories of the Civil War. Symonds reminds us that
Lincoln had to keep his eye on the seas, rivers and admirals as
well."--Newark Star Ledger
"Solidly researched, well argued, and engagingly written. What
really makes the book stand out, however, is the insight that
Symonds provides into the minds and actions of the key
players."--Civil War Book Review
"The definitive work on the 16th president's leadership of the
navy."--Publishers Weekly
"The Civil War forced the 16th president to know a lot more, and
Symonds expertly demonstrates how he learned about ships, strategy,
new technologies and, above all, about dealing with the fractious
personalities to whom he delegated naval operations...For scholars
and the general reader alike, an insightful and highly readable
treatment of a neglected dimension of Lincoln's wartime
leadership."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Superbly researched...Symonds has written an excellent work that
describes both Lincoln's growing confidence and competence as a
naval strategist as well as his relations with various naval
commanders...This will be a fine addition to Civil War
collections."--Booklist
"Lincoln's role as commander-in-chief during the Civil War is most
often assessed through his dealings with his Union generals; thus,
Symonds's expert and accessible work on the naval side is a real
boon. He gives us a meticulous and graceful interpretive narrative,
rich with primary-source anecdote, of Lincoln's relationship with
the U.S. Navy and his evolution as a naval strategist...Essential
for all Lincoln collections."--Library Journal
"We utter the names of Lincoln's admirals, such as Farragut and
Porter, far less often than the names of his Generals, good or bad.
And Craig L. Symonds' Lincoln and His Admirals is one of the
relatively few books on the role of the maritime, studies focusing
on Lincoln and his admirals being rarer still."--Baton Rouge
Advocate
"'Lincoln and His Admirals' is an important book. It is easily the
most comprehensive study to date on the development of Union naval
strategy during the Civil War. Meticulously researched from primary
sources, it concentrates on President Abraham Lincoln's role in the
naval war...Much has been written on the relationship of Lincoln
and his generals; now we have the same for Lincoln and his
admirals. Anyone wishing to understand the naval Civil War and
its
relation to the fighting on land will want to read this
book."--Journal of Military History
"We know a great deal about Lincoln and his generals, but until now
very little about Lincoln and his admirals. With a compelling
portrait of personalities and a sharp analysis of strategy, Craig
Symonds offers a gripping narrative that finally gives the Union
navy--and its commander-in- chief--the credit they deserve for the
important part they played in winning the Civil War."--James M.
McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom
"Symonds is one of the finest American military historians in this
generation."--Gabor Boritt, Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies
and Director, Civil War Institute, Gettysburg College
"This is an epic story--the quintessential, mal-de-mer-prone
landlubber morphing into the admiral-in-chief of the mightiest
armada on the planet. Spinning the yarn with resourceful
scholarship and narrative verve, peerless naval historian Craig
Symonds succeeds in creating an entirely new portrait of Lincoln:
not only as healer of the land, but conqueror of the sea."--Harold
Holzer, Co-Chairman, U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
Commission
"Craig L. Symonds has filled a gap by giving us a superb account of
Abraham Lincoln's relationship with the navy and the people who ran
it. Beautifully written, the narrative is also lively and
informative. He eloquently describes how Lincoln's judicious
temperament complemented his irascible 'Neptune,' Secretary of the
Navy Gideon Welles along with the calumny, envy, personal
conflicts, and thirst for promotion that permeated the deep sea and
riverine
forces. This is the most complete and edifying story of Mr. Lincoln
and his 'webbed-feet.'"--Frank Williams, Chief Justice, Rhode
Island State Supreme Court and Lincoln Scholar
"Lincoln and His Admirals is simply superb and Craig Symonds'
analysis of US Navy leadership during the Civil War is magnificent!
The Lincoln-esque gems placed throughout the book made reading it a
delight. The chapters on the Fort Sumter crisis and the Trent
affair are incisive and the best discussions of these dramas I have
ever read. Symonds brought back to life our Civil War admirals and
Navy Secretary Gideon Welles and shared their
triumphs and their setbacks as they richly deserved."--David
Sutherland, President, Indianapolis Civil War Round Table (2001-02
and 2007-08)
"Symonds's book is a necessary addition to the Civil War scholar's
bookshelf. Casual readers will enjoy it for its wonderful prose and
anecdotal style."--Centre Daily Times
"Symonds is a talented author who keeps the reader engrossed from
the first page. I particularly appreciated his ability to show
Lincoln's strong interest in technology, ranging from ironclads to
new weapons. The book is superbly researched with a portfolio of
primary and secondary sources. I recommend this book to all
officers attending professional military institutions for the
insights it offers to the Civil War period at sea and Lincoln
as
commander-in-chief."--Military Review
"Symonds is tilling some important new ground in this pioneering
study....[It is] revelatory in its scope, vivid in its
characterizations of the key figures, and thought-provoking in the
way a fresh story emerges from an oft-covered subject....[A] strong
and original contribution."--Naval History
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