Hurry All to Sea: Union Naval, Strategy to Counter Confederate Commerce Raiding
Abstract
Union naval strategy to counter the Confederate commerce raiders is analyzed through a multidisciplinary approach. Initially, a discussion of the development of, the Union Navy under the stewardship of Gideon Welles is presented. Next, the political, economic, and military influences that shaped Northern strategy is examined. Welles greatly expanded the Navy to satisfy the demands of the President's Blockade Proclamation. However, contrary to some historians' arguments, the Navy's preoccupation with the blockade did not ruin the American merchant marine. The Navy which emerged during the war was uniquely suited to coastal and amphibious operations. Constrained by inaccurate and often late intelligence, the Navy was additionally hindered in their pursuit of the commerce raiders by the lack of rapid communications. The Union Navy employed a rudimentary command and control system that directed the operations of ships deployed to counter the Southern commerce raiders. The Union had no systematic, centralized. strategic maritime doctrine to catch the Confederate cruisers, but the sum total of Union naval actions reveal a strategy in practice. While Welles focused principally on the blockade, he undertook a great many initiatives to undermine the raiders' effectiveness.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA268096
Entities
People
- Joseph M. Ruppert
Organizations
- Naval War College