Under Two Flags

August 1, 1990
By the author of Jack Tars and Commodores , this is a lively popular account of Union and Confederate naval operations during the War Between the States. Fowler describes how the Union blockade of Southern ports isolated the Confederacy and the subsequent struggle for inland waterways as control of the Mississippi became a crucial strategic factor. He reveals how Confederate naval secretary Stephen Mallory squandered the South's slender resources on the impractical raiding of Federal merchant shipping on the high seas. He explains why both sides were slow to recognize the usefulness of the ironclad warship which, with the appearance of John Ericsson's Monitor , revolutionized naval warfare. The narrative hangs on a series of vivid accounts of naval campaigns and battles, including David Farragut's victories at New Orleans and Mobile Bay and David Porter's contribution to Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg campaign. Without a powerful navy, Fowler argues, the North could not have won the war. Photos.