Success Is All That Was Expected: The South Atlantic Blockading Squadron During the Civil War

Success Is All That Was Expected: The South Atlantic Blockading Squadron During the Civil War by Browning, Robert M.. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781574885149.

Chronicles the Federal blockade of the Confederate coast and its efforts to close major southeastern ports, including Savannah and Charleston Reveals the competing and conflicting agendas of the Union Navy, the Union Army, and the Lincoln administration for prosecuting the war Praise for the author’s previous work, From Cape Charles to Cape Fear: "This study sets a standard that other historians of the navy’s part in the Civil War would do well to match." —Gary Gallagher, American Historical Review Success Is All That Was Expected is a comprehensive operational history of the Union naval blockade that monitored the southern Atlantic coast from South Carolina to Florida during the American Civil War. Created in 1861 by the order of President Abraham Lincoln and charged with halting Confederate maritime commerce and closing Southern ports, the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron was the largest of the four Union coastal blockading squadrons for much of the conflict. This story covers the harrowing engagements between ships and forts, daring amphibious assaults, the battles between ironclad vessels, the harassment of Confederate blockade runners, and the incredible evolution of underwater warfare in the form of the CSS Hunley. The world’s leading scholar of Union naval blockades during the Civil War, historian Robert Browning, reveals the squadron’s numerous tactical accomplishments. He also illustrates how its success was constantly hampered by indecisive leaders in Washington who failed to express their strategic vision as well as by reputation-conscious naval commanders who were reluctant to press the fight when the specter of failure loomed. Despite lost opportunities, unfulfilled expectations, and failures along the way, the bravery, sacrifice, and vigilance of these fighting men played a crucial role in the Union’s ultimate victory.