American Civil War Amphibious Tactics

Reveals the tactics, technologies, and specially raised units at the heart of the Union’s conduct of combined operations in the American Civil War.

During the Civil War, as well as confronting the Confederates on land, the Union forces mounted several ambitious amphibious operations, both on the coast and along the banks of the great rivers. In American Civil War Amphibious Tactics, renowned historian Ron Field explains how the growing effectiveness of the Union Navy, the willingness of the Union Army to countenance combined operations, and the efforts of officers such as Ambrose Burnside, David Farragut, and John Dahlgren, ensured that amphibious warfare played a key part in the defeat of the South.

In May 1862, foreshadowed by the capture of Roanoke Island and New Bern in North Carolina and Island Number Ten on the Mississippi River, the Union forces’ use of combined operations to seize New Orleans dealt a major blow to the Confederacy. The potential of amphibious warfare was revealed by the Union efforts to capture Fort Fisher in North Carolina. While the initial attempt failed in December 1864, a renewed effort in January 1865 resulted in a Union victory.

Fully illustrated, this study investigates the amphibious tactics and technologies adopted by the Union forces during the Civil War, and the units raised and equipped to conduct combined operations.