Black Sailors in the Civil War: A History of Fugitives, Freemen and Freedmen Aboard Union Vessels

by James H. Bruns

Overview

Thousands of Black sailors served with valor during the Civil War. Yet few histories have highlighted their contributions to the Union's impressive naval victories throughout the war, which prompted Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, to declare that if the army could not win the war, the navy would have to. Drawing on official naval records, personal letters and journals, and oral histories of formerly enslaved Americans, this volume documents the service of fugitive, freemen and freed Black sailors, 1861-1865.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476648392
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/07/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	246
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

During his 35-year federal and not-for-profit career, James H. Bruns has served as Director of the Department of the Navy’s Museum System, with administrative oversight of the Navy’s nine national Museums. He lives in Lorton, Virginia.
During his 35-year federal and not-for-profit career James H. Bruns has served as Director of the Department of the Navy's Museum System, with administrative oversight of the Navy's nine national Museums. He lives in Lorton, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
 1. “That will do”: Towards Freedom
 2. Runaways
 3. Robert Smalls
 4. Northern Black Mariners
 5. Recruiting in Major Cities
 6. Welcome to the Navy
 7. The Need for Army Contrabands and Its Fleet
 8. From Overseers to Boatswains Mates
 9. Blue-Water Black Bluejackets
10. Brown-Water Black Bluejackets
11. The Great Exodus in 1862 and 1863
12. Seizing the Lower Mississippi: David Farragut, the Minority Flag Officer
13. Capturing the Upper Mississippi: Andrew Hull Foote, the Union’s Pious Sailor
14. Vicksburg: The Gibraltar of the Confederacy
15. Prizes and Problems Along the Red River
16. Coffee
17. The Safest Service
18. Marked Passing
19. Black Bluejacket Valor
20. The Union Navy’s War on Salt
21. Mobile Bay
22. The Union’s Starships
23. The Aftermath
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Finally, there is a book that gives African-American sailors the credit they’re due for the winning the Union’s war on the waters.”—Claude Berube, PhD, director, United States Naval Academy Museum, author of On Wide Seas: The US Navy in the Jacksonian Era

From the Publisher