Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

The Alabama and the Kearsarge: The Sailor's Civil War

4/5 ( ratings)

On June 19, 1864, the Confederate cruiser Alabama and the USS Kearsarge faced off in the English Channel outside the French port of Cherbourg. About an hour after the Alabama fired the first shot, it began to sink, and its crew was forced to wave the white flag of surrender.

Working with personal papers and diaries and contemporary reports, historian William Marvel interweaves the stories of these two celebrated Civil War warships, from their construction to their climactic encounter off Cherbourg. Just as importantly, he illuminates the day-to-day experiences of their crews. From cabin boys to officers, sailors have been one of the most ignored groups of the Civil War.

The sailors' lot was one of constant discomfort and monotony, interspersed with riotous frolics ashore and, occasionally, a few minutes of intense excitement and danger. Housed in damp, crowded quarters, their wartime mortality rate did not reach that of their army counterparts, but service-connected diseases shortened their postwar lives disproportionately. Most of the crewmen ended their lives in nameless obscurity, and their story has remained unwritten until now.

On June 19, 1864, the Confederate cruiser Alabama and the USS Kearsarge faced off in the English Channel outside the French port of Cherbourg. About an hour after the Alabama fired the first shot, it began to sink, and its crew was forced to wave the white flag of surrender. Working with personal papers and diaries and contemporary reports, historian William Marvel interweaves the stories of these two celebrated Civil War warships, from their construction to their climactic encounter off Cherbourg. Just as importantly, he illuminates the day-to-day experiences of their crews, from the cabin boys to the officers.

Language: English

Pages: 348

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: University of North Carolina Press

Release: November 18, 1996

ISBN: 0807822949

ISBN 13: 9780807822944

The Alabama and the Kearsarge: The Sailor's Civil War

4/5 ( ratings)

On June 19, 1864, the Confederate cruiser Alabama and the USS Kearsarge faced off in the English Channel outside the French port of Cherbourg. About an hour after the Alabama fired the first shot, it began to sink, and its crew was forced to wave the white flag of surrender.

Working with personal papers and diaries and contemporary reports, historian William Marvel interweaves the stories of these two celebrated Civil War warships, from their construction to their climactic encounter off Cherbourg. Just as importantly, he illuminates the day-to-day experiences of their crews. From cabin boys to officers, sailors have been one of the most ignored groups of the Civil War.

The sailors' lot was one of constant discomfort and monotony, interspersed with riotous frolics ashore and, occasionally, a few minutes of intense excitement and danger. Housed in damp, crowded quarters, their wartime mortality rate did not reach that of their army counterparts, but service-connected diseases shortened their postwar lives disproportionately. Most of the crewmen ended their lives in nameless obscurity, and their story has remained unwritten until now.

On June 19, 1864, the Confederate cruiser Alabama and the USS Kearsarge faced off in the English Channel outside the French port of Cherbourg. About an hour after the Alabama fired the first shot, it began to sink, and its crew was forced to wave the white flag of surrender. Working with personal papers and diaries and contemporary reports, historian William Marvel interweaves the stories of these two celebrated Civil War warships, from their construction to their climactic encounter off Cherbourg. Just as importantly, he illuminates the day-to-day experiences of their crews, from the cabin boys to the officers.

Language: English

Pages: 348

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: University of North Carolina Press

Release: November 18, 1996

ISBN: 0807822949

ISBN 13: 9780807822944

More books from William Marvel

Lee's Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox

3.8/5 ( ratings)

Mr. Lincoln Goes to War

3.7/5 ( ratings)

Tarnished Victory: Finishing Lincoln's War

A Place Called Appomattox (Civil War America)

Burnside (Civil War America)

Mr. Lincoln Goes to War

Lincoln's Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton

Lincoln?s Darkest Year

Burnside

A Place Called Appomattox

Lincoln's Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton

Lincoln’s Darkest Year: The War in 1862

The Monitor Chronicles : One Sailor's Account. Today's Campaign to Recover the Civil War Wreck

The Petersburg Campaign: The Battle of the Crater, "The Horrid Pit," June 25-August 6, 1864

Andersonville

Five Flags over Fort Sumter

Andersonville

Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific

Rate this book!

Write a review?