“In this enfeebled condition, without men, or ships, or ordnance, or resources placed at its disposal, the department was called upon to establish and enforce the most extensive blockade that was ever undertaken to be effectually maintained by any nation.[1]” With those words Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, described the formidable challenge that faced the Union Navy on April 19th, 1861 when President Lincoln called for a blockade of the entire southern coastline in an attempt to strangle the Confederacy by cutting it off from the supplies it desperately needed to fight the Civil War. When Lincoln called for the blockade, the Navy had only 12 ships in its home waters and had lost 322 of its naval officers to the Confederacy. Even after the Navy successfully recalled the seventy percent of its forces on deployed elsewhere back to home waters it could only count on 42 sea-worthy ships and 7,600 men to enforce the blockade.[2]
Over the next four years the Union Navy was able to expand to a fighting force of over 600 ships and 51,500 men whoeffectively blockaded the south and crippled the South economically long before the war could be officially won.[3] This paper hopes to examine the changes brought on by the demands of such an extensive blockade. What changes did the Navy make with its sailors, with its organization, with its ship acquisition, and with its technology in order to meet the demands of the blockade? Would these changes help to carry the navy into the 20th century? By examining a number of these changes, answers to these questions will become evident.
Most of the literature on the Union navy during the Civil War is about operations, with a much smaller amount of literature on the ships themselves, and the political and strategic aspects of the war. Very little scholarly work has been done on the changes that were caused by the war and the blockade. Most work like Mindell’s and Roberts tends to focus more on the ironclad aspect of the Union navy and how that relates to the public economy. Ringle’s work on the common sailor’s life during the war did discuss some changes caused by the war but they were focused towards the impacts on sailors and not the department as a whole. However Secretary Welles’ annual reports to Congress are filled with a wealth of information on how the Navy Department met and responded to the demands of the blockade. This paper has only briefly scratched the service of the information available and there is certainly a lot of interesting research that could still be done on the Union Navy and the changes caused by the effects of the blockade.
The demands of the blockade were responsible for accelerating changes already underway in the day to day activities of the naval seamen. Prior to the war, efforts were begun to improve the every day life of a sailor aboard the naval ship. There was a growing religious movement that had some congressional backing, which pushed to see the end of both lashing sailors as a punishment and the handing out of the grog ration to sailors at sea. Grog was a mix of alcohol and water given to sailors in the belief that it increased their fighting spirit. The movement had previously been thwarted in Congress when they tried to pass legislation on the issue however with the removal of the Southern representatives at the start of the war, the Republican majority gained the power to enact the changes. Thus the life of a sailor began to change for the better thanks in part to the indirect impact of the Civil War.
Three other technological innovations that came about thanks to the war, helped with the every day comforts of life at sea. One seemingly minor, but surprisingly effective change was the institution of a new seamen’s cap. The caps made of wool were a vast improvement over the prior straw hats that were constantly falling apart. They were more comfortable, durable, and protective. Many sailors decorated them with embroidery or their names.[4] This change would carry over after the war.
Another innovation that improved every day life was the installation of the flushing toilet on board the new ironclad ships. On the original sailing ships sailors went to the bathroom in holes near the front of the ship called the “head,” which dumped their waste directly into the sea. The problem with the Ironclad ships was that they were to low to the water for a head to be installed. So the flushing toilet was added for the comfort of the sailor. These were eventually added to many other ships, as more and more were converted to become ironclads.
A final improvement to every day life aboard warships was fresh water. With the new steam engines, came the ability to purify salt water into freshwater. Ships no longer had to carry all their freshwater with them on voyages. Not only did this expand a ships range but it also helped to improve their overall health. While unknown at the time, the desalinization process also killed off the harmful microbes and bacteria, which caused disease. The navy recognized the improved health of sailors’ who drank water purified by the steam engines and ordered that all ships were to get their water from steam engine purification systems.[5] This improvement obviously continued after the war and the direct effect greatly improved sailors’ health.
Sailors’ living conditions were positively changed for the better by the operational demands of blockade duty, helping to prepare the navy for future years. Grog rations and whipping were abolished. New hats were issued and flushing toilets placed on ships. The steam engine provided clean water to sailors for the first time. All of these innovations helped to modernize how the navy treated and cared for the backbone and core of its strength, the sailors.
With the increase in naval size came a corresponding increase in navy operational organizations. The demands of the blockade forced the Navy Department into a better-organized operation. Some of the improvements included a better system of re-supplying ships, improved recruiting, new support offices, and personnel changes. All of these improvements were instrumental in helping the navy to prepare for the 20th century.
The first organizational change was the improvement of the re-supply system. With Lincoln’s blockade order, came the new challenge of determininghow to supply ships without having them constantly return to port for re-supply. Secretary Welles expressed the problem to Congress when he said, “It would be inexpedient and attended with much loss of time, as well as great additional expense, to compel the steamers when short of fuel to leave their stations and proceed to the nearest depot, distant in most cases several hundred miles, to obtain a supply.”[6] The solution was to create and deploy supply ships that would base out of Union controlled ports.
These supply ships would routinely travel from their home ports to each ship on their circuit and then back again. They would replenish stores for each blockading ship and squadron as they passed both going away and returning to the home port. That way each blockading ship and squadron could stay out on blockade for much longer periods of time. The supply ships would bring fuel, fresh meat, ice, vegetables, other foods, mail, spare parts, and replacement sailors on their outgoing voyages. When the ships reached the end of the line they would return to the homeport stopping again this time to pick up sick or wounded sailors and mail.[7] This supply system not only kept the ships well supplied but also helped to maintain sailors health with fresh foods as well as keep up morale with regular mail delivery. This shift in operational focus to utilize supply ships would help to make the US Navy a more far reaching military force then it was ever capable of before.
Another area that saw organizational improvement thanks to the demands of the blockade was recruiting. Initially at the start of the war recruitment was not a problem. Secretary Welles was so impressed that he said, “At no period of our history has the naval force had so great and rapid an increase, and never have our seamen come forward with more alacrity and zeal to serve the country.”[8] It had seemed that the three recruiters in the six major cities of the nation had done an admirable job.[9] However as the war effort threatened to bog down and more ships were added to the fleet manpower shortages occurred. New efforts were necessary to keep up with the demand of the growing wartime navy.
The navy used six induction stations along the Atlantic seaboard as the centers of their recruitment. Recruits were paid for their travels to the stations and there they signed the enlistment papers that admitted them to the navy. These were also used as dispatch stations to assign recruits throughout the navy. Civilian contractors were paid to supply seamen and newspaper ads and posters were also used to encourage recruitment. With all these efforts more men were still needed. The Navy turned to accept African Americans well before the army did, as well as foreigners, the Union army, and captured confederates who had taken an oath making them galvanized Yankees. Even with all of these new sources the navy was still forced to take some ships off the blockade and send them to Northern ports to help in recruiting efforts.[10] The fact that the navy was still able to maintain a sufficient fighting force throughout the war testifies to the success of this combination of sources that helped to provide ample manpower to the navy. Clearly the blockade forced the navy to drastically increase its efforts in recruitment.
A third area of organizational improvement in the navy was the creation of new supporting offices. One such office was the hydrographic office. This operational support function was responsible for bringing together and maintaining all the charts, sailing directions and nautical books.[11] The blockade had demonstrated a need for uniformed charts. The need for surveyors to survey large sections of the American coastline was also clear. Another creation was the permanent commission to advise the department on questions of science and art which was created on February 11, 1863. The commission’s role was to appraise new inventions for navy usebecause the Navy was trying to design many new technological inventions for use on its ships.[12] A final organizational improvement was the creation of the General Inspectors office. This office was charged with the task of inspecting ironclads under construction to assure that the “contractors did not deviate from the specifications and that they used only good materials and workmanship.”[13] Thus the demands of the blockade led to the creation of a number of new organizational bodies in the navy.
Finally, the blockade challenges forced the navy to make organizational changes in certain personnel areas. The first of which was the Marine Corp. With the increase in the number of ships came a demand for Marines to serve on these ships as well as officers to command them. Secretary Welles said, “It became necessary to enlarge the Marine Corp, in order that it should correspond in some degree with the general increase of other branches of the service.”[14] Corresponding with this change was a change in the rank of the Marine Corps Commandant from colonel to brigadier general. This was also in response to the enlargement of the Army and the need to give the Commandant power appropriate with his position of command.[15] Thus the Marine Corps strength and leadership was strengthened as a result of the demands of the blockade.
A second personnel change came with the increased demand for competent steam engineers and steam engineer training for the commanding officers of the line. Secretary Welles asked Congress to allow midshipmen to also be taught how to run a steam engine as part of their course of studies. He said, “…as preparatory to the future of the navy, to teach the midshipmen steam-engineering, as applied to running the engine.”[16] Each steam and sail warship had two sets of officers. One for the steam engines and one set to run the ship. However each could notat the tie perform the functions of the others job. This change allowed the navy to build more redundancy into its chain of command and it helped move the navy towards a fully steam powered fleet.
A third personnel change to come about as a direct result of the demands of the blockade were rewards for heroic measures. Prior to the war, navy men could only expect to receive a Certificate of Merit and little else if they performed a heroic action during combat. The navy recognized that extra incentives for heroic deeds during combat would help to encourage better morale and motivate the troops to perform well in combat. OnDecember 21, 1861 President Lincoln signed the bill authorizing the navy to award the Medal of Honor. They further strengthened the award on April 16, 1862 by adding a hundred dollar payment and a promotion to the award.[17] It was hoped that these awards would work to keep the heroic sailors in the navy and that they might provide examples of valor to other sailors. The demands of the blockade helped to create the most prestigious honor in the American military.
A final personnel change was the addition of the AssistantSecretary of the Navy and three new bureaus because of the additional demands caused by the expanding navy. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy position was created first in 1861 to take the responsibility for civilian personnel and shore facilities away from Secretary Welles and let him concentrate more fully on the blockade and conduct of operations. The first man to hold this position was Gustavus Fox.[18] Then on July 5, 1862 Congress created the bureaus of navigation, steam engineering, and equipment to meet the increased challenges and demands in these three functional support areas.[19]For example the bureau of steam engineering was added becausemore ships were using steam engines and a new office was necessary to deal with the unique supply and maintenance problems associated with steam usage. As a result, additional positions were added to the navy department as a response to the growing demands of the navy’s expansion to meet the unique needs of the blockade and the direct impacts on the Navy’s structure and functions.
The navy was forced to adjust the way it handled its own organization in response to the demands of the blockade. They created a new system of re-supply designed with the needs of the blockade in mind. They increased their recruiting and turned to new and varied sources of sailors. The navy opened new offices in technical and marine areas that saw large increases and demands during the war such as steam engineering and maritime mapping. Organization of personnel changed in the Marine Corps, in steam engineering, with the recognition of heroic deeds, and the creation of the assistant secretary of the navy and three new bureau chief positions. Organizationally, the navy department was expanding its services to prepare itself for future challenges on the high seas.
While the naval department itself underwent organizational and sailor comfort changes the most significant change to come about as a result of the demands of the blockade was in the fleet itself. The blockade forced the navy to change how it acquired, and upgradedits ships as well as changed the types of ships it needed.The demands of the blockade exposed the shortcomings, and in some cases the flaws of old systems. It also battle tested new ways of operating and doing battle and helped the Navy lay the groundworkfor the needs of years to come.
One of the most significant changes to come about because of the demands of the blockade was ship acquisition for the navy. Secretary Welles saw the need to increase the navy size and said, “The attention of this department was turned to the subject of ….the adoption of measures for the enlargement of the navy.”[20] So the navy instituted a program that combined construction, purchasing, and contracting that allowed it to greatly expand the fleet in a short order. In a little more then a year and half after Lincoln’s inauguration the navy was added 353 ships to the Union fleet. 136 ships were purchased in 1862 alone with another 123 constructed during the same period.[21] Other ships were contracted out for construction or were captured from the confederacy. One of the reasons why the navy struggled to have enough sailors to fill all of the ships was because they were acquiring them so fast. What many saw as the greatest problem the navy had to overcome at the start of the war quickly became an afterthought as the Navy met the challenge with an aggressive and effective acquisition and expansion program.