The navies of the two opposing sides were not ready for an intense or protracted war, but they adapted fast. Previous naval wars were waged among sailing ships. Both sides quickly realized that the most effective ships would be steam powered and that for protection from shot and shell they would need thick hulls of iron, now in more abundance than in previous ages. Ironclad gunboats suitable for warfare on rivers rather than on oceans soon appeared. Yet along the coasts and against the Confederate ports, Union sailing ships composed most of the fighting fleets, and Southerners relied on swift sailing ships to rush supplies in through the blockade.

The Union Blockade

The first naval involvement of the war was a blockade of Southern ports, which was ordered by President Lincoln within days of the attack on Fort Sumter. Lincoln believed a blockade would strangle the new republic's ability to do business with foreign powers and thus force it toward a quick peace. But while Lincoln's intentions may have been good, the U.S. Navy's ability to carry out the plan was not.

USS St Louis, an ironclad gunboat Photo courtesy of the National Archives (165-C-630)

At the onset of the war, the U.S. Navy's fleet was in shambles. It had only ninety ships, and most of them were obsolete. In fact, when Lincoln first called for a blockade, only three ships were available for immediate duty to cover more than 3,500 miles of Southern coastline. In addition, the majority of Union navy personnel were spread across the world and unavailable for immediate service; of those that were available, nearly 10 percent resigned their commission to join the Confederacy. As a result, Confederate blockade runners, which were typically painted gray to avoid detection, came and went with impunity for the first couple of years of the war.

Some Southern ports were close-blockaded and attacked by a combination of army and navy forces. Out at sea, a cruising blockade was often established in international waters, along well-traveled sea lanes, and in neutral ports. Not surprisingly, the Confederate government balked at these blockades, calling them a violation of international law. But the Union found them effective.

As the war progressed the U.S. Navy also patrolled inland waterways such as rivers and bays, often assisting army forces in penetrating Confederate defenses, especially along the Mississippi River. More than once, naval forces played an important role in deciding the outcome of a land battle. Prime examples are the battles for Forts Henry and Donelson and the battle for Vicksburg. Even at Shiloh, Federal gunboats shelled Confederate infantry charges on the evening of the first day, helping to stave off a near Southern victory.

The role of the U.S. Navy in the Civil War cannot be underestimated. Many people tend to forget that the navy was even involved in the conflict, but history shows that it played a decisive role. Abraham Lincoln noted during a tribute to Union servicemen late in the war, “It is hard to say that anything has been more bravely, and well done, than at Antietam, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, and on many a field of lesser note. Nor must Uncle Sam's web-feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow muddy bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp. Thanks to all. For the great republic — for the principles it lives by, and keeps alive — for man's vast future — thanks to all.”

Beginnings of the Confederate Navy

The Union navy may have been less than adequate at the onset of the war, but even with its many faults, it was still superior to the Confederate navy. Stephen Mallory, Confederate secretary of the navy, described the Confederate navy in 1861 as consisting only of an unfurnished room in Montgomery, Alabama, in which naval policy was formed. However, under Mallory, the Confederate navy quickly made up for its deficiencies and soon proved a viable threat to the Union war effort. It's estimated that one-sixth of Confederate naval officers came from the North at the beginning of the war, among them navigator Matthew Fontaine Maury and Franklin Buchanan, former commandant of the Washington Navy Yard.

The Confederate naval forces consisted primarily of two types: commerce destroyers (modeled after the piratelike privateers that preyed on British merchant ships during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812) and ironclad ships that were used almost exclusively to protect rivers and ports. Although they lacked an industrial base or the same sort of naval traditions of New England, Southerners did astonishingly well with making warships and putting up a naval response to the Union blockade and naval assaults.