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Under the Blue Pennant: or Notes of a Naval Officer, 1863-1865

Amazon.com Price:  $9.99 (as of 19/04/2019 11:35 PST- Details)

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Description

“Rare . . . gives us insights into how Union naval officers thought, how they lived . . . entertaining and informative for the general reader and a mine of material for the specialist.”-Journal of Military History

“A small, long-submerged treasure with the intention to reward those willing to give in to the unfamiliar waters of the Civil War’s naval history.”-Civil War Book Reviews “A surprisingly lively and modern read . . . a welcome addition to our knowledge of the lives of men who served in the Civil War.”-Kirkus Reviews

“Fresh and highly revealing.” -Richmond Times-Dispatch

Now available in paperback, this highly acclaimed eyewitness account of the Civil War at sea provides fascinating insights into command decisions made on the bridge in addition to life below deck. Recently discovered in the Library of Congress archives, this memoir was once written just after the Civil War by John Grattan, an ensign in the Union navy who witnessed one of the war’s most significant naval operations.

Under the editorship of acclaimed naval historian Robert Schneller, Grattan’s account of the a very powerful struggle for keep watch over of the Atlantic seaboard bristles with the tension of combat. With sharply etched details of blockade running, guerrilla warfare, fierce underwater battles, the brutal advance on Richmond, and visits to the front lines by President Abraham Lincoln, this rare memoir includes personal observations of key naval and military leaders and rescues less-celebrated heroes from obscurity. Sparkling with Victorian wit, this from-the-front report opens a window into the lives of peculiar soldiers and the men who led them into war.
The Union Navy played an essential role in winning the Civil War. Its blockade of more than 3,000 miles of Southern coastline, joint operations with the Union army, and pursuit of Rebel commerce raiders helped protected the 1865 Union victory over the Confederacy. Whilst the majority of Civil War histories focus on the personalities and battles of the Union Army, few explore Union naval operations and their importance. John W. Grattan’s journal, Under the Blue Pennant, or Notes of a Naval Officer 1863-1865, helps to fill this historical void.

Grattan served for two years as clerk and aide to the squadron commander aboard the flagship of the largest Union naval command, the North Atlantic Blocking Squadron. Editor Robert J. Schneller presents Grattan’s narrative essentially in its original form, adding a 50-page introduction and explanatory notes to provide important background information and place the narrative’s events in historical context. The journal, written in unembellished Victorian prose, provides rare eyewitness observations of daily life at sea, the hopes and fears of inexperienced soldiers, and the military leaders that commanded them. Grattan’s sketches provide glimpses of real war, and Schneller’s illustrations and maps further bring to life a very powerful episode in our nation’s military history. –Bertina Loeffler Sedlack

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