Customer Reviews

Divided Waters: The Naval History of the Civil War

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In Divided Waters, Ivan Musicant provides a solid, although at times basic, overview of Confederate and Union naval efforts, strategies, conflicts and technological developments during the Civil War. Organized by theater of operations instead of chronologically, there are some moments where the events of one chapter seem odd in the context of the previous chapter, but this is a minor flaw. Probably the most interesting chapter is the all-too-short discussion of CSA-USA conflicts on the high seas and around the world; it is interesting to read about the delicate dance naval officers played in ports as far away as Brazil and France. Musicant is obviously a fan of ironclads, and a great deal of the book is devoted to their use in various campaigns. He gives equal time to their successes and shortfalls.

Ivan Musicant's account is thouroughly researched and highly accurate but lacks the enjoyable qualities of Still's or Melton's books on the same subject. While the largest portion on Musicant's book focuses on the USN and CSN ironclads the book is trying to cover too many things at once.

Nevertheless it is a good starting point for interested students of Civil War naval history but if your interest lies primarily in ironclads there is better.

Divided Waters becomes more usable as a reference when compared with and offset with Maurice Melton and William Still. I also felt that Mr. Musicant's angle was slightly subjective, leaning towards the Union eyewitness accounts.

M. has written a readable and well-balanced account of the civil war at sea. he describes operations and equipment in useful detail. The author does not hide his judgment of various actors. He does not idolize Farragut, but recognizes his accomplishments. Two strongly criticized generals, Ambrose Burnside and Benjamin Butler receive some credit, the latter for his strategic vision and capable planning, the former for his contribution to amphibious warfare.
One flaw: M. makes reference to the U. S. Navy, etc. He seems unaware that the United States and its armed forces ceased to exist in April, evidently, 1861, and were not reconstituted until the seceded states elected to return to their former allegiance. Otherwise one would have to say that the Confederates waged war against the United States, and, trailing along, would come the falsehood that the C.S.A. fought to preserve slavery. Mr. M. does not watch enough fox news. Still and all, a good book, just right in length and depth.

This introduction to the naval history of the Civil War suffers from the author's bias, which interferes with his ability to provide readers with a scholarly, objective analysis. Musicant sometimes seems to spend more time making snide remarks and calling people names than he does analyzing his sources.

However, if one can get past the bias, this is a reasonably complete introduction to the Civil War at sea, and the text is well furnished with quotes, which adds excitement. Ironclads get most of the attention here, with the commerce raiders and, strangely, the Hunley, rather scanted.