Customer Reviews

Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Just as war will have its heroes and its tragedies, so, inevitably, will it have its ironies," writes Tom Chaffin in _Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah_ (Hill and Wang). The story of the _Shenandoah_ is full of ironies. From October 1864 to November 1865, she had what could look like an extraordinary successful voyage. She was the only Confederate ship to circumnavigate the globe, logging 58,000 miles. She destroyed 32 vessels belonging to Yankees, ransomed six others, took over a thousand prisoners, and gained over a million dollars in prizes. She safely got back to port at the end of her conquests. Of course the cause for the Confederacy was doomed, but the _Shenandoah_'s story is especially ironic; her greatest conquests happened after Lee had surrendered to Grant, so that the cause dear to her sailors' hearts simply did not exist as they fought for it. It is a unique story and a sad one, and while the irony is thick, Chaffin has not forgotten to tell a rousing tale of the sea, full of battles, heroism, confusion, storms, and starvation.

The Confederacy's sea strategy was to destroy Union merchant ships by privateers, private vessels that would prey on the commercial fleet, cost the Union in ships and cargoes lost, and cause Union military ships to be drawn from other theaters of war to protect the endangered merchantmen. The _Shenandoah_ was converted from a collier to a gunship, secretly at sea. The captain, James Waddell, a graduate of the relatively new Naval Academy at Annapolis, was given the vaguest of orders. His men were to harass Union merchantmen, to take prisoners and prizes, and to sink or burn the evacuated vessels. Captives were left at the next port of call, and some were persuaded to join the _Shenandoah_'s crew. The persuasion might have been as mild as oratory from the captain, but it might be confinement in leg irons or worse. Waddell was not an exemplary leader, and morale was bad, but it got worse as the crew heard from its captives that the war was going badly for the Confederacy. There was no better way of communication than oral reports from captives, and perhaps newspapers that the captured ships carried. In the Bering Sea in June of 1865, they heard from a captive that the war was over (indeed it was, Lee having surrendered at Appomattox in April), but Waddell asked for documentary evidence and there was none. He may have deliberately been trying to deny that the war was lost.

Finally in August the _Shenandoah_ overtook the bark _Barracouta_, but the crew were disappointed to find her papers were in order and that she was a British vessel. They were further disappointed by newspapers she carried, giving documentary evidence that the Confederacy was no more. Waddell and his crew had finally to accept that their nation had been defeated, which was bad enough, but also that for the four months previous, their raids could be looked upon as nothing more than piracy. They stowed the cannon and filled in the gun ports, intending to make the ship look like the merchantman it had originally been. They should have raced to a safe port to surrender the ship, but the enigmatic Waddell, still keeping his officers guessing as to his real intent, set the _Shenandoah_ on a course that eventually, after deprivations of food and water, took it back to Liverpool. A pilot there guided the ship to dock and was asked by the first lieutenant, "What news from the war in America?" The dismal answer, which must have drummed a message of futility into all who heard, came back: "It has been over so long people have got through talking about it." The crew members scattered, and the officers, who had feared being hanged, were eventually pardoned. Their memoirs, as well as their on-board journals and contemporary newspaper accounts, have gone into Chaffin's fascinating story of a memorable, strange, and sad voyage.

This book will make a great movie; it has it all, real history made exciting, character studies, naval battles, survival, enchanted islands and alluring women, little known Civil War information, international intrigue, lessons in leadership, raging storms, nautical commerce,and all this is true stuff; it seems like pure fiction but all the sources and documentation are in the back. I look forward to seeing this on the silver screen and the sooner the better.

Tom Chaffin's "Sea of Gray" puts you right on deck, smelling the sea, hearing the wash of the bow wave, tasting the salt spray. Having grown up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, this book brought me a beautiful evocation and reminder of life on the water. Mr. Chaffin relates wonderful details of an incredible chapter of the American Civil War: intrigue around the world, hidden coves, tactics and strategy, treasure and bounty, gallantry toward the foe, even lost civilizations. It's a testament to real-life's ability to match any imagined fantasy. Tom Chaffin's command of language and the facts, details and nuances of historical events brings this real-life experience vividly to life.

A fine, quality volume with maps of the voyage, pictures and engravings make this a truly satisfying read and a complete experience. The end plates - schematics of the Shenadoah's hull and decks and its sail plan - are especially wonderful, satisfying extras. This is a great book about a true adventure, evocatively written, a finely told tale.

Sea of Gray is simply the most complete and best written account of a Civil War event that I have read. I came away from this book feeling that I knew what day to day life on the Shenandoah was like. Mr. Chaffin's ability to reveal the minutia of the Civil War era sailor's toils and troubles is unsurpassed. It brought back many memories of my days at sea while serving in the U. S. Navy. Indeed, Mr. Chaffin is a master storyteller. I wholeheartedly recommend this book . . . a BIG 5 stars!

The February 1996 issue of Civil War magazine featured "The Civil War 200," contributing writher Gary W. Gallagher's list of texts "worthy of inclusion in any student's library." I used that list as a guideline when I began assembling my own Civil War library. While I haven't seen if Gallagher has updated his list, I would definitely include Tom Chaffin's Sea of Gray: The Around-The-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah, on my own list.

In Sea of Gray, Chaffin presents an account of the C.S.S. Shenandoah, the last of the Confederate commerce raiders. Over two months after the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered and more than a month after Federal troops captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis at Irwinville, Georgia, the Shenandoah was making war on the Union merchant marine, in particular New England's lucrative Arctic whaling fleet, ultimately becoming the only Confederate vessel to circumnavigate the globe.

Whereas many histories of shilps begin with dry discussions of shipbuilders and docks, Sea of Gray begins as a cloak-and-dagger tale of the Liverpudlian intrigues of Southern agent James Bulloch and U.S. Consul Thomas H. Dudley as the Confederate Navy seeks to navigate the labyrinth of legal obstacles involved in getting a British-built shilp to sea and fitted for war.

What then follows is a nautical adventure led by James Waddell, Shenandoah's seemingly unadventurous skipper. Chaffin examines the conflicts between Waddell and his officers. He also chronicles the constant struggle to recruit sailors for a ship plagued by low morale on a dangerous mission for a nation whose survival seems doomed. His work also presents the civil-war-within-the-Civil-War that develops on board the Shenandoah between two rival officer cliques: the Longitudes and the Latitudes. In short, it is a very thorough work.

The illustrations include the layout and the sail plan of the ship. The book also includes maps of the Arctic voyage and the entire 13-month cruise. Chaffin has included numerous notes, an extensive bibliography, a catalog of Shenandoah's prizes, and a breakdown of the watch schedule. What Sea of Gray lacks that accompanies most naval histories is a glossary; however, one really isn't needed. Chaffin writes so that even the most landlubberly reader can understand.

As a fan of naval adventure, I was particularly interested in the transformation of James M. Mason from a highly-motivated midshipman into a man who wishes never "to hear a Boatswain's whistle again."

I have always liked tales of the sea. I really liked Sea of Gray. It is a great story (see editorial reviews above). Tom Chaffin's exhaustive research enabled him to bring it to life--to make a great story a great read. In Sea of Gray, through his extensive use of logs and diaries from the cruise, the reader is in on both the conversations in the Ward Room and also the scuttlebutt. What a movie it would make.

What a tale, painstakingly researched and wonderfully told. Thrilling to the very end.

The subject matter of this book gave it the potential of being a nautical classic. For lovers of sea lore, as well as Civil War buffs, the cruise of the CSS Shenandoah represents piratical adventure flavored with the bittersweet taste of the "lost cause." Instead, "Sea of Gray" suffers from the author's amateurish writing style--replete with needless repetitions of titles and poor use of syntax. Mr. Chaffin deserves credit for being the first to tell the tale of the Shenandoah, but one wonders how much better the telling would have been in the practiced hands of Samuel Elliott Morrison or C.S. Forrester.

"It was just past 1:00 AM, June 28, 1865..." a couple of months off the usual mark for those of us who read to regularly immerse ourselves in the second war for Independence, but it is a first page opening that promises something new, something extra. Tom Chaffin, in Sea of Gray, comes through on the promise.
The comforting mention of our beloved states and cause are soon joined by vistas of our guys in gray and the stars and bars flying by arctic ice and volcanic eruption, visiting a mysterious jungle covered Polynesian city, dodging stone-age cannibal headhunters, dancing at grand parties with Australian beauties, hosting a state visit by a naked king, and working undercover pretending to be Russians, Brits, and U. S. Navy, all with a deneumont casual cruise by Africa. To borrow a phrase from a famous automobile advertisement, this is not your grandfather's Civil War book.
The War of Northern Aggression didn't just happen in Virginia. Chaffin reminds us that it happened everywhere, and that (all around the world), is where the CSS Shenandoah sailed. Crewed by men of many races and nationalities, including Hawaiians, the ship acts as a microcosm of Confederate culture (the good and the bad), a corporeal symbol overseas of an underdog struggle for freedom. The Shenandoah was the most famous Southern ambassador you barely heard of but after reading this book will never forget.
Beautifully researched and very well written, Sea of Glory should top the gift list for everyone you know who lives and re-lives that era and thinks they've read it all.

This was a well-told, but little-known story about the Confederate raider, the C.S.S. Shenandoah and her exploits around the world on the oceans during the Civil War. The average person looking for information about the Civil War might want to skip this one, as it can be a little dry at times, but it's absolutely perfect for Civil War buffs. All in all, a good read.