Confederate Admiral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan (Library of Naval Biography) (Hardcover)

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Franklin Buchanan is best known for taking the Confederate ironclad Virginia into action at Hampton Roads in 1862 and later commanding the ironclad Tennessee against Farragut at the Battle of Mobile Bay. During a long naval career, begun as a midshipman just after the War of 1812, he had already sailed aboard merchant vessels; served as first commandant of the troubled, short-of-funds Naval School (later the Naval Academy); fought in the Mexican War; and, as flag captain, accompanied Commodore Perry on one of the first diplomatic voyages to Japan. The first full-scale modern biography of Buchanan represents him as a superior seaman and administrator, a courageous combat leader, and a fond husband and father. He was also a disciplinary martinet, feckless with money, and too easily converted to a pro-Southern viewpoint by slaveholding Maryland in-laws. Symonds' useful book inaugurates the Library of Naval Biography, which, if subsequent volumes are as seaworthy as the first, should add indispensably to naval historiography. Roland Green

Product Description

A leading historian of both the Civil War and American naval history takes a fresh look at Franklin Buchanan, the U.S. Naval Academy's first superintendent who went on to become the Confederate Navy's first admiral. Buchanan's resignation from the U.S. Navy in April 1861 as the nation teetered on the brink of Civil War is one of the many dramatic episodes in this revealing biography. Convinced that his native state of Maryland was about to secede from the Union, Buchanan gave up his commission; when Maryland did not secede, he desperately tried to get it back. Unsuccessful, he eventually went South, where as the Confederacy's only full admiral he helped mold its naval strategy and took command of both the Virginia (Merrimack) in the battle of Hampton Roads in 1861 and the Tennessee in the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864.

While Buchanan's Civil War experiences helped define the drama of the period, his fifty-year naval career illuminates the sweeping changes in the U.S. Navy of the antebellum years. This stimulating and authoritative biography chronicles Buchanan's life as a midshipman on the square-rigged sailing frigate Java and as a commander at the helm of the coal-burning side-wheel steamer Susquehanna. It examines his pivotal role in the establishment of the Naval Academy and his experiences both as the first American to set foot in Japan and the first to conn a U.S. Navy warship up the Yangtze River. More than a record of events in Buchanan's career, this biography helps readers understand Buchanan's character and appreciate the broader issues of politics, slavery, loyalty, and professionalism in the era of America's greatest national trauma.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press; First Edition edition (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557508445
• ISBN-13: 978-1557508447
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,976,033 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Readable Book on a Prickly Character, February 16, 2000

By	David Poyer (Eastern Shore of Virginia) - See all my reviews

I've just finished CONFEDERATE ADMIRAL and the more I reflect on it the more solid it seems. A great job of professional history and biography. Symonds sets Buchanan in his time, and does a great job of presenting a guy many of us wd not get along with in person, and whose ideas would not pass muster today, but presenting him without judgment in the context of his time and profession. I never felt the author liked him, but I never felt he disliked Buchanan either; it felt . . . objective. What a word, how seldom we see objective reporting today! Read this book to see what it means, and to follow a real roller-coaster of a career in a stormy century and time in America. Damn nice writing too. Thanks Mr Symonds!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fair and balanced story of a prominent figure in American Naval history, November 12, 2008

By	J. Rudy "Major, USAF" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Confederate Admiral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan (Bluejacket Books) (Blue Jacket Books) (Paperback)

Craig Symonds delivers a very readable biography of Franklin Buchanan, a career sailor who accomplished many firsts for the United States Navy. Symonds writes in the book's retrospective "He was the first superintendent of the Naval Academy, the first to charge ashore at Tuxpan to capture the Mexican fort there, the first American official to set foot on Japanese soil, and the first naval officer to conn a U.S. warship up the Yangtze river." Unfortunately, history will probably best remember him as the only admiral of the Confederate States of America.

The first section of the book covers the early years of the young midshipman. Along with his accomplishments, the section provides a great description of life aboard ship in the nineteenth century. As someone not familiar with naval life, I appreciated Symond's description of basic terms such as "bosun" and "fo'c'sle". The cost of these one- to two- sentence descriptions paid huge dividends with this landlubber,

Buchanan's years in the navy reads like an adventure novel - chasing pirates across the Barbary States and also the Caribbean, or assaulting a Mexican fort. Along with these tales of adventure, Symonds provides a detailed look at how Buchanan prepared the USS Vincennes, his first command, before setting sail.

Symonds covers Buchanan's year at the United States Naval Academy as its first superintendent. In honor of his outstanding service, the United States built a new house for the USNA superintendent in 1906, and named it in honor of him. This chapter gives the reader an appreciation of the impact Buchanan had on the education of generations of Naval Officers.

In many circumstances, Naval Captains also serve as diplomats in addition to the traditional role of warrior. Symonds provides the reader with a detailed look at the roles of Oliver Perry and Buchanan in opening the Orient to America.

The second half of the book covers Buchanan's service to the Confederate States of America, precipitated by his rash decision to resign his commission. Secretary Gideon Wells refused to hear the pleas of the repentant sailor who came to his senses a few days later. Symonds recounts the gripping tale of Buchanan in command of the CSS Virginia (a.k.a. the USS Merrimack) in its only successful wartime sortie. The book climaxes with a description of the Battle of Mobile Bay with Buchanan in charge of the paltry Confederate fleet.

The book touches on many more aspects of American Naval history in addition to the ones mentioned here. Buchanan was one of the most influential officers of the American navy leading up to the Civil War. This book is a fantastic tribute to his service. Symonds also balances this with the cold truth of Buchanan's racist opinions. "Old Buck" was also a strong proponent of corporal & capital punishment aboard ships. His liberal use of the cat-o-nine tail resulted in outright hatred from many of his sailors.

Symonds is a very talented author that will keep you engrossed from the first page. "Confederate Admiral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan" is one of the Naval Institute Press Bluejacket Book series, advertised as "affordable paperback editions of exceptional works on naval and military subjects." Exceptional is the perfect word to describe this book - it's an easy read and a great story.

5.0 out of 5 stars CONFEDERATE ADMIRAL: THE LIFE AND WARS OF FRANKLIN BUCHANAN, August 9, 2009

By	Robert A. Lynn "Militaryhistorywriter" (Orlando, Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Confederate Admiral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan (Bluejacket Books) (Blue Jacket Books) (Paperback)

CONFEDERATE ADMIRAL: THE LIFE AND WARS OF FRANKLIN BUCHANAN
Craig L. Symonds
Naval Institute Press, 2008
Quality Softcover, 312 Pages, Maps, Photographs, $18.95


Franklin Buchanan, born in Baltimore, Maryland,entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman in 1815 and became George Bancroft's chief advisor in planning the U.S. Naval Academy and became its first superintendent from 1845-1847. He fought in the Mexican War, commanded the sloops of war Vincennes and Germantown,and commanded the steam frigate Susquehanna, the flagship in Perry's expedition to China and Japan 1852-1855. He was then promoted to captain and assumed command of the Washington Navy Yard in 1859. He resigned on 22 April 1861 on the belief that his state of Maryland was going to secede but when it didn't; Buchanan had second thoughts. He was turned down and was commissioned a captain in the Confederate States Navy on 5 September 1861 and was named Chief of Orders and Details and took command of the Chesapeake Bay Squadron in early 1862. He commanded the first ironclad CSS Virginia in its initial appearance in Hampton Roads on 8 March 1862. He was subsequently wounded in the battle with the USS Congress in the leg while his brother, Paymaster McKean Buchanan, was killed. The honor to command the CSS Virginia against the USS Monitor went to Catesby ap Roger Jones. After recovering from his wound in August, 1862, Buchanan was promoted to the rank of admiral and sent to command Confederate naval forces at Mobile Bay, Alabama. He oversaw the construction of the ironclad CSS Tennessee and was on board her during the Battle of Mobile Bay with Rear Admiral David G. Farragut's Union fleet on August 5, 1864. Wounded and taken prisoner, Admiral Buchanan wasn't exchanged until February, 1865. He was on convalescent leave until the Civil War ended in April, 1865. Following the conflict, Buchanan lived in Maryland, then was a businessman in Mobile until 1870, when he again took up residence in Maryland to become the president of the Maryland State Agricultural College. He later died on May 11, 1874 and was buried at the Wye House family plot outside Easton, Maryland. Author Craig L. Symonds' CONFEDERATE ADMIRAL: THE LIFE AND WARS OF FRANKLIN BUCHANAN is a meticulously annotated and well written account of one of the Confederacy's best and brightest naval minds. It isn't only a fascinating account of the U.S. Naval Academy's first superintendent and his remarkable career in the U.S. Navy but also his stellar service to the Confederacy. Symonds' definitive study is a superb book.


Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida