High Seas and Yankee Gunboats: A Blockade-Running Adventure from the Diary of James Dickson.

High Seas and Yankee Gunboats: A Blockade-Running Adventure from the Diary of James Dickson. By Roger S. Durham. Studies in Maritime History. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, c. 2005. Pp. xx, 185. $24.95, ISBN 1-57003-572-5.)

Now for the Contest: Coastal and Oceanic Naval Operations in the Civil War. By William H. Roberts. Great Campaigns of the Civil War. (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, c. 2004. Pp. xviii, 223. $39.95, ISBN 0-8032-3861-4.)

The effectiveness of the Union blockade during the Civil War remains a contentious topic of debate, and these two books look at the blockade from both sides of the conflict. Now for the Contest: Coastal and Oceanic Naval Operations in the Civil War provides a broad view of the Union attempts to strangle the Confederate economy, while High Seas and Yankee Gunboats: A Blockade-Running Adventure, from the Diary. of James Dickson concentrates upon the singular voyage of the brigantine Standard through the blockade and its subsequent destruction in the backwaters of coastal Georgia. In telling these two tales, the authors also present different worldviews, mirroring the different characteristics and behaviors of both the Union and Confederacy.

Now for the Contest concentrates on the more traditional naval wartime tasks of blockading and coastal operations and largely ignores riverine operations. The main emphasis is on the big picture: the success of blockading operations, the ability of the respective navies to control coastal waterways, and the hows and whys of success and/or failure. The primary undertone is the influence of technology. William H. Roberts stresses the importance of industrial capacity, technological innovation, and operational flexibility in the long-term success of the Union. While praising the Confederates for adopting innovative weaponry such as mines, Roberts cites organizational failure as the reason that the Confederacy did not fare better in naval operations, particularly Secretary of the Navy Robert Mallory's "less effective use of the resources available to him" (p. 166). The Union navy, under the capable administration of Gideon Welles, not only generated its own wartime innovations but had the industrial capacity to exploit innovation to its fullest degree, as in the mass production of ironclad warships.

In High Seas and Yankee Gunboats, Roger S. Durham examines the exploits of a single sailing ship, the Standard, as a typical example of the life of a blockade-runner. The book is the story of two struggles. The first half of the book covers the trials of getting through the blockade and the second half addresses the conflict triggered by the ship's arrival. The book is based upon the diary of James Dickson, a twenty-five-year-old New Jersey resident looking for employment and adventure. Dickson signed on as a crewman aboard the Standard in Halifax in 1862, but he got more than he bargained for. The planned leisurely cruise to Georgia became a five-week odyssey as the ship struggled through storms and heavy seas before reaching its destination in the North Newport River. Their problems did not end there, however, as Union gunboats, alerted to the presence of the Standard, penetrated several miles up the river in pursuit of the ship. Union sailors clashed with local militia but failed to seize the Standard when its crew burned the ship to prevent its capture.

In many respects, the books are very different. Roberts emphasizes technology, whereas Durham's traditional sailing ship is the antithesis of modern technology. Roberts looks at the broad scope of the blockade, but Durham concentrates on the tale of a single ship as told by a single crewman. Roberts stresses the importance of organization, leadership, and decision making; the civilians, blockade-runners, and sailors in Durham's book are simply individuals locked in a local struggle where the war is all too close and personal. Roberts describes a naval war of strategic importance to great nations; Durham's analysis emphasizes the importance of running the blockade on the daily life of civilians, exemplified by the mundane necessities found on the Standard's cargo list.

Yet the two works have some common themes. Both relate how the coastal environment overshadowed the best-laid plans of both combatants. Shallow, confined waters undid the ambitions of both blockaders and blockade-runners, with variances in sea and weather a common enemy to both North and South. Both books also point out the necessity for adaptation, and the respective combatants did their utmost to counter the unexpected. Durham depicts the adaptive tactics of the blockade-runners, while Roberts thoroughly describes the cat-and-mouse nature of technological innovation and counter-adaptation.

Both authors challenge the widely accepted notion that blockade warfare was perpetually boring--Roberts in his vivid description of various battles and Dickson in his account of surviving storms in the Atlantic. Lastly, both accept the idea that the blockade was effective. Roberts concedes that it took time for the Union Navy to make the blockade work, but its economic impact was significant by the second half of the war. Likewise, Durham demonstrates that the blockade had a significant effect on Confederate morale beyond its economic damage. The presence of Union gunboats deep into the rivers of Georgia shook the security of the local residents, demonstrating that the war could come to their doorsteps.

Both books are well written, easily comprehended, and highly detailed. A technical writer might spurn Durham's common use of passive voice, but he was clearly trying to reach a wide audience. Likewise, Roberts's exclusion of riverine operations might disappoint a reader looking for a comprehensive naval history of the Civil War, but one should not criticize him, for his chosen topic is thoroughly researched and of suitable length for the allotted number of pages. In short, both books are highly recommended, providing a comprehensive view of both sides of the Civil War on the high seas.

STEVEN J. RAMOLD

Eastern Michigan University