Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil War 1861–65

Osprey New Vanguard #49

by Angus Konstam, Tony Bryan (Illustrator)

At the start of the American Civil War, neither side had warships on the Mississippi River and in the first few months both sides scrambled to gather a flotilla, converting existing riverboats for naval use. These ships were transformed into powerful naval weapons despite a lack of resources, trained manpower and suitable vessels. The creation of a river fleet was a miracle of ingenuity, improvisation and logistics, particularly for the South. This title describes their design, development and operation throughout the American Civil War.

Genres: American Civil War, History, Civil War, War

48 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2002

About the author

Angus Konstam is a Scottish writer of popular history. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland and raised on the Orkney Islands, he has written more than a hundred books on maritime history, naval history, historical atlases, with a special focus on the history of piracy.

Reviews

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other Osprey books, this title is extremely brief and doesn't go into a lot of detail. It still gives some good basic background information on the types of ships used by both sides, how the ships were used, and some of the battles along the river.