When the Civil War began; the southerners found themselves ill-prepared for the realities of waging war; especially on the naval front. Not only did the Confederates lack any semblance of a navy; they had few raw materials with which to construct one. The daunting task of building a navy fell on the shoulders of Stephen Mallory; newly appointed secretary of the navy. A former United States senator from Florida; Mallory had resigned from office when his home state seceded from the Union and he pledged himself to the service of the Confederacy. His intelligence and resourcefulness accomplished what many saw as impossible-the creation of a viable; combat-ready southern navy. Among his primary goals was the establishment of a naval academy; a step which Mallory considered essential for building a serious military force. In July 1863; the Confederate Naval Academy inducted its first class of cadets-among which was Hubbard T. Minor from the army s 42nd Tennessee regiment. Focusing on the latter part of the war; this work provides an in-depth look at the realities of life as a cadet at the Confederate Naval Academy. Beginning with an overview of the academy; the book contains a brief biographical sketch of each of the school's principal instructors. The main focus of the work; however; is the diary which Hubbard Minor kept as a cadet requirement. One of only two such documents to survive; it provides a day-by-day account of Minor s duties as well as his active service on board the CSS Savannah. Events covered include the June 1864 raid on the USS Water Witch; the evacuation of Savannah; and the Confederate retreat to Richmond. Selected letters from Minor's correspondence are inserted where chronologically relevant; while introductions and other explanatory information are added only as necessary to aid the reader. Appendices contain a list of regulations from the Confederate school ship Patrick Henry; the initial report from Austin Pendergrast; comm
#2090927 in Books McFarland 2002-08-27Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .66 x 5.98 x 9.42l; .88 #File Name: 0786413557199 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Lokenf5b Clanloved it0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Three StarsBy Customer Exfair BeexA good overview; not detailed or scholarly.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Good if Over-Priced Account of Black MoH Winners!By Mike O'ConnorUp to 2002; 88 African-Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor. Charles Hanna's AFRICAN AMERICAN RECIPIENTS OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR; A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY; CIVIL WAR THROUGH VIETNAM WAR details the lives and combat exploits of those brave men.Hanna; formerly the secretary of the Medal of Honor Historical Society; divides his narrative into chapters on the Civil War; Indian Wars; Peacetime from 1872 to 1890; Spanish-American War; WW I; WW II; Korea and Vietnam. The highest number of awards came in the Civil War followed by Vietnam MoH actions.Within each chapter; Hanna presents the recipients alphabetically. Generally each entry is well-researched; presenting detailed biographical details along with fulsome descriptions of the individual's military career. In many cases; Hanna includes the actual MoH award citation. Photographs for some of the recipients - or their gravestones - are included although the WW I; WW II and Vietnam sections are sadly lacking in pix.Though I enjoyed Hanna's book; I felt the alphabetical arrangement was a mistake. There were several actions where several black servicemen won the MoH in the same action. Consequently; Hanna "refights" the same action several times; basically repeating the description of that one action again and again. It would have been a better choice to have arranged entries chronologically.Having said that; AFRICAN AMERICAN RECIPIENTS OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR is an entertaining; informative if over-priced - $60.00! - summary of those brave servicemen who received the MoH. Recommended.
