New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-09-20
TUE NAVY IN THE CIVIL WAR

.,,o 40 unjust to the United States Navy as tue
Si.t,usushed author of this elaborate WORK mag
.n.s lie complains that I" in all the histories no
no. Rad there have been serious misrcpresen'a
,ons pxrp,scly printed and written with inc ih'eh'
t,on 70 do harm to the reputation Oh some ""o
deserved not only the highest praise from the "o'
.rnmsnt but the truth from impartial historians
IT, "a q serious charge which from the very
80 Of a can never he substantiated. But there
orc obvious reasons why the exploits OF the navy
.hould have been less fully and exactly chronicioo
during the RebellioA than those OF the other a'n,
Of the service The newspaper corrcsPon"'"'
con;d not follow the ships of squadron rs iiee'y
ne he followed troops in the field: ana IL Is no"
the narratives of this adventurous, courageous
and often accomplished reporter that the i''' ~"
foran has had to construct some OF MS mos. WV.
ona thrilling dc, criptons. Official reports arc
;,v,lnable for the correction Of the hrst Nasty
accounts; but al effective history couiu never "
written from official reports alone mus IL h"ppo"'
that the achievements of the Navy nave ioOo.
rather less than their right proportion Oh popu'".
notice: and although there has been no conep'"..
of historians to msrepresent' tnero oo' '",n' ad |
some deficiencies which ought to be maze eoou'
Ave cannot regret that the task mas oecl' """v
.aLon hy an officer whose jealous regard LOT Tue
- 80 tho service is keen even to the point OF
torcbiucss: and if the Admiral seems no" anu
them n little contentious, we NAV reiheiipci no" We
nsed TO delight his pugnacity twehtv-"'o yeai'
AGO. and what splendid example he SET III ,hoSe
earIv DAVIS of the Rebellion when so many OF our
commanders. both on land and on sea, hao ho' 'o'
realized that war meant lighting.
q The Admirals plan comprehcnds oe'"iou,
l,,ost an exhaustive account of all the naval
onor,tions of the war; from the small isolated OK
neaitions on the coasts and rivers 10 the move
ments of formidable squadrons and heets; ana NC
pays impartial attention to deeds OF lnaiViuu"i
enterprise and to the great com5ats when mace VIC
names of Farragnt, Foote. and, let us aoo, oioi,
familiar on both sides of the ocean Many orhah'
affairs he describes from personal observation
with many others he must be thoroughly az
,,;,tsd through the verbal narratives OF MS
b,other-offcers; and IN all cases he mas inauc
annie use OF the reports and other documents ia 'o
archives of the Department., quoting some vi 'no
most interesting and important OF THESE papers III
fail He gives the complete organization anu per
sopuel of squa Irons and Is unusually liDerai III '
mention of subordinate officers WITH lespec' "
como matters Of controversy, such as the attempt
20 ceevs Fort Sumter, his statements are WeiRn'y
ovdcnce. his criticisms are made from full oihciai
knovledre and the largest professional experience
and both his praises and bis occasional oenou,''
nre forclble and impressive He has MADE 10 us
MAY of rhetoric endeavOring rather to tell piaih'
straightforward story than to cultivate the Rrace9
of comnositon but his simplicity Is merit, and
4
manner of telling them. AS book Of reference MS
work will take distinguished place; NO history OF
the war will be written without Its aid.
There are certain operations involvlng tue Amy
and Navy Jointly respecting when Aohiiai roi'oi
observations will be looked for with CURIOSITY
Such for example is the affair OF Fort flsper TIC
writes of General Buffers management OF 'he nls'
unfortunate attack upon that work with inc
utmost severity. and his censures take IN also
VIII
scons,hle adviser There is no difference OF
opinion as TO the ncompetency OF the military
leadership IN that action, but the Admlrars 'che
uence seems to be excessive. The Navy did It's full
duty. and Porter spared no pains or zeal 10 carry
ont n pap in which from the first he had lttie con-
Gdenee In the second attack, when Terry
repaced Butler the laurels of victory were 1airiy
1;r;ded between the soldiers and sailors lhere
was little stiffness in the relations OF Terry ana
Porter at first cannot call 1t 1ricuoh 'u' ~
wore of very soon, and they 1ought Tue pat,ie 1"
complete harmony. The fact is that the Navy
under Porter-and the same thing is true Oh inos'
90 the other chief commandments always
delighted to accept an invitation from the ianu
force, for Joint fight; aud there were very 10"
instances of the dscord which might have Deen
antic,pated from the mutual Independence oil two
forces operating to a large extent III INC s"ii'
theatre of action and against the same opJecuV'
\ points THIS harmony, which reflects sucn credi'
upon the gallantry and patriotism OF both services
was esneclally marked on the Western rivers
where disagreement would have been most natural
One can hardly eXaggerate the benefit 10 th
connt,v of the sympathy and generous feelin
which prevaed between Porter and Grant The
were alike in of their professional character
stics and each had a cordial appreciation OF ID
service TO which the other belonged Generai uran
pavs hearty tribute to Porter and the Navy IN III
. Memoirs and Porter makes the following jus
remarks in bis account of the operations at VICES
burs: at was not and is not now, generaI
understood that the operations against Nickshur
were a combination of Army and Navy in whic
each commander acted on his own, responsibility
neither having received any instructions from thei
several departments. The plans for the capture
V,cksburg from the first to the last were arrange
by General Grant and Admiral Porter, and carrie
out to the end with that unanimty of purpos
which always leads to success. General Gran
never undertook any cement without consultln
the commander of the Mississippi Squadron, Will
the latter never did anything without consutln
General Grant. and thus harmony OF action pre-
vailed which PROBABLY never was obtained III an
other naval and military cooperation Grant an
Porter were of assmilated rank and. neither coul
give an order to the other therefore it was on!
through that high courtesy bred in purely militar
school that perfect an understanding could b
arrived at or that the wishes of either military
naval commander could be anticipated" An
after quoting q passage from Grants Memoirs
the Admiral continues Words of ordinary prai;
coming from him were of more import than wore
from a man who too lavish of his commend
tons Those last words of Grants were grains
gold aud will go down in history, never to
erased from the book of fame"
The Typography of Admiral Porters book hi
some merits the large doubc-cclumn pages pr
sent clear. readable type. ana a saiicrilke COZ
puctness is secured without undue crowdin
We cannot say, however. that il is Ms handsor
as il deserves to be- for it's arrangement shows sol
want OF taste and the wood-cut illustrations are
fhe cheanest kind.