ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the effectiveness of the Confederate Navy in a strategic sense. Central to Mallory's vision for the Confederate Navy was the role that ironclads would play in contesting Union sea control. Despite heavy obstacles, the Confederate States Navy (CSN) created an organisation that was able to put up a meaningful and spirited fight against the United States Navy (USN). History is littered with carefully constructed military organisations that have not performed well the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence would be a good example. There is no automatic relationship between tactical military success and the attainment of strategic level political goals. Judged according to the assumptions of 1861, the CSN's performance in the Civil War was disappointing and was marked by some key failures. To understand this it is necessary to examine Mallory's view in 1861 of how the CSN would contribute to overall Confederate success.