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| Chapter I. The State of the Navy in 1859 | [1] |
| A Brief Story of the Development of the Warship that was Propelled by both Sails and Steam—The Remarkable Floating Battery of 1814—Barron’s Idea of a Ram—The Stevens Floating Battery—Ericsson’s Screw Propeller—Stockton and the First Screw Warship—Experiments with Great Guns—Discoveries of Bomford and Rodman—Practical Work by Dahlgren—A Comparison of Yankee Frigates with a Class of British Ships “Avowedly Built to Cope” with them—The Condition of the Personnel. |
| Chapter II. Blockading the Southern Ports | [28] |
| Lincoln’s Proclamation—It was Something of a Task to Close 185 Inlets and Patrol 11,953 Miles of Sea-beaches, especially with the Force of Ships in Hand—One Merchant’s Notion of the Efficiency of Thirty Sailing Vessels—Gathering and Building Blockaders—Incentives and Favoring Circumstances for Blockade-runners—When Perjury Failed and Uncle Sam was Able to Strike without Waiting for Act of Congress—When Blockade-runners Came to New York and Yankee Smokeless Coal was in Demand. |
| Chapter III. Loss of the Norfolk Navy Yard | [66] |
| Effective Work Done by Southern Naval Officers who Continued to Wear the National Uniform that they might the more Readily Betray the National Government—The Secretary of the Navy was Deceived and the Commandant at Norfolk Demoralized—William Mahone’s Tricks Added to the Demoralization at the Yard, and it was Abandoned at Last in a Shameful Panic—Property that was Worth Millions of Dollars, and Guns that Took Thousands of Lives, Fell into the Confederates’ Hands—The First Naval Battle of the War—Three Little Wooden Vessels with Seven Small Guns Sent against a Well-built Fort Mounting Thirteen Guns—The Hazardous Work of Patrolling the Potomac. |
| Chapter IV. A Story of Confederate Privateers | [84] |
| They Did Plenty of Damage for a Time, but their Career was Brief—Capture of the First of the Class, and Trial of her Crew on a Charge of Piracy—Reasons why they could not be Held as Criminals—Luck of the Jefferson Davis—A Negro who Recaptured a Confederate Prize to Escape the Terrors of Slavery—A Skipper who Thought a Government Frigate was a Merchantman—The “Nest” behind Cape Hatteras. |
| Chapter V. The Fort of Hatteras Inlet Taken | [99] |
| An Expedition Planned by the Navy Department that Resulted in the First Federal Victory of the Civil War—An Awkward Landing Followed by Ineffectual Fire from Ships under Way—One Fort Taken and Abandoned—Anchored beyond Range of the Fort and Compelled Surrender by Means of the Big Pivot Guns—A Wearisome Race from Chicamicomico to Hatteras Lighthouse Won by the Federals—Capture of Roanoke Island—Origin of the American Medal of Honor. |
| Chapter VI. Along Shore in the Gulf of Mexico | [112] |
| The Shameful Story of Pensacola and Fort Pickens—When Lieutenant Russell Burned the Judah—A British Consul’s Actions when Confederate Forts were Attacked at Galveston—Extraordinary Panic at the Head of the Passes in the Mississippi when Four Great Warships, Carrying Forty-five of the Best Guns Afloat, Fled from a Disabled Tugboat that was Really Unarmed—Once more in Galveston—Lieutenant Jouett’s Fierce Fight when he Destroyed the Royal Yacht. |
| Chapter VII. Story of the Trent Affair | [140] |
| Capt. Charles Wilkes, of the American Navy, Took Four Confederate Diplomatic Agents from a British Ship Bound on a Regular Voyage between Neutral Parts, and without any Judicial Proceeding Cast them into a Military Prison—A Case that Created Great Excitement Throughout the Civilized World—A Swift Demand, with a Threat of War Added, Made by the British—Comparing this Case with another of Like Nature—The United States once Went to War to Establish the Principle which Captain Wilkes Ignored—The British Officially Acknowledge that the Americans were Justified in Declaring War in 1812. |
| Chapter VIII. The Capture of Port Royal | [161] |
| A Fleet of Seventeen Ships, Carrying 155 Guns, Sent to Take a Harbor that would Make a Convenient Naval Station for the Atlantic Blockaders—There were Two “Exceedingly Well-built Earthworks” “Rather Heavily Armed” Defending the Channel, but one Part of the Squadron Attacked them in Front, another Enfiladed them, and in Less than Five Hours the Confederates Fled for Life—A Heavy Gale Weathered with Small Loss—Interesting Incidents of the Battle. |
| Chapter IX. The Monitor and the Merrimac | [184] |
| Superior Activity of the Confederates in Preparing for Ironclad Warfare Afloat—Story of the Building and Arming of the Merrimac—She was a Formidable Ship in Spite of Defects in Detail, but her Design was not the Best Conceivable—Origin and Description of the Ship that Revolutionized the Navies of the World—A Wondrous Trial Trip—For One Day the Merrimac was Irresistibly Triumphant—Two Fine Ships of the Old Style Destroyed while she Herself Suffered but Little—The Magnificent Fight of the Cumberland—A Difference in Opinions. |
| Chapter X. First Battle between Ironclads | [214] |
| A Comparison between the Monitor and the Merrimac by the English Standard of 1812—It Astonished the Spectators to See the Tiny Monitor’s Temerity—After Half a Day’s Firing it was Plain that the Guns could not Penetrate the Armor—Attempts to Ram that Failed—The Merrimac A-leak—Captain Worden of the Monitor Disabled when the Merrimac’s Fire was Concentrated on the Pilot-house—Where the Monitor’s Gunners Failed—Fair Statement of the Result of the Battle—Worden’s Faithful Crew—The Merrimac Defied the Monitor in May, but when Norfolk was Evacuated she had to be Abandoned and was Burned at Craney Island—Loss of the Monitor. |
| Chapter XI. With the Mississippi Gunboats | [239] |
| Creating a Fleet for the Opening of the Water Route across the Confederacy—Ironclads that were not Shot-proof, but Fairly Efficient nevertheless—Guns that Burst and Boilers that were Searched by Shot from the Enemy—When Grant Retreated and was Covered by a Gunboat—First View of Torpedoes—Capture of Fort Henry—A Disastrous Attack on Fort Donelson—When Walke Braved the Batteries at Island No. 10—The Confederate Defence Squadron at Fort Pillow—The First Battle of Steam Rams—Frightful Effects of Bursted Boilers—In the White River—Farragut Appears. |
| Chapter XII. Farragut at New Orleans | [311] |
| It was Hard Work Getting the Squadron into the Mississippi—Preparing the Ships to Run by the Forts Guarding the River—Mortar Schooners Hidden by Tree Branches—The Forts were Well Planned, but Poorly Armed—A Barrier Chain that was no Barrier at the Last—The Heterogeneous Confederate Squadron—The Fire-rafts—Work of the Coast Survey—Bravery of Caldwell—Foreigners who Interfered—Work of the Mortar Fleet—When the Squadron Drove past the Forts—Scattering the Confederate Squadron—Nevertheless, at least Three Good Captains were Found among them—Sinking the Varuna—Fate of the Ram Manassas—Surrender of the Forts—End of the Ironclad Louisiana—The Work of the Mississippi Squadron. |
| Chapter XIII. Farragut at Mobile | [377] |
| The Forts and the Confederate Squadron the Union Forces were Compelled to Face—The Confederate Ironclad just Missed being a most Formidable Ship—Tedious Wait for Monitors—When the Southwest Wind Favored—There was a Fierce Blast from the Forts at First, but the Torpedo was Worse than Many Guns—Fate of the Tecumseh and Captain Craven—The Last Words of the Man for whom “there was no Afterward”—Torpedoes that Failed beneath the Flagship—Captain Stevens on the Deck of his Monitor—When Neilds Unfurled the Old Flag in the midst of the Storm—How Farragut was Lashed to the Mast—Jouett would not be Intimidated by a Leadsman—Mobbing the Tennessee. |
| Chapter XIV. Tales of the Confederate Cruisers | [407] |
| The most Instructive Chapter in the History of the United States—Work Accomplished by an Energetic Seaman in a Ship his Brother Officers Condemned—Brilliant Work of the Florida under John Newland Maffitt—Bad Marksmanship and a Worse Lookout off Mobile—A Case of Violated Neutrality—Semmes and the Alabama—The Battle with the Kearsarge—What Kind of a Man is it that Fights his Ship till she Sinks under him?—American Commerce Destroyed—The British without a Rival on the Sea, at Last, and at Very Small Cost. |
| Chapter XV. The Albemarle and Cushing | [452] |
| A Formidable Warship was Built under Remarkable Conditions to Enable the Confederates to Regain Control of the Inland Waters of North Carolina—Very Successful at First, but she was Laid up to Await the Building of another One, and then came Cushing with his Little Torpedo Boat, and the Confederate Hopes were Destroyed with their Ship. |
| Chapter XVI. The Navy at Charleston | [465] |
| It was a Well-guarded Harbor, and the Channel was Long and Crooked—The “Stone Fleet” and the Attitude of Foreign Powers—Brief Career of Two Confederate Ironclads—The Blockade was not Raised—A Confederate Cruiser Burned—Utter Failure of the Ironclad Attacks on the Forts—Capture of the Confederate Warship Atlanta—“Boarders Away” at Fort Sumter—Magnificent Bravery of the Men who Manned the Confederate Torpedo Boats. |
| Chapter XVII. Capture of Fort Fisher | [503] |
| It was One of the Best Works in the South, though not well Located—Butler’s Powder-boat Scheme, and what he Expected to Accomplish by it—Throwing 15,000 Shells at the Fort Disabled Eight Great Guns out of a Total of Thirty-eight—Butler Thought the Fort still too Strong and would not Try—He did not even Make Intrenchments According to Orders—Gen. A. H. Terry, with 6,000 Soldiers and 2,000 from the Ships, Easily Took the Fort Three Weeks Later—The Navy’s Last Fight in the Civil War. |
| Chapter XVIII. Story of the New Navy | [523] |
| The Folly of Allowing other Nations to Experiment for us—In Spite of what we Learned from their Mistakes, we were Unable, when we First Began for ourselves, to Build even a First-class Cruiser—The Result of Ten Years of Earnest Work—Battle-ships whose Power is Conceded by Foreign Writers—Cruisers that Awakened the Pride of the Nation—Three “Newfangled Notions”—A Yankee Admiral at Rio Janeiro and a Yankee Lieutenant on the Coast of Mexico—The One Important Fact about the New Navy. |