Nuel c naval biography of abraham lincoln

Patrick Boniface analyses the expansion and transformation of the US Navy during the American Civil War.

‘Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I shall spend the first four sharpening the axe.’

So said Abraham Lincoln, one of America’s greatest presidents, and he might well have been speaking about the creation of the modern US Navy during the crisis years 1861 to 1865.

A giant of American politics, the man of iron will who completed his country’s unfinished revolution by fighting its bloodiest war to smash the Southern slave system, he should also be remembered for his signal role in the history and development of American naval power.

When Lincoln was inaugurated as president on 4 March 1861, US naval resources were hopelessly unequal to the crisis of secession and civil war, comprising only around 90 warships – half of them were sailing vessels, half were steampowered, and all were