The 50 years before the American Civil War saw a boom in the construction of coastal forts in the United States of America. These stone and brick forts stretched from New England to the Florida Keys, and as far as the Mississippi River. At the start of the war some were located in the secessionist states, and many fell into Confederate hands. Although a handful of key sites remained in Union hands throughout the war, the remainder had to be won back through bombardment or assault. This book examines the design, construction and operational history of those fortifications, such as Fort Sumter,...

For most of the Renaissance period, naval warfare in the Mediterranean was dominated by the war galley, a unique naval vessel for a momentous age. During the struggle for supremacy between Christian and Muslim powers, war galleys formed the backbone of the rival battlefleets. Different regions of the Mediterranean produced their own versions of the war galley, thereby producing a number of variants on the basic design tailored to the needs and resources of particular nations. This book examines the development of the war galley from its classically inspired resurrection in the 15th century...

While the Confederates relied on field fortifications and small gunboats in the fight for control of the Mississippi, the Union built a series of revolutionary river ironclads. This volume explains how these vessels worked and how they were constructed.

The Confederate states adopted radical solutions to counter the naval superiority of their opponents. One of the more successful solutions they adopted was the use of commerce raiders. This book describes the reasons which forced the Confederates to resort to commerce raiding, and outlines the way in which these craft were converted or specially built to perform their role. It details not only the way these craft were operated and manned, but also their brutal attacks, daring escapes and climatic battles against the large numbers of Union warships forced to hunt them down.

During the Second World War, flotillas of the Royal Navy's Motor Torpedo Boats and other coastal forces fought a deadly war for control of the English Channel and the North Sea. These small, fast boats attacked enemy convoys, escorted freighters, landed secret agents and even raided enemy ports. Unsung heroes, these craft and their tiny crews helped stave off defeat in the dark days of 1940. The same vessels then took the fight to other waters, and by the end of the war, British MTB's had seen service in the Mediterranean, the Baltic and the Far East. This book examines the development and...

This Osprey title details General George B. McClellan's controversial Peninsula campaign and the southern attempt to halt the Union juggernaut during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Following its humiliating defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, McClellan took command of the Union Army of the Potomac. In the spring of 1862, having rebuilt his forces, the "Little Napoleon" devised a plan to end the war in a single campaign. Transporting his army by sea to the Virginia Peninsula, he would outflank Confederate forces and march unopposed on Richmond, the Southern capital. Excessive caution...

Osprey's examination of the short yet crucial campaign of the American Civil War (1861-1865). When General Robert E. Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Confederacy was in crisis. Lee changed all that in a brilliant, week-long campaign. On 26 June the Confederates struck, fighting two hard-fought battles in two days at Mechanicsville and Gaine's Mill. The ferocity of the Confederate assaults convinced McClellan that he was outnumbered. Unable to keep the Confederates at bay, the Union army was recalled to Washington. Despite losing a quarter of his men, Lee had saved...

The primary Union strategy during the American Civil War was a massive naval blockade of the entire Southern coastline of the Confederacy, and it was in the effort to counter this blockade that the Confederates developed their first submarines and torpedo boats. This book traces the development of these new technologies, including the CSS 'Little David' and 'Hunley' - respectively the first torpedo boat and submarine to sink an enemy warship. The wreck of the 'Hunley' was raised in 2000, and this is the first book ever to integrate details of its recovery with an account of Confederate...

Half a millennium before the Romans first arrived in Britain an even more ferocious people arrived in what is now south-eastern England after migrating from the mainland of Europe. This civilisation, known as the Celts first arrived in Britain in the 6th century BC, and within 300 years had made the island their own. The Celts remained in Britain long after the Romans departed, and although driven into the remoter corners of the island by English invaders the people who remained clung onto their Celtic heritage, and defended their remaining lands against all-comers. In order to defend their...