Lincoln takes command : the campaign to seize Norfolk and the destruction of the CSS Virginia

On a rainy evening during the Civil War’s second May, President Abraham Lincoln and two of his cabinet secretaries boarded the revenue cutter Miami and sailed to Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Virginia. There, for the first and only time in our country’s history, a sitting president assumed direct control of military forces, land and sea, to launch a campaign with wide-ranging consequences. This fascinating and multi-dimensional slice of the war and its effect on the president is but little-known. Thankfully, that gap in the war’s historiography has been ably filled by Steve Norder’s Lincoln Takes Command: The Campaign to Seize Norfolk and the Destruction of the CSS Virginia . Lincoln recognized the strategic possibilities offered by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s ongoing Peninsula Campaign and the importance of seizing Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the Gosport Navy Yard. For five days that May, the president spent time on sea and land, studied maps, spoke frankly with military leaders, suggested military actions, and—in his quiet, respectful way—issued direct orders to subordinate commanders. His participation set in motion a host of actions that included the naval bombardment of a Confederate fort, the sailing of Union ships up the James River toward the enemy capital, an amphibious landing of Union soldiers followed by an overland march that expedited the capture of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the Gosport Navy Yard, and the hastening of the destruction of the Rebel ironclad CSS Virginia. Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln’s treasury secretary, described all this as a “brilliant week’s campaign.” Hailed as a military and civilian leader of consequence, the president returned to Washington in triumph. Some close to the president even urged him to assume direct command of the nation’s field armies. Norder deeply mined newspapers and draws upon a host of primary sources, including letters, diaries, official reports, and memoirs. This rich use of firsthand materials, coupled with fascinating explanatory footnotes, photos, and original maps, allows for a fresh perspective and interesting insights. Despite the large number of books that have been penned about Lincoln, his presidency, and his struggles during the Civil War, the fascinating week discussed in Lincoln Takes Command —which helped shape a wartime president—has never been told in such fine detail. The successes that crowned his short time in Hampton Roads changed the nation’s commander in chief by giving him a better understanding of, and more confidence in, his ability to see what needed to be accomplished. This insight helped sustain him through the rest of the war. On a rainy evening during the Civil War's second May, President Abraham Lincoln and two of his cabinet secretaries boarded a treasury department ship to sail to Union-held Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The trip resulted in the first and only time in the country's history that a sitting president took direct control of military forces, both army and navy, to wage a campaign with wide-ranging consequences. This little-known slice of the war and its effect on the president is the subject of Steve Norder's Lincoln Takes Command: The Campaign to Seize Norfolk and the Destruction of the CSS Virginia. For five days that May, Lincoln studied maps, suggested military actions and--in his quiet, respectful way--issued direct orders to subordinate commanders. Helped by movements farther up the Virginia peninsula, the president's decisions resulted in a host of military actions and successes, including: a naval bombardment of a Confederate fort, the sailing of Union ships up the James River closer to the enemy capital, an amphibious landing of Union soldiers, the capture of Norfolk and the vital Portsmouth and Gosport navy yards, and the destruction of the Rebel ironclad CSS Virginia. Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln's treasury secretary, described the actions as a "brilliant week's campaign." The president returned to Washington in triumph, hailed as a military and civilian leader. Indeed, some urged him to take direct command of the nation's field armies. Norder's years-long investigation draws upon a host of primary sources, including letters, diaries, official reports, and memoirs. This rich blending of material allows for a fresh perspective and interesting insights. Untold numbers of books have been penned about Abraham Lincoln, his presidency, and his struggles during the Civil War, but the fascinating week within the covers of Lincoln Takes Command--which helped shape him as a war president--has never has been told in such full detail. The successes that crowned his short time in Hampton Roads changed the nation's commander in chief by giving him more of an understanding and confidence in his ability to see what needed to be accomplished, insight that sustained him through the rest of the war. "The first study to detail the important week in March 1862 when, for the first and only time in the country's history, a sitting president took direct control of military forces, land and sea, to wage a campaign with wide-ranging consequences. Abraham Lincoln ordered a beach-landing to capture Norfolk, the shelling of major Confederate installations and defenses, and guiding naval assets that helped capture two important cities (Norfolk and Portsmouth) and the Gosport Navy Yard, the best of its kind along the entire Atlantic seaboard. Based on extensive primary sources, supported by original maps and photos, footnotes, biblio, appendices, and index."-- Provided by publisher Table of Contents List of Maps List of Photos/Illustrations Citation Abbreviations Acknowledgments Preface Timeline November 1860 – May 1862 Introduction Chapter 1 Monday, May 5, and Tuesday, May 6, 1862 Chapter 2 Wednesday, May 7, 1862 Chapter 3 Thursday, May 8, 1862 Chapter 4 Friday, May 9, 1862 Chapter 5 Saturday, May 10, 1862 Chapter 6 Sunday, May 11, 1862 Chapter 7 Monday, May 12, 1862 Chapter 8 Aftermath Appendix 1 Dramatis Personae Appendix 2 Ship Directory Bibliography Index The fascinating week within the covers of Lincoln Takes Command - which helped shape Lincoln as a war president - has never has been told in such full detail.