Union Jacks: Yankee Sailors In The Civil War by Michael J. Bennett

Belt buckle views of the Civil War solder abound. Go into any library, flea market stall, or bookstore and you will find something about the grunts of the first "Great" American war. Also abundant are books about the battles and leader of the "War Between The States." Less common are books about Civil War Navies. Few still are books about the common sailor who shipped the blockage ships and river gunboats of the U.S Navy. Add in the over arching quality of this book and you have a read every Civil War buff needs to have on their shelf. 

The American Civil War has been written about since it was over. More books are published about the Civil War every year than just about an other subject in U.S. History. Still. Yet, so authors concern themselves with the Naval aspects of the war. If they do its the key figures and battles as they fit into the overall scheme of the war. So when I found this book, I immediately added it to my Goodreads TO READ list. When I found one of my favorite used bookstores, I bought it without second thought. It provides the read a deep dive into the tedium and drudgery of the Union sailor like no other book I know of. By shear uniqueness alone, this book ought to be on every Naval Historian or Civil War buff's bookshelf. 

Naval service in the U.S. Navy during the War Between The States was different. The men who joined the Navy were different, their training (what little formal training they got) was different, why they joined in the first place was different, and the service they offered was...different. Thus this book about these men of the ships is...different. But Bennett does a masterful job of crafting a book that matches the lives of the men it contains. As the reader soon finds out, ship life was boring. Small details are harped over, brief periods of entertainment are cherished, and battle was often sudden and brief. The pacing of the book reflects this. Never as boring as life on a blockade ship must have been, we read about the chores and daily crumbling of sailors in just enough detail to get the picture before moving on. We hear about the attempts by religious groups to save the souls of the salts, and the few breaks in the monotony the Jacks had. Then, in the last chapter, we see the sudden flash of a cannon as we man general quarters. Just as fast, its over. Credit is due to Michael J. Bennett for masterfully reflecting this life in the pages of his book. 

As you can tell from the reviews, my Goodreads account and my education, I love history. I love overlooked histories and people, and widely neglected subjects. In this one I found a trove of interesting insight into the lives of ordinary sailors that is not found elsewhere. If you are student of the Navy or the Civil War, please give this book a look. It is so very well written, about a subject that get so little attention in the pantheon of Civil War studies