1996, $26.00

The first thing a wargamer does when he picks up a new book is to check the maps and illustrations. In this case he immediately spots an appendix with thirteen pages of plans of the four James River ironclads (RICHMOND, FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA II, and TEXAS -- the last was never completed) with side and top views as well as frontal views and sections. These lack a scale but overall dimensions are given. The gundeck plans could be used to construct 15mm models of the ships' interiors; this reviewer's dream, as yet unrealized, is to use 1:600 scale models to maneuver on the table, but have players "fight their ships" from larger models kept off the table. If used strictly for such a purpose, it does not seem that large 15mm models of entire ships would be necessary; the turrets and gundecks ought to suffice.

CAPITAL NAVY also has six useful maps, of the Richmond area of operations, the city waterfront and government office complex, the operations on the James River during 1864, and the battles of Drewry's Bluff (1862) and Trent's Reach (January 1865, tactical and operation views). Again, the gamer wishing to refight either battle will find these of great value. The book also contains many photographs and illustrations, of officers and ships and weapons. Overall this book is visually impressive.

The text itself is informative if sometimes dry. The author is historian at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, and the book is as much about the city itself, both as a naval center and in terms of its defenses, as about the Confederate navy. There is, for instance, a detailed account of the Rebel torpedo service and its operations on the James, as well as accounts of the construction of the ships, sailor life onboard, and so forth.

The US Navy came very close to capturing Richmond (or at least to reaching it when its defenses were negligible) in 1862, only to be turned back at Drewry's Bluff. The Confederates made very certain that no such naval assault could succeed in future by constructing a formidable system of river obstructions and torpedoes, covered by land batteries as well as the James River squadron. When Grant began his operations against Richmond and Petersburg in 1864, the US in turn built its own river obstructions to protect its supply base downriver.

Siege

The result was a static siege-type situation with the river blocked in both directions. Each side had a formidable fleet, but the fleets were each responsible for protecting vitally important land installations, and so defense took priority over attack. The respective fleet commanders, Captain John Mitchell for the South and Commander William A. Parker for the North, seemed far more concerned with preserving their ships than with hurting the enemy.

In some respects a James River scenario holds great attraction for the Civil War naval gamer. The James River squadron, which included not only ironclads but also fast torpedo launches and wooden support ships, was as powerful a naval force as the Confederates ever assembled in one place. The Union opposition was normally even stronger, but when many US ships were drawn away for the assault on Fort Fisher in early 1865, the Confederates had a window of opportunity when they faced only a single Union ironclad, the formidable double-turret monitor ONONDAGA, backed by wooden gunboats and torpedo boats. With Lee's army stretched to its breaking point and almost nothing left to lose, the James River squadron sortied against Grant's supply base. The result was the battle of Trent's Reach.

The Trent's Reach operation was a study in frustration for the Rebels, as they proved unable to get most of their ships into effective action due to navigational problems on the river itself, plus Union obstructions and defenses. Indeed, this situation is a classic example of one of Murphy's Laws of Combat: "If it is difficult for the enemy to get in, then you can't get out." The Confederate fleet eventually had to retire, having lost a wooden ship and a torpedo boat, and with severe damage to the ironclads.

Is there an enjoyable game here? The boardgame IRONCLADS has a James River scenario which perhaps minimizes too much the problems of grounding. (It postulates a heavier rainfall and a higher river than was actually the case.) One other possibility lies in a Southern attack relying more on the fast and shallow-draft torpedo launches. Although low water, the river obstructions, and Union land batteries were a dangerous combination for the heavy Confederate ironclads, it was the ONONDAGA with its sledgehammer 15" guns which posed the greatest threat.

A coordinated night attack by the four Confederate torpedo boats might have been able to sink the ONONDAGA, which might in turn have opened up a continued push downriver by the ironclads. The Union had its own torpedo boats nearby, however, and if the Confederates had made it past them and the land batteries, they would finally have encountered the Federal relief force of the NEW IRONSIDES, the monitor SAUGUS, and the captured Confederate ram ATLANTA. That would be a fight worth gaming, but it stretches credulity a good bit to envision an intact Rebel squadron getting that far.

This is an interesting and useful book about a fascinating but frustrating situation.

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