Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States

Semmes, Raphael, 1809-1877Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.7

Word count: 1.9M words
Chapters: 187

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States by Raphael SemmesAuthor: Semmes, Raphael, 1809-1877,Language: English, Class: E456: History: America: Civil War period (1861-1865), Release Date: Jan 2, 2011

Editor's review

This is the memoir of Raphael Semmes, a Confederate naval officer during the American Civil War, recounting in the first person his experience commanding a cruiser in raids on Northern merchant shipping. The book’s value lies not in providing a neutral historical verdict but in showing how an officer of the defeated side viewed his actions, defended his choices, and saw the details of naval warfare and diplomatic maneuvering. Readers can obtain an archival first-person account and sense the rhythm, etiquette, and limits of nineteenth-century naval life. The writing carries clear period立场 and rhetorical coloring and should be read against neutral historical sources. It is suitable as supplementary material for Civil War history, naval history, and memoir writing, not as an introductory general history. Because it is a public-domain ebook, the text is presented mainly as originally published, without modern notes; reading with maps and a chronology is recommended.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Advanced students and researchers of American Civil War history and naval history
Military history readers interested in nineteenth-century naval warfare and cruiser operations
Historical writers needing first-person accounts from the defeated side for source comparison
Deep readers accustomed to English public-domain books who can supply background themselves

Not a good fit for

Beginner readers seeking a neutral, systematic general history of the Civil War
Ordinary leisure readers needing modern notes, maps, and introductions
Readers lacking patience for nineteenth-century English style and long narratives

Reading tips

Read a general history of Civil War naval operations first to establish a timeline, then enter the memoir’s details to avoid being led astray by a single立场.
While reading, mark routes and operational areas on a map and record the author’s key arguments in self-defense.
After each chapter, use one or two sentences to distinguish factual narrative from value judgments, forming your own source-critical notes.
Read alongside other neutral sources or Northern-perspective materials to compare different ways of narrating the same event.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a neutral historical work?

No. It is the personal memoir of Semmes, a Confederate naval officer, with clear self-defense and period立场. It offers a first-person perspective and details but is not an objective verdict; it is best read against neutral historical sources.

Can I read it without background knowledge of the American Civil War?

You can read it, but it is easy to get lost. The book assumes readers know the Civil War background, naval institutions, and related figures. Reading a concise Civil War chronology and a naval history overview first will make the main text easier to follow.

Does this edition have notes and an introduction?

According to the information, this is a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook, presented mainly as the original text, with no indication of modern notes or an introduction. Readers need to prepare maps, a chronology, and background materials themselves.

Is it suitable as material for citation in papers?

It can be cited as a primary source, but its立场 and purpose must be explained and it should be read against official archives and neutral research. It should not alone support factual judgments about battles or policy; citations should note the edition source.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Semmes, Raphael, 1809-1877 Author · American · 1809–1877

Raphael Semmes (1809–1877) was an American naval officer who served as a Confederate naval commander during the American Civil War. Publicly available information on his early life and education is limited. The two works included here, The Cruise of the Alabama and the Sumter and Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States, recount his wartime service at sea: the first describes operations aboard the raiders Alabama and Sumter, while the second is a memoir of his naval service during the war. Both are maritime military narratives drawn largely from his own experience, with an emphasis on the course of events and life at sea, and they serve as firsthand references for understanding nineteenth-century commerce raiding and Confederate naval activity.