John Baldwin (1) (1944–)

I found this book to be an incredibly wonderful and very well written book on a little known but important topic of naval and American history. This book reminded very much of Nathaniel Philbrick’s Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 with a Civil War twist. I particularly liked the way the book interwove civil war history with the expeditionary tale of the CSS Shenandoah’s mission (Confederate raider targeting Union Merchant vessels) to weaken the Union’s merchant trade and attempt to alleviate the blockade of the South based on the personal journal of the Executive Officer. I enjoyed learning about the CSS Shenandoah and its crew, adversaries, allies and crew. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in American, Civil War or Naval history as well as epic journeys.… (meer)

Based primarily on the journal kept by the Executive Officer, Conway Whittle, it documents the Shenandoah's 58,000 mile journey from England to the Bering Sea and back. During the journey the ship captured 40 Federal merchant and whaling ships, burning most of them. What makes the story all the more interesting is that most of the ships were taken after the war ended. The crew was unaware of the war's end until August of 1865, several months too late. Once they found out the war had ended they sailed to England and surrendered to a Royal Navy ship at Liverpool. If you've never heard the Shenandoah's story, this is a good place to start.… (meer)

The authors do an excellent job of weaving Conway Whittle's personal observations with the facts of the C S S Shenandoah's journey - a cruiser that became, more or less, a pirate ship for the Confederacy. Use of naval terms flow easily with the text so as not to be distracting or leave the reader feeling ignorant (of course a glossary is included in the back of the book). Struck by the character of Whittle - his honest journal entries, a faith in God that he felt he didn't really have, his skill and courage as a sailor and his very humaness, I turned to genealogy research (nothing too hard or special) to follow Whittle after the war and his return to the states. Addendum: A few facts to add or clear up - Authors failed to give Whittle's actual birth/death dates. William Conway Whittle, Jr. died January 5, 1920 and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk, VA. He & his wife had 6 children, losing one (Richard) by 1900. (on page 329 the authors write that 4 children are born to the Whittles) Whittle's mother, Elizabeth Sinclair Whittle, died in the 1855 yellow fever epidemic - this is not made clear on page 24 where a variety of years are given that must be calculated for her death year & 1855 doesn't seem to be the answer.… (meer)