The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Master's Theses Summer 8-2018 Cornerstone of Union Victory: Officerar P tnerships in Joint Operations in the West Aderian Partain University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses Part of the Military History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Partain, Aderian, "Cornerstone of Union Victory: Officer Partnerships in Joint Operations in the West" (2018). Master's Theses. 379. https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/379 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Cornerstone of Union Victory: Officer Partnerships in Joint Operations in the West by Aderian Partain A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Letters and the Department of History at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by: Dr. Susannah Ural, Committee Chair Dr. Kenneth Swope, Committee Member Dr. Kyle Zelner, Committee Member ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Dr. Susannah Ural Dr. Kyle Zelner Dr. Karen S. Coats Committee Chair Department Chair Dean of the Graduate School August 2018 COPYRIGHT BY Aderian Partain 2018 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT The American Civil War included one of the pivotal naval contests of the nineteenth century. A topic of considerable importance is the joint operations on the western waters that brought about a string of crucial victories in the conflict for the Union. The effective cooperation of the naval river fleet and the western armies was a major cornerstone of Union victory. Scholars have written biographies of the more noted admirals and narratives of the flotilla have been detailed. What has not been accomplished is an exploration of the Union officers’ professional partnerships between the Mississippi Squadron commanders and their corresponding army counterparts. The Naval-Army joint missions in the riverine operations impacted the overall operational effectiveness of the Union forces and are significant to understanding the outcome of the war. This study is grounded in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion and the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, as well as key combatants’ memoirs and postwar writings. These reveal the successes and failures in Army-Navy cooperation and their significance to the larger war effort. The complexities of these professional relationships underscore the challenges of combined operations and offer insight for modern military leaders and scholars examining the significance of the Western Theater of operations on the Union’s ultimate victory in the American Civil War. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Without the help and understanding of family and friends, this thesis would not have been possible. I especially want to thank Dr. Susannah Ural for her wisdom, guidance, patience, encouragement, and expertise through this entire process. I would also like to thank Dr. Kyle Zelner and Dr. Kenneth Swope for allowing me to follow my dream of studying war and society at the graduate level. Without their guidance and support my first year of graduate study as a young immature history student, I certainly would not be celebrating the completion of this thesis. The University of Southern Mississippi’s Master of Art in war and society was my top choice for graduate school and I was blessed to gain admission. The faculty and staff of the history department, along with the Dale Center for War and Society, have been invaluable. I would also like to thank the staff at Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library for their assistance in the original project that gave impetus to this thesis. These staff members include Frank Williams, Dr. John Marszalek, Ryan Semmes, David Nolen, Louis Gallen, and Rebecca Houston. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Robert Gudmestad for his correspondence, encouragement, and source suggestions. I would like to thank USM’s history department for its financial assistance of a travel grant and a graduate assistantship. I was able to present a part of my thesis at the January 2018 Bi-Annual Phi Alpha Theta Convention in New Orleans where I was able to meet faculty and students from all over and gain feedback on my thesis topic. Also, I would like to thank a few of my undergraduate financial supporters such as the Edward M. and Henrietta M. Knabusch Scholarship Foundation, Thomas W. Thrash History Scholarship, AT&T Scholarship Foundation, East Central Community College iii Scholarship Foundation, Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Association, and Mississippi State University’s Compass, Eagle Scout, and Meridian General Scholarship Foundation all for their generous support in completing my undergraduate degree debt free with some funds left over to attend graduate school. Without the generous support of these scholarships, graduate school and this thesis would not have been possible. Finally, I could not possibly leave out acknowledging my immediate family members. My parents Robbie and Vivian Partain have provided love, encouragement, financial support and visits to every civil war battle field we could visit. They never questioned my love for history and took me to every historical site within reason. My sister, Laicon Partain, has always supported me even when every family trip turned out to be mostly historical sites and battle fields. My uncle (as well as my scout master) Bert Gilmore, always encouraged me and hiked the Shiloh Military Park multiple times with me on scouting trips. Without the love and support of my great aunt and Uncle William (Billy) and Elma Hebler who lived just across the street from the Vicksburg Military Park, I would never have seen the Cairo or the monuments to the Naval Commanders and fallen in love with the Brown Water Navy. I would be remiss in not thanking the military veterans in my family for their service and instilling in me a deep respect and interest in military history: my uncle, Colonel Bert Gilmore, a thirty-three year veteran of the Mississippi National Guard and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan; my father, Robbie Partain, a twelve year veteran of the Mississippi National Guard and a veteran of Desert Storm; my uncle, Steve Partain, a six year veteran of the Mississippi National Guard; my grandfather, Bill Murray, a Korean iv War veteran; my great-grandfather Roger E. Ware; great-uncles Parkes Ware, Dave Monk, William Hebler; and cousin Melvin Wilson, all World War II veterans. Without their sacrifice, influence, love, support and stories, my love for war and society would never have come to fruition. I have been truly blessed. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II - SUPPORT PILLAR OF THE WESTERN THEATER ........................... 16 CHAPTER III - LARGE SCALE JOINT OPERATIONS ............................................... 41 CHAPTER IV – SMALL SCALE JOINT OPERATIONS .............................................. 64 CHAPTER V – CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 91 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 94 vi Geographical Overview of the American Civil War 1 1 United States Military Academy, “The War at Sea: Southeastern United States, 1861,” https://www.westpoint.edu/history/SiteAssets/SitePages/American%20Civil%20War/ACW18.gif (accessed April 20, 2018). vii CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION United States Navy and Army joint operations in the western theater brought about a series of crucial victories that were pivotal federal successes in the American Civil War. A major cornerstone of that victory was the effective collaboration of the officers of the fresh water navy and western armies. Numerous narratives of the flotilla and biographies of admirals have been penned by academics yet an investigation of the professional partnerships between the brown water navy officers and their army counterparts has not been accomplished. These joint missions shaped the overall operational effectiveness of the Union forces in riverine operations and are significant to understanding the outcome of the war. This study examines examples of Naval-Army collaborations, arguing the significance of effective cooperation among officers involved in these actions, and seeks to explore how the complexities of these professional partnerships influenced the success and failure of combined operations in the Western Theater and are essential to understanding Union victory in the west. The professional naval history of the American Civil War began shortly after the conflict ended with the emergence of Naval scholars. Three of these were James Russell Soley, Alfred Thayer Mahan, and Daniel Ammen. They collectively contributed to American naval history in the form of various projects. These three were all heavily involved in the United States Navy