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by Kurt D. Voss All proceeds from this pictorial history benefit the ELISSA preservation fimd
Published by Arcadia Publishing and Galveston Historical Foundation. $21.99, 128 pages, 200 photographs Autographed copies available at (409) 763- 1877, or online at: www.tsm-elissa.org
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Books about the Sea, Ship & Sailor Catalogue Upon Request 60
Geography was a major influence in all these campaigns. Natural ba rriers created by swamps, shallow water, and bluffs allowed the Confederates to prepare defenses to equalize their lack of naval and army resources. The Union warships that operated in these waters were a piebald force , mainly of converted m erchant vessels, including tinclads and ironclads designed to operate in the shallow waters of the Western Theatre. In December 1862, Union forces approached Vicksburg from the northeast, while the supporting Union warsh ips encountered obstructions and torpedoes. The tinclads, sent a head to clear the rivers, however, were too lightly armored to take the van. When two torpedoes sank the ironclad Cairo, it changed the nature of the Union's approach. William T. Sherman landed his forces north of the city but was thwarted by Confederate defenses at the battle of C hickasaw Bayou and had to retreat because of logistical concerns. During the Yazoo Pass expedition General Ulysses S. Grant led a nother flanking movement. Formidable defenses and difficult terrain led to another Confederate victory. The Confederates fel led trees to block the Union advance, allowin g them time to construct Fort Pemberton nea r the confluence of the Ta ll a hatchie a nd Yalobu sha rivers near Greenwood, Mississippi. The Union forces were unable to effectively attack the fort and the expedition turned back in ea rly April. Weeks earlier, Admiral David Dixon Porter had sta rted toward Steele's Bayo u, just about seven miles north ofVicksburg, wit h plans to outflank Fort Pemberton by landing troops between Vicksburg and Yazoo C ity. Union warships traversed about 100 miles of twisting narrow rivers, only to be stopped by Confederates who felled trees to block both the advance and retreat of the Union naval force. Porter extracted his sh ips with the help of Sherman's troops. Afrer the surrender ofVicksburg in July 1863, the narrative continues with the minor operations in the area until the summer of 1864. The author m ade extensive use of pri mary and secondary sources, a nd one would be hard pressed to find a source not cited. W ith many useful photos, illustrations,
and maps, Smith h as provided an essential volume on Western Theatre brown water naval warfare. This book will ap peal to CiviI War scholars and buffs and naval history enthusiasts, all who will find themselves reassessing their knowledge about this region during the C ivil War. ROB ERT BROWNING
Dumfries, Virginia
Mystery Islands: Discovering the Ancient Pacific by Tom Koppel (University of the South Pacific Press, Suva, Fiji, 2012 , 360pp, illus, biblio, index, ISBN 978-98201-01888-2; $29.95 pb)
Tom Koppel has produced a work of ex traordin ary sy nthesis, reviewing current evidence of human migration across almost half the planet in an accessible and enjoyable narrative. It is, as he claim s, a truly grand epic and one he delights in telling. He draws from archaeology and cultural a nd physical a nthropology, from ling uistics and a host of related disciplines, but this is not a schola rly reference filled with footnotes and e ndless detail. Koppel has a PhD in political science, but he sp ent a good part of his career as a journalist, a nd these skills serve him well in this investigation. While eliciting the salient information from major contributors familiar to academics in the field, he weaves observations from his own extensive travels into the tale, bring-
SEA HISTORY 144, AUTUMN 2013