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The Last Shot: The Incredible Story of the C.S.S. Shenandoah and the True Conclusion of the American Civil War

af Lynn Schooler

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1011267,214 (4.5)Ingen
In the autumn of 1864, at the height of the American Civil War, the Confederate raider Shenandoah received orders to "seek out and utterly destroy" the whaling fleets of New England as part of an effort to bleed the Union of its economic strength -- an undertaking that met its greatest success when the raider fell upon a fleet of whalers working the waters near Alaska's Little Diomede Island and sank more than two dozen ships in a frenzy of destruction. Before the Shenandoah's voyage was over, the raider had captured or sunk thirty-eight ships. She also took more than a thousand prisoners and led the best warships of the Union navy on a twenty-seven-thousand-mile chase that ended with her escape to England, making her the only Confederate vessel to circumnavigate the globe. At the end of her journey -- truly one of the most remarkable in naval history -- the effects of the raider's actions reached far beyond the glow of the flames marking the sky above the Arctic ice. The inferno signaled not only the near-demise of the New England whaling industry, but also the end of America's growing hegemony over worldwide shipping for the next eighty years. These Civil War clashes also helped precipitate the establishment of international laws that remain in effect today. But more important than the tally of damage was the date the final conflagration began: June 22, the longest day of the year, and almost a full three months after General Lee lay down his sword at Appomattox. Contrary to contemporary belief, it was not on the battlefield in Virginia but high in the Arctic where the last shot of the American Civil War was fired. Blending high-seas adventure and first-rate research, Lynn Schooler's The Last Shot is naval history of the very first order, offering a riveting account of the last Southern military force to lay down its arms.… (mere)
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The Last Shot
The Incredible Story of the C.S.S. Shenandoah and the True Conclusion of the American Civil War— written by Lynn Schooler
Comment and review by James Tate, Jr.

Lynn Schooler, the reclusive author of the moving personal story, The Blue Bear, has written an historic account of the last days of the Civil War and provided interesting insight into the effects of the conflict on many things: the last days of the great slaughter of whales, international maritime law, and the balance of power on the high seas. But is his first historic work up to the standards of an academic treatise, or is it just an entertaining narrative?

Early on in the conflict between America’s North and South, Confederate agents had taken the dispute onto the World stage. Southern sympathizers quickly contracted in England for thousands of three-band Enfields, the workhorse cap and ball muzzle-loading rifle used in the South until Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson took the Union rifle works from Harpers Ferry and moved them to Richmond. When Union agents arrived in England, they found the available production of Enfield rifles had largely been taken up by the South.

By the autumn of 1864, the Confederacy had experienced some success on the battlefields at home, and the fast and deadly Confederate raiders Alabama and Florida had disrupted American shipping and commerce throughout the Atlantic. Enter the Shenandoah, the subject of this tale, which was also obtained through the efforts of Confederate agents in England.

The Shenandoah was built as a trade vessel in England under the name Sea King. After she was launched, she met under cover of night with a smaller cargo ship outside of British waters where she was supplied with armaments and outfitted as a raider of American shipping and whaling.
The Shenandoah was under orders to "seek out and utterly destroy" the whaling fleets of New England as part of an effort to bleed the Union of its economic strength. At this task the Shenandoah was very effective, despite being poorly built, short crewed, under armed, and under provisioned. In a circumnavigation of the world, she captured more than a thousand prisoners, captured or sank thirty-eight ships and evaded the best the Union Navy had to offer.
The episode described in The Last Shot details the assault by the Shenandoah on the whaling fleet in Alaskan waters that culminated on June 22, 1865, the longest day of the year, and nearly three months after General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse. Although other Confederate units continued to fight after Lee signed the papers in April, none continued the fight as long as this single ship in the Bering Sea.
The Shenandoah’s Captain, James Waddell, overcame great obstacles (including a improperly made bearing on his ship’s screw) to sail and steam from England through Melbourne, Australia to the Pacific whaling grounds and as far North as the edge of the sea ice in the Bering Sea. He was so successful that he even contemplated taking San Francisco for the Confederacy when he was devastated to learn that the war was over and that his recent actions would be viewed by many as nothing more than piracy on the high seas.
With a distressed and potentially rebellious crew, many of whom he had commissioned from his victims’ ships, he returned to Liverpool, and ultimate freedom, by navigating over twenty thousand miles in 122 days, never within sight of land.
The author, Lynn Schooler, lives and writes in a small cabin in Alaska, sometimes working as a commercial fisherman, shipwright, professional seaman, wildlife photographer, and guide. His knowledge of ships, the sea, and the harsh life at the edges of civilization comes from personal experience and contributes greatly to the feeling of authenticity of the story he tells in The Last Shot.
The Last Shot is a good rousing tale, likely to appeal to the multitude of Civil War enthusiasts in the United States as well as Australia, Germany, and England among the settings where this largely forgotten tale plays out. Sea Story fans of Patrick O’Brien and C. S. Forester will find Schooler’s tale authentic and engaging. It is based on a factual history researched from original sources.

But, to return to the question at the beginning of this review, when it comes time to draw conclusions from the historic accounts, the reader is left with a feeling of incompleteness. While it is evident the author used original journals and contemporary accounts for his sources, there is no literature cited, no index and no footnoting of source material. The footnoting that is present is casual, unsophisticated and not necessarily relevant to the historic context of the story.

All in all, this is a good book, an interesting read about an historic incident, but not up to academic standards as a history thesis.
  OJLT | Jun 21, 2007 |
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In the autumn of 1864, at the height of the American Civil War, the Confederate raider Shenandoah received orders to "seek out and utterly destroy" the whaling fleets of New England as part of an effort to bleed the Union of its economic strength -- an undertaking that met its greatest success when the raider fell upon a fleet of whalers working the waters near Alaska's Little Diomede Island and sank more than two dozen ships in a frenzy of destruction. Before the Shenandoah's voyage was over, the raider had captured or sunk thirty-eight ships. She also took more than a thousand prisoners and led the best warships of the Union navy on a twenty-seven-thousand-mile chase that ended with her escape to England, making her the only Confederate vessel to circumnavigate the globe. At the end of her journey -- truly one of the most remarkable in naval history -- the effects of the raider's actions reached far beyond the glow of the flames marking the sky above the Arctic ice. The inferno signaled not only the near-demise of the New England whaling industry, but also the end of America's growing hegemony over worldwide shipping for the next eighty years. These Civil War clashes also helped precipitate the establishment of international laws that remain in effect today. But more important than the tally of damage was the date the final conflagration began: June 22, the longest day of the year, and almost a full three months after General Lee lay down his sword at Appomattox. Contrary to contemporary belief, it was not on the battlefield in Virginia but high in the Arctic where the last shot of the American Civil War was fired. Blending high-seas adventure and first-rate research, Lynn Schooler's The Last Shot is naval history of the very first order, offering a riveting account of the last Southern military force to lay down its arms.

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