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The war in the Virginia theater is characterized as a war of attrition with some basis for the description.
However, the US naval war was not a war of attrition. The navy met its objectives usually with less casualties than the land armies. Its main activity, enforcing the blockade, was typically achieved through deterrence. The blockaders chased the blockade runners, which either escaped, surrendered or were wrecked. Few were sunk by the US navy.
By January 1865 the US navy had achieved all its objectives.
The navy was hardly attrited:
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1860/statistics/1860d-01.pdf p. xvi.
The commissioned fleet, the leased fleet and and the hired fleets were enormous.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1888813?seq=4#metadata_info_tab_contents
However, the US naval war was not a war of attrition. The navy met its objectives usually with less casualties than the land armies. Its main activity, enforcing the blockade, was typically achieved through deterrence. The blockaders chased the blockade runners, which either escaped, surrendered or were wrecked. Few were sunk by the US navy.
By January 1865 the US navy had achieved all its objectives.
The navy was hardly attrited:
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1860/statistics/1860d-01.pdf p. xvi.
The commissioned fleet, the leased fleet and and the hired fleets were enormous.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1888813?seq=4#metadata_info_tab_contents
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