'Lincoln as a Naval War Leader' Craig Symonds, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, USNA

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In 1976, the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland appointed Symonds assistant professor of history to succeed Professor E. B. Potter as a specialist in Naval history. He was subsequently promoted to associate professor in 1980 and professor of history in 1985. He served as chairman of the history department in 1988-1992 and appointed professor emeritus on his retirement in 2005. In 1994-1995, he was visiting lecturer at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. He returned to teach at the Naval Academy as The Class of 1957 Distinguished Professor of American Naval Heritage for 2011-12. In 2017 he was appointed to a two year term as the Ernest J. King Distinguished Visiting Professor of Maritime History at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport Rhode Island.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Symonds

Informative and entertaining. The gent is a good speaker...

Cheers,
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I'll give that a listen later today. I've got his Battlefield Atlas Of The Civil War which is a very good little book. One of the men I'm currently researching was on the crew of the USS Dacotah which took part in the bombardment of Confederate shore batteries at Sewell's Point, Virginia under the direct command of Lincoln.
 
Prof. Symonds states that David Porter was on Lincoln's watch list for high command at an early point. His ability and personal ambition were known from the start.
Symonds also notes that the navy was not as riven by political division as the army. Naval officers had much more opportunity for international travel and much more opportunity to see the US Navy in opposition to other navies, on a continual basis.
Going back to Porter, I suspect that Porter's observations on army officers, with respect to competency and commitment to combined operations, was given considerable weight in Washington, D.C.
 
...the navy was not as riven by political division as the army.

What non-navy type wanted a commission at sea? Unlike all the amateurs forced upon the Army...that probably cut down on a lot of the distractions. Not that the Navy didn't have political infighting just not to the level the Army did.

I suspect that Porter's observations on army officers, with respect to competency and commitment to combined operations, was given considerable weight in Washington, D.C.

Was there anyone at Porter's rank or above that he DIDN'T make disparaging comments about? It seems that anyone he thought was a threat to his career progression was a target for his written and spoken barbs to leadership back in D.C.

Cheers,
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...even as far as I could throw him.

Even if it was overboard? Just kidding...

I read somewhere - and I wish I could remember where - that he WAS generous with praise about his subordinates. (Which is a VERY smart thing to do if the accolades were given with Machiavellian intent) Most of the 'rascals' I had to deal with in my career, while blasting those above, would not have been secure enough to lavish praise on those below...thankfully they weren't all that numerous.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
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He was also generous with praise towards those he could expect something from-- Grant, for example.

Talented, he was. Admirable-- I wouldn't go that far.
 
Finally got time to watch this outstanding presentation! Thanks for sharing!
 
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