'Civil War Navy—The Magazine': new review of 'A Crisis of Loyalties: The Destruction and Abandonment of the Gosport Navy Yard'

Congratulations to Stephen Chapin Kinnaman, the author of the book 'A Crisis of Loyalties: The Destruction and Abandonment of the Gosport Navy Yard' for receiving a review from John V. Quarstein (Director, Emeritus of the USS Monitor Center, Mariners’ Museum & Park, Newport News, VA) appearing in 'Civil War Navy—The Magazine', Summer 2025, p .69:

I truly enjoyed reading “Crisis of Loyalties.” The six appendices, which include lists of the yard’s officers, tables of those present, resigned, or dismissed during the key six-day period of the yard’s pending destruction, the fate of warships present, and destinations of the seized guns, were extremely well organized and informative and clearly supported all of the author’s opinions. The text guided through all of the people and events in a compelling manner that prompted me to read the book in one setting. The work also contained 27 illustrations, including nine maps. The conclusions enable readers to clearly understand that the loss of the Gosport Navy Yard was due to the ineptitude of leadership manifested in those days in April 1861. I highly recommend this book to students and scholars seeking to understand how one of the major Union failures during the war unfolded.
 
[Extract from book review on the 'Civil War Navy—The Magazine', Summer 2025, p .69. Reviewer: John V. Quarstein (Director, Emeritus of the USS Monitor Center, Mariners’ Museum & Park, Newport News, VA), https://civilwarnavy.com/ ]

The book is available to order here: A Crisis of Loyalties: The Destruction and Abandonment of the Gosport Navy Yard

In the opening days of the American Civil War, the U.S. Navy suffered the catastrophic loss of its most valuable navy yard at Gosport, Virginia, commonly known as the Norfolk Navy Yard. Its fate was sealed by Virginia’s vote for secession and the subsequent resignation of most of the yard’s Southern officers, leaving its commandant, Charles Stewart McCauley, virtually defenseless. Early in the morning of Sunday, 21 April, fleeing federal forces set fire to and abandoned the Gosport Navy Yard, burning ten warships and surrendering 1,200 naval guns to Virginia’s militia. A year later, the Confederate ironclad "Virginia", built on the charred hulk of the steam frigate "Merrimack", chose the sloop "Cumberland"—the one ship to escape Gosport—as her first target during the Battle of Hampton Roads. "Virginia" then attacked the frigate "Congress", leaving in her wake nearly 280 dead or wounded Union sailors and two sunken ships. The birds from the disaster of Gosport had finally come home to roost.
In his quest to uncover the details behind Gosport’s destruction, the author methodically cross-tracked chronologies, carefully examined primary sources and dug deeper into the principal officers’ backgrounds to grasp just what was in their minds during the hours leading up to the navy yard’s burning. This fresh focus has yielded a more nuanced explanation of McCauley’s decision to hold back "Merrimack", of Paulding’s rush to burn the yard and run, and of opportunities for success missed by all three commodores present. "A Crisis of Loyalties" is the first full-length work of history to present the entire story of the destruction and abandonment of the Gosport Navy Yard.

Title A Crisis of Loyalties: The Destruction and Abandonment of the Gosport Navy Yard [Hardback]
Edition 1st
ISBN 978-1-64889-808-2
Published in January 2024