e submarines. (Reader's Digest, page #144)
             Lincoln and his Secretary of Navy, Gideon Welles, resolved early to weaken the south by blockading its major ports. The union, however, did not have the size to pull off an operation of this magnitude. Many months passed before the United States Navy was large enough to enforce this blockade. (Nevins, page #410) As the war waged on the union forces pecked away at southern Confederate ports. Through this campaign the Federal forces took many key places such as Fort Hatteras, N.C. and Port Royal, S.C. Over the next year New Orleans, Roanoke Island, New Bern, N.C., Fort Mason, N.C., Fort Pulaski, GA, and Pensacola, FL all fell into the hands of the Union. The Confederates rallied briefly in 1863 and managed t hold their remaining coastal works, notably Charleston, S.C. The Confederate Navy could never match the growth of the United States navy. (http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/histo...military/)
             Northern fleets continued to apply pressure to the southern shores. Two engagements marked the effectiveness of the coastal attacks. On August 15, 1864 Admiral David Farragut led a squadron into a mine-infested Mobile Bay with the battle cry: "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" Five months later, on January 15,1865, Federal forces stormed
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