Promotion or the Bottom of the River

"Stickney's account of life aboard a warship in Promotion or the Bottom of the River: The Blue and Gray Naval Careers of Alexander F. Warley, South Carolinian is good reading and conveys considerable amount of information about the navy in the age of sail. Warley was front and center at some of the most significant naval engagements of the war: the Monitor vs. Virginia; the 1862 Union capture of New Orleans; and service on the South Carolina ironclads in 1863. Promotion or the Bottom of the River is a well-written view of the American naval tradition grounded in the Federal navy and translated intact into the Confederate navy. This detailed account of Warley fills an interesting niche in American naval history."—Craig Symonds, professor emeritus of history, United States Naval Academy