Questions

Questions:

I. Why have historians of the Civil War focused upon the major land battles of the conflict instead of the various naval aspects or the importance of ports and harbors?

II. Why would those of the Confederate States who were involved in the upper echelons of the logistic departments, such as Josiah Gorgas of the Bureau of Ordnance, perceive of the port of Wilmington, North Carolina as vital and usable?

III. Why, do you think, did the High Commanders of the Confederate Forces around Wilmington - General Whiting, Gov. Vance, et cetera - begin to perceive of their trust as vital to the Confederate Cause? What justifications did they use?

IV. Why, do you think, did the High Commanders of the Confederate War Department and Government - James Seddon, Jefferson Davis, et cetera - shrug off the urgency of the defenders of Wilmington?

V. What does the Union's dubiousness about their own ability to capture Wilmington say, if anything, about not only thier perception of the port, but the Confederate High Commands'?

VI. Are there any parallels that you see between how the Confederate/Union High Commands perceived of Wilmington, North Carolina and how modern historians' perceive of the role it played in the conflict?