Presented by Dr. Neil Chatelain – Historian
Dinner: 6:00 PM Menu: Menu: Chicken Piccata with Julienne Vegetables, Roasted New Potatoes, Garden Salad and Desserts, Cost: $20, RSVP to jimrosenthal5757@aol.com or by calling or texting 817-307-9263
Program: 7 PM
Location: UNT Health Science Center, MET Building, 1000 Montgomery, Fort Worth 76109, Room 109-111
Most studies of the Mississippi River focus on United States campaigns to open and control it, overlooking Southern attempts to stop them. Neil P. Chatelain’s Defending the Arteries of Rebellion: Confederate Naval Operations in the Mississippi River Valley, 1861-1865 is the other side of the story exploring inland naval operations from the Confederate perspective.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis realized the value of the Mississippi River valley, which he described as the “great artery of the Confederacy.” This key internal highway controlled the fledgling nation’s transportation network. Davis and Stephen Mallory, his secretary of the navy, knew these vital logistical paths had to be held, and that they offered potential highways of invasion for Union warships and armies to stab their way deep into the heart of the Confederacy.
To protect these arteries of rebellion, Confederate strategy called for crafting a ring of powerful fortifications supported by naval forces. A lack of industrial capacity, coupled with a dearth of skilled labor, further complicated Confederate efforts and guaranteed the South’s grand vision of deploying dozens of river gunboats and powerful ironclads would never be fully realized. Despite these limitations, the Confederate war machine introduced numerous innovations and alternate defenses including the Confederacy’s first operational ironclad, the first successful use of underwater torpedoes, widespread use of Army-Navy joint operations, and the employment of extensive river obstructions. When the Mississippi came under complete Federal control in 1863, Confederate efforts shifted to its many tributaries, where a bitter and deadly struggle ensued to control these internal lifelines.
About Our Speaker
Neil P. Chatelain is an associate professor of history at Lone star College – North Harris. He is also vice president of the historical nonprofit Emerging Civil War, an organization dedicated to providing accessible information about the Civil War era while also training and mentoring emerging voices in the field of Civil War studies. Before teaching, Neil served as a surface warfare officer in the United States Navy and in 2025 he was named an honorary admiral in the Texas Navy.
Neil’s research focuses on naval activity of the United States Civil War. He has written three books, thirty journal and magazine articles, and over 100 articles that have appeared online. Treasure and Empire in the Civil War: The Panamá Route, the West and the Campaigns to Control America’s Mineral Wealth won the 2025 A.M. Pate Jr. Award in Civil War History, while Defending the Arteries of Rebellion: Confederate Naval Operations in the Mississippi River Valley, 1861-1865 was named as one of the top ten books of the year by Civil War Books and Authors. His forthcoming books This Great Contest Afloat: The Civil War on the Seas, Coastline, Rivers, and Oceans and Ironclad Ambush: Battle of the Head of Passes, October 12, 1861, are both scheduled for release in 2026.