Covers the history of the US Coast Guard from 1790 under Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, when the Service was called the US Revenue Marine, to World War I, during which the naval agency, then called the US Revenue Cutter Service, was combined with the US Life-Saving Service to form the US Coast Guard in 1915.

Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface Introduction  1 deleteCutters, Crews and Missions (1790–1915)  2 deleteThe ­Quasi-War with France (1798–1800)  3 deleteThe War of 1812: Background and Overview  4 deleteNaval Combat in the War of 1812  5 deleteRevenue Cutters in the War of 1812  6 deleteRevenue Marine Missions in the War of 1812  7 deletePirates, Slaves and Seminole Indians  8 deleteWar with Mexico (1846–1848)  9 deleteThe Antebellum Period 10 deleteThe Confederate and Union Navies (1861–1865) 11 deleteThe Revenue Cutter Service in the Civil War 12 deleteHistorical Assessments of the Civil War Navies 13 deletePolicing the Alaska Frontier (1867–1915) 14 deleteThe ­Spanish-American War (1898) 15 deleteThe USRCS and the U.S. Coast Guard Merge 16 deleteAn Overview of Naval Operations from 1790 to the 20th Century Epilogue Appendix: Maps Chapter Notes Bibliography Index