Neil P. Chatelain Naval Historian, Professor, Author, Teacher

Understand the Past. Contextualize the Present. Shape the Future.

Neil P. Chatelain is a professor, historian, teacher, and author who specializes in researching, writing about, and speaking on naval operations of the U.S. Civil War.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Neil spent nine years as a U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer, both on active duty and in the Navy Reserve. Neil is a graduate of the University of New Orleans, the University of Houston, and the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

Neil is an assistant professor of history at Lone Star College-North Harris, in the greater-Houston area, and sits on the board of directors for the non-profit Emerging Civil War. In addition, he enjoys travelling around the world and spending time with his wife Brittany and dog Mouton.

Neil is the author of Treasure and Empire in the Civil War: The Panama Route, the West and the Campaigns to Control America's Mineral Wealth, Defending the Arteries of Rebellion: Confederate Naval Operations in the Mississippi River Valley, 1861-1865 and Fought Like Devils: The Confederate Gunboat McRae. He has written scores of articles in journals, magazines, and online forums and spoken for dozens of conferences, museums, podcasts, and Civil War roundtables.

Neil is a member of Emerging Civil War, the Society for Civil War Historians, the Southern Historical Association, the Louisiana Historical Association, and the Council on America's Military Past.