Blockade Runners of the Confederacy

Now with a new introduction by Robert M. Browning Jr., Blockade Runners Of The Confederacy is a highly readable, historical chronicle of the men and ships who dared to run Union naval blockades during the Civil War, bringing munitions, medicine, champagne, and silk to the Confederacy. Packed with true stories of daring and excitement, Blockade Runners Of The Confederacy numerous quotes and testimonies from primary sources as well as an in-depth assessment of what life was like for blockade runners and their ultimate contribution to how the war progressed. A handful of black-and-white photographs and an index for quick reference rounds out this fascinating scrutiny of the Civil War on the high seas.

At the start of the Civil War, the North established a blockade on all shipping to and from the south. It was, in fact, the major task of the Union Navy during the war to button up the Confederacy. But with 4,000 miles of coast line from Virginia to Mexico, there had to be gaps in the blockade. Unable to face the Union Navy on anything like equal terms, the South turned to running the blockade using ships designed specially for the purpose. England, France and other countries did not declare themselves in favor of the South and did not send their ships to violate the Union's declared blockade. These countries were certainly willing to do business with the South, if the South could handle the last little bit of distance. As a result the Bahamas, Cuba and Mexico became staging areas where European ships brought in everything from weapons (like the Wentworth rifle used by a Confederate sniper at Spotsylvania Court House to kill Major General Sedgwick) to straight pins, and marine engines. They returned to Europe carrying bales of cotton. The South developed specialized fast, low profile ships to handle the other end of the cotton outbound, and manufactured items inbound. This book is the story of these blockade runners. Note that these do not include the Confederate raiders such as the CSS Alabama. The blockade runners were not armed, they were merchant ships carrying cargo back and forth in a desparate time. This book is the classic book on the subject, reprinted from the edition of 1958.