Blockade Running

Blockade Running

Cotton, Cotton, everywhere! This was the seen of ports in Nassau, Bermuda and Havana, Cuba. On April 19, Lincoln issued his proclamation blockading Southern ports. It provided that "a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels" from the ports of the states in rebellion. Then, to make the proclamation official, he signed a document, authorizing "the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to a Proclamation setting on foot a Blockade of the ports of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas." (The Raab Collection/ This is an actual copy of the document) The seal was affixed to the blockade proclamation, which was announced that day. It was a de facto declaration of war by the Union against the Confederacy.

The US Navy was nearly non existent. There were 90 vessels, 24 of them active steamers. They had some sailing sloops but they were useless unless the blockade runners were sailing vessels themselves. By the end of 1861 the blockading fleet had grown quickly, but they were still inadequate. Their task seemed impossible, the blockaded coast spanned 3600 miles and has about 200 river mouths and inlets, bays and harbors. This gave blockade runners infinite ways to escape from the blockading fleet. Despite the Navy's inadequacy Lincoln's choice to blockade the ports was wise. The blockade reduced the South's seaborne trade to less than a third of the peacetime normal; in the time of war. The confederate's lifeline was the imports and exports from England. They imported ammunition and necessities for the war and they exported cotton the lifeblood of their commerce. In the last six months of 1864, through the ports of Wilmington and Charleston alone came 500,000 pairs of shoes, 1.5 million pounds of lead, 3.5 million pounds of meat, 2 million pounds of saltpeter, 43 cannon, and 50,000 rifles, along with clothes, blankets, and medicine. It was largely because of these imports that Lee's 72,000-man Army of Northern Virginia, fighting in the trenches at Petersburg, was able to receive 150,000 shirts, 167,000 pairs of shoes, 140,000 pairs of pants, and 100,000 jackets during the last months of the war(Running of the Blockade). Lincoln knew that the confederate army needed these imports; however his plan was very ineffective during the fist few years. Ships came in and out of the blockaded ports illegally. This was called running the blockade.

Bermuda, Havana, Nassau and Matamoras served as the main intermediary ports for the blockade runners. Of all the intermediary ports, Nassau was the most prominent. The first blockade runner arrived in Nassau on December 1861 with 144 bales. Between the beginning and the ending of the war 397 vessel entered Nassau from Southern ports, and 588 sailed from Southern ports to Nassau (Cochran pg. 62). It had advantages that the other ports lacked. Nassau is on the island of the New Providence in the Bahamas. It is 180 miles from the Floridian coast. However Florida didn't have suitable harbors or inland connection to be a good port to smuggle into. Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington were the main ports on the east coast for blockade runners. Nassau was five to six hundred miles away from the main ports. This was great distance because little coal was need for fuel. This increased space for cargo. Nassau was also a well protected port. The island was surrounded by reefs, small islands and shallow water. This made navigation very difficult, especially for union ships that might chase a blockade runner into Nassauvian waters. That's why pilots received such a high pay for their skills.

These intermediary ports benefited a lot from blockade running. Nassau was a place struggling to find a way to sustain its economy before Blockade running. Wrecking and Fishing were the main ways Bahamians made money, until Blockade running. Blockade running brought life to Bay Street. American and British businessmen crowed Bay Street, making deals and setting up shops (Albury pg. 153). Some of the effects of blockade running are still present today; Namely the Royal Victoria Hotel. The bond between Floridians and Bahamians probably started during the years of the blockade.

With all the risk of capture by the blockade fleet, why did so many blockade runners participate? Simple, the pay out weighed the risks. Cotton was the main export of the south at that time, and they relied upon foreign or Northern ships to import its manufactured goods, and export their cotton. Quinine which cost $10 in Nassau was worth $400 in Charlestown (Albury pg. 153). Salt that cost $6.50 in the Bahamas was worth $1700 in the South (Ships, Blockades & Raiders). Investors that bought $100 worth of cotton in Wilmington would receive $1000 for the same weight in England (Albury pg.153). The return on goods entering and leaving the south was well worth the risk of running the blockade. Not only did the investors risk losing money if there goods were confiscated, but the crew of the vessels freedom was at risk. But the money was too good not to try. A captain received $5000 for a weeks trip. He also had the opportunity to bring ten bales of cotton on his own account. Pilots received $3750, with the right to five bales. An ordinary seaman got $250 pounds and stories of a lifetime after a successful voyage (Cochran pg. 64).

Specialized ships were designed to run the blockade. They were iron steamers with shallow drafts, low silhouettes, and camouflaged gray paint and capable of attaining speeds of 10 to 17 knots, which at the time was very fast. The commander of the blockader USS Dacotah states that "The speed of these contraband steamersÐ'....I have never experienced anything like it."(Pelzer pg. 37) They burned a smokeless anthracite coal which coincided with the moonless nights they choose to run on. These ships, once in the hands of an experienced pilot and crew, were ghosts on the water. An officer of the blockader USS Vandalia stationed at Charleston wrote, "We could not see a single vessel going in or outÐ'...We