The blockade runner R. There is even evidence that Northern merchants imported cotton through third-party agents in Caribbean ports, and Yankee coffee, salt and other articles ended up on Confederate tables in return.
Loyal Confederates observing this unscrupulous war trade, which benefited the cotton-hungry Northern economy, were outraged and even implied that the Union fleet may have intentionally permitted some Northern-bound cargos to slip through the blockade to neutral ports. The Union Navy failed to capture most of the major Southern ports until late in the war.
In addition, throughout the conflict the Navy failed or simply could not deploy its resources widely enough to stop traffic through small inlets and intercoastal waters. Even a series of minor port cities like Tampa, Fla. Based on records and maps from the period, it is estimated that the South had more than minor port cities, places that could handle intercoastal shipping or smaller oceangoing vessels and potentially move cargo inland to larger transportation hubs.
Even the largely uninhabited Florida coast received innumerable clandestine shipments from Nassau, Havana and Bermuda that directly or indirectly supported the Confederate cause.
Blockade runners even transported people. Foreign dignitaries,women and children,Confederate diplomats and even vacationers regularly booked passage on departing runners. Many coastal packet ships held close to routine schedules as they plied the waters between smaller intercoastal destinations.
Some blockade runners going in and out of Wilmington were also reported as having regular schedules. Even passengers or blockade runners steaming out of ports such as Savannah and Charleston, which were surrounded by rings of Union warships, were at much greater risk from storms at sea and from losing their crews to yellow fever than they were from high-seas warfare.
From every Confederate perspective, the benefits of running the blockade far outweighed the possible consequences. Some states, such as North Carolina, actually entered into a lucrative competition with private runners and Confederate interests. Blockade runners generally turned a profit if they made at least three trips, and the average ship made at least four to five trips. It is no wonder that speculators in England eagerly grabbed a piece of the profits—even late in the war, when land forces helped the Union Navy enforce the blockade more tightly.
The Union Navy captured or destroyed around 1, blockade runner ships during the course of the Civil War. The blockade covered around 3, miles of coastline and ports. The blockade, although somewhat porous, was an important economic policy that successfully prevented Confederate access to weapons that the industrialized North could produce for itself. By July of , the Union Navy had established blockades of all the major southern ports.
SIR: The President, by proclamation of 19th April, , ordered a blockade of the ports within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas; and by a supplemental proclamation of the 27th April, , he extends the blockade so as to include the ports of Virginia and North Carolina. Anderson to bring much-needed supplies for the Confederacy into Savannah during the Civil War. The Fingal's success in breaking the blockade alerted Union forces to secure waters off the Georgia coast.
Union captain Quincy Gillmore of the Engineer Corps, in charge of preparing the siege on Fort Pulaski, ordered his engineers to construct a series of eleven artillery batteries along the north shore of Tybee Island. All requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource must be submitted to Georgia Historical Society. During and , Fort McAllister repelled seven Union naval attacks. Fort McAllister never fell to Union naval forces because of its unique earthen construction.
In Union general William T. Sherman's army captured the fort from the landward side. After General William T. Sherman's Union troops occupied Fort McAllister on December 13, , personnel were ordered to dismantle the stronghold in preparation for Sherman's march northward.
Authors James H. Originally published Jul 23, Last edited Jun 8, Fingal Courtesy of U. Naval Historical Center. Fort McAllister Photograph from Wikimedia. Article Feedback Why are you reaching out to us? Share this Article. Union Blockade and Coastal Occupation in the Civil War The battle between ship and shore on the coast of Confederate Georgia was a pivotal part of the Union strategy to subdue the state during….
Facebook Twitter Email. Share this Snippet. Star Featured Content. Lincoln extended the blockade to include North Carolina and Virginia on April By July of , the Union Navy had established blockades of all the major southern ports. South Recognized as a Belligerent. Following the U. Other foreign governments issued statements of neutrality. As the Union Navy took steps to enforce the blockade, controversies arose with foreign governments over the legality of Union seizures of neutral shipping, as well as other related practices.
The most important of these was the arrest of Confederate commissioners that precipitated the Trent Affair in November of , an incident that was resolved by the release of the commissioners one month later.
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