Blockade runners of the American Civil War

Outbound ships chiefly exported cotton, tobacco and other goods for trade and revenue, while also carrying important mail and correspondence to suppliers and other interested parties in Europe, most often in England and France.

The Union had also reduced the American South's exports of cotton by 95 percent from pre-war levels, devaluing the Confederate States dollar and severely damaging the Confederacy's economy.

In the months leading up to the war, the Confederate government sought help from the United Kingdom to overcome this, as much of Britain's industry depended on cotton exports from the American South.

[4] Although Britain was neutral during the conflict, British merchants served as the primary shipbuilders and source of military and other supplies for the Confederate government for the duration of the American Civil War.

Coming to the aid of the Confederacy, Raphael Semmes,[a] an experienced former United States Navy captain, devised a plan by which to thwart the naval supremacy of the Union.

[10][11] This was part of General Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan, with the blockade to extend along the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico coastlines and up into the lower Mississippi River.

[12][13] Lincoln's proclamation said that any actions against the Union by crews of ships acting under a Confederate letter of marque would be treated as piracy, subject to prosecution, which usually called for the death penalty.

Thaddeus Stevens angrily referred to it as "a great blunder and a absurdity", arguing that "we were blockading ourselves" and, in the process, would be recognizing the Confederacy as a belligerent of war.

Most of the trade was handled by sea captains who were soon using specially made steamers to enable them to evade or outrun Union ships on blockade patrol.

Because of the thousands of miles of coastline, with many rivers, bays and inlets in addition to developed ports, the blockade proved largely ineffectual during the first couple of years of the war.

[25] In the midst of the blockade, the Confederacy received a supply of arms and other goods from private firms and munitions factories in Britain and exchanged mail.

But its exports of cotton fell by 95 percent from pre-war levels, due to the effectiveness of the blockade in preventing large-capacity ships from hauling cargo from Southern ports.

[35] Prior to the actual battles of the war, Fraser & Company had already begun negotiations for steamship service between England and points along the southern coast of the Confederacy.

Taking advantage of the fact that neither side was fully prepared for war, George Trenholm and his partners began shipping arms from Liverpool and New York to Charleston.

Acting for the Confederate Navy Department, James Dunwoody Bulloch began procuring vessels in Europe, most notably the CSS Atlanta.

The Confederate government, in dire need of munitions and other supplies subsequently lifted their embargo on cotton and began selling it at reduced prices to win back British trading.

This also dramatically reduced the import of salt, vital for preserving meat and tanning leather, which had previously been ballast on returning cargo ships.

with shipbuilders, purchasing agents, suppliers, and shippers in Liverpool, Nassau, Wilmington and other ports involved the concerted efforts of a number of notable men and shipping firms.

Major Josiah Gorgas, a West Point graduate of 1841, prior to the war had worked in the United States Ordnance Bureau and had served in nearly every arsenal in the nation.

[42] To coordinate the business and the buying of weapons and supplies in England, Gorgas relied on agents Captain Caleb Huse and Major Edward C. Anderson.

Under Gorgas' direction, Huse, a West Point graduate, recently commissioned a captain in the newly established Confederate army,[43] served as an arms procurement agent and purchasing specialist, well known for his successful acquisition of weapons contracts with various European nations.

[44] Huse arranged the sale and procurement of rifles and other ordnance from the London Armoury Company, which became the chief supplier of arms to the Confederacy throughout the war.

[46] In April 1861, Huse departed the South for New York, where he met with James Welsman of Trenholm Brothers, and received funds for his trip to England.

Bulloch worked in close correspondence with Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory in the procurement of several British-made blockade-running vessels.

[50] Bulloch then established a relationship with the shipping firm of Fraser, Trenholm & Company, where he set up a conference with the Fraser-Trenholm officials who were the designated financial agents of the new Confederate government.

After further consideration, British authorities seized the two vessels and from that point on kept a close watch on Bulloch and other such propositions made by the Confederate government, forcing C.S.A.

This was made plainly evident on December 23, 1864, when the largest Union fleet ever to assemble in the Atlantic attacked Fort Fisher, a massive fortification protecting the Cape Fear River entrance and Wilmington.

Many of the vessels were built in English shipyards and were designed to be used as fast transports for dispatch purposes, carrying important (often business) correspondence and light cargoes.

The ships that emerged from this enterprise were all side-wheel steamers, long and narrow vessels with a shallow draft allowing them to cut through the water more efficiently.

The General Parkhill, a British ship built in Liverpool, England, was the first blockade runner to be captured by the USS Niagara also at Charleston harbor.