They had numerous steamers built on behalf of the confederacy to run supplies between Bermuda, Nassau, England, and Wilmington, North Carolina.
Wilson negotiated sales to England for return cargoes of beef, pork and coffee as well as materials for the assembly of cotton bales (iron hoops and gunny cloth).
During that time, the Captains were Englishman George M. Horner and Michael Philip Usina of Savannah and two steamers: Marie Celeste and Atlanta.
The Atlanta was completed in March 1864 and reached Bermuda in April and in the next three months made four trips to Wilmington, the last of which (with Captain Usina) was a close scrape with the Union blockade in which he was able to escape into the Cape Fear River and make his delivery.
Marie Celeste left Bermuda on September 26, 1864, for Wilmington with a full cargo of canned meats but struck a reef and sank in 6 minutes.