What were the five major ports of the Confederacy?

[larry_cockerham]

They tell me rank has it's priviliges, I just can't figure out what they are?

The sad thing about the CSA ports was not the ability to export but rather the fact that they were so ineffective in bringing in much needed supplies. I suspect the problem was the lack of a distribution system even if the items could have been located or paid for.

[FSPowers]

There was a port in Mexico called Bagdad (Yes, that was the name. I think it's near Matamoros.) that blockade runners could go to without Federal interference. There the cargo could be loaded onto wagons and taken across the Rio Grande to Brownsville.

Would this make Bagdad a major Confederate port?

[Capt Coxetter]

"When Lincoln declared the blockade, the major ports of the South were Norfolk, Charleston, Wilmington, Savannah, Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans, and to a lesser extent Galveston."

That's more than five, of course.

Capt. Coxetter

[brett4733]

Just a few random thoughts as to some of the things I've read in this thread...
As far as ports down South during the War, Wilmington was, by far, the most important. Excluding Richmond, there was no other spot on the Confederate map that meant as much to the armies in the field. Even as late as 1864, the sheer amount of goods coming in were staggering. I've seen numbers like 400,000 pairs of shoes, 130,000 small arms, 1,500,000 pounds of lead, 6,000,000 pounds of meat, 300,000 blankets, etc. And, thats just for its final year of operation! [This is one of those places where you begin to see how hollow some of the "Ragged Rebel" myths really are!]
As to Norfolk...I think it would have to be near the top of a list of pre-War ports. It had both deep water, as well as prime real estate. A short jaunt would bring you to the Atlantic, while once inside, you enjoyed fair protection from the weather. I know from sailing it myself that there can be some chop when the wind comes from the east, but by and large it is ideal. The United States Navy obviously still thinks so! Once Norfolk was evacuated by the Confederates, the Union wasted little time in bringing it back into operation for its own shipping. Beaufort was the primary base for the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, but that was because of its proximity to Wilmington and the ports further south. It would have been too big a task to get ships in need of repair all the way back to Norfolk in an emergency.
As to some of the others...New Orleans fell so early it probably never had a chance to prove what might have been. Because of its prominence before the War, there must have been every facility needed, already at hand. But, as I said, it fell before things really got going.
Galveston had the same problems some of the others had in that the water was so shallow, ocean-going steamers had a difficult time using it. With that said, it was still handling ships inbound from Bermuda and the Bahamas right up to the end. Much the same can be said of Mobile. Both were more serviceable for sailing vessels, and they were the primary customers. Matamoras, in Mexico, also was an option. The big deterent from landing goods here was how much you needed to pay just to get your supplies on dry land. The Mexican government, knowing a cash cow when they saw one made sure blockade runners paid through their noses. You could choose to pay legitimate duties on your cargo, and lose your shirt, or, you could bribe someone and get off a little better. But, either way, much of that huge profit margin you would be counting on would have been handed over the someone in Matamoras. Also, as with Galveston, there was the fact that once your food or clothing or weapons or lead were on terra firma, the trip was only half complete. It was more difficult to get them to anyone who possibly could have used them than it was to run them in through the Federal naval cordon off-shore. There were only primitive wagon roads through uninhabited regions. So, much of what did come into these places never saw the first Johnny.
All-in-all, when rating ports used by the Confederate government, there was Wilmington, and everything else. Charleston was ideal but too closely guarded. Savannah was about the same. Mobile, Galveston, and Matamoras were serviceable, but not nearly ideal. Norfolk and New Orleans were gone before they could have been a factor.
This is a very interesting discussion!
Cheers and Fairwinds,
Brett Silver

[ole]

Wow, Brett! An amazingly informative post. Thank you for coming aboard and for your contribution.

Have I welcomed you?
Ole

[brett4733]

Thanks Ole!
Y'all just happened to hit on one of my very favorite subjects. When I worked at Pamplin Historical Park, the other interpreters would make fun of me because they said that no matter the topic or demonstration, I would always find a way to bring things back to blockade running...
And, I've been around for a couple of months. I have little time to post much, though, since my wife and I are restoring an 165 year old house here in Powhatan, Virginia. I love the site and check in whenever I have a chance.
Thanks again!
Cheers,
Brett Silver

[ole]

Brett:
Do try to visit more frequently, if possible. Am quite familiar with bringing an old house up to more contemporary expectations and sympathize wholeheartedly. From one restorer to another, keep on fixin'.
Ole

[larry_cockerham]

Brett Silver, I salute your post concerning Wilmington. I truly gained considerable respect for what looked like a mighty slow narrow river with the USS North Carolina sitting there staring at the three story skyline of Wilmington. Having grown up at the forks of the New River in Ashe County, my nautical knowledge is limited, though I have worked in both Wilmington (Brunswick County) and Morehead City. With the rivelets obvious on USGS mapping I can see where small craft would have been able to move about with great dispersion and cover, plus the fact that Wilmington was in friendly Confederate territory for most of the war. I simply had no clue of the kind of activity that you describe and am pleased to see another knowledgeable voice added to our midst. We can use your help! As you implied earlier, the Confederacy needed a good warehouse and distribution system. No railroads, no goods to the west. The war simply began ten years too soon for the western Southern States to have a logistical chance.

[brett4733]

The real reason Wilmington was able to reach such lofty peaks amongst Confederate ports had little to do with the city itself. There was decent rail communication leading to the major production centers of the South, but that was secondary. The true key was the nature of the entrance to the Cape Fear river.
At the time, (and it may still though I have no idea) Smith's Island split the mouth of the stream in two. To the south-west was Old Inlet. North-east of that, by a good margin, was New Inlet. That meant that unlike other options utilized by the blockade runners, the inbound captain had a choice of how he made his trip. And, more importantly, the Federal blockaders on station had a massive stretch of inky, black ocean to patrol. If one entrance was covered, you simply headed back to sea, made a short trip, and used the other the next night.
A favorite manuever for the blockade runners was to approach the coast as darkness was falling, then using it as cover, (as well as the knowledge of their pilots) they would slip along almost in the very breakers. Few of the Yank captains had the ability to hug the shore so closely, so there would be something akin to a wide-open lane for the intrepid intruder. Of course, a slip-up in navigation or a moment of incaution, and your ship would end up broken to pieces on the beach, but was that really any worse than trying to run the iron gauntlet a few hundred yards away? Eventually the Federals began using small steam launches to patrol this highway.
But, by that time, the other big piece of the puzzle was fully in place: Fort Fisher. Fisher was positioned at the tip of the peninsula at New Inlet. It was constructed of sand and earth, so was all but impervious to incoming fire. Mounting somewhere in the neighborhood of forty guns, the Confederates could command anything that ventured within range. Not only that, the commander of the base was probably as good as they got in that role. Colonel William Lamb (someday I'd really like to put together all of my research on him and write his biography-he's fascinating!) had a real knack for the work in his charge. Utilizing not only the big guns of the fort, but field artillery galloping up and down the beaches, he was a God-send for many a captain who was discovered on the way in. At times, the mobile guns would literally march alongside the blockade runners as the slipped down the beach, escorting them to the entrance of the river.
To a lesser extent, Fort Caswell at Old Inlet served much the same function.
Either way, the Confederates enjoyed a huge advantage off of Wilmington. Right up until Grant mounted the massive combined-arms assault in January of 1865, the Feds could do very little to slow down the import-export service. The Northern log books, to the day the fort fell, would record two, three, four, sometimes more, ships making the run in and out almost on a nightly basis. In fact, there are accounts of the Yanks securing Fort Fisher on the night it fell, finding the crew of an unsuspecting blockade pulling up alongside the pier. It was not until the captain and crew had made their way onshore to report (and probably hand over a few bottles of fine wine to Col. Lamb) were they made aware of the fact that the former owners were no longer in charge. And, that with dozens of Northern ships lined up in concentric circles just off the beach.
Again, y'all just happened to hit on a subject near and dear to my heart. I love talking about this stuff, so by all means keep it rolling!
Cheers and Fairwinds,
Brett Silver

[larry_cockerham]

Brett your love of the coast seems equal to my affinity for the Blue Ridge. About 30 years ago I was taken by a Lumbee friend to the home of one of his buddies, a car dealer in Charlotte, for dinner. Fortunately I don't remember his name nor the location of the house. After dinner we were in his den and I noticed the detail on a large coffee table with a lot of metal fitting still in evidence on the surface. To my question, he responded that he and some of his friends became drunk one night and hauled that door from Ft. Caswell. I remember thinking at the time that he was somehow violating something far more important than a coffee table. Hopefully security has since improved.