Civil War Blockade Papers

[LetUsHavePeace]

The blockade's greatest success was its financial effect on the Confederate States of America. Throughout the war the Confederate legislature would follow the new nation's Constitution and collect taxes only on the value of EXPORTS. The blockade's ability to nullify the Confederacy's excise revenues forced its government to adopt the policy of the States and the Continental Congress during the Revolution. The Confederate costs of the war of the rebellion would be paid for entirely by printed money.

 

[USS ALASKA]

• Taylor, Thomas E. and Wise, Stephen R. (ed.) Running the Blockade: A Personal Narrative of Adventures, Risks, and Escapes During the American Civil War. London: John Murray, 1896. 180 pp.

...for those of you who enjoy swashbuckling tales...

https://civilwarnavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Thomas_Running-the-Blockade_1896.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

DERELICTS
JAMES SPRUNT
Woodrow Wilson Collection (Library of Congress)
Wilmington, N.C., 1920.

An account of ships lost at sea in general commercial traffic and a brief history of blockade runners stranded along the North Carolina coast, 1861-1865.

https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/public/gdcmassbookdig/derelictsaccount00spru/derelictsaccount00spru.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[LetUsHavePeace]

DERELICTS
JAMES SPRUNT
Woodrow Wilson Collection (Library of Congress)
Wilmington, N.C., 1920.

An account of ships lost at sea in general commercial traffic and a brief history of blockade runners stranded along the North Carolina coast, 1861-1865.

https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/public/gdcmassbookdig/derelictsaccount00spru/derelictsaccount00spru.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

• Bradlee, Francis B. C. Blockade Running During the Civil War and the Effect of Land and Water Transportation on the Confederacy. Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute, 1925. 340 pp.

Free reading!

This book is a detailed analysis of the transportation methods used by the Confederate States during the American Civil War. The author examines the impact of the Union blockade on the Confederacy's ability to transport goods and supplies, and the strategies employed by Confederate blockade runners to evade capture and deliver essential resources. The book also delves into the role of land transportation, including railroads and wagons, in supporting the Confederate war effort. Through extensive research and analysis, the author provides a comprehensive understanding of the complex logistics involved in maintaining the Confederate army and economy during the war.

Blockade Running During the Civil War and the Effect of Land and Water Transportation on the Confederacy

books.google.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

University of New Mexico
UNM Digital Repository
History ETDs
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
6-1-1967

The North Atlantic Blockading Squadron Under Admiral David D. Porter, 1864-1865
Richard C. Hindley

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds Part of the History Commons

Abstract
When the Civil War broke out in April, 1861, it pitted against one another two nations, or sides, which were different not only politically and ideologically, but also economically. The United States was a rising industrial power, with factories, a railroad network, and an expanding urban working class. The Confederate States of America was an agricultural, rural area, with few industries and an antiquated labor system based on chattel slavery. In order to wage a modern war the Confederacy would have to import arms and equipment from abroad and export cotton to pay for these supplies. To keep the South from doing so it was necessary for the North to stop the overseas commerce of the Confederacy. To do this President Lincoln decided to institute a blockade of the Southern coast.

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1362&context=hist_etds

File too large to attach. Please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Academic Units
Illinois Research and Scholarship
2023
Copyright, 2023-01-19, by Lowell L. Getz. All Rights Reserved.

West Gulf Blockading Squadron in the Mississippi River
Getz, Lowell L.

Prologue
The primary mission of the Union Blockading Squadrons during the Civil War was interception of cargo ships attempting to bring contraband goods into southern ports and of ships carrying export goods out. They were, however, called upon from time to time to take on other assignments. One such task requested of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron was to assist in opening the Mississippi River to Union riverboat traffic. River gunboats, under command of Flag Officer Charles Henry Davis began the operation by clearing Confederate forts and artillery batteries down from the north. By early June 1862, Union gunboats had gained control of the Mississippi River as far south as Vicksburg. Flag Officer G. David Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron was tasked with gaining control of the southern portions of the river. The first goal was the capture of New Orleans, to be followed by the occupation Baton Rouge and Natchez. From there Flag Officer Farragut was to move on upriver and capture Vicksburg. In this account, I cover the major actions of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in the Mississippi River from March 1862 through July 1863.

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/126166/bitstreams/413029/object

Because of copyright, please see above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

• Vail, Israel Everett. Three Years on the Blockade: A Naval Experience. New York: The Abbey Press, 1902. 171 pp.

Free reading!

Three years on the blockade; A Naval Experience
Israel Everett Vail
1902

When President Lincoln issued his first call for troops, in April, 1861, I was living at my home in Massachusetts. My two older brothers had responded to that call, and had gone in the old Massachusetts Fourth Regiment to Fortress Monroe. I was just at an age to become thoroughly filled with the enthusiasm and excitement produced by the preparations for war which were constantly presented; and yet, I was also at just such an age as prevented the consent of my parents to my joining the troops which were being constantly mustered in, and among whom many of my companions were included. A year or two more added to my age would have left no opportunity for parental argument upon that point, and a year or two less would have carried the conviction to my own breast that I was not sufficiently matured to engage in the active and trying pursuits of military life.

https://civilwarnavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Vail_Three-Years-on-the-Blockade_1906.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

LSU Scholarly Repository
Civil War Book Review
Spring-Summer 2006
Article 26

Blockading The American Confederacy, 1861-1865: a Geostrategic Analysis
James D. Hardy Jr.
Leonard J. Hochberg

Nature of the Blockade
Once established during the summer of 1861, the Union blockade of the Confederacy became an instrument of geo-strategy that was far more sophisticated than the mere presence of naval squadrons envisioned by the signatories to the Declaration. The American blockade, over the course of 1861 to 1862, came to consist of four distinct levels of interdiction of Southern commerce and naval warfare. The first level was a systematic effort beginning in 1862, to conquer the Confederate littoral, including rivers and seaports. Troops landed on the Carolina coast and occupied ports and towns, and a naval squadron ascended the Mississippi River, capturing New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Natchez, thus closing the main pre-war artery of Southern Commerce. The second level involved naval squadrons blockading the coastal sea lanes in the traditional manner. Few and scattered in 1861, these squadrons commanded the still unconquered stretches of Southern coast by 1863. The few southern ports that remained open in the autumn of 1863, primarily Mobile, Alabama, Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, were sufficiently patrolled that only the swiftest and most daring runners made it through the Union squadrons. Even when successful, blockade running could not supply the import needs of a regional economy, nor get enough cotton abroad to support the Confederacy at home. The first two levels of the Union blockade had cut the Confederacy off from the world in less than 20 months.

https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3230&context=cwbr

Please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[wausaubob]

LSU Scholarly Repository
Civil War Book Review
Spring-Summer 2006
Article 26

Blockading The American Confederacy, 1861-1865: a Geostrategic Analysis
James D. Hardy Jr.
Leonard J. Hochberg

Nature of the Blockade
Once established during the summer of 1861, the Union blockade of the Confederacy became an instrument of geo-strategy that was far more sophisticated than the mere presence of naval squadrons envisioned by the signatories to the Declaration. The American blockade, over the course of 1861 to 1862, came to consist of four distinct levels of interdiction of Southern commerce and naval warfare. The first level was a systematic effort beginning in 1862, to conquer the Confederate littoral, including rivers and seaports. Troops landed on the Carolina coast and occupied ports and towns, and a naval squadron ascended the Mississippi River, capturing New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Natchez, thus closing the main pre-war artery of Southern Commerce. The second level involved naval squadrons blockading the coastal sea lanes in the traditional manner. Few and scattered in 1861, these squadrons commanded the still unconquered stretches of Southern coast by 1863. The few southern ports that remained open in the autumn of 1863, primarily Mobile, Alabama, Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, were sufficiently patrolled that only the swiftest and most daring runners made it through the Union squadrons. Even when successful, blockade running could not supply the import needs of a regional economy, nor get enough cotton abroad to support the Confederacy at home. The first two levels of the Union blockade had cut the Confederacy off from the world in less than 20 months.

https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3230&context=cwbr

Please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

Superb paper, and very concise.

 

[wausaubob]

LSU Scholarly Repository
Civil War Book Review
Spring-Summer 2006
Article 26

Blockading The American Confederacy, 1861-1865: a Geostrategic Analysis
James D. Hardy Jr.
Leonard J. Hochberg

Nature of the Blockade
Once established during the summer of 1861, the Union blockade of the Confederacy became an instrument of geo-strategy that was far more sophisticated than the mere presence of naval squadrons envisioned by the signatories to the Declaration. The American blockade, over the course of 1861 to 1862, came to consist of four distinct levels of interdiction of Southern commerce and naval warfare. The first level was a systematic effort beginning in 1862, to conquer the Confederate littoral, including rivers and seaports. Troops landed on the Carolina coast and occupied ports and towns, and a naval squadron ascended the Mississippi River, capturing New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Natchez, thus closing the main pre-war artery of Southern Commerce. The second level involved naval squadrons blockading the coastal sea lanes in the traditional manner. Few and scattered in 1861, these squadrons commanded the still unconquered stretches of Southern coast by 1863. The few southern ports that remained open in the autumn of 1863, primarily Mobile, Alabama, Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, were sufficiently patrolled that only the swiftest and most daring runners made it through the Union squadrons. Even when successful, blockade running could not supply the import needs of a regional economy, nor get enough cotton abroad to support the Confederacy at home. The first two levels of the Union blockade had cut the Confederacy off from the world in less than 20 months.

https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3230&context=cwbr

Please use above link.

Cheers,USS ALASKAI think the proclamation of the blockade by the US drew the Confederate government into error. They embargoed ta

The Confederates responded to the US declaration of a blockade. They embargoed trade on the Mississippi River and on the Nashville/Louisville RR. That alienated potential friends of the Confederacy in Kentucky. It made it easier for the business interests in Kentucky to see that their links to the northern states were the weightier interest.
The Confederates also issued letters of marque and reprisal, which put the Confederacy outside the Treaty of Paris, and that made it easy for the British to wait and let events determine the fate of the potential renegade nation. It also irritated commercial interests in NYC that otherwise might have seen any interruption in their trade with the cotton districts as unwise. Finally, the Confederacy confiscated debts owed to northern banks. They seemed not to care that in the ARW the American revolutionaries carefully avoided irritating commercial interest in England that owned American debt.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

The Confederates responded to the US declaration of a blockade. They embargoed trade on the Mississippi River and on the Nashville/Louisville RR. That alienated potential friends of the Confederacy in Kentucky. It made it easier for the business interests in Kentucky to see that their links to the northern states were the weightier interest.
The Confederates also issued letters of marque and reprisal, which put the Confederacy outside the Treaty of Paris, and that made it easy for the British to wait and let events determine the fate of the potential renegade nation. It also irritated commercial interests in NYC that otherwise might have seen any interruption in their trade with the cotton districts and unwise. Finally, the Confederacy confiscated debts owed to northern banks. They seemed not to care that in the ARW the American revolutionaries carefully avoided irritating commercial interest in England that owned American debt.

The Confederacy was, then, supposed to just say, "a blockade is in place against us - now that's a great idea," and just let the Union have a one-way street on strong actions. Wow, the people in the Union must have thought the Confederates were the weakest, wimpiest people in the world!

 

[wausaubob]

The Confederacy was, then, supposed to just say, "a blockade is in place against us - now that's a great idea," and just let the Union have a one-way street on strong actions. Wow, the people in the Union must have thought the Confederates were the weakest, wimpiest people in the world!

Maybe is not a good idea to kick your potential friends in the shins.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Maybe is not a good idea to kick your potential friends in the shins.

@wausaubob, your comments are rational and reasonable. Once war started it was just going to be a two-way war.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Journal Article
Incidents of the Confederate Blockade
Kathryn Abbey Hanna
The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 11, No. 2 (May, 1945), pp. 214-229

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2198173

Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Rhea Cole]

Journal Article
Incidents of the Confederate Blockade
Kathryn Abbey Hanna
The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 11, No. 2 (May, 1945), pp. 214-229

View attachment 551349
View attachment 551350

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2198173

Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

This is a good example of how the actual place Southern independence held in British priorities vs the South Carolinians' exaggerated belief in their exhaled status. Great Britain had deep seated long term policy goals that did not align well with the CSA's imagined place in the world.

 

[USS ALASKA]

https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc108082/m2/1/high_res_d/n_02731.pdf

Please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Journal Article
Imports of the Confederate Government from Europe and Mexico
William Diamond
The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Nov., 1940), pp. 470-503

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2192166

Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

To go with post #34 and the Confederates blockading themselves...

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark-Thornton-3/publication/5220831_The_Unintended_Consequences_of_Confederate_Trade_Legislation/links/02e7e5229ea0f72375000000/The-Unintended-Consequences-of-Confederate-Trade-Legislation.pdf

Please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

• Wilkinson, John. Narrative of a Blockade Runner, The. New York: Sheldon and Co., 1877. 252 pp.

Free Book!

https://civilwarnavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Wilkinson_The-Narrative-of-a-Blockade-Runner.pdf

Please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA