The Hunley's Bounty

[corn-fed-erate]

I have read that the owners of the Hunley were seeking to collect a bounty for destroying ships of on blockade duty. If I am correct the bounty was offered by Alfred Trenholm. What exactly were the terms of the bounty? How much for sinking a ship. Did the bounty extend to any ship blockading any southern waterway or just Charleston harbor? If the Hunley had made it back from her mission, what would have the owners collected?

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

There were a number of bounties offered for this and for that; memory does not serve to specify who was offering what, but I recall something along the lines of $100,000 offered for the sinking of USS New Ironsides or Minnesota, $50,000 for each monitor sunk, and so forth. I think it was specifically around Charleston, but I'm sure the offerers would have honored the promise no matter where the Union vessel was sunk.