Mary Mitchell Dingle

Mrs. Penegar

Period #3

Topic- Confederate Blockade Runners

Title- Confederate Runners: Lifeline of the South

Confederate Blockade Runners were steamships used to deliver weapons, provisions, and other

supplies to the Confederacy during the historical period of the Civil War. These ships often triumphed

against the Union ships on blockade patrol because they were able to outmaneuver the Union. However,

many quests out to sea by the blockade runners ended in tragedy and loss because they were captured or

destroyed by the Union, or suffered other natural disasters at sea. The Confederates had to send out the

blockade runners because the southern states were more of an agricultural economy over an industrialist

economy like the Union. The Civil War had many technological advancements along with many

navigational tools. The sailors on the runners had many tactics to deceive the Union if captured.

The Union had more weapons than the Confederacy during the Civil War because they had a

more industrialist economy and they had more factories and other resources they could use to produce

weapons. The South was mainly agricultural during this period, and it produced two-thirds of the world's

cotton supply before the Civil War in 1840. “Cotton was the most valuable export in the United States” in

1815 (Arrington) that most of the farmers in the South grew cotton as a living, to supply their families

with money which would help the farmers produce more cotton. The Union was the opposite of the

Southern economy and expanded industrialism and relied on a manufacturing economy instead. In 1860

ninety percent of the manufacturing output came from the North. The Union created 3,200 firearms every

100 firearms that the Confederacy made. Some of the weapons that the Union and Confederacy made are

rifled muskets, repeating rifles, Springfield rifle, Lorenz rifle Colt rifle, ironclad warships, cannons like
the 20 pound Howitzer, Minie ball-which is a bullet that expanded while traveling along the barrel of a

gun and swords like the Foot Artillery Sword and the Dragoon Saber. The Union was more industrialized

than the Confederacy which is why the Confederacy had to get weapons and other supplies to maintain

being in the war with the Union, and they needed to trade its cotton, and also rice, with other countries to

get the supplies they needed. The Confederates sent out blockade runners to attempt to pass the Union

Blockade. The Union had a plan in effect to block the flow of weapons and supplies and to block the

trade with other countries, which was called the Anaconda Plan. The Anaconda Plan was a military

strategy to prevent all resources coming to the Confederacy. The Anaconda Plan extended from Virginia

to Mississippi.

The Confederate blockade runners had many navigational tools and technology that were used to

help the captains on the boats navigate throughout the rough seas to get to and from ports. Some of the

navigational tools that were used during the time of the Civil War were weights with cotton strings,

sextants, octants, and compasses. Many technological advancements that occurred over the Civil War

period are torpedos, ironclad warships, submarines, railroads, telegraphs, and canned food. The weights

with cotton strings were used to help tell the depth of the water when going into and from port to avoid

getting stuck in low tide. The captains used sextants and octants to help them reach their position in the

sea and to get back to port safely by following the path of the stars to lead them home. The compass

helped the crew members find their way to and from ports of the Confederacy and the ports of Bermuda,

Cuba, and Britain. At these foreign ports, the captains of the blockade runners traded cotton and rice for

provisions, medicine, ammo, materials for clothes, salt, and weapons for the Confederacy. Torpedoes

were used to fight off other boats like the Union and pirates that were patrolling the off of the coast. The

Civil War was the first time in history that ships were made from iron, this helped the boat deflect

torpedos and naval mines from other ships. The first submarine was built during the Civil War by the

Confederates having the name H.L Hunley, but the sub met a terrible end when the sub launched a
torpedo hitting the USS Housatonic and being the first sub to sink a ship but also sinking itself in the

process. Railroads were used to help get resources to troops across the country, the Union’s railroads were

far more superior than the Confederate’s railroads. Telegraphs were used as a communication tool

between commanders of both the Unions and Confederacies armies to help them be more organized when

fighting against the enemy. Another technological advancement is canned foods; every army needed food

to survive, both sides during the war used can foods to feed their soldiers, canning food made it easier to

transport and store foods even if they were heavy. Throughout the war, there were many technologies that

helped the Confederacy and Union, without the navigation tools like the compass, sextant, octant, and a

weight with a cotton string (which helped tell the depth of the water) that the blockade runners used the

runners would have never been able to return to port successfully.

The Confederates needed supplies to continue and fight against the Union’s relentless attacks and

had a surplus of cotton and rice, Britain needed that cotton and rice for its economy and everyday items,

so a trade route was set up between the Confederates and the British. The Confederate blockade runners

first went to Cuba then Bermuda then to Europe to get the goods and trading material from other countries

to trade with other countries. The blockade runners sold cotton and rice for provisions such as medicine,

ammo, materials for clothes, salt, and weapons. During this period cotton was a major export for the

Confederacy. The total number of exports in Charleston moneywise was $22,748,920 while the total

number of imports were $1,569,570, the southern port with the most imports and exports was New

Orleans with the total exports moneywise $107,195,910 and the total number of imports $20,636,316, that

is the difference of $84,446,990 for exports and the difference of $19,066,746 for imports(Wise 227). The

number of cotton bales exported during the Civil War time period from Charleston was 214,888 bales

while the southern port with the most cotton bale exports was New Orleans with the number of 1,783,678

which is a difference between Charleston and New Orleans of 1,568,790 bales(Wise 228), New Orleans

was a major port for the Confederacy during the time of the war. Some ports in South Carolina during the
Civil War time period are Georgetown, Charleston, Winyah Bay, Cape Romain, Stone Inlet, Port Royal,

Savannah, Wassaw Sound, Ossabaw Sound, St. Simons Sound, Fernandina, and Jacksonville, these ports

helped with the trading of cotton and rice for provisions, medicine, ammo, materials for clothes, salt, and

weapons. A primary blockade runner with the name of USS Banshee, it was considered one of the

Confederacy's first ironclad ships. She was victorious in the seven months that she served to make seven

successful trips to Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Wilmington North Carolina. The Banshee was captured by

the Union on November 21, 1863, while en route to Wilmington. She was considered a prize to the Union

because of how many times she escaped the grasps of the Union (American Civil War). South Carolina

had many prosperous ports and blockade runners that traded cotton and rice for needed resources during

the war.

The Confederates used many different types of blockade runners along with many different

tactics used to deceive the Union if stopped on their way back to port. The Confederate blockade runners

were made differently from one another by some having sails or paddlewheels, or even the whole boat

being ironclad, but all of the ships had a large storage capacity to be able to trade, and they had to be

stealthy, fast, and low to the water to avoid detection from the Union. Wealthy individuals invested into

companies that bought boats to turn them into blockade runners by looking into boats that had large

storage capacities along with being fast which would cost the investors $100,000 which is approximately

2 million dollars during the 1800s. They then outfitted the vessel for $100,00 which is about 2 million

dollars then pay off the crew for $50,000 which is about 1 million dollars which is 5 million dollars in

today's money (Blockade Runners | Walter Edgar's Journal 6:24-8:13). When the blockade runners left

port, they had a 75% chance to make it back to port successfully, and if they made it back to port, then

they could trade up to 10 million dollars in today’s money with cotton and rice to supply the

Confederates. The tricks that the Confederate sailors used to deceive the Union are that the sailors

changed the identities on their papers so the new status would say that they are a British citizen to escape
the capture of the Union forces. When the investors outfitted the boat it had no mast, dropped

smokestacks, no spires up, the steam was blown under the ship, smokeless coal, and dimmed lights when

entering port(Blockade Runners | Walter Edgar's Journal 7:28-7:36, 9:32-9:58).

The blockade runners faced many dangers when out at sea and when coming back into port.

From the low tide to pirates, to being spotted by the Union, to scuttling their boats, to storms. When you

are a sailor and a captain of a vessel you have to be able to tell whether the tide is low or high. If you are

stuck in low tide, then you have to wait twelve hours for the tide to finally rise back up to high tide and

while out in low tide you have a chance to get stuck on sandbars or shoals or shell banks. In 1856 the

Declaration of Paris outlawed the practice of piracy and was punishable by death. The first victory by a

southern privateer was in, May 1861 with the name of J.C.Calhoun who raided the Yankee trader named

the Ocean Eagle (​“​Avast, Y’all!” — Confederate Pirates of the Civil War)​. The most successful

Confederate privateer was the Jefferson Davis that raided nine northern vessels but got caught in a gale

off the coast of Florida (​“​Avast, Y’all!” — Confederate Pirates of the Civil War)​. When going to and

from a port, the Confederate blockade runners had a chance to be spotted by the Union’s blockading

boats. If detected by the Union the Confederate runners had a choice to either speed away, fight them off,

or scuttle their ship, scuttle means to set on fire purposely. Most of the runners either sped away or stayed

and fought the Union off. When stuck in a storm the runners had a chance not to make it out alive

depending if the wind and rain are harsh enough.

In conclusion, the blockade runners suffered many triumphs along with different tragedies.

Confederate Blockade Runners were steamships used to deliver weapons, provisions, and other supplies

to the Confederacy during the historical period of the Civil War. These ships often triumphed against the

Union ships on blockade patrol because they were able to outmaneuver the Union. However, many quests

out to sea by the blockade runners ended in tragedy and loss because they were captured or destroyed by

the Union, or suffered other natural disasters at sea. With the blockade runners, the Confederates had a
better chance of staying in the war with the Union because of the Anaconda Plan and the South is not as

industrialized as the North.

Sources

Primary-
"Blockade-Running." ​Nytimes.com,​ New York Times, 21 Aug. 1864, www.nytimes.com/
1864/08/21/archives/blockaderunning.html. Accessed 1 Nov. 2018. I learned
that many runners that were built in England were equipped and manned
there. An English firm with the name of ALEXANDER COLLIE & CO became a
respectful Confederate firm, building boats for the Confederacy. I used
this information to show that England helped the Confederacy during the
Civil War.
"The Cargoes of Blockade Runners." ​Web.b.ebscohost.com​, Supplement to the
Courant. 11/29/1862, Vol. 27 Issue 24, P187-187. 1/4p., web.b.ebscohost.com/
ehost/detail/
detail?vid=3&sid=48ba336a-f9da-46fb-869a-aaa5d62d60ae%40sessionmgr120&bdata=JnNpd
GU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=h9k&AN=80225720. Accessed 19 Nov. 2018. I
learned that the cargos of the blockade runners contained different
materials. The blockade runners mainly traded cotton and rice. I used
this information to show what the blockade runners traded for the materials
that they needed.
"The Confederate Blockade Runners." ​Www.usni.org​, www.usni.org/magazines/
proceedings/1933-04/confederate-blockade-runners. Accessed 12 Oct. 2018.
(PRIMARY)I learned that driving a blockade runner required a huge amount
maritime skills. The success of the Confederacy depended on the runners. I
used this information show that the Confederacy depended on the blockade
runners throughout the Civil War.
Secondary-

Arrington, Benjamin T. "Industry and Economy during the Civil War." ​Nps.gov​,
National Park Service U.S. Department of Interior, 23 Aug. 2017,
www.nps.gov/articles/industry-and-economy-during-the-civil-war.htm.
Accessed 20 Dec. 2018. I learned that the North and South had different
economies and I learned that the different economies helped prompt the
Civil War. The Confederates were mainly an agricultural based economy while
the Union was mainly an industrialist economy allowing the Union to produce
more weapons while the Confederates had to go trade with other countries. I
used this information to help show why the Confederates needed to send out
blockade runners to trade with other countries.
Blockade Runners | Walter Edgar's Journal​. Narrated by Wise, Dr., South Carolina
ETV Commission. ​Know It All,​ Toati Creative, www.knowitall.org/audio/
blockade-runners-walter-edgars-journal. Accessed 14 Dec. 2018. I learned
that the blockade runners had many tactics to make sure that they are not
spotted going to and from port. In the beginning of the Civil War the
runners had a 75% success rate. I used this information to show the
different tactics used to decieve the Union.
Blockade Runner USS Banshee Civil War Union Naval Ship." ​AmericanCivilWar,​
www.americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/Navy_Ships/CSS_Banshee.html.
Accessed 14 Dec. 2018. I learned that the USS Banshee was a blockade runner
built in Liverpool England. The USS Banshee was the first steel hulled
vessel. I used this information to show the different technological
advancements during the Civil War.
"Civil War Technology." ​Www.civilwaracademy.com​, Civil War Academy,
www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-technology. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018. I
learned about the different technology and weapons created in the Civil War
time period. Different types of technology was created like guns to
ironclad ships. I used this information to explain the different types of
technology created during the 1860s.
Livingston, Rebecca. "Civil War Cat-and-Mouse Game Researching Blockade-Runners
at the National Archives." ​Www.archives.org,​ National Archives and Records
Administration, National Archives and Records Administration,
www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1999/fall/blockade-runners-1.html.
Accessed 12 Oct. 2018. I learned that a U.S. Navy Steamer with the name of
James Adge chased a Confederate blockade runner with the name of USS
Bansee. The chase went on for 45 minutes until the James Adge gave up. I
used this information to show that the blockade runners had to swift to
deter the Union.
Simmons, Rick. ​Defending South Carolina's Coast: The Civil War from Georgetown
​to Little River​. History Press, 2009. I learned that defending South
Carolina's coast was not a walk in the park and had many casualties while
at war. This book helped me with the tragedies of the blockade runners and
gave other important information about the Civil War. I used this
information to help show that different types of fights happened all over
South Carolina during the Civil War.
---. ​Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running during the Civil War.​ U of
South Carolina P, 1988. In this book I learned how different ports had
varying results, some made money while others lost money. The blockade
runners traded from the Charleston South Carolina port 214,888 bales of
cotton. I used this information to help show that in 5 years lots of
cotton was traded to foreign countries.