Blockade runners of the American Civil War

The blockade runners of the American Civil War were seagoing steam ships that were used to make their way through the Union blockade that extended some 3,500 miles (5,600 km) along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines and the lower Mississippi River. Blockade runners imported from England most of the guns and other ordinance the Confederacy needed. To get through the blockade these ships, many of them built in British ship yards, specially designed for speed, had to cruise by undetected, usually at night. The typical blockade runners were privately owned vessels often operating with a letter of marque issued by the Confederate States of America. If spotted the runners would attempt to outmaneuver or simply outrun any Union ships on blockade patrol.

These vessels would carry cargoes to and from neutral ports often located in Nassau and Cuba, where neutral merchant ships in turn carried these cargoes, usually coming from or destined to England or other points abroad. Inbound ships usually brought badly needed supplies and mail to the Confederacy while outbound ships often exported cotton, tobacco and other goods for trade and revenue while also carrying important mail and correspondence to suppliers and other interested parties in Europe, most often in England. Most of the guns and other ordnance of the Confederacy was imported from England via blockade runners. Some blockade runners made many successful runs while many others were either captured or destroyed. There were an estimated 2,500–2,800 attempts to run the blockade with at least an 80% success rate. However, by the end of the Civil War the Union Navy had captured more than 1,100 blockade runners and had destroyed or run aground another 355 vessels.

When the American Civil War broke out on April 12, 1861, the newly formed Confederate States of America had no ships to speak of in its navy. In the months leading up to the war the Confederate government was well aware of the naval supremacy of the north and sought the help of Great Britain, which had great interests in the plantations of the South. The British became the primary ship builders and sources of supply for the Confederate government for the duration of the civil war. Several courses of action soon developed.

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