During the war, Wilmington was one of the most important points of entry for supplies for the Confederacy. Its port traded cotton and tobacco in exchange for foreign goods, like munitions, clothing and foodstuffs. This nourished both the southern states in general and General Robert E. Lee's forces in Virginia. Trade was based on the coming and going of steamer ships of British smugglers. These vessels were called "blockade runners" because they had to avoid the Union's imposed maritime barricade. Mostly, the blockade runners came indirectly from British colonies, such as Bermuda, Bahamas or Nova Scotia. Often, they were forced to fly the Confederate insignia since the Union had imposed the death penalty on British "pirates" captured in the region.