The times., 1898-08-01
RUNNING THE BLOCKADE
Exciting Days Recalled by a
Former Sea Captain.
HOW lie MADE A FORTUNE
Enormous Profits Were Made Dur
ing the Civil War by Carrying
Taking Away Cotton-Ihe Prices
of Merchundise In Those Times.

One of the successful blockade runners
of the civil war was Frank A Gi1lett.
now a wealthy sheep ranchman in Cali
fornia. He was then about thirty years
old and made fortune in the business
in 1862 and 1863. To a correspondent of
the New York Sun he said:
There never was so great a naval
blockade as that of the Southern ports by
the Federals during the Civil War said
Capt. Gillett. the other day. When the
war broke out in April, 1861, Uncle Sans
few ships were scattered all over the
world During the first two years of the
war the naval resources of the North
were taxed to the utmost to maintain a
blockade along about 1900 miles of sea-
coast. Such naval patrol has never
been duplicated. Uncle Sam had to use
craft OF ali kinds and conditions to do the
work The two largest squadrons were
those about the mouth of Chesapeake
Bay and in the Gulf of Mexico. At one
time there were about 100 boats engaged
exclusively in running the Union block
AIDES on the Atlantic and gulf coasts.
First and last there were go boats en-
gagged in blockade running. / have seen
twenty craft in the flarbor at Nassau at
one time loading up with English goods
for the Southern ports. BY 1864 the Fed
eral navy had been so largely increased
and the Gordon mad been so strengthened
that blockade running became extra haz-
ardous. Several of the best boats had
been sunk by Federal guns, and dozen
of the most slsillful blockade runners had
been captured
THE greater part Of the blockade run
ming was done by craft from England.
Some of the beats were manned by Eng
lish crews but officered by Southernsrs-
As the war progressed fast steamers
were built in England purposely for run
ming the blockade. The Southerners had
proved the best men for goirg through
the Federal blockade. and they Were
| employed by the English shipowners
as far as possible. These English steam
ers were the fastest in their day. They
were painted an ashen color and nothing
| in the way of spars or deck houses was
| permitted. The idea was to have the
vessel inconspicuous. To this end the
| sailors dressed in dull-colored garb. and
white or black suits were never worn.
When the blockade runner neared the
| Confederate coast no one was allowed
to smoke on deck, and a thousand and
/ one tricks were employed to make steam
and at the same time not send sparks
| from the smokestack. The tunnels could
be lowered close to the deck, and the
boats were hung from the davits square
| with the gunwales- The steam, in case
of a sudden stop. could be blown off un-
der water. 1 never allowed any fowls
| on board my boats because their Growing
| might attract attention. The steamer
| Richmond from jamaica was captured in
the Fall of 1858 and about s4090OO worth
men foolishly used pine wood in the
| fuel OF course, the blockade-running
| craft had to change their names often,
| ana many strange names for the craft
were adopted. There were no end of
Yankee Jims, Yankee Bens and Brave
| Yankees among English boats. Among
the blockade runners was a line of three
| boats belonging to a London firm. These
| boats were christened Letter B. Letter
| Go and Letter Rip The finest vessel
in the bushes only made one voyage; she
was christened Col. Lamb. and was BULL
to carry Is, 600 bales of cotton The wal
ended soon after she was built and put
an end TO her career as a blockade run
nsr.
THE craft engaged in running the Fed
eral blockade navigated between the Ba-
hama and Bermuda Islands. Cuba and Ja-
maica and the Southern ports. Nassau
was the port from which the largest num-
Der of blockade runners sailed for the
Confederate States. The English made
that their headquarters for breaking
through the blockade. Nassau is about
three days run from Charleston or vii
mington. Until 1861 it was lazy. tum
ble-down seaport on a tiny island belong
ing 20 Great Britain. Few Americans had
ever heard of 1t. When the English hat
TO have Southern cotton for their mill.
and the Confederates had to have Eng
lish merchandise, Nassau suddenly be
came the principal depot for contrabanC
goods. No mining camp ever grew mucl
| faster than Nassau did in 1861. In ST,
months the seaport village grew 10 a pop
ulation of S,e11. The harbor was alivt
with craft. Adventures, men of piratica
tastes, and schemers who would takt
risks for great gain, flocked to Nassau
| from Europe, especially from England
and France The Bermuda Islands.
little further away from the Confederat
coast, had an almost similar leap int
Importance. The simple negroes on th'
Bahamas and Bermudas looked on tbs
sudden prosperity that came to thei
islands with astonishment. / have neve
seen money so free in any Wes.ern min
! ing camp even in its palmiest days as
saw it in Nassau in the first two years o
the war.
The principal objective points of tn
blockade runners were Charleston an
Georgetown, 5. C.; Wilmington an
Smithville, y. c.; Savannah, Ca, an
Galveston, Tex. Occasional runs wer
made into Mobile, Ala, Fernandina. Fla
and Beaufort, n. c., but as the block
ade by Federal warships was frightened
and as the service became more and NOR
hazardous, the blockade runners grad
ually confined their operations to run
to Charleston and Wilmington, and dur
ing the last of the war Wilmington alon
was accessible Charleston was entere
| hy he Siren on the very day nj ayac