Union blockade

The Union blockade refers to the naval actions between 1861 and 1865, during the American Civil War, in which the United States Navy maintained a massive effort on the Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the Confederate States of America designed to prevent the passage of trade goods, supplies, and arms to and from the Confederacy. Confederate ships designed to evade the blockade were known as blockade runners, and mostly concentrated on running contraband between Confederate-controlled ports and the ports of Havana, Cuba; Nassau, Bahamas, and Bermuda, where British suppliers were receiving and offering trade.

Related Topics:
1861 - 1865 - American Civil War - United States Navy - Atlantic - Gulf Coast - Confederate States of America - Confederate ships - Blockade runner - Contraband - Havana - Cuba - Nassau, Bahamas - Bermuda - British

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President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the blockade on April 19, 1861. His strategy, part of the Anaconda Plan of General Winfield Scott, required the closure of 3500 miles of Confederate coastline and twelve major ports, including New Orleans, Louisiana and Mobile, Alabama, the top two cotton-exporting ports prior to the outbreak of the war,(Greene, Jack; Ironclads at War, Combined Publishing, 1998), as well as the Atlantic ports of Richmond, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Wilmington, North Carolina. To this end, he commissioned 500 ships, which eliminated about 1500 blockade runners over the course of the war; nonetheless, five out of six ships evading the blockade were successful.http://www.americanpresident.org/history/abrahamlincoln/biography/ForeignAffairs.common.shtml Despite the success of blockade runners, Confederate cotton exports were reduced from 10 million bales in the three years prior to the war to just five hundred thousand bales in the blockade period.http://www.americanpresident.org/history/abrahamlincoln/biography/ForeignAffairs.common.shtml

Related Topics:
Abraham Lincoln - April 19 - 1861 - Anaconda Plan - Winfield Scott - New Orleans - Louisiana - Mobile, Alabama - Richmond, Virginia - Charleston, South Carolina - Savannah, Georgia - Wilmington, North Carolina

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