Researchers have applied for federal grants to locate more wrecks and better document those that are known. This needs to proceed rapidly as after a century and a half under water, great amounts of damage has been done and continuing.
Mr. Wise is one of several historians speaking at a symposium on the Modern Greece today at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
New Orleans fell to Union forces and Charleston and Savannah were essentially closed off early on in the war. This left Wilmington and Mobile as major ports of entry and exit. With its closeness to Richmond and rail connection via the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, Wilmington became the major destination of runners. Plus, its two entrances, separtated by a huge shoal made it difficult to blockade.
Some Wilmington residents did not not like the crews of the runners with all their carousing, drinking and prostitutes. The murder rate increased alarmingly. One blockade-runner was even accused of bringing in yellow fever in 1862.
Pay was extremely high for the crews, much like modern-day drug rungs.By 1863, the captain on a runner could earn today's equivalent of $100,000 for a single voyage, a first officer the equivalent of $20,000 to $25,000 and crewmen $5,000.
A few of the crews were Confederate military and received much less. A Confederate private received the equivalent of $254 a month by today's standards.
More to Come. --Old B-Runner
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