SEPTEMBER 19TH, 1864: 150 Years Ago.
Secretary of the Navy, in a telegram to Commander Maffitt in Wilmington, N.C., gave his orders regarding the new Confederate-owned blockade runners: "It is of the first importance that our steamers should not fall into the enemy's hands. Apart from the specific loss sustained by the country in the capture of the blockade runners, these vessels, lightly armed, now constitute the fleetest and most efficient part of his blockading force off Wilmington....
"As commanding officer of the Owl you will please devise and adopt thorough and efficient means for saving all hands and destroying the vessel and cargo whenever these measures may become necessary to prevent capture."
Indeed, as I continue making these 150-years-ago entries from "The Civil War Naval Chronology" and doing further research on captures, I keep coming across all sorts of former blockade-runners now serving in the Union navy.
The Best Way to Catch a Blockade-Runner Is to Use a Former Blockade-Runner. --Old B-Runner
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