August 6, 1864: CSS Tallahassee Runs Out of Wilmington

AUGUST 6TH, 1864:  The CSS Tallahassee, Commander Wood, ran out of the Wilmington's Cape Fear River, and after eluding several blockaders off the bar, embarked on one of the most destructive commerce raiding cruises of the war.

"This extemporaneous man-of-war," Jefferson Davis later wrote, "soon lit up the New England coast with her captures...."

In the next two weeks Wood, whom Davis called "an officer of extraordinary ability and enterprise," took or destroyed more than 30 ships.

A Little Known Yet Successful Commerce Raider.  --Old B-Runner