Friday, November 29, 2019

Was Butler's Greyhound Steamer a Former Confederate Blockade Runner or a Different Ship?


There seems to be some confusion as to whether ship this was Butler's headquarters.

From the Naval History and Heritage Command.

GREYHOUND  (Scstmr)  Screw Steamer.

The Greyhound was a three-masted propeller known as a "fast sailor" and noticeable on account of her red streak painted  along her light lead-colored hull; she was built in Liverpool in 1863.  Whether Henry Lafone, Confederate agent in Nassau, managed her for the government or owned part of her is not known, but it is known that she did carry cargo for the Confederate government. and is assumed to have acted as a public vessel.

She left Liverpool for the Confederacy on 5 January 864 on her maiden voyage and .  Commanded by "Captain Henry", actually Lt. George Henry Bier, CSN, on 9 May 1864, she ran out of Wilmington, N.C. with 820 bales of cotton, 35 tons of tobacco and 25 casks of turpentine , presumably to pay for more Confederate ships of her type being built in Britain.

She was captured the next day by the USS Connecticut and became celebrated because one of its passengers was a mysterious "Mrs. Lewis." She turned out to be the famed Confederate spy Belle Boys and her servant.

Quite the Catch of the Day.  --Old B-Runner

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