CSS Tallahassee-- Part 3: A Successful Cruise With 23 Union Ships Destroyed and 7 Bonded or Released

After the CSS Tallahassee was commissioned and prepared for her new role as a commerce raider, it was placed under the command of John Taylor Wood, CSN.  He was the grandson of President Zachary Taylor.

The officers and crew were all officers and enlisted men from the Confederate squadrons on the James River and North Carolina waters.

The Tallahassee ran through the blockade on August 6, 1864, from her home port of Wilmington, N.C. and evaded four Union blockaders on her way out.  She made a spectacular 19-day raid along the Atlantic coast up to Halifax, Nova Scotia.  During that time, it destroyed 26 vessels and bonded or released 7 more.

Wood sailed his ship into Halifax Harbor on August 18 to take on bunker coal and water.  But neutrality law only gave him 24 hours to do so.

--Old B-Runner