A.D. Vance, Blockade Runner

This is the ship that John J. Guthrie captained many times through the blockade at Wilmington, North Carolina.  Guthrie was put in charge of the slaver Nightingale which I wrote about much of this past March.

The A.D. Vance, often written Advance, was the former Clyde packet Lord Clyde, built at Caird and Co. Greenock.  She was owned  in large part by the State of North Carolina and named in honor of honor of a leading North Carolinian; some portion of her ownership rested in Power, Lord & Co. -- a Fayetteville newspaper reported it at two-thirds -- but  she was locally considered a public vessel.

The A.D. Vance was one of the most successful blockade runners and her loss, after  more than 20 voyages and 40-odd hair-breath escapes, was a blow keenly felt by the state.

Governor Zebulon  B. Vance attributed her capture, 10 September 1864, to use of low grade North Carolina bituminous coal and denounced Secretary  Mallory  for giving the stockpile of  smokeless anthracite to the Tallahassee so that none was left for the Advance to run out of Wilmington safely.

Writing 3 January 1865, Vance complained, "Why a State struggling for the common good, to clothe and provide for its troops  in the public service, should meet with no more favor favor than a blockade gambler passes my comprehension."

She was commanded by Captain Tom Crossan when taken by the USS Santiago de Cuba, becoming the USS Advance and eventually the Frolic.  Lt. John J. Guthrie, CSB, commander of the Chattahoochee at the time of her disaster, was her earlier captain.

--Old B-Runner

The State of Affairs at Wilmington, NC in October 1863-- Part 7: Running the Blockade

Benjamin Blackford had dinner aboard the blockade-runner Advance under the command of his old friend Thomas M. Crossan and the ship was prepared to run the Cape Fear blockade as early as that night.

He continues: "There were about 15 passengers on board, one or two foreign officers returning home, one or two government agents, and 3 or 4 gaudy Israelites, with substitutes in the army, and the gain of much villainy in their pocket; there was also an artist, an author, and a bearer of dispatches.

It was like coming into a different world to slip from that desolate swamp, into the splendid cabin, and see once more a good dinner, well served, and you may depend I enjoyed it."

Ah, For the Good Old Days. --Old B-R'er

The State of Affairs at Wilmington, NC-- Part 6: Dining On the Advance

"Everything in Wilmington shows the effect of this. Confederate money is of less value there than in Richmond by 25 per cent. $12 to 14 a day is the fare at mean (crummy) hotels.

"There are such numbers of Englishmen, officers, and crew of the blockade running ships who fling their gold around everywhere, that our currency stands less chance than anywhere else in the confederacy. The blockade runners try of course to make friends of the officers about Wilmington, and are sure to keep them well supplied with brandy segars and oranges.

"I dined one Sunday on board the Advance, a splendid steamer owned by the State of N.C. and commanded by Capt.(Thomas M.) Crossan of the Navy and old friend of mine; she was lying off Fort Fisher some 25 miles from town, and was all ready to go out that night."

Quite the Famous Blockade-Runner. --Old B-Runner