CSS Owl, Blockade Runner-- Part 3: J.N. Maffitt Takes Command

The Owl needed a new captain and that man turned out to be none other than the famed "Prince of privateers,"  John Newland Maffitt who was detached from command of the CSS Albemarle at Plymouth, N.C.,  on or about September 9, 1864.  He had also commanded the famous Confederate commerce raider CSS Florida.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Mallory telegraphed Maffitt on September 19, warning him:  "It is of the first importance that our steamers should not fall into enemy hands... these vessels, lightly armed, now constitute the fleetest  and most efficient part of the blockading fleet off Wilmington."

As such, Maffitt was to take no passengers aboard as a rule, and Assistant PaymasterAdam Tredwell, CSN, would deliver "5,000 pounds in sterling bills before sailing," Mallory concluded.

How Better to Catch a Blockade Runner But With a Former Blockade Runner?  --Old B-Runner