During the Civil War, between 1861 and 1865, the United States was divided between the Confederate States and the Union of the United States. According to Department of the Army, (2005) “1861 the Navy made the most important contribution toward an ultimate Union victory” (p.211). President Lincoln ordered the Union Navy to build blockades up the Atlantic seaboard around the Confederated States as well as parts of the Gulf Coast (Carroll, 2010). These blockades were to prevent the Confederate States from obtaining supplies, reinforcements, as well as food. This was a strategic move by the Union to choke off resupply to the South (Millett, Maslowski, & Feis, 2012).
The ships used by the Confederacy were called blockade-runners; they were used to evade the Union ships used in blockades. Blockade-runners tended to be high-speed, vessels that had a very limited carrying capacity. Blockade-runners were supported and operated by sympathetic British forces that were Royal Navy officers that voluntarily took leave to assist the Confederacy. The British had set up Confederate resupply bases in the Cayman Islands as well as Cuba. …show more content…
As time passed the Union crews developed knowledge of the various tactics employed by Confederate blockade-runners therefor leaving only the fastest blockade-runners to get through. Towards the final part of the war, the naval blockade turned into a military occupation consequently sealing off major Southern ports. According to the Department of the Army, (2005) the U.S. Navy river fleets on the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi Rivers operated closely with the Army commanders, offered essential components in the Union plan to split the Confederacy along the river
The ships used by the Confederacy were called blockade-runners; they were used to evade the Union ships used in blockades. Blockade-runners tended to be high-speed, vessels that had a very limited carrying capacity. Blockade-runners were supported and operated by sympathetic British forces that were Royal Navy officers that voluntarily took leave to assist the Confederacy. The British had set up Confederate resupply bases in the Cayman Islands as well as Cuba. …show more content…
As time passed the Union crews developed knowledge of the various tactics employed by Confederate blockade-runners therefor leaving only the fastest blockade-runners to get through. Towards the final part of the war, the naval blockade turned into a military occupation consequently sealing off major Southern ports. According to the Department of the Army, (2005) the U.S. Navy river fleets on the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi Rivers operated closely with the Army commanders, offered essential components in the Union plan to split the Confederacy along the river