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Schooner Sail to Starboard
Confederate Blockade-Running on the
Louisiana-Texas Coast Lines
The writer is fully
aware that several books already exist about Confederate blockade-running,
enough so that one might think there is nothing new to be written, but many
of those books deal solely with the Atlantic seaboard. Nevertheless, it was
the author's desire to write a story devoted solely to blockade-running in
the Far Western Gulf of Mexico, that is, the Louisiana-Texas coast lines.
Over a long period of
years, the author collected a long bibliography of blockade-running stories,
devoted to the heroism and ingenuity exhibited by both the Confederate
blockade runners and the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. One old Galveston
Daily News reporter, who devoted many of his newspaper feature length
articles to that field, was Ben C. Stuart. As a 15-year-old youth, Stuart
once served as an ordinary seaman aboard the old Galveston Bay lumber
schooner Experiment in 1860, years before that vessel was captured off
Galveston Island with a load of cotton aboard.
The names of Admiral
David Farragut and Raphael Semmes will always adorn our Civil War naval
history books. Much less known were the wiles, skills, ingenuity, and
derring-do exhibited by the western Gulf of Mexico blockade runners or the
tales of bravery performed by Captain James Alden, Commander (later Admiral)
James Jouett, or Commanders Abner Reed and D. A. McDermot of the Federal
blockade fleet. One such story was the nighttime battle between the U. S. S.
Hatteras and Adm. Semmes' Confederate cruiser Alabama, which resulted in the
sinking of the Hatteras twenty miles south of Galveston. And there were many
other instances about the blockade runners worth retelling, such as Captain
Bill Johnson's feigning his yellow fever 'death bed' aboard the captured
cotton schooner Soledad Cos. Certainly the most heroic story of all was that
of Captain Dave McClusky and his seamen, who on two occasions got the prize
crew drunk aboard the captured prize schooner Stingray and each time
recaptured their vessel following a fight and kept the Stingray in the
contraband trade for three years until the war ended. The writer believes
there is something of special interest and intrigue between the covers of
this book for every Civil War buff to enjoy.
Link to Amazon
This book was originally
published in 1997 and
has recently been published on Amazon in three formats: Kindle eBook,
Paperback, and Hardcover.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJSC7C8W
The following is the table
of contents and the index of the book, with page numbers from the printed books:
Table of Contents
Table of Figures 3
Introduction 4
Chapter 1—A Prelude to Blockade-Running in the Western Gulf of Mexico 6
Endnotes – Chapter 1 27
Chapter 2—Confederate Blockade-Running at Galveston, 1861-1863 30
Endnotes—Chapter 2 45
Chapter 3—Confederate Blockade-Running At Galveston, 1863 To 1865 47
Endnotes—Chapter 3 78
Chapter 4—Confederate Blockade-Running, also Jayhawking in Western
Louisiana, 1861-1865 83
Endnotes—Chapter 4 107
Chapter 5—Confederate Blockade-Running at Sabine Pass, Texas, 1861-1865
111
Endnotes—Chapter 5 129
Chapter 6—Confederate Blockade-Running at the Brazos and San Bernard
Rivers, 1861-1865 132
Endnotes—Chapter 6 153
Chapter 7—Confederate Blockade Running on the Southwest Coast of Texas,
1861-1863 157
Endnotes—Chapter 7 175
Chapter 8—Confederate Blockade Running on the South Texas Coast,
1863-1865 177
Endnotes—Chapter 8 187
Chapter 9—A Summary of Confederate Blockade-Running in the
Trans-Mississippi Department 188
Endnotes—Chapter 9 204
Photographs 206
Bibliography 217
Index 224
Table of Figures
Figure 1 - Blockade runner Denbigh, owned
by European Trading Co Manchester, England. 18
Figure 2 - Cmdr. John N. Maffitt, C.S.A. captain of the C.S. raider Florida
and blockade runner Owl. 19
Figure 3 - Blockade Runner Will of the Wisp Run Through Blockade. 62
Figure 4 - U. S. Blockader Brooklyn. 68
Figure 5 - Blockade Runner Lizzie. 70
Figure 6 - U. S. Steam Blockader Calhoun. 86
Figure 7 - C. S. A. Blockade Runner Harriet Lane. 190
Figure 8 - Blockade Runner Banshee. 191
Figure 9 - Blockade Runner Robert E. Lee. 206
Figure 10 - Blockade Runner Fax. 206
Figure 11 - Blockade Runner Nighthawk. 207
Figure 12 - U. S. Gunboat Huron. 207
Figure 13 - U. S. Blockader Niagara. 208
Figure 14 - U. S. Blockader Merrimack. 208
Figure 15 - U. S. Steam Blockader Richmond 209
Figure 16 - U. S. Blockader Agawam. 209
Figure 17 - U. S. Blockader Brooklyn. 210
Figure 18 - U. S. Blockader Norwich. 210
Figure 19 - U. S. Blockader Pawnee. 211
Figure 20 - U. S. Blockader Pocahontas. 211
Figure 21 - U. S. Steamer Malvern. 212
Figure 22 - Two Man Confederate Submarine. 212
Figure 23- C. S. A. Cruiser Tallahassee (formerly the Atlanta). 213
Figure 24 - U. S. Gunboat Colorado. 214
Figure 25 - Author W. T. Block 215
Index
A
Adderly, Henry 189, 192
Adkins, Sim A. 64
Alden, James 4, 12, 24, 32
Alexander, C. H. 118
Austin, Charles W. 58
Austin, Stephen F. 132
B
Banks, Nathanial 136
Barnard, Joseph C. 50
Bee, H. P. 177
Bell, H. H. 94, 167, 169, 179
Blinn, L. A. 42, 172
Blum, H. 163, 191
Blum, L. See Blum, H
Bond, Clotsworthy 17
Borner, Paul 139
Bradlee, Francis 191, 196
Brown, Charles 178
Buchel, Augustus 97
Butler, Benjamin 11, 121
C
Call Sr, Dennis 119
Camacho, Diomicio 118
Canby, E. R. S. 72, 73
Carse, Robert 81, 154, 191, 195
Chase, Franklin 172
Chase, Salmon 200
Chubb, Thomas H. 34
Clifton, Nathaniel 91
Cochran, H. 72, 81, 154, 175
Collie, Alex 189
Connell, J. B. 16
Cook, J. J. 68, 69
Cortina, Juan 201
Crocker, Frederick 9, 11, 91, 112, 120, 128
Cuba, San Antonio 59
D
Dana, N. J. 136, 174, 180
Dana, W. H. 97
Davis, J. T. 42, 168
Davis, Jefferson 37, 196
Delaney, James 181
Dowling, R. W. 126
E
Emmons, G. 88
F
Farragut, David 4, 6
Fraser, John 189, 190, 192
French, H. 164
G
Gilmer, Alexander 119
Glover, R. W. 46, 175, 199, 204
Goos, Daniel 86, 95, 107, 108
Gordon, John 138
Griffin, W. F. 102
Groce, Jared 132, 153
Guehrs, William 103
H
Hall, Green 181
Hanna, J. P. 181
Heidenheimer, Samson 54
Helm, Charles 69
House, T. W. 20, 42, 49, 53, 60, 70, 104, 127, 128, 135, 191
Howe, James 138, 139
Howells, Jean Lafitte 192
Howerton, W. J. 100
Hunter, Charles 51, 165, 179
J
Jenny, Charles F. 173
Johnson, Bill 5, 24, 25
Jolly, David Leach 118
Jouett, James 4, 13, 14, 32, 34, 59
Jowrick, N. 149
Juarez, Benito 201
K
Keith, K. D. 116
Kellersberg, J. 112, 124
King, T. B. 38
King, Thomas 36
Kittredge, J. S. 39
Kittredge, J. W. 162
Kuhn, J. C. 42, 43, 52, 172
L
Laffite, Jean 30
Lafitte, John B. 189, 192, 204
Leach, Thomas 150
Lee, General 18, 63, 72
Lincennes, Jacques 150
Lincoln, President 19, 38, 165, 179, 193, 199
Locke, George 86
Loring, Benjamin 101
M
Mackie, John F. 64
Maffitt, John N. 18, 71
Magruder, John B. 39
Mair, A. S. 149
Marchand, J. B. 55, 144
Marke, F. 61
Maxmillian, Emperor 137, 170, 201
McCall, Milledge 100
McClusky, Bill 68
McClusky, Dave 5, 138, 140, 152
McClusky, David 16
McDermot, D. A. 4, 13, 124, 125, 128
McDonald, John 57
McDonough, B. F. 9, 27, 117, 130, 154, 218
McGarvey, J. H. 72
McKinney, Thomas F. 132
McNaughton, William 150
McNevin, T. 17
Meade, R. 148
Mills, R. and D. G. 35, 191
Milne, Alex 179
Minor, W. T. 71
N
Napoleon III, Emperor 161
Nolan, Matt 94
Norris, W. B. 140
P
Pavell, Augustine 119, 130, 223
Payne, John 40
Pennington, L. W. 113, 114
Pickering, Thomas 35
Pierce, L. 134
Pierce, Leonard 180
Price, Marcus W. 17, 45, 78, 80, 81, 130, 175
Price, Sterling 188
R
Read, Abner 13, 124, 125, 128
Renshaw, William 39
Rolando, H. 170
Ruff, C. H. 118
Ruff, Otto 118, 130, 221
Ryan, Jacob 87
S
Scharf, J. Thomas 55
Scherffius, Henry 7, 27, 115, 127, 128, 129, 131, 219, 222
Sherman, Leverett 54
Skaggs, E. H. 89, 90, 120
Smith, Ashbel 73
Smith, Duncan 91, 101, 103, 109, 113, 218
Smith, Henry Clay 90, 113, 114
Smith, Leon 68, 81, 221
Smith, Nicaragua 40
Smith, R.N. 37
Stuart, Ben C. 4, 28, 29, 154
Swartwout, S. 161
T
Taylor, James 14, 114, 125, 221, 223
Taylor, James G. 113, 129, 220
Taylor, James Gilbert 113
Taylor, Richard 76, 84, 112, 188
Taylor, Thomas 20, 60, 62, 195
Taylor, Thos. 80, 190
Tiernan, B. 135
V
Van Dorn, Earl 188
W
Watson, William 141, 170, 196
Welles, Gideon 38, 131, 170, 171, 172
Wharton, John A. 33
Winfree, Z. T. 73
Wingate, David R. 118
Wise, Stephen 17, 59, 67, 72, 80, 107, 110, 130, 144, 155
Wolfean, Fred 138, 139
Woolsey, M. B. 99, 169, 183
Y
Yancey, William L. 115
Z
Zum, Paul 171
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