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Article: Wilkinson a blockade runner of top skill; 21 trips in less than a year.(TRAVEL)(THE CIVIL WAR)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- July 10, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Washington Times LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: John M. Taylor, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Few logistical operations of the Civil War were so fraught with risk as the sea trade through the Federal blockade. Yet sea commerce was essential to the survival of the Confederacy and highly profitable to those who dared challenge the blockade.
For most of the war, long, shallow-draft steamers cleared Southern ports, loaded to the gunwales with the cotton that was so much in demand in Europe. The same vessels returned with a mix of military supplies and luxury goods that helped sustain the Confederacy.
To be a blockade runner required a special temperament. In the words of one skipper, ...