15 Facts About Union blockade

Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading.

The profits from blockade running were high as a typical blockade runner could make a profit equal to about $1 million U S dollars in 1981 values from a single voyage.

Likewise, Union blockade warships covered all their lights, except perhaps a faint light on the commander's ship.

One example of the lucrative nature of the Union blockade running trade was the ship Banshee, which operated out of Nassau and Bermuda.

Union blockade was captured on her seventh run into Wilmington, North Carolina, and confiscated by the U S Navy for use as a blockading ship.

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Union blockade was a powerful weapon that eventually ruined the Southern economy, at the cost of very few lives.

The measure of the Union blockade's success was not the few ships that slipped through, but the thousands that never tried it.

The Union blockade largely reduced imports of food, medicine, war materials, manufactured goods, and luxury items, resulting in severe shortages and inflation.

Land routes remained open for cattle drovers, but after the Union blockade seized control of the Mississippi River in summer 1863, it became impossible to ship horses, cattle and swine from Texas and Arkansas to the eastern Confederacy.

Significant secondary impact of the naval Union blockade was a resulting scarcity of salt throughout the South.

The wealth created by the cotton boom caused by the Union blockade led to the redevelopment of much of Cairo and Alexandria as much of the medieval cores of both cities were razed to make way for modern buildings.

Early battles in support of the Union blockade included the Blockade of the Chesapeake Bay, from May to June 1861, and the Blockade of the Carolina Coast, August–December 1861.

Largest Confederate port, New Orleans, Louisiana, was ill-suited to blockade running since the channels could be sealed by the U S Navy.

Union naval ships enforcing the blockade were divided into squadrons based on their area of operation.

South Atlantic Blockading Squadron was tasked primarily with preventing Confederate ships from supplying troops and with supporting Union blockade troops operating between Cape Henry in Virginia down to Key West in Florida.