Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading.. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of Atlantic and Gulf coastline, including 12 major ports, notably New Orleans and Mobile.
The Union blockade still struggled with ineffectiveness, and the decision was made to capture some Confederate ports in order provide more bases for Union ships and fewer for blockade runners. [4] On May 17, 1862, the captain of the USS Santee sailed to Galveston, and demanded the surrender of the town, threatening to begin bombarding the place ...
By the end of the Civil War, the Union Navy had captured more than 1,100 blockade runners and had destroyed or run aground another 355. The Union had also reduced the American South's exports of cotton by 95 percent from pre-war levels, devaluing the Confederate States dollar and severely damaging the Confederacy's economy.
Texas' supply role lasted until mid-1863, when Union gunboats started to control the Mississippi River, which prevented large transfers of men, horses, or cattle. Some cotton was sold in Mexico, but most of the crop became useless because of the Union's naval blockade of Galveston, Houston, and other ports.
Map of Galveston Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program.. The Battle of Galveston was a naval and land battle of the American Civil War, when Confederate forces under Major Gen. John B. Magruder expelled occupying Union troops from the city of Galveston, Texas on January 1, 1863.
Blockade runners are often the fastest ships available, and come lightly armed and armored. Their operations are quite risky since blockading fleets would not hesitate to fire on them. However, the potential profits (economically or militarily) from a successful blockade run are tremendous, so blockade-runners typically had excellent crews.
The blockade had already been proclaimed by Lincoln. On April 19, 1861, a week after the bombardment of Fort Sumter that marked the outbreak of the war, he announced that the ports of all the seceded states, from South Carolina to Texas, would be blockaded; later, when Virginia and North Carolina also seceded, their coastlines were added. [3]
Texas had been a main source of supplies for Confederate forces during the American Civil War. Union naval operations to blockade the Texas coast began. Despite being in a Confederate state, Corpus Christi was home to supporters of both the Confederacy and United States. Five Union and four Confederate ships were involved in the battle.