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Privateers were also authorized to attack an enemy's navy warships and then apply to the sponsoring government for direct monetary reward, usually gold or gold specie (coins). In the early days of the war, enthusiasm for The Confederacy was high, and many ship owners responded to the appeal by applying for letters of marque .
A letter of marque and reprisal (French: lettre de marque; lettre de course) was a government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with the issuer, licensing international military operations against a specified enemy as reprisal for a previous attack or injury.
Privateers were implicated in piracy for a number of complex reasons. For colonial authorities, successful privateers were skilled seafarers who brought in much-needed revenue, especially in newly settled colonial outposts. [5] These skills and benefits often caused local authorities to overlook a privateer's shift into piracy when a war ended.
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union [e] ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union.
During the American Civil War, the Confederate Navy operated a fleet of commissioned Confederate States Navy commerce raiders. These differed from privateers as they were state-owned ships with orders to destroy enemy commerce rather than privately owned ships with letters of marque .
The Confederate Secret Service refers to any of a number of official and semi-official secret service organizations and operations performed by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Some of the organizations were directed by the Confederate government, others operated independently with government approval, while ...
The Sinking of Petrel occurred in July 1861 during the American Civil War. While cruising off the coast of South Carolina the United States Navy warship USS St. Lawrence encountered a Confederate privateer named Petrel. The engagement ended in a Union victory and the surviving Confederates were arrested for piracy. [1]
The U.S. Navy purchased the Beauregard from the prize court for $1,810 on February 24, 1862 [2] and began fitting the schooner for service with the blockading squadrons. To replace the 24 pound rifled gun that the privateer's crew had spiked, [2] the navy armed the Beauregard with a single 30 pound rifle and two 12 pound howitzers. [3]