Wilmington, North Carolina, was a major
Atlantic Ocean port city for the
Confederate States of America during the
American Civil War. A vital lifeline for the fledgling Confederacy to trading partners in
Europe, Wilmington was one of the last ports to fall to the
Union Army.
Wilmington, located 30 miles upstream from the mouth of the
Cape Fear River (which flows into the Atlantic Ocean), was among the Confederacy’s more important cities. It ranked 13th in size in the CSA (although only 100th in the pre-war United States) with a population of 9,553 according to the 1860 census, making it virtually the same size as
Atlanta, Georgia, at the time.
Wilmington was one of the most important points of entry for supplies for the entire Confederate States. Its port traded
cotton and
tobacco in exchange for foreign goods, such as
munitions,
clothing and
foodstuffs. These cargoes were transferred to railroad cars and sent from the city throughout the Confederacy. This nourished both the southern states in general and specifically General
Robert E. Lee's forces in
Virginia. In its entirety, the trade was based on the coming and going of steamer ships of
British smugglers. These vessels were called
blockade runners because they had to avoid the
Union's imposed maritime barricade.
Mostly, these blockade runners stemmed indirectly from British colonies–such as
Bermuda, the
Bahamas, or
Nova Scotia. Often, they were forced to fly the Confederacy's insignia explicitly because
Abraham......
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