Se Sa RSE NNT RNIN oa

354 Norra Carotina TRooPs, 1861-’65.

various kinds for the charitable institutions of the State. Not
only was the supply of shoes, blankets and clothing more than
sufficient for the supply of the North Carolina troops, but
large quantities were turned over to the Confederate Gov-
ernment for the troops of other States. In the winter suc-
ceeding the battle of Chickamanga, I sent to General Long-
street’s Corps 14,000 suits of clothing complete. At the sur-
render of General Johnston, the State had on hand ready-
made and in cloth 92,000 suits of uniforms, with great stores
of blankets, leather, ete. ‘To make good the warrant on which
these purchases had been made abroad, the State purchased
and had on hand in trust for the holders 11,000 bales of cot-
ton and 100,000 barrels of rosin. The cotton was partly de-
stroyed before the war closed, and the remainder, amounting
to several thousand bales, was captured, after peace was de-
clared, by certain officers of the Federal army.”

President Davis, in a message to Congress, said that the
number of vessels arriving at only two ports—Charleston and
Wilmington, from 1 November to 6 December, 1864, had
been 48, and that only a very small portion of those outward-
bound had been captured; that out of 11,796 bales of cotton
shipped since 1 July, 1864, but 1,272 bales -had been lost.
And the special report of the Secretary of the Treasury in re-
lation to the same matter stated that there had been imported
at the ports of Wilmington and Charleston since 26 October,
1864, 8,632,000 pounds of meat; 1,507,000 pounds of lead ;
1,933,000 pounds of saltpetre; 546,000 pairs of shoes; 316,-
000 pairs of blankets; 520,000 pounds of coffee; 69,000
rifles ; 97 packages of revolvers; 2,639 packages of medicines ;
43 cannon; with a very large quantity of other articles. In
addition to these articles, many valuable stores and supplies

had been brought in by way of the Northern lines, by way of.

Florida, through the port of Galveston, and through Mexico
across the Rio Grande. From 1 March, 1864, to 1 January,
1865, the value of the shipments of cotton on Confederate
Government account was shown by the Secretary’s report to
have been $5,296,000 in specie, of which $1,500,000 had been
shipped out between 1 July and 1 December, 1864.

A list of vessels which were running the blockade from

BiocKkaDE RuNNING. 855

Nassau and other ports in the period intervening between
November, 1861, and March 1864 (Scharf’s ©. S. Navy,
483), showed that 84 steamers were engaged; of these 37
were captured by the enemy, 12 were totally lost, 11 sere
lost and the cargoes partially saved, and one foundered at sea.
They made 363 trips to Nassau and 65 to other ports. Among
the highest number of runs made were those of the R. LZ.
Lee, which ran 21 times; the Fanny, which ran 18 times ;
the Margaret and Jessie, which performed the same feat.
Out of 425 runs ffom Nassau alone (including schooners)
only 62, about one in seven, were unsuccessful. As freights
were enormous, ranging from $300 to $1,000 per ton, some
idea may be formed of the profits of a business in which a
party could afford to lose a vessel after two successful trips.
In ten months of 1863, from January to October, 90 vessels
ran into Wilmington. During August one ran in every other
day. On 11 July, four, and five on 19 October.

With the termination of blockade running, the commercial
importance of Matamoras, Nassau, Bermuda, and other West
India ports departed. On 11 March, 1865, there were lying
in Nassau 35 British blockade-runners, which were valued
at $15,000,000 in greenbacks, and there were none to do them
reverence. Their occupation was gone, their profits at an
end, and some other service must be sought to give them em-
ployment.

A description of Nassau at the time of which I write will

‘be both interesting and instructive. Says Capt. Wilkinson:

“It was a busy place during the war, the chief ‘depot of sup-
plies for the Confederacy, and the- port to which most of the
cotton was shipped. Its proximity to the ports of Charleston
and Wilmington gave it superior advantages, whilst it was
easily accessible to the swift, light-draft blockade-runners, all
of which carried Bahama bank pilots, who knew every chan-
nel. The United States cruisers, having no bank pilots, and
drawing more water, were compelled to keep the open sea.
Occasionally one of the latter would heave to outside the har-
bor and send in a boat to cominunicate with the American
Consul, but their usual cruising ground was off Abaco light.
Nassan is situated upon the island of New Providence, one of