Writestream Radio Network

 Most Americans, when they think about the Civil War, probably remember the great land battles like Gettysburg and Shiloh, not realizing that there also was a significant maritime conflict as well. From inland waterways to the deep oceans, Union and Confederate naval forces were engaged in a four-year struggle for control of the trade routes to and from North America. One key campaign was the Confederate attempt to interdict key Union maritime activities, particularly whaling ships which supplied important oil products. To accomplish this task, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory commissioned and acquired a small number of armed merchant cruisers, mostly from Great Britain. Though few in number, these merchant cruisers harassed Union trade routes across the globe, and required the Union Navy to commit valuable resources to hunt them down. Along the way their captains and crews became legends in the annals of American naval history. To learn more about the Confederate commerce raiding campaign,