New Book Out on Blockade Runners

It's always important to let readers know when scholarship on the Civil War navies is available.  With the anticipated release of James McPherson's new work on the naval war, it is a good time to be talking and writing about the Civil War Navy.   Here is a brief description of a new book on Blockade Runners and the Denbigh Court.  Check it out and let us know what you think.

Civil War Blockade-Runners: Prize Claims and the Historical Record, Including the Denbigh's Court Documents by Gerald R. Powell, Matthew C. Cordon, J. Barto Arnold III

Institute of Nautical Archaeology
ISBN-13: 978-0979587436
ISBN-10: 0979587433
342 pages

This book considers the legal structure for the Union navy taking as prizes of war the vessels that ran the blockade. It discusses international laws, customs, and steps of the court action. Detailed examples are provided for a few particular ships taken off Galveston. Archival documents are illustrated. As the Civil War commenced, the Confederacy was short of cash and manufactured goods, while its exports were blockaded. The South turned to Europe for weapons, clothing, tools, and medicines that could be paid for with cotton. Mobile and Galveston were the ports of call for the famous blockade-runner Denbigh, a shipwreck excavated by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology located at Texas A&M University. The incidents and documents in this book concentrate on the Denbigh and the rest explain the activities of this ship and her sisters in the runner's trade. Understanding the rules of the prize game enhances greatly the understanding of blockade-running.