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7 The Bermuda shows the Way august–september 1861 henry Decie spent the summer ferrying confederates between england and the continent.To divert attention from those missions he kept a high profile challenging British yachts to races. at the end of august he sailed for the confederacy. fearing the blockade off savannah, he made port at Jacksonville, florida, and left the Camilla under the harbormaster’s care, taking the railroad to savannah.1 huse, anderson, and Bulloch had collected a great stock of war goods and were looking for a way to get them back to Dixie. it would take nine months or more to build the Florida and Alabama, and weapons and ammunition, and shoes and blankets and medicine, were needed now. charles Prioleau came to the rescue— fraser, Trenholm & co. were sending a cargo to the confederacy aboard one of their ships, the Bermuda.2 some private weapons buyers in south carolina had bought space aboard the ship, and Prioleau offered Bulloch and anderson cargo space—but not for free. “The rates charged were high,” anderson groused, “but it was that or nothing.”3 The rebels loaded their allotted space with eighteen field pieces, several seacoast guns (including anderson’s expensive Blakelys), thousands of enfield rifles, and cartridges for all.4 it was but a small part of their overall weapons purchases, and Bulloch decided to buy a steamer, load her with the bulk of their arms stock, and return with her to the confederacy. Just before the Bermuda sailed, he sat down in the captain’s cabin and penned a note to commodore Tattnall. he would be arriving off savannah in mid- or late october with his own vessel, he wrote, and he wanted Tattnall’s help when he reached the coast. “i will make the land to the southward of Tybee—perhaps as far south as st. Marys,” he said, 60 / chapter 7 and if in the day-time, will hoist, at the fore, a large white flag with two blue balls. any friendly vessel seeing my signal will show the same signal at her fore, or upon her mast, if it be a boat, and, to assure me of her friendly character, will then hoist a white flag with a large blue cross extending the whole length of the flag. i will then hoist a white flag with a blue cross and run down for her. if he made landfall at night, he would send up two signal rockets together.Tattnall’s steamers should answer with the same, then burn a roman candle. Bulloch would answer with the same, and wait to be boarded by a pilot.5 The Bermuda sailed for savannah on august 22, the same day the Camilla left Guernsey. she had an uneventful crossing and made Tybee roads without ever having sighted a blockader.6 lincoln’s secretary of the navy was furious when hearing of the Bermuda’s easy entry and demanded an explanation. flag officer louis M. Goldsborough, commanding the atlantic Blockading squadron, told him a heavy gale had been blowing the day before, forcing the sailing sloop Savannah off her station outsideTybee Bar and letting the Bermuda in. Goldsborough told Gideon Welles it would take at least four steamers to effectively blockade the savannah river’s mouth, “and the moment it is in the power of the Department to send them to me i shall dispatch them thither.”7 Goldsborough did send the Monticello, a small steamer recently bought in new york and armed with a 10-inch Dahlgren and a pair of 32-pounders.8 The Bermuda’s arrival brought jubilation to savannah’s populace and sent the military into a frenzy. everyone wanted weapons. Governor Brown tried to confiscate all the civilian-owned arms. General lawton made off with three thousand enfield rifles for his coastal command, and he claimed anderson’s two expensive Blakely rifles for fort Pulaski. Most of the shoes, blankets, and drugs were snapped up by the army’s Quartermaster Department, which complained loudly about price gouging. fraser, Trenholm replied that it was simply business. should the ship be lost, the government lost only its investment in arms and supplies, while the company lost its own cargo, its ship, and all the future voyages the ship might make. it required a healthy profit to cover that risk.9 The Bermuda was the first merchantman to test the blockade and find it lacking . and the ship’s success opened the era of international blockade...

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