The Heroic Saga of the CSS Alabama, CSS Florida, and CSS Shenandoah
Confederate Navy Commerce Raiders
Confederate Navy Captain James D. Bulloch, the Confederate government agent who coordinated and supervised the building and launching of the Confederate cruisers Alabama, Florida, and Shenandoah in Liverpool is not a household name among Civil War buffs, but his accomplishments in building a formidable Confederate fleet of commerce raiders in England must be ranked among the most remarkable achievements for the Southern cause.
In October of 1862, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles was in a state of apprehension and baffled frustration. In this, he was joined by President Lincoln, Secretary of War Stanton, and many high-ranking officials in Washington. In only two months since the British-built Confederate cruiser, the CSS Alabama, slipped out of Liverpool on her maiden voyage, she had wreaked havoc on the U.S. merchant and whaler fleets in the North Atlantic. In September, she had captured and burned ten U.S. commercial vessels. On October 3, the Alabama took two more prizes in a single day. The Emily Farnham was carrying English cargo and was therefore released on bond. The 839-ton Brilliant was carrying U.S. cargo from New York to London, so after her crew, passengers, and supplies were taken aboard the Alabama, the magnificent two-year-old ship was set ablaze at sea.
By early 1863, the reputation of the Alabama was reaching mythical proportions in the Northern press. She appeared everywhere and anywhere, burning and sinking one Yankee merchant ship after another. Consequently, Navy Secretary Gideon Welles had 18 of the Navy’s most formidable warships in pursuit of the Alabama. But where was she? The Alabama would appear out of nowhere, running up her Confederate ensign for the pursuit and capture of yet another Union prize.
When the Alabama captured the Ariel, carrying 140 U.S. Marines and gold from Panama to New York, such gold shipments fell 70 percent. The capture of 140 Marines was, of course, an extreme embarrassment for the Navy…