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Blockade-runners were those ships which were used by the Confederacy to elude the Union blockade. Arms, munitions of war, blankets, army cloth, shoes, tea, soap, paper and envelopes, cotton, linen, wool and silk, cases and barrels of medicines, liquors, wines, and other merchandise were shipped from England to Bermuda, Nassau, or Havana, and there transferred to blockade-runners, which made their way to Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, or Galveston.
Nassau was the most important neutral port, and Charleston and Wilmington were the most important Confederate ports in this trade. The blockade-runner left Nassau at an hour that would bring her off Charleston or Wilmington at night and the running of the blockade was rarely attempted unless there was no moon. When near the blockading squadron all lights were put out, the engine-room hatchways and binnacle were covered with tarpaulin and the steamer made her way forward in utter darkness. No noise was permitted, except for necessary orders. Often the blockade-runners escaped, sometimes they were chased but escaped, and other times the persuit was so hard that they ran ashore or were captured.
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