The Confederate War Department Buys a Giraffe, November 1862

Blockade Runner Giraffe/Robert E. Lee In the Fall 1862, Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon and Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance Josiah...

Playing With Fire off the Cuban Coast, October 1862

A route frequently used by Anglo-Confederate blockade runners went from Matamoros, Mexico to Havana, Cuba, ending at Mobile, Alabama.  The s...

Naval Siege of Charleston Begins, June 1862

The New York Times lists the ships blockading Charleston in June 1862 for the benefit of its readers...and for Confederate authorities seek...

Blockade Running at Mobile Bay

Steam sloop USS Pocahontas capturing a blockade runner off Mobile Bay (source; Library of Congress archives): In a prior post ( 18 February ...

Destruction of a Blockade Runner

It’s characteristically the larger or more significant engagements that make it into the history books and articles on the Civil War Navies,...

NOAA Day at Nauticus and HRNM Report

This past Saturday, the Hampton Roads Naval Museum participated in NOAA Day at Nauticus in Norfolk, VA.  HRNM Educators and Interns conducte...

Rhett Butler-Romantic Blockade Runner

Rhett Butler is the legendary character and heart throb of the Civil War novel Gone With the Wind .  During the war, dashing and handsome Bu...

USS Fort Donelson (ex-Robert E. Lee)

This is an 1864 picture of USS Fort Donelson in Norfolk shortly after being repaired. This sleek looking warship was formerly the Scottish-...

Confederate States Navy Department Seal-Official and Unofficial

Above is the the official seal of the Confederate States Navy, showing a  three masted sailing ship.  It is eriely similar to the current se...