Ship authorized to attack by the Confederate States of America
The Confederate privateers were privately owned ships that were authorized by the government of the Confederate States of America to attack the shipping of the United States. Although the appeal was to profit by capturing merchant vessels and seizing their cargoes, the government was most interested in diverting the efforts of the Union Navy away from the blockade of Southern ports, and perhaps to encourage European intervention in the conflict.
At the beginning of the American Civil War, the Confederate government sought to counter the United States Navy in part by appealing to private enterprise worldwide to engage in privateering against United States shipping.[1] Privateering was the practice of fitting ordinary private merchant vessels with modest armament, then sending them to sea to capture other merchant vessels in return for monetary reward. The captured vessels and cargo fell under customary prize rules at sea. Prizes would be taken to the jurisdiction of a competent court, which could be in the sponsoring country or theoretically in any neutral port. If the court found that the capture was legal, the ship and cargo would be forfeited and sold at a prize auction. The proceeds would be distributed among owners and crew according to a contractual arrangement. Privateers were also authorized to attack an enemy's navy warships and then apply to the sponsoring government for direct monetary reward, usually gold or gold specie (coins).
In the early days of the war, enthusiasm for The Confederacy was high, and many ship owners responded to the appeal by applying for letters of marque. Not all of those who gained authorization actually went to sea, but the numbers of privateers were high enough to be a major concern for US Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. Many ships of the Union Navy were diverted from blockade duty in efforts to capture privateers. Most of the privateers managed to remain free, but enough were caught that the owners and crew had to consider the risk seriously. The capture of the privateers Savannah and Jefferson Davis resulted in important court cases that did much to define the nature of the Civil War itself.
Initial enthusiasm could not be sustained. Privateers found it difficult to deliver their captures to Confederate courts, and as a result the expected profits were never realized. By the end of the first year of the war, the risks far exceeded the benefits in the minds of most owners and crews. The practice continued only sporadically through the rest of the war as the Confederate government turned its efforts against Northern commerce over to commissioned Confederate Navy commerce raiders such as the CSS Alabama and CSS Florida.
The Civil War was the last time a belligerent power seriously resorted to privateering.[2] The practice had already been outlawed among European countries by the Declaration of Paris (1856). Following the Civil War, the United States agreed to abide by the Declaration of Paris. More important than any international agreements, however, was the recognition by ship owners that the increased cost and sophistication of maritime vessels and naval weaponry had effectively eliminated any reasonable prospects for profit for private enterprise naval warfare.
^ Navy Official Records, Series 1, volume 3, page 97.
^The United States authorized a privately owned airship, Resolute, for submarine spotting in late 1941 and early 1942.
and 24 Related for: Confederate privateer information
The Confederateprivateers were privately owned ships that were authorized by the government of the Confederate States of America to attack the shipping...
such prizes made by privateer crews. The manner in which Confederateprivateers operated was generally similar to those of privateers of the United States...
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of...
likewise attempted to prosecute Confederateprivateers for the criminal act of piracy. When the Confederateprivateer Savannah was captured in 1861, its...
steamer CSS Curlew The 11-star ensign of the ConfederatePrivateer Jefferson Davis A 12-star first Confederate Navy ensign of the gunboat CSS Ellis, 1861–1862...
the first months it disrupted Confederateprivateers, making it "almost impossible to bring their prizes into Confederate ports". British firms developed...
ironclads Blockade runners of the American Civil War Commerce raiding Confederateprivateer Cotton-clad Letters of marque Ransom Bond Bibliography of American...
John Beall may refer to: John Yates Beall (1835–1865), Confederateprivateer in the American Civil War, arrested and executed as a spy J. Glenn Beall...
(1927–2006), U.S. Senator from Maryland John Yates Beall (1835–1865), Confederateprivateer and spy Johnny Beall (1882–1926), American baseball player Lester...
Lawrence encountered a Confederateprivateer named Petrel. The engagement ended in a Union victory and the surviving Confederates were arrested for piracy...
Circle in San Francisco outfitted the schooner J. M. Chapman as a Confederateprivateer in San Francisco Bay, with the object of raiding commerce on the...
of San Francisco, just as she was preparing to put to sea as a Confederateprivateer. This seizure made Union men everywhere along the coast more alert...
there was a plot by Confederate sympathizers in Victoria to purchase ships in British Columbia and outfit them as Confederateprivateers. However, this plot...
John Yates Beall (January 1, 1835 – February 24, 1865) was a Confederateprivateer in the American Civil War who was arrested as a spy in New York and...
the Knights of the Golden Circle and served as a crewman of the Confederateprivateer J. M. Chapman. Poole was born in 1820 at Franklin County, Kentucky...
he led a boat expedition into Pensacola Harbor to destroy the Confederateprivateer Judah. He next assumed command of the gunboat Kennebec and participated...
Union intelligence as a "hellish machine.": 68–9 Commissioned as a Confederateprivateer on 12 September 1861, Manassas was seized soon afterwards by Flag...
Throughout the American Civil War, Confederateprivateers successfully harassed Union merchant ships. Privateering lost international sanction under the...
ISBN 978-0-8071-0684-6. Retrieved October 1, 2020. Robinson, Confederateprivateers, p. 1; Luraghi, History of the Confederate Navy, p. 71. National Park Service battle...
was particularly in use during the American Civil War when Confederate States Navy privateers would seize Union merchant vessels and hold them for ransom...
The USS Beauregard began the war as a Confederateprivateer. The Union Navy acquired the schooner from the prize court and outfitted the vessel for blockade...
month, was sent to the Yorktown, Virginia area to search for the Confederateprivateer, Clarence. On the morning of 24 June, she collided with the Union...
The Confederate States Congress was both the provisional and permanent legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861...
day. Ordered to Nassau, Bahamas on 4 September to search for the Confederateprivateers Alabama and Florida, she patrolled off the Bahamas until 1 November...
Global Information