til he found a negro who gave him
shelter and food. Then he plunged again into the swamp, and walked on
until he captured a skiff from a Rebel picket; and with this he safely
reached the fleet,--the only one of the thirteen who set out two days
before. So ended the most wonderful adventure of the war.

CHAPTER VII.

THE BLOCKADE-RUNNERS. -- NASSAU AND WILMINGTON. -- WORK OF THE
CRUISERS.

While it is undeniably true that the naval battles of the civil war
were in many cases unimportant as compared with the gigantic
operations of the mighty armies in Virginia and Tennessee, yet there
was one service performed by the navy, alone and unaided, which
probably, more than any thing else, led to the final subjugation of
the South. This was the blockade.

To fully appreciate what a terrible weapon the blockade is when
energetically pursued, one need only look at the condition of the
South during the latter years of the war. Medicines were almost
unattainable for love or money. Salt was more carefully hoarded than
silver. Woollen goods for clothing were not to be had. Nothing that
could not be produced by the people of the revolted States could be
obtained at their markets. Their whole territory was in a state of
siege, surrounded by a barrier only a little less unrelenting than the
iron circle the Germans drew around besieged Paris.

Almost the first war measure of Abraham Lincoln was to declare the
ports of the Confederacy in a state of blockade. At first this seemed
a rash proclamation, and one which could not be sustained by the force
at the command of the Federals. It is a rule of warfare, that
"blockades, to be binding, must be effective;" that is, it is not
lawful for a nation with a small fleet to declare an enemy's coast in
a state of blockade, and then capture such trading-vessels as may
happen to run in the way of its cruisers. The nation must have a large
enough fleet to station vessels before each of the principal harbors
of the enemy, and to maintain a constant and vigilant patrol up and
down his coast. If this cannot be done, the blockade is called a
"paper blockade," and merchantmen are justified in attempting to evade
it. An instance of a "paper blockade" occurred during the early months
of the civil war, which will illustrate this point. Wilmington, N.C.,
was throughout the war one of the favorite ports for blockade-runners.
From its situation, the many entrances to its harbor, and other