Bulloch, James Dunwody, 1823-1901

James Dunwody Bulloch (1823-1901) was a United States Navy officer and later a Confederate naval agent.

From the guide to the James Dunwody Bulloch Letters, ., 1849, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

James Dunwody Bulloch (1823-1901) was a native of Savannah, Georgia, and an officer in the U.S. Navy. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he became a Confederate naval agent in Europe. After the war, Bulloch remained in Liverpool, England (for further information, see Hill, Sea Dogs of the Sixties, University of Minnesota Press, 1935).

From the description of James Dunwody Bulloch letter, 1854. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 46698352

U.S. Navy officer, later Confederate naval agent.

From the description of James Dunwody Bulloch letters, 1849 [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 24673350

James Dunwody Bulloch (1823-1901) was born in Savannah, Georgia to a noteworthy family living in Georgia at the time. His half-sister Martha married Theodore Roosevelt Sr., making Bulloch the uncle of the president-to-be. He began his service in the United States Navy on June 21, 1839 as a Midshipman, after his graduation from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Bulloch was promoted to a Lieutenant on October 18, 1853 and resigned about a year later, on October 5, 1854. During his time in the navy, Bulloch served aboard ships including the United States, the Decatur, and the Delaware. There is a discrepancy involving Bulloch's service as captain aboard the USS Georgia, a mail steamer. The article on Bulloch in the New Georgia Encyclopedia asserts that he served as Georgia's civilian captain in as early as 1851. In 1860, Bulloch transferred to a privately owned transportation company which hauled passengers as well as cargo back and forth along the east coast, from New York to New Orleans. After only one year of this job, Bulloch volunteered his services for the Confederate States Navy at the start of the Civil War. Bulloch was appointed commander and stationed abroad in Liverpool, England in January of 1862. He was given the task of supplying and purchasing ships that were to be used to interfere with the Union Navy blockade of the South and offer assistance to the Confederate troops. Due to the fact that Great Britain had a neutral stance during the Civil War, Bulloch had to conduct his business in secret so he would not be found violating the kingdom's neutrality.

He is well-known for his acquisition and supervision of the construction of the CSS Alabama in 1862. Bulloch was intended to have been the commander of this vessel. However he was reassigned to the role of acquiring Confederate vessels. The CSS Alabama was a powerful vessel that captured and/or destroyed over four hundred Union trade and supply ships prior to its own sinking of the coast of France in 1864 by the USS Kearsarge. Bulloch also oversaw the construction of other ships such as the CSS Florida, CSS Shenandoah, and the ironclad Stonewall. Bulloch retired in Liverpool after the Civil War with his daughter and her husband. While retired, he completed and published his memoirs, The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe, and later died at the age of 77 on January 7, 1901.

Matthew Maguire was born in Dublin September 1815. He opened a private detective agency in Liverpool at 6 Doran's Lane after leaving the Liverpool police force, a position he held until his retirement in 1888. During the American Civil War he was employed by U.S. consul in Liverpool, Thomas H. Dudley as early as 28 March, 1862. Thereafter, he took great interest in the movements of James Dunwody Bulloch and Confederate agents while abroad. He was described as having red hair receding, with great pork chop side burns, and yet honest to a degree according to the people who did business with him. He died at Dryden Villa, 11 Dryden Lane, on September 22nd 1896 aged 81, and was buried at Saint Anne's Churchyard, Edge Hill, Liverpool.

Daniel S. Robinson of Washington, DC assembled the collection.

From the description of James Dunwody Bulloch Collection, 1847-1954. (The Mariners' Museum Library). WorldCat record id: 30470573