Letter, 1864 Mar. 21 (Elbow Key, Bahama Bank [Bahamas]), to Acting Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey.

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Letter, 1864 Mar. 21 (Elbow Key, Bahama Bank [Bahamas]), to Acting Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/772645145

Letter, 21 March 1864, from Lieutenant Commander Edward Yorke McCauley (1827-1894), U.S. Navy, reports to acting Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey that his steamer had captured a Confederate blockade runner en route from South Carolina to Nassau in the Bahamas. On 23 Nov. 1863, Admiral Bailey ordered him to take command of the U.S.S. Tioga, a 700-ton side-wheeler mounting four guns. On the morning of 20 March 1864, the Tioga captured the 100-ton sloop Swallow off Elbow Cay, Bahama Bank. This blockade runner had embarked from the Combahee River in South Carolina; the point where the Union navy took it was about 460 miles from home and 110 miles short of Nassau, its intended destination. After McCauley disposed of the cargo and prisoners, he composed his terse official dispatch to headquarters. The next day, McCauley wrote Bailey this longer, more informal report: "Yesterday afternoon, I sent to market the first invoice of this year's crop from your Plantation in these arables, consisting of 180 Bales Cotton, 80 Barrels Rosin... 25 Boxes Tobacco, making about the most valuable prize the `Tidy' has yet captured.... A dozen Confederacies were on board, of whom the captain and one man were sent North for the usual general good. They had been out 9 days and had on board at the time of capture Hf. peck black beans, Hf. peck mouldy bread and a very little Coffee, so that the beggars should be grateful to us for our trouble, as they might have starved before getting in." Concerning his own ship, McCauley wrote, "The Tioga is much improved by your attentions to her last time at K. West. She used to steam 7 Knots, without the Blower. She now makes nearly 9. I have not had a chance to try her, full speed, save that we overhauled the Oriental the other day, hand over fist."

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University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries

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SNAC Resource ID: 8190960

University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries

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Confederate States of America. Navy

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Built in Philadelphia as the Habana, the CSS Sumter was originally used as a blockade runner in New Orleans. In 1861, she was purchased for use by the Confederate Government. Under the command of Raphael Semmes, she captured a number of Union flag merchant ships off the coasts of Cuba and South America, as well as other locations in the western hemisphere. When her boilers became unfit for use and repairs and supplies could not be obtained, she was sold at public auction at Gibraltar on December...

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