Second, the South remained dependent on outside sources for many of the commodities it did not produce. First, if the blockade was ineffective foreign nations could ignore its existence and trade freely with the South. It was abundantly clear in the early part of the war that Union strategy included a concerted effort to blockade the Confederacy and breaking the blockade would be important for several reasons. When the war began, Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory could count but thirty-five ships in the Confederate Navy and a navy of some kind would be crucial to the Southern war effort. The Union scuttled or burned any ships it could not take with it, and what remained would be virtually useless. ![]() The realization began to sink in that regardless of its potential to wage an effective war on land, the Confederacy had no navy to speak of. In many ways the arbitration of the Alabama Claims laid the groundwork for international institutions of peace like the Hague Convention and the United Nations.Īs the Union military extricated itself from military posts all over the southern United States in the wake of Fort Sumter, the Confederacy had cause to consider what waging war was going to require. In the ensuing years, a movement to codify public international law gained real momentum. The Alabama Claims dispute established the principle of international arbitration. Even after it ceased to exist the Confederate Navy continued to have an effect on international law. The original claim in 1869 of 2 billion dollars was ultimately reduced through arbitration to 15.5 million dollars in 1871, and finally paid in 1872. After the war the Union made demand on Great Britain for the damage done to its merchant marine by British built commerce raiders. Coal, the essential fuel of 19th century steamships, was often denied to Confederate vessels in neutral ports. ![]() Most nations would not allow Confederate commerce raiders to claim prizes in their ports. As a result, most nations, even Great Britain eventually, recognized that the Confederacy’s status as a belligerent had limitations. As the war progressed, the Confederate success on the high seas drove up the cost of maritime insurance premiums making the carriage of goods for Union merchant ships even more costly.ěut while Confederate maritime efforts were impressive, they never seriously threatened the Union blockade. Not only did the Confederacy successfully take or destroy hundreds of Union vessels, but it forced the Union to transfer almost 800,000 tons of shipping to foreign carriers to avoid the attacks of the Confederate surface fleet. Following its privateer successes, the Confederacy’s small but formidable commerce raider fleet dealt a crushing blow to the Union merchant marine. Starting literally from scratch, the Confederacy immediately mustered a small but effective privateer fleet that not only met with some success, but forced the early resolution of the Confederacy’s status as a legitimate belligerent. Arguably the Confederacy’s maritime efforts rank among its greatest wartime successes.
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