J.C. Knowles, in his excellent "North Carolina Minute" column in the Feb. 11th Topsail Advertiser wrote about the blockade runner Giraffe, which was later renamed the Robert E. Lee.
It was owned by the Confederate government and under the command of Captain Wilkerson. The ship cost $160,000 in gold and during its career, transported 7,000 bales of cotton, worth $2 million in gold.
The Lee ran the blockade 21 times before its capture in 1863.
A Nassau merchant wrote that a ship ran the blockade twice, it would have paid for itself, and "After that the Yankees can have it."
The Navy records show that 1,504 blockade runners were captured or destroyed during the war.
Blockade Running, a Little-Known Aspect of the War. --Old Blockade-Runner
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
