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Civil War Blockade Proclamation
By The President of the
United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas an insurrection against the Government of the United States
has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida. Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws of the United
States for the collection of the revenue cannot be effectually executed therein conformably to that provision
of the Constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the United
States;
And whereas a combination of persons, engaged in such insurrection,
have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, vessels,
and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas and in waters of the United States;
And whereas an Executive proclamation has been already issued requiring
the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the purpose of repressing
the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary session to deliberate and determine thereon:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States,
with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and to the protection of the public peace and the lives and property of
quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said
unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall have ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the
ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States and of the law of nations in such case provided.
For this purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid.
If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave either of the said
ports, she will be duly warned by the commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact
and date of such warning, and if the same vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port she will be captured
and sent to the nearest convenient port for such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize as may be deemed advisable.
And I hereby proclaim and declare that if any person under the pretended
authority of the said States, or under any other pretense, shall molest a vessel of the United
States, or the persons or cargo on board of her, such persons will be held amenable to the laws of the
United States for the prevention and punishment
of piracy.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington this
nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State.
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By The President of the
United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas, for the reasons assigned in my proclamation of the 19th instant,
a blockade of the ports of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas was
ordered to be established;
And whereas since that date public property of the United States has
been seized, the collection of the revenue obstructed, and duly commissioned officers of the United States while engaged in
executing the orders of their superiors have been arrested and held in custody as prisoners, or have been impeded in the discharge
of their official duties without due legal process by persons claiming to act under authorities of the States of Virginia
and North Carolina:
An efficient blockade of the ports of those States will also be established.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington this
twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence
of the United States the eighty-fifth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State
Source: The Official Records of
the War of the Rebellion
Recommended
Reading: Naval Strategies of the Civil War: Confederate Innovations and Federal Opportunism. Description: One of the most overlooked aspects of the American Civil War is the
naval strategy played out by the U.S. Navy and the fledgling Confederate Navy, which may make this the first book to compare
and contrast the strategic concepts of the Southern Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory against his Northern counterpart,
Gideon Welles. Both men had to accomplish much and were given great latitude in achieving their goals. Mallory's vision of
seapower emphasized technological innovation and individual competence as he sought to match quality against the Union Navy's
(quantity) numerical superiority. Welles had to deal with more bureaucratic structure and to some degree a national strategy
dictated by the White House. Continued below...
The naval blockade
of the South was one of his first tasks - for which he had but few ships available - and although he followed the national
strategy, he did not limit himself to it when opportunities arose. Mallory's dedication to ironclads is well known, but he
also defined the roles of commerce raiders, submarines, and naval mines. Welles's contributions to the Union effort were rooted
in his organizational skills and his willingness to cooperate with the other military departments of his government. This
led to successes through combined army and naval units in several campaigns on and around the Mississippi River.
Recommended Reading: The Confederate Navy in Europe.
Description: The Confederate Navy in Europe is an account of the Confederate officers and officials who went on missions to
Britain and France
to buy ships for the CS Navy, and to support CSN operations on the high seas, such as commerce raiding. Spencer tells the
story of how some officers rose to the occasion (some did not) and did a lot with limited resources. The majority of the ships
ordered never reached America. Shipbuilding
takes time, and as the war dragged on the European powers were persuaded by Confederate battlefield misfortunes and US diplomatic pressure that it was most expedient to deny
the sales of such innovative designs as ocean-going ironclads. Like other out-manned and out-gunned powers, the CSA did have
to resort to ingenuity and innovation.
Recommended
Reading: Civil War Navies, 1855-1883 (The
U.S. Navy Warship Series) (Hardcover).
Description: Civil War Warships, 1855-1883 is the second in the five-volume US Navy Warships encyclopedia set. This valuable
reference lists the ships of the U.S. Navy and Confederate Navy during the Civil War and the years immediately following -
a significant period in the evolution of warships, the use of steam propulsion, and the development of ordnance. Civil War
Warships provides a wealth and variety of material not found in other books on the subject and will save the reader the effort
needed to track down information in multiple sources. Continued below…
Each ship's
size and time and place of construction are listed along with particulars of naval service. The author provides historical
details that include actions fought, damage sustained, prizes taken, ships sunk, and dates in and out of commission as well
as information about when the ship left the Navy, names used in other services, and its ultimate fate. 140 photographs, including
one of the Confederate cruiser Alabama recently uncovered by the author further contribute to this
indispensable volume. This definitive record of Civil War ships updates the author's previous work and will find a lasting
place among naval reference works.
Recommended
Reading: Naval Campaigns
of the Civil War. Description: This analysis
of naval engagements during the War Between the States presents the action from the efforts at Fort Sumter during the secession
of South Carolina in 1860, through the battles in the Gulf of Mexico, on the Mississippi River, and along the eastern seaboard,
to the final attack at Fort Fisher on the coast of North Carolina in January 1865. This work provides an understanding of
the maritime problems facing both sides at the beginning of the war, their efforts to overcome these problems, and their attempts,
both triumphant and tragic, to control the waterways of the South. The Union blockade, Confederate privateers and commerce
raiders are discussed, as is the famous battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack.
Continued below…
An overview
of the events in the early months preceding the outbreak of the war is presented. The chronological arrangement of the campaigns
allows for ready reference regarding a single event or an entire series of campaigns. Maps and an index are also included.
About the Author: Paul Calore, a graduate of Johnson and Wales University,
was the Operations Branch Chief with the Defense Logistics Agency of the Department of Defense before retiring. He is a supporting
member of the U.S. Civil War Center and the Civil War Preservation Trust and has also written Land Campaigns of the Civil
War (2000). He lives in Seekonk, Massachusetts.
Recommended Reading: Lifeline
of the Confederacy: Blockade Running During the Civil War (Studies in Maritime History Series). From Library Journal: From the profusion of books about Confederate blockade
running, this one will stand out for a long time as the most complete and exhaustively researched. …Wise sets out to
provide a detailed study, giving particular attention to the blockade runners' effects on the Confederate war effort. It was,
he finds, tapping hitherto unused sources, absolutely essential, affording the South a virtual lifeline of military necessities
until the war's last days. This book covers it all: from cargoes to ship outfitting, from individuals and companies to financing
at both ends. An indispensable addition to Civil War literature.
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