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978-0-89587-213-5
0-89587-213-7
$14.95 paperback
6" x 9"
227 pages black-and-white photographs, maps, appendix, bibliography,
index
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In mid-1863, the small city
of Wilmington, North Carolina, found itself facing a difficult task: it
had to supply Robert E. Lee's army if the South was to continue the
Civil War. Guns, ammunition, clothing, and food had to be brought into
the Confederacy from Europe, and Wilmington was the last open port.
Knowing this, the Union amassed a formidable blockading force off
storied Cape Fear.
What followed was a contest
unique in the annals of warfare. The blockade runners went unarmed, lest
their crews be tried as pirates if captured. Neither did the Union fleet
wish to sink the runners, as rich prizes were the reward for captured
cargoes. The battle was thus one of wits and stealth more than blood and
glory. As the Union naval presence grew stronger, the new breed of
blockade runners got faster, quieter, lower to the water, and altogether
more ghostly--and their crews more daring and resourceful.
Today, the remains of nearly
three dozen runners lie beneath the waters of the Cape Fear, their exact
whereabouts known only to a few fishermen and boaters. Built for a
special mission at a brief moment in time, they faded into history after
the war. There had never been ships like the blockade runners, and their
kind will never be seen again. Gray Phantoms of the Cape Fear
tells the story of their captains, their crews, their cargoes, their
opponents, and their many unbelievable escapes.
about the author
Dawson Carr grew up in Stedman, North Carolina, and holds a Ph. D.
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retired from his
positions as instructor and associate dean at Sandhills Community
College, he is the author of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse: Sentinel of
the Shoals. He lives at Seven Lakes in West End, North Carolina.
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