Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog

I’d like to thank the folks who came out to the Houston Museum of Natural Science Tuesday evening to attend my talk on blockade runners. It was a good time — folks laughed where intended to, not where they weren’t, and there was lots of good Q&A at the end. I did get a little too technical on ship construction and machinery, though, and I oughter watch out for that in the future. Not everyone is that interested in frame spacing and entrance lines.

I’d also like to thank the folks who made my talk possible, particularly Amy Potts from HMNS and Ed Cotham. Thanks, y’all!

One thing that I didn’t have a chance to do, using the format of the talk, was to provide a list of suggested readings. And so:

• J. Barto Arnold III. The Denbigh‘s Civilian Imports: Customs Records of a Civil War Blockade Runner between Mobile and Havana. College Station, Texas: Institute of Nautical Archaeology, 2011.
• W.T. Block, Schooner Sail to Starboard: The US Navy vs. Blockade Runners in the Western Gulf of Mexico. College Station, Texas: Institute of Nautical Archaeology, 2007.
• Eric J. Graham. Clyde Built: Blockade Runners, Cruisers and Armoured Rams of the American Civil War. London: Birlinn Ltd, 2008.
• Thomas E. Taylor, Running the Blockade: A Personal Narrative of Adventures, Risks and Escapes during the American Civil War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995.
• Rodman L. Underwood, Waters of Discord: The Union Blockade of Texas During the Civil War. McFarland, 2008.
• William Watson, The Civil War Adventures of a Blockade Runner. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 2001.
• Stephen R. Wise. Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running during the Civil War. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1991.