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| A
model of the CSS Alabama - this originally resided in Cammel
Lairds but is now on display at the Williamson Art Gallery &
Wirral Museums. |
One
of many local connections with America was courtesy of … a spy!
The
American Civil War impacted heavily on Liverpool - because cotton
from the American South came through this port, to supply the mills
of Lancashire.
Of course, the Union’s blockade effectively stopped that trade,
mills became idle, and no work meant no pay in those days.
(The United States attempted to repair the damage caused by their
blockade by sending food supplies to relieve some of the suffering..
A Southern Grand Bazaar was held in St. George’s Hall, in Liverpool’s
famous Lime Street, to raise money to help the thousands of wounded
in America’s southern lands. Each stall represented one of the southern
states, and in just 5 days, £20,000 was raised.)
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Did
you know that?
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By
the end of the 18th Century trade had assumed such proportions
that an American Chamber of Commerce was set up in Liverpool
in 1801.
It lasted 100 years.
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At
the outbreak of the War, the North had an enormous advantage over
the South in terms of manufacture, men and arms, and the blockade
was thrown around the southern ports to stop supplies coming in.
The South needed to break that blockade, but she was short of ships.
Enter
the man - the so called "spy" - who arrived here on 4th June
l861. James D. Bulloch, from
Georgia.
He
had been instructed by the Government of the South to travel to
Liverpool, in secret, carrying no documents that might reveal his
purpose, because it was against British law to supply any foreign
warring faction with armed ships; and it was important to stop the
United States from finding out their plans.
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Did
you know that?
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In
l834 Cammell Laird built the first iron paddle steamer for
America - the John Randolph - which was sent over in pieces
to be assembled.
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Arriving
in Liverpool, Bulloch met with
Charles Prioleau of Fraser Trenholm & Co, cotton merchants, with
offices at 10 Rumford Place.
This was a sister company to Charles Fraser of Charleston, South
Carolina, the first of the Southern States to break away from the
Union.
Bulloch
first commissioned the Liverpool shipbuilders William C. Miller
& Sons to build a vessel. The rumour was put about that she was
to be a merchant vessel for an Italian company, and was even given
an Italian sounding name Oreto.
But
once out of British waters and into Caribbean waters she was turned
into a fighting ship, and renamed CSS Florida.
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