During the American Civil War Wilmington, North Carolina and the Bermudian ports of St. Georges and Hamilton served as vital links in a complex trading network that developed to facilitate the exchange of southern agricultural products for war materials and civilian merchandise through a Union blockade of the Confederacy. Although that material contributed significantly to the Confederate war effort, Anglo-Confederate blockade running has received limited scholarly attention. Much of the associated literature is based on memoirs rather than scholarship and does not accurately, reflect that necessarily clandestine trade. The primary goal of this thesis is to produce a more comprehensive and detailed picture of blockade running, the cargoes carried through the Union blockade and the powerful steam vessels that made Anglo-Confederate commerce possible. Unlike previous treatments, this thesis combines the results of both archival and archaeological research. The results illustrate the evolution of strategies involved in both establishing and maintaining the blockade and those developed for running the blockade. Assessment of the vessel remains and historical data associated with the construction and procurement of steamers identifies the vessel types and confirms that blockade runners adapted extant technology. Contrary to the popularly held impression, no technological innovations were specifically developed to address the demands of the trade. The spatial distribution of wrecks and the minimal amount of cultural material surviving in association with them, provides strong evidence that cargoes were more valuable than the vessels. That premise influenced the strategy adopted by blockade runners. While Confederate salvors left little evidence of cargo, historical research revealed a wealth of new insight into the specific nature of that material. This new evidence provides a more accurate and detailed picture of Anglo- Confederate blockade running and the strategies, ships and cargoes that made blockade running between Wilmington and Bermuda a success.

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Spenser Walpole in beginning his life of Lord Russell says that it is the common practice of biographers to anticipate the story of their hero's life by tracing the achievements of his immediate ancestors; and this custom which is perhaps justified by the increasing attention which thoughtful men are paying to the modern doctrine of heredity may at first sight seem peculiarly applicable to the present memoir, for if the qualities of a man be really derived from his forefathers, the eminence of Lord John Russell may be traced to circumstances antecedant to his birth. So the writer believes it to be a necessary complement in tracing Lord Palmerston's attitude during the American Civil War to trace also the antecedants of that policy and so perhaps anticipate the subsequent attitude. It is with this belief that he has essayed in this thesis to go behind the diplomatic relations during the American Civil War and determine whether there was any evidence previous which would tend to explain his subsequent attitude. Accordingly any event which throws light on his actions has been given due consideration.

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This thesis examined the movements of Rufus King's Federal division during a portion of the Second Manassas Campaign. With an emphasis on the role of John Gibbon's brigade, this study concentrated on the battle fought on the evening of August 28, 1862 near Groveton, Virginia between King's division and two Confederate divisions under Stonewall Jackson. Events leading up to file battle, poor cooperation between the Union generals and the faulty deployment by Jackson were stressed, as was the severity of the fighting.The withdrawal of King's division following the battle was portrayed as an important strategic error which allowed the two wings of the Confederate army to unite the following day. Although the Union troops fought Jackson's larger force to a draw, poor leadership by the Union generals resulted in tide loss of the advantages gained by the fighting. The Battle at Brawner Farm was an important event in the campaign, although it has generally been overlooked by historians.

The Crying of the Blood is a collection of short stories with the two characters Mariah and Mary, born one hundred years apart, who deal with the challenges of life dealt them. Through descriptive language and the strong presence of place and setting, the author explores the under-girding strength of human nature in dealing with the external and internal pressures of the various forms of war and its aftermath. By examining the effects of the human condition through inherited and acquired traits passed to succeeding descendents of the characters, the author exposes the foibles of human nature. People live a specific way and repeat patterns of thinking and choosing without knowing why or stopping to consider the ensuing results of their actions. The collection of stories reveals the dark shadows of the Civil War that continue to shape the Southern culture and also the enduring strength and charm of the people and their traditions.This collection of stories is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a figment of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Resemblances to actual people, settings, and events are purely coincidental. / Department of English

The Anglo-Confederate mercantile house of Fraser, Trenholm and Company played an important, even vital role in the Confederate war effort. Recognizing its inferiority to the North in terms of manufacturing facilities, capital, and foreign trade, the Southern Confederacy relied upon British commercial interests and an ideology of free trade to overcome this disadvantage. Fraser, Trenholm and Company was a driving force in the formulation of this unique alliance between the Confederate government and private British business interests. The wartime experience of Fraser, Trenholm and Company illustrates the fundamental flaws in Confederate financial policy. The blockade running trade, the outward manifestation of the Anglo-Confederate alliance, although successful, could not be controlled by the Confederacy, and the free trade ideology prevented reform of the trade until it was too late. / Department of History

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