This week in the news, a civil war blockade runner has been found off the coast of North Carolina, on the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. The vessel has been tentatively identified as the Agnes E. Fry. If it is the Fry, her captain Joseph Fry may have survived running the Union blockade but was executed for blockade running by the Spanish.
In 1873, Joseph Fry was hired to run supplies to aid the Cuban rebellion on the high-speed side-wheel steamer Virginius. He was informed by the U. S. Consol that he would be shot if he was captured. Fry didn't believe it. During the Civil War, captured blockade runners were treat like POWs.
On October 30, 1873, the Virginius was captured. The entire crew was tried by a court martial as pirates and sentenced to death. Fry's letters to his wife, children and attempts to exonerate his inexperienced crew were published. Fry, who became known as "The Cuban Martyr" and 52 men paid with their lives for Fry's misjudgment.
To avoid war over the "Virginius Affair", 91 of the remaining crew members were returned to the US. Spain paid reparations to the families of the Americans executed. Additional money was raised for Fry's wife and seven children.
Image is of Wreck of Blockade-Runner, Sullivan's Island, SC; 1865
While most of the memorable battles were fought on land, the role of the Navy in fighting blockade runners was critical. At the start of the war the Union enacted the “Anaconda Plan” which attempted to squeeze the South by restricting her ability to conduct trade. The Union Navy posted 500 ships along the 3500 mile Southern coastline, effectively halting all Southern trade.
As a counter measure, the South enlisted the help of Great Britain (who was highly dependent on Southern goods, particularly cotton) to run the blockade. The British introduced long, narrow steamships designed for speed, not for combat. With little or no arms or armor, the ships could dart in and out of the Southern ports. Some made as many as 20 trips, without capture. By war's end the Union Navy had captured 1,100 and destroyed or ran aground anothe
