It was largely due to Captain James D. Bulloch’s adroit diplomatic relationship with the British government and shipbuilding industry that the Confederate Navy was able to put to sea three of the most successful commerce raiders in naval history. He was also instrumental in acquiring what became the Confederate commerce raider Georgia in Scotland. Bulloch’s four British-built commerce raiders are credited with capturing or sinking 170 U.S. merchant ships and helped to substantially reduce the effectiveness of the Union blockade of Southern ports. These and four other Confederate commerce raiders captured or destroyed a total of 236 Union ships. In addition, they caused American shippers to sell as many as 1,800 merchant ships to British and other foreign owners in order to avoid the risk of capture by Confederate cruisers. By the end of the war, only eight Confederate commerce raiders had caused more than half of the U.S. merchant fleet to disappear.
Seldom in history have so few ships and men had such an enormous impact for the cause of their country.
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