Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 3.

[585] they had dedicated their lives, proved false to their flag which they had sworn to protect, and to the Government which had confided in their honor. and relied on their fidelity, to sustain it in conflict and peril.¹

Notwithstanding this condition of the naval service, the decree went forth, in the spring of 1861, that all the ports of the States wherein rebellion existed, must be closed against commerce, by a strict blockade. Foreign nations protested and menaced, but the work was done. There were no dock-yards or workmen adequate to construct the vessels needed for the service, yet, such was the energy of the Department, in the hands of Mr. Fox, that an unrelaxing blockade was maintained for four years, from the capes of the Chesapeake to the Rio Grande, while a flotilla of gun-boats, protecting and aiding the army in its movements, penetrated and patroled our rivers, through an internal navigation almost continental, from the Potomac to the Mississippi. Ingenuity and mechanical skill developed amazing inventions. That marine monster, the Monitor, was created, and began a new era in naval warfare; and the world was suddenly enriched by new discoveries in naval service. Vessels of the merchant service were purchased and changed into strong warriors; and men from that service were invited to officer and man them. Schools were established for nautical instruction; dock-yards were enlarged and filled with workmen; and very soon a large number of vessels were afloat, watching the harbors under the ban. The places of the traitors were quickly filled by better men from the merchant marine, educated, and vastly more efficient, who promptly volunteered their services, in many instances at great pecuniary sacrifice, to fight the battles of the Union. About 7,500 of these gallant spirits, after examination, received appointments, and were employed in the navy; and the rank and file in the service, numbering 7,600, when the war broke out, numbered 51,500 when it closed. The aggregate of artisans and laborers in the navy-yards was 3,844 at the beginning; at the end the number was 16,880, exclusive of almost an equal number then employed in private ship-yards and establishments, under contracts. No less than 208 war vessels were constructed, and most of them fitted out during the four years; and 418 vessels were purchased and converted into war-ships. Of these, 313 were steamers, the whole costing nearly $19,000,000.²

The blockading service was performed with great vigor and efficiency under the triple stimulus of patriotism, duty, and personal emolument. The British Government professed to be neutral, but British merchants and adventurers were allowed to send swarms of swift-winged steamers, laden with arms, ammunition, clothing, and every thing needed by the insurgents, to run the blockade. The profits of such operations were enormous, but the risks were equally so; and it is believed that a true balance-sheet would show no profits left, in the aggregate, with the foreign violators of law. The number of such vessels captured or destroyed during the Rebellion, by the National Navy, was 1,504. The gross proceeds of property captured and condemned as lawful prize before the first of November following the close of