Way Stops to Confederate Ports Nassau and Bermuda were much more than convenient coaling stations for the blockade runners. Early in the war, when cargoes were brought directly from England to Confederate ports, it was quickly established that the ships carrying them could legally be seized by the Federal Navy. Nor was it enough merely to put in briefly at Bermuda or Nassau, for a long recognized ruling of British prize courts (called the Doctrine of Continuous Voyage) still made the ships subject to capture. The temporary stop at the islands did not break the continuity of a voyage which was obviously intended to terminate at a Confederate port. In an effort to get around this legal barrier, large British oceangoing ships were used to bring cargoes from England to the islands. There title to the goods was changed to a new owner, and the merchandise was transferred to small fast shallow draft blockade runners which took the cargoes into a Confederate port. In this way, the risk was reduced to only a small part of the voyage, and that part was covered by ships designed especially for the work. United States courts soon ruled that the entire voyage was a subterfuge and that the ships and cargoes were therefore still subject to seizure. But the idea of transferring cargoes to smaller, faster vessels made such good economic sense (because the blockade runners cost much less than the bigger ships) that the practice was continued. Trade boomed in the two island ports, and the people there, with profits piling up rapidly, were so enthusiastically pro- Confederate that Federal officials were sometimes booed and even attacked in the streets. At first, Nassau was the most-often used port. Then, during the year 1863, Bermuda was the chief base of operations. After that, Nassau again became more popular. The Confederate Government stationed agents in these and other Caribbean ports to expedite the flow of goods. Havana also was used as a way station, but British ports were generally preferred. Before the war, both Nassau and Bermuda had been sleepy, unimportant little places where the natives dwelt in semi poverty. But with the coming of the blockade running trade, the island towns blossomed into lively, free-spending seaports where the sudden flush of prosperity changed the living habits of the entire population. Frank Vandiver describes wartime Bermuda in his _Confederate Blockade Running Through Bermuda:_ "Life in Bermuda took on a note of high gaiety as the blockade runners flocked to the islands. Mrs. Norman Walker [wife of a Confederate agent] maintained a perennial open house for the South's supporters and the Bourne's 'Rose Hill,' overlooking St. George's harbor, ebbed and flowed tides of Confederate agents and naval officers. The young girls of the islands arranged many social functions to which the young officers were invariably invited, and many of them were so fortunate as to receive invitations to some of the old homes on the islands. They found that 'St. George's became not only a harbor of refuge, but a pleasant resting place after the excitement and fatigue of an outward voyage. Crates marked 'merchandise' jammed W.L. Penno's warehouse. Kegs of 'nails' and cases of 'combustibles' filled J.W. Musson's warehouse, and that of Bourne, himself, bulged with gray cloth, shoes, blankets, and commissary stores. St. George's, along with most other cities booming with war business, had its bad spots. The vast numbers of sailors crowding the streets of St. George's were out for a good time while on shore leave. They had plenty of money that came easily with running the blockade, and they were not afraid to spend it rapidly. Bermuda boasted excellent rum and many good places to drink. St. George's offered, in addition, the diversion of the famous 'Shinbone Alley,' at the base of the road to Barrack Hill. Here the sailors could spend their nights and their money for all types of diversion, and consequently here they congregated." ROSE O'NEAL GREENHOW Rose, a Lady Confederate Spy lived and worked in Washington, D.C. helped win the Battle of Bull Run by sending secret dispatches to Beauregard. She spent six months in Old Capitol Prison and was then allowed to go to Richmond. The Confederate Government paid her $2500 from secret service funds and sent her to England where she wrote and published her book. Life in Nassau was very much the same as in Bermuda, but perhaps even livelier. Despite the convenience of using these island way stops, some ships continued to run into Confederate ports with cargoes from England. One of them, a new blockade runner named the Condor, went first to Halifax in September 1864 and then attempted to enter the Cape Fear River to reach Wilmington. She carried two distinguished passengers. One was James B. Holcombe, Confederate Commissioner to Great Britain, who boarded the ship at Halifax after leaving Niagara Fails where he had made an unsuccessful effort to negotiate peace. The other was the romantic looking Confederate spy, Mrs. Rose O'Neal Greenhow. While in London she had published a book about her experiences and was bringing with her the money it had earned, about $2000 in gold which she carried in a leather bag. Word of the Condor's destination had been telegraphed from Halifax to Washington, and the Federal fleet had been alerted. When the blockade runner tried to enter New Inlet in heavy weather on October 1, the USS Niphon was waiting for her. In the chase, the Condor nearly collided with the hull of a blockade runner which had been wrecked the night before, and in trying to avoid the unexpected obstacle, ran aground. The guns of Fort Fisher held back the Federal warship, but huge waves quickly broke up the stranded ship. Rose O'Neil Greenhow insisted on being put ashore in a small boat which quickly overturned. Its rowers succeeded in getting to the beach, but Mrs. Greenhow was drowned. The heavy bag of gold she had chained to herself probably contributed to her death. Her body was washed ashore and was found by a Confederate sailor who appropriated the gold but later, conscience stricken, turned it over to the authorities. This took place at 'Cape Fear', Wilmington, NC and, yes, she has descendants living today. Kind Regards, Maury