New Books Network Beau Cleland, "Between King Cotton and Queen Victoria: How Pirates, Smugglers, and Scoundrels Almost Saved the Confederacy" (U Georgia Press, 2025)
Dec 7, 2025
Beau Cleland, a historian and assistant professor, delves into his book, exploring how informal networks of pirates, smugglers, and scoundrels significantly influenced the Confederacy during the Civil War. He reveals how these private actors facilitated blockade-running that was crucial for the South's survival. Cleland discusses the miscalculations of 'King Cotton' diplomacy, the challenges of Confederate supply chains, and even connects these networks to John Wilkes Booth's assassination of Lincoln. His insights recast the war as a hemispheric affair shaped by these hidden alliances.
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Blockade Forced Confederate Dependence
- The Union blockade quickly turned from symbolic to strategically crippling for the Confederacy by late 1861.
- That forced the South to rely on fast steamers and informal transatlantic networks to import weapons and supplies.
Cotton As Confederate Currency
- Cotton became the Confederacy's primary currency for buying arms and equipment in Europe.
- Lack of hard specie and diplomatic recognition made cotton-based commerce and blockade running essential.
Family Ties Helped Logistics
- Many Bahamian elites traced family and trade ties to the antebellum American South, maintaining kinship networks.
- Key West merchants and Bahamian figures like Henry Adderley coordinated early Confederate shipments through these ties.
