Union blockade: Difference between revisions

Blockade service was attractive to Federal seamen and landsmen alike. Blockade station service was considered the most boring job in the war but also the most attractive in terms of potential financial gain. The task was for the fleet to sail back and forth to intercept any blockade runners. More than 50,000 men volunteered for the boring duty, because food and living conditions on ship were much better than the [[infantry]] offered, the work was safer, and especially because of the real (albeit small) chance for big money. Captured ships and their cargoes were sold at auction and the proceeds split among the sailors. When [[USS Eolus (1864)|''Eolus'']] seized the hapless blockade runner ''Hope'' off [[Wilmington, North Carolina]], in late 1864, the captain won $13,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|13000|1864|r=0}}}} today), the chief engineer $6,700, the seamen more than $1,000 each, and the cabin boy $533, compared to infantry pay of $13 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|13|1864|r=0}}}} today) per month.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N10JAA-NKtoC&q=union+blockade+Aeolus+hope |title=The Civil War in North Carolina |via=Google Books |date= 1995|access-date=June 8, 2010|isbn=978-0-8078-4520-2 |last1=Barrett |first1=John G. }}</ref>{{Page needed|date=June 2024}} The amount garnered for a [[prize of war]] widely varied. While the little ''Alligator'' sold for only $50, bagging the ''Memphis'' brought in $510,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|510000|1864|r=0}}}} today) (about what 40 civilian workers could earn in a lifetime of work). In four years, $25&nbsp;million in [[prize money]] (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|25000000|1864|r=0}}}} today) was awarded.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} One sailor, [[Benjamin Jackson (sailor)|Benjamin Jackson]], earned $900 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|900|1864|r=0}}}} today) after one year with the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.<ref>{{cite book| first = Richard M. | last = Reid | title = African Canadians in Union Blue: Volunteering for the Cause in the Civil War | publisher = [[UBC Press]] | location = Vancouver, British Columbia | year = 2014 | isbn = 978-0-7748-2745-4 | url = https://www.google.com/books/edition/African_Canadians_in_Union_Blue/bi9nAwAAQBAJ | pages = 69, 198}}</ref>