High Seas Confederate: The Life and Times of John Newland Maffitt

Before the Civil War, Maffitt (1819-1886) was recognized as one of the U.S. Navy's finest officers. After joining the Confederacy in 1861, Maffitt organized blockade-running operations from the West Indies. The high point of his career, however, was his captaincy of the commerce-raider C.S.S . Florida. In only two cruises, Maffitt took 57 prizes, wreaking over $4 million worth of damage to Union shipping. Reassigned to blockade-running in 1863, Maffitt continued to baffle Yankee captains and bring vital military cargoes into Southern ports until nearly the end of the war. Shingleton ( John Taylor Wood: Sea Ghost of the Confederacy ) highlights the legal and political aspects of Maffitt's operations, which were still imperfectly regulated by international law. Maffit's ingenuity, courage, seamanship and high-spirited leadership rendered him an ideal hero for a lost cause. Photos not seen by PW. (May)