. The blockade and the cruisers / y James russell Soley . line; but between the two lies Smiths Island, a long strip ofsand and shoal, with the headland of Caj)e Fear projectingfar out at the southern extremity. Continuing the line ofCape Fear, the dangerous Frying Pan Shoals extend out tenmiles farther, making the distance by water between thetwo entrances little short of forty miles. Each of the channels was protected by strong works, andeach required a separate blockading force. Smithville, asmall town on the Cape Fear Biver about equidistant fromthe two entrances, was the point of departur
. The blockade and the cruisers / y James russell Soley . line; but between the two lies Smiths Island, a long strip ofsand and shoal, with the headland of Caj)e Fear projectingfar out at the southern extremity. Continuing the line ofCape Fear, the dangerous Frying Pan Shoals extend out tenmiles farther, making the distance by water between thetwo entrances little short of forty miles. Each of the channels was protected by strong works, andeach required a separate blockading force. Smithville, asmall town on the Cape Fear Biver about equidistant fromthe two entrances, was the point of departure of the blockade-runners. Dropping down from Wilmington to this place, theycould here await their opportunity and take their choice be-tween the main channel and New Inlet, whichever seemed atthe moment most favorable. Neither presented any seriousdifficulties to the navigator, though vessels entering from 92 THE BLOCKADE AND THE CRUISERS. the south were occasionally caught on the Lump, a roundshoal in the channel. To the north of New Inlet, on Federal. Entrances to Cape Fear River. Point, was Fort Fisher. Fort Caswell overlooked, in thesame way, the mouth of the river. Each of the blockadingsquadrons, obliged to keep out of range of the forts, was THE ATLANTIC SQUADRONS. 93 stationed in a semicircle, ten miles or more in length, withits extremities near the shore. The forts kept a sharp look-out, and if a stray blockader ventured in too far, he wasquickly apprised of it by a shell, and made to keep his dis-tance. The blockade-runners, sighting the land toward even-ing, would wait outside until it was dark, and then, mak-ing a dash at full speed through the fleet, would be underthe guns of the fort in a twinkling, and safe from a port, so protected, it was almost impossible to close,and fast vessels could slip in past the most vigilant it was at Wilmington that blockade-runningmaintained itself longest and most actively, after it hadnearly ceased
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectuniteds, bookyear1883
