Burning of the Night HawkFrontispiece[iv]
Chart of Wilmington Harbour and ApproachesPage[45]
Portrait of Colonel LambTo face page[56]
Banshee chased by James AdgerTo face page[78]
Will-o'-the-wisp's Dash for WilmingtonTo face page[106]
Banshee No. 2 Running the Gauntlet of the Galveston Blockading Squadron in DaylightTo face page[156]
Map of the East Coast of North America[At end]

CHAPTER I
HOW I BEGAN

Feeling in Liverpool—Declaration of blockade—Its immediate

result—Effect on trade in Liverpool—The theory of

blockades—Attitude of the Federal States—Seaboard of the

Seceding States—The Federal Navy—Energy of the Northern

States—Additions to the Federal Fleet—Position of the

Southerners at sea—Want of building yards and material—Commerce

destroyers—The Merrimac and the Monitor—The Alabama