DECEMBER 17, 1863:
Confederate spies,
having captured the passenger vessel S.S. CHESAPEAKE, are going to try to run
it through the Wilmington, N.C. naval blockade. The ship is captured by Union
gunboats while coaling in Nova Scotia waters. It is estimated that out of the sixty-six blockade-runners making regular trips in and out of Wilmington during the war, forty were captured or destroyed, but only after a successful career for a shorter or longer period.
