<P> The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861 , and required the monitoring of 3,500 miles ( 5,600 km ) of Atlantic and Gulf coastline , including 12 major ports , notably New Orleans and Mobile . Those blockade runners fast enough to evade the Union Navy could only carry a small fraction of the supplies needed . They were operated largely by British citizens , making use of neutral ports such as Havana , Nassau and Bermuda . The Union commissioned around 500 ships , which destroyed or captured about 1,500 blockade runners over the course of the war . </P>
<P> The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861 , and required the monitoring of 3,500 miles ( 5,600 km ) of Atlantic and Gulf coastline , including 12 major ports , notably New Orleans and Mobile . Those blockade runners fast enough to evade the Union Navy could only carry a small fraction of the supplies needed . They were operated largely by British citizens , making use of neutral ports such as Havana , Nassau and Bermuda . The Union commissioned around 500 ships , which destroyed or captured about 1,500 blockade runners over the course of the war . </P>
where was the union blockade during the civil war
where was the union blockade during the civil war
3,500 miles ( 5,600 km ) of Atlantic and Gulf coastline , including 12 major ports , notably New Orleans and Mobile
3,500 miles ( 5,600 km ) of Atlantic and Gulf coastline , including 12 major ports , notably New Orleans and Mobile