The Salvador affair: Anatomy of a Confederate naval expedition to Central America

This thesis examines the Confederate Navy's piratical assault on the merchant steamer Salvador. It argues that conditions in 1864 led Rebel Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory to approve an operation that would have been dismissed earlier in the war as detrimental to the Southern cause. He endorsed the creation of a commando force that, disguised as a civilian unit, would travel to Central America, embark upon an American-owned passenger ship, and seize control of it on the high seas. Mallory instructed the conspirators to convert their prize into a Confederate cruiser, singling out New England whalers operating in the Pacific and the bullion-laden California steamers as primary targets. He clung to the illusion that damaging northern maritime interests would somehow convince the war-weary Federals that a peace settlement was preferable to the continued deprivations of the Civil War. Other topics discussed include the Chapman, Chesapeake, Gerrity, and Roanoke affairs.