Here is some other stuff to research. According to report’s in the New York Times, special correspondent, Charleston. In the days following South Carolina take over of Fort Sumter, only ships flying the Palmetto flag would be aloud to enter the harbor. It does not say how long those orders lasted but there was ships that flew the British and French colors in the harbor about a year later.

This from London & New York papers: The blockade runner Florida came out of Mobile in 1863 with a load of cotton heading for Cuba & Nassau. The Florida pickup cargo there and did runs up and down the Atlantic, including South America trading cotton with the British, French, Spanish & Mexico. After the Florida was lost, Captain John Newland Maffit started his old tricks again with the blockade runner Owl, out of Mobile. The Owl was almost captured in North Carolina but the signals from Fort Fisher were not quit right and he headed for Charleston. His last run with the Owl was to Galveston. The Owl ran out of the blockade of Galveston as the Foam, with a new Captain flying British colors. This comes from an interview with Maffit in a Galveston newspaper. The Florida did a lot of privateering as note by the capture of several Union ships.

The blockade runner Charlotte also ran the blockade of Mobile with a load of cotton and traded with the British. The Charlotte in one account from the London paper, was in Charleston with a load of goods from Bermuda and was expected back in Bermuda with a load of cotton from South Carolina or Georgia. The America also ran the Gulf and Atlantic as a blockade runner. It was damaged coming out of Mobile and made its way to the ST. Johns river for repairs, it sank in the river. The best part of the story of the America is post war. It seems that the owner made repairs and entered it in a yacht race that a British yacht club was having and won. A British yacht club member purchased the America for $5,000 after the race.

Anyway here a little evidence that the Iowa South Carolina pattern flag may have been made in Mobile for use by a blockade runner doing business along the east coast of the Confederacy.

I’m still going through boxes of xeroxed copies of newspapers I collected and may find other articles.

Happy Trails!
Tom Martin