Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "james-bulloch"

The Lion and the Fox: Two Rival Spies and the Secret Plot to Build a Confederate Navy by Alexander Rose

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


When civil war comes to the United States, the Union possesses forty-two warships of various sizes. The Confederate States of America have one. Their attorney general, Judah Benjamin, wants to change this and he knows just the man to accomplish this, James Bulloch is not your run-of-the-mill sea captain; in addition to the usual skills of an officer, he is knowledgeable about the latest nautical technology (steam) and has helped to build ships. More importantly, he is least likely to be seen as someone the Union should be leery of. He works for a Northern steam company. He’s a civilian. He has no land in the South. He seems innocuous, because he keeps personal opinions to himself. In reality, he is Southern born and bred and he possesses just the right traits to make him the right man for the job: guile, cunning, restraint, and obscurity.

Late in 1861, Thomas Dudley and his family arrive in Liverpool, England. It is a city with a vicious and volcanic reputation, teeming with people of ill repute. It is the last place the devout Quaker wants to be, but he has little choice. He is the new American counsel and is determined to do whatever he can to abolish slavery. One of his tasks is to doggedly pursue Bulloch and prevent him from carrying out his mission for the Confederacy.

Lacking the necessities to build their own navy, the Confederacy must go overseas to gain a fleet of modern, deadly vessels. To that end, Bulloch and Benjamin devise a three-point plan. Bulloch’s first objective is to purchase blockade-runners that will smuggle in needed weaponry and ammunition. Then he will acquire commerce-raiders capable of harassing Union merchant ships to such an extent that President Lincoln will have to reassign vessels currently on blockade duty to hunt down enemy ships. Finally, Bulloch will design and have built two ironclad warships capable of causing untold damage and confusion to the United States Navy. The ultimate goal is to gain British support as a Confederate ally. He and Benjamin think these are highly achievable outcomes. There is just one flaw: the Union knows the who and what. They just don’t know where Bulloch is. But Dudley is determined to thwart them no matter what.

This book contains a few pictures of key people and ships, as well as a double-page spread showing 1860s’ Liverpool. Notes, a bibliography, and an index are also included. Readers get to see how Bulloch operated and how Dudley finally pierced his “wall of secrecy.” The final chapter explains what happened to each principal player.

Readers familiar with the history of the Confederate navy may know about some of the ships that Bulloch acquires. After all, one of them is the most famous and successful commerce raider CSS Alabama, captained by Rafael Semmes. What may be both new and illuminating are the behind-the-scenes sly scheming and artful trickery, or the Union’s diligent pursuit of Bulloch. Rose deftly weaves together characters and elements to craft a true account of espionage and counterespionage: a quintessential maverick, a lace-and-chandelier front man, a private investigator, a mole in the Foreign Office, a drunk captain who runs into a coal brig, a rooster that crows at a critical moment, legal manipulation, arms trafficking, racism, phantom ships, mutiny, a sea duel, bigamy, and betrayal.


(This review originally appeared at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/adultpirat...)




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