hathitrust digital library, p.d.
Mersey. What can definitively be stated is that, after its arrival, White and Crossan went to work on their tasks for North Carolina and Wyllie found himself at the helm of the Lord Clyde, the steamer purchased by White for the mission. Lord Clyde had been recently launched by Caird and Company of Greenock, originally intended for the Dublin–Glasgow route. Like many such vessels working the rivers Clyde and Mersey, it was eyed by Confederate officials and privateers alike as an ideal blockade runner. Its machinery was of the latest design and, thanks to its feathered paddles and a sleek hull, the steamer could reach eighteen knots in open water. This was considerably faster than almost anything the US Navy might be able to throw at it. Her large holds could carry ample supplies of both cargo and coal, while extra bales of cotton could be stacked and lashed on deck for the return runs out of the South. On 21 May 1863, Wyllie took the steamer from Glasgow and headed for Nassau, beginning his fifteen-month association with the vessel. Soon afterwards, the ship was renamed Ad-Vance, and it would go on to make more than a dozen successful runs through the blockade of Wilmington. With Wyllie recorded in the ship’s papers as Ad-Vance’s captain on this first voyage, the new owners might have some cover if the vessel were caught and searched by Union warships during the long sprint across the Atlantic. Not long after this passage, Crossan is listed as “in command,” 16
but Wyllie had experience that neither Crossan nor the ship’s later captain, Guthrie, could offer. The Scotsman had served in some of the most modern steamers to come out of the Liverpool and Glasgow yards, and his knowledge of the latest boiler, engine, and paddle technology would have been invaluable to the Confederate officers, who were more accustomed to larger naval ships. Wyllie was officially granted full command of the steamer on 29 February 1864. After guiding the steamer to Liverpool in May 1864 for badly needed repairs, he was presented with a gold chronometer with an etching of the vessel on the cover, which had been commissioned for him by the grateful owners. Joseph Flanner, agent for the State of North Carolina in England at the time, wrote to Governor Vance on the occasion of Wyllie assuming command, commenting that “Captain Wyllie has done well for the ship and a better commander cannot be had for her.” But Wyllie’s luck did not hold; he was at the helm when the Ad-Vance was captured by USS Santiago de Cuba on the night of September 10 as it left the Cape Fear River bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Prior to his capture, Wyllie made fifteen trips through the blockade, which ranks him as one of the most successful captains of the war. Wyllie’s personality can be teased out by studying the personal diaries, records, and recollections of his fellow crew and passengers who witnessed his seamanship and command style in action. Maybe the
courtesy north carolina museum of history
“The War in America: View of Nassau, in the British West Indies, the Depot for the Blockade-Running Trade,” printed in the Illustrated London News, 16 April 1864. The Bahamas and Bermuda saw tremendous activity as the launching points for runs through the Union blockade to southern ports. The faster blockade runners could reach Charleston or Wilmington in two or three days from either island.
Until recently, Thomas Morrow Crossan was credited as captain of the Lord Clyde when it left Glasgow. best description comes from the Reverend Moses Hoge, a passenger on the October 1863 run into Wilmington. He gave an evocative description of the man: “Captain Wyllie is a warm-hearted Scotchman ... big, burly and red-faced, full of enthusiasm, full of poetry.” There are several published accounts of Wyllie’s runs through the blockade; the most graphic accounts were described by the captain himself and appeared in a women’s magazine published in Dundee, Scotland. In addition to useful household tips, jam recipes, and romantic serialized fiction, the magazine also contained biographies of many Victorian worthies. SEA HISTORY 176, AUTUMN 2021