The military prowess of the Confederate States of America ultimately did not matter; the South lost the Civil War. But the south's forces on land and sea made the federal government's efforts to restore order very hard work.
The forces at sea included the CSS Alabama, a ship that raided both merchant and Union naval ships. The Alabama was well-traveled, built near Liverpool and never actually docking in Southern port.
The tale of its pursuit--all the way to France--is told in a book by the late Phil Keith and Tom Clavin; To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the South's Most Feared Ship—and the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War.
Tom Clavin returns to the Exchange with this his latest historic story.