Florida’s Blockade Runners
How Florida’s Endless Coastline Became a Lifeline to Cuba and the World
Florida’s difficult geography made it hard to defend and easy to slip through.
On a moonless night on Florida’s Gulf coast, a low, fast steamer slipped out of a hidden river mouth and turned toward open water, with no running lights and no unnecessary noise. Somewhere past the bar a Union warship was patrolling, and the captain knew that success or capture came down to darkness, speed and knowing this coastline better than the men hunting him. Scenes like this played out along Florida’s shore during the Civil War, and the men behind them became some of the state’s most colorful wartime figures.
Why Florida Was Hard to Seal
After President Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of Confederate ports in April 1861, the Union Navy faced an enforcement problem of staggering scale. Florida has about 1,350 miles of general coastline by the commonly cited modern measure, with bays, river mouths and shallow inlets that large ships could not patrol continuously. The Union’s answer on the Gulf side was the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, headquartered at Key West and created in early 1862. It was a large assignment for a modest force, and early in the war there were not enough ships to close every gap.
Cuba made the trade practical. Havana lay close enough to Florida’s Gulf ports that a fast steamer could make the round trip in days rather than weeks, which gave the Confederacy one of its shorter routes to the outside world.
What Moved Through the Blockade
Cargo moved both ways. Outbound went cotton, cattle, turpentine and tobacco, and selling them in Havana brought funds and credit. Inbound went goods the Confederacy could not easily produce. One modern account lists medical supplies, food, cigars, machinery, clothing and shoes, though the volume of this trade is poorly documented.
Confederate leaders also hoped Cuba might lead to broader relations with Spain. In July 1861 the Confederacy sent an emissary, Charles J. Helm, to Havana, but Spain worked to preserve its neutrality and banned the sale of weapons and ammunition to Confederates, even as informal commercial trade continued.
The Scottish Chief and James McKay
One of the best-known Florida stories involves the steamer Scottish Chief, owned by James McKay Sr., the Tampa cattle shipper who served as the city’s mayor in 1859 and 1860. McKay had shipped cattle to Cuba since the late 1850s. A Tampa historical marker credits him with slipping through the blockade six times, but in October 1861 a Union ship seized him and his vessel. He was held at Key West until March 1862 and paroled after swearing an oath of allegiance, according to a City of Tampa biography.
The Union later targeted Tampa’s blockade runners directly. In the Battle of Fort Brooke, October 16–18, 1863, Union gunboats bombarded the fort from the bay. As a diversion, a landing party came ashore at Ballast Point on October 18 and marched about fourteen miles to the Hillsborough River, where McKay’s Scottish Chief and the sloop Kate Dale lay at the Jean Street shipyard. The raiders burned both vessels and withdrew, and Confederate soldiers and militia engaged them on the way back. Sources differ on the size of the Union party and on casualties. McKay’s role in Confederate cattle supply was contested, and scholars still debate it.
The Lighthouse Lamp of Egmont Key
A smaller story concerns a lighthouse lamp. In August 1861, with Union ships away, the keeper of the Egmont Key light fled to Tampa. One account says local pro-Confederate militia removed the lamp and oil and hid them at Fort Brooke, leaving Tampa Bay dark, and that the light resumed in June 1866. The Coast Guard’s lighthouse history instead says the keeper himself took the lens to Tampa, so accounts differ on who removed it.
A Trade That Narrowed
As the war went on, Union pressure grew. One modern account says the Cuba trade continued until the Union closed most of Florida’s coast by mid-1863, and another says the October 1863 raid largely ended shipping out of Tampa. Even so, the coast was never perfectly sealed. Cattle shipments to Cuba from Punta Rassa were curtailed but not entirely stopped, and smaller vessels kept using quiet waterways. The Union raided Cedar Key in January 1862, and Fernandina, Jacksonville and Apalachicola fell to Union control that year. Each captured port reduced the smugglers’ options without ending them.
Quick Facts
Coastline
About 1,350 miles of general coastline
Key trading partner
Havana, Cuba
Outbound cargo
Cotton, cattle, turpentine and tobacco
Inbound cargo
Medicine, food, cigars, machinery, clothing and shoes (modern account)
Gulf points of focus
Cedar Key, Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor
Union enforcement
East Gulf Blockading Squadron, headquartered at Key West
Notable vessel
The Scottish Chief, owned by James McKay Sr.
Key engagement
Battle of Fort Brooke, October 16–18, 1863
Spanish policy
Neutral; weapons sales to Confederates banned
Did You Know?
- A fast steamer could make the round trip from Florida’s Gulf coast to Havana in days rather than weeks.
- Fort Brooke’s 1863 battle ended with the burning of two vessels owned by one Tampa cattle shipper.
- Egmont Key’s lighthouse lamp was reportedly hidden at Fort Brooke for the rest of the war.
Vocabulary
Blockade: the use of warships to stop ships from entering or leaving ports.
Blockade runner: a ship that tried to slip through a blockade.
Parole: a prisoner’s promise to follow conditions in return for release.
Discussion Questions
1. How did Florida’s geography help smugglers and hurt the Union Navy?
2. Why might historians disagree about how much the Cuba trade helped the Confederacy?
Related Articles
- FLH-0101 — Salt Makers of the Gulf Coast
- FLH-0100 — Florida’s Cow Cavalry
- FLH-0097 — Florida During the Civil War
- FLH-0045 — Captain James McKay and the Cuba Cattle Trade
- FLH-0099 — The Battle of Olustee
Sources
City of Tampa, City Clerk. “James McKay Sr., 6th Mayor of Tampa.” tampa.gov (summary seen)
U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office. “Egmont Key Light.” history.uscg.mil (summary seen)
Museum of Florida History. “Naval and Riverine Operations in Florida Waters.” museumoffloridahistory.com
Brown, Canter, Jr. “Tampa’s James McKay and the Frustration of Confederate Cattle-Supply Operations in South Florida.” Florida Historical Quarterly 70, no. 4 (1991) (abstract only)
Cushman, Joseph D., Jr. “The Blockade and Fall of Apalachicola, 1861–1862.” Florida Historical Quarterly 41, no. 1 (1962) (abstract only)
Copyright © 2026 Wm. E. McMullen II. All rights reserved. Published by Florida Learning Hub.