Podcast Summary – New Books Network

Episode: Dr. Beau Cleland, "Between King Cotton and Queen Victoria: How Pirates, Smugglers, and Scoundrels Almost Saved the Confederacy"
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Date: December 7, 2025
Book: Between King Cotton and Queen Victoria: How Pirates, Smugglers, and Scoundrels Almost Saved the Confederacy (University of Georgia Press, 2025)

Overview

In this episode, Dr. Miranda Melcher interviews Dr. Beau Cleland about his new book, which offers a fresh perspective on the American Civil War. Cleland's research shifts the focus from land battles and grand strategy to the dynamic, often-overlooked transatlantic networks that brought together pirates, smugglers, and sympathetic British colonial subjects in an effort to support the Confederacy. The discussion explores the critical role of the Atlantic World—especially the British Caribbean colonies and Canada—in shaping the war and its aftermath through trade, covert action, and informal diplomacy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Origins of the Project

• Dr. Cleland’s Background and Entry Point
  • Cleland, once a U.S. Army officer in Afghanistan, grew interested in transnational insurgency and how conflicts transcend borders (02:36).
  • A research task on a Confederate raid into Vermont led him to discover broader networks between the Confederacy and British America, setting the groundwork for his book:

    "I quickly realized that it wasn't just, you know, a handful of Confederates robbing banks in Vermont or hijacking steamships on the Great Lakes. In fact, it turns out they were part of a much broader network that encompassed much of what I'm calling British America." (03:41)

The Union Blockade and the Confederate Dilemma

• Effectiveness and Consequences of the Blockade

  • Lincoln's blockade covered the southern coastline—difficult to enforce but critical in limiting Confederate access to munitions and industrial goods (05:36–08:26).

    "After late 1861, it is impossible to send a normal shipment of weapons or supplies or anything like that from Europe to the Confederacy directly." (08:01)

  • The South's over-reliance on cotton exports and lack of domestic manufacturing crippled efforts to arm and supply their armies (11:10).

• Financial Challenges

  • Confederate wealth was illiquid (in land and enslaved people), making it hard to pay for European goods—cotton thus became their key currency (11:10).

Transatlantic & Colonial Networks

Pre-war Connections

• Historical Ties and Frictions
  • Relations were fraught with suspicion, rooted in Britain's abolition of slavery and incidents like the freeing of enslaved people shipwrecked in British territory (15:10–20:02).

    "The relationship with British colonies in the New World in general was ... suspicious at best, openly hostile at worst. ... That was seen as a naked threat by many southern thinkers in the antebellum era." (15:10)

  • Nevertheless, shared kinship and trading links—especially through Key West and the Bahamas—endured and proved useful once the war began (20:53–22:23).

Confederacy’s Hope for British Intervention

• King Cotton Diplomacy and British Response
  • Confederates overestimated Britain's economic incentive to intervene, failing to account for the huge 1860 cotton surplus and British government priorities (24:48–26:36):

    "It seems very unlikely to me that Palmerston would have intervened on Southern behalf right away just because he wants cotton or he thinks that his country needs cotton." (26:42)

  • Confederate diplomatic missteps, including poor choices of ambassadors, further weakened their case (24:48–26:42).

Why the Bahamas Became a Key Node

• Geographic and Social Factors
  • The Bahamas’ proximity to Confederate ports and its tradition of local autonomy made it ideal for transshipment and blockade running (29:59–32:43):

    "There’s an opportunity here for Confederates to lean on imperial tensions between colony and metropole in places like the Bahamas." (31:50)

  • Local merchants, like Henry Adderley, leveraged kinship and pro-Southern sentiment to alter laws and facilitate Confederate trade (34:07).

Bermuda’s Parallel Role

• Later and Different, but Still Significant
  • Bermuda was further away and, with a larger British military presence, initially less involved; yet, as war progressed, local and military elites grew more sympathetic to the Confederates (35:01–38:13).
  • Bermuda adapted registration laws to facilitate blockade running, decisions later adopted by Britain as global colonial policy (38:13).

    "This is a situation where these kind of informal diplomacy and these efforts by colonial actors kind of presents Whitehall with a fait accompli." (38:13)

Black Colonial Communities: Resistance and Agency

• Complex Participation and Resistance
  • Black islanders worked the docks and enjoyed new work opportunities but maintained strong antislavery activism and viewed Southern slavery as an immediate threat (40:59–41:52).
  • Many acted as pilots, guides, and spies for the Union, risking arrest and harsh punishment (44:01–45:15).

    "We have evidence that they are very aware of the condition of their brethren in chains on the mainland ... and there is activism among them to do something about it if they can." (42:14)

  • Dockworker strikes in Bermuda and the Bahamas interrupted Confederate logistics, sometimes leading to arson and violence, but ultimately forcing wage increases and demonstrating black solidarity (46:16–48:25).

Escalation to Piracy & Violence

• From Smuggling to Privateering and Piracy
  • Privateering initially favored by the Confederates morphed into outright piracy as legal avenues closed (49:13–50:00).
  • British colonial subjects, like Vernon Locke (Nova Scotia) and John C. Brain (Canada), often led attacks—sometimes without direct Southern involvement—and faced almost no legal consequences due to local sympathy and legal maneuvering (52:52–57:03).

    "The entire judicial system in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick goes out of its way to help them escape. ... Many of them go on to participate in further raids." (54:52–57:03)

Impact on International Law, State Relations, and Historical Memory

• Blurred Lines of Sovereignty and Legality
  • Cleland urges a rethinking of easy state-centric narratives:

    "[If] we remove the state from its place of priority... We have a much more, I think, realistic view of who matters in affecting both the course of the war and these both intra and inter imperial relationships." (57:37)

  • The ad hoc, semi-legal violence and diplomacy in British colonies delayed Union victory, distracted resources, and even laid groundwork for the "Lost Cause" mythology after the war (62:05–62:48).
  • These underground networks facilitated Confederate escape after defeat and influenced how the Civil War was remembered and justified by Southern elites (62:15).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On discovering the scale of Confederate networks:

  "It wasn't just a handful of Confederates robbing banks in Vermont or hijacking steamships on the Great Lakes. In fact, it turns out they were part of a much broader network." (03:41, Dr. Beau Cleland)

• On British government’s calculus:

  "Palmerston is no fan of mob democracy ... but he is also hard headed ... he's not interested in starting a war because ... some jumped up slave driver in the south is demanding that he do so." (26:17, Dr. Cleland)

• On black resistance:

  "They are caught in some cases between a rock and a hard place. The blockade running brings quick wealth ... However, this runs up against a strong and deeply and genuinely held anti slavery activism in both these communities." (41:52, Dr. Cleland)

• On the limits of international law:

  "We're in the midst of a vast British project especially to regularize interstate violence ... [but] the Confederacies ... remind us that this is an incomplete project at best." (58:10, Dr. Cleland)

• On the legacy of these networks:

  "In some ways we can point this network as being both an enduring source of strength for Confederates during the war, but also maybe the nest that incubates the lost cause version of the war." (62:15, Dr. Cleland)

Important Timestamps

• 02:36 – Dr. Cleland’s background and origins of his research
• 05:36–08:26 – Explanation of the blockade and Confederate logistical crisis
• 15:10–20:02 – Antebellum Southerners’ view of the British Caribbean
• 24:48–29:37 – King Cotton diplomacy and its failure
• 29:59–34:53 – Why the Bahamas became crucial for the Confederacy
• 35:01–38:13 – Bermuda’s involvement and adaptation of registration laws
• 40:59–48:25 – Black Bahamian and Bermudian communities: agency, resistance, strikes
• 49:13–54:45 – Escalation from privateering to piracy and the complicity of British colonial subjects
• 57:37–62:48 – Wider implications: sovereignty, international law, creation of the Lost Cause

Tone and Language

The conversation is thorough, witty, and often wry, with Dr. Cleland combining personal anecdotes and academic rigor. Both host and guest maintain a scholarly yet accessible tone, making intricate historical and legal issues engaging for a general audience.

Conclusion

Dr. Cleland’s work and this episode challenge traditional narratives of the Civil War, highlighting the crucial if shadowy, roles played by cross-colonial networks, piracy, and local agency in Britain’s Atlantic empire. These connections not only extended the conflict but also fundamentally shaped its memory and aftermath.

Listeners are encouraged to read the full book for even deeper insights into the Atlantic dimensions of the American Civil War and the enduring legacies of informal imperial networks.