0:00:02 > 0:00:07The river Clyde, Scotland's most iconic waterway.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Today, it's a bustling commercial hub.
0:00:12 > 0:00:13But 150 years ago,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17this was the beating heart of an industrial revolution.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22And fuelling it were its shipyards.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30I'm David Hayman, and I grew up surrounded by those yards
0:00:30 > 0:00:33and the magnificent ships they produced.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37But it's where they went, what they did
0:00:37 > 0:00:40and the lives they touched that's always fascinated me.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47In this series I'm going to uncover the secrets of the great ships
0:00:47 > 0:00:51that laid the foundations of today's Commonwealth of nations.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56It's a journey that's going to take me around the world
0:00:56 > 0:01:01to tell incredible stories and unearth extraordinary characters.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07If you want to know why Britannia ruled the waves
0:01:07 > 0:01:09and where the Commonwealth was born,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11look no further than here.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24Fire!
0:01:29 > 0:01:31The year is 1861...
0:01:34 > 0:01:38..the United States of America is no longer united.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44President Abraham Lincoln has called up troops
0:01:44 > 0:01:47to crush rebellion in the Confederate South.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Lincoln represented the Union States in the North.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58Led by Jefferson Davis,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02the Confederate South knew the North was hostile to slavery.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11And slavery was fundamental to the South's way of life and economy.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18So the Southern states wanted to protect slavery at all costs.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26When they tried to become independent, war was the result.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37The American Civil War was to be the bloodiest
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and most devastating conflict in US history.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52And its shockwaves were felt around the world.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00It could have led to war between Britain and the United States.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03It could have even cost Britain Canada -
0:03:03 > 0:03:05one of the biggest jewels in the Commonwealth.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10And central to this war was Glasgow,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13one of the greatest shipbuilding ports in the world.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17I've lived in Glasgow all my life
0:03:17 > 0:03:21and I like to think I know a fair bit about its glorious history,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25but throughout the years there have always been hints and suspicions
0:03:25 > 0:03:28about a darker story waiting to be told
0:03:28 > 0:03:31and I believe this murky episode is it.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39The North's strategy in the American Civil War
0:03:39 > 0:03:44was to isolate the Confederate South and cut off its foreign supplies.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49The way they'd go about this was to blockade the Southern ports with gunboats.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Known as the Anaconda Plan, it involved 500 Union warships
0:03:54 > 0:03:58patrolling 3,000 miles of Confederate coastline.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04One month after the conflict began,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08Queen Victoria proclaimed that Britain would be neutral in this war.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13In reality, nothing would be further from the truth.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20This war was a golden opportunity for enterprising Glasgow shipbuilders.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24The Confederate South needed ships fast enough to outrun
0:04:24 > 0:04:28the North's blockading patrols and bring supplies in.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34The Clyde shipyards provided just the solution -
0:04:34 > 0:04:37custom-built ocean-going paddle steamers.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42And because of their superior speed,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45these boats could break through the cordon
0:04:45 > 0:04:48of the Union warships that Lincoln had ordered
0:04:48 > 0:04:49to surround the Southern ports.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Hence their nickname - the blockade runners.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00A blockade running ship had to be fast and its crew fearless.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03The stakes were high
0:05:03 > 0:05:05but so were the rewards.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Run the blockade with a ship full of supplies into
0:05:08 > 0:05:12the Southern ports and you could make yourself a fortune.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16For many Scottish businessmen,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19it mattered little that they were fuelling a war.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23This was about greed, pure and simple.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35I have to admit, I don't know much about Glasgow paddle steamers,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38so this is going to be a fascinating journey for me.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48To unearth the part the Clyde played in the American Civil War,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I'm going to investigate one ship.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Named after the general of the Confederate army,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57she's probably the most famous blockade runner of them all.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01She's called The Robert E Lee.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15The Robert E Lee paddle steamer was built in 1860
0:06:15 > 0:06:18on the Clyde for the shipping company G&J Burns.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22She was their flagship vessel,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26but she didn't start life with such an illustrious title.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Her original name was The Giraffe.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36Despite her gangly namesake, this boat was sleek and state of the art.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40She was the fastest passenger steamer on the Clyde.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46And her speed made for the perfect craft for blockade running.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Today you don't have to go too far to find
0:06:58 > 0:07:01a real-life equivalent to the Robert E Lee.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07The iconic Waverley passenger steamer is a familiar sight on the Clyde.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17She's the closest working ship we have to the Robert E Lee
0:07:17 > 0:07:22and the last surviving ocean-going paddle steamer in the world.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28I'm meeting maritime historian Dr Eric Graham
0:07:28 > 0:07:32to learn more about blockade running ships.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40Eric, what exactly was the job of a blockade runner?
0:07:40 > 0:07:43It's a ship that's going to run the contraband of war -
0:07:43 > 0:07:47guns, munitions - into the ports of the Confederacy.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49And all of this was illegal?
0:07:49 > 0:07:54From the British point of view we shouldn't be there - we are neutral.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Being on board the Waverley I get a real sense of what it must have been
0:07:58 > 0:08:03like to flout the law and power a blockade runner through enemy lines.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Every part of the boat must have been pushed to the limit.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13You are racing these steamers,
0:08:13 > 0:08:18you are firing up the boilers with cotton soaked in turpentine.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21You're tying down the safety valves with the captain sitting with
0:08:21 > 0:08:24a loaded revolver at the chief engineer
0:08:24 > 0:08:27to make sure that he doesn't undo the rope,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30cos you're going to blow up the boiler at this rate.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Everything for that dash of speed to get you through the blockade.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Now, that's madness or desperation, isn't it?
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Well, one blockade runner mentions the plates of his deck
0:08:39 > 0:08:42were warping with the heat from the boilers
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and he burns the soles of his feet,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46in fact, he has to stick them out the window
0:08:46 > 0:08:49and one cheeky Southern lady tickles his bare feet as she goes past.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Blockade running captains really had to have nerves of steel.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06To run the blockade, a ship would have to pass through the patrols of Union gunboats undetected.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11If she was spotted, she could be fired on
0:09:11 > 0:09:13but she couldn't fire back.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19This was because Britain was neutral and so were its ships.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23If the crew fired back they would be classed as stateless pirates
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and could be hanged.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Not getting caught was vital
0:09:28 > 0:09:32and the best way to do that was to be fast.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44The secret to the Giraffe's speed lay in her construction.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52To keep her stable in rough seas, her widest point was over 26 feet.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58And for swiftness her very long hull was made shallow and streamlined.
0:10:02 > 0:10:03And she could sprint.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08She could rip through the water at a constant 13 knots,
0:10:08 > 0:10:12which was considered a very high speed in the 1860s.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17She could achieve this because she was driven by
0:10:17 > 0:10:21twin oscillating engines, served by six boilers,
0:10:21 > 0:10:26which delivered a combined thrust of 180 horsepower.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Another key to her speed lay in the design of her paddle wheels.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37These were automatic feathering,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41which kept the position of each paddle blade vertical in the water,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45maximising the power that could be delivered with every stroke.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Their speed, agility and the need for secrecy meant blockade runners
0:10:54 > 0:11:00like the Giraffe epitomised adventure, glamour and excitement.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06It must have been an extraordinary life.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Well, William Watson of Skelmerly said
0:11:09 > 0:11:12he made so much money he didn't drink water for three years -
0:11:12 > 0:11:15champagne, champagne, champagne.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22The thrilling lifestyle of the blockade runner
0:11:22 > 0:11:26was immortalised in the film Gone With The Wind.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30I've loved you more than I've ever loved any woman
0:11:30 > 0:11:33and I've waited longer for you than I've ever waited for any woman.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Most fans of the film would be hard-pushed
0:11:36 > 0:11:39to tell you how hero Rhett Butler made his money.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44He was a courageous, roguish blockade-running captain.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52And Rhett Butler's fictional fortune mirrored reality.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57The profits that could be made running the blockade were colossal.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02Blockade runners would take in guns and ammunition to sell to the Confederate South,
0:12:02 > 0:12:09but they also carried out of the Confederacy an extraordinarily profitable cargo.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13The prize that could make you a very rich man
0:12:13 > 0:12:17during the American Civil War was this stuff -
0:12:17 > 0:12:18cotton.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30There's one place I wanted to visit to find out more about cotton.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33I'm at New Lanark,
0:12:33 > 0:12:38an 18th century cotton mill in the south Lanarkshire valley.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42I want to learn more about the role cotton played in the Civil War
0:12:42 > 0:12:46so I'm meeting up with historian Dr Adam Smith.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51Cotton was immensely important to the British economy
0:12:51 > 0:12:52in the middle of the 19th century.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57Probably a fifth - one in five - of all people in Britain
0:12:57 > 0:13:00were in some way dependent on the cotton industry.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03About 10% of all British capital was invested in cotton
0:13:03 > 0:13:07and Britain totally dominated the export of cotton cloth.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11About 98% of the world export of cotton cloth
0:13:11 > 0:13:12was British in the 1850s.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15It was massively important to the British economy.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23So lucrative was the cotton trade for the American Southern states
0:13:23 > 0:13:27that they believed it would be enough to win them support in the Civil War.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32It must have given them an extraordinary amount of power to wield.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36When first of all seven, then eventually 11, slave states
0:13:36 > 0:13:39seceded from the American Union in 1860/61.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42They didn't have an army, they had to create one from scratch,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44they didn't have a navy, they didn't have a government,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47they had hardly any munitions factories,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49they had an inadequate railroad network -
0:13:49 > 0:13:53they faced all these obstacles but what they did have was cotton.
0:13:53 > 0:13:54That was their trump card.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57They called it King Cotton because they believed
0:13:57 > 0:14:01that their domination of the world cotton market
0:14:01 > 0:14:05was going to be so important that Britain would be forced to intervene
0:14:05 > 0:14:07in support of the Confederacy
0:14:07 > 0:14:10in order to keep open their supply of raw cotton.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17Early on, the South deliberately restricted the amount of cotton going to Europe
0:14:17 > 0:14:21to force Britain and France to join the war on their side.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24But this master plan didn't work, did it?
0:14:24 > 0:14:27It backfired, didn't it, because we never entered the war.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30No, we didn't and I don't think actually in the end
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Britain was ever likely to intervene because it would have meant
0:14:33 > 0:14:37war with the United States and there was an awful lot of British capital
0:14:37 > 0:14:40also invested in the Northern states, especially in railroads.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47But as Lincoln's grip on the Southern ports intensified,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50the export of cotton to Britain dried up.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56It must have had a devastating effect on the workforce
0:14:56 > 0:14:58- and the population in this country. - It did.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03In Scotland there were 40,000 people directly employed in cotton mills.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07By 1862 most of them were unemployed or on very short hours.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12With such a shortage of cotton in Britain, there were fortunes
0:15:12 > 0:15:16to be made for anyone brave enough to run the blockade
0:15:16 > 0:15:19and bring back cotton from the Confederate South.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25One blockade runner, taking in the supplies of war
0:15:25 > 0:15:26and bringing out supplies of cotton,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30could make £60,000 in one round trip.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34Today's equivalent is about four million.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36That's a staggering amount of money.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43With the chance of that sort of wealth, ship builders and captains
0:15:43 > 0:15:48were clambering over each other to grab a piece of the action.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51It was the perfect relationship -
0:15:51 > 0:15:56Confederate leaders needed as many blockade running ships and crews
0:15:56 > 0:15:58as they could lay their hands on.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03And Clydeside shipbuilders were only too happy to oblige.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10There was a problem.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Britain had declared herself neutral in the civil war.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18The Confederates needed to keep their operations hidden
0:16:18 > 0:16:23from spies in Britain hired by the United States.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27So they had to meet in secret.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30In out of the way places,
0:16:30 > 0:16:32far away from prying eyes.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39Nestled in the Stirlingshire countryside, far from the River Clyde,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41is the town of Bridge of Allan.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45It may look perfectly ordinary,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48but this quiet town concealed an international spy ring
0:16:48 > 0:16:51run by the Confederate South.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56In the 1860s, this was a guest house.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01But, inside, Confederate naval agent James D Bulloch
0:17:01 > 0:17:04and his shipping contacts would meet in secret.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07They were there to order warships
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and blockade runners from Clyde shipbuilders.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15I've asked Dr Eric Graham to join me to shed light on these murky goings on.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21At one time up to seven of them of them would have been at this house
0:17:21 > 0:17:24under the direction of James Dunwoody Bulloch.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28He was the sole agent, to start with, for the Confederacy -
0:17:28 > 0:17:33to acquire the means to deliver the guns, the munitions,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35the medicines and towards the end, food,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38to keep the Confederacy in the war.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40But why here? Why Bridge of Allan?
0:17:40 > 0:17:42The railway.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47From here you could clandestinely make your way to Edinburgh,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49or to Glasgow and the Clyde,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53so this is the perfect spot for them, out of sight
0:17:53 > 0:17:58of the Federal-employed detectives who are looking to find them.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Now, when this explosion of contracts arrived in the Clyde,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06it must have been a genuine heyday for all the shipbuilders,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09at what rate were we turning out one of these ships?
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Eventually, possibly at least 100 Clyde steamers
0:18:13 > 0:18:16would go off to the blockade, of which half will be custom-built
0:18:16 > 0:18:19during the war years to do just blockade running.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26As well as blockade runners,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28the Confederates secretly bought larger vessels
0:18:28 > 0:18:31to be converted to armed warships.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37It's incredible to think that the decisions made in this house
0:18:37 > 0:18:40would lengthen a devastating war.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Hundreds of thousands of people would die as a result.
0:18:53 > 0:18:59It's estimated the number of soldiers who died in the Civil war is 750,000.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08Even today, the American Civil War remains the deadliest in US history.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26With help provided by James D Bulloch,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Confederate agents purchased the Clyde-built steamer the Giraffe
0:19:29 > 0:19:33as a regular blockade runner for the Southern states.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Now they had their prize ship, the Confederates brought over
0:19:39 > 0:19:42one of the most courageous men in their navy to sail her -
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Captain John Wilkinson.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55Captain Wilkinson made his way to Glasgow where the Giraffe was waiting.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Glasgow may have been the second city of the Empire
0:20:02 > 0:20:05but the poverty on its streets shocked him deeply.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08In his diary he wrote...
0:20:08 > 0:20:11"We were painfully struck by the number of paupers
0:20:11 > 0:20:13"and intoxicated females in the streets,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17"and some of our party saw, for the first time in their lives,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21"white women, shoeless and shivering in scanty rags
0:20:21 > 0:20:24"which scarcely concealed their nakedness
0:20:24 > 0:20:27"with the thermometer at the freezing point."
0:20:29 > 0:20:35In November 1862, Wilkinson would board the Giraffe, berthed on the Clyde,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38and sail her to the port of Wilmington in North Carolina.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46She was re-registered as a Confederate vessel
0:20:46 > 0:20:48and renamed the Robert E Lee,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51in honour of the famous Confederate general.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59The Robert E Lee went on to become one of the most successful
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Confederate blockade runners in the American Civil War.
0:21:02 > 0:21:08She broke through union blockades 14 times in just 11 months.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15It's really hard to over-emphasise just how vitally important
0:21:15 > 0:21:19these blockade running steamships were to the Confederate cause -
0:21:19 > 0:21:24simply everything needed for war was brought in by these ships.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Although Britain used a variety of ports to build ships
0:21:28 > 0:21:32in the Civil War, Glasgow built the most blockade runners.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Ships like the Robert E Lee were now supplying a huge range of goods to the South...
0:21:41 > 0:21:44..from clothes to food,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47from buttons to weapons.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54In fact, 30% of all lead used to make bullets for the Confederacy,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58and 75% of all the ingredients needed to make it gunpowder,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01arrived on blockade running ships.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Fire!
0:22:11 > 0:22:15Scottish shipbuilders knew the risks of running the blockade
0:22:15 > 0:22:18but they could also see the money to be made.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21If you owned a ship
0:22:21 > 0:22:24and made two successful runs,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27you'd paid for the ship and her cargoes.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30After that, everything was pure profit.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36The ship owners were only risking their cash on blockade runs.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38But the captains and engineers
0:22:38 > 0:22:41were gambling with their lives.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53They often had to run the blockade at night,
0:22:53 > 0:22:54as it was vital they weren't seen.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Their ships were unarmed and if they were spotted they would be fired at.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06The challenge for Clyde shipbuilders was to adapt blockade runners
0:23:06 > 0:23:08to be as invisible as possible.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Some ships were painted off-white or grey
0:23:15 > 0:23:17so they would blend in with their surroundings.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21Others had collapsible funnels,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24so they could keep a low profile on the horizon.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28On the final approach, the fire boxes were damped down
0:23:28 > 0:23:31to reduce smoke and tell-tale red cinders.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Another trick involved redirecting the spent puff of steam
0:23:37 > 0:23:41away from the funnel and instead underwater,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43so there would be no smoke trail in the sky.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50But the real skills of blockade running lay with the men in charge.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Glasgow, apart from building
0:23:56 > 0:24:00some of the best and most advanced ships in the world,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04also produced some of the best and most fearless captains.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16One very successful blockade running sailor was Dundee man
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Captain David Leslie.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23I've come to meet his descendants, Christine and Norman Leslie,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25to find out what kind of man he was.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Good to meet you.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29Lovely to meet you.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Norman, you're the great grandson of that adventurer
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Captain David Leslie, tell me about him.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Well, he was, er... I think he was a chancer.
0:24:41 > 0:24:48He was, according to the family, he was very disciplined,
0:24:48 > 0:24:53he was very full of himself, a difficult person.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Even the family found him difficult,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57he was a renowned toughie as a sea captain.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Ooh, yes, aye, he was very severe. Severe man.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04So when your great grandfather went to sea as an apprentice
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- he must have been about, what, 15, 16?- 15.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09And we have a description of him
0:25:09 > 0:25:13when he first went to sea as an apprentice.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16He was four foot eleven and three quarters,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20fair hair, grey eyes
0:25:20 > 0:25:22and no distinguishing marks.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Good lord, so this little smout of 15 turns into one of
0:25:26 > 0:25:28the most formidable sea captains of all time?
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Well, it looks like that, yes.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Leslie's luck ran out when his ship, the Columbia,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39was seized by a union gunboat and taken to New York.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Her illicit cargo of war supplies destined for the South
0:25:48 > 0:25:51was laid out on the quay for all the world to see.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Captain Leslie was imprisoned,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58but after only a few months he was freed
0:25:58 > 0:26:02and could resume making a very good living from blockade running.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05What did Leslie do with all his money?
0:26:05 > 0:26:07He must have made a fortune.
0:26:07 > 0:26:12He bought a strip of land and he built villas in it in Dunoon.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17The villas have names all to do with the South - Dixie, Wilmington,
0:26:17 > 0:26:22Bermuda, Charleston, and he invested some of his money that way.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26A few of Captain Leslie's possessions remain in the family,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29including one of his weapons.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32It's a finely weighted cutlass, isn't it?
0:26:32 > 0:26:35- It's quite well balanced. - It feels good in the hand.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39And this here's his Bible, he took that everywhere with him.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42We used to be able to open it and it would fall open
0:26:42 > 0:26:46at certain pages, like Daniel into the lion's den,
0:26:46 > 0:26:50and the burial service, it used to open at as well.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53So a Bible in one hand and a cutlass in the other -
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Yeah, yeah. Very much so.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58- There's a moral conundrum for you, isn't it?- Yeah, yeah.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Leslie retired from blockade running
0:27:03 > 0:27:06and became a local police commissioner.
0:27:06 > 0:27:12This is him with his wife and children on the steps of his beloved Bermuda villa in Dunoon.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17He died here, a comfortably well-off family man in 1905.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31But even the famous Captain Leslie couldn't sail from Glasgow
0:27:31 > 0:27:34to the Confederate ports in a single journey.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38Blockade runners couldn't carry enough coal to travel that distance
0:27:38 > 0:27:40without having to refuel.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48So they stopped to rest and restock at the neutral British port
0:27:48 > 0:27:50of St George's in Bermuda
0:27:50 > 0:27:52before sailing to the South.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57They could also take on other cargo from larger ships
0:27:57 > 0:27:59to sell inside the Confederacy.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07I'm here to meet historian Dr Stephen Wise,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11who's an expert on Bermuda's role during the American Civil War.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Bermuda was really the main depot
0:28:14 > 0:28:18for the Confederacy for their blockade runners.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22The Confederacy very early on is going to realise it needs a port
0:28:22 > 0:28:24from which they can offload goods from Great Britain
0:28:24 > 0:28:27onto these fast specialised blockade runners
0:28:27 > 0:28:29and run it into the South.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31And what makes Bermuda so important is
0:28:31 > 0:28:35it's 800 miles from any United States Naval station so
0:28:35 > 0:28:39US naval vessels aren't constantly patrolling off the islands,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42and Bermuda for at least about a year and a half of the war
0:28:42 > 0:28:45is almost an exclusive Confederate port.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Obviously they brought in guns and ammunition
0:28:48 > 0:28:51and the machines of war, what else did they bring in?
0:28:51 > 0:28:55They're going to bring in a number of things for the commercial markets.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58Toothbrushes do quite well, corsets.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01They would bring in billiard tables,
0:29:01 > 0:29:03champagne and Madeira.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06The upper class of the Confederacy kept their lifestyle going
0:29:06 > 0:29:09because if you had the money you could bring anything in -
0:29:09 > 0:29:13even at one time it was proposed to bring in a glass greenhouse
0:29:13 > 0:29:15with an English gardener,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18just to prove you could bring anything through the blockade.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27This manifest of the Robert E Lee shows she was carrying everything
0:29:27 > 0:29:30from Austrian rifles
0:29:30 > 0:29:32to horse blankets
0:29:32 > 0:29:34to cartridge paper.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41With two thirds of Confederate military supplies coming through St George's,
0:29:41 > 0:29:44life in this port changed dramatically.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50During the American Civil War this harbour would have been filled with vessels.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54There would have been ocean-going ships offloading the equipment from Europe,
0:29:54 > 0:29:56then they would be placed on these sleek blockade runners
0:29:56 > 0:29:58tied up to the wharf.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02You could have 20 to 30 of these blockade runners in this harbour at one time.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Blockade running from Bermuda could be dangerous
0:30:09 > 0:30:12and many runners didn't escape unscathed.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17Despite these risks,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20ships from all over Europe converged on these islands
0:30:20 > 0:30:23before attempting to sail to the Confederate South.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28It must have been an extraordinary melting pot at that time
0:30:28 > 0:30:31of nationalities and personalities all in a highly competitive environment,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35at the end of the day, all driven by greed.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37This was a bawdy, wide-open town.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41You would have here sailors who'd be lucky to make £24 a year,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45making £80 to £100 in a single run through the blockade,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48captains who made maybe £20 a month
0:30:48 > 0:30:52would be making £500 to £1,000 for a run through the blockade.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55These captains had so much money to amuse themselves
0:30:55 > 0:30:58they would throw bags of shillings out their hotel window
0:30:58 > 0:31:00and watch the locals scramble for them.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03You could find every diversion that you could imagine.
0:31:03 > 0:31:08One person described it as an orgy of eating, drinking and merriment,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11and I'll let you think what merriment might possibly mean.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16But under the surface there was tension.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22The threat of war between Britain and the United States was never far away.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26This time it reared its head because of the actions of
0:31:26 > 0:31:30one aggressive Unionist captain called Charles Wilkes.
0:31:31 > 0:31:37In 1862 he moored his warship, the Wachusett, in St George's harbour.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40According to Britain's rules of neutrality,
0:31:40 > 0:31:45both Union and Confederate ships were only supposed to stay in St George's one day.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49Wilkes stayed nearly a week
0:31:49 > 0:31:52and used his gunboats to maintain a blockade of the island.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58It was a gesture designed to provoke the British authorities in Bermuda.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04The Governor of Bermuda ordered this vessel to be moved,
0:32:04 > 0:32:09and a British warship actually loaded its cannon
0:32:09 > 0:32:11and might have fired on the US vessel.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13It could have led to something.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16I mean, there was a fuse burning that could have gone off.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25People feared these tensions could spill over into fighting on the island itself.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31During this time, the Unionist north had their own man on the island -
0:32:31 > 0:32:34US consul Charles M Allen.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41He felt very isolated being the sole ambassador for the United States in St George's.
0:32:42 > 0:32:43He wrote,
0:32:43 > 0:32:49"Everybody here thinks there is no escape from war between Britain and the United States.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52"The present state of things makes it very unpleasant for me here
0:32:52 > 0:32:56"just now, as there is a very bitter feeling against everything
0:32:56 > 0:32:59"and everybody belonging to the United States,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02"and many here seem to go on the supposition that
0:33:02 > 0:33:05"I am responsible for the whole difficulty."
0:33:11 > 0:33:14With so much cash sloshing around,
0:33:14 > 0:33:18it was only a matter of time before things got out of hand.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22You had brawls and fights.
0:33:22 > 0:33:27By the end of the war there were somewhat of 67 bars in Bermuda
0:33:27 > 0:33:28and only two policemen.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41The potent mix of money, alcohol and bravado
0:33:41 > 0:33:43was always going to end badly.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50On the evening of July 21st 1863,
0:33:50 > 0:33:54three sailors from the Robert E Lee got into a fight.
0:33:54 > 0:33:59They wounded a British soldier who'd been sent from the garrison to sort them out.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01As is the way with these things,
0:34:01 > 0:34:05some Confederate sailors decided they wanted a piece of the action too.
0:34:05 > 0:34:10Before long the town had a full-scale riot on its hands.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18This time it wasn't just a single flare-up.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20The whole of St George's joined in.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25Bars emptied, everyone took to the streets.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28There were scores of fistfights and knifings.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35This extraordinary battle lasted almost a day and a half
0:34:35 > 0:34:38until peace was finally restored,
0:34:38 > 0:34:43and that was only achieved because they shut down all 67 pubs.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50But the unionists were about to call time on the Robert E Lee.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56She made her last voyage from Bermuda in November 1863.
0:34:58 > 0:34:59As she ran the blockade,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02she was spotted by a Union gunboat which opened fire.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05The Robert E Lee surrendered.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13Having started life as the passenger paddle steamer the Giraffe in Glasgow,
0:35:13 > 0:35:17then the successful Confederate blockade runner the Robert E Lee,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20this ship was to change again.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24Her new name was the USS Fort Donelson.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26She had swapped sides.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29She was now a Union patrol ship
0:35:29 > 0:35:32and her job was to stop blockade runners.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35A classic case of poacher turned gamekeeper.
0:35:40 > 0:35:45Some Clyde-built paddle steamers suffered even worse fates than being captured by the enemy.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54Bermuda's submerged reefs have claimed many vessels.
0:35:54 > 0:36:00Today, some 150 to 300 wrecks are thought to lie beneath its waters.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02Give it a good heave.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05Taking me to see some of those lost ships
0:36:05 > 0:36:09is Philippe Rouja, Bermuda's custodian of historic wrecks.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15It's his job to catalogue and preserve Bermuda's underwater cultural heritage.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22One of those wrecks is the Nola.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25A 236-foot Clyde-built paddle steamer.
0:36:26 > 0:36:31No image of her exists, but this is her sister ship, the Old Dominion.
0:36:33 > 0:36:38In December, 1863, she was sailing from London to North Carolina
0:36:38 > 0:36:41with a cargo destined for the Confederacy.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47The Nola tried to refuel in Bermuda but was wrecked on the reef.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52Her cargo and crew were saved
0:36:52 > 0:36:55but she lies to this day in 30 feet of water.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02I've got the chance to discover what she looks like after 150 years.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27So here is the Nola's final resting place.
0:37:27 > 0:37:323,000 miles from home are the remains of the only known
0:37:32 > 0:37:36Clyde-built steamer that sank on a run to the Confederate South.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47The thing about these ships is no-one expected them to last.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52Built in secret, they were disposable.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57Those that avoided capture ended their days in distant destinations
0:37:57 > 0:38:00like South America or New Zealand
0:38:00 > 0:38:03or wrecked on the seabed.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08Not one of the Clyde-built paddle steamers ever came home to Glasgow after the war.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44That was one of the most surreal...
0:38:46 > 0:38:49..and actually quite moving experiences ever.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54It's remarkably well preserved.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58That was quite special and very eerie,
0:38:58 > 0:39:00very serene.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04That was a treat.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Philippe has been exploring these wrecks for many years,
0:39:14 > 0:39:19preserving and cataloguing marine treasures for Bermuda's museums.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22You must have found some beauts,
0:39:22 > 0:39:24some little treasures over the years.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Well, actually, this piece here I actually think is pretty special.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29This is a deck light, or a prism,
0:39:29 > 0:39:32that came out of the hull of the Nola.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36And it would have been recessed into the deck
0:39:36 > 0:39:39and that through which, in your forward holds, you would have gotten
0:39:39 > 0:39:42- the only light you could get... - Natural light, daylight, you mean?
0:39:42 > 0:39:44Natural daylight. So it would have been turned this way,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47that's why it's scratched, because this is where men would
0:39:47 > 0:39:49have been walking, gear would have been travelling over the top
0:39:49 > 0:39:52and recessed into her decks is this light and literally,
0:39:52 > 0:39:54if you hold it up you can see that it would refract the light out,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57so if you're someone who's forced to go into those forward holds
0:39:57 > 0:40:00this allows you to see what's going on down there.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02This was the only source of light that they had.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04There's absolutely no question that this piece was sitting
0:40:04 > 0:40:07in the decks of the Nola when she was built in Glasgow,
0:40:07 > 0:40:10and now has come to rest here in Bermuda.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13Did you ever imagine you'd be in Bermuda holding a piece of Glasgow?
0:40:13 > 0:40:17No, not at all. 150 years old, no way.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24The Civil War began as an attempt to prevent
0:40:24 > 0:40:28the separation of the Southern states from the Union...
0:40:29 > 0:40:33..but at its heart was something far more fundamental.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Slavery.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43The Confederate states had the largest
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and most powerful system of slavery in the modern world.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51Slavery was so important it was enshrined in the Confederate constitution.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57It defined the South's economics, politics and society.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01Its entire culture was bound up in it.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Other countries, including Britain,
0:41:07 > 0:41:11had ended slavery decades before, in the 1830s.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Bermuda, being a British territory,
0:41:15 > 0:41:17had freed its slaves in 1834.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23A register of slaves is kept here in the National Archive.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27What's unusual about the slaves of Bermuda is that
0:41:27 > 0:41:29most of them weren't brought from Africa,
0:41:29 > 0:41:31they were bought from the Caribbean.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33They had been resold.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38And the only reason there is a record of them is because
0:41:38 > 0:41:40in the lead up to the abolition of slavery...
0:41:42 > 0:41:46..the slave owners negotiated vast sums of money
0:41:46 > 0:41:48for each slave they had to give up.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52It's not to record the history of this wonderful people...
0:41:54 > 0:41:56..it is purely for profit.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02The slave owners received compensation.
0:42:02 > 0:42:03The slaves received nothing.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14Although slavery had been abolished in Bermuda,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17it was still the cornerstone of society in the South.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22As a result, Bermuda was seen as a refuge by slaves
0:42:22 > 0:42:24fleeing their Southern masters.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31The blockade runners who made it back to Bermuda,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34they often returned with more than just bales of cotton.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39Very often you would find that slaves would stow themselves away
0:42:39 > 0:42:43on the ships in the hope of being granted their freedom
0:42:43 > 0:42:45once they reached here.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51One man who could grant those slaves a new life in the United States
0:42:51 > 0:42:53was US Consul Charles Allen.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57In 1863, he wrote to the Secretary of State in Washington...
0:42:58 > 0:43:01"I have sent to New York, at my own expense,
0:43:01 > 0:43:05"three men from the Cornubia and five from the Robert E Lee...
0:43:05 > 0:43:07"The contrabands stowed themselves away
0:43:07 > 0:43:10"until after they had passed the blockade."
0:43:11 > 0:43:16Most slaves headed for New York but others remained here in Bermuda.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21I want to find out more about what happened to those slaves
0:43:21 > 0:43:25so I've arranged to meet local historian Lance Furbert.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30He's keen to show me this house where a man called Joseph Rainey worked.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37He was born a slave in Georgetown, South Carolina.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41His father worked very hard to buy his family's freedom.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44They moved to Charleston. His father worked as a barber
0:43:44 > 0:43:49in a very exclusive hotel called the Mills Hotel in Charleston.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51With the beginning of the civil war,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54Joseph Rainey was then conscripted
0:43:54 > 0:43:57to work on the fortifications around Charleston,
0:43:57 > 0:43:59and also on a blockade runner,
0:43:59 > 0:44:02and managed to get himself and his wife to Bermuda,
0:44:02 > 0:44:04we think, on a blockade runner.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Came to Bermuda and set up a barber's shop,
0:44:06 > 0:44:10and we believe it was actually in this kitchen.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14So it's possible that he cut the hair of blockade runners?
0:44:14 > 0:44:17Oh ,definitely, he would have had the captains
0:44:17 > 0:44:19and the sailors come into his barber shop,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22and I suspect it was a way of keeping in contact
0:44:22 > 0:44:24with what was going on back home.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26He was getting news from all over.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28Getting the news and getting educated.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31He was a man who seemed to have a real thirst for education.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34He talked to all his customers
0:44:34 > 0:44:37and, in fact, some of his customers would correct his work.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42After the civil war, Joseph Rainey returned to Charleston
0:44:42 > 0:44:44and entered politics.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47He became the first African American to serve
0:44:47 > 0:44:49the United States House of Representatives,
0:44:49 > 0:44:55and also the first African American to be directly elected to Congress.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59That is a truly, truly remarkable rags-to-riches story.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01It is, it's an incredible story.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03We'd like to think, as Bermudians,
0:45:03 > 0:45:06that a lot of the things that he learned in Bermuda,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09and certainly the money that he made while he was here,
0:45:09 > 0:45:13stood him in good stead when he got back to South Carolina.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18While Joseph Rainey could build a new life in Bermuda,
0:45:18 > 0:45:22slaves in the American South endured dreadful conditions
0:45:22 > 0:45:23with little chance of escape.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28Their release might have come sooner,
0:45:28 > 0:45:30and the war could have ended earlier,
0:45:30 > 0:45:33had the South not been supplied with goods and weapons
0:45:33 > 0:45:35by blockade runners.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42This is the terrible irony at the centre of Bermuda in the Civil War.
0:45:43 > 0:45:48Slaves from the South were trying to escape on the same blockade runners
0:45:48 > 0:45:51that were keeping that slavery going.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59And at the heart of it all, and vital to its success,
0:45:59 > 0:46:04were the hundreds of blockade running ships built on Clydeside.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Back home in Glasgow, the issue of slavery
0:46:13 > 0:46:16in the American Civil War was being hotly debated.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24The release of all slaves in the British Empire
0:46:24 > 0:46:26had taken place in 1833.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32But the outbreak of the Civil War reignited interest
0:46:32 > 0:46:35in the plight of slaves in the Southern states.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41Many Glasgow industrialists were supporters of the Confederate South,
0:46:41 > 0:46:43and of its slavery.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48But there were also a number of very active anti-slavery groups.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52They called themselves emancipation societies.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57And they believed they were part of a moral crusade
0:46:57 > 0:47:00to secure freedom for slaves in the American South.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04The press thought otherwise.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Newspaper reports of emancipation society meetings
0:47:07 > 0:47:09would play down the turnout
0:47:09 > 0:47:12and mock the speakers for their moral pretensions.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14Even when a large gathering took place in Edinburgh,
0:47:14 > 0:47:17the report in the Scotsman focused solely on the hecklers
0:47:17 > 0:47:19and rabble-rousers in the debate.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27The broadsheet newspapers largely sided with the South.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Their readers supported the Confederacy
0:47:29 > 0:47:32and were making money out of this war.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39By contrast, some of the anti-slavery campaigners were textile workers
0:47:39 > 0:47:44who had lost their jobs in the cotton famine created by the blockade.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52Even though this Unionist policy had caused them terrible hardship,
0:47:52 > 0:47:56they still sided with the Union against slavery.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02They fought tirelessly to expose Confederate shipbuilding projects
0:48:02 > 0:48:06on the Clyde and to promote the abolition of slavery.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11One of these groups was the Newmilns Anti-Slavery Society.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14Their meetings were held on Friday evenings in the back room
0:48:14 > 0:48:19of the Black Bull Inn, in the main street of their Ayrshire village.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24This tiny pressure group which met in a local pub
0:48:24 > 0:48:27was drawn from a close-knit community of weavers.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31But despite its size, of all the anti-slavery groups,
0:48:31 > 0:48:33Newmilns stood out from the rest.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39Eric, tell me the significance of this Newmilns anti-slavery group?
0:48:39 > 0:48:42Well, there were a lot of them in Scotland at the time,
0:48:42 > 0:48:45but the rest didn't leave any records that we could make use of
0:48:45 > 0:48:47to know much about what they were doing.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49In Newmilns, we do have records of them,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52they did attract the press interest.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56One of the ways the Newmilns group gained publicity
0:48:56 > 0:48:58was by choosing imaginative ways
0:48:58 > 0:49:01to get their message across to the public.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06Probably the best they had was to bring a black gentleman onto the platform.
0:49:06 > 0:49:11His name is John Brooks, he was born in Barbados,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14had been in slavery, and he was eloquent.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16He is kind of the vision for the audience
0:49:16 > 0:49:18of what slavery is all about in the South.
0:49:18 > 0:49:24Now that, for a wee place like Newmilns, is quite a radical import.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29They wrote many letters in support of President Lincoln throughout the war.
0:49:29 > 0:49:34In recognition, Lincoln sent them the Stars and Stripes flag.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40This didn't impress the pro-South Glasgow Herald newspaper,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43which was very keen to rain on their parade.
0:49:44 > 0:49:46"The Newmilns anti-slavery society
0:49:46 > 0:49:49"had a great gala day a few months ago
0:49:49 > 0:49:53"on the occasion of being presented with an American flag.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56"The society rose up as one
0:49:56 > 0:49:58"or perhaps half a dozen altogether
0:49:58 > 0:50:01"and planted the Yankee banner either on the church steeple
0:50:01 > 0:50:04"or on the lock-up house - we forget which."
0:50:08 > 0:50:11In fact, those broadsheets were out of touch.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15The North was winning,
0:50:15 > 0:50:18and soon the abolition of slavery would be a certainty in the South.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24The final defeat of the Confederacy took place at Fort Fisher
0:50:24 > 0:50:26in North Carolina.
0:50:29 > 0:50:34In January 1865, it came under sustained bombardment
0:50:34 > 0:50:36from union warships.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39And who was providing support to the Union fleet?
0:50:40 > 0:50:44The Robert E Lee, now known as the USS Fort Donelson.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48She was there in the early days of the Civil War
0:50:48 > 0:50:51and she would be there for its final gasp.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59Many didn't disguise their pleasure that the fall of Fort Fisher
0:50:59 > 0:51:02also meant the end of the blockade running supply chain
0:51:02 > 0:51:06that had kept the Southern states in the war for so long.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10Unionist Rear Admiral David Porter wrote,
0:51:10 > 0:51:15"The gate through which the rebels obtained their supplies is closed for ever
0:51:15 > 0:51:19"and we can sit here quietly and watch the traitors starve."
0:51:22 > 0:51:25The war ended in May 1865.
0:51:25 > 0:51:30The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in December.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33It declared all remaining slaves free.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40America had two presidents during the course of the war,
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Abraham Lincoln in the North
0:51:43 > 0:51:47and Jefferson Davis, representing the Confederates in the South.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51Once the war was over Jefferson Davis was charged with treason,
0:51:51 > 0:51:56and incarcerated in Fort Monroe for two years before being released.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59Just imagine it.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02You're the President of the Confederate States of America...
0:52:03 > 0:52:05..and you've just lost a war,
0:52:05 > 0:52:08which, had you won,
0:52:08 > 0:52:11would have made you the most powerful man on the planet.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15Now nobody wants to know you.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19So where do you go to get away from it all?
0:52:19 > 0:52:22Well, you come to Glasgow, of course.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27And the deposed Confederate president Jefferson Davis
0:52:27 > 0:52:32did just that. He came to the place that would offer him refuge.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37Many Glaswegian industrialists had supported his politics.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43So I've come to Glasgow's West End to meet Rosalind Jarvis
0:52:43 > 0:52:46who used to live in this house.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50Her late husband Geoffrey made a fascinating discovery
0:52:50 > 0:52:52while researching its background.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57He was interested in history, and he went to his neighbours
0:52:57 > 0:53:01and asked them if there was anything interesting about the house,
0:53:01 > 0:53:05and they produced this photograph.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09Geoffrey had lived in the United States for some time
0:53:09 > 0:53:13and recognised it immediately as Jefferson Davis.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16- Who was the Confederate president of the United States.- He was.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Isn't that quite, quite extraordinary?
0:53:20 > 0:53:23It turned out this house was originally lived in by
0:53:23 > 0:53:25local iron foundry owner James Smith.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30A second photograph was discovered,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33showing Jefferson Davis seated outside the house
0:53:33 > 0:53:36with Smith and his family in 1869.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42Smith met Jefferson Davis
0:53:42 > 0:53:46when he went to the South to promote his iron foundry business.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52Before coming to Glasgow Jefferson Davis wrote to him,
0:53:52 > 0:53:56"I have the very strong desire to see you and your family at home.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00"Hoping, while in Great Britain, to pull your latch string.
0:54:00 > 0:54:05"I am truly and respectfully your friend, Jefferson Davis."
0:54:10 > 0:54:13Even though many backed the losing side,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16Glasgow benefited from the Civil War,
0:54:16 > 0:54:19as did other major cities in Britain.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23The economic benefits for Scotland
0:54:23 > 0:54:26of the blockade were simply enormous.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29A lot of people made a lot of money.
0:54:30 > 0:54:35The US consuls at the time reckoned that Glasgow had 27 shipyards
0:54:35 > 0:54:37employing around 25,000 men,
0:54:37 > 0:54:42all actively engaged in building blockade runners
0:54:42 > 0:54:44or warships for the Confederacy.
0:54:48 > 0:54:53Glasgow entered its golden period as a world leader in marine engineering.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58And it was a direct result of the profits of the war.
0:55:03 > 0:55:08Fortunes made from blockade running were funnelled into other respectable businesses.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12The city was transformed as the cash poured in.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20But success came at a price.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23Though blockade running was a commercial enterprise,
0:55:23 > 0:55:27independent of any regulations by the British government,
0:55:27 > 0:55:30their use had greatly angered the United States.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35America demanded that Great Britain be held responsible,
0:55:35 > 0:55:38not only for the damage done by British-built warships
0:55:38 > 0:55:43but also for allowing blockade runners to supply armaments
0:55:43 > 0:55:45that prolonged an already bloody war.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51It was suggested a fair price would be 2 billion.
0:55:52 > 0:55:57Alternatively, Britain should simply hand over Canada to the United States.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05However, Britain was not prepared to lose a treasure like Canada...
0:56:07 > 0:56:09..and the matter went to an international tribunal.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14In the end, Britain paid 8 million dollars.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19For the British cabinet, it was a small price to pay
0:56:19 > 0:56:21to resolve all the disputes,
0:56:21 > 0:56:25avoid a war and protect Canada from invasion.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31Even for some of those on the winning side,
0:56:31 > 0:56:34the glory days were over.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37After the war, the Clyde-built steamer that had started life
0:56:37 > 0:56:41as the Giraffe, then the Confederate Robert E Lee,
0:56:41 > 0:56:44and finally the Union USS Fort Donelson,
0:56:44 > 0:56:47was purchased by the Chilean navy.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Two years later she was sold.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53Her fate is unknown.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01There's no doubt the Robert E Lee represents two sides of Scotland.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06On the one hand she epitomises all the creativity
0:57:06 > 0:57:09and engineering brilliance of the Clyde.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14On the other, she, and hundreds of other blockade runners,
0:57:14 > 0:57:18were used over and over again to run in cargoes
0:57:18 > 0:57:22that enriched their owners and prolonged slavery and war.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27At the heart of this murky story is moral corruption.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31It's money versus morality, greed versus goodness.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35Because a number of Scots actively supported the Confederate states
0:57:35 > 0:57:37and their pro-slavery policies
0:57:37 > 0:57:40simply in order to get stinking rich.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43Man's inhumanity to man lost them no sleep.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50Quite simply, if we hadn't been as good at building ships,
0:57:50 > 0:57:53this war would have been over two years earlier
0:57:53 > 0:57:56and hundreds of thousands of lives, both black and white,
0:57:56 > 0:57:59would have been saved.
0:57:59 > 0:58:00Next time:
0:58:00 > 0:58:04I'll be exploring the story of HMS Hood.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10For over 20 years, the largest warship in the Royal Navy.
0:58:13 > 0:58:17I'll discover how the mighty Hood served Britain and the Empire
0:58:17 > 0:58:20during peacetime as well as war.
0:58:23 > 0:58:25And try my hand at what used to be
0:58:25 > 0:58:28one of shipbuilding's most iconic jobs.
0:58:28 > 0:58:30No!