Hey everyone, thanks for downloading episode 70 of our Civil War podcast.

My name is Rich.

I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Welcome to the podcast.

Many of y'all are no data aware that today the Outer Banks of North Carolina is a popular

vacation destination. If you pull up the website visit ob.com it says, the Outer Banks is

a collection of barrier islands stretching over 100 miles along the coast of North Carolina.

If you have visited the Outer Banks during the summer season, then you're well aware

that it is a hot vacation spot and has been for decades. With miles of sandy beaches and

loads of offshore fun, the Outer Banks offers a wide variety of outdoor activities that

are well suited for everyone. The Outer Banks is the perfect destination for a family

beach vacation and an ideal place to unwind and relax.

Well back in 1861 at the start of the Civil War, the Outer Banks was not a popular vacation

spot and yet early in the war that coastal area of North Carolina was the focus of certain

people's attention but because of military concerns rather than for recreational reasons.

And so what we're going to do in this show is revisit a topic we first talked about

back in episode number 39, the blockade and today we're going to talk about the blockade

board and privateers and Benjamin Butler even turns up again as we'll look at a federal

task force's invasion of Hatter Asylum in August of 1861.

As y'all will recall back in episode number 39, Rich and I talked about how in April

1861 President Lincoln declared the ports of the seceded states under blockade. That

crucial action was one of the first strategic decisions made by the Lincoln administration.

In fact, as we'll see throughout the course of the podcast, the blockade of southern ports

...