On This Day In Alabama History: Cuba Burned To Prevent Capture

By Alabama NewsCenter Staff

May 19, 1863

The first of three moderately successful steamships to “run the blockade” out of Mobile Bay were the Alabama, Cuba and Fox, a captured ship renamed the Fanny. Between May 1862 and September 1863, these three ships were responsible for carrying more than 4,000 bales of cotton to Havana, Cuba, for sale to European buyers. A little more than $3 million worth was exported out of Mobile during the Union blockade. Still, this figure is just one-seventh of Mobile’s pre-war commerce level. The Cuba was burned on May 19, 1863, to prevent its capture while heading toward Mobile. The Alabama was captured by the Union on Sept. 12, 1863, while the Fanny was burned the same day to prevent its capture.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.

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