--- title: "The last shots of the American Civil War were fired in Russia" description: "Historians don't talk much about naval action during the Civil War, certainly not as much as they do about the ground combat. If it's not about a riverboat, the Monitor and the Merrimack, or damning torpedoes, it just doesn't get…" date: "2022-08-11" modified: "2022-08-11" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/the-last-shots-of-the-american-civil-war-were-fired-in-russia/" categories: - "Civil War" - "History" - "Military Branches" - "Military News" - "Navy" - "Wars" tags: - "Russia" --- # The last shots of the American Civil War were fired in Russia ![]() Historians don't talk much about naval action during the Civil War, certainly not as much as they do about the ground combat. If it's not about a riverboat, the Monitor and the Merrimack, or damning torpedoes, it just doesn't get the same attention. --- The CSS Shenandoah did a lot of things worth talking about. Her flag was the last Confederate flag to be lowered and she was the ship that took the Civil War to the global stage, looting and burning Union merchant shipping from Africa to India to Russia and back. She took 38 prizes and more than a thousand prisoners, some of them joining the Confederate ship. ![civil war ship]() * You'd think a whaling fleet would have an armed escort.* Shenandoah was built by the British. A fast, steam-powered screw ship, the Brits transferred her to a Confederate skeleton crew under Capt. James Waddell off the coast of Africa. From there, Shenandoah terrorized American ships in sea lanes around the Cape of Good Hope, through the Pacific, and into the Bering Sea off Alaska. At the time, however, Alaska belonged to the Russian Czar. And the Czar was friend to the United States. When Shenandoah began burning American whaling fleets in his territory, the Czar was not at all pleased. ![ship routes]() * The Shenandoah's mission brought the US Civil War worldwide.* Even after the Civil War was over, Shenandoah continued her Pacific rampage. The skipper just didn't believe Lee's surrender ended the war, [even when American whaling captains told him so](). Pretty soon, he was the only Confederate still fighting. So he moved to shell the defenseless city of San Francisco. It was on his way to California that he met a British ship who confirmed the news: The Confederacy was gone and the captain and crew of the Shenandoah were going to be tried and hanged. With every Navy in the world looking for Shenandoah and a hefty bounty on his head, Capt. Waddell disguised the ship, stowed its weaponry, and made a mad dash for Great Britain – the long way around. ![civil war ship captain]() * I wonder if mustache maintenance was a problem at sea.* Out of major shipping lanes, he faced terrible weather. He also never contacted any ships or stopped in any port, steaming the Shenandoah 27,000 miles to Liverpool, England, where he surrendered to the Royal Navy. The USS Waddell, a guided missile destroyer, was named for the ship's captain. Though not the first ship to be named for a Confederate, it was the first one to be named for an enemy captain who wreaked havoc on American shipping. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()