US Navy Photograph
CSS Alabama burns a prize.
Unable to field a navy the size of the Union's, the Confederacy opted instead to send out its few warships to attack Northern commerce. This approach, known as guerre de course, caused tremendous devastation among the Northern merchant marine, raising shipping and insurance costs, as well as pulling Union warships away from the blockade to chase down raiders.
The most famous of the Confederate raiders was CSS Alabama. Captained by Raphael Semmes, Alabama captured and sank 65 Union merchant ships and the warship USS Hatteras during its 22-month career. Alabama was finally sunk off Cherbourg, France on June 19, 1864, by USS Kearsarge.