Many blockade runners were given corresponding names, _Owl_, _Bat_,
_Badger_, _Phantom_, _Lynx_, but none seemed to be more appropriate
than that given to a little toy steamer from the Clyde named _Spunkie_.
She was not fast but she managed to make several successful runs.
When I saw her in Nassau I could scarcely believe that this little
cockleshell of a boat had crossed the North Atlantic and had run
through the blockading fleet. The commander of the Federal cruiser
_Quaker City_ reported to Admiral Lee February 13, 1864, that he had
discovered the _Spunkie_ ashore at daylight on the 9th on the beach
a short distance west of Fort Caswell, but he could not determine
whether she was attempting to run in or run out. Two tugs belonging to
the blockading fleet made repeated but ineffectual efforts to float
the _Spunkie_ and she still lies near Fort Caswell. As the _Spunkie_
was loaded with blankets, shoes, and provisions for the Confederate
soldiers, there is no doubt she was trying to come into the river by
the Western Bar when she ran ashore.