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The final shots of the Civil War were fired in the Arctic over 2 months after the South's surrender.

Findings

Additional insights we found via Smithsonian Magazine

  1. The CSS Shenandoah, a Confederate raider targeting Union whaling ships, was still destroying vessels in the Arctic in late June 1865, unaware that General Lee had surrendered at Appomattox on April 9.

  2. In a single week that month, the Shenandoah captured or destroyed two dozen ships near the Bering Strait, with the captain estimating the bounty at nearly $1M (over $18M today).

  3. Once the crew heard the news of the South's surrender, they sailed 17,000 miles to Liverpool, England, to avoid American capture.

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