The Blockade at Louisville

Covington Journal, May 25, 1861

The Courier says "our ware houses are groaning with accumulating products, with no outlet owing to the blockade. Our boats are rotting at the wharves, and the boatmen have nothing to do.This is the result of Black Republican rule, or misrule."
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The "Courier" is the Louisville Courier Journal

It does seem to me that if you were a "boatsman" and you knew a blockage had been applied, your decision to stock your boat and head to the wharves may not have been a wise one. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems doubtful to me that they arrived at the wharves and suddenly realized there was a blockade and national crisis ongoing. I wonder what they really expected at that point.