Presented by: Chelsea Freeland, Maritime Archaeologist

On June 27, 1862, the blockade-runner Modern Greece ran aground off the coast of Wilmington, NC. Modern Greece was within reach of the guns of Fort Fisher, protecting the vessel from the Union blockaders attempting to ignite the ship and its goods. But, not all of the cargo was salvaged from the ship during the war. There are several hypotheses for why only some of the cargo was saved: from a surplus of supplies in Wilmington to an unknown force stopping the salvage attempts. Why were some materials saved, while others were left to the sea?