Why were privateers important to the american war at sea

A privateer is a privately owned ship outfitted with weapons, and they were important to the American war at sea so that they could capture enemy merchant ships and cargo. ... General Charles Cornwallis could not control the area he had conquered and he and his troops faced a new kind of warfare, and the British won.

Explanation:

union blockade

explanation:

the union blockade in the american civil war was a naval strategy by the united states to prevent the confederacy from trading.

the blockade was proclaimed by president abraham lincoln in april 1861, and required the monitoring of 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of atlantic and gulf coastline, including 12 major ports, notably new orleans and mobile. those blockade runners fast enough to evade the union navy could only carry a small fraction of the supplies needed. they were operated largely by british citizens, making use of neutral ports such as havana, nassau and bermuda. the union commissioned around 500 ships, which destroyed or captured about 1,500 blockade runners over the course of the war.