parties from three Union ships came ashore on Saxis to obtain supplies. After the Union gained control of the Eastern Shore, local tradition holds, at least two vessels from Saxis engaged in blockade running, carrying supplies to Confederate troops in Virginia on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Besides the unconfirmed oral tradition of local blockade runners, Saxis is mentioned in Union reports and correspondence as the site of capture of blockade running vessels based in other ports of the Eastern Shore.