The Gordon was a 177' side-wheeler built in New York in 1851. She was first owned by a stock company that used her as a privateer. The Gordon was one of only two privateers By the end of that ran the blockade to undertake their raids. By the end of August 1861 they both had returned to port, their privateering days ended by Union vigilance. In August of 1861, she was purchased by John Fraser and Company and renamed the Theodora. She was owned by the Florida Steam Packet Company and based in Charleston, South Carolina. During her career as a blockade-runner, she successfully ran the Union blockade six times.While the Gordon/Theodora was in Cuba, a group of ladies of Matanzas presented this beautiful silk flag to the captain. The flag displays eleven metallic yarn stars on a blue silk canton. Red and gold, the Spanish national colors, were likely used to demonstrate the close relationship existing between the Confederacy and the Spanish people of Cuba. These flags are made to order and take about 3 weeks to produce and ship.
