Actually, the St. Albans raid was fairly sucessful for the rebels,
IIRC, there was a Confederate raid in Vermont (?) which ended badly. Not a good thing to be trying absent WMDs, because any successful effort will call for a really large number of people (and you know how those stinkers can keep secrets.) Being far away from a defensible base, such would end badly. Yankee raids into the South had the same problem (thinking of a certain locomotive).
In the West, John Brown and "Colonel" Quantrill could engage in guerilla atrocities because of the sparse population and nearby sympathizers. And they didn't do much except earn an undying infamy.
Actually, the St. Albans raid was fairly sucessful for the rebels, because - yet again - the British authorities in BNA showed exactly the level of respect they had for the rule of law. Bandits rob a bank, murder a man, and escape into BNA, and are released with the approval of what passes for law enforcement and the courts.
The SS
Chesapeake incident in 1863 was another shining example of British jurisprudence. Pirates take over a US ship, murder a sailor, and take the ship into a British-controlled port in BNA; they escape justice by - literally -
rowing away from the dock where they are (supposedly) going to be arrested.
Very interesting contrast to the aftermath of the
Trent Affair (horrors! An hours' delay in the mails! Whatever shall we do!) and even the Fenian raids, actually; along with blockade running,
Alabama, Shenandoah, and the Laird rams case, makes one understand why "perfidous Albion" was a thing.
Best,