The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner, by John
Wilkinson
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner
Author: John Wilkinson
Release Date: June 30, 2007 [eBook #21977]
Language: English
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NARRATIVE OF A
BLOCKADE-RUNNER***
E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Martin Pettit, and the Project Gutenberg
Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
Transcriber's note:
Some obvious typographical errors have been corrected. The use
of double quotation marks for quotations within quotations has
been retained as in the original, and the reader's attention
is called to the author's failure to close some quotations.
THE NARRATIVE OF A BLOCKADE-RUNNER.
by
J. WILKINSON,
Captain in the Late Confederate States Navy.
New York:
Sheldon & Company,
8 Murray Street.
1877
Copyright,
Sheldon & Company,
1877.
PREFACE.
In deference to the judgment of two or three literary friends, I have
entitled this, my first attempt at authorship, "The Narrative of a
Blockade-runner." They do not agree with Shakspeare that "a rose by any
other name would smell as sweet," to the reading public; nor that it is
always advisable to call a thing by its proper name. It will be seen,
however, by any reader who has the patience to peruse the work, that it
embraces a wider scope than its title would imply. I have endeavored to
give a full account of the passage by the U. S. fleet of the forts below
New Orleans; and to contribute some facts that will probably settle the
controversy, in the judgment of the reader, as to the real captors of
that city. "Honor to whom honor is due."
It will be seen that I have been favored with access to Commodore
Mitchell's official report of that conflict, a document never published.
The information derived from it, added to facts and circumstances
coming under my personal observation, furnishes the means of laying
before the public an account of that action from a new point of view.
In bearing testimony to the kind and humane treatment of the prisoners
of war at Fort Warren, I perform a most grateful duty. It was my good
fortune to be captured and held a prisoner, before the "retaliatory"
measures were adopted by the United States Government.
I have contributed some new, and, I hope, interesting facts about the
manner in which blockade running was conducted.
I cannot do better than furnish the following extract from a literary
friend's letter to me in reference to this effort of mine. "I am
particularly glad, believing as I do, that such a volume will help to
the production of that state of mind, North and South, which every good
man wishes to see grow. It is only necessary that we shall all fall into
the habit of talking and writing about war matters without feeling; that
we shall forget the bitterness of the conflict in our interest in its
history; and if you or I can amuse Northern readers, or entertain them
with our recollections, we shall certainly leave them in a pleasanter
and better state of mind than we found them in."
I should be happy to believe that I had contributed, in ever so small a
degree, to this consummation so devoutly to be wished for. But I would
make no sacrifice of principle nor of interest to achieve this end.
While accepting the situation consequent upon the unsuccessful appeal to
arms, the Southern people do not stultify themselves by professing to
renounce their conviction of their right and duty in having responded to
the call to defend their respective States from invasion.
But they believe that the war was conducted by the Confederate
Government in a spirit of humanity. Conceiving it to be the duty of
every southern man to submit any testimony in his possession relating to
this subject, and especially to the treatment of prisoners of war, I
have quoted some passages from a "Vindication of the Confederacy against
the charge of Cruelty to Prisoners." This work was recently published by
the Southern Historical Society, and was compiled by the Rev. J. Wm.
Jones, D.D., author of "Personal Reminiscences of Gen. R. E. Lee." The
candid and dispassionate student of History, in seeking after the
truth, should read this work before forming a judgment upon this point,
which has, perhaps, caused more bitter resentments among the Northern
people than all the other deplorable events of our civil strife
combined.
WOODSIDE, AMELIA CO., VA., Oct. 15th, 1876.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Secession of Virginia.--Service at Fort Powhatan.--Volunteers
at the Big Guns.--"Wide Awake" Clubs.--Want of preparation in
Virginia.--Fort Powhatan abandoned.--Service at Acquia
Creek.--The "Tigers."--Coal Mining on the Potomac. 15
CHAPTER II.
Ordered to New Orleans.--The Naval Fleet there.--The "River
Defence" Squadron.--The iron-clad "Louisiana."--Difficulty in
managing the Fleet.--Going down the River.--Want of
concert.--Admiral Farragut.--Our crew. 29
CHAPTER III.
The 24th April.--Passage of the United States Fleet.--After
the Storm.--The "River Defence" boats.--The Refuge in the
Bayou.--Surrender of the Forts.--Extracts from Commodore
Mitchell's official Report.--Council of War.--Destruction of
the "Louisiana."--Our Surrender.--General B. F.
Butler.--Transferred to the United States Frigate "Colorado." 44
CHAPTER IV.
Transferred to the "Rhode Island."--Meeting with an old
Friend.--Arrival at Fort Warren.--Treatment
there.--Correspondence, and its Result.--Prison
Life.--Exchanged.--The Crew at quarters.--Burial of the
"Unknown." 60
CHAPTER V.
A Brief Stay at Home.--Report to the War Department.--Instructions
to go abroad.--The Blockade-runner "Kate."--Voyage to
Nassau.--Yellow Fever.--The Undertaker.--Our Skipper "Captain
Dick."--The Major sick.--A Story for the Marines.--Arrival at
Cardenas.--The Coolies.--Arrival at Havana.--The American Consul
and I.--The Pirate Marti.--The Spanish Steamer.--Pretty
Harbors.--Captain Fry. 83
CHAPTER VI.
San Domingo.--The Island of Hayti and its Inhabitants.--St.
Thomas.--General Santa Anna.--The Mail Steamer Atrato.--Arrival
at Southampton.--English Scenery.--The Major Fails.--The
Giraffe purchased.--A Claim against the Confederate
Government.--The Hon J. M. Mason.--Credit of the Confederate
Government abroad.--An Improper Agent.--Captain Bullock.--The
Giraffe ready for Sea.--Glasgow.--Our Last Dinner.--Our Scotch
Landlady and Head Waiter.--We part with the Major.--Hot
Punch and Scotch Babies.--A Reminiscence. 100
CHAPTER VII.
Voyage to Madeira.--A Capital Sea-boat.--The Island
Ponies.--Mr. B. and his daughters.--Voyage to St. John's,
Porto Rico.--Run across the Bahama Banks.--Nassau during the
War.--High Wages and Low Characters.--Crew re-shipped.--Failure
to enter Charleston.--The "Lump."--A Narrow Escape.--The
Scotch Lithographers and their work.--Crossing the
Bar.--Transfer of the Giraffe to the Confederate
Government.--She becomes the "R. E. Lee."--The Major fulfills
his promise, but fails in his object. 117
CHAPTER VIII.
Dyer and the Sailing Captain.--First Voyage to Nassau.--Major
Ficklen and the Two Young Lieutenants.--Our Old Skipper
"Captain Dick."--Bermuda.--The Races there and
elsewhere.--Description of Bermuda.--Moore, the Poet, and his
Rival Mr. Tucker.--Tame Fish.--The Naval Station.--Col. B.'s
Accident. 136
CHAPTER IX.
We sail for Wilmington.--Thick Weather on the Coast.--Anchored
among the Blockading Fleet.--The "Mound."--Running the Blockade
by Moonlight.--A Device to mislead the Enemy.--The man Hester. 149
CHAPTER X.
The Confederate States Steamer "Florida."--Short Supply of
Coal.--The "Florida's" Decks.--Tea and Costly China.--Narrow
Escape from Capture.--Miss Lucy G.--Arrival at Bermuda.--Our
uneventful Trip inward.--The Johnson's Island Expedition.--Another
Narrow Escape.--"Pretty Shooting."--Arrival at Halifax, N.S. 159
CHAPTER XI.
The Lee Captured at Last.--Sandy Keith alias Thomassen.--Recruiting
in the British Provinces for the United States Army.--Failure
of the Expedition.--Return to Bermuda. 173
CHAPTER XII.
Take Command of the "Whisper."--High Rates of
Freight.--Confederate Money and Sterling Exchange.--An
Investment in Cotton.--The Ill-fated Ironclad.--The Point
Lookout Expedition and its Failure.--A Faithful Servant and a
Narrow Escape.--Futile Projects.--Wilmington during the
War.--Light Houses reëstablished.--Gloomy Prospects of
the South. 189
CHAPTER XIII.
Cruise of the Chickamauga.--Mr. Mallory's inefficiency.--Troubles
in Bermuda.--The Three Wrecks.--End of the cruise. 209
CHAPTER XIV.
Last Summons to Richmond.--Demoralization.--The
Chameleon.--More trouble in Bermuda.--Another Narrow
Escape.--Fall of Fort Fisher.--Maffitt's Escape, and Captain
S.'s Capture.--Another Hard Chase.--Failure to enter
Charleston.--Return to Nassau. 225
CHAPTER XV.
Sad News via New York.--Consternation among Speculators in
Nassau.--Departure from Nassau via Bermuda.--Arrival at
Liverpool.--The End. 244
NARRATIVE
OF A
BLOCKADE-RUNNER.
CHAPTER I.
Secession of Virginia.--Service at Fort Powhatan.--Volunteers at
the Big Guns.--"Wide Awake" Clubs.--Want of preparation in
Virginia.--Fort Powhatan abandoned.--Service at Acquia Creek.--The
"Tigers."--Coal Mining on the Potomac.
When the State of Virginia seceded from the Union, on the 17th day of
April, 1861, most of her citizens, belonging to the United States Navy,
resigned their commissions, and offered their services to the State of
their birth. Many of them had meddled so little with politics as never
even to have cast a vote; but having been educated in the belief that
their allegiance was due to their State, they did not hesitate to act as
honor and patriotism seemed to demand. They were compelled to choose
whether they would aid in subjugating their State, or in defending it
against invasion; for it was already evident that coercion would be used
by the General Government, and that war was inevitable. In reply to the
accusation of perjury in breaking their oath of allegiance, since
brought against the officers of the Army and Navy who resigned their
commissions to render aid to the South, it need only be stated that, in
their belief, the resignation of their commissions absolved them from
any special obligation. They then occupied the same position towards the
Government as other classes of citizens. But this charge was never
brought against them till the war was ended. The resignation of their
commissions was accepted when their purpose was well known. As to the
charge of ingratitude, they reply, their respective States had
contributed their full share towards the expenses of the General
Government, acting as their disbursing agent; and when these States
withdrew from the Union, their citizens belonging to the two branches of
the public service did not, and do not, consider themselves amenable to
this charge for abandoning their official positions to cast their lot
with their kindred and friends. But yielding as they did to necessity,
it was nevertheless a painful act to separate themselves from
companions with whom they had been long and intimately associated, and
from the flag under which they had been proud to serve.
During the brief interval which elapsed between the act of secession and
the admission of the State into the Confederacy, the Virginia Army and
Navy were organized; and all of the naval officers who had tendered
their services received commissions in the Virginia, and afterward in
the Confederate Navy; but as there were very few vessels in commission,
the greater portion of these officers were ordered to shore batteries.
My first experience was at Fort Powhatan, an earthwork situated on James
River a short distance below City Point, and carrying six or eight guns
mounted on ships' carriages, which had been transported from the Norfolk
Navy-yard. "Grim visaged war" had not shown his "wrinkled front" in
those fair portions of the land; and our time was chiefly spent in
drilling the volunteers at the big guns, and visiting the hospitable
families in the neighborhood; but all of us were soon to be transferred
to more active scenes. The young gentlemen-privates of the gallant
volunteer company, who so daintily handled the side and train-tackles
of the 42-pounders in the battery, considered themselves fortunate, not
long afterwards, if they obtained full rations of lean beef, or "Nassau"
pork, and "hard tack;" and bore the brunt of many a severely contested
battle as part of Stonewall Jackson's "foot cavalry." But at this period
there were only a few so called croakers who at all realized the
magnitude of the struggle about to ensue. The camps resounded with song
and merriment; and many of the young warriors were attended, like the
knights-errant of old, by a faithful squire, who polished the boots,
cleaned the musket, and performed other menial service for his "young
master." My own "fidus Achates," was old "Uncle Billy," whose occupation
was gone by the stoppage of a tobacco factory in Richmond, where he had
been used to take a prominent part in the peculiar songs of the
"profession." He would sometimes give us a specimen of his vocal powers,
and would nearly bring the house down, literally and metaphorically,
while executing the mysteries of a "Virginny breakdown" in thick soled
brogans sixteen inches long.
But to return from this digression, it was believed by many persons that
a large party at the North would oppose the prosecution of a war of
invasion. It will be remembered by those at all conversant with the
history of events at that time, how strong had been the party opposed to
secession in the Convention then in session at Richmond, (at least
two-thirds of its members having been elected as Union men,) and what
strenuous efforts towards peace and compromise had been made by the
Border States Commissioners. The call upon Virginia, by President
Lincoln, for her quota of troops to aid in subjugating the South, had
settled the question, however, in the Convention; and in a few hours
after Governor Letcher's reply to that call, Virginia had virtually cast
her lot with the Gulf States, although two weeks elapsed before she
became a member of the Confederacy. I had visited, some months previous
to the secession of the State, many of the little villages in New
England, where I saw that the population were in terrible earnest. "Wide
awake," and other secret societies were organized; and inflammatory
harangues aroused the populace. The favorite theme of the orators was
the "martyrdom" of John Brown; the piratical and murderous raid of that
fanatic into the State of Virginia being exalted into a praiseworthy act
of heroism. When I returned to Virginia and contrasted the apparent
apathy and want of preparation there with the state of affairs at the
North, I trembled for the result. But when the State severed her
relations with the Union, the Governor acted with great vigor and
ability, and the most was made of the limited resources at his command.
Volunteers responded with alacrity to the call to defend the State from
invasion; and none responded more readily, or served more bravely, than
those who had opposed secession in the Convention. It seems invidious to
cite particular examples; but the "noblest Trojan of them all" will
point a moral, and serve as an exemplar for generations to come. Wise in
council, eloquent in debate, bravest and coolest among the brave in
battle, and faithful to his convictions in adversity, he still lives to
denounce falsehood and wrong. Truly the old hero, in all he says and
does, "gives the world assurance of a man."--I allude to Gen. J. A.
Early.
When Fort Powhatan was abandoned, I was ordered to the command of a
battery at Acquia Creek on the Potomac. Although situated upon the
frontier, few incidents occurred there to vary the monotony of our
lives. Occasionally some of the gunboats guarding the river would steam
in, and exchange a few shots with us; and we witnessed frequent
skirmishes between them and Walker's afterwards famous battery of flying
artillery; but ammunition being extremely scarce at that period in the
Confederacy, the orders to us were peremptory to be very sparing in the
use of it.[1]
The battery at Acquia Creek was constructed at the terminus of the
railroad from Fredericksburg, and was manned by an infantry company
acting as artillerists. Besides this force, permanently stationed at the
battery, and quartered near it, a company of infantry from military
headquarters was sent every evening to guard against a night attack. A
company called the "Tigers," took their turn at this service, and we
would gladly have dispensed with their "protection." Utterly
undisciplined, they were more dangerous to friends than to foes.
Mutinous and insubordinate, they were engaged in constant collisions
with each other and with the companies so unfortunate as to be quartered
near them; and their camp was a pandemonium. In addition to other
sources of quarrel and contention, several women (_vivandiéres_, they
called themselves) followed the company. The patience of Gen. M.[2] who
commanded the division, was finally exhausted. He summoned the Captain
of the "Tigers" into his presence; and after severely reprimanding him
for the misconduct of his men, insisted that the "_vivandiéres_" should
be sent away. The captain urged many reasons for keeping them; the chief
one being the good _moral effect_ of their presence! but the General was
inflexible. Even gallantry to the sex must be sacrificed to the truth;
and a proper regard for the latter demands the statement that a
reformation commenced with the departure of the women; and our friends
the "Tigers" eventually became well-behaved soldiers.
We passed many months of inglorious inactivity here until the spring of
1862, when the line of the Potomac was abandoned. While the Federal
forces had remained comparatively quiet in this part of the Confederacy,
they had achieved many important successes elsewhere. Fort Donelson, on
the Cumberland River, and Roanoke Island in North Carolina had been
captured, with large garrisons; and New Orleans and Savannah were
threatened. General Joseph E. Johnston, who at the time commanded the
Army of Northern Virginia, determined to fall back to the line of the
Rappahannock; and all the batteries on the Potomac were abandoned
between the 8th and 10th of March, 1862; the guns being removed to other
quarters.
The monotonous service at the batteries had tried the patience of all
who were attached to them; and we rejoiced at the prospect of more
active duty. The reverses sustained by the Confederate arms were not to
be disguised, nor were our convictions of great danger to the country to
be removed by the politic proclamation issued by the Confederate
Government, to the effect that a contraction of the lines could exercise
no material influence upon the issue of the war. But as it was deemed
necessary by the military authorities to abandon the situation, we were
not at all sorry to depart; for although we had seen no active service,
insatiate war had claimed many victims, who had perished ingloriously by
the malarial fevers of that marshy district. The naval officers were
especially elated at the change. Their duties and their authority being
alike undefined, there resulted a deplorable want of harmony between
them and the military. This was, indeed, the inevitable consequence of
the anomalous position held by the former; and this want of concert of
action subsequently contributed, in some measure at least, to the
disastrous issue of the conflict below New Orleans.
We having been trained in the strict discipline of a man of war, wanted
"savoir faire" in dealing with the fastidious young captains, and the
equally sensitive "high privates"; while they no doubt looked upon us as
a domineering, tyrannical set of exclusives and wished that we were on
board the Federal gunboats in the river, or farther. My personal
intercourse, however, was always very pleasant with them. Capt. Brown,
commanding the company of North Carolinians at the battery, had
graduated at the U. S. Naval School a year or two previous to the war,
and was a strict disciplinarian. Two years after our separation, I fell
in with him accidentally; and he then gave me a sad account of the
changes wrought by death and disease in his fine company. He had risen
to the rank of Colonel, and was then on his return to duty in the army
of Northern Virginia after recovery from wounds received in battle. The
graphic account given by him of the manner in which he was wounded and
his narrow escape from death, may interest others as much as it did me.
His regiment formed part of Gen. Ed. Johnson's division, which held the
salient angle in Gen. Lee's line at Spottsylvania C. H. when it was
forced by the Federal troops. The attack was made at early dawn and in
the additional obscurity of a Scotch mist; and so complete was the
surprise according to B.'s account, that he was only made aware of the
close proximity of the enemy by dimly discerning, a few paces distant, a
Federal soldier with his musket levelled at him. The soldier fired, and
B. fell insensible, shot through one of the lungs. Upon recovering
consciousness, he found himself on a litter borne by Federal soldiers.
An officer leaned over him, and offered him some liquor from his
canteen, which revived him so far that he was able to speak. His humane
captor then volunteered to transmit any message to B.'s friends and
relatives. While B. was rallying his failing senses to deliver what he
believed to be his dying messages to the loved ones at home, a rattling
fire of musketry opened upon them, the litter bearers and the officer
were shot down; the latter falling across Brown, who relapsed into
insensibility. When he again recovered consciousness, he found himself
borne in the same litter, now carried by Confederate soldiers. The
position had been retaken. His good friend had been shot dead.
Our mess at Acquia Creek was abundantly supplied with food from land and
water. Every member of it, no doubt, frequently longed afterwards for
the "flesh pots of Egypt." We discovered, by chance, a large bulk of
coal, which had been stored on the long wharf where the Acquia Creek
steam-boats used to make their landings. When the Point was shelled
about the commencement of the war by the gunboats, the wharf was
destroyed, the coal falling uninjured ten or twelve feet to the bottom
of the river. We fished up our supplies with oyster tongs as they were
needed, and our snug quarters were kept warm during the winter. Towards
the end of the season, one of the mess servants lately arrived from the
rural districts, was sent in the boat for a supply from the _coal mine_.
He had made many a fire of soft coal in the drawing room at home; but
although an accomplished servant, his education had been so far
neglected that he was ignorant of all the "'ologies." He was very much
astonished at our process of coal mining, and asked me with great
gravity, on his return with the load, "if coal grew like that all over
the Potomac." Of course I replied in the affirmative. It was anthracite
hard coal, a specimen of which he had never seen; so he was further
informed that it was hard or soft according to the season when it was
fished up, being soft in the summer and hard in the winter. He was much
pleased to have acquired all this information, and probably took the
earliest opportunity, on his return home, to enlighten his circle of
friends and acquaintances upon the subject of coal mining on the
Potomac.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The belief still prevails, probably, at the North, that extensive
preparations had been made by the South for the war. But General Joseph
E. Johnston who was assigned to the service of organizing and
instructing the Virginia volunteers called out by Governor Letcher
states the contrary. He asserts that all the arms to be depended upon at
that time, were those found in the Southern arsenals, U. S. muskets, and
rifles of discarded patterns to the number of about 75,000; 40,000 flint
muskets belonging to the State of Virginia, and 20,000 procured for the
State of Georgia by Governor Brown.
It was charged that Mr. Floyd of Virginia while Secretary of War under
President Buchanan had caused the removal of public arms to the Southern
arsenals; but a Committee of the House of Representatives, in 1861,
exonerated Mr. Floyd from the charge, and the chairman of that Committee
was the Hon. Mr. Stanton, a prominent and zealous member of the
Republican party.
General Johnston, who was in a position to know the facts, states in his
"Narrative, etc.," that the "Confederate States began the war with one
hundred and twenty thousand arms of obsolete models, and seven hundred
of the recently adopted weapons rifled-muskets, and the United States
with about four hundred and fifty thousand of the old, and all of the
modern arms that had been made since the adoption of the new models."
When in August, 1861, it was in contemplation to send the Army of
Northern Virginia into Maryland, want of ammunition, according to the
distinguished authority just quoted, was one of the chief obstacles to
the project.
[2] The allusion is made to Genl. Mears, who commanded at Acquia Creek
and to the Baltimore "Tigers", at the time commanded by Captain Thomas.
CHAPTER II.
Ordered to New Orleans.--The Naval Fleet there.--The "River
Defence" Squadron.--The iron clad "Louisiana."--Difficulty in
managing the Fleet.--Going down the River.--Want of
concert.--Admiral Farragut.--Our crew.
I was ordered to report to Commodore Whittle, commanding the naval
station at New Orleans, for duty afloat. A powerful fleet of ships of
war and bomb vessels, under the command of Commodore (afterwards
Admiral) Farragut, was then assembling at the mouth of the Mississippi,
for an attack upon New Orleans, in which a large land force under Gen.
Butler (afterwards called the Beast) was to coöperate. The citizens were
under the impression that the place was impregnable. Gen. Duncan,
commanding Forts Jackson and St. Philip, below the city, was considered
one of the best artillerists in the service; and the land defence was
intrusted to Gen. Lovell, with a well appointed force under his command.
The people of that gay city were occupied as usual in business and
pleasure, and continued unconscious of their peril up to the very time
when the Federal fleet passed the forts. But the condition of affairs,
so far as naval defence was concerned, was lamentable. The regular C. S.
naval fleet consisted of the Louisiana (Captain McIntosh) and carrying
the flag of Commodore Mitchell; the steamer McRae (Captain Huger),
carrying six light 32-pounders and nine-inch pivot gun; the steamer
Jackson (Captain Renshaw), with two pivoted smooth bore 32-pounders; the
small ironplated "Ram" Manassas (Captain Warley), carrying one
32-pounder carronade in the bow; and two launches, each carrying a
howitzer and a crew of twenty men. There were also present, at the time
the passage was forced by the U. S. fleet, two Louisiana State gunboats,
viz., the "Governor Moore," Captain Kennon, carrying two 32-pounder
rifled guns, and the "General Quitman," with a similar battery. _These_
were converted sea steamers, with pine and cotton barricades to protect
the more vulnerable part of their machinery. All of the above vessels,
with the exception of the Louisiana and Manassas, were too slightly
built for war purposes. The unarmed steamboats, "Mozier," placed under
Commodore Mitchell's command. In addition to the above force, there were
six steamers carrying from one to two guns each, constituting what was
called the "River Defence Squadron," under the command of Captain
Stevenson. These vessels' boilers and machinery were protected by heavy
timber barricades, filled in with compressed cotton; and they were
prepared with bar-iron casing around their bows to act as "Rams."
The Louisiana was pierced for twelve guns rifled six-inch; and
eight-inch shell guns, three in the bow, three in each broadside, and
three in the stern. Her armor consisted of railroad-iron bars securely
bolted upon the sides and ends of the long covered box built upon her
nearly submerged hull. These sides and ends sloped at an angle of about
forty-five degrees; around the upper deck was a stout bulwark about five
feet high, and iron plated inside, to resist grape shot, and afford a
protection to the sharp-shooters stationed there in action.
The propelling power consisted of huge wheels, boxed up in the centre of
the vessel; and a propeller on each quarter. A more powerful and
efficient iron-clad called the Mississippi had just been launched from
the stocks, but the passage of the forts was effected before her battery
could be put on board.
After a few days' service on board the Jackson, I was ordered on board
the Louisiana (as executive officer) then lying alongside the "levee" at
New Orleans. Her battery was not mounted; and the mechanics were at work
upon her unfinished armor and machinery. Much was to be done, and with
the most limited facilities; but many obstacles had been surmounted and
affairs were progressing favorably, when we received orders from
Commodore Whittle to proceed down the river as far as the forts. Our
wheels were in working order; but a great deal was to be done to the
propellers, and the crew were still engaged in mounting the guns. But
Commodore Whittle, though cognizant of our condition, was compelled
against his judgment, to yield to the urgent telegrams of General Duncan
to send the Louisiana down the river. We had been unable to man the ship
with sailors; for although many of this class belonged to the various
volunteer companies around New Orleans, their commanding officers were
not disposed to part with them; nor were the "jack tars" themselves
willing to exchange camp life for the discipline and subordination of
the naval service. Our regular crew being too small to man the battery,
we gladly accepted the services of the "Crescent Artillery," a fine
volunteer company raised in New Orleans. Two river steamboats were
assigned to the Louisiana for the purpose of towage, if necessary, and
for the accommodation of the mechanics who were still at work on board.
We cast off from the "levee" on Sunday, April the 20th. It was a bright
day, and a large concourse was assembled to witness our departure. Steam
had been got up, and as our big wheels were set in motion in the rapid
current of the Mississippi, torrents of water rushed through the
crevices in the bulkheads and deluged the gun deck, while the Louisiana
drifted helplessly down the river, feeling the effect of the wheels no
more sensibly than if they were a pair of sculling oars. "Facilis
descensus Averno; sed revocare gradum, hoc opus, hic labor est." The
aptness of the quotation will be appreciated by the reader who is in at
the death of the Louisiana. We accomplished our object of getting down
to the forts about seventy miles below the city, thanks to the current
and our two transports; but our artillerists were in a shabby plight
while trying to work the guns knee-deep in water.
Securing the Louisiana by hawsers to the left bank of the river near
Fort St. Philip, on the morning of the 21st, we continued our labors
upon the machinery and on the battery. The bombardment of the forts had
been in progress for several days and nights, and the shells from the
fleet were thrown with beautiful and destructive precision (some of them
occasionally falling in close proximity to the Louisiana,) while the
bomb vessels themselves were beyond the range of the fort's guns. The
naval officers were quite sure that an attempt would soon be made by
Admiral Farragut to force the passage, and that so far as the naval
strength was concerned, it was apparent our means were inadequate to
prevent it.
Commodore Mitchell, on our arrival below, had delivered to Captain
Stevenson written orders from General Lovell requiring him to place all
the "River Defence Squadron" under the Commodore's orders. Captain S.,
on receiving these instructions, addressed a written communication to
Commodore Mitchell, to the effect that all of the officers and crew
under his command had entered the service with the distinct
understanding that they were not to be placed under the command of
naval officers; and that, while willing to coöperate with our forces, he
would receive no orders from the Commodore nor allow any vessel under
his command to do so; reserving to himself the right of obeying or
disobeying any orders the Commodore might issue. With this assumption of
absolute independence, Commodore Mitchell's position was extremely
embarrassing, but he did all that was then in his power. Not knowing at
what moment an attack would be made, he endeavored to agree with Captain
Stevenson upon a plan of coöperation; and he states in his official
report made after the action that Captain Stevenson "seemed disposed
zealously to second these objects in many respects."
A few days previous to the action, I had been sent down the river to
communicate, under a flag of truce, with one of the ships of the
squadron; and in the course of conversation with my old friend Captain
DeCamp, the officer in command of a division of the fleet had been
informed by him that they could force the obstructions across the river
whenever they pleased, and intended doing so when they were ready. The
interview took place in his cabin; and although I indignantly
repudiated the idea, I could not help feeling how confidently I would
stake life and reputation upon the issue if our situations were
reversed. I had noticed many familiar faces among the officers and crew
as I passed along the deck a few moments before. Every one was at his
station; the guns cast loose for action; and it was in the nature of
things, that I should contrast this gallant man of war and all this
efficiency and discipline with the iron bound box and crew of "horse
marines" which I had just left. But it was in no spirit of depreciation
of the gallantry of my comrades, for I was quite sure that they would
stand to their guns. The wretched "bowl of Gotham" which had no
efficient motive power, and which could not even be got under way, when
anchored, without slipping the chain cable, caused the misgivings. It is
no disparagement to the prowess of the U. S. fleet which passed the
forts, to assert, that they never could have successfully opposed our
forces; but the battle was won quite as effectually when they succeeded
in passing beyond the range of the guns of the forts and the
"Louisiana."
After our official business was closed, DeC. and I began to talk of the
war; and he expressed the opinions then entertained, beyond a doubt, by
a majority of U. S. army and naval officers. They believed it to be the
intention of the Government to bring the seceding States back into the
Union, with their rights and institutions unimpaired. Since then a
little leaven has leavened the whole lump, and the former doctrine of
the extreme abolitionists has long become the creed of the dominant
party. But some facts should be borne in mind by those who denounce
slavery as the sum of all villanies; for instance, that the slave code
of Massachusetts was the earliest in America; the cruelest in its
provisions and has never been formally repealed; that the Plymouth
settlers, according to history, maintained "that the white man might own
and sell the negro and his offspring forever;" that Mr. Quincy, a
representative from Massachusetts during the war of 1812, threatened the
House of Congress that the North would secede "peaceably if we can,
forcibly if we must" unless their demands for peace were acceded to; and
lastly that the abolitionists of a later age denounced the Constitution
and canonized John Brown for committing a number of murders and
endeavoring to incite servile insurrection in time of peace. Truly
"tempora mutantur," etc.
The river obstructions, above alluded to, consisted of a line of sunken
vessels, and of heavy pieces of timber chained together, and extending
from bank to bank. A few days before the attack was made, General Duncan
was speaking rather confidently of his barricade, when Warley remarked,
"General, if I commanded a fleet below, and my commission lay above your
obstructions, I would _come up and get it_." Most of us belonging to
that little naval fleet, knew that Admiral Farragut would dare to
attempt what any man would; and for my own part, I had not forgotten
that while I was under his command during the Mexican War, he had
proposed to Commodore Perry, then commanding the Gulf Squadron, and
urged upon him, the enterprise of capturing the strong fort of San Juan
de Ulloa at Vera Cruz _by boarding_. Ladders were to be constructed and
triced up along the attacking ships' masts; and the ships to be towed
along side the walls by the steamers of the squadron. Here was a much
grander prize to be fought for; and every day of delay was strengthening
his adversaries. It was the general belief, indeed, at the time, that
the admiral was in daily communication with the city by means of spies;
and the public indignation was so deeply roused against Mr. T----t, the
constructor of the Mississippi, ("a Northern man with Southern
principles") who failed from time to time in launching that vessel as he
had appointed to do, that he was in danger of "_Lynch law_"; and it is
at least a singular coincidence that the naval attack was made
immediately after that powerful vessel was launched, and before the guns
could be put on board. But the idea of any collusion between Mr. T----t
and the enemy, or of treachery on the part of the former, was never
entertained, I believe, except by a few bigoted zealots, blinded by hate
and passion against every one born north of the Potomac.
This class, which ought to have acted more fairly, found many followers
among the multitude; from which little charity or justice can ever be
expected. Nearly 1900 years ago the "plebes," influenced by their
leaders, demanded the release of a robber and murderer and crucified the
Saviour of mankind; and history further informs us that 500 years before
that era, a Greek citizen could be banished without special trial,
accusation, or defence; and that Aristides was sent into exile because
people were tired of hearing him always called "the Just." Social
ostracism will continue to exist till the millennium. The gentlemen of
northern birth who were so unfortunate as to occupy prominent positions
during the war, were mercilessly held up to scorn and distrust, if they
failed to come up to the public expectation. In truth, they occupied
trying positions; being regarded by many as aliens and mercenaries.
"Mens conscia recti" will support us under many trials; but it does not
furnish armor of proof against the "poor man's scorn, the proud man's
contumely."
The interval between the 21st and 24th of April was occupied by
Commodore Mitchell in organizing the force under his command, and in
endeavoring to arrange some concert of action with the "River Defence"
gunboats.
On board the Louisiana every effort was made to complete the works upon
the propellers, and in mounting the battery, on which the mechanics
worked night and day. Our "Crescent artillery;" a detachment of
artillery from the forts under Lieutenant Dixon; and Captain Ryan's
company of Sharp-shooters supplied the deficiencies in our crew. The
Commodore was unsuccessful in his efforts to induce Captain Stevenson
to employ one of his gunboats below the obstructions at night, to watch
the U. S. fleet; and we had no vessel suitable for that purpose; the
only one which would have answered (the Jackson) having been sent, with
one of the launches, to watch the U. S. land forces near the Quarantine
station, five miles above us. The only launch which remained to us was
sent, by the Commodore's orders, below the obstructions every night, but
the officer in command afterwards proved either a traitor or a coward,
failing to make the concerted signal upon the approach of the fleet, and
never reporting himself on board the Louisiana afterwards.
General Duncan urged upon the Commodore, the first or second day after
our arrival below, to take a new position with the Louisiana at the
river bank just below Fort St. Philip, and under cover of its guns, from
whence she might open fire with effect upon the mortar fleet. The
Commodore declined the proposition, and his action was sustained in a
consultation with all the commanding officers of the C. S. naval forces
present, on the grounds, "first, that the battery of the Louisiana was
not in a condition for service;" "second, that the completion of the
propeller and other mechanical work in progress, was indispensable to
the efficiency of the vessel, and that it would be interrupted if she
were placed under fire;" and third, "that placing the Louisiana in a
position to receive the fire of the enemy, before her own battery could
be served with effect, would be improperly hazarding, not only her own
safety, but the security of the passage between the forts on which
rested the possession of New Orleans."[3]
But on the afternoon of the 23d the work had so far progressed as to
encourage the belief that the vessel might be moved to the point
proposed, and the Commodore, after making a reconnoissance, had decided
to do so, and notified General Duncan of this intention. Captain
Stevenson was to assist with two of his gunboats which were especially
well adapted to this purpose.
Commodore Mitchell, in his official report to the C. S. Secretary of the
Navy, intimates that "he fully appreciated and admitted the importance
of the proposed change of position for the Louisiana," but contends that
"the state of the battery, independent of other weighty reasons, was
sufficient to prevent its being made previous to the engagement of the
24th." One of these consists in the fact, that owing to the peculiar
construction of the Louisiana's port-holes, her guns could not be
elevated more than five degrees. The mortar fleet would have been beyond
their range.
FOOTNOTE:
[3] From Commodore Mitchell's official report to the Secretary of the C.
S. Navy, dated August 19th, 1862.
CHAPTER III.
The 24th April.--Passage of the United States Fleet.--After the
Storm.--The "River Defence" boats.--The Refuge in the
Bayou.--Surrender of the Forts.--Extracts from Commodore Mitchell's
official reports.--Council of War.--Destruction of the
"Louisiana."--Our Commander General B. F. Butler.--Transferred to
the United States frigate "Colorado."
On the night of April 23d, the bursting of the shells was as incessant
as usual. Toward daylight of the 24th, an ominous calm of brief duration
was broken by the first broadside of the advancing fleet, which had
approached so rapidly as to remove and pass the obstructions
undiscovered, and before the launch on picket duty could get back to our
fleet. For a few minutes the roar of the guns was deafening; but objects
were so obscured by the darkness and the dense smoke, that we could only
fire, with effect, at the flashes of the ship's guns. The Louisiana's
three bow guns (one rifled seven-inch and two seven-inch shell guns) and
her three starboard broadside guns (a rifled six-inch and two eight-inch
shell guns) were all that could be brought to bear during the
engagement; for being moored to the river bank, the stern and port
broadside guns were useless. The U. S. fleet came up in two divisions,
delivering their broadsides in rapid succession. One of the ships was
set on fire by one of the fireboats (a number of which had been
prepared) but the flames were speedily extinguished. It is said that the
unarmed tug Mozier, under her heroic commander, Sherman, while towing a
fireboat alongside a heavy ship, was sunk by a broadside delivered at
short range, all on board perishing. One of the largest ships, believed
to be the Hartford, came in contact with our stern, and received the
fire of our three bow guns while in this position, returning a
broadside, but she soon swung clear of us and continued on her way up
the river.
When day fairly broke, the storm had passed away, leaving wreck and ruin
in its wake. The river banks were dotted, here and there, with burning
steamers, and a large portion of the U. S. fleet had succeeded in
getting beyond the forts. A few vessels of the attacking force had
failed to pass the obstructions before daylight, and were driven back by
the guns from the forts. The Louisiana and the McRae were the only
vessels left to the Confederates; but the former was almost intact, her
armor proving a sufficient defence against the broadsides, even when
delivered at close range. The eight-inch shells of the Hartford buried
themselves about half their diameter in our armor, and crumbled into
fragments. All of our casualties occurred on the spar deck; our gallant
commander being mortally wounded there; and many of the mechanics, who
were quartered on board the tenders alongside of us, were killed or
wounded. The McRae and the Manassas were in the stream in time to take
an active part in the conflict; the former being considerably cut up.
The Manassas struck two vessels with her prow, but did not succeed in
sinking either. Having followed the fleet some distance up the river,
and being hard pressed and seriously damaged, she was run ashore and
abandoned. She shortly afterwards floated off and drifting down the
river, sank between the forts. The Louisiana State gunboat "Governor
Moore" made a gallant fight, sinking the U. S. gunboat "Verona."
Kennon, in his official report, states his loss at fifty-seven killed
and thirteen wounded out of a crew of ninety-three. He ran his vessel
ashore when she was in a sinking condition, and set fire to her with
his own hand. The "River Defence" gunboats, with the exception of the
"Resolute," were either destroyed by fire of the enemy's fleet, or by
their own crews. The "Resolute" was discovered ashore, after the action,
about a mile above Fort Jackson and abandoned by her crew. Lieut. Alden,
with a party from the "McRae," took possession of her, and endeavored to
get her afloat as she was very little injured, but being attacked by one
of the gunboats from above, which succeeded in putting several shots
through her hull at the water line, Alden was compelled to abandon her
after setting her on fire. Among the mortally wounded on board the
"McRae" was her commander T. B. Huger. The "Defiance," one of the "River
Defence" gunboats, escaped without material injury. She was turned over
to the command of Commodore Mitchell by Captain Stevenson on the 26th,
without any of her officers and crew, who refused to remain in her, and
went ashore.[4]
After landing the wounded, we continued the work upon the machinery of
the Louisiana, buoyed up by the hope of soon being able to retrieve our
disasters. Our number was increased by officers and men who had escaped
from some of the abandoned vessels. Many of them, to obtain shelter
from the shells and canister shot of the Federal fleet, had taken refuge
in the "bayous" which lie not far from the river in many places; and
they looked like half drowned rats as they came on board the Louisiana.
One of the officers gave a ludicrous account of a poor girl, who had
fled from her home on the river bank as the fleet was passing, with no
clothing except her night dress, and no earthly possession but a lap-dog
which she held in her clasped arms. She had sought the same place of
refuge and as the shells and shot would whistle over her head she would
dive like a duck under the water; and every time she rose above the
surface, the lap-dog would sneeze and whimper a protest against the
frequent submersions. The officer at last persuaded her to let him take
charge of her draggled pet; and finally had the pleasure of seeing her
safe back to her home before leaving her.
During the night of the 27th after unremitting labor, our machinery was
at last completed, and we prepared to make the attempt to go up the
river in pursuit of the fleet. Commodore Mitchell notified General
Duncan of his purpose, and the latter seemed sanguine of a successful
issue, assuring the Commodore of his ability to hold the forts for
weeks. Orders were issued on board the Louisiana for the crew to have an
early breakfast, and every thing to be in readiness to cast off from the
river bank a little after sunrise. The situation justified the hopes
entertained by us of at least partially retrieving our fortunes, when,
shortly after daylight, an officer came across the river to us from Fort
Jackson, with General Duncan's compliments, and to say that General D.
was about to surrender the forts to Commodore Porter.[5] In nautical
parlance, we were "struck flat aback" by this astounding intelligence.
With the forts as a base of operations, we might repeat the effort, if
the first were unsuccessful; and would be able to repair damages, if
necessary, under shelter of their guns; but with their surrender we were
helpless. The capture of the Louisiana would then become, indeed, a mere
question of time, without the firing of a gun; for we would have been
unable to replenish our supplies either of provisions or coal when
exhausted. The most sanguine spirits on board, in the light of their
experience of the motive power of the Louisiana, did not believe that we
could accomplish more than the control of that portion of the river
within the range of our guns; nor that the vessel could ever do much
more than stem the rapid current of the Mississippi. The surrender of
New Orleans was, indeed, inevitable; but even that catastrophe would not
involve complete possession of the river by the enemy while we held the
forts near its mouth. The gigantic efforts afterwards made by the
Federal forces for the capture of Vicksburg showed the vital importance
attached by the United States Government to the possession of the
fortified positions on the Mississippi, while the equally desperate
exertions made by the Confederacy to hold it, demonstrated our
consciousness of its value to us.
Commodore Mitchell ordered his boat and proceeded with all haste to
remonstrate with General Duncan; but all was unavailing; the General
informing the Commodore that he had already dispatched a boat to the
United States fleet, offering to surrender his command under certain
conditions; disclaiming, in the offer, all control over the forces
afloat. The Commodore's boat had scarcely got back to the Louisiana,
when the quartermaster on duty reported one of the ships of the fleet
below steaming up the river towards us, with a white flag flying at the
mast-head. General Duncan, it is said, stated to the citizens of New
Orleans a few days afterward, that a large number of his guns had been
spiked by the mutineers of the garrison; and that he had no alternative
but to surrender.
A hasty council of war was held on board the Louisiana, during which it
was decided to transfer the officers and crew to our two tenders and to
burn the ship. This was speedily carried into effect, and the two
transports steamed across the river as the flames burst through the
Louisiana's hatchway.[6] Those who wished to make the attempt to escape
through the bayous, received permission to do so; and a few of the
number, familiar with the locality, succeeded in evading the Federal
pickets, and getting within the Confederate lines. The rest of us were
entrapped; passing several hours of very unpleasant suspense, while the
forts were being surrendered. It was a grand spectacle when the flames
reached the Louisiana's magazine. The hawsers, securing her to the
river-bank, having been burnt in two, she floated out into the stream a
few minutes before the explosion; and at the moment of its occurrence, a
column of pure white smoke shot rapidly high into the air from the
blazing hull, wreathing itself at the top into the shape of a snow-white
"cumulus" cloud; and in a few seconds afterwards, huge fragments of the
wreck showered down, far and wide, upon the river and the adjacent
shore. The Louisiana had disappeared before the deafening report
attending the catastrophe reached our ears.
Immediately after the United States flag was hoisted upon the forts, the
steamer "Harriet Lane" steamed slowly toward us, and sent a shot over
our heads as a summons to haul down the Confederate flag which was then
flying at our peak. The demand was promptly complied with, and we were
prisoners of war.
Upon the pretext that we had violated the usages of war by burning the
Louisiana while a flag of truce was flying, we were for a time subjected
to unusual humiliations; learning afterwards, indeed, that Commodore
Porter had recommended to the Secretary of the Navy a continuance of
harsh treatment toward us upon our arrival at Fort Warren, where we were
destined. The reply to the charge brought against us is obvious, viz.,
we were no parties to the flag of truce; nor were we included in the
terms of the surrender; General Duncan treating only for the garrisons
under his command, and expressly disclaiming any connection with us.
We were kept for a few days in close confinement on board the United
States gunboat "Clifton,"[7] and were transferred from her on the 7th of
May to the frigate Colorado, lying off the mouth of the Mississippi.
Here we found Kennon, who had been consigned to a "lower deep" than
ourselves. He was placed under a sentry's charge behind a canvas screen
on the opposite side of the gun deck from us; and strict orders were
given that no one should hold any communication with him. The charge
against him was, that he had caused the death of some of his wounded
crew by setting fire to his ship before their removal, a charge denied
by him; but even if it were true, or admitted, that some of his crew
were unable to escape, he was only responsible to his own government. In
a few days, however, he was released from solitary confinement, and many
restrictions were removed from all of us. But humiliations or physical
discomforts weighed as a feather upon our spirits compared with our
reflections upon the consequences of the disaster which we had
witnessed; and our consciousness that this sad fate had been brought
upon the country chiefly by treachery and want of concert. And, indeed,
the extent of the disaster could scarcely be exaggerated. It gave the
United States Government possession of the State of Louisiana, the
almost complete control of the Mississippi river, and separated Texas
and Arkansas from the rest of the Confederacy for the remainder of the
war.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] Extract from Commodore Mitchell's official report dated August 19th,
1862. "The following is believed to be a correct list of the vessels
that passed up by Forts Jackson and St. Philip during the engagement of
the 24th April; mounting in the aggregate one hundred and eighty-four
guns, viz.,
Hartford steamer, 28 guns 1st class sloop.
Richmond, " 28 " "
Brooklyn, " 28 " "
Pensacola, " 28 " "
Mississippi, " 21 " "
Iroquois, " 10 " 2d class sloop.
Oneida, " 10 " "
Verona, " 11 " "
Cayuga, " 5 " "
Penola, " 5 " "
Wissahickon, " 5 " "
Winona, " 5 " "
How any controversy could arise as to which branch of the U. S. Service
deserves the credit of the capture of New Orleans is a matter of wonder
to those who were present at the time. The following article from the
Richmond Enquirer of September 10th, 1875, written by an eye-witness of
many of the scenes in the city which he describes, would seem
conclusively to establish the fact that the navy alone achieved the
capture.
"The question has again been raised as to whether the army or the navy
is entitled to the credit of having captured New Orleans from the
Confederates in April or May, 1862. It has been a mooted point in
history ever since the event happened, and its discussion has caused no
little angry feeling between the two branches of the service. Ben
Butler, of course, laid claim to the honors of the capture, and
proclaimed himself "the hero" of New Orleans, completely overshadowing
Farragut and his fleet, and the lying histories of the day, written in
the Radical interest on the other side of the line, have perpetuated the
fraud. No citizen of New Orleans who personally knows anything of the
circumstances of the fall of the city into the hands of the Federals has
ever had any doubts as to who was or is entitled to the credit; but the
persistent efforts of Butler and his friends to claim the lion's share
in that exploit, have at last called out the Hon. Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy in Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet, as the champion of
Admiral Farragut and his gallant tars. In the course of an article in
the Hartford _Times_, Mr. Welles shows that "In January, 1862, the plan
for the reduction of the forts below New Orleans and the capture of the
city was fully matured in the Navy Department, Farragut receiving orders
in detail for the work on the 20th of that month; that the memorable
passage of the forts was made, and the surly submission of the Mayor of
New Orleans received by Farragut on the 26th of April, formal possession
being immediately taken and the United States flag displayed on the
public buildings; that the army was not only absent alike from the plan
and the execution of this great movement, but did not appear until May
1, when General Butler's troops arrived, and on the day following
entered upon the occupation of the city captured by Farragut."
Quite correct, Mr. ex-Secretary. Farragut passed the forts as stated,
with the Hartford and one or two other vessels, destroyed the ram
Manassas, and the other Confederate vessels of war, after a most
desperate battle, in which at least one of his best ships was sunk, and
then made his way in his flag-ship unmolested up the river. He arrived
alone in front of New Orleans on the 26th of April, and at noon brought
his guns to bear on the city at the head of Girod street. He immediately
dispatched Lieutenant Bailey with a flag of truce to the authorities
demanding the surrender, and giving them thirty-six hours in which to
reply,--at the expiration of which time he should open fire and bombard
the place, if an answer favorable to his demand were not received. The
city at this time had been partially evacuated by General Lovell and his
troops, and all authority had been surrendered by the military to the
mayor. The terms submitted by Farragut were discussed for fully
twenty-four hours by the Council, assembled at the Mayor's office, and
all this time the city was in the hands of a wild, reckless and excited
mob of citizens, while people everywhere were flying or preparing for
flight, many even in such haste as to leave their houses open and
valuables exposed to the depredations of servants or the mob. Perhaps no
more fearful scene of confusion was ever witnessed outside of Paris when
in the throes of a periodic revolution. It was a novelty then for an
American city to be captured or to fall into the hands of an enemy, and
the people had some very queer notions about defending it to the last,
and fighting the enemy with all sorts of weapons amid its ruins. It was
with the utmost difficulty the police could protect Bailey and his
middies with their flag of truce. But on the following day, and before
the time of grace expired, the Council determined that as they had no
means of defence against the enemy's ships, which held the city at the
mercy of their guns, it was best to enter into negotiations for the
surrender. Farragut then demanded that as a sign of submission the
Confederate flag should be hauled down from all points where displayed
in the city and replaced by the stars and stripes, and in the meantime
he would send a battery with his sailors and marines ashore to maintain
order. But no one was found in the city to take the Confederate flags
down, and hoist the starry banner in their place; so a battery of ships'
guns was landed and hauled through the streets till it reached the City
Hall, and there it was placed in position to cover every point of
approach. A young middy, apparently about fifteen years of age, then
made his appearance at the entrance of the City Hall, bearing a United
States flag. He was admitted without opposition, and was shown the way
to the top of the building. The lad ascended to the roof, and in full
view of an assembled multitude of thousands in the streets and on the
housetops, deliberately undid the halyards and hauled down the
Confederate, or rather Louisiana State flag; then replacing it with the
one he carried, hoisted it to the peak of the staff in its place, and
the capture of New Orleans by the navy was complete. Many who witnessed
the act of this daring boy trembled for his life, as a rifle shot from
any of the houses surrounding, or even from the street, would have
proved fatal and put an end to his young life at any moment. So excited
was the crowd in the street, when the middy came down, and so fierce the
thirst for vengeance upon any object that might present itself, that it
was found necessary to hurry him into a close carriage and drive with
all speed through back streets, to keep clear of the pressing mob, who,
in the blindness of their passion, would perhaps have sacrificed the
youngster, had they caught him, to appease their rage.
After this the city began to quiet down. The foreign residents formed
themselves into a police and took charge of the streets; and had
succeeded pretty well in restoring order, when, on the 2d of May, Butler
landed at the levee from his transports, and marched to the St. Charles,
where he established his headquarters and took formal possession of the
city. Still he found it no easy matter to subdue the spirit of a people
who did not hesitate to jeer at his soldiers or jostle them from the
sidewalks as they marched through the streets. But he soon enough became
master of the situation, and made the most for himself out of what
Farragut had so readily placed in his hands. The navy was certainly
entitled to all the credit of the capture; one ship in front of the city
with open ports was enough, it did what the entire army of Butler, had
it been ten times as numerous, could never have accomplished. New
Orleans never would have been taken by the army alone; but the guns of a
sloop-of-war in front of an open city are conclusive and irresistible
arguments. If it was heroism to capture that city the Confederacy will
always be as free to admit that Farragut was the hero of New Orleans, as
that Butler was the tyrant, robber, and oppressor of its conquered
people.
[5] Extract from Commodore Mitchell's official report, dated Aug. 19th,
1862.
"During the night of Sunday the 27th we had so far succeeded in
operating the propellers that we expected early the next day to make a
fair trial of them in connection with the paddle wheels, when at
daylight an officer sent by Gen. Duncan came on board to inform us that
many of the garrison at Fort Jackson had deserted during the night; that
serious disturbances had occurred; and that the disaffection of the men
was believed to be general on account of what appeared to them to have
become the desperate character of the "defence," etc."
[6] Extract from Commodore Mitchell's official report:
"I at once returned on board and called a council of war composed of
Lieutenants Wilkinson, (commanding) W. H. Ward, A. F. Warley, Wm. C.
Whittle, Jr., R. J. Bowen, Arnold, F. M. Harris, and George N. Shryock,
by whom--in consequence of the enemy's having the entire command of the
river above and below us, with an overwhelming force, and who was in the
act of obtaining quiet and undisturbed possession of Forts Jackson and
St. Philip, with all their material defences intact, with ordnance,
military stores and provisions, thus cutting the Louisiana off from all
succor or support; and her having on board not more than ten days'
provisions, her surrender would be rendered certain in a brief period by
the simple method of blockade; and that, in the condition of her motive
power and defective steering apparatus, and the immediate danger of
attack, she was very liable to capture--it was unanimously recommended
that the Louisiana be destroyed, forthwith, to prevent her falling into
the hands of the enemy, while it remained in our power to prevent it;
first retiring to our tenders."
[7] The first and only time that I ever saw the notorious General B. F.
Butler, who subsequently claimed for himself and the troops under his
command, the honor of capturing New Orleans, was on board the "Clifton."
He took passage in her to the city. No one who has ever looked upon that
unique countenance can ever forget it; and as his glance rested for a
moment upon us, each one conceived himself to be the special object of
the General's regard; for owing to his peculiar visual organs, that
distinguished individual seems to possess the Argus like faculty of
looking steadily at several persons at one and the same time. With the
pride that apes humility, or perhaps with the eccentricity of genius, he
affected, upon the occasion, a rough costume; wearing a slouch hat, and
having his trowsers tucked inside of his soiled boots; and he carried in
his hand a long stick like a pilgrim's staff. He _preceded_ his troops
to the city, however, and might therefore, with equal propriety and
regard for truth, claim the _sole_ glory of its capture.
CHAPTER IV.
Transferred to the "Rhode Island."--Meeting with an old
Friend.--Arrival at Fort Warren.--Treatment there.--Correspondence,
and its Result.--Prison Life.--Exchanged.--The Crew at
quarters.--Burial of the "Unknown."
On the 9th of May we were transferred from the Colorado to the steamer
Rhode Island, bound to Fort Warren. On board of this vessel we were
"tabooed" even more completely by the officers, than on board the
Colorado; for the Rhode Island was officered, with the single exception,
I believe, of her captain, by volunteers, who were not connected with us
by any associations of friendship or congeniality of taste. The harsh
order to hold no intercourse with us, had been evaded or violated, "sub
rosa," on board the Colorado by old friends and shipmates. On board the
Rhode Island, much to our satisfaction, it was strictly obeyed; for we
would have lost our patience to be "interviewed" by fledgling naval
heroes, many of whom had reached the quarter deck through the
hawseholes. Upon one occasion, many years ago, when the question of
increasing the United States Navy was under discussion by Congress, a
rough western member, opposed to the measure, stated that his section of
the country could supply droves of young officers whenever they were
needed. The United States Government must have "corralled" lots of
youngsters, without regard to their fitness or capacity, to send on
board the ships of war during our civil conflict. The "noble commander"
of the Rhode Island most of us had known of old as a prim little
precisian, and a great stickler for etiquette, and by no means a bad
fellow; but so strict a constructionist that he would probably have
refused to recognize his grandfather, if it were against orders. But he
had a humane disposition under his frigid exterior; and allowed us all
the comfort and privileges compatible with discipline and safety.
We touched at Fortress Monroe; and while the vessel was at anchor there
I received a gratifying evidence that this fratricidal war had not
destroyed all kindly feelings between former friends and messmates. The
executive officer of the Rhode Island called me aside to say that a
friend wished to see me in his state-room; and as he did not mention
the name, I was surprised to find myself warmly greeted by Albert Smith.
We had served together during the Mexican war, and our cruise had not
been an uneventful one; for the vessel to which we were attached ("the
Perry") after considerable service in the Mexican Gulf, was dismasted
and wrecked, during one of the most terrific hurricanes that ever
desolated the West India Islands. Thirty-nine vessels, out of forty-two,
which lay in the harbor of Havana, foundered at their anchors, or were
driven ashore; all of the light-houses along the Florida reef were
destroyed, and hundreds of persons perished. The Perry lost all of her
boats, her guns, except two, were thrown overboard, and she escaped
complete destruction almost by a miracle. She encountered the hurricane
off Havana, and after scudding for many hours under bare poles,
describing a circle as the wind continued to veer in the cyclone, she
passed over the Florida reef with one tremendous shock as she hung for a
moment upon its rocky crest. Her masts went by the board, but we had
passed in a moment from a raging sea into smooth water. Captain Blake,
who commanded her, achieved the feat of rigging jury masts with his
crew, and carrying the vessel to the Philadelphia navy yard for
repairs. Albert Smith and I had not met for many years. He offered me
any service in his power, and pressed me to accept at least a pecuniary
loan. The kind offer, although declined, was gratefully remembered; and
I was glad, too, to find that he, in common with many others, who
remained to fight under the old flag, could appreciate the sacrifices
made by those who felt equally bound, by all the truest and best
feelings of our nature, to defend their homes and firesides.
On our arrival at Fort Warren we were assigned quarters in one of the
casemates. Little more than a year had passed away since I had planted a
signal staff upon its parapet to _angle_ upon; being then engaged, as
chief of a hydrographic surveying party, in surveying the approaches to
Boston Harbor. _Then_ its garrison consisted of a superannuated sergeant
whose office was a sinecure; _now_ it held an armed garrison, who
drilled and paraded every day, with all the "pomp and circumstance" of
war, to the patriotic tune of "John Brown's body lies a-moulding in the
grave, but his spirit is marching on;" and it was crowded with southern
prisoners of war.
For a few days, in pursuance of Commodore Porter's policy, we were
closely confined; but all exceptional restrictions were then removed and
we fell into the monotonous routine of prison life. The following
correspondence took place previous to the removal of the restrictions,
and explains the reason of their withdrawal.
FORT WARREN, Boston Harbor, May 25, 1862.
Sir,--I was much surprised last evening on being informed by
Colonel Dimmick that Lieutenants Wilkinson, Warly, Ward, Whittle
and Harris, together with myself, have been, by your order, denied
the "privileges and courtesies that are extended to other
prisoners," on the ground that the act of burning the Confederate
States Battery "Louisiana," late under my command, was held by the
United States Navy Department as "infamous." In my letter to the
Department, dated on board of the United States Steamer Rhode
Island, Key West, May 14th, 1862, and forwarded through Commander
Trenchard on the arrival of that vessel in Hampton Roads, together
with a copy of my letter to Flag officer Farragut, and his reply
thereto, I felt assured that all the facts connected with the
destruction of the Louisiana were placed in such a light as not to
be mistaken, nor my motives misconstrued. To render the affair
still more clear I enclose herewith a memorandum of W. C. Whittle
Jr., Confederate States Navy, who was the bearer of my message to
Commodore Porter respecting my fears that the magazine of the
Louisiana had not been effectually drowned. With all these
statements forwarded by me to the United States Navy Department I
am perfectly willing to rest the case with impartial and
unprejudiced minds, as well as with my own Government, satisfied
that nothing has been done by the foregoing officers, nor myself,
militating at all against the strictest rules of military honor and
usage.
Though I will not affect an indifference to the personal annoyance
to us by the action of the United States Navy Department in our
case as prisoners of war, yet my chief solicitude is to have placed
on file in that office such a statement of facts as will, on a fair
investigation, vindicate all the officers of the Confederate States
Navy concerned from the odium of infamous conduct unjustly
attempted to be fixed upon them by those of the United States Navy;
against which and the infliction of punishment as directed by the
Navy Department I enter my solemn protest.
I most emphatically assert that the Louisiana, when abandoned and
fired by my order, was not only not "turned adrift" or intended to
injure the United States forces as charged by Commander Porter; but
that she was actually left secured to the opposite bank of the
river and distant quite three-fourths of a mile from the said
forces, for the very reason that they were flying a flag of truce,
and for that reason I dispatched the warning message to Commander
Porter respecting the magazine. That it is not only the right, but
the duty, of an officer to destroy public property to prevent its
falling into the hands of an enemy does not admit of question; and
in addition to all which, it must not be overlooked that the forces
under my command flew no flag of truce, and that I was not in any
way a party to the surrender of Forts Jackson and St. Philip.
I have the honor to be
Very respectfully your obedient servant,
(Signed) JNO. K. MITCHELL,
_Commander C. S. Navy._
Hon. GIDEON WELLES,
Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C.
_Copy in Substance._
NAVY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, May 29, 1862
SIR,--The explanations of Commodore J. K. Mitchell are
satisfactory, and the restrictions imposed on him and his
associates by the department's order of the 2d instant will be
removed, and they will be treated as prisoners of war.
This does not relieve Beverly Kennon from the restrictions imposed
on him.
(Signed) GIDEON WELLES.
Colonel Justin Dimmick,
Commanding Fort Warren, Boston.
(_Copy._)
NAVY DEPARTMENT, June 25, 1862.
SIR,--The letter of John K. Mitchell of the 20th inst., concerning
the restrictions imposed on you, by order of this Department, at
Fort Warren, has been received.
Will you please furnish the Department with the particulars of the
destruction of the gunboat of which you had command in the
engagement below New Orleans, with _wounded_ men on board.
I am respectfully your obedient servant,
(Signed) GIDEON WELLES.
BEVERLY KENNON, Fort Warren, Boston.
(_Copy_) FORT WARREN, BOSTON, June 28, 1862.
HON. GIDEON WELLES, _Secretary U. S. Navy_.
Sir,--Colonel Dimmick, the commander of this post, delivered to me
yesterday a letter signed by you under date of June 25th directed
to me as "Beverly Kennon" and referring to a communication
addressed to you on the 20th inst. by my superior officer,
Commander J. K. Mitchell, of the Confederate States Navy, whom you
are pleased to designate as "John K. Mitchell."
The purport of your letter is a request that I will furnish your
Department of the United States Government with the "particulars of
the destruction of the gunboat of which I had command in the
engagement below New Orleans with _wounded_ men on board."
When I destroyed and left the vessel which I had commanded on the
occasion referred to, all the wounded men had been removed, the
most of them lowered into boats by my own hands. I was, myself, the
last person to leave the vessel. _Any_ statements which you may
have received to the contrary are wholly without foundation. It
would not be proper, under any circumstances, that I should report
to you the "particulars" of her destruction; that being a matter
which concerns my own Government exclusively, and with which yours
can have nothing to do. Should any charges be made against me,
however, of which you have a right to take cognizance under the
laws of war, I will with pleasure, respond to any respectful
communication which you may address me on the subject. Indeed I
shall be glad of the opportunity to vindicate my character as an
officer from the unjust and unfounded imputations which have been
cast upon it in the connection to which you allude, and upon the
faith of which I have already been disparaged by unusual
restrictions and confinements, here and elsewhere, since I have
been a prisoner of war, without having been furnished an
opportunity for such vindication. But your letter of the 20th inst.
so studiously denies, both to Commander Mitchell and myself, not
only our official designations, but those of common courtesy, that
while I am unwilling to believe you would intentionally offer an
indignity to prisoners of war in your power, I can not now make
further reply without failing in respect to myself as well as to my
superior officer and Government.
I am Sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed) BEVERLY KENNON,
Commander in Provisional Navy of the State
of Louisiana in the Confederate service.
The restrictions were removed from Kennon in a few days after the close
of this correspondence.
Many distinguished political prisoners were at that time confined at
Fort Warren; and all of the officers captured at Fort Donelson. Among
the former class, were those members of the Maryland Legislature, and of
the Baltimore City Council, who had been arrested and imprisoned by the
United States Government for alleged treason. It was my good fortune to
be invited into this mess. It is not my purpose to inflict upon the
reader a detailed account of prison life during the war, which has been
described by far abler pens than mine. All the members of our mess took
their turns, either at carving or waiting upon the table, and guests
were never better served. The graceful and accomplished old Commodore B.
and General T. shone conspicuous as carvers; while Colonels, Majors and
Captains, with spotless napkins on their arms, anticipated every wish of
the guests at the table. Colonel Dimmick was honored and beloved by the
prisoners for his humanity, and he and his family will ever be held in
affectionate remembrance by them; many of us having received special
acts of kindness, while suffering from sickness. When his son was
ordered to active service in the field I believe there was an unanimous
prayer by the prisoners that his life would be spared through the perils
he was about to encounter. The prisoners, first giving their parole not
to attempt to escape, were allowed the range of nearly the whole island
during the day; and not unfrequently suffered to see relatives and
friends who had received permission from the proper authorities to visit
them. In happier "ante bellum" times, I had known some of the good
people of Boston, and had spent a portion of a summer with several
families at that pleasant watering place, Nahant. One of my most
esteemed friends--Mrs. L.--with the charity of a noble and Christian
heart, wrote to me as soon as she learned that I was a prisoner; but she
was too loyal to the flag not to express regret and distress at what she
believed to be a mistaken sense of duty. The reader may remember the
definition once given of "Orthodoxy" by a dignitary of the church of
England to an inquiring nobleman. "Orthodoxy, my Lord, is _my_ doxy,
heterodoxy is _your_ doxy if you differ from me." The same authority, it
has always appeared to me, was assumed by a large portion of the
Northern people. They demanded a Government to suit their ideas, and
disloyalty consisted in opposing them.
We were permitted to write once a month to our friends in the
Confederacy; the letters being left open for inspection. There were a
few Northerners among us, but I know of only a single case where the
individual concerned so far yielded to the persuasion of his friends
outside, as to renounce the cause which he had sworn to defend.
Aside from the confinement, and the earnest desire to be doing our part
in the war, there could be no cause to repine at our lot. We were
allowed, at our own expense, to supply our tables from the Boston
market, not only abundantly, but luxuriously; the Government furnishing
the usual rations; and the prisoners grew robust upon the good fare and
the bracing climate. A tug plied daily between Boston and the island on
which Fort Warren is situated. We were permitted to receive the daily
papers and to purchase clothing and other necessaries, either from the
sutler, or from outside; and many of the prisoners were indebted to a
noble charity for the means of supplying many of these needs; of
clothing especially, which was chiefly furnished by the firm of Noah
Walker & Co. of Baltimore. The firm itself was said to be most liberal,
not merely dispensing the donations received in Baltimore and elsewhere,
but supplying a large amount of clothing gratuitously. The policy of
retaliation had not then been adopted. It is conceded that the United
States Government, towards the close of the war, subjected the
Confederate prisoners in their hands to harsh treatment in pursuance of
this policy; but in justice to the Confederate authorities it should be
borne in mind that they repeatedly proposed an exchange of prisoners
upon the ground of humanity, seeing that neither provisions nor medicine
were procurable; and, I believe, it is also a conceded fact that General
Grant opposed exchanges. The testimony of General Lee given before the
"reconstruction" Committee, clearly establishes the fact that _he_ did
all in his power to effect this object. In answer to a question he says:
"I offered to General Grant around Richmond that we should ourselves
exchange all the prisoners in our hands, and to show that I would do
whatever was in my power, I offered them to send to City Point all the
prisoners in Virginia and North Carolina, over which my command
extended, providing they returned an equal number of mine, man for man.
I reported this to the War Department, and received for answer, that
they would place at my command all the prisoners at the South, if the
proposition was accepted." The Rev. J. Wm. Jones, D.D., author of
"Personal Reminiscences of General R. E. Lee," writes as follows upon
this subject (page 194, et seq.) viz:
"1st--The Confederate authorities gave to prisoners in their hands the
same rations which they issued to their own soldiers, and gave them the
very best accommodations which their scant means afforded.
"2d. They were always anxious to exchange prisoners, man for man, and
when this was rejected by the Federal authorities, they offered to send
home the prisoners in their hands without any equivalent.
"3d. By refusing all propositions to exchange prisoners, and declining
even to receive their own men without equivalent the Federal authorities
made themselves responsible for all the suffering, of both Federal and
Confederate prisoners, that ensued.
"4th. And yet notwithstanding these facts, it is susceptible of proof,
from the official records of the Federal Department, that the suffering
of Confederate prisoners in Federal prisons was much greater than that
of Federal prisoners in Confederate prisons. Without going more fully
into the question, the following figures, from the report of Mr.
Stanton, Secretary of War, in response to a resolution of the House of
Representatives, calling for the number of prisoners on both sides and
their mortality, are triumphantly submitted.
In prison. Died.
U. S. Soldiers 260,940 22,526
Confederates 200,000 26,500
That is, the Confederate States held as prisoners nearly 61,000 more men
than the Federals; and yet the death of Federal prisoners fell below
those of the Confederates four thousand."
Lastly, the Southern Historical Society, Richmond, Va., has recently
published a "Vindication of the Confederacy against the Charge of
Cruelty to Prisoners," which is conclusive on the whole question. It was
compiled by the Secretary of the Society, the Rev. J. Wm. Jones, just
quoted, who concludes with the following summing up of his argument.
"We think that we have established the following points:
"1st. The laws of the Confederate Congress, the orders of the War
Department, the Regulations of the Surgeon General, the action of our
Generals in the field, and the orders of those who had the immediate
charge of the prisoners, all provided that prisoners in the hands of the
Confederates should be kindly treated, supplied with the same rations
which our soldiers had, and cared for, when sick, in hospitals placed on
_precisely the same footing as the hospitals for Confederate soldiers_.
"2d. If these regulations were violated in individual instances, and if
subordinates were sometimes cruel to prisoners, it was without the
knowledge or consent of the Confederate Government, which always took
prompt action on any case reported to them.
"3d. If the prisoners failed to get their full rations, and had those of
inferior quality, the Confederate soldiers suffered in precisely the
same way and to the same extent; and it resulted from that system of
warfare adopted by the Federal authorities, which carried desolation and
ruin to every part of the South they could reach, and which in starving
the Confederates into submission, brought the same evils upon their own
men in Southern prisons.
"4th. The mortality in Southern prisons (fearfully large, although over
three per cent less than the mortality in Northern prisons) resulted
from causes beyond the control of our authorities, from epidemics, etc.,
which might have been avoided or greatly mitigated had not the Federal
Government declared medicines "contraband of war," refused the
proposition of Judge Ould, that each Government should send its own
surgeons with medicines, hospital stores, etc., to minister to soldiers
in prison, declined his proposition to send medicines to its own men in
southern prisons, without being required to allow the Confederates the
same privileges--refused to allow the Confederate Government to buy
medicines for gold, tobacco, or cotton, which it offered to pledge its
honor should be used only for Federal prisoners in its hands, refused to
exchange sick and wounded, and neglected from August to December, 1864,
to accede to Judge Ould's proposition to send transportation to Savannah
and receive _without equivalent_ from ten to fifteen thousand Federal
prisoners, notwithstanding the fact that this offer was accompanied
with a statement of the utter inability of the Confederacy to provide
for these prisoners, and a detailed report of the monthly mortality at
Andersonville, and that Judge Ould, again and again, urged compliance
with his humane proposal.
"5th. We have proven by the most unimpeachable testimony, that the
sufferings of Confederate prisoners in Northern "prison pens," were
terrible beyond description; that they were starved in a land of plenty,
that they were frozen where fuel and clothing were abundant; that they
suffered untold horrors for want of medicines, hospital stores and
proper medical attention; that they were shot by sentinels, beaten by
officers, and subjected to the most cruel punishments upon the slightest
pretexts; that friends at the North were refused the privilege of
clothing their nakedness or feeding them when starving; and that these
outrages were perpetrated not only with the full knowledge of, but under
the orders of E. M. Stanton, United States Secretary of War. We have
proven these things by Federal as well as Confederate testimony.
"6th. We have shown that all the suffering of prisoners on both sides
could have been avoided by simply carrying out the terms of the cartel,
and that for the failure to do this, the _Federal authorities alone_
were responsible; that the Confederate Government originally proposed
the cartel, and were always ready to carry it out both in letter and
spirit; that the Federal authorities observed its terms only so long as
it was to their interest to do so, and then repudiated their plighted
faith and proposed other terms which were greatly to the disadvantage of
the Confederates; that when the Government at Richmond agreed to accept
the hard terms of exchange offered them, these were at once repudiated
by the Federal authorities; that when Judge Ould agreed upon a new
cartel with General Butler, Lieutenant-General Grant refused to approve
it, and Mr. Stanton repudiated it; and that the policy of the Federal
Government was to refuse all exchanges while they "fired the Northern
heart" by placing the whole blame upon the "Rebels," and by circulating
the most heartrending stories of "Rebel barbarity" to prisoners. If
either of the above points has not been made clear to any sincere seeker
after the truth, we would be most happy to produce further testimony.
And we hold ourselves prepared to maintain against all comers, the
_truth of every proposition we have laid down in this discussion_. Let
the calm verdict of history decide between the Confederate Government
and its calumniators."
These extracts are inserted with the hope that the fair minded reader
may be induced to read the evidence upon the Confederate side.
"Truth crushed to Earth will rise again;
The Eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain;
And dies amid her worshipers."
It is not to be denied that the sufferings in Confederate prisons were
fearful; but they were caused by the destitute condition of the country
ravaged by war, and the scarcity of medicines which were not to be
obtained.
We were growing very tired of the monotony of prison life, scarcely
varied except by the daily game of football and the semi-weekly reports
of the capture of Richmond, when a rumor began to circulate of a speedy
exchange of prisoners. It was about the time when General McClellan
"changed his base" from the lines around Richmond to Harrison's Landing,
on James River. Early in August a large number of us, military and naval
officers, were sent on board a transport bound to James River, where we
arrived in due time, and thence, after taking on board a number of
Confederates forwarded from other prisons, we proceeded up the river to
Aiken's Landing. There was fighting near Malvern Hill as we passed by
there, and the United States gunboats had been shelling the Confederate
troops. The crew of one of them was at quarters, the men in their snow
white "frocks" and trowsers, the beautifully polished eight inch guns
cast loose and ready for action. The captain of one of the guns, a
handsome man-of-war's man, looked at our party with a smile of bravado
as we passed by, at the same time tapping his gun with his hand. Garrick
or Kean could not have conveyed more meaning by a gesture. That handsome
fellow's confidence in his pet was not misplaced; for history records
how frequently during the war the tide of battle was turned by that
gallant Navy to which it is an honor ever to have belonged. We, who so
reluctantly severed our connection with it, still feel a pride in its
achievements; and in our dreams are frequently pacing the deck, or
sitting at the mess table with dear friends of "auld lang syne," from
whom we are probably severed forever on this side of eternity.
We were put ashore at Aiken's Landing on the 5th of August. It was a
hot, sultry day. Three or four poor fellows had died on board our
transport while on our way up the river, and their bodies were landed at
the same time with ourselves. While we were waiting for the
preliminaries for the exchange of prisoners to be settled between the
Commissioners, a large grave was dug in the sand with such implements as
could be procured, and the "unknown" were consigned to their last
resting place between high and low water mark.
CHAPTER V.
A Brief Stay at Home.--Report to the War Department.--Instructions
to go abroad.--The Blockade-runner "Kate."--Voyage to
Nassau.--Yellow Fever.--The Undertaker.--Our Skipper "Captain
Dick."--The Major sick.--A Story for the Marines.--Arrival at
Cardenas.--The Coolies.--Arrival at Havana.--The American Consul
and I.--The Pirate Marti.--The Spanish Steamer.--Pretty
Harbors.--Captain Fry.
After reporting at the Navy Department, I proceeded to my home. The day
after my arrival there I was summoned by telegram to Richmond, to report
in person to the Secretary of War. I had been detailed for special duty,
and from this date commenced my connection with blockade running. Upon
reaching the office, I found written instructions from the Secretary of
War to proceed to England and purchase a steamer suitable for running
the blockade, to load her with arms, munitions of war, and other
supplies, and to bring her into a Confederate port with all dispatch.
Ample funds in sterling exchange were provided and a large amount of
Confederate bonds was entrusted to me for deposit with an agent of the
Government in England. Accompanied by my small staff of assistants, and
by Major Ben. Ficklin, who went abroad under special instructions from
the War and Treasury Departments, I left Richmond about the 12th of
August, and after some difficulty and delay, secured passage for the
whole party on board the little steamer Kate, about to sail from
Wilmington for Nassau. Under her skilful commander, Lockwood, this
little side-wheel steamer had already acquired fame as a successful
blockade-runner, and was destined to continue successful to the end of
her career. But her appearance was by no means prepossessing, and she
was very slow, her maximum speed being about nine knots. I forget by
what accident she was at last disabled; perhaps by sheer old age and
infirmity; but her ribs were to be seen for many a day before the war
ended, bleaching in the sun on one of the mud flats in Cape Fear River.
The night of our crossing the bar was dark and stormy and we felt under
great obligations to the blockading fleet outside, for showing lights at
their peaks--thus enabling us to avoid them with much ease. At this
period, indeed, blockade running had not assumed such enormous
proportions as it afterwards attained, when hundreds of thousands of
dollars were invested in a single venture and the profits were so
immense that the game was well worth the candle. Subsequent to the
period of which I now write, Wilmington became the chief place of import
and export. Large quantities of cotton were stored there, both on
Government and private account; and steam cotton presses were erected,
but at this period Charleston possessed greater facilities and was
perhaps quite as accessible.
Our voyage to Nassau was safely accomplished; the vigilant look-out at
the mast-head giving prompt notice of a speck on the horizon no larger
than a gull's wing, when the course would be so changed as to lose sight
of it. Two cases of yellow fever, both ending fatally, occurred among
the passengers during the brief voyage, and we were quarantined on our
arrival at Nassau. One of the sick men had been brought on deck and
placed on a couch under the deck awning. As he had taken no nourishment
for two or three days, our good captain directed that a bowl of soup
should be prepared for him. The sick man sat up when the steaming bowl
was presented to him; seized it with both hands, drained it to the
bottom, and fell back dead. We had not been at anchor more than an hour
when an outward-bound passing schooner hailed us and announced to our
captain the death of his wife and child, whom he had left in good health
only a few days before.
As the epidemic on board the Kate had been contracted at Nassau, and
still prevailed on shore, we were at a loss to understand why we should
be refused "pratique"; but it gave our little party no concern, as the
town did not present an attractive or inviting appearance from the
quarantine ground; nor were our unfavorable impressions removed upon a
nearer acquaintance with it two or three months afterwards. But it was
evident, that in spite of the epidemic, there was a vast deal of
activity ashore and afloat. Cotton, cotton, everywhere!
Blockade-runners discharging it into lighters, tier upon tier of it,
piled high upon the wharves, and merchant vessels, chiefly under the
British flag, loading with it. Here and there in the crowded harbor
might be seen a long, low, rakish-looking lead-colored steamer with
short masts, and a convex forecastle deck extending nearly as far aft as
the waist, and placed there to enable the steamer to be forced
_through_ and not _over_ a heavy head sea. These were the genuine
blockade-runners, built for speed; and some of them survived all the
desperate hazards of the war.
The mulatto undertaker, who came on board to take the measure for
coffins for the two passengers who had died, did not leave us in a very
cheerful state of mind, although _he_ was in fine spirits, in the
anticipation of a brisk demand for his stock in trade.
Presenting each one of us with his card, he politely expressed the hope
that we would give him our custom, if we needed anything in his line.
Fortunately we had no occasion for his services. Just before leaving the
ship he was invited to take a glass of brandy and water. Holding the
glass in his hands which were yet stained with the coffin paint, he
drank to our death, a toast to which Dyer, my Wilmington pilot,
responded, "You shouldn't bury me, you d----d rascal, if I _did_ die."
With the assistance of the Confederate agent on shore, we succeeded in
promptly chartering a schooner for Cardenas and in provisioning her for
the voyage; and in a day or two, were making our way across the Bahama
Banks for Cuba. The agent had supplied us liberally with flesh, fowls,
and ice; and the Banks gave us an abundance of fish, as the light winds
fanned us slowly along, sometimes freshening into a moderate breeze, and
occasionally dying away to a calm. The "_chef d'oeuvre_" of our
mulatto skipper who was also cook, was conch soup, and he was not only
an adept at cooking but also at catching the conch. In those almost
transparent waters, the smallest object can be distinctly seen at the
depth of three or four fathoms. When soup was to be prepared Captain
Dick would take his station at the bow "in puris naturalibus," watching
intently for his prize. Overboard he would go like an arrow, and rising
again to the surface, would pitch the conch (and sometimes one in each
hand) on board. His son Napoleon Bonaparte, (who was first mate, steward
and half the starboard watch) would throw him a rope, and the old fellow
would climb on board as the little craft sailed by, without an
alteration in her course.
Major Ben. Ficklin was attacked with yellow fever just after we left
Nassau; but as we had no medicines on board he recovered. The medical
fraternity might perhaps take a hint from the treatment of his case.
Small lumps of ice were kept in a saucer beside him as he lay on a
mattress under a deck awning, and by the constant use of it he allayed
the raging thirst attending high fever. The "vis medicatrix naturæ"
accomplished the rest.
Having no books on board, we beguiled the time occasionally by telling
stories as we lay under the shelter of the deck awning. One of my
contributions was the following: Many officers of the navy will remember
it, and there are some who, like myself, will recollect the solemn
earnestness with which the hero of it would narrate the facts, for he
firmly believed it to the day of his death. At the time of its
occurrence he was enjoying a day's shooting at his home in Vermont.
Becoming tired toward midday he took a seat on an old log in the woods.
A few minutes afterwards, he saw an old bareheaded man, meanly clad,
approaching, who seated himself in silence at the other end of the log.
The head of the stranger was bound with a white cloth and his eyes were
fixed with a glassy stare upon Major B., who felt his blood run cold at
the singular apparition. At last the Major mustered up courage to ask
the stranger what he wanted. The spectre replied "I am a dead man, and
was buried in the graveyard yonder" (pointing as he spoke to a
dilapidated enclosure a few yards distant). "The dogs," he continued,
"have found their way into my shallow grave, and are gnawing my flesh. I
can not rest until I am laid deeper in the ground." The Major used to
assert that his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth; but he managed to
promise the dead man that his wishes should be complied with, when the
apparition dissolved into the air. The Major went straight to some of
the neighbors, and when he accompanied them to the grave, it was found
in the condition described by its occupant. N. B. The Major was in the
habit of carrying a "pocket pistol," which may have been overcharged
upon this occasion; he _also_ belonged to the _marines_.
We arrived at Cardenas after a week's voyage, and stopped there a day to
recruit. During our stay we witnessed a curious scene. While we were
enjoying our cigars in the cool of the evening upon the "azotea" of our
hotel, we saw a file of soldiers march up to a house directly opposite,
and after repeated efforts to enter, they finally burst open the door;
reappearing in a few moments with seven or eight "coolies," who were
apparently dead drunk, but in reality were stupefied with opium; having
met, by appointment, to "shuffle off this mortal coil" after this
characteristic fashion. One or two of them were quite beyond
resuscitation, and the others were only prevented from sinking into
fatal insensibility by severe flogging with bamboo canes, and being
forced to keep upon their feet. We were informed that suicide is very
common among them in Cuba; it being their last resort against misery and
oppression. Colonel Totten, the able civil engineer who constructed the
railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, once gave a party of us a graphic
account of the mortality among a number of them, who had been employed
by him in that pestilential climate. Having no access to opium, and
being deprived of knives, they resorted to the most ingenious modes of
self destruction. Sometimes they would wade out in the bay at low water,
with a pole, which they would stick firmly into the mud, and securely
tying themselves to it, would wait for the rising tide to drown them.
Others would point a stake by charring it in the fire and impale
themselves upon it.
The evils of this system of labor cannot be truthfully denied. Ignorant
even of the nature of the contract which binds them to servitude, the
coolies are driven in crowds to the ship which is to transport them to
another hemisphere; and they endure all the horrors of the "middle
passage" during their long voyage.
When they arrive at their port of destination in the West Indies they
are apprenticed for a term of years to the planters who need their
services, and many of them succumb to the tropical climate and the
severe labor in the cane field. Many more seek a ready means of escape
in death. The philanthropy of the civilized governments, which has been
concentrated for many years upon efforts to liberate the "black man and
brother," has never been exerted to rescue "John China-man" from a
crueler thraldom and a harder lot.
Taking the train for Havana, we passed through a very beautiful country,
luxuriant with tropical verdure; the most conspicuous natural feature in
the landscape being the graceful palm tree in its many varieties. We
passed, too, many sugar plantations, the growing cane not at all unlike
our own cornfields at home, while the long lines of negroes, at work
with their hoes, in the crop, made the fields appear even more familiar
and home-like. Our friends, the "darkies," evidently did not contemplate
suicide. Sleek and well-fed, they were chattering like so many flocks
of blackbirds.
Arriving at Havana we took up our quarters at Mrs. B.'s hotel, and as my
first object was to find Colonel Helm, the agent of the Confederate
Government, I started for that purpose immediately after our arrival.
The Colonel had held the position of United States Consul before the
war; and the residence then occupied by him was now tenanted by his
successor. Being directed to this house by mistake, I was ushered in by
the servant, and found myself face to face with Captain S., the American
Consul. We were not totally unacquainted, having met occasionally in
bygone days, when both of us were in the United States Navy. The
surprise was mutual, and the awkward silence was interrupted by my
saying "Apparently I am in the wrong pew." "Evidently," he replied, and
we parted without another word.
With the assistance of Colonel Helm our business in Havana was speedily
transacted; and passage was engaged for the whole party on board a
Spanish steamer bound for St. Thomas, thence to take passage by the
British mail steamer for Southampton.
The few days spent in Havana were pleasantly passed in sight-seeing;
the afternoons being devoted to a ride upon the "paseo," and the
evenings closed by a visit to the noted "Dominica" the principal café of
the city. There are many beautiful rides and drives in the environs, and
the summer heats are tempered by the cool refreshing sea breeze which
blows daily. That scourge of the tropics, yellow fever, is chiefly
confined to the cities of Cuba, the country being salubrious; and it
appears strange that this beautiful island has never been a favorite
place of resort, during the winter, for invalids from the Northern
States in search of an equable climate. It must be confessed that Havana
itself possesses few attractions for the stranger and that its sanitary
arrangements are execrable. In addition to the imperfect municipal
regulations in this respect, all the sewage of the city empties itself
into the harbor, in which there is no current to sweep the decomposing
matter into the Gulf Stream outside. The water in the harbor is
sometimes so phosphorescent at night that showers of liquid fire appear
to drop from a boat's oars passing through it; and the boat leaves a
long lane of light in her wake.
No stranger visiting Havana fails to see the spot in the cathedral held
sacred as the tomb of Columbus. His remains were transferred here with
great pomp, after resting many years in the city of San Domingo, whither
they had been carried from Spain.
The fish market and the "Tacon" theatre too, are well worth a visit.
Both of them once belonged to the same individual, the noted pirate
"Marti," whom I have seen many a time, in the streets of Havana, after
his reformation. He was then a venerable looking old gentleman
"As mild a mannered man
As ever scuttled ship or cut a throat."
For a long time he had been chief of all the piratical bands that then
infested the shores of Cuba. They plied their fearful trade with
comparative impunity; the numerous lagoons on the coast, only accessible
through tortuous and shallow channels, and hidden by mangrove bushes,
affording safe shelter; while they could easily intercept many vessels
passing through the narrow strait separating Cuba from Florida. They
gave no quarter to man, woman, or child, and scuttled their prizes after
taking from them what was most valuable. A ready sale was found for
their plunder in Havana through accomplices there; and their
depredations upon commerce finally became so extensive that the United
States Government fitted out an expedition against them. General Tacon,
at that time Governor-General of Cuba, also prepared an expedition to
operate against them. This fleet was on the eve of sailing. The night
was dark and rainy. A stranger, wrapped in a cloak for disguise, watched
the sentry on duty before the door of the palace from a hiding place
near by; and as the sentry turned his back for a moment or two from the
door, the stranger slipped by him, undiscovered, and proceeded rapidly
to the apartments of the Captain-General. His excellency was writing at
a table; and the stranger had opened the door and entered the room
without being discovered. When the Governor-General raised his eyes and
saw the cloaked figure standing silently before him, he stretched his
hand toward a bell near him, but the stranger interposed. "Stop, your
Excellency," he said, "I am here upon a desperate enterprise. I have
come to deliver into your hands every pirate on the Cuban coast upon one
condition; a pardon for myself." "You shall have it," replied his
excellency, "but who are you?" "I am Marti, and I rely upon the promise
you have given to me." The Governor-General repeated his assurances of
immunity upon the prescribed conditions. Marti had laid his plans well,
having appointed a place of rendezvous for the different bands before
venturing upon his perilous expedition. He acted as a guide to the force
sent in pursuit, and every pirate was captured and afterwards
"garroted." A large price had been set upon the head of Marti. This is
the story as told by his contemporaries. For these distinguished
services to the State the vile old reprobate was offered the promised
reward. In lieu of it he asked for the monopoly of the sale of fish in
Havana, which was granted to him; and the structure erected by him for a
fish market is perhaps the finest of the sort in the world. He
afterwards built the noble "Tacon" theatre, named after his
benefactor,--and died in the odor of sanctity.
We were not sorry when the day of our departure came. There was a motley
crowd of passengers on board the little steamer. "Paisanos" wearing
broad brimmed sombreroes and in picturesque costume; "Padres" in their
long gowns and shovel hats; pretty "senoritas" with hair plaited down
their backs, and officers on their way to join the army in the field in
San Domingo. But every one was amiable and disposed to be companionable.
Most of them were aware of the fact that there was a state of war
between the North and the South; and their sympathies were altogether
with our side; for no earthly reason, probably, except that they
entertained the blind hatred against the "Norte Americanos" so prevalent
among the Latin race on this continent, and supposed the people of the
South to be of different origin.[8]
We were half poisoned, and wholly saturated with garlic, while on board
the little steamer; and men, women and children smoked incessantly. Our
clever artist, Johnny T., drew a capital sketch of a portly old lady
whose habit it was, after every meal, to take from her side pocket an
oil skin bundle of huge cigars--evidently "plantations," and made to
order. Selecting one, she would strike a light with her "matchero" and
begin to puff away like a furnace. When fairly alight, she would
dispose of the smoke in some mysterious inner receptacle, whence it
would issue in a minute or more, from nose, eyes, ears, and even through
the pores of her mahogany-colored skin, as it appeared to us.
We touched at many little ports, all of them very pretty and
picturesque; little quiet basins of blue water, with the houses
scattered about along the hill sides, and half hidden by foliage; the
white surf thundering outside, and the surface, inside, glassy smooth.
Our last port in Cuba was Santiago, since made memorable as the scene of
the murder of the gallant and unfortunate Fry, and his companions in
misfortune. Should these lines ever meet the eye of any of his old
friends and comrades in the United States Navy, they will bear witness,
that a brave and noble gentleman was there cruelly done to death. He had
lost everything by our war, and dire poverty, with the responsibility of
a family to support, forced him to the desperate venture of running the
blockade in Cuba. _Morally_ he was not more criminal than the British
naval officers, who engaged in the same hazardous pursuit during our
struggle.
FOOTNOTE:
[8] The educated Cubans must be exonerated from this charge. Many of
this class have been at the schools and colleges in the United States;
and admire our republican institutions. They are even now, and have been
for years, maintaining a desperate struggle for the establishment of
these institutions among themselves.
CHAPTER VI.
San Domingo.--The Island of Hayti and its Inhabitants.--St.
Thomas.--General Santa Anna.--The Mail Steamer Atrato.--Arrival at
Southampton.--English Scenery.--The Major fails.--The Giraffe
Purchased.--A Claim against the Confederate Government.--The Hon.
J. M. Mason.--Credit of the Confederate Government Abroad.--An
improper Agent.--Captain Bullock.--The Giraffe Ready for
Sea.--Glasgow.--Our last Dinner.--Our Scotch Landlady and Head
Waiter.--We part with the Major.--Hot Punch and Scotch Babies.--A
Reminiscence.
We touched at the little port of San Domingo in the island of Dominica
on our way to St. Thomas; and lay at anchor there long enough to allow
the passengers to visit the shore for a few hours. It was once a
prosperous town, but is now in ruins, and hovels stand upon the very
sites where once arose magnificent palaces; for it was at one time the
chief seat of the Spanish Empire in the New World, and the place of
residence of Columbus himself. Cortez, the Conqueror of Mexico, once
lived in its vicinity. The cathedral still stands entire and is still
used as a place of worship, but the walls of the convent attached to
the cathedral have yielded to the corroding influences of time and the
climate, and are crumbling into ruins. The palace of Diego Columbus, the
son of the immortal admiral, who to Castile and Leon gave a new world,
is still pointed out, but that, too, is a mere shell, the roof having
entirely disappeared. The population is a wretched mongrel indolent
race, and there is little to do there. The whole island, indeed, long
ago fell from its high estate, and everywhere thorns and brambles grow
where once there were well cultivated plantations. I had previously
visited many portions of the island, and saw wherever I went, the same
evidences of misrule and indolence; but, the negroes, who hold the
western portion of it or Hayti, are physically, at least, a finer race
of people than the degenerate, puny hybrids of the eastern part, who
have "miscegenated" to an extent that would satisfy the most
enthusiastic admirer of our sable "friends and fellow-citizens." I have
never seen finer specimens of stalwart manhood than in "Solouque's" army
years ago, although the "tout ensemble" of it was sufficiently
ludicrous; the officers being mounted on ponies a little bigger than
goats; and some of them wearing no apparel, except a coat and cocked
hat; with spurs on their naked heels; and the ragged half-naked privates
chewing one end of a big stick of sugar cane (their only rations) as
they marched. Upon one occasion, an officer of the ship to which I was
attached, had died at sea, and was buried at Gonaives, with military
honors. The drummer and fifer of our guard of marines were little
fellows of twelve or thirteen years of age. The black military
commandant of the district was so captivated with their appearance, as
they marched at the head of the funeral procession, that he "corralled"
all the little "niggers" within his district the next day, to select
from them a few drummers and fifers; and I believe there would have been
a "casus belli" if our little musicians had been sent ashore, for I
doubt if he could have resisted the temptation to kidnap them.
We arrived at St. Thomas two days before the mail-steamer was due and
took up our quarters at the only hotel of which the town boasted, but it
was an excellent one. The black steward, who superintended the staff of
waiters, was a noticeable personage, speaking several languages with
correctness and fluency. We appreciated the "cuisine" of the hotel,
after so long a diet upon garlic and rancid sweet oil; and were content
to pass the greater part of the time at the "Ice house," a refreshment
saloon conducted by a Vermont "Yankee," but who had been so long abroad
as to have become cosmopolitan in his ideas and opinions. The residence
of General Santa Anna, the old Mexican hero, then in exile, was pointed
out to us; a handsome building crowning a hill overlooking the town; and
we were informed that the old gentleman was still passionately fond of
his favorite amusement, cock-fighting.
"E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires."
We sailed for Southampton in the British mail steamer "Atrato," the best
appointed and most comfortable ship on board which I have ever taken
passage. She was a paddle-wheel steamer of the first class, belonging to
the Cunards, who boast that not a life or a mail has ever been lost in
their line. There was a very good band of musicians on board, and the
weather during the whole voyage was so pleasant that dancing could be
enjoyed. The screw steamers, now so rapidly superseding the old "side
wheelers," possess many advantages, it is true, but the superior
comfort of the passengers is not to be reckoned among them.
Arriving at Southampton, we took the first train for London. What
specially attracted the admiration of our little party as the train sped
along, was the exquisite beauty of the country. Almost every view would
have furnished a subject for a landscape painter. We saw vast lawns
green as emeralds, with clumps of fine trees here and there, and dotted
with cattle and sheep; and would frequently catch a glimpse of castles
and country seats beautifully ornamented with parks and gardens. It was
a series of pictures of rural repose and quiet, embellished with perfect
taste. Even the thatched cottages, with their trim hedges, their little
flower gardens, and the vines covering the outside, were most
picturesque. What a striking contrast with the log cabins and "snake"
fences in our own loved "Dixie!"
The Secretary of War, in his instructions to me, had stated that Major
Ficklin, who had lately returned from Europe, had been struck by the
qualities of a steamer which, in the Major's opinion, was admirably
adapted for blockade-running. She was called the Giraffe, a Clyde built
iron steamer, and plied as a packet between Glasgow and Belfast. She
was a side-wheel of light draft, very strongly built and reputed to be
of great speed. She possessed the last quality, it is true, but not to
such a degree as represented, for her best rate of speed while under my
command never exceeded thirteen and a half knots. Under the same
instructions I was to examine the ship and if the inspection proved
favorable, the Major was to negotiate for the purchase. I have always
believed that some informal arrangement had been made between the
parties concerned during the Major's late visit to England. However that
may have been, we found, on our arrival in London that the Giraffe had
been sold within a day or two, to a company about to engage in
blockade-running. The manager of this company was Mr. Alexander Collie,
who subsequently made such immense ventures, and became so well known in
connection with blockade-running. The Major did not lose heart upon
learning that the Giraffe had changed hands, but all his efforts to get
possession of the vessel were unsuccessful, Mr. C. refusing to part with
her upon any terms. As a last resort the Major, whose resources were
almost inexhaustible, suggested that I should make an effort. All
difficulties instantly vanished, when I informed Mr. Collie that I held
a commission in the Confederate States Navy, and had been sent abroad to
buy a ship for the Confederate Government. He instantly agreed to
transfer possession for the amount paid by him, £32,000, stipulating,
however, that the steamer should not be sold, during the war, to private
parties without the consent of the company represented by him, who were
to have the refusal of her. Although these conditions conflicted with
certain arrangements made between the Confederate Secretary of War and
Major Ficklin, the latter assented to them; and the Giraffe became the
property of the Confederate States Government. The necessary alterations
to fit her for a blockade-runner were at once commenced. Her beautiful
saloon and cabins were dismantled and bulkheads constructed to separate
the quarters for officers and men from the space to be used for stowage
of a cargo. Purchases of arms, clothing, etc., were to be made; and
after much disgust and vexation of spirit, I employed Mr. Collie, who
was a shrewd and practical man of business, to make the purchases on
commission, while I found more congenial employment. Long afterwards,
when I got a friend in Richmond to prepare my accounts for the auditor,
he proved conclusively from the vouchers (which I was careful to
preserve) that the Confederate Government owed me £1,000; but I never
applied for the "little balance" and now it is buried with the "lost
cause."
The Hon. J. M. Mason, representing the Confederate Government, was
living very quietly and unostentatiously in London; and although not
officially recognized, he was the frequent guest of the nobility and
gentry of the kingdom. He looked, so I thought, the equal of any peer in
the land, for he was of a noble presence; and he possessed that rare
tact of adapting himself to almost any company in which he might be
thrown. We always met with a cordial welcome from him; and it was very
interesting to hear his comments upon the government and the social life
of England. I am sure the contrast between the conservatism, stability
and respect for precedents and laws, so manifest everywhere in that
favored land, and the rapidly growing disregard of all these obligations
in our own country, struck him most forcibly. He closed a long eulogy of
England upon one occasion by remarking, "This is the best Government
upon the earth--_except of course our own_." He, in common with others,
who had access to private sources of information, believed, at that
time, that the Confederacy would soon be recognized by England and
France; and it appears from evidence made public since the close of the
war, that their hopes were by no means groundless; the Emperor of the
French having proposed joint recognition to the British government; but
all efforts in that direction were thwarted by the "Exeter Hall"
influence.
We saw of course many of the sights and curiosities of London. One
pleasant day of leisure, after a walk to see that magnificent pile, the
Houses of Parliament, I was sauntering along, without thought of where I
was going, until I found myself in a perfect labyrinth of filthy streets
and tumble down buildings and presenting all the other evidences of vice
and poverty; the very neighborhood in short of "Tom Allalone's" lair.
Fortunately I met a policeman who guided me into a respectable part of
the city. He told me that I was about to invade the worst section of
London, almost within a stone's throw of the Houses of Parliament.
It is astonishing how frequently Dickens' characters and descriptions
come into the memory of a stranger visiting London. No one, who has
ever seen them, will forget the houses in Chancery. Situated as some of
them are, in the busiest and most crowded parts of the city, and
mouldering away from disuse and neglect, the idea constantly presented
itself to me as I passed one of them, "there is more of the Jarndyce
property," and I never saw an "old clo'" man that the rascally Fagin and
his hopeful protegés did not rise to my recollection. How wonderful is
the power of genius which can not only "give to airy nothings a local
habitation and a name," but fix them as realities in our memory forever!
At that period the credit of the Confederate Government abroad was
excellent; and either from love of "filthy lucre" or of the cause, some
of the best firms in England were ready and eager to furnish supplies.
It appeared quite practicable to send in machinery, iron plates, etc.,
for building small vessels of war; and several firms offered to engage
in the enterprise, receiving Confederate bonds in payment. These parties
went to the trouble of preparing models with plans and specifications;
all of which were afterwards duly submitted to the incompetent Secretary
of the Confederate States Navy; but it resulted in nothing. A
considerable amount of the Government funds was lavished abroad upon
the building of vessels which could by no possibility be got to sea
under the Confederate flag while the war lasted; and to make matters
worse, the Secretary had sent to England, as special agent for building
or buying vessels, a man well known throughout the kingdom to be
bankrupt in fame and fortune, who was hawking our government securities
about the country at a ruinous rate of discount; and who inflicted much
loss and injury upon the Confederate Government in various ways during
his connection with it. The management of naval affairs abroad should
have been left in the hands of Captain Bullock, the efficient agent of
the Navy Department in England, who showed admirable tact in the conduct
of affairs entrusted to him.
We stopped at the Burlington Hotel during our stay in London. There was
none of the glare and glitter of an American hotel about this highly
respectable establishment, no crowded "table d'hote" where the guests
scrambled for food, and the waiters must be bribed to wait upon them; no
gorgeous bar-room where the clinking of glasses resounds day and night,
and no hotel clerk, with hair parted in the middle, who deems it a
condescension to be civil. Everything was staid, quiet, orderly, and it
must be added, rather slow and expensive. As an illustration of the
isolation of the boarders in an English hotel, it may be mentioned that
two Southern ladies, acquaintances of a member of our party, were
staying at the Burlington at the same time with ourselves, without our
knowledge of the fact. Meals were usually served in the coffee room, the
regular dinner consisting of a "joint," and one or two dishes of
vegetables, any dish not included in this very plain bill of fare being
furnished at an extra charge. Including fees to servants, etc., which
are regularly entered in the bill, one may live very comfortably in an
English hotel for five dollars a day, but not for less.
In thirty days from our arrival in England, the Giraffe was reported
laden and ready for sea. Besides the purchases made through my agency, a
large quantity of lithographic material had been bought by Major Ficklin
for the Treasury Department; and twenty-six lithographers were engaged
for the Confederate Government.
We took the train for Glasgow as soon as we were notified that the
Giraffe was ready for sea; parting from our London friends with mutual
good wishes and regrets.
There is a striking contrast between the scenery in the south of
England, and that in the northern portion. As we approached the "iron
country" even the fresh green woods disappeared, and for many miles on
our way we could see tall chimneys pouring forth huge volumes of smoke,
and we passed numerous coal pits, while the whole busy population seemed
to be begrimed with coal dust and iron filings. As we approached Glasgow
the scenery again changed to broad and well cultivated plains in the
immediate vicinity of the city. Its trade with Virginia and the West
Indies laid the foundation of its present prosperity. To this day there
are many descendants in Richmond of the old Scotch merchants who
formerly traded in tobacco between that port and Glasgow, but of late
years it has become chiefly noted for its iron ships and steamers, which
are unsurpassed; and it is now, I believe, the second city in the United
Kingdom in point of wealth and population. The Clyde, naturally an
insignificant stream, has been deepened by art until it is now navigable
for the largest vessels.
We were so busily occupied, during our brief stay, as to be able to see
very little of the city or its environs. The city itself was enveloped
in a fog during the whole time; its normal atmospheric condition, I
presume; for once when we made a visit to the romantic "Brigg of Allan,"
we passed beyond the suburbs into a clear bright atmosphere; and on our
return in the afternoon, we found the pall hanging over the city as
usual.
We would have been delighted to take the advice of our hostess to see
more of the land immortalized by Scott and Burns. "Ech, Sirs," she said,
"but ye suld gae doon to the Heelands to see Scotland"; from which
remark it may be reasonably inferred that she was a "Heeland" woman. We
were painfully struck by the number of paupers and intoxicated females
in the streets; and some of our party saw, for the first time in their
lives, white women shoeless, and shivering in scanty rags, which
scarcely concealed their nakedness, with the thermometer at the freezing
point. Whitaker's British Almanac publishes, statistically, the
_drinking_ propensities of the population of the three kingdoms, from
which it appears that there were consumed per head in 1869--
Malt 1,989 bushels in England.
Spirits 591 gallons "
Malt 509 bushels in Ireland.
Spirits 873 gallons "
Malt 669 bushels in Scotland.
Spirits 1,576 gallons "
The inventory taken on board the Giraffe, after she was turned over to
the Confederate Government, showed over _two hundred_ pitchers and
ladles for hot punch! We came to the conclusion that Scotch babies were
weaned upon this beverage, for the law forbade the carrying of that
number of grown passengers by the Giraffe.
Having secured the services of a sailing captain, British laws not
allowing the clearance of a vessel under the British flag, except under
the command of one who holds a certificate of competence, we sent our
luggage on board one evening, and sat down to our last meal on British
soil. There were many guests at the table; several of our friends having
come on from London to see us take our departure, and toasts were duly
and enthusiastically drank to the success of "the cause." The privileged
old head-waiter, dressed in professional black, (and ridiculously like
an old magpie as he hopped about the room with his head on one side,)
"whose custom it was of an afternoon" to get drunk, but always with
Scotch decorum, nodded approval of the festivities, until, overcome by
his feelings (or Usquebaugh) he was obliged to withdraw.
We bade adieu to our friends late at night, and went on board early next
morning. In addition to the Scotch artisans already mentioned, there
were several young gentlemen who were about to return home in the
Giraffe. These youths had been prosecuting their studies in Germany.
They were now about to return home to enter the army. Two of them,
Messrs. Price and Blair, are now Professors in Virginia Colleges, after
doing their duty as brave and faithful soldiers during the war. It is
well known that many thousands of young men, the flower of the South,
served as privates during the whole of our struggle for independence;
and it is equally well known that they never flinched from dangers or
privations.
Many years ago an expedition under the command of Lieutenant Strain, of
the United States Navy, was sent to make a reconnoissance across the
Isthmus of Darien. The party lost their way among the morasses and
almost impenetrable forests, and endured frightful hardships. But the
officers survived, while many of the men succumbed to fatigue and
famine. During our war, the youths of gentle blood and tender nurture
displayed equally wonderful endurance.
We parted from the Major on the wharf before going on board. He promised
to meet us in Richmond; preferring himself to return via. New York; and
we did not doubt his ability to keep his promise; for he seemed to
experience no difficulty in passing and repassing through the lines at
his pleasure during the war. He was in Washington, indeed, at the time
when President Lincoln was assassinated, and was arrested as an
accomplice in that great crime. His numerous friends who had so often
suffered from his practical jokes, would have been pleased no doubt, to
see how he appreciated the jest, when his head was tied up in a feather
pillow to prevent him from defrauding the law by committing suicide in
the murderer's cell. The shrill sound of a whistle was heard in the
theatre just before Booth committed the act; and when the Major was
arrested in his bed at the hotel a few hours afterwards, a whistle was
found in his pocket. It was damaging evidence, but he escaped
prosecution as an accomplice by adopting the advice once given by Mr.
Toney Weller, and proving an alibi.
CHAPTER VII.
Voyage to Madeira.--A Capital Sea-boat.--The Island Ponies.--Mr. B.
and his daughters.--Voyage to St. John's, Porto Rico.--Run across
the Bahama Banks.--Nassau during the War.--High Wages and Low
Characters.--Crew re-shipped.--Failure to enter Charleston.--The
"Lump."--A Narrow Escape.--The Scotch Lithographers and their
work.--Crossing the Bar.--Transfer of the Giraffe to the
Confederate Government.--She becomes the "R. E. Lee."--The Major
fulfills his promise, but fails in his object.
Our voyage to Madeira was uneventful with the exception of a heavy gale
of wind, during which the Giraffe showed her superb qualities as a sea
boat.
We were hospitably entertained during our three days' stay at Funchal.
The process of coaling ship there is a tedious one, the port being an
open roadstead, and there are no wharves. With a moderate breeze blowing
on or along shore, all communication is interrupted. Loading and
unloading ships is accomplished by lighters; and passengers are carried
to and fro in surf boats which are expertly managed by their crews. The
vines had failed for several years previous to our visit; but the
inhabitants had substituted the cultivation of vegetables for which they
found a market on the continent and in England; and the numerous
cultivated patches along the mountain sides presented a very pretty
appearance from the anchorage--laid out as they were with seemingly
geometrical precision. The hardy little horses could be hired very
cheaply, and the justly extolled natural beauties of the island in the
vicinity of Funchal were fully explored. The greater portion of it is
quite inaccessible except on foot, but the tough little native ponies
which are as sure footed as goats perform wonderful feats in the way of
climbing, and are quite equal to the double duty of carrying their
riders, and dragging along their owner who holds by one hand to the
pony's tail while he occasionally "progs" him with a sharp stick held in
the other hand. This island is, as every one knows, of volcanic origin;
although its volcanoes are now either dormant or extinct; and its lofty
vertical cliffs rise abruptly from the ocean. The highest peak in the
island is more than six thousand feet above the level of the sea. The
disintegrated lava forms the best soil in the world for the grape; and
the south side of the island, from its more favorable exposure to the
sun, is supposed to produce the more delicately flavored wine. Wonderful
stories are told of the exquisite sense of taste possessed by the
professional "tasters" who never swallow the wine. So soon as they
indulge in this luxury they lose the faculty of nice discrimination.
We slept securely under the "Stars and Stripes," our hotel being kept by
a "Yankee" who hoisted the flag upon his house-top every day, and was
not so cosmopolitan, perhaps I should say not so politic, as our St.
Thomas friend. He soothed his conscience for associating with "rebels,"
and avenged himself by charging us heavily, and, no doubt, congratulated
himself after our departure, upon having "spoiled the Egyptians."
We received many courtesies from Mr. B., an English gentleman, and his
family. Our susceptible young men lost their hearts with his _seven_
beautiful daughters, all of them fair, tall, and stately.
As soon as the Giraffe was coaled we took our departure for St. John's,
Porto Rico. A sea-voyage has elsewhere been described in two lines.
"Sometimes we ship a sea,
Sometimes we see a ship."
The monotony of our voyage was rarely disturbed by either of these
incidents.
After two days' detention at St. John's for the purpose of coaling we
got under way for that haven of blockade-runners, El Dorado of
adventurers, and paradise of wreckers and darkies--filthy Nassau. In
making our way to this port we had a foretaste of some of the risks and
dangers to be subsequently encountered. In order to economize coal and
to lessen the risk of capture I determined to approach Nassau by the
"Tongue of Ocean," a deep indentation in the sea bounded on the south by
the Bahama Banks; and to reach the "Tongue" it was necessary to cross
the whole extent of the "Banks" from Elbow Key light-house. On arriving
off the light-house we were disappointed in our hope of finding a pilot,
and no alternative was left but to attempt the transit without one, as
we had not a sufficient supply of coal to enable us to pursue any other
course. Our charts showed twelve feet water all over that portion of the
Banks and the Giraffe was drawing eleven feet; but the innumerable black
dots on the chart showed where the dangerous coral heads were nearly
"awash." On the other hand, we knew there could be no "swell" in such an
expanse of shallow water; so waving adieu to the keeper of the
light-house we pointed the Giraffe's bow for the Banks, which showed
ahead of us smooth as a lake, and almost milk white. It was early in the
morning when we started, and the distance to be run to the "Tongue" was
only sixty or seventy miles. Taking my station in the fore-rigging I
could easily direct the helmsman bow to avoid those treacherous black
spots. It was the Florida Reef over again, and my experience in
surveying that coast stood us in good stead here. We were so fortunate,
indeed, as never once to touch the bottom although the lead frequently
showed less than twelve feet; and about 3 o'clock in the afternoon the
welcome blue water showed itself ahead. It would have been impossible to
make the transit in cloudy weather; but the day was fortunately clear.
Occasionally when a "trade" cloud would approach the sun, we would slow
down or stop until it had passed by, when the black patches would again
be visible. The iron plates of the Giraffe would have been pierced as
completely as if made of pasteboard, if she had come into contact even
at low speed with those jagged coral heads. Before dark we were out of
danger, and next morning came to anchor in the harbor of Nassau.
Nassau was a busy place during the war; the chief depot of supplies for
the Confederacy, and the port to which most of the cotton was shipped.
Its proximity to the ports of Charleston and Wilmington gave it superior
advantages, while it was easily accessible to the swift, light draft
blockade-runners; all of which carried Bahama bank pilots who knew every
channel, while the United States cruisers having no Bank pilots and
drawing more water were compelled to keep the open sea. Occasionally one
of the latter would heave to outside the harbor and send in a boat to
communicate with the American Consul; but their usual cruising ground
was off Abaco Light. Nassau is situated upon the island of New
Providence, one of the Bahamas, and is the chief town and capital of the
group. All of the islands are surrounded by coral reefs and shoals,
through which are channels more or less intricate. That wonderful "River
in the Sea"--the Gulf Stream--which flows between the Florida coast and
the Bahama Banks is only forty miles broad between the nearest opposite
points; but there is no harbor on that part of the Florida coast. The
distance from Charleston to Nassau is about five hundred miles, and
from Wilmington about five hundred and fifty. Practically, however, they
were equi-distant because blockade-runners bound from either port, in
order to evade the cruisers lying in wait off Abaco, were compelled to
give that head-land a wide berth, by keeping well to the eastward of it.
But in avoiding Scylla they ran the risk of striking upon Charybdis; for
the dangerous reefs of Eleuthera were fatal to many vessels. The chief
industries of the islands before the war were the collection and
exportation of sponges, corals, etc., and wrecking, to which was added,
during the war, the lucrative trade of picking and stealing. The
inhabitants may be classed as "amphibious," and are known among sailors
by the generic name of "Conchs." The wharves of Nassau, during the war,
were always piled high with cotton, and huge warehouses were stored full
of supplies for the Confederacy. The harbor was crowded at times, with
lead-colored, short masted, rakish looking steamers; the streets alive
with bustle and activity during day time and swarming with drunken
revellers by night. Every nationality on earth, nearly, was represented
there; the high wages ashore and afloat, tempting adventurers of the
baser sort; and the prospect of enormous profits offering equally strong
inducements to capitalists of a speculative turn. The monthly wages of a
sailor on board a blockade-runner was one hundred dollars in gold, and
fifty dollars bounty at the end of a successful trip; and this could be
accomplished under favorable circumstances in seven days. The captains
and pilots sometimes received as much as five thousand dollars besides
perquisites. All of the cotton shipped on account of the Confederate
Government was landed and transferred to a mercantile firm in Nassau,
who received a commission for assuming ownership. It was then shipped
under the British or other neutral flag to Europe. The firm is reputed
to have made many thousands of dollars by these commissions. But,
besides the cotton shipped by the Confederate Government, many private
companies and individuals were engaged in the trade; and it was computed
(so large were the gains) that the owner could afford to lose a vessel
and cargo after two successful voyages. Three or four steamers were
wholly owned by the Confederate Government; a few more were owned by it
in part, and the balance were private property; but these last were
compelled to carry out, as portion of their cargo, cotton on government
account, and to bring in supplies. On board the government steamers, the
crew which was shipped abroad, and under the articles regulating the
"merchant marine," received the same wages as were paid on board the
other blockade-runners; but the captains and subordinate officers of the
government steamers who belonged to the Confederate States Navy, and the
pilots, who were detailed from the army for this service, received the
pay in gold of their respective grades.
As the Giraffe's crew was shipped only for the voyage to Nassau "and a
market," it was necessary to cancel the engagement of those who did not
wish to follow her fortunes further. A few of them preferring their
discharge were paid off, and provided with a passage to England; and the
balance signed articles for Havana "and a market." Everything being in
readiness, we sailed on December 26th, 1862. Having on board a
Charleston pilot, as well as one for Wilmington, I had not determined,
on sailing, which port to attempt; but having made the land near
Charleston bar during thick weather on the night of the 28th, our pilot
was afraid to venture further. We made an offing, therefore, before
daylight; and circumstances favoring Wilmington, we approached the
western bar on the night of December 29th. We had been biding our time
since twelve o'clock that day close in to the shore about forty miles
southwest of the bar and in the deep bay formed by the coast between
Wilmington and Charleston. The weather had been so clear and the sea so
smooth that we had communicated with the Confederate pickets at several
points along the coast; and no sail was visible even from aloft until
about three o'clock in the afternoon, when a cruiser hove in sight to
the north and east. As she was coasting along the land and approaching
us we turned the Giraffe's bow away from her, and got up more steam,
easily preserving our distance, as the stranger was steaming at a low
rate of speed. A little while before sunset the strange steamer wore
round, and we immediately followed her example, gradually lessening the
distance between us, and an hour or more after dark we had the pleasure
of passing inside of her at anchor off New River Inlet. She was
evidently blockading that harbor, and had run down the coast to
reconnoitre. Before approaching the bar I had adopted certain
precautions against disaster which I ever afterwards followed. Any one
who showed an open light when we were near the fleet was liable to the
penalty of death upon the spot; a cool, steady leadsman was stationed on
each quarter to give the soundings; a staunch old quartermaster took the
wheel and a kedge, bent to a stout hawser, was slung at each quarter.
All lights were extinguished; the fire-room hatch covered over with a
tarpaulin; and a hood fitted over the binnacle, with a small circular
opening for the helmsman to see the compass through the aperture.
About ten o'clock we passed inside the first ship of the blockading
fleet, about five miles outside the bar; and four or five others
appeared in quick succession as the Giraffe was cutting rapidly through
the smooth water. We were going at full speed when, with a shock that
threw nearly every one on board off his feet, the steamer was brought up
"all standing" and hard and fast aground! The nearest blockader was
fearfully close to us, and all seemed lost. We had struck upon "the
Lump," a small sandy knoll two or three miles outside the bar with deep
water on both sides of it. That knoll was the "rock ahead" during the
whole war, of the blockade-runners, for it was impossible in the
obscurity of night to judge accurately of the distance to the coast,
and there were no landmarks or bearings which would enable them to steer
clear of it. Many a ton of valuable freight has been launched overboard
there; and, indeed, all the approaches to Wilmington are paved as
thickly with valuables as a certain place is said to be with good
intentions.
The first order was to lower the two quarter boats: in one of them were
packed the Scotch lithographers who were safely landed; and a kedge was
lowered into the other with orders to the officer in charge to pull off
shore and drop the kedge. The risk, though imminent, was much reduced
after our panic stricken passengers had got fairly away from the ship;
and the spirits of officers and crew rose to meet the emergency. The
glimmer of a light, or an incautiously loud order would bring a
broadside from that frowning battery crashing through our bulwarks. So
near the goal (I thought) and now to fail! but I did not despair. To
execute the order to drop the kedge, it was necessary to directly
approach one of the blockaders, and so near to her did they let it go,
that the officer of the boat was afraid to call out that it had been
dropped; and muffled the oars as he returned to make his report.
Fortunately, the tide was rising. After twenty or thirty minutes of
trying suspense, the order was given "to set taut on the hawser," and
our pulses beat high as the stern of the Giraffe slowly and steadily
turned seaward. In fact, she swung round upon her stem as upon a pivot.
As soon as the hawser "trended" right astern, the engineer was ordered
to "back hard," and in a very few revolutions of the wheels the ship
slid rapidly off into deep water. The hawser was instantly cut, and we
headed directly for the bar channel. We were soon out of danger from the
blockading fleet; but as we drew in toward Fort Caswell, one of the
look-outs on the wheel-house (who, like the thief in Shakespeare,
"feared each bush an officer") would every now and then say to the
pilot, "that looks like a boat on the star-board bow, Mr. D." "There are
breakers on the port-bow, Mr. D." And at last "There is a rock right
ahead, Mr. D;" at which last remark, D., losing all patience, exclaimed,
"G----d A----y, man, there isn't a rock as big as my hat in the whole
d----d State of North Carolina." A too sweeping assertion, but quite true
as applied to the coast. We passed safely over the bar; and steaming up
the river, anchored off Smithville a little before midnight of the 29th
of December, 1862.
The Scotch lithographers found abundant employment in Richmond, as the
Government "paper mills" were running busily during the whole war; but
the style of their work was not altogether faultless, for it was said
that the counterfeit notes, made at the North, and extensively
circulated through the South, could be easily detected by the superior
execution of the engraving upon them!
The natural advantages of Wilmington for blockade-running were very
great, chiefly owing to the fact, that there are two separate and
distinct approaches to Cape Fear River, i. e., either by "New Inlet" to
the north of Smith's Island, or by the "western bar" to the south of it.
This island is ten or eleven miles in length; but the Frying Pan Shoals
extend ten or twelve miles further south, making the distance by sea
between the two bars thirty miles or more, although the direct distance
between them is only six or seven miles. From Smithville, a little
village nearly equi-distant from either bar, both blockading fleets
could be distinctly seen, and the outward bound blockade-runners could
take their choice through which of them to run the gauntlet. The inward
bound blockade-runners, too, were guided by circumstances of wind and
weather; selecting that bar over which they would cross, after they had
passed the Gulf Stream; and shaping their course accordingly. The
approaches to both bars were clear of danger, with the single exception
of the "Lump" before mentioned; and so regular are the soundings that
the shore can be coasted for miles within a stone's throw of the
breakers.
These facts explain why the United States fleet were unable wholly to
stop blockade-running. It was, indeed, impossible to do so; the result
to the very close of the war proves this assertion; for in spite of the
vigilance of the fleet, many blockade-runners were afloat when Fort
Fisher was captured. In truth the passage through the fleet was little
dreaded; for although the blockade-runner might receive a shot or two,
she was rarely disabled; and in proportion to the increase of the fleet,
the greater would be the danger (we knew,) of their firing into each
other. As the boys before the deluge used to say, they would be very apt
"to miss the cow and kill the calf." The chief danger was upon the open
sea; many of the light cruisers having great speed. As soon as one of
them discovered a blockade-runner during daylight she would attract
other cruisers in the vicinity by sending up a dense column of smoke,
visible for many miles in clear weather. A "cordon" of fast steamers
stationed ten or fifteen miles apart _inside the Gulf Stream_, and in
the course from Nassau and Bermuda to Wilmington and Charleston, would
have been more effectual in stopping blockade-running than the whole
United States Navy concentrated off those ports; and it was
unaccountable to us why such a plan did not occur to good Mr. Welles;
but it was not our place to suggest it. I have no doubt, however, that
the fraternity to which I then belonged would have unanimously voted
thanks and a service of plate to the Hon. Secretary of the United States
Navy for this oversight. I say _inside the Gulf Stream_, because every
experienced captain of a blockade-runner made a point to cross "the
stream" early enough in the afternoon, if possible, to establish the
ship's position by chronometer so as to escape the influence of that
current upon his dead reckoning. The lead always gave indication of our
distance from the land, but not, of course, of our position; and the
numerous salt works along the coast, where evaporation was produced by
fire, and which were at work night and day were visible long before the
low coast could be seen. Occasionally the whole inward voyage would be
made under adverse conditions. Cloudy, thick weather and heavy gales
would prevail so as to prevent any solar or lunar observations, and
reduce the dead reckoning to mere guess work. In these cases the
nautical knowledge and judgment of the captain would be taxed to the
utmost. The current of the Gulf Stream varies in velocity and (within
certain limits) in direction; and the stream, itself almost as well
defined as a river within its banks under ordinary circumstances, is
impelled by a strong gale toward the direction in which the wind is
blowing, overflowing its banks as it were. The counter current, too,
inside of the Gulf Stream is much influenced by the prevailing winds.
Upon one occasion, while in command of the R. E. Lee, we had experienced
very heavy and thick weather; and had crossed the Stream and struck
soundings about midday. The weather then clearing so that we could
obtain an altitude near meridian we found ourselves at least forty miles
north of our supposed position and near the shoals which extend in a
southerly direction off Cape Lookout. It would be more perilous to run
out to sea than to continue on our course, for we had passed through
the off shore line of blockaders, and the sky had become perfectly
clear. I determined to personate a transport bound to Beaufort, which
was in the possession of the United States forces, and the coaling
station of the fleet blockading Wilmington. The risk of detection was
not very great, for many of the captured blockade-runners were used as
transports and dispatch vessels. Shaping our course for Beaufort, and
slowing down, as we were in no haste to get there, we passed several
vessels, showing United States colors to them all. Just as we were
crossing through the ripple of shallow water off the "tail" of the
shoals, we dipped our colors to a sloop of war which passed three or
four miles to the south of us. The courtesy was promptly responded to;
but I have no doubt her captain thought me a lubberly and careless
seaman to shave the shoals so closely. We stopped the engines when no
vessel was in sight; and I was relieved from a heavy burden of anxiety
as the sun sank below the horizon; and the course was shaped at full
speed for Masonboro' Inlet.
A few days after our arrival at Wilmington the Giraffe was transferred
to the Confederate Government, and named the R. E. Lee; and
thenceforward carried the Confederate flag. Our friend the Major
fulfilled his promise of meeting me in Richmond, having made his way
across the Potomac. He made a gallant effort to get possession of the
ship; but Mr. Seddon, who had succeeded Mr. Randolph as Secretary of War
during our absence, contended that the Government had a juster claim;
and the facts of the case were too stubborn even for the Major's
determined persistence.
"The best laid plans of mice and men
Gang aft agley."
The Secretary of War having carried his point, the Major directed his
efforts towards another quarter, and more successfully. Indeed he rarely
failed in any enterprise requiring nerve, perseverance, tact, and
ability; and it may well be added that he seemed to accumulate wealth to
enjoy the pleasure of spending it worthily. His unostentatious charities
during the war were almost boundless; and hundreds of widows and orphans
blessed him for the relief which he extended to them in those dark days,
when even medicines were contraband of war, and the simplest necessaries
of life were beyond the reach of nearly every one in the Confederacy.
CHAPTER VIII.
Dyer and the Sailing Captain.--First Voyage to Nassau.--Major
Ficklen and the Two Young Lieutenants.--Our Old Skipper "Captain
Dick."--Bermuda.--The Races there and elsewhere.--Description of
Bermuda.--Moore, the Poet, and his Rival Mr. Tucker.--Tame
Fish.--The Naval Station.--Col. B.'s Accident.
Before sailing with our cargo of cotton for Nassau, a signal officer was
detailed for the ship, (signal stations having been established along
the coast for the benefit of the blockade-runners;) and I was compelled
to discharge my pilot Dyer. He and the sailing captain, who was to take
passage with us, his engagement having terminated with the transfer of
the vessel to the Confederate flag, had been quarreling incessantly
during my absence from Wilmington, and had finally become mortal foes.
An hour or more after my return to the ship, while sitting in the cabin,
I heard loud and angry altercation overhead; and going on deck, I saw
Dyer pacing up and down the wharf, along side which the "Lee" was lying;
while the sailing captain was bidding him defiance from the steamer's
deck; Dyer with a drawn knife in his hand, and the captain armed with a
handspike. They had exhausted their vocabulary of abuse, but neither was
disposed to invade the enemy's territory. At last Dyer cried out "Come
ashore you d----d English hog, and I'll make mince meat of you!" I shall
never forget the expression of the captain's face at this cruel taunt.
He was literally struck speechless for a moment; then turning to me and
drawing himself up with a thumb in his arm-hole, and the handspike over
his shoulder, he exclaimed, "Now, sir, isn't that _too_ bad! Do I _look_
like a Henglish og?" To this pathetic appeal, I could but answer "no,"
but the fact was they bore a ludicrous resemblance to two boars about to
engage in mortal combat; the captain, with his jolly, rosy face and
portly figure, not at all unlike a sleek, well fed "White Chester," and
Dyer quite as much resembling a lean, lank, wiry "razor-back" native of
his own pine woods. I discharged Dyer. The poor fellow's subsequent fate
was a sad one. While acting as pilot of a blockade-runner, inward bound,
he committed the folly one day of saying that he would put a steamer
under his charge ashore, before he would be captured. The remark was
overheard and treasured up by some of the crew; and a night or two
afterwards the steamer ran aground on the bar in the attempt to enter
Cape Fear River, and was deserted. As she was under the shelter of the
guns of Fort Caswell, a boat from shore was sent off to her next
morning, and poor Dyer was found in a dying condition on the deck with
his skull fractured. He had paid for his folly with his life.
Our first voyage to Nassau was made without any unusual incident. The
Major took passage with us by permission of the Secretary of War, and
his practical jokes amused every one except the butt of them; even the
aggrieved party, himself, being frequently obliged to laugh at his own
expense. There were two very young lieutenants of the Confederate Navy
then in Nassau, on their way to Europe; the senior of whom _ranking_ the
other by one or two days, assumed much authority over him. One day the
Major with the help of an accomplice, who was supposed to be able to
imitate my handwriting, addressed an official letter to the senior in my
name, informing him that both of them had been reported to me for
unofficer-like and unbecoming conduct, and requiring them to repair
immediately on board the Lee with their luggage, as I felt it to be an
imperative duty to take them back to the Confederacy for trial by
court-martial. The junior demurred, believing it to be a hoax, but the
senior peremptorily ordered him to accompany him on board. They were
caught in a drenching shower on their way to the Lee; and they made
their appearance in the cabin in a sorry plight, reporting themselves
"in obedience to orders," handing me the written document. As I
pronounced it a forgery, the junior turned to the senior and exclaimed,
"What did I tell you? didn't I say it was a hoax of that d----d Major
Ficklen?" They started to the shore, vowing vengeance; but the Major had
posted his sentinels at every street corner near the landing, and
successfully eluded them. They were to sail that afternoon at four
o'clock; and after a fruitless chase, went to the hotel to get dinner.
While sitting at the table, and some time after soup was served, a
waiter came to them "with Major Ficklen's compliments and the pleasure
of a glass of champagne with them." After a hurried consultation, they
decided to bury the hatchet; and bowed over their wine to the Major, who
had just slipped into a seat reserved for him at the other end of the
long and crowded table, and was smiling graciously in their direction.
As Ficklen bade them "good-bye," he said "Don't forget me, my sons!"
"No, indeed," they replied, "you may swear we never will!"
Seeing the necessity, while at Nassau, of carrying a Bahama Banks pilot,
I engaged our worthy old skipper, Captain Dick Watkins, who served under
my command for many months, maintaining and deserving the respect of all
on board. His son, and only heir to his name and fortune, Napoleon
Bonaparte, gave him much anxiety. "Ah, Sir," he said on one occasion,
"dat b----y's heddication has cost me a sight of money, as much as ten
dollars a year for two or three years, and he don't know nothing
hardly." During one of our voyages he had left his wife quite sick at
home. My young friend Johnny T---- was endeavoring to console him. "But
the ole 'oman is _mighty_ sick, Master Johnny," said the old fellow,
"and I don't spect to see her no more." Johnny's heart was touched. The
silence was broken by Captain Dick after a long pause, "dere are some
mighty pretty yaller gals in _Nassau_, Master Johnny!" He had the
profoundest respect for the head of the firm of A----y and Co. in
Nassau, the "King Conch" as he was irreverently styled by us outside
barbarians. Speaking of the firm upon one occasion he assured me the
members were as wealthy as the "_Roths children_." My good purser and
the old captain were fast friends, the former fighting the old fellow's
battles in Rebeldom; and once, when the latter was unjustly treated in
Wilmington, the purser "took the daggers," and bore him triumphantly
through the difficulty.
We made two or three trips between Wilmington and Nassau during the
winter of 1862-3 encountering no extraordinary hazards. During one of
them we arrived within ten or twelve miles of the western bar too early
in the night to cross it, as the ebb tide was still running; and it was
always my custom to cross the bar on a rising tide, if possible. All the
usual preparations had been made on board for running through the fleet,
and as no sail was in sight we steamed cautiously in toward the land
until we arrived within a cable's length of the shore, and in the dense
shadow of a comparatively high bluff. Here we dropped a kedge and rode
by the hawser. Although there was no moon, the stars were shining
brightly; and the air was so calm and still, that the silence was
oppressive. While we were lying in the friendly shadow of the bluff,
one of the blockading fleet could be occasionally seen from our deck,
steaming slowly along upon her "beat" a short distance outside of us.
When the time arrived for making the dash at the bar, the kedge was run
up to the bows by willing hands, and the "Lee" started at full speed.
When the land was once fairly got hold of, and our exact position known,
the chances were ten to one in our favor. No blockader could get inshore
of us to cut us off from the bar, and we believed that we could either
go by or go over anything in our course; and in extremity we could beach
the vessel with the probability of being able to save most, if not the
whole of the cargo.
During the month of March, 1863, the Lee's port of destination was St.
George's, Bermuda. This island is easily accessible on the southern
side, and was much resorted to by blockade-runners. Surrounded on all
other sides by dangerous coral reefs, which extend for many miles into
deep water, a vessel of heavy draft can approach from the south within a
cable's length of the shore. A light of the first class at the west end
of the group composing the "Bermudas," is visible for many miles in
clear weather. It may as well be mentioned here, that the
blockade-runners rarely approached _any_ head land during daylight;
"preferring darkness rather than light." The agent of the Confederate
Government, Major Walker, with his staff of assistants, lived at St.
George's; and he and his accomplished wife always welcomed their
compatriots with genuine hospitality. The house of Mr. Black (an
assistant of the Major) was also open to us, and no sick exile from home
will ever forget the tender nursing of Mrs. Black and the kindness of
that whole family. The little graveyard attached to the Episcopal church
at St. George's, contains all that is mortal of several gallant youths
from the south, who died of yellow fever; but they were soothed in the
hours of their last illness by Christian counsel, and by tender hands.
The white natives of the island, too, extended many attentions and
civilities to Confederates, so that St. George's became not only a
harbor of refuge, but a pleasant resting place after the excitement and
fatigue of an outward voyage. The same antagonism which prevails between
the white and the black races, wherever they live together upon equal
terms, exists in Bermuda. People are classed there as "colored and
_plain_" and a fine of one pound sterling is imposed for calling the
former "negroes." There must be a natural antipathy between the two
races; or at least it seems to exist in the heart of the negro, for
wherever he has the power, he shows his dislike and jealousy of the
white man. In Hayti, since the French inhabitants were murdered, the
jealousy and hatred of the negroes have been directed against the
mulattoes, who have been nearly exterminated; and the whites in Jamaica
would have shared the same fate at the hands of a brutal horde of black
savages a few years ago, but for the premature exposure of the plot, and
the vigorous action of the Governor of the island. In the model republic
of Liberia no white man can obtain the right of citizenship, own real
estate, nor sit upon a jury. Nowhere in the world did there exist the
same kindly relation between the two races, as in the South before the
war; and even now, the older negroes seek aid and advice, when in
difficulties, from their former owners, although they have been misled
by unprincipled adventurers, by whom they have been taught to distrust
them in politics. A short time ago Dr. B----, a Virginia gentleman, was
asked by a Northerner his opinion of the negroes' feelings toward the
Southern people. "I will tell you," replied Dr. B. "If you and I were
candidates for the same office, you would get every negro's vote; but,
if one of them wanted advice or assistance he would come to me or some
other southerner."
The group composing the "Bermudas" still justifies the reputation given
to it by one of the British admirals of the "olden time." The
"Bermoothees," he records in his quaintly written journal, "is a hellish
place for thunder, lightning, and storms." Shakspeare, too, sends
"Ariel" to "fetch dew" from the "still vexed Bermoothes" for his
exacting master Prospero. But although gales of wind during the winter,
and thunder storms in the summer, are so prevalent, the climate is
delightful. There are upward of three hundred islands in the group, most
of them mere barren coral rocks; and the largest, St. George's, is not
more than three miles long, and about a mile in width. The roads are cut
out of the soft coral, which hardens by exposure to the atmosphere, and
are perfect.
There are several very curious natural caves about five miles distant
from St. George's; and near one of them is still pointed out the
calabash tree under which the Irish poet, Tom Moore, is said to have
composed one of his sonnets to _Nea_, who afterwards became the wife of
Mr. Tucker, and left many descendants on the island. The venerable old
gentleman was living, in his ninetieth year, when I was last in St.
George's; and although the bride of his youth, and his rival the poet,
had been long mouldering in their graves, he was still so jealous of the
latter that he would not allow his great-grandchildren to keep a copy of
the poet's works in the house.
The only indigenous tree upon the islands, I believe, is the cedar; the
oleander, which now grows everywhere, having been introduced by Mr.
Tucker. Nearly all of the tropical fruits grow there, and many
indigenous to the temperate zone; but the staple products are potatoes
and onions, chiefly for the New York market, and arrow root. The waters
teem with fish of the most brilliantly beautiful colors. An ingenious
individual has succeeded in taming a number, by availing himself of a
natural cavity in the coral situated close to the shore and a few miles
distant from St. George's. The sea water, percolating through the coral,
supplies the basin. At a whistle the tame fish swim close to the edge
and feed from one's hand.
There is a naval station at "Ireland Island," and a floating dock
(which was built in England and towed out,) capable of taking in the
largest-sized man of war. The naval officers attached to the dock-yard,
and to the men of war, were always friendly and more than civil to
Confederates; being sometimes, indeed, too profuse in their hospitality.
Upon one occasion, Col. ---- a personal friend of mine, had obtained a
furlough, and permission to make a trip in the Lee, for the sake of his
health, broken by the hardships of a campaign in northern Virginia. The
purser, who was always ready for a "lark," and the Colonel, who was of
an inquiring turn of mind, paid a visit to the dock-yard. After an
inspection of it, they went on board several of the men of war in
harbor, receiving on board each of them refreshments, solid and liquid.
They had crossed over to Ireland Island in a sail-boat, and when about
to return, were escorted to the wharf by a party of officers. Their boat
was lying outside of another, containing a fat old washerwoman; and
Col.----, who had had no experience in boating in his life, except
"paddling his own canoe" upon a mill pond in Amelia county, Va., stopped
to exchange farewell salutations with the party of officers on the
wharf, while he stood with one foot in the "stern sheets" of the
washerwoman's boat, and the other in his own. The boatman forward,
ignorant of the critical state of affairs, hoisted the jib, and the
boat, under the influence of a stiff breeze, began to "pay off" before
the wind. Before Col. ---- could "realize the situation," he was in the
attitude of the Colossus of Rhodes. The purser promptly seized one of
his legs, and the fat washerwoman with equal presence of mind, laid hold
of the other. Each was determined not to let go, and the strain upon the
Colonel must have been terrific; but he was equal to the emergency.
Taking in the whole situation, he deliberately drew his watch out of his
pocket, and holding it high above his head with both hands, he said,
with his usually imperturbable calmness, "Well I reckon you had better
let go!" His endeavors to protect his watch proved to have been
fruitless; the purser indeed always insists that he touched bottom in
three fathoms of water. He returned on board the Lee to be wrung out and
dried.
CHAPTER IX.
We sail for Wilmington.--Thick Weather on the Coast.--Anchored
among the Blockading Fleet.--The "Mound."--Running the Blockade by
Moonlight.--A Device to mislead the Enemy.--The man Hester.
After discharging our cargo of cotton and loading with supplies for the
Confederate Government, chiefly for the army of Northern Virginia, we
sailed for Wilmington in the latter part of the month of March. Our
return voyage was uneventful, until we reached the coast near
Masonborough Inlet, distant about nine miles north of the "New Inlet"
bar. The weather had been pleasant during the voyage, and we had sighted
the _fires_ from the salt works along the coast, but before we could get
hold of the land, a little before midnight, a densely black cloud made
its appearance to the north and east; and the rapidity with which it
rose and enlarged, indicated too surely that a heavy gale was coming
from that quarter. We had been unable to distinguish any landmark before
the storm burst in all its fury upon us, and the rain poured in
torrents. Our supply of coals was too limited to enable us, with
prudence, to put to sea again; and of course, the marks or ranges for
crossing the bar would not be visible fifty yards in such thick weather.
Being quite confident of our position, however, I determined to run down
the coast, and anchor off the bar till daylight. Knowing the "trend" of
the land north of New Inlet bar, the engine was slowed down and the lead
kept going on both sides. The sounding continued quite regular three and
three and a quarter fathoms, with the surf thundering within a stone's
throw on our starboard beam, and nothing visible in the blinding
torrents of rain. I knew that if my calculated position was correct, the
water would shoal very suddenly just before reaching the bar; but a
trying hour or more of suspense had passed before the welcome fact was
announced by the leadsmen. The course and distance run, and the
soundings up to this point proved, beyond doubt, that we had now reached
the "horse shoe" north of New Inlet bar. At the moment when both of the
leadsmen almost simultaneously called out "and a quarter less three,"
the helm was put hard a-starboard, and the Lee's bow was pointed
seaward. We could not prudently anchor in less than five fathoms water,
as the sea was rising rapidly; and that depth would carry us into the
midst of the blockading fleet at anchor outside. It seemed an age before
the cry came from the leadsmen "by the mark five." The Lee was instantly
stopped, and one of the bower anchors let go, veering to thirty fathoms
on the chain. The cable was then well stoppered at the "bitts," and
unshackled; and two men stationed at the stopper, with axes, and the
order to cut the lashings, instantly, when so ordered; the fore-staysail
was loosed, and hands stationed at the halliards; and the chief engineer
directed to keep up a full head of steam. The night wore slowly away;
and once or twice we caught a glimpse, by a flash of lightning, of the
blockading fleet around us, rolling and pitching in the heavy sea. The
watch having been set, the rest of the officers and crew were permitted
to go below, except the chief engineer and the pilot. We paced the
bridge, anxiously waiting for daylight. It came at last, and there,
right astern of us, looming up through the mist and rain, was the
"Mound." We had only to steer for it, to be on our right course for
crossing the bar. The stoppers were cut, the engine started ahead, and
the fore stay-sail hoisted. As the chain rattled through the hawse-hole,
the Lee wore rapidly around, and the Confederate flag was run up to the
peak as she dashed toward the bar with the speed of a greyhound slipped
from the leash. The bar was a sheet of foam and surf, breaking sheer
across the channel; but the great length of the Lee enabled her to ride
over three or four of the short chopping seas at once, and she never
touched the bottom. In less than half an hour from the time when we
slipped our chain under the guns of the fleet, we had passed beyond Fort
Fisher, and were on our way up the river to Wilmington.
The "Mound" was an artificial one, erected by Colonel Lamb, who
commanded Fort Fisher. Two heavy guns were mounted upon it, and it
eventually became a site for a light, and very serviceable to
blockade-runners; but even at this period, it was an excellent landmark.
Joined by a long low isthmus of sand with the higher main land, its
regular conical shape enabled the blockade-runners easily to identify it
from the offing; and in clear weather, it showed plain and distinct
against the sky at night. I believe the military men used to laugh slyly
at the Colonel for undertaking its erection, predicting that it would
not stand; but the result showed the contrary; and whatever difference
of opinion may have existed with regard to its value as a military
position, there can be but one as to its utility to the
blockade-runners, for it was not a landmark, alone, along this
monotonous coast; but one of the range lights for crossing New Inlet bar
was placed on it. Seamen will appreciate at its full value, this
advantage; but it may be stated, for the benefit of the unprofessional
reader, that while the compass bearing of an object does not enable a
pilot to steer a vessel with sufficient accuracy through a narrow
channel, _range lights_ answer the purpose completely. These lights were
only set after signals had been exchanged between the blockade-runner
and the shore station, and were removed immediately after the vessel had
entered the river. The range lights were changed as circumstances
required; for the New Inlet channel, itself, was and is constantly
changing, being materially affected both in depth of water, and in its
course, by a heavy gale of wind or a severe freshet in Cape Fear River.
The "Lee" continued to make her regular trips either to Nassau or
Bermuda, as circumstances required, during the summer of 1863; carrying
abroad cotton and naval stores, and bringing in "hardware," as munitions
of war were then invoiced. Usually the time selected for sailing was
during the "dark of the moon," but upon one occasion, a new pilot had
been detailed for duty on board, who failed in many efforts to get the
ship over the "rip," a shifting sand bar a mile or more inside the true
bar. More than a week of valuable time had thus been lost, but the
exigencies of the army being at that time more than usually urgent, I
determined to run what appeared to be a very great risk. The tide
serving at ten o'clock, we succeeded in crossing the rip at that hour,
and as we passed over New Inlet bar, the moon rose in a cloudless sky.
It was a calm night too, and the regular beat of our paddles through the
smooth water sounded to our ears ominously loud. As we closely skirted
the shore, the blockading vessels were plainly visible to us, some at
anchor, some under way; and some of them so near to us that we saw, or
fancied we saw, with our night glasses, the men on watch on their
forecastles; but as we were inside of them all, and invisible against
the background of the land, we passed beyond them undiscovered. The roar
of the surf breaking upon the beach, prevented the noise of our paddles
from being heard. The Lee's head was not pointed seaward, however, until
we had run ten or twelve miles along the land so close to the breakers
that we could almost have tossed a biscuit into them, and no vessel was
to be seen in any direction. Discovery of us by the fleet would probably
have been fatal to us, but the risk was really not so great as it
appeared; for, as I had been informed by a blockade-runner who had been
once captured and released, being a British subject, the vigilance on
board the blockading fleet was much relaxed during the moonlit nights.
The vessels were sent to Beaufort to coal at these times. My informant
was an officer of the British Navy, and was the guest, for a few days
after his capture, of Captain Patterson then commanding the blockading
fleet off the Cape Fear. Speaking of the arduous service, P. remarked to
him, that he never undressed nor retired to bed, during the dark nights;
but could enjoy those luxuries when the moon was shining. On this hint I
acted.
It was about this time that I adopted an expedient which proved of great
service on several occasions. A blockade-runner did not often pass
through the fleet without receiving one or more shots, but these were
always preceded by the flash of a calcium light, or by a blue light; and
immediately followed by two rockets thrown in the direction of the
blockade-runner. The signals were probably concerted each day for the
ensuing night, as they appeared to be constantly changed; but the
rockets were invariably sent up. I ordered a lot of rockets from New
York. Whenever all hands were called to run through the fleet, an
officer was stationed alongside of me on the bridge with the rockets.
One or two minutes after our immediate pursuer had sent up his rockets I
would direct ours to be discharged at a right angle to our course. The
whole fleet would be misled, for even if the vessel which had discovered
us were not deceived, the rest of the fleet would be baffled.
While we were lying at anchor in the harbor of St. George's, during one
of our trips, I was notified by the Governor of the island, that an
officer of the Confederate Navy, then held as a prisoner on board one of
H. B. M.'s ships of war at the naval anchorage, would be delivered up to
me for transportation to the Confederacy, if I would assume the charge.
This officer was charged with the murder of a messmate on board the
Confederate States steamer Sumter, while lying at Gibraltar. The demand
for his extradition, made by the Confederate Government, had been
complied with by the British Government after much delay; and he was
turned over to me for transportation to the Confederacy. Although the
crime appeared to have been committed under circumstances of peculiar
atrocity--it being alleged that the victim was asleep at the time he was
shot--I so far respected the commission which the criminal bore, as to
place him upon parole. Upon reporting his arrival at Wilmington to the
Secretary of the Navy, the latter directed me to release him, upon the
ground that it would be impossible to convict him by court-martial, all
of the witnesses to the transaction being abroad. The man, Hester, was
therefore released, and was never heard of again, I believe, during the
war; but he has added to his evil reputation since its close, by plying
the infamous trade (under the guise of United States Secret Service
agent) of false informer and persecutor in several of the Southern
States. The General Government failed to exercise its usual careful
discrimination in making this appointment! The base renegades are many
degrees worse even than the unprincipled adventurers from the North who
have so long preyed upon the South. The latter are only thieves and
robbers; the former are, in addition, unnatural monsters, who hate their
own people and are guilty of the crime of Judas, who betrayed his Lord
for thirty pieces of silver.
CHAPTER X.
The Confederate States Steamer "Florida."--Short Supply of
Coal.--The "Florida's" Decks.--Tea and Costly China.--Narrow Escape
from Capture.--Miss Lucy G.--Arrival at Bermuda.--Our uneventful
Trip inward.--The Johnson's Island Expedition.--Another Narrow
Escape.--"Pretty Shooting."--Arrival at Halifax, N. S.
During the latter part of July, 1863, the "Lee" was lying in the harbor
of St. George's, when the Confederate States steamer "Florida" arrived
there in want of coal, of which there happened to be a very limited
supply on hand. The most suitable coal was procured with difficulty
throughout the war, all of the British coals, although excellent for
raising steam, making more or less smoke, and objectionable on that
account Exportation of the American anthracite, which would have been
almost invaluable, was prohibited by the Government. This is, I believe,
the only accessible, or at least available nonbituminous coal in the
world; but the best substitute for it is the Welsh semi-bituminous coal,
and this was chiefly used by the blockade-runners.
The Florida was in greater need of coal than ourselves, for the United
States steamer Wachusett came into port a day or two after the former,
and Maffitt, in command of the Florida, wished to get to sea first. When
belligerent rights were accorded to the Confederate Government by
foreign powers, the Confederate cruisers were admitted into their ports
upon equal terms with the United States men of war, except that there
was no interchange of _official_ courtesies. In order to preserve strict
neutrality toward the contending powers, a man of war under either flag
was not permitted to follow out of a neutral port a ship under the
enemy's colors within twenty-four hours of the sailing of the latter;
and it was an equal violation of neutrality for a ship of war under
either flag to cruise within a marine league of neutral territory.
When occasion required no one could be more resolute than Maffitt, as he
had repeatedly shown in the management of the Florida; and especially
when he ran the gauntlet in broad daylight through the whole Federal
fleet blockading Mobile, and for which affair Preble, then commanding
the fleet, was so harshly dealt with; but the chief object of the
Confederate cruisers being to destroy the American commerce, an
engagement with a United States ship of war was to be avoided, if
possible.
The Florida's deck, when the crew were at their meals, was a curious
scene; the plain fare of the sailors being served in costly china,
captured from homeward bound "Indiamen," and the scamps had become
fastidious in their taste about tea. I had the pleasure to carry into
Wilmington ten or twelve chests of the finest hyson, which were
distributed among the hospitals; and a lot of silver ingots made a
narrow escape from confiscation. But the law officers in Bermuda, whom
Maffitt consulted, assuring him that they would be adjudged legal prize
of war in the British courts, they were shipped to England, instead of
the Confederacy, and there returned to the claimants.
Although there was no exchange of civilities between the officers of the
two ships, the sailors harmonized amiably and got drunk together ashore
with mutual good will. A jack tar is probably the only representative
left of the old "free lance," who served under any flag where he was
sure of pay and booty. The blue jackets will fight under any colors,
where there is a fair prospect of adventure and prize money.
After the Florida had been coaled, there was scarcely a sufficient
supply left to carry the Lee into Wilmington under the most favorable
circumstances; but it was necessary either to sail at once, or to wait
two weeks for the next moon. Our chief engineer had noticed a large pile
of coal on one of the wharves rented by the Confederate agent; but the
heap had been so long exposed to the weather, and trampled upon for so
many months, that it appeared to be a mere pile of dirt. "Necessity
having no law," however, we shoveled off the surface; and were surprised
to find that it was of very fair quality. It made an abundance of steam,
indeed, but burned with great rapidity; and although we took on board an
extra supply, we were able to retain barely enough English coal in the
bunkers to use in running through the fleet on our next outward voyage.
The consequence was the narrowest escape from capture ever made by the
Lee while under my command.
We were ready to sail for Nassau on the 15th of August, 1863, and had on
board, as usual, several passengers. Indeed we rarely made a trip
either way without as many as could be accommodated, and many ladies
among them. My observation of the conduct of the fair sex, under trying
and novel circumstances, has convinced me that they face inevitable
dangers more bravely and with more composure than men. I have frequently
seen a frail, delicate woman standing erect and unflinching upon the
deck, as the shells were whistling and bursting over us, while her
lawful protector would be cowering "under the lee" of a cotton bale. I
pay this humble tribute of admiration to the sex, but a cynical old
bachelor, to whom I once made the observation, replied that in his
opinion their insatiable curiosity prevailed even over their natural
fears!
On our outward voyage we had among our passengers ex-Senator Gwin and
his daughter, and Dr. and Mrs. P. We passed safely through the
blockading fleet off the New Inlet Bar, receiving no damage from the few
shots fired at us, and gained an offing from the coast of thirty miles
by daylight. By this time our supply of English coal had been exhausted,
and we were obliged to commence upon North Carolina coal of very
inferior quality, and which smoked terribly. We commenced on this fuel
a little after daylight. Very soon afterwards the vigilant look-out at
the mast-head called out "Sail ho!" and in reply to the "where away"
from the deck, sang out "Right astern, sir, and in chase." The morning
was very clear. Going to the mast-head I could just discern the royal of
the chaser; and before I left there, say in half an hour, her
top-gallant sail showed above the horizon. By this time the sun had
risen in a cloudless sky. It was evident our pursuer would be alongside
of us by mid-day at the rate we were then going. The first orders given
were to throw overboard the deck-load of cotton and to make more steam.
The latter proved to be more easily given than executed; the chief
engineer reporting that it was impossible to make steam with the
wretched stuff filled with slate and dirt. A moderate breeze from the
north and east had been blowing ever since daylight and every stitch of
canvas on board the square-rigged steamer in our wake was drawing. We
were steering east by south, and it was clear that the chaser's
advantages could only be neutralized either by bringing the "Lee"
gradually head to wind or edging away to bring the wind aft. The former
course would be running toward the land, besides incurring the
additional risk of being intercepted and captured by some of the inshore
cruisers. I began to edge away therefore, and in two or three hours
enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing our pursuer clew up and furl his
sails. The breeze was still blowing as fresh as in the morning, but we
were now running directly away from it, and the cruiser was going
literally as fast as the wind, causing the sails to be rather a
hindrance than a help. But she was still gaining on us. A happy
inspiration occurred to me when the case seemed hopeless. Sending for
the chief engineer I said "Mr. S., let us try cotton, saturated with
spirits of turpentine." There were on board, as part of the deck load,
thirty or forty barrels of "spirits." In a very few moments, a bale of
cotton was ripped open, a barrel tapped, and buckets full of the
saturated material passed down into the fire-room. The result exceeded
our expectations. The chief engineer, an excitable little Frenchman from
Charleston, very soon made his appearance on the bridge, his eyes
sparkling with triumph, and reported a full head of steam. Curious to
see the effect upon our speed, I directed him to wait a moment until the
log was hove. I threw it myself, nine and a half knots. "Let her go now
sir!" I said. Five minutes afterwards, I hove the log again, _thirteen
and a quarter_. We now began to hold our own, and even to gain a little
upon the chaser; but she was fearfully near, and I began to have visions
of another residence at Fort Warren, as I saw the "big bone in the
mouth" of our pertinacious friend, for she was near enough to us at one
time for us to see distinctly the white curl of foam under her bows,
called by that name among seamen. I wonder if they could have screwed
another turn of speed out of her if they had known that the Lee had on
board, in addition to her cargo of cotton, a large amount of gold
shipped by the Confederate Government? There continued to be a very
slight change in our relative positions till about six o'clock in the
afternoon, when the chief engineer again made his appearance, with a
very ominous expression of countenance. He came to report that the burnt
cotton had choked the flues, and that the steam was running down. "Only
keep her going till dark, sir," I replied, "and we will give our pursuer
the slip yet." A heavy bank was lying along the horizon to the south and
east; and I saw a possible means of escape. At sunset the chaser was
about four miles astern and gaining upon us. Calling two of my most
reliable officers, I stationed one of them on each wheel-house, with
glasses, directing them to let me know the instant they lost sight of
the chaser in the growing darkness. At the same time, I ordered the
chief engineer to make as black a smoke as possible, and to be in
readiness to cut off the smoke, by closing the dampers instantly, when
ordered. The twilight was soon succeeded by darkness. Both of the
officers on the wheel house called out at the same moment, "We have lost
sight of her," while a dense volume of smoke was streaming far in our
wake. "Close the dampers," I called out through the speaking tube, and
at the same moment ordered the helm "hard a starboard." Our course was
altered eight points, at a right angle to the previous one. I remained
on deck an hour, and then retired to my state-room with a comfortable
sense of security. We had fired so hard that the very planks on the
bridge were almost scorching hot, and my feet were nearly blistered. I
put them out of the window to cool, after taking off slippers and socks.
While in this position, Miss Lucy G. came on the bridge in company with
her father. Tapping my foot with her hand, she said, "Ah, captain, I
see we are all safe, and I congratulate you!" At one time during the
chase, when capture seemed inevitable, the kegs containing the gold had
been brought on deck, and one of them opened by my orders, it being my
intention to distribute its contents among the officers and crew. Miss
Lucy, who preserved her presence of mind throughout the trying scenes of
the day, called me aside, and suggested that she should fill a purse for
me, and keep it about her person, until the prize crew had taken
possession, and all danger of personal search was over, when she would
make an opportunity to give it to me; and I have no doubt she would have
accomplished her intentions if occasion had required. The chaser proved
afterwards to be the "Iroquois." Feeling confident that she would
continue on the course toward Abaco, and perhaps have another and more
successful chase, I changed the destination of the Lee to Bermuda, where
we arrived safely two days afterward.
Upon the arrival of the Lee at Wilmington, after one more trip to
Nassau, I was summoned by telegraph to Richmond. An attempt was to be
made for the release of the prisoners at Johnson's Island. This island,
situated in the harbor of Sandusky, on Lake Erie, was supposed to be
easily accessible from Canada, and the Canadian shore; but it was left
to the judgment of the officer in command how the details were to be
arranged, his sole explicit instructions being not to violate the
neutrality of British territory. How this was to be avoided has ever
seemed impossible to me, but having been selected to command the
expedition, I resolved to disregard all personal consequences, and to
leave the responsibility to be borne by the Confederate Government. A
party of twenty-six officers of the different grades was detailed for
the service. The Lee, laden with a cargo of cotton, was to carry us to
Halifax, N. S.; the cotton to be consigned to a firm there, who were to
purchase, with a part of the proceeds, blankets, shoes, etc., for the
army; the balance to be retained for the benefit of the prisoners, if
released. My successor in command of the Lee took passage with us. We
sailed for Halifax on the night of October 10th, 1863. The season was so
far advanced, that we could not afford to lose even a day; we therefore
dropped down the Cape Fear River to Smithville as soon as the
preparations were completed, and although the night was very clear, I
determined to attempt the passage through the fleet soon after dark, so
as to get as far north along the coast as possible before daylight. We
crossed the western bar about nine o'clock at night, and instead of
"hugging" the shore, which would have carried us too far to the
southward and westward, the course was shaped so as to clear the Frying
Pan Shoals. We had been running at full speed for nearly an hour, when a
shot came whizzing a few feet over our bulwarks, and struck the water
just beyond us; it was followed immediately by another, which striking a
little short "ricocheted" over us; and then a third, which crashing
through the starboard bulwarks, burst in a cotton bale on the port side,
and set fire to it; several men being wounded by splinters and fragments
of the shells. The flames leaped high into the air, and there was a
momentary confusion on board, but the order to throw the burning bale
overboard was promptly executed, and for some time afterwards we could
see it blazing far astern. We never saw the cruiser which fired at us,
as she was inshore, and although several more shots were fired, each
succeeding one flew wider from the mark. We promptly sent up our two
rockets abeam, and experienced no further trouble, easily avoiding a
sloop of war cruising off the end of the Frying Pan Shoals. The fact is,
a blockade-runner was almost as invisible at night as Harlequin in the
pantomime. Nothing showed above the deck but the two short masts, and
the smoke-stack; and the lead colored hull could scarcely be seen at the
distance of one hundred yards. Even in a clear day, they were not easily
discovered. Upon one occasion, when bound to Wilmington, we had crossed
the Gulf Stream and struck soundings, when the look-out aloft reported a
cruiser in sight ahead, and lying "_a-hull_" with her broadside exposed
to us. It was evident, of course, that we were undiscovered so long as
she lay in this position, and we continued to steam towards her, until
we could plainly see her broadside guns. It was time for us to stop, but
we preserved the same distance, undiscovered, for at least two hours.
The engineer then reporting that the steam was running down, I directed
him to fire up cautiously. The second shovel-full had scarcely been
tossed into the furnace when a slight puff of smoke passed out of our
smoke-stack, and at the same instant, the cruiser ahead wore round, and
commenced a pursuit. There was clearly no want of vigilance on board of
her. But to return from this digression. By next morning we had got
beyond dangerous waters. Some amusement was occasioned at the breakfast
table by Johnny T., who had overheard the soliloquy of Colonel B. the
night before. The Colonel, who was a member of the expedition, had seen
service in the army of Northern Virginia. He was sitting upon the wheel
house when the first shot was fired, and calmly remarked (to no one in
particular,) "that is pretty firing," at the second "that is _very_
pretty firing," and when the third shell burst upon the deck, he jumped
upon his feet and exclaimed, with much emphasis, "if that isn't the
prettiest firing I ever saw, I wish I may be d----d!"
CHAPTER XI.
The Lee Captured at Last.--Sandy Keith alias Thomassen. Recruiting
in the British Provinces for the United States Army.--Failure of
the Expedition.--Return to Bermuda.
On our voyage to Halifax, we passed many vessels, and exciting no
suspicion, for at that period many of the captured blockade-runners were
afloat in the United States service. We showed American colors to those
which passed near us and once, in thick weather off New York, we passed
within hailing distance of a man of war bound South. We arrived at
Halifax the 16th of October. The cargo of cotton was consigned to the
firm of B. Wier & Co. with instructions to purchase shoes, etc., with a
part of the proceeds, and to hold the balance to my credit. There was
then no agent of the Confederate Government in Halifax, but I had taken
letters of introduction from a mercantile house in London to this firm
to be used in case of touching there on the way back from Glasgow the
year before. When I received my instructions from the Secretary of the
Navy before leaving Richmond, I wished to ascertain to whom the cargo
was to be consigned on our arrival at Halifax; and then learned from the
Secretary of State, to whom I was referred, that there was no accredited
agent of the government there. In this dilemma I sought counsel of my
good friend Mr. Seddon, Secretary of War, who advised me to act
according to my own judgment. I therefore directed the bills of lading,
invoices, etc., to be made out with B. Wier & Co. as consignees. In no
case, I believe, did the Confederate Government appear as the shipper or
consignor. Every cargo was supposed to be owned by private individuals;
and the blockade-runners were regularly entered and cleared at the
Confederate Custom House. Upon this occasion the Lee's papers were
closely scrutinized by the collector of the customs at Halifax, who did
me the honor of personal attention; but he could find no flaw in them,
and the vessel was regularly entered, with little more than the
customary delay.
The Lee had made her last voyage under the Confederate flag. Sailing for
Wilmington with a full cargo, she was captured off the coast of North
Carolina. The land had been made the night before under quite favorable
circumstances, but neither the captain, nor the pilot, being willing to
assume the responsibility of taking charge of the vessel, the Lee was
put to sea again, and by further culpable mismanagement, she fell an
easy prey next morning to one of the United States cruisers. She had run
the blockade twenty-one times while under my command, and had carried
abroad between six thousand and seven thousand bales of cotton, worth at
that time about two millions of dollars in gold, and had carried into
the Confederacy equally valuable cargoes. My staunch old helmsman, who
had been released in New York by claiming British protection, and who
started at once in search of me, met me in Halifax on our return from
the Johnson's Island expedition. He actually shed tears as he narrated
the train of circumstances which led to the capture. "She would have
gone in by herself," he said, "if they had only let her alone;" for
indeed it was evident to all on board the morning of her capture, that
she had been close in to the shore within a few miles of the New Inlet
Bar. She had not reached the bar, however, so that the pilot's course in
refusing to take charge was justifiable; but the fatal error was
committed by not making a good offing before daylight. At the time of
her capture, she was not more than twenty miles from the land, and in
the deep bay formed by the coast between Masonborough Inlet and the Cape
Lookout Shoals.
The arrival of so large a party of Confederates in Halifax attracted
attention, and it was essential to the successful execution of the
project, that all suspicion should be allayed. The party, therefore, was
divided into groups of three or four individuals, who were directed to
report, in person, at Montreal, each one being strictly enjoined to
secrecy and discretion; for although the precise object of the
expedition was only known to three of its members, Lieutenants R. Minor,
Ben. Loyall and myself, every one belonging to it was quite well aware
that it was hostile to the United States Government. They were a set of
gallant young fellows, with a single exception. Who he was and where he
came from, none of us knew; but he had been ordered by the Secretary of
the Navy to report to me for duty. We believed him to be a traitor and a
spy; and succeeded in ridding ourselves of him the day after our arrival
at Halifax, by advancing him a month's wages. No member of the
expedition ever saw him again.
The most officiously zealous friend and partisan whom we all
encountered in Halifax was Mr. "Sandy" Keith, who was facetiously called
the Confederate Consul. By dint of a brazen assurance, a most obliging
manner, and the lavish expenditure of money, "profusus sui alieni
appetens"--he ingratiated himself with nearly every southerner who
visited Halifax although he was a coarse, ill-bred vulgarian, of no
social standing in the community. It is true that a worthy member of the
same family had risen from obscurity to high honors, but Sandy was a
black sheep of the flock. He was employed at first by many of our people
to purchase for them on commission, and afterwards by the Confederate
Government. He profited by so good an opportunity for swindling,
eventually forging invoices of articles, and drawing bills of exchange
upon the Confederate Government, which were duly honored. This villainy
was perpetrated towards the end of the war, and at its close, Sandy
Keith absconded with his ill-gotten gains, a considerable proportion
consisting of money in his hands, belonging to private individuals.
Among his victims was Colonel S. of Baltimore, who determined to make an
effort to recover his money. His first step was a visit to Halifax. His
endeavors there to find Keith's whereabouts were for some time
fruitless. But at last a clue was found. A girl, who had accompanied
Keith in his flight, had written a letter to a relative in Halifax, and
Colonel S. by some means obtained a sight of the envelope. The
post-mark, plainly legible, indicated that the letter had been written
at an obscure little village in Missouri. S. hastened back to Baltimore,
and secured the coöperation of a detective, not for the purpose of
arresting Keith, because he doubted whether he could recover possession
of his property by the slippery and uncertain process of law, but for
the sake of the detective's strong arm and presence of mind in the event
of resistance. The reward to the detective being made contingent upon
the recovery of the money, the pair left Baltimore, and in due time
reached the village in the backwoods, where they learned that two
persons, as man and wife, were boarding at the house of a widow, a mile
or two distant. They waited until night, and then, arming themselves
with revolvers, started for the house of the widow. Knocking at the
door, it was opened to them, and as they passed in, Keith's voice was
heard, inquiring who had entered. Guided by the sound, they rushed to
the room occupied by him. He had retired for the night. His loaded
pistol was lying on a table near his bedside; but he had neglected to
lock the door of his chamber, and S. and the detective had secured his
arms and held him a prisoner before he was fairly awake. There was
little parleying between them, the detective merely assuring him that if
he did not come to terms speedily, his trunk would be broken open and
all of its contents seized. The whole affair was amicably settled in ten
minutes, by a check upon the bank in which Keith had deposited some of
his money, for the amount due to S., and the detective's reward. Keith
demurred a little to the latter demand, but finally yielded to moral
suasion; and next day S. presented the check, which was paid. Sandy
Keith was supposed by those who had known him, to have been lost among
the common herd of low swindlers and rogues, for none of them would have
given him credit for enterprise or sagacity. He emerged, however, from
obscurity, to perpetrate the most horrible and devilishly ingenious
crime of the century; for it was he who under the name of Thomassen blew
up the "City of Bremen" with his infernal machine. Those who have read
the account of that dreadful tragedy will remember that the explosion
was precipitated by the fall of the box containing dynamite from a cart,
or wheelbarrow, conveying it to the steamer. The hammer was set, by
clockwork apparatus, to explode the dynamite after the departure of the
steamer from England and when near mid-ocean, and Keith, confiding in
the efficacy of the arrangement, was actually about to take passage in
the steamer from Bremerhaven as far as England. Many persons believe
that the "City of Boston" was destroyed some years ago by this incarnate
fiend, and by the same means. That calamity carried mourning into many
households in Keith's native city, for a large number of its most
respectable citizens were on board. It will be remembered that she was
supposed at the time to have foundered at sea in a gale of wind.
I had been furnished, before leaving Richmond, with letters to parties
in Canada, who, it was believed, could give valuable aid to the
expedition. To expedite matters, a trustworthy agent, a canny Scotchman,
who had long served under my command, was dispatched to Montreal, via
Portland, to notify these parties that we were on our way there. Our
emissary, taking passage in a steamer bound to Portland, passed safely
through United States territory, while the rest of us commenced our long
and devious route through the British Provinces. Wherever we travelled,
even through the remotest settlements, recruiting agents for the United
States army were at work, scarcely affecting to disguise their
occupation; and the walls of the obscurest country taverns bristled with
advertisements like the following: "Wanted for a tannery in Maine one
thousand tanners to whom a large bonus will be paid, etc." Many could
not resist such allurements, but it was from this class and similar
ones, no doubt, that the "bounty jumpers" sprang. It has been asserted,
by those who were in a position to form a correct estimate, that the
British Provinces, alone, contributed one hundred thousand men to the
Federal army. It is scarcely an exaggeration to add, that the population
of the civilized world was subsidized.
We were seven days in making the journey to Montreal, where my faithful
agent met me by appointment, and carried me to the residence of Captain
M., a zealous and self-sacrificing friend to the cause, and to whom I
had been accredited. He looked steadily at me for a moment after our
introduction, and then said "I have met you once before." He recalled
to my memory the fact, that while I commanded the battery at Acquia
Creek in the early part of the war, he had brought a schooner loaded
with arms, etc., up the Potomac, and succeeded in placing her under the
protection of our batteries; having profited by a cold, dark, and
inclement night, to evade the vigilance of the gunboats. Subsequently he
and his family were compelled to leave Baltimore, and were now refugees
in Canada. Colonel K., also a refugee and an inmate of Captain M.'s
house, and to whom, likewise, I carried letters, enlisted
enthusiastically in the expedition, and devoted his whole time and
energies to its success. We might, indeed, have obtained a large number
of recruits from among refugees and escaped prisoners in Canada, but it
was not considered prudent to increase the size of the party to any
extent, our number being quite sufficient, under the plan as devised.
But we picked up two or three escaped prisoners from Johnson's Island;
among them an individual who was well known to Colonel Finney (a member
of the expedition); having been in the Colonel's employment on the
plains previous to the war. The Colonel was the right hand of Major
Ficklin in organizing and putting into operation the "pony express,"
which used to traverse the continent from St. Louis to San Francisco,
and our recruit, Thompson, was one of his trusted subordinates. This man
had led a very adventurous life. He informed us that after making his
escape from Johnson's Island on the ice one dark winter night, he walked
into Sandusky, and there laid in wait at the entrance of a dark alley
for a victim with whom to exchange clothing. His patience being rewarded
after a while, he laid violent hands upon his prize, and directed him to
divest himself of his suit. The stranger replied, that he would not only
supply him with clothing, but with money to make his way into Canada;
adding that he had a son in the Confederate army. He gave Thompson the
contents of his purse, and requesting him to wait till he could go home,
soon returned with a full suit of clothes.
We had reliable information to the effect that the garrison at Johnson's
Island was small, and that the United States sloop of war Michigan was
anchored off the island as an additional guard. If the sloop of war
could be carried by boarding, and her guns turned upon the garrison, the
rest would be easy of accomplishment; and there appeared to be no
obstacle to the seizure of as many vessels in Sandusky harbor, as might
be required for purposes of transportation. They were to be towed over
to the Canada shore, about twenty-five miles distant. There were several
difficulties to be overcome; the chief one being how to notify the
prisoners of the attempt about to be made. This was accomplished after
several visits to Baltimore and Washington, by the brave and devoted
Mrs. M. and her daughter; and finally the wife of General ---- obtained
permission from the authorities at Washington, to visit her husband,
then a prisoner on Johnson's Island. Although the interview between them
was brief, and in the presence of witnesses, she contrived to place in
his hand a slip of paper, which informed him that our progress would
appear in the New York Herald's "Personals" over certain initials, and
so disguised as to be intelligible only to those who were initiated.
Next, it was important to know the exact condition of affairs in
Sandusky, up to the time of our departure from Canada; and this was
effected through the agency of a gallant gentleman, a retired British
army officer, who went over to Sandusky upon the pretext of duck
shooting, and who by a pre-arranged vocabulary, conveyed daily
intelligence to us up to the time of our departure from Montreal.
Everything progressed favorably, until we began to make final
preparations for departure. Colonel K., who knew personally the manager
of an English line of steamers upon the lakes, and confided in the
integrity of the man, recommended him as most competent to give valuable
information; and to him, under the seal of confidence, I applied. The
only interview between us, (and in the presence of Colonel K.) was
brief, and the object of the expedition was not divulged to him; nor was
it intimated to him that any hostile act was contemplated; but he
probably drew the inference. His replies to my questions were so
unsatisfactory that I never saw him again, having recourse to other
sources of information.
It was arranged that our party should take passage on board one of the
American lake steamers at a little port on the Welland Canal. We were
disguised as immigrants to the west; our arms being shipped as mining
tools; and when clear of the canal, we were to rise upon the crew, and
make our way to Sandusky. As the Michigan was anchored close to the main
channel of the harbor, and we had provided ourselves with grapnels, it
was believed that she could be carried by surprise. We had sent off our
last "Personal" to the New York Herald, informing our friends at
Johnson's Island "that the carriage would be at the door on or about the
tenth;" our party had collected at the little port on the canal waiting
for the steamer then nearly due, when a proclamation was issued by the
Governor General, which fell among us like a thunderbolt. It was
announced in this proclamation, that it had come to the knowledge of the
Government that a hostile expedition was about to embark from the Canada
shores, and the infliction of divers pains and penalties was threatened
against all concerned in the violation of the neutrality laws. What was
even more fatal to our hopes, we learned that His Excellency had
notified the United States Government of our contemplated expedition.
Our good friend sojourning at Sandusky abandoned his duck shooting in
haste, (for the news sped across the frontier,) bringing intelligence
that the garrison at Johnson's Island had been increased, and such other
measures adopted as to render our success impossible. I called a council
of the senior officers, who unanimously recommended that the attempt be
abandoned; and so ended all our hopes. We learned, from what was
believed by some to be a reliable source, that the informant against us
was the manager, alluded to above, who betrayed us at the last moment.
There was a possibility of a successful issue to this enterprise, but
not a probability. The American Consul at Halifax possessed intelligence
and zeal; and he could easily have traced our course, by means of a
detective, up to the very point of our departure on the Welland Canal.
It is quite probable, indeed, that we were closely watched through the
whole route, for immediately after the proclamation was issued, two or
three detectives, no longer affecting disguise, dogged my footsteps for
several days, with the intention I suspected of carrying me "vi et
armis" across the frontier. But they were, in turn, subjected to as
close an espionage by several members of the expedition, who were
prepared for any emergency. "The engineer would have been hoisted with
his own petard" probably, if they had attempted the arrest. That
dare-devil Thompson, in fact, proposed one night that I should take a
walk alone along the canal, and see what would come of it, but I
declined the invitation.
One plan of releasing the Johnson's Island prisoners was to purchase a
steamer in England, through the agency of Captain Bullock, load her
with a cargo, and clear from the Custom House "for a market" on the
lakes.--The chief obstacle to this plan would have been the passage,
unsuspected, through the Welland Canal, but it was believed that, by
proper discretion and management, this might have been accomplished, and
the rest would have been easy; for all that was expected of any
expedition was to carry the Michigan by surprise; the prisoners upon the
island coöperating by attacking and overpowering the garrison.
As there was no farther necessity for keeping our movements secret, the
whole party started together on the return to Halifax. We followed the
route from "Riviere du Loup" overland by stage, or rather in sleighs,
for the ground was already covered with snow, and the steamers had
stopped running for the season, upon the beautiful picturesque St.
John's River; and our way lay through a cheerless and sparsely populated
country for nearly the whole distance. We were able too, without
indiscretion, to accept the hospitalities of our friends in Halifax,
during our brief stay there. But duty called us back to the Confederacy,
and passage was engaged for the whole party by the first steamer (the
Alpha,) to sail for Bermuda.
CHAPTER XII.
Take Command of the "Whisper."--High Rates of Freight.--Confederate
Money and Sterling Exchange.--An Investment in Cotton.--The
Ill-fated Ironclad.--The Point Lookout Expedition and its
Failure.--A Faithful Servant and a Narrow Escape.--Futile
Projects.--Wilmington during the War.--Light Houses
reëstablished.--Gloomy Prospects of the South.
Arriving there, after a five or six day's voyage, we found many
blockade-runners at anchor in St. George's harbor; and application was
made to me to take command of one of them, called the "Whisper," just
out from England. She was a fair specimen of her class. Built expressly
for speed and light draft, her frame was very slight, but she was a
capital sea boat, and made several successful trips. There was a
striking contrast, however, between her and the solidly built,
magnificent "Lee." After all arrangements had been completed for the
transportation to the Confederacy of our party, I assumed command of the
little "Whisper," with six or eight of the party as passengers. I
remember my astonishment at learning the rates for freight at this
period. The "Whisper" was loaded and ready for sea, and I was dining
with Mr. Campbell, the agent of the company, when a person asked to see
him upon pressing business. The purpose of the visitor was, to ship by
the Whisper a small lot of medicines. As the vessel was already heavily
laden, Mr. Campbell referred him to me, and I consented to take the box
in the cabin. The freight upon it was £500 sterling![9]
Six blockade-runners, including the Whisper, sailed for Wilmington
within twenty-four hours of each other. The voyage across was stormy,
and the sky so overcast as to compel us to run by dead-reckoning, until
we had crossed the Gulf Stream, early on the third day. We had been
steaming against a strong gale the whole time. These cold north-westers
brought disaster upon many blockade-runners; for blowing over the tepid
water of the Gulf Stream, clouds of vapor would rise like steam, and be
condensed by the cold wind into a fog so dense as to obscure every
object. At such times, the skill and perseverance of the navigator would
be taxed to the utmost. A glimpse of the sun, moon, or north star,
caught through the sextant wet with spray, and brought down to a most
uncertain horizon, would furnish the only means of guidance, where an
error of a few miles in the calculation would probably prove fatal. Upon
reaching soundings on the western edge of the "stream," about eleven
o'clock in the forenoon, we succeeded in catching a glimpse of the sun,
and thus ascertaining our position. The sea was still running very high,
but the weather had moderated considerably, and we found ourselves not
more than forty miles south-east of the western bar. The Whisper had
fared badly, while running in the teeth of the gale; all of our boats,
except one, had been swept from the davits, and the wheel houses had
been stove in. As there was no further necessity to strain the hull and
engines, the little craft was brought near the wind under low steam, and
close-reefed mainsail; riding the long rolling seas like a sea-gull. To
windward the sky-soon became clear, but we took care not to get far
away from the dense fog to leeward of us. We did not see a cruiser,
while we lay for many hours anxiously waiting for night. As the sun set,
the order was given to go at full speed, and before midnight we had
passed safely through the blockading fleet, and had come to anchor off
Smithville. Out of the six steamers which sailed from St. George's, the
Whisper alone succeeded in getting in. Most of them were run ashore, and
their cargoes partially saved; but some fell, intact, into the hands of
the vigilant cruisers.
After a few weeks' service on board the ill-fated ironclad, built in
Wilmington, I was summoned by telegram to Richmond. The Confederate
authorities were then projecting an attempt to release the Point Lookout
prisoners. There appeared to be no insuperable obstacle in the way; and
it was believed that the prisoners, if released, and furnished with
arms, would be able to join the forces under the command of General
Early, then in the vicinity. Two steamers of light draft were to be
loaded with arms, etc., and were to carry, in addition to their crews,
an infantry force under the command of General Custis Lee. In the event
of success, the steamers were to be burned.
On my way to Richmond, my life was saved by the presence of mind of my
faithful servant (Essex,) who accompanied me on a visit to his home in
Virginia. General Wilson had just made a very destructive raid along the
line of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, striking the road at
Burkeville, and effectually damaging it as far as Meherrin Bridge, a
distance of thirty miles or more, where his progress was stopped. He did
not return within General Grant's lines without heavy loss; and when I
arrived at Ream's Station, on the Petersburg and Weldon road, I found
there a strong force of Confederate cavalry, under General Chambliss,
waiting to intercept the retreat. As I was bearer of dispatches from
General Whiting to General Lee, a hand car, with two men to work it, was
detailed for me, and with my servant on board we started to run the
gauntlet between the lines. The distance to be accomplished was about
seven miles, and we had passed over more than half of it, when one of
our "videttes" suddenly made his appearance, and we halted to inquire
about the state of affairs ahead. His report was satisfactory, and we
started again, but had only gone a short distance when we saw a squad of
cavalry, which we supposed to be part of General Wilson's force,
charging rapidly after us. The highway lay close alongside the railroad,
and our pursuers were enveloped in a cloud of dust. The car was stopped,
or rather the men who were working the crank incontinently took to their
heels, and we followed their example. There was a fence a few rods from
the road, which I succeeded in reaching, and over which I jumped, just
before our pursuers overtook us. As they forced their horses over it, I
discovered my friend, the "vidette" among them, who cried out as he saw
me "_That_ is General Wilson, kill him?" and I have not the least doubt
his advice would have been followed, but for Essex, who cried out from a
snug corner, where he was ensconced, "For God's sake, don't shoot! He is
one of your best friends!" They lowered their pistols, and I had an
opportunity to explain matters. My gold watch and chain had probably
excited the cupidity of my friend above mentioned. I admit that I felt
uncharitable towards him, and when I hinted my suspicions of his motives
to the officer in command of the squad, he did not deny the probability
of a cause for them, but seemed to consider me unreasonable in expecting
to find _all_ the virtues in a "high private," who was receiving scanty
fare, and $8 a month in Confederate money! The party escorted us within
the lines.
After all the details of the expedition had been arranged in Richmond,
the naval portion of it was ordered to Wilmington under my command. On
our journey, we followed the route previously pursued by the raiders
from Burkeville to Meherrin Bridge. Nearly every foot of the way was
marked by evidences of the havoc of war; and the air was tainted with
the stench from the dead horses and mules, whose throats had been cut
when they could travel no farther.
There were sufficient reasons why I took no subsequent part in the
expedition, the naval portion of it being placed under the command of
Captain J. T. Wood, of the Confederate States Navy and also one of the
President's aids. It failed, however, owing to the fact that secretly as
all the preparations had been made, information of it was speedily
conveyed to the authorities at Washington, and prompt measures taken to
prevent its success. The steamers had dropped down the Cape Fear River,
and were on the very point of putting to sea when countermanding orders
were telegraphed from Richmond; for the Confederate Government, through
their secret sources of information, had been promptly notified of the
fact that the plot had been betrayed to the United States authorities.
How the Federal Government obtained its intelligence will, perhaps,
forever remain a mystery to the public; but there was a very general
belief in the Confederacy, that an individual near the President was a
paid traitor to the cause.
These futile projects for the release of prisoners, serve to show the
desperate straits to which the Confederacy was reduced, for want of
soldiers.
It was deemed expedient, at this period, to reëstablish the light on
Smith's Island, which had been discontinued ever since the commencement
of hostilities; and to erect a structure for a light on the Mound. At
the beginning of the war, nearly all of the lights along the Southern
coast had been discontinued; the apparatus being removed to places of
safety.
Under special instructions, I was charged with the duties of relighting
the approaches to the Cape Fear River, and of detailing pilots, and
signal officers to the blockade-runners. To provide the means of light,
every blockade-runner was required to bring in a barrel of sperm oil.
In addition to these aids to navigation, the signal stations were
extended farther along the coast, and compulsory service was required of
the pilots. Owing to the constantly increasing vigilance of the
blockading fleet, and the accession to the navy of fast cruisers, many
prizes had been captured of late. Their pilots were, of course, held as
prisoners of war; and the demand for those available for service,
increasing in proportion to their diminished number, there was much
competition between the rival companies, to the great detriment of the
public service.[10] It was considered necessary, therefore, to establish
an office of "Orders and Detail" at Wilmington, whence should proceed
all orders and assignments in relation to pilots and signal officers. In
a short time, the benefit of these arrangements was very perceptible.
The blockade-runners were never delayed for want of a pilot, and the
casualties were much diminished.
The staid old town of Wilmington was turned "topsy turvy" during the
war. Here resorted the speculators from all parts of the South, to
attend the weekly auctions of imported cargoes; and the town was
infested with rogues and desperadoes, who made a livelihood by robbery
and murder. It was unsafe to venture into the suburbs at night, and even
in daylight, there were frequent conflicts in the public streets,
between the crews of the steamers in port and the soldiers stationed in
the town, in which knives and pistols would be freely used; and not
unfrequently a dead body would rise to the surface of the water in one
of the docks with marks of violence upon it. The civil authorities were
powerless to prevent crime. "Inter arma silent leges!" The agents and
employès of the different blockade-running companies, lived in
magnificent style, paying a king's ransom (in Confederate money) for
their household expenses, and nearly monopolizing the supplies in the
country market. Towards the end of the war, indeed, fresh provisions
were almost beyond the reach of every one. Our family servant, newly
arrived from the country in Virginia, would sometimes return from
market with an empty basket, having flatly refused to pay what he called
"such nonsense prices" for a bit of fresh beef, or a handful of
vegetables. A quarter of lamb, at the time of which I now write, sold
for $100, a pound of tea for $500. Confederate money which in September,
1861, was nearly equal to specie in value, had declined in September
1862 to 225; in the same month, in 1863, to 400, and before September,
1864, to 2000!
Many of the permanent residents of the town had gone into the country,
letting their houses at enormous prices; those who were compelled to
remain kept themselves much secluded; the ladies rarely being seen upon
the more public streets. Many of the fast young officers belonging to
the army would get an occasional leave to come to Wilmington; and would
live at free quarters on board the blockade-runners, or at one of the
numerous bachelor halls ashore.
The convalescent soldiers from the Virginia hospitals were sent by the
route through Wilmington to their homes in the South. The ladies of the
town were organized by Mrs. De R. into a society for the purpose of
ministering to the wants of these poor sufferers; the trains which
carried them stopping an hour or two at the depot, that their wounds
might be dressed, and food and medicine supplied to them. These
self-sacrificing, heroic women patiently and faithfully performed the
offices of hospital nurses.
"O! there are angels in this world unheeded,
Who, when their earthly labor is laid down,
Will soar aloft, with pinions unimpeded,
And wear their starry glory like a crown!"
Liberal contributions were made by companies and individuals to this
society, and the long tables at the depot were spread with delicacies
for the sick, to be found nowhere else in the Confederacy. The remains
of the meals were carried by the ladies to a camp of mere
boys--homeguards outside of the town. Some of these children were
scarcely able to carry a musket, and were altogether unable to endure
the exposure and fatigues of field service; and they suffered fearfully
from measles, and typhoid fever. General Grant used a strong figure of
speech, when he asserted, that "the cradle and the grave were robbed, to
recruit the Confederate armies." The fact of a fearful drain upon the
population was scarcely exaggerated, but with this difference in the
metaphor, that those who were verging upon both the cradle and the
grave, shared the hardships and dangers of war, with equal self-devotion
to the cause. It is true that a class of heartless speculators infested
the country, who profited by the scarcity of all sorts of supplies, but
it makes the self-sacrifice of the mass of the Southern people more
conspicuous, and no State made more liberal voluntary contributions to
the armies, or furnished better soldiers, than North Carolina.
When General A. P. Hill asked for the promotion of some of his officers
in June, 1863, the President laid down the rule of selection for the
guidance of the Secretary of War, viz: "the State which had the greatest
number of regiments should be entitled to the choice of positions; to be
taken from the candidates of its citizens, according to qualifications,"
etc. It appeared that North Carolina stood first on the list, Virginia
second, Georgia third, etc.
On the opposite side of the river from Wilmington, on a low marshy flat,
were erected the steam cotton presses, and there the blockade-runners
took in their cargoes. Sentries were posted on the wharves, day and
night, to prevent deserters from getting on board, and stowing
themselves away; and the additional precaution of fumigating the outward
bound steamers at Smithville, was adopted; but in spite of this
vigilance, many persons succeeded in getting a free passage abroad.
These deserters, or "stowaways," were in most instances sheltered by one
or more of the crew; in which event they kept their places of
concealment until the steamer had arrived at her port of destination,
when they would profit by the first opportunity to leave the vessel
undiscovered. A small bribe would tempt the average blockade-running
sailor to connive at this means of escape. The "impecunious" deserter
fared more hardly; and would, usually, be forced by hunger and thirst to
emerge from his hiding place, while the steamer was on the outward
voyage. A cruel device, employed by one of the captains, effectually put
a stop, I believe, certainly a check to the escape of this class of
"stowaways." He turned three or four of them adrift in the Gulf Stream,
in an open boat, with a pair of oars, and a few days' allowance of bread
and water.
The ironclad, to which I had been attached for a short time, made her
first and last essay while I was on special duty at Wilmington. Having
crossed New Inlet Bar early one morning, she steamed at her best speed
towards the blockading-fleet, which kept beyond the range of her guns
with much ease. After "raising the blockade" for an hour or two, she
steamed back across the bar, grounded upon the "rip," broke her back,
and doubtless remains there to this day, buried fathoms deep in the
quicksands.
The prospects of the South were growing more and more gloomy with each
succeeding day; and the last hopes of the country now rested upon that
gallant army of Northern Virginia, which, under its great captain, still
confronted General Grant's forces around Petersburg. It is easy now by
the light of subsequent events to censure Mr. Davis for the removal of
General Johnston from the command of the army in Georgia; but who does
not remember how, previous to that unfortunate measure, the whole
Southern press, almost without an exception, were urging it? It may be
that the President was not indisposed to gratify his inclination, and at
the same time appease the public. I do not presume to express an opinion
on this point; being no partisan of either, but a sincere admirer of
both these distinguished individuals, and crediting both with strict
veracity and unselfish honesty of purpose. But the fact remains that the
press teemed with articles denouncing General Johnston's retrograde
movements. A spurious telegram, concocted by some facetious editor, to
the effect that General Johnston had ordered means of transportation for
his army to Nassau, was circulated through all the newspapers for the
public amusement. But the old army officers were shocked at the
intelligence of his removal from command. When the fact was officially
announced, all of them, whom I had an opportunity of hearing speak upon
the subject, expressed the gravest fears of the consequences; General
Whiting, especially, declaring his conviction that it was a fatal
measure; and it is certain that General Johnston's army was
enthusiastically devoted to him; officers and men, with few exceptions,
reposing unbounded confidence in him.
Concurrent testimony has since conclusively proven how grave a mistake
was committed. General Hooker, who served in that campaign under General
Sherman, writes "This retreat was so masterly, that I regard it as a
useful lesson for study for all persons who may hereafter elect for
their calling the profession of arms." "The news that General Johnston
had been removed from the command of the army opposed to us, was
received by our officers with universal rejoicing." "One of the
prominent historians of the Confederacy ascribes the misfortunes of the
'Lost Cause' to the relief of General Johnston. I do not think this, but
it certainly contributed materially to hasten its collapse." Indeed the
Confederate Government seems subsequently to have admitted its mistake,
and the injustice inflicted upon General Johnston, by reinstating him in
the command of the "army of the South," and with orders "to concentrate
all available forces, and drive back Sherman." This, however, was not
till February, 1865, when the "available forces" amounted to about
16,000 men, and General Sherman's army of 70,000, had reached the State
of North Carolina unopposed. When General Johnston turned over the
command to General Hood, the army consisted of 36,900 infantry 3,750
artillery, and 9,970 cavalry, a total of 50,620 well equipped troops.
"In returning from its disastrous expedition against Nashville, the army
of Tennessee had halted in north-eastern Mississippi. A large
proportion of these troops were then furloughed by General Hood, and
went to their homes. When General Sherman's army invaded South Carolina,
General Beauregard ordered those remaining on duty to repair to that
State * * * The remaining troops of that army were coming through
Georgia in little parties * * * at least two-thirds of the arms of these
troops had been lost in Tennessee."[11] In General Johnston's Narrative,
page 351, he says "The troops themselves, who had been seventy-four days
in the immediate presence of the enemy, laboring and fighting daily;
enduring trial and encountering dangers with equal cheerfulness; more
confident and high-spirited even than when the Federal army presented
itself before them at Dalton; and though I say it, full of devotion to
him who had commanded them, and belief of ultimate success in the
campaign, were then inferior to none who ever served the Confederacy, or
fought on the Continent," and on page 356: "I believed then, as firmly
as I do now, that the system pursued was the only one at my command,
that promised success, and that, if adhered to, would have given us
success." Many among those most competent to judge entertained the same
conviction. His removal from the command was, indeed, a mortal blow to
the cause.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] Mr. Campbell had given me a bill of exchange for just this amount to
take command of the steamer during the inward trip. As the Whisper
belonged to a private company, I accepted the bonus without scruple.
What became of it, and the value of Confederate currency at that time
may be seen by the following--
"Invoice of 123 bales cotton purchased and stored at Columbus, Georgia,
for account of
Captain John Wilkinson.
Feb. 27, 1864. By W. W. Garrard.
2 Bales weighing 1,085 lbs.
4 " " 2,219
5 " " 3,241
5 " " 2,655
107 " " 52,833
------
62,033 at 72-5/8 $45,051 46
CHARGES.
State tax on investment, $225 26
Commission for purchasing. 2252 57
C. S. war tax 337 89
2815 72
-------
E. & O. E. $47,867 18
Signed, POWER, LOW & CO.
Wilmington, March 2, 1864.
Captain J. Wilkinson
In acc. with POWER, LOW & CO.
March 2, 1864. To Invoice 123 bales cotton
at Columbus, Georgia, 47,867 18
Cr.
Feb. 17. By proceeds W. L. Campbell's
Exchange on London £500 at 2100 46,666 66
---------
Wilmington, Balance due us, $1,200 52
March 2, 1864. Signed, POWER, LOW & CO.
"The cotton was destroyed at the very close of the war by a party of
raiders commanded, I believe, by General Wilson. If he were the same
individual for whom I was once mistaken (as will be seen in the sequel)
he served me two very ill turns."
[10] One or two agents of the blockade-running companies were opposed to
any project for increasing the facilities of entrance to or exit from
Wilmington. The profits were of course proportionate to the risks, and
these heartless worshipers of Mammon, having secured the services of the
best captains and pilots, would have rejoiced to see every
blockade-runner, but their own, captured. They protested vehemently, but
unavailingly, against interference with their pilots.
[11] General Johnston's Narrative page 374. It appears from the same
distinguished authority that of all that gallant array not more than
5,000 were ever reassembled; and a large portion of these continued
without arms to the end of the war.
CHAPTER XIII.
Cruise of the Chickamauga.--Mr. Mallory's inefficiency.--Troubles
in Bermuda.--The three Weeks.--End of the Cruise.
In the latter part of September, 1864, I was ordered to the command of
the "Chickamauga," a double screw steamer converted into a so-called man
of war. She was one of those vessels before alluded to in this
narrative, as partly owned by the Confederate Government, and was taken
possession of by the government authorities with scant regard for the
rights of the other owners, who had no alternative but to accept
inadequate compensation for their share of the vessel. Her battery
consisted of a twelve-pounder rifled gun forward, a sixty-four pounder
amidships, and a thirty-two pounder rifle aft, all on pivots. She was
more substantially built than most of the blockade-runners, and was very
swift, but altogether unfit for a cruiser, as she could only keep the
sea while her supply of coal lasted. She was schooner rigged, with very
short masts, and her sails were chiefly serviceable to steady her in a
sea-way. Under all sail and _off_ the wind, without steam, she could not
make more than three knots with a stiff breeze; _by_ the wind under the
same circumstances, she had not even steerage way. Captain J. T. Wood,
of the Confederate Navy, had just returned from a "raid" along the
Northern coast, and the incompetent Secretary of the Navy conceived, no
doubt, that he had hit upon a happy idea when it occurred to his muddled
brain, to send these vessels out to harass the coasting trade and
fisheries of the North.[12] As a mere question of policy, it would have
been far better to have kept them employed carrying out cotton and
bringing in the supplies of which the army was so sorely in need. The
attack upon Fort Fisher was probably precipitated by these expeditions,
which could in no wise affect the real issues of the war. But Mr.
Mallory was from first to last an incubus upon the country. I do not
impugn his patriotism, nor his private character, but his official
imbecility, which wrought much damage to the cause, is a legitimate
object for censure.
At this period Atlanta had been captured, and a large portion of Georgia
was practically severed from the Confederacy. It was becoming more and
more difficult to provision the troops. The Subsistence Department of
the Confederate Government has been often censured for its alleged
mismanagement. I have personal knowledge of an instance where it
resented the interference of a subordinate. Major Magruder, General
Whiting's chief Commissary, had effected what he believed to be a
mutually beneficial arrangement with the farmers of western North
Carolina. He was to furnish salt and transportation, (the former a very
rare and costly commodity at that time, and the latter difficult to be
obtained); and in return, they were to supply his department with the
cured bacon. The arrangement, when reported to the Department at
Richmond, was cancelled, and the Major, a very zealous and competent
officer, was ordered elsewhere. Surely there must have been grave
mismanagement somewhere; for, several months after the period of which I
now write, and when the army of Northern Virginia was almost reduced to
starvation in February, 1865, there were stored "in the principal
railroad depots between Charlotte, Danville and Weldon inclusive,
rations for 60,000 men for more than four months," and these provisions
were for the exclusive use of the army in Virginia. The fact was
ascertained by taking account of those stores, which was done by order
of General Johnston, "and the very zealous and efficient officer, Major
Charles Carrington, who was at the head of the service of collecting
provisions in North Carolina for the army, was increasing the quantity
rapidly." "The officers of the commissariat in North Carolina, upon whom
the army in Virginia depended for subsistence, were instructed by the
Commissary General just then, to permit none of the provisions they
collected to be used by the troops serving in it."[13]
We sailed in the Chickamauga on the night of October 29th, with a motley
crew, and passed through the blockading fleet without receiving any
damage from numerous shots. We had a fine view of several of our
pursuers for a few moments, as they burned their signal blue light; and
had not crossed the bar two hours before the commanding officer of the
fleet received information of the fact. Our rockets had diverted the
pursuit to the misfortune of the blockade-runner "Lady Stirling," which
was captured; and from some of her crew, as we subsequently learned, the
fact of our departure was ascertained. If we could have foreseen such an
event, we might have tried the range of our after pivot gun with very
good effect upon the blockader following in our wake; but although our
crew was at quarters, and we were prepared to fight our way to sea, we
wished to avoid an encounter by which nothing was to be gained; our
chief object being to injure the enemy's commerce. Nearly all of the
officers of the Chickamauga had resigned from the United States Navy,
and I have no doubt they contrasted (as I could not help doing) next
morning, our spar deck encumbered with coal bags, and begrimed with
dirt, and the ragged tatterdemalions leaning over the bulwarks, or
stretched along the decks in the agonies of sea-sickness, with the
cleanliness, order and discipline, to which we had been accustomed under
the "Stars and Stripes." The condition below decks was even worse; the
crew sleeping upon the coal which was stowed in the hold; and the
officers upon the softest plank they could find in the contracted cabin.
In addition to a complement of officers for a frigate, the Secretary of
the Navy had ordered _six_ pilots to the vessel. As three of them held
their "branches" for the approaches to Norfolk, Mr. Mallory must have
expected to hear that we had passed under the guns of Fortress Monroe,
laid Norfolk under contribution, and captured the Gosport Navy-yard.
The scene upon our decks, when the sun rose the morning after our
passage through the fleet, was demoralizing; and I am sure some of us
felt as if we were indeed "pirates," although we were bound to deny the
"soft impeachment," when brought against us by the Northern press. The
exertions of the executive officer, Dozier, seconded by his zealous
subordinates, brought some degree of order out of this "chaotic" mass
after a while.
Our first prize was the "Mark L. Potter," from Bangor for Key West, with
a cargo of lumber. As there was no alternative but to destroy her, the
officers and crew were transferred to the Chickamauga, and she was set
on fire. This capture was made on Sunday the 30th. The next morning at
7.30 A. M., when about one hundred and fifty miles off the Capes of
Delaware, we sighted a square-rigged vessel, which changed her course in
the effort to escape, as soon as she discovered that we were steering
for her. At 9.30 we overhauled her and brought her to. It proved to be
the barque "Emma L. Hall," loaded with a cargo of sugar and molasses.
She was set on fire at 11.15 A. M. Hasty work was made of this prize, as
a full rigged ship hove in sight while we were transferring the crew,
and such stores as we needed, from the Emma L. Hall. The stranger bore
north by west when discovered, and was standing almost directly toward
us, with studding-sails and royals set to the favorable breeze, a cloud
of snowy canvas from her graceful hull to the trucks of her tapering
royalmasts. She approached within five or six miles, when her
studding-sails were suddenly hauled down, and she was brought close to
the wind in an effort to escape from us. We soon overhauled her, and at
1.15 were near enough to throw a shot across her bow, and to show the
Confederate flag at our peak. The summons was replied to by their
hoisting the Stars and Stripes, and heaving to. Our prize was the
clipper ship "Shooting Star," bound from New York to Panama, with a
cargo of coal for the U. S. Pacific squadron. While we were making
preparations for burning her, another square rigged vessel hove in
sight, steering toward us. It proved to be the barque "Albion Lincoln,"
bound for Havana, partly in ballast; and as her cargo consisted only of
a small lot of potatoes and onions, I determined to bond her, and to put
the prisoners, now numbering sixty (the wife of the captain of the
Shooting Star among them) on board of her. In truth, I was relieved from
an awkward dilemma by the opportune capture of the Albion Lincoln; for
there was absolutely no place for a female on board the Chickamauga. I
do not doubt, however, that the redoubtable Mrs. Drinkwater would have
accommodated herself to the circumstances by turning me out of my own
cabin. Heavens! what a tongue she wielded! The young officers of the
Chickamauga relieved each other in boat duty to and fro; and she routed
every one of them ignominiously.
After the Albion Lincoln had been bonded for $18,000, we were kept very
busy for several hours paroling prisoners, etc., and in the meanwhile a
gale of wind was brewing, and the sea growing very rough. By six o'clock
in the afternoon, the Lincoln was under way with the paroled prisoners;
her master having been put under oath to shape the vessel's course for
Fortress Monroe; and we applied the torch to the "Shooting Star." The
burning ship was visible for many miles after we left her; and it was a
strange, wild spectacle, that flaming beacon in the rough sea. The
master of the "Albion Lincoln" shaped his course straight for New York.
I hope his conscience has since reproached him for violating his oath,
though given to a "rebel."
The gale increased during the night. Next day our course was shaped for
Montauk Point; the scene of the previous day's operations having been in
about latitude 40° and longitude 71°, or about fifty miles southeast of
Sandy Hook. Montauk Point was sighted from aloft about mid-day, and the
engines were slowed down, so as not to approach too near the land before
night. We spoke several vessels during the day, all of them under the
British flag. Toward night we steamed towards the land, with the
expectation of finding smoother water, for the wind continued to blow
from the southwest. At 5.45 P. M., we overhauled two schooners close in
to the shore; one of them was the "Good-speed," from Boston to
Philadelphia, in ballast; and the other, the "Otter Rock," from Bangor
for Washington with a load of potatoes. Both were scuttled. Our boats
did not get alongside the Chickamauga again till eight o'clock. The wind
had been gradually veering round to the northeast, and the night was
growing so dark and stormy, that I was reluctantly compelled to abandon
the purpose previously entertained of entering Long Island Sound. The
crew of the Good-speed profited by the darkness to escape in their boat
to the land, a few miles distant.
We made an offing of thirty or forty miles during the night, and next
morning captured the bark "Speedwell," in ballast from Boston to
Philadelphia. The captain's sister and his child were on board his
vessel, and represented to be sick. I could not reconcile it to my sense
of humanity to subject the weaker sex to the probable dangers and
certain hardships of confinement on board the Chickamauga. The Speedwell
was therefore bonded for $18,000, and the captain--a very decent fellow
by the way--sent on his voyage rejoicing; but the "recording angels" of
the Northern press never placed this act to my credit.
The northeast gale, which had been brewing for some days, commenced in
earnest toward the evening. After buffeting against it for two days, the
necessity for making a port became apparent, our supply of coal
beginning to get low. The course was, therefore, shaped for Bermuda, and
we anchored off the bar at St. George's on Monday morning, November 7th.
The Governor of the island gave us a vast deal of trouble and annoyance,
from this time until we finally left port. Lending apparently a willing
ear to the representation of the American Consul, he would not permit us
to enter the harbor until after a correspondence, in which I stated the
fact that our engines needed repairs; but we lay outside twenty-four
hours before even this permission was granted. He next forbade me to
coal the ship. After a protest from me he relented so far, only, as to
authorize a supply of coal, sufficient to carry the Chickamauga to the
nearest Confederate port, although he had been officially informed that
the vessel was regularly commissioned, and was then on a cruise.
Although I was never favored with a sight of the correspondence, which
must have been carried on between the American Consul and His Excellency
on the subject, I am satisfied that the former presented a favorable
case; but the Governor had no right to inquire into the antecedents of
the Chickamauga, or to question the title by which she was held by the
Confederate Government. She was, to all intents and purposes, as "bona
fide" a man-of-war as the Florida, which had entered that same port, and
been supplied with coal, and other necessaries, without question or
molestation. But the fortunes of the Confederacy were now waning; and
his Excellency wished perhaps--and may have received instructions--to
keep on good terms with the winning side, and in disregard of the
obligations of justice to the weaker party.[14] The result of his
partial, and unfriendly course, was to bring the cruise of the
Chickamauga to a speedy end; for it was impossible for her to keep the
sea without a supply of fuel--steam, which is merely an auxiliary in a
properly constituted man of war, being the Chickamauga's sole motive
power. Many of our crew, too, were enticed to desert; but the efficiency
of the vessel was rather increased than diminished by our getting rid of
the vagabonds. They were for the most part "waifs and strays," of
Wilmington, and "skulkers" from the army, who had been drafted from the
Receiving ship. They profited by liberty on shore to secrete themselves,
and many of them perished with the yellow fever, then prevailing in
Bermuda.
We sailed from St. George's for Wilmington November 15th, showing our
colors to several vessels on the way, all of which carried a foreign
flag. American colors had for a long time become a rare sight upon the
ocean, except when flying from the peak of a man-of-war. All of the
vessels captured by the Chickamauga were either coasters, or traders to
West India ports, and were scarcely off soundings on the American
coast.[15] The Alabama and Florida had demonstrated what a vast amount
of injury might be inflicted upon an enemy's commerce by a few swift
cruisers; and there is no doubt that this number might have been
increased to any reasonable extent, by proper management. No sensible
individual, I presume, really attaches any importance to the ravings of
a portion of the Northern press, during the war, against the "rebel
pirates," and their depredations upon commerce. To destroy merchant
vessels was not a pleasure, but it was a duty, and a matter of
necessity, seeing that the Confederate ports were so closely blockaded
as to render it absolutely impossible to send the prizes in for
adjudication, and that all of the foreign powers prohibited the sending
of captured vessels into their ports. The officers and crews attached to
these "piratical vessels" would very gladly have carried or sent their
prizes into a Confederate port; for in that case they would have been
equally fortunate with their confreres of the United States Navy, whose
pockets were filled to repletion with the proceeds of captured property
belonging to Confederates, on land and sea.
We approached the coast in very thick weather on the night of the 18th.
We could dimly discern the breakers ahead, and close aboard; but it was
impossible to distinguish any landmark in so dense a fog. A boat was
lowered therefore, and one of the bar pilots sent to examine nearer, but
he returned on board in the course of an hour, with the report that he
had pulled close in to the surf, but could recognize no object on the
shore, although he had rowed some distance parallel to it, and as
closely as he could venture. "Did you see no wrecks on the beach?" I
inquired. "Yes, sir," he replied, "I saw three." "And how were they
lying?" I asked. He stated that two of them were "broadside on" to the
beach, and close together; and the third "bows on" to the beach, about a
cable's length to the north of them. I was satisfied about our exact
position at once, for while I was on the special service before alluded
to, I had made a visit to Masonborough Inlet, on duty connected with the
signal stations, and had noticed three wrecks in the positions
described. The Chickamauga was put under low steam, with one watch at
quarters, and we waited for daylight to cross the bar. As the fog
lifted, shortly after sunrise, two of the blockading fleet were
discovered on our port quarter, steaming towards us, as we were running
down the coast towards Fort Fisher. When within long range they opened
fire, which was returned by us. They were soon joined by a third
blockader, and as we drew nearer to the bar, Fort Fisher took part in
the engagement, and the blockaders hauled off. Shortly afterwards we
crossed the bar, and anchored inside of the "Rip."
FOOTNOTES:
[12] It is very far from my intention, by these remarks, to condemn the
depredations of the Confederate cruisers upon the Federal commerce, or
the policy which dictated the fitting of them out. But there appears to
me to be a wide difference between the destruction of ships and cargoes
belonging to capitalists, who contributed by their means and influence
to the support of the Federal Government, and the burning of fishing
craft manned by poor men, who relied upon the "catch" of the trip for
the means of feeding and clothing their families. But I will not
expatiate upon the "sentiment" involved in the subject, for fear of
incurring the reproach cast by Sir Peter Teazle upon that very humane
and sentimental character, Joseph Surface, whose actions differed so
widely from his words.
[13] From General Johnston's Narrative, pages 374, 375.
[14] But there was a striking contrast during the war, between the
conduct of the British officials, acting in their official capacity,
towards the Confederate officers, and that of individuals belonging to
both branches of Her Majesty's service; the latter, almost without an
exception, expressed their cordial sympathy with the south, and extended
many acts of courtesy and good feeling towards us, but the former
scrupulously abstained from every semblance of recognition or of
sympathy.
[15] The Shooting Star was an exception, she being chartered by the
government.
CHAPTER XIV
Last Summons to Richmond.--Demoralization.--The "Chameleon."--More
trouble in Bermuda.--Another Narrow Escape.--Fall of Fort
Fisher.--Maffitt's Escape, and Capt. S.'s Capture.--Another Hard
Chase.--Failure to enter Charleston.--Return to Nassau.
Another, and a longer cruise, was then contemplated, and there was some
prospect of prevailing with the Secretary of the Navy to fit out the
ship for a cruiser, by giving her proper spars, providing the means of
disconnecting the screws, and furnishing quarters for officers and men.
But disasters to our arms were then following fast upon each other.
General Sherman, after marching unopposed from Atlanta to the sea, and
capturing Savannah, was preparing to continue his progress. Wilmington
was threatened by a powerful sea and land force. The half starved and
ill clad army of Northern Virginia was in the trenches around
Petersburg, and the now contracting area of country available for
supplies, had been so thoroughly drained, that it became a vital
question how to provision the troops.
I was summoned again, and for the last time during the war, to Richmond.
It was in the early part of December. There now remained to the
Confederacy only the single line of rail communication from Wilmington,
via Greensborough, and Danville, to Richmond. The progress of
demoralization was too evident at every step of my journey, and nowhere
were the poverty, and the straits to which the country was reduced, more
palpably visible, than in the rickety, windowless, filthy cars,
traveling six or eight miles an hour, over the worn out rails and
decaying road-bed. We were eighteen hours in making the distance (about
one hundred and twenty miles) from Danville to Richmond. As we passed in
the rear of General Lee's lines, and I saw the scare-crow cattle there
being slaughtered for the troops, the game seemed to be at last growing
desperate. We were detained for perhaps an hour at the station where the
cattle were being slaughtered. Several soldiers who were on the train,
left us there; and as soon as they alighted from the cars, they seized
portions of the offal, kindled a fire, charred the scraps upon the
points of their ramrods, and devoured the unclean food with the avidity
of famished tigers.
It was arranged in Richmond, that I should take command of the
"Tallahassee," and proceed with all dispatch to Bermuda for a cargo of
provisions; my late experience with the Governor of the island rendering
it quite probable that he would prevent the Chickamauga from even
discharging her cargo as a merchant vessel. That steamer (the
Tallahassee,) of so many aliases, had just returned from a short cruise
under Captain Ward of the Confederate States Navy. She was now
christened again, and bore, thenceforward, the appropriate name of the
"Chameleon." Her battery was dismounted, the officers and crew detached,
and she was ostensibly sold to the navy agent at Wilmington. A register,
and bill of sale, were prepared in legal form, the crew shipped
according to the laws relating to the merchant service, and regular
invoices and bills of lading made out of her cargo of cotton. The
vessel, indeed, was so thoroughly whitewashed, that she subsequently
passed a searching examination in Bermuda; but my recent experience
there had convinced me of the necessity of adopting every precaution,
and I was left to my own discretion with regard to all the details; the
instructions under which I was acting requiring me only to bring in a
cargo of provisions with all dispatch.
The "Chameleon" was in nearly all respects like the Chickamauga, only a
few feet longer, and drawing a few inches more water.
On the afternoon of December 24th, the United States fleet opened fire
upon Fort Fisher, the heavy cannonading continuing during the two
following days. The booming of the heavy guns could be distinctly heard
in Wilmington.
There was a complete panic there; the non-combatants moving away, and
fright and confusion prevailing everywhere. The co-operating land
forces, under General Butler, had almost completely invested the fort,
and the communication between it and Wilmington was at one time
interrupted, so that it was impossible to ascertain the condition of
affairs below. In the midst of the turmoil, we cast off from the wharf,
about two o'clock in the afternoon of December 26th, and anchored off
Smithville after dark, the tide not serving for crossing the bar that
night.
Next morning the "Agnes Fry," an inward bound blockade-runner, was
discovered aground on the western bar. Towards evening two or three of
the blockading fleet stationed off that bar steamed in, and opened fire
upon her. The bombardment of the fort was still in progress. A little
after dark, just as we were weighing our anchor, General Whiting, who
was then in Fort Fisher, telegraphed to us that the United States land
forces were embarking, the attack upon the fort having been abandoned.
We were under way in a few moments, closely followed by the Hansa,
Captain Murray, and parting from her just as we crossed the bar. I had
known the captain for many months, under his assumed name, and it was
quite generally known that he held a commission in the British Navy.
While I was living in Nova Scotia, some years afterwards, the card of
Captain A. commanding H. B. M. ship J----n was brought to me, and I was
surprised to find in the owner of it, my old friend Murray. Several
British naval officers of rank and high character, were engaged in the
same exciting and lucrative occupation of blockade-running; among them
the gallant Captain Burgoyne, who commanded afterwards the unfortunate
ship "Captain" of H. B. M.'s Navy, and who perished together with
nearly the whole crew when she foundered at sea.
We crossed the bar under such favorable circumstances, that we were not
discovered; nor did we see any of the fleet until we had cleared the
Frying Pan Shoals, when we easily avoided several vessels which had
participated, no doubt, in the attack upon Fort Fisher, and were now
about to take their stations off the western bar.
We made a rapid, though a very rough voyage to Bermuda, a stormy
northwest gale following us nearly the whole distance. The Prussian
Major Von Borcke, who had served on General Jeb Stewart's staff, and who
afterwards published (in Blackwood's) his experience of the war, was a
passenger. The Major was no sailor, and his sufferings from sea sickness
were much aggravated by a gunshot wound in his throat. As the engines of
the "Chameleon" would "race" in the heavy sea following us, and her
whole frame would vibrate, he declared in military phraseology ("our
army swore terribly in Flanders!") that he would rather encounter the
dangers of a "stricken field" than voluntarily endure an hour of such
torture.
We arrived at St. George's on the 30th of December; and our troubles
immediately commenced. It was the 5th of January before permission was
received to land our cargo of cotton; His Excellency, the Governor
having called upon the law officers of the crown for aid in the dire
dilemma. When the vessel's papers were at last pronounced correct, we
discharged our cargo, and then arose the perplexing question of loading.
I haven't the least doubt that the American Consul was sadly bothering
His Excellency all this time; but permission was finally granted to us
to take in provisions but no munitions of war. As we did not want
"hardware," as munitions of war were then invoiced, we proceeded to
load. But a great deal of time had been lost, and we did not take our
departure for Wilmington till January the 19th; having on board as
passengers General Preston and staff, returning from Europe.
Our voyage across was very rough, and the night of our approach to New
Inlet Bar was dark and rainy. Between one and two o'clock in the
morning, as we were feeling our way with the lead, a light was
discovered nearly ahead and a short distance from us. As we drew closer
in and "sheered" the Chameleon, so as to bring the light abeam, I
directed our signal officer to make the regular signal. No reply was
made to it, although many lights now began to appear looming up through
the drizzling rain. These were undoubtedly camp fires of the United
States troops outside of Fort Fisher; but it never occurred to me as
possible, that a second attack could have been made, and successfully in
the brief period of time which had elapsed since our departure from
Wilmington. Believing that I had made some error in my day's
observations, the Chameleon was put to sea again, as the most prudent
course in the emergency. The night was too far spent to allow of any
delay. Orders were therefore given to go at full speed, and by daylight
we had made an offing of forty or fifty miles from the coast. Clear and
pleasant weather enabled me to establish our position accurately--it was
my invariable custom, at sea, during the war, to take my own
observations--and early in the night we made the Mound Light ahead, for
which I had shaped our course. The range lights were showing, and we
crossed the bar without interference, but without a suspicion of
anything wrong, as it would occasionally happen, under particularly
favorable circumstances, that we would cross the bar without even seeing
a blockader. We were under the guns of Fort Fisher in fact, and close
to the fleet of United States vessels, which had crossed the bar after
the fall of the fort, when I directed my signal officer to communicate
with the shore station. His signal was promptly answered, but turning to
me, he said, "No Confederate signal officer there, sir; he cannot reply
to me." The order to wear round was instantly obeyed; not a moment too
soon, for the bow of the Chameleon was scarcely pointed for the bar
before two of the light cruisers were plainly visible in pursuit,
steaming with all speed to intercept us. Nothing saved us from capture
but the twin screws, which enabled our steamer to turn as upon a pivot
in the narrow channel between the bar and the "rip." We reached the bar
before our pursuers, and were soon lost to their sight in the darkness
outside. Our supply of coal being limited, the course was shaped for
Nassau as the nearer port, where we arrived without accident. A day or
two after our arrival the news came of the fall of Fort Fisher.
Several narrow escapes, besides our own, were made. Maffitt, in command
of the "Owl" crossed the Western Bar a night or two after the fall of
Fort Fisher, and while our troops were evacuating Fort Caswell and
other military stations along the river. Crossing the bar, and
suspecting no danger, he continued on his way up to Smithville, where he
anchored. He was boarded a few moments afterwards by a boat from our
military post there. The officer in command of the boat informed him of
the capture of Fort Fisher, and that our troops were then evacuating
Fort Caswell; adding that several vessels of the Federal fleet had
crossed the New Inlet Bar, and were at anchor in the river almost within
hail of him. Maffitt was about to give the order to slip the chain, "not
standing upon the order of his going," when his pilot begged for
permission to go ashore, if only for ten minutes. He represented the
situation of his wife, whom he had left ill and without means of
support, in such moving terms, that Maffitt granted permission, upon
condition that he would return speedily. The pilot was faithful to his
promise, returning in fifteen or twenty minutes. During his absence,
steam was raised, and the chain unshackled. As the pilot's foot touched
the deck of the "Owl" again, the boat was hooked on and run up to the
davits, the chain slipped, and the "Owl" on her way to sea again.
Another blockade-runner is said to have been not so fortunate. She had
run the gauntlet safely, and come to anchor off Smithville. The
tarpaulins had been removed from the hatches, the lamps lighted, and a
cold supper spread upon the table, at which the passengers were seated,
two or three officers of the British army among them. A toast to the
captain had been proposed, and they had just tossed off a bumper in
champagne to his health and continued successes, and he was about to
reply to the compliment, when the officer of the deck reported that a
boat was coming alongside. The captain received the officer at the
gangway. The mail bag, according to the usual routine, was given to the
latter for transportation to the shore; and the customary inquiries made
after the name of the vessel, cargo, number of passengers, etc. The
astounded captain was then informed that his vessel was a prize to the
United States ship--then at anchor near him!
Charleston was now the only harbor on the Atlantic coast at all
accessible, and that must evidently soon fall; but a cargo might be
landed there before that inevitable catastrophe, and fully appreciating
the exigency, I determined to make the effort. Even after the
occupation of Wilmington by the United States troops, there would remain
an interior line of communication between Charleston and Virginia. The
facts of history prove that the importance of carrying in a cargo of
provisions was not exaggerated, for the army of northern Virginia was
shortly afterwards literally starving; and during their retreat from the
position around Petersburg the country adjacent to their line of march
was swarming with soldiers who had left the ranks in search of food.
But it was the part of prudence to ascertain, positively, before
sailing, that Charleston was still in our possession. This intelligence
was brought by the "Chicora" which arrived at Nassau on the 30th of
January; and on February 1st, the "Owl," "Carolina," "Dream," "Chicora"
and "Chameleon" sailed within a few hours of each other for Charleston.
The condition of affairs throughout the Confederacy was far more
desperate than we, who were abroad, had any idea of. Despondency and
demoralization had advanced with gigantic strides within the past two or
three eventful months. Admiral Semmes, in his "Memoirs of Service
Afloat, etc," gives the following account of an interview with General
Lee: "As soon as I could command a leisure moment, I paid General Lee a
visit at his head-quarters near Petersburg, and spent a night with him.
I had served with him in the Mexican War. We discussed together the
critical state of the country and of his army--we were now near the end
of January, 1865, and I thought the grand old chieftain and Christian
gentleman seemed to foreshadow in his conversation, more by manner than
by words, the approaching downfall of the cause for which we were both
struggling. I had come to him, I told him, to speak of what I had seen
of the people, and of the army, in my transit across the country, and to
say to him that unless prompt measures could be devised to put an end to
the desertions that were going on among our troops, our cause must
inevitably be lost. He did not seem to be at all surprised at the
revelations I made. He knew all about the condition of the country,
civil and military, but seemed to feel himself powerless to prevent the
downward tendency of things, and he was right. It was no longer in the
power of any one man to save the country. The body politic was already
dead. The people themselves had given up the contest, and this being the
case, no army could do more than retard the catastrophe for a few
months. Besides, his army itself was melting away. That very night, as I
learned at the breakfast table, one hundred and sixty men deserted in a
body. It was useless to attempt to shoot deserters when demoralization
had gone to this extent." A few weeks subsequent to the date referred to
in the above extract, General Johnston was ordered to "drive back
Sherman." He states in his "Narrative" in reference to accepting the
command: "This was done with a full consciousness on my part, however,
that we could have no other object in continuing the war than to obtain
fair terms of peace; for the Southern cause must have appeared hopeless
then to all intelligent and dispassionate Southern men."
We passed Abaco light soon after dark, and shaped our course direct for
Charleston. At early dawn the next morning, while I was lying awake in
my room on the bridge, I heard the officer of the deck give the quick
sharp order to the helmsman "hard a-port!" The steering wheel in all of
the blockade-runners was upon the bridge and immediately forward of the
captain's state-room, and the officer of the deck kept his watch upon
the bridge. As I never undressed at night, while at sea in command
during the war, I was out upon the deck in a moment; and then I saw
distant two or three miles and directly in our former course, a large
side-wheel steamer. From her size and rig, I guessed her to be the
"Vanderbilt;" and I was afraid that the Chameleon had at last found more
than her match, for the Vanderbilt enjoyed the reputation of great
speed. We wore round before we were discovered, but as the strange
steamer's bow was pointed in our direction a few moments afterwards, it
was plain that we would have to make good use of our heels, and that the
race would be a trying one. The Chameleon was in fine condition for the
ordeal, and the usual precaution of cleaning fires, and raising the
steam had been taken before daylight. My staunch old quartermaster,
McLean, who had been with me in nearly all the chances and changes of
blockade-running, always took his place at the wheel on trying
occasions. He had nerves of steel, and would have steered the vessel
without flinching against a line of battle ship, if so ordered. Upon one
occasion, after we had crossed the Western Bar, and were steaming at
full speed along the coast, we suddenly discovered a long low blockader
on our starboard bow, and at the same instant, distinctly heard the
order from the stranger's deck, to "pass along the shell!" I called out
to my old helmsman, "Port and run her down!" and if the strange vessel
had not moved out of our way with alacrity, she would have been
assuredly cut in two. We grazed her stern by a hair's breadth as we shot
by her at the rate of thirteen knots. Before they had recovered from the
confusion on board of her, we had passed into the darkness beyond, and
the shell which they sent after us flew wide of its mark.
McLean was now placed at the wheel. It was a close race for hours,
neither apparently gaining or losing a foot; but Providence again
befriended us. As the day advanced, the breeze, which was very light
from the northward at daylight, continued to freshen from that quarter.
We soon set all of our canvas, and so did the chaser, but as the latter
was square rigged, and we carried fore and aft sails, our sheets were
hauled flat aft, and the Chameleon kept close to the wind by the steady
old helmsman. I do not doubt that we would have been overhauled but for
this favorable contingency. Head to wind our pursuer would certainly
have overtaken us, and off the wind her chances would have been almost
equally good. But she began to drop gradually to leeward as the wind
continued steady, and by two o'clock in the afternoon, she was five or
six miles distant on our lee quarter. Although we had not increased the
distance between us much, if any, since the commencement of the chase,
we had weathered upon the chaser until her sails had become useless
about twelve o'clock when she furled them. As the snowy cloud of canvas
was rolled up like magic, and the tall tapering spars were seen in its
place, I supposed the cruiser was about to retire from the contest; but
she still followed with the tenacity of a bloodhound. But apparently to
no purpose till about two o'clock, when the chief engineer, Mr.
Schroeder, appeared on the bridge with the report that the journals were
heated, and it was absolutely necessary to stop to ease the bearings!
This was a predicament, indeed; but when I looked down into the hold,
and saw the clouds of vapor rising from the overheated journals, as a
stream of water was being pumped upon them, I saw that Schroeder was
right in the assertion, that unless the bearings were instantly eased,
the machinery would give way. I had implicit confidence in Schroeder,
and it had been justly earned, for he had served long under my command,
and had always displayed, under trying circumstances, great coolness,
presence of mind, and ability. He made every preparation for the work
before him, taking off his own coat, and when everything was in
readiness, the order to stop the engines was given. In a few moments, we
lay like a log upon the water, and the chaser was rapidly lessening the
distance between as, and the suspense became almost intolerable. Our
fate was hanging by a thread; but in ten minutes the journals had been
cooled off, the bearings eased, and the Chameleon again sprang ahead
with renewed speed. The steamer in chase had approached nearly within
cannon shot--probably within long range--but in the course of the next
hour, we had gained so rapidly in the race that the pursuit was
abandoned as hopeless; and as the stranger wore around, to resume her
station under easy steam, we followed in her wake till dark, when we
evaded her without difficulty, and continued on our course toward
Charleston.
But another precious day had been lost, and subsequent unfavorable
weather still further retarding our progress, we did not reach the coast
near Charleston Bar till the fifth night after our departure from
Nassau. The blockading fleet had been reinforced by all the light
cruisers from the approaches to the Cape Fear River; and as we drew in
to the land, we were so frequently compelled to alter the course of the
Chameleon, in order to evade the blockaders, that we did not reach the
bar till long after midnight, and after the tide had commenced to fall.
I was tempted to force the pilot to make the attempt, but finally
yielded to his assurances that access was impossible under the
circumstances. As this was the last night during that moon, when the bar
could be crossed during the dark hours, the course of the Chameleon was
again, and for the last time, shaped for Nassau. As we turned away from
the land, our hearts sank within us, while the conviction forced itself
upon us, that the cause for which so much blood had been shed, so many
miseries bravely endured, and so many sacrifices cheerfully made, was
about to perish at last!
CHAPTER XV.
Sad News via New York.--Consternation among Speculators in
Nassau.--Departure from Nassau via Bermuda.--Arrival at
Liverpool.--The End.
Arriving at Nassau on the 8th, we found many blockade-runners in port,
waiting for news from Charleston; and on the 10th, the Owl returned,
after an unsuccessful attempt to enter Charleston, during which she
received a shot through her bows; and intelligence came also of the
capture of the "Stag" and "Charlotte." On the 23d, the "Chicora," which
had succeeded in getting into Charleston, arrived with the fatal news of
its evacuation, and the progress of General Sherman through Georgia and
South Carolina. This sad intelligence put an end to all our hopes, and
we were now cut off from all communication with the Confederate
Government authorities.
In this dilemma, Maffitt and I consulted with Mr. Heyliger, the
Confederate agent at Nassau; and it was decided that the Chameleon
should be taken over to England. Whatever might be the course of
events, our duty appeared to be to turn our vessels over, either to the
agent of the Navy Department in Liverpool, or to the firm of Messrs.
Fraser, Trenholm & Co. there. We learned afterwards, indeed, that
Captain Pembroke Jones, of the Confederate Navy, was at that time on his
way to us via Galveston or Mexico, with orders from the Navy Department.
All of us were directed to take in cargoes of provisions to a specified
point on the Rappahannock River, under the protection of Confederate
artillery to be stationed there in readiness. The steamers were to be
burned after landing their cargoes, but Jones could not reach us in
time.
The bottom of the Chameleon being quite foul, divers were employed to
scrub it preparatory to her long sea voyage. These people are
wonderfully expert, remaining under the surface nearly two minutes; and
the water in the harbor of Nassau is so clear that they can be
distinctly seen even at the keel of a vessel. Our cargo of provisions
was landed, and an extra supply of coal taken on board. The vessel being
under Confederate colors and liable to capture wherever found, except in
neutral waters, it behooved us to be prepared at all times to show our
heels to a stranger Some of our crew who wished their discharge, for the
purpose of rejoining their families at the South, were paid off; the
rest of them shipped for the voyage to Liverpool via Bermuda. We still
lingered for later intelligence which was brought by the mail steamer
Corsica from New York. Charleston was evacuated on the 17th of February,
and Fort Anderson, the last of the defences at Wilmington, fell on the
19th. General Johnston had assumed command of the broken remnant of the
army of the Tennessee in North Carolina, and subsequently offered some
resistance to the hitherto unimpeded march of General Sherman; but the
latter was now about to effect a junction with General Schofield, who
commanded a large force which had landed at Wilmington. It was too
evident that the end was near. The speculators in Nassau saw that "the
bottom had fallen out," and all of them were in the depths of despair.
Some of them, it is true, had risen from the desperately hazardous game
with large gains, but the majority had staked their all and lost it; and
even the fortunate ones had contracted a thirst for rash ventures, which
eventually led to the pecuniary and social ruin of some of them. Even
the negro stevedores and laborers bewailed our misfortunes, for they
knew that the glory of Nassau had departed forever. My old friend
Captain Dick Watkins probably more unselfishly regretted the disasters
to our arms than the speculators or even the refugees in Nassau, who had
succeeded in evading service in the army by skulking abroad. A
recruiting officer might have "conscripted" nearly a brigade of the
swaggering blusterers. Captain Dick and I parted with mutual regret; and
I sincerely hope, if Providence has been pleased to remove the old
fellow's helpmeet to a better sphere, that he has found consolation in a
virtuous union with one of those "mighty pretty yaller gals" he so much
admired; and that Napoleon Bonaparte may rise to the highest dignities
in that particolored community of spongers and "wrackers."
We sailed from Nassau on the 22d of March and arrived at St. George's,
Bermuda on the 26th. The harbor was deserted, and the town, in its
listless inactivity, presented a striking contrast with its late stir
and bustle. "'Twas Greece, but living Greece no more." After coaling, we
took our departure for Liverpool on the 26th of March, and arrived there
on the 9th of April. It was Palm Sunday, and the chimes were ringing
sweetly from the church bells, as we came to anchor.
The contrast between this happy, peaceful, prosperous country and our
own desolated, war-distracted land, struck a chill to our saddened
hearts. The last act in the bloody drama was about to close on that very
day at Appomattox Court House, and before that sun had set, the
Confederate Government had become a thing of the past. We, who were
abroad, were not unprepared for the final catastrophe; for we had
learned on our arrival at Liverpool of General Early's defeat in the
valley of the Shenandoah, and the accession to General Grant's already
overwhelmingly large forces of General Sheridan's cavalry; and of the
junction of General Sherman with General Schofield. To oppose these
mighty armies, there were 33,000 half starved, ragged heroes in the
trenches around Petersburg, and about 25,000 under General Johnston in
North Carolina.
This may not be a proper place to allude to the fearful penalties
inflicted upon a people who fought and suffered for what they deemed a
holy cause. But it should be proclaimed, in the interest of truth and
justice, that the South since the close of the war, has been preyed
upon by unprincipled adventurers and renegades who are determined to
rule or ruin. But a brighter day will come. Calumny and injustice cannot
triumph forever. That distinguished officer Colonel C. C. Chesney of the
British army in a volume of "Military Biography" lately published by
him, in allusion to General Lee, writes thus: "But though America has
learned to pardon, she has yet to attain the full reconciliation for
which the dead hero would have sacrificed a hundred lives. Time can only
bring this to a land, which in her agony, bled at every pore. Time, the
healer of all wounds will bring it yet. The day will come, when the evil
passions of the great civil strife will sleep in oblivion, and North and
South do justice to each other's motives, and forget each other's
wrongs. Then History will speak with clear voice of the deeds done on
either side, and the citizens of the whole Union do justice to the
memories of the dead." Surely all honest men and true patriots will
rejoice to see that day.
The firm of Fraser, Trenholm & Co. was represented in Liverpool by a Mr.
Prioleau who was by no means anxious for the consignment of the
Chameleon in ballast; with a cargo on board the case would have been
different. He evidently considered her a very big and unsalable
elephant, and repudiated the part of showman. The vessel was therefore
turned over to Captain Bullock, who acted with his usual tact and
discretion in the subsequent transactions connected with her. There was
a sharp struggle between rival claimants for the possession of the ship,
but the Gordian knot was cut by the British Government which placed the
"broad arrow" upon her. The public funds were also transferred to
Captain Bullock and his receipt taken for them. Here I beg leave to
affirm that I neither appropriated nor desired to appropriate any of the
spoils of the perishing ship of state.[16] But as memory recalls the
many opportunities placed in my way of making a fortune during the war,
without detriment to the cause, and consistent with every obligation due
to the Confederate Government, there are times when I cannot decide
whether I acted the part of a fool, or that of a patriot. We are told
that when Lord Clive was arraigned before the British Parliament for
profiting by his high position in India to enrich himself, he exclaimed
at the close of his defence against the charge, "By G----d, Mr. Chairman,
at this moment I stand astonished at my own moderation!" His idea of
"moderation" was £300,000. A "dead broke" Confederate would have
considered himself fortunate to possess 300,000 cents! Some of the crew
of the Chameleon, who had served for years in the Confederate Navy,
brought a claim against me for pay due them while in the public service,
and it was with some difficulty that their counsel, a pettifogging
lawyer, could be induced to consent to arbitration; but the matter was
finally settled through Bullock's agency, although it appeared probable
at one time that I would be obliged to take a hasty departure from
England.
The end was close at hand. News of the capture of Richmond arrived on
the 15th, and a few days afterwards, intelligence of the surrender of
General Lee's army. The Chameleon was soon afterwards given up to the
United States Government which claimed the assets, but repudiated the
liabilities of the Confederate Government. Her officers and crew were
turned adrift with "the wide world before them where to choose."
FOOTNOTE:
[16] The proofs, which I hold in my possession, of this affirmation can
have no interest for the general reader. Shortly after the close of the
war, I learned through a friend in Washington that I was charged with
appropriating many thousands of dollars belonging to the late
Confederate Government. Although I was then living in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, and beyond the jurisdiction of the United States Government, I
forwarded to the Hon. Secretary of the United States Navy, copies of the
receipts taken by me from Captain Bullock, in Liverpool, for all
Confederate property in my possession. I may be permitted indeed, to
claim eminent disinterestedness, for I might have accumulated a fortune;
and at the end, my faithful and efficient paymaster, E. Courtenay
Jenkins, a gentleman of the purest integrity, made the transfer by my
direction; both of us washing our hands of the "filthy lucre," and
retaining a clear conscience.
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NARRATIVE OF A BLOCKADE-RUNNER***
******* This file should be named 21977-8.txt or 21977-8.zip *******
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/9/7/21977
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.
*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
http://www.gutenberg.org/license).
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked
to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
that
- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is
owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments
must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg-tm works.
- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
of receipt of the work.
- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with
the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy
is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at
809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
[email protected]. Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact
For additional contact information:
Dr. Gregory B. Newby
Chief Executive and Director
[email protected]
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
To donate, please visit:
http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.
Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
http://www.gutenberg.org
This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
