Chapter III: Part 3

"Old Steele growled out that we hadn't time to stop, and shouted down the engine-room tube to Erskine to pile on the coal, as concealment was no longer any use. Our friend, which we afterwards found out was the _Niphon_, opened fire as fast as she could and sheered close into us, so close that her boarders were called away twice, and a slanging match went on between us, like that sometimes to be heard between two penny steamboat captains on the Thames. She closed the dispute by shooting away our foremast, exploding a shell in our bunkers, and, when we began to leave her astern, by treating us to grape and canister. It was a miracle that no one was killed, but the crew were all lying flat on the deck, except the steersman; and at one time I fear he did the same, for as Pilot Burroughs suddenly cried, 'My God, Mr. Taylor, look there!' I saw our boat heading right into the surf, so, jumping from the bridge, I ran aft and found the helmsman on his stomach. I rushed at the wheel and got two or three spokes out of it, which hauled her head off land, but it was a close shave.

"Two miles farther we picked up another cruiser, which tried to treat us in a similar manner, but as we had plenty of steam we soon left her. A little farther we came across a large side-wheel boat, which tried to run us down, missing us only by a few yards; after that we were unmolested and arrived in safe, warmly congratulated by Lamb, who thought from the violent cannonade that we must certainly be sunk.

"Not more than one man out of a hundred would have brought a boat through as Steele did that night--the other ninety-nine would have run her ashore."

The "Venus."

The official report of Lieutenant Lamson, U.S. steamer _Nansemond_, off New Inlet, October 21, 1863, says, "I have the honor to report the capture and entire destruction of the blockade runner _Venus_, from Nassau to Wilmington with a cargo of lead, drugs, dry goods, bacon, and coffee.

"This morning at 12.30 she attempted to run the blockade, but was discovered by this vessel, and after a short chase overhauled. When abeam, I opened fire on her, one shot striking her foremast, another exploding in her wardroom, a third passing through forward and killing one man, and a fourth, striking under the guard near the water line, knocked in an iron plate, causing her to make water fast. She was run ashore. We boarded her at once, capturing her captain and twenty-two of her officers and crew. The U.S.S. _Niphon_, Acting Master J.B. Breck commanding, which was lying near where she went ashore, came immediately to my assistance. I ran a 9-inch hawser to the _Venus_, and Captain Breck sent a 7-inch hawser to the _Nansemond's_ bow, but all our efforts were unavailing, as the tide had turned ebb and she was going at least 14 knots an hour when she went ashore. Finding it impossible to move her, I ordered her to be set on fire, which was done in three places by Acting Ensigns Porter and Henderson, of this vessel. Our boats were for some time exposed to a sharp fire of musketry from the beach, and the vessel was within range of one of the batteries. We had just commenced shelling her machinery when another vessel was seen off shore, and by the light of the burning steamer I was able to give her one shot and started in pursuit, but it was so cloudy and hazy that we lost sight of her almost immediately. I ran east at the rate of fourteen knots till 7 o'clock, but did not get sight of her again, and ran back, making the land on the northward.

"In the meantime, Captain Breck, with the assistance of the _Iron Age_, Lieut. Commander Stone, had completed the destruction of the _Venus_, her boilers having been blown up and her hull riddled with shell.

"I have to express my thanks to Captain Breck for the prompt assistance rendered me by sending his boats to assist in carrying my heavy hawser to the _Nansemond's_ bows. His boats then reported to Acting Ensign J.H. Porter, who was in charge of the _Venus_. The fire forward not burning well as it was expected, he sent a boat on board in the morning and rekindled it."

The _Venus_ was 265 feet long and 1,000 tons measurement, and is represented by her captain and officers to have been one of the finest and fastest vessels engaged in running the blockade. She had the finest engines of any vessel in this trade and was sheathed completely over with iron. She drew eight feet of water, and when bound out last, crossed the bar at low water with over 600 bales of cotton on board. The wrecks of the _Hebe_, _Douro_, and _Venus_ are within a short distance of each other.

A private notebook was found by the Federal boarding party in the effects of the captain of the _Venus_, in which a list of blockade runners engaged in the year 1863 was entered as follows, a total of 75 steamers, of which 34 were captured or destroyed, but this list was not complete, as a hundred at least were engaged during that period.

Vessels Engaged in Running the Blockade in 1863.

(Those marked C had been captured or destroyed.)

_Nina_ (C)
_Leopard_ (C)
_Antonica_
_Thistle_ (C)
_Douro_ (C)
_Calypso_ (C)
_Granite City_ (C)
_Flora_
_Ruby_ (C)
_Eagle_ (C)
_Havelock_
_Douglas_
_Annie Childs_ (C)
_Wave Queen_ (C)
_Giraffe_ (C)
_Gladiator_
_Hebe_ (C)
_Venus_ (C)
_Juno_ (C)
_Princess Royal_ (C)
_Cronstadt_ (C)
_Phantom_ (C)
_Lord Clyde_
_Dolphin_
_Hansa_
_Ella_
_Spaulding_ (C)
_Mary Ann_
_Mail_ (C)
_Spunkie
Cornubia_ (C)
_Nicolai I_ (C)
_St. John_ (C)
_Hero_[3]
_Gertrude_ (C)
_Britannia_ (C)
_Emma_ (C)
_Georgiana_ (C)
_J.P. Hughes_
_Banshee_
_Alice_ (_Mobile_)
_Aries_ (_St. Thomas_) (C)
_Neptune_ (C)
_Norseman_ (C)
_Merrimac_ (C)
_Kate_ (C)
_Orion_
_Siriens_ (_Sirius_?)
_Atlantic_
_Eugénie_
_Cuba_ (_Mobile_) (C)
_Raccoon_
_Arabian_ (C)
_Jupiter_
_Gibraltar_
_Boston_
_Juno II_
_Scotia_
_Flora II_
_Herald_
_Elizabeth_ (C)
_R.E. Lee_
_Beauregard_
_Sumter_
_Corsica_
_Bendigo_
_Diamond_
_Margaret and Jessie_
_Don_
_Pet_
_Charleston_
_Rouen_
_Hero II_
_Fanny_
_Stonewall Jackson_

Total, 75; captured and destroyed, 34.

The "Hebe."

Between the 15th of August and the 21st of October, 1863, the Federal fleet known as the "North American Blockading Squadron" drove ashore five blockade runners between New Inlet and Masonboro--the _Arabian_ inside the bar of New Inlet, which became an obstruction to our ships trying to pass her; the beautiful steamer _Hebe_ near Masonboro Inlet, the _Phantom_, the _Douro_, and the _Venus_ near each other off Masonboro Sound.

As her classical name implies, the _Hebe_ was a fine example of marine architecture. She was loaded with a full cargo of drugs, coffee, clothing, and provisions, and although she was a fast ship of 14 knots, she seems to have made a bad landfall on the morning of the 18th of August, 1863, and while she was heading for New Inlet, distant about eight miles, she was intercepted by the Federal gunboat _Niphon_, when she up helm and ran ashore, the crew escaping in boats.

When the Federals attempted to haul the _Hebe_ off the beach after she had run ashore, they met with formidable resistance by the Confederates. Owing to a heavy sea the _Niphon's_ boat was driven ashore and the Federals were attacked by a troop of Confederate cavalry and all of them were captured. A Confederate force of riflemen, supported by a battery of Whitworth guns, also attacked the cruiser _Niphon_ from the shore and drove the blockader away from the _Hebe_, but not before the Confederate had destroyed another Federal boat load of the enemy which attempted to land. The _Niphon_ and the _Shokokon_, the latter under the command of the celebrated Lieut. W.B. Cushing, then bombarded the _Hebe_ and set her on fire.

On August 24, 1863, General Whiting, in command of the Confederate forces at Wilmington headquarters, sent to the Secretary of War, Mr. Seddon, the following account of the _Hebe_ disaster:

"Headquarters,
"_Wilmington, August 24, 1863_.

"Sir: * * * Yesterday the enemy took a fancy to destroy what remained of the wreck of the _Hebe_, a Crenshaw steamer run ashore some days ago, and from which a company of the garrison of Fort Fisher was engaged in saving property. The steam frigate _Minnesota_ and five other gunboats approached the beach, and, under a terrific fire, attempted to land, but were gallantly repulsed by Captain Munn, with a Whitworth and two small rifle guns of short range. The site was about nine miles from Fisher, on the narrow and low beach between the sounds and the ocean, and completely under the fire of the enormous batteries of the enemy. A portion of the squadron, steaming farther up the beach, effected a landing some two miles off in largely superior force, and came down upon Captain Munn, still gallantly fighting his little guns against the _Minnesota_, they being moved by hand, and, having fired his last round, the Whitworths disabled, one gunner killed, a lieutenant and four men wounded, Captain Munn and his small party were compelled to fall back under a heavy enfilade fire toward Fort Fisher, with the loss of his guns.

"This took place about nine miles from Fort Fisher and about the same distance from the city. The narrow beach, separated from the mainland by the sounds, gives every facility to the enemy, and secures them from us who are without boats or means of getting at them. The Fiftieth (North Carolina) Regiment--the only one I have--was off at a distance, called by a landing made by the enemy at Topsail, in which they burned, the night before, a schooner, a salt work, and took two artillerymen prisoners.

"These little affairs, however, are only mentioned in illustration. This is the first time they have landed; but what they have done once they can do again and doubtless will. There is no day scarcely until the winter gales set in but what they could put 5,000 men on the beach; they can get them from New Berne and Beaufort before I could know it. I only say if they do they can get either Fort Fisher or the towns, as they elect, if they set about it at once.

"The efforts of the enemy to stop our steamers are increasing. Their force is largely increased. I have met with a serious and heavy loss in that Whitworth, a gun that in the hands of the indefatigable Lamb has saved dozens of vessels and millions of money to the Confederate States. I beg that a couple of the Whitworth guns originally saved by him from the _Modern Greece_ may be sent here at once. Their long range, five or six miles, makes them most suitable for a seaboard position. Could I get them with horses we could save many a vessel that will now be lost to us. But chiefly in this letter I beg of you, if you concur in my views, to lay the matter of the necessity of increasing the force here before the President.

"Very respectfully,

"W.H.C. Whiting,

"_Major General_.

"Hon. James A. Seddon,

"_Secretary War, Richmond_."

A Port of Refuge.

The natural advantages of Wilmington at the time of the War between the States made it an ideal port for blockade runners, there being two entrances to the river--New Inlet on the north and Western or Main Bar on the south of Cape Fear.

The slope of our beach is very gradual to deep water. The soundings along the coast are regular, and the floor of the ocean is remarkably even. A steamer hard pressed by the enemy could run along the outer edge of the breakers without great risk of grounding; the pursuer, being usually of deeper draft, was obliged to keep farther off shore.

The "Lilian."

The Confederate steamer _Lilian_, of which I was then purser, was chased for nearly a hundred miles from Cape Lookout by the U.S. steamer _Shenandoah_, which sailed a parallel course within half a mile of her and forced the _Lilian_ at times into the breakers. This was probably the narrowest escape ever made by a blockade runner in a chase. The _Shenandoah_ began firing her broadside guns at three o'clock in the afternoon, her gunners and the commanding officers of the batteries being distinctly visible to the _Lilian's_ crew. A heavy sea was running, which deflected the aim of the man-of-war, and this alone saved the _Lilian_ from destruction. A furious bombardment by the _Shenandoah_, aggravated by the display of the _Lilian's_ Confederate flag, was continued until nightfall, when, by a clever ruse, the _Lilian_, guided by the flash of her pursuer's guns, stopped for a few minutes; then, putting her helm hard over, ran across the wake of the warship straight out to sea, and, on the following morning, passed the fleet off Fort Fisher in such a crippled condition that several weeks were spent in Wilmington for repairs.

The "Lynx" and Her Pilot.

He is now the Rev. James William Craig,[4] Methodist preacher, but I like to think of him as Jim Billy, the Cape Fear pilot of war times, on the bridge of the swift Confederate blockade runner _Lynx_, commanded by the intrepid Captain Reed, as she races through the blackness of night on her course west nor'west, straight and true for the Federal fleet off New Inlet, in utter silence, the salt spray of the sea smiting the faces of the watches as they gaze ahead for the first sign of imminent danger.

Soon there is added to the incessant noise of wind and waves the ominous roar of the breakers, as the surf complains to the shore, and the deep sea lead gives warning of shoaling water. "Half-speed" is muttered through the speaking tube; a hurried parley; a recognized landfall, for Reed is a fine navigator, and "Are you ready to take her, Pilot?" "Ready, sir," comes from Jim Billy in the darkness. Then the whispered orders through the tube: "Slow down," as there looms ahead the first of the dread monsters of destruction; "Starboard," "Steady." And the little ship glides past like a phantom, unseen as yet. Then "Port," "Port," "Hard a'port," in quick succession, as she almost touches the second cruiser. She is now in the thick of the blockading squadron; and suddenly, out of the darkness, close aboard, comes the hoarse hail, "Heave to, or I'll sink you," followed by a blinding glare of rockets and the roar of heavy guns. The devoted little Confederate is now naked to her enemies, as the glare of rockets and Drummond lights from many men-of-war illuminate the chase. Under a pitiless hail of shot and shell from every quarter, she bounds forward full speed ahead, every joint and rivet straining, while Jim Billy dodges her in and out through a maze of smoke and flame and bursting shells. The range of Fort Fisher's guns is yet a mile away. Will she make it? Onward speeds the little ship, for neither Reed nor Jim Billy has a thought of surrender. A shell explodes above them, smashing the wheelhouse; another shell tears away the starboard paddle box; and, as she flies like lightning past the nearest cruiser, a sullen roar from Colonel Lamb's artillery warns her pursuers that they have reached their limitations, and in a few minutes the gallant little ship crosses the bar and anchors under the Confederate guns. The captain and his trusty pilot shake hands and go below, "to take the oath," as Reed described it--for the strain must be relaxed by sleep or stimulation. "A close shave, Jim," was all the captain said. "It was, sir, for a fact," was the equally laconic answer.

The "Ranger" and the "Vesta."

These two fine ships were stranded on our coast upon their first voyage and as I had no personal knowledge of either of them, I have copied in full the Federal official reports, and a letter dated Wilmington, N.C., January 27, 1864, by Lieutenant Gift of the Confederate Navy, who was in command of the _Ranger_.

"U.S. Flagship 'Minnesota,'
"Off Lockwood's Folly Inlet,

"_January 11, 1864_.

"Sir: At daylight this morning a steamer was seen beached and burning one mile west of this inlet. Mr. O'Connor, from this ship, boarded her with the loss of one man, shot under the fire from the enemy's sharp shooters occupying rifle pits on the sand hills, which were high and near, and got her log book, from which it appears that she is the _Ranger_; that she left Newcastle [England] November 11, 1863, for Bermuda, where, after touching at Teneriffe, she arrived on the 8th of December; that she sailed from Bermuda January 6, 1864, made our coast January 10, about five miles northeast of Murrell's Inlet, and landed her passengers. The next morning at daylight, intercepted by this ship, the _Daylight_, _Governor Buckingham_, and _Aries_, in her approach to Western Bar, she was beached and fired by her crew, as above mentioned. The attempts of the _Governor Buckingham_, aided by the _Daylight_ and _Aries_, to extinguish the fire and haul the _Ranger_ off were frustrated by the enemy's sharpshooters, whose fire completely commanded her decks. This ship, drawing about twenty-four feet, was taken in four and one-half fathoms of water in front of the wreck, and the other vessels stationed to cross fire on the riflemen on the sand hills opened a deliberate fire with a view to dislodge the enemy and allow an attempt to haul off the _Ranger_ at high water at night. Meanwhile, the _Ranger_ was burning freely forward and the commanding officers of the _Governor Buckingham_ and _Daylight_, who had a good view of her situation, thinking that it was not practicable to get her off, she was also fired into, which, as her hatches were closed, had the effect of letting the air in, when the fire burned freely aft and doubtless burned the _Ranger_ out completely. Meanwhile, black smoke was rising in the direction of Shallotte Inlet, and the _Aries_, withdrawn last night from her station there, was ordered to chase. She soon returned, and Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Devens reported a fine-looking double-propeller blockade runner, resembling the _Ceres_, beached and on fire between Tubb's and Little River Inlets, and that the enemy's sharpshooters prevented his boats from boarding her. This was probably the same steamer that was chased the previous evening by the _Quaker City_, _Tuscarora_, and _Keystone State_, and escaping from them made the western shore, where, communicating and learning of the presence of the blockaders in force, and perhaps being short of coal, was beached by her crew and fired rather than be captured.

"The Department will perceive that this is the twenty-second steamer lost by the rebels and the blockade runners attempting to violate the blockade of Wilmington within the last six months, an average of nearly one steamer every eight days. These losses must greatly lessen the means of the rebel authorities to export cotton, obtain supplies, and sustain their credit, and thus dispirit and weaken them very much.

"I have the honor to be, Sir,

"Very respectfully yours,

"S.P. Lee,

"_Acting Rear Admiral_,
"_Comdg. North Atlantic Blockading Squadron_.

"Hon. Gideon Welles,

"_Secretary of the Navy_,
"_Washington, D.C._"

"U.S.S. 'Aries,'
"Off Little River,

"_January 12, 1864_.

"Sir: I would most respectfully report that the steamer stranded between Tubb's Inlet and Little River is the blockade runner _Vesta_. Boarded her this a.m.; made a hawser fast to her, but on examining her found her whole starboard side opened and several of the plates split; took two anchors from her, which was all we could save.

"The _Vesta_ was exactly like the _Ceres_.

"I left her a complete wreck, with five feet of water in her. Her boats lay on the beach badly stove.

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"Edward F. Devens,
"_Acting Volunteer Lieutenant, Commanding_."

"Wilmington, N.C., _January 27, 1864_.

"My Dear Sir: In Bermuda I took command of a splendid merchant steamer, called the _Ranger_, for the passage to Wilmington. I had very heavy weather and no observation for the first three days out. On the fourth got sights which put me at noon eighty miles southeast from lightship off Frying Pan Shoals. I went ahead full speed in heavy sea to sight the light early in the night, but the Yankees had put it out, and fearing the drift of the Gulf, I determined to run inshore and anchor during the next day (10th instant) and ascertain my position accurately, which I did, and landed my passengers and baggage. On the morning of the 11th, at 12.25 a.m., I got underway and ran along the coast for the bar near Fort Caswell. When eight miles from the fort I made the _Minnesota_ about one mile off, and whilst observing her motions the pilot (who had charge of the ship) suddenly sheered her inshore, and in an instant she was in the breakers. I made every effort to get her off, but unavailingly, so you see a couple of turns of a wheel in the hands of a timid man lost a fine ship and a valuable cargo. She was destroyed. I was loaded for Government.

"Your obedient servant,
"George W. Gift."

The "Spunkie."

Many blockade runners were given corresponding names, _Owl_, _Bat_, _Badger_, _Phantom_, _Lynx_, but none seemed to be more appropriate than that given to a little toy steamer from the Clyde named _Spunkie_. She was not fast but she managed to make several successful runs. When I saw her in Nassau I could scarcely believe that this little cockleshell of a boat had crossed the North Atlantic and had run through the blockading fleet. The commander of the Federal cruiser _Quaker City_ reported to Admiral Lee February 13, 1864, that he had discovered the _Spunkie_ ashore at daylight on the 9th on the beach a short distance west of Fort Caswell, but he could not determine whether she was attempting to run in or run out. Two tugs belonging to the blockading fleet made repeated but ineffectual efforts to float the _Spunkie_ and she still lies near Fort Caswell. As the _Spunkie_ was loaded with blankets, shoes, and provisions for the Confederate soldiers, there is no doubt she was trying to come into the river by the Western Bar when she ran ashore.

The "Phantom."

This was a new Confederate steamer built abroad on the most approved lines for the Confederate Government. She was a handsome iron propeller of about 500 tons, camouflaged, as were all blockade runners, to decrease her visibility. The usual method was to paint the hull and smoke funnels a grayish green to correspond with the sea and sky and the coast-line sand dunes, which often made them invisible even at close range. There were two Federal cruisers most dreaded by the blockade runners because of their great speed: the _Connecticut_ and the _Fort Jackson_. The former made many prizes. At daylight, the morning of September 23, 1863, when about fifty miles east by north of New Inlet, the _Phantom_ was discovered by the _Connecticut_ standing to the eastward. The _Phantom_ was bound from Bermuda for Wilmington with a very valuable cargo of Confederate arms, medicine, and general stores. She had evidently made a very bad landfall too far to the northward and eastward at daylight and was running away from the land until darkness would help her into Cape Fear River, when she would face the fleet again. But the _Connecticut_ gave chase at her top speed and after four hours' vain effort to escape, the _Phantom_ suddenly hauled in and ran ashore near Rich Inlet, where she still lies. The crew escaped in their own boats, after setting the _Phantom_ on fire. The Federals attempted to put out the fire and salve the _Phantom_, but failed to do so.

The "Dare."

This steamer was built abroad in 1863 for the Confederate Government. At daybreak on the morning of the 7th of January, 1864, the cruiser _Montgomery_ saw the _Dare_ with Confederate colors flying near Lockwood's Folly, heading for Cape Fear. The _Montgomery_ and her consort the _Aries_ gave chase, the latter heading off the _Dare_, which endeavored to escape, but being in range of the guns of both pursuers for about four hours, she headed for the beach, and was stranded at 12.30 p.m. a little to the northward of North Inlet, near Georgetown, S.C. The weather was very stormy and the surf very high so that one of the Federal boats, in attempting to board the _Dare_, was capsized and her crew made prisoners by the Confederates behind the sand dunes. Other Federal boats reached the stranded vessel and set her on fire.

The officers and crew of the _Dare_ escaped to the shore.

The "Bendigo."

In 1863, when the demand for suitable merchant steamers to run the Wilmington blockade could not be met, even at enormous prices, the eager buyers began to bid on the Clyde River steamers. Some of extraordinary speed but of frail construction were lost on the long and often tempestuous voyage across the Atlantic via Madeira and Bermuda, while others succeeded in passing the blockade with almost the regularity of mail boats. Of such was the _Bendigo_, previously named the _Milly_. Her description was as follows: Topsail yard schooner _Bendigo_; steamship of Liverpool, late _Milly_, 178 tons, built of iron, hull painted green, three portholes on either side fore and aft of paddle boxes. Elliptic stern, carriage and name on same painted white, bridge athwartships on top of paddle boxes; after funnel or smokestack, with steam pipe fore part of same, fire funnel or smoke stack with steam pipe fore part of same; draws eight feet six inches aft and eight feet forward.

I am putting this description (now obsolete) on record because it was a type of many other blockade runners in 1863-64.

The _Wilmington Journal_ of January 11, 1864, described the stranding of the blockade runner _Bendigo_ at Lockwood's Folly Inlet, from which it appears that the wreck of the blockade runner _Elizabeth_ was mistaken by the _Bendigo_ for a Federal cruiser, and in trying to run between the wreck and the beach the _Bendigo_ was stranded. The _Bendigo_ was discovered at 11 a.m. January 4, 1864, by Acting Rear Admiral S.P. Lee on his flagship _Fahkee_, who attempted with the assistance of the _Fort Jackson_, _Iron Age_, _Montgomery_, and _Daylight_ to haul off the _Bendigo_, in which they failed because the Confederate batteries on shore drove them off with the loss of the _Iron Age_, which got aground and blew up. The _Bendigo_ was set on fire and abandoned and her hull may be still visible at Lockwood's Folly Bar.

The "Antonica."

This Confederate blockade runner I remember as a fine ship and very successful. She was of the old American type of passenger and mail boat, 516 tons, known previously as the _Herald_. So regular and reliable in her runs was she that I recall a remark of one of her officers that it was only necessary to start her engine, put her on her course for either Wilmington or Nassau, lash her wheel, and she would go in and out by herself.

She ran several times in and out of Charleston, where she was registered carrying 1,000 to 1,200 bales of cotton and some tobacco. She was commanded on her last voyage by Capt. W.F. Adair, who reported that on the night of the 19th of December, 1863, the _Antonica_ made the land at Little River Inlet, the dividing line between North Carolina and South Carolina, and stood to the eastward of Lockwood's Folly Inlet and waited until the moon set at 2.30 a.m., when he attempted to run the blockade at Cape Fear Bar, but in trying to pass the blockader _Governor Buckingham_ was forced ashore on Frying Pan Shoals, and he and his crew, twenty-six all told, were captured while making for the beach in their own boats.

The _Antonica_ was loaded and bound for Wilmington with a very valuable cargo of war supplies when she was lost. The wreck still remains on Frying Pan Shoals.

I recall an interesting episode with reference to the _Antonica_ which nearly caused a rupture between the British and Federal Governments while I was with my ship in the British port of Nassau. The incident was referred to by the late Capt. Michael Usina of Savannah in his most interesting address many years ago before the Confederate Veterans, and I repeat it in his words:

"On one occasion I was awakened by the sound of cannon in the early morning at Nassau, and imagine my surprise to see a Confederate ship being fired at by a Federal man-of-war. The Confederate proved to be the _Antonica_, Captain Coxetter, who arrived off the port during the night, and, waiting for a pilot and daylight, found when daylight did appear that an enemy's ship was between him and the bar. There was nothing left for him to do but run the gauntlet and take his fire, which he did in good shape, some of the shot actually falling into the harbor. The Federal ship was commanded by Commodore Wilkes, who became widely known from taking Mason and Slidell prisoners. After the chase was over Wilkes anchored his ship, and when the Governor sent to tell him that he must not remain at anchor there he said: 'Tell the Governor, etc., etc., he would anchor where he pleased.' The military authorities sent their artillery across to Hog Island, near where he was anchored, and we Confederates thought the fun was about to begin. But Wilkes remained just long enough to communicate with the consul and get what information he wanted, and left."

The "Florie" and the "Badger."

These two fine boats were well known to me. The former was named after Mrs. J.G. Wright, of Wilmington, the beautiful daughter of Capt. John N. Maffitt, who commanded my ship the _Lilian_, a sister boat.

The _Florie_ was owned by the State of Georgia and by some of its prominent citizens, Gov. Joseph Brown, Col. C.A.L. Lamar, and others. She made several successful runs to Wilmington, but her end is clouded in mystery. There is no record of her fate except a report by some "intelligent contrabands" to the Federal fleet that she was sunk inside the bar in Cape Fear River; whether by accident or by shell fire I am unable to ascertain. It was said that the _Badger_, sister ship to the _Lynx_, came to her end the same way after making several runs through the fleet.

* * * * *

The following order of the Confederate Secretary of the Navy to Capt. John N. Maffitt, who was then in command of the _Owl_, will explain why so many valuable ships were run ashore rather than surrendered into the hands of the Federals:

Order of the Secretary of the Navy to Commander Maffitt, C.S. Navy, repeating telegram of instructions regarding the command of the blockade runner _Owl_.

"Confederate States of America,
"Navy Department, Richmond,
"_September 19, 1864_.

"Sir: The following telegram was this day sent to you:

"It is of the first importance that our steamers should not fall into the enemy's hands. Apart from the specific loss sustained by the country in the capture of blockade runners, these vessels, lightly armed, now constitute the fleetest and most efficient part of his blockading force off Wilmington.

"As commanding officer of the _Owl_ you will please devise and adopt thorough and efficient means for saving all hands and destroying the vessel and cargo whenever these measures may become necessary to prevent capture. Upon your firmness and ability the Department relies for the execution of this important trust. In view of this order, no passenger will, as a general rule, be carried. Such exceptions to this rule as the public interests may render necessary, embracing those who may be sent by the Government, will receive special permits from this Department.

"Assistant Paymaster Tredwell has been instructed to pay over to you, taking your receipt for the same, 5,000 pounds in sterling bills. You will please keep an accurate account with vouchers in duplicate of all your expenditures, one set of which you will submit to Mr. W.H. Peters, our special agent at Wilmington, upon each round trip you may make.

"I am respectfully your obedient servant,

"S.R. Mallory,
"_Secretary of the Navy_.

"Commander John N. Maffitt, _C.S. Navy_,
"Care W.H. Peters, Esq.,
"Wilmington, N.C."

The "Cape Fear."

A notable blockade runner called the _Virginia_ was bought by the Confederate Government during the war and renamed the _Cape Fear_. She was put under the command of Captain Guthrie, a Cape Fear pilot of recognized ability, who was succeeded by an English gentleman, a fine sailor, Captain Wise, who cast his lot with our people and ran the _Cape Fear_ up and down the river for several years as a Confederate transport. She was destroyed in the river when the Federals captured Fort Fisher. Captain Wise married a Miss Flora McCaleb, of Wilmington, and for years after the war conducted a lumberyard here. He was a most courteous, attractive gentleman, generally respected in the community. He died here many years ago.

The "North Heath."

During the third year of the War between the States, I was appointed at the age of seventeen years purser of the blockade-running steamer _North Heath_, under command of Captain Burroughs, who had successfully run the blockade twelve times in charge of the Confederate steamer _Cornubia_, later named _Lady Davis_, after the wife of the President. I believe that under God, Captain Burroughs, by his fine qualities as a cool and capable seaman, saved this ship from foundering at sea when we ran into a hurricane shortly after our departure from St. George, Bermuda, bound for Wilmington. For two days and nights we were in imminent danger of our lives--tossed upon a raging sea, every man of our crew of 48 except those at the wheel was lashed to the vessel, while we bailed with buckets and the use of hand pumps the flooded fireroom of our sinking vessel. For an entire night she wallowed like a log in a trough of mountainous waves, which broke over us in ever-increasing fury. I can never forget this frightful scene. It seems photographed upon my memory in all its fearsome details.

The water had risen in our hold until every one of our fourteen furnaces was extinguished. There was no steam to run our donkey boilers and steam-power pumps. Lashed to one another, in the blackness of darkness, relieved only by the intermittent flashes of lightning which illuminated the giant waves towering around us and threatening to overwhelm and sink the laboring, quivering fabric, we held on in despair until morning, when we began to gain on the leaks until our steam pumps could be used in relieving the boiler room, and our brave captain got the ship under control. Then we succeeded in putting her about and headed back to Bermuda.

The strain of this exposure resulted in an attack of fever, which confined me to bed for a long time on shore, and Captain Burroughs reluctantly left me behind when the ship was ready for sea. After we repaired our badly damaged hull and machinery, the _North Heath_ proceeded again toward Wilmington, passing the blockading fleet safely. When she was about to load cotton for the outward voyage, the Federal expedition against Fort Fisher arrived off Cape Fear and presented such a formidable appearance that the Confederate Government seized the _North Heath_, loaded her with stone and sank her at a point below Sunset Park where the river channel is narrow, as an obstruction to the Federal fleet which subsequently captured Wilmington. For many years after she was an obstruction to peaceful commerce, but the wreck was finally removed by the River and Harbor Improvement Engineers.

The "Kate."

There were two blockade runners named _Kate_, but they were quite different as to origin and enterprise. The first one of that name was an American-built steamer, previously in the coast trade. She was commanded by Capt. Thomas J. Lockwood, and it was this vessel that brought to Wilmington on the 6th of August, 1862, the fearful plague of yellow fever, which raged for ten weeks and carried off 446 of our people. After several successful voyages she ran ashore above Fiddler's Dreen, near Southport, and went to pieces.

About twenty years ago I related in Justice Clark's _North Carolina Regimental Histories_, published in five volumes, 1901, an incident in the career of this steamer _Kate_ which may be worth repeating:

On one occasion in the _Kate_ Lockwood had run inside the line of blockaders at the Main Bar some distance up the beach, and suddenly took the ground while jammed between an anchored man-of-war and the breakers. The blockader did not see him, although so near that no one on board the _Kate_ was permitted to speak above a whisper. The tide was near the last of the ebb and there were only a few hours of darkness in which to work. George C. McDougal, chief engineer and Captain Lockwood's brother-in-law, always ready for an emergency, had promptly loaded the safety valve down with a bag of iron castings to prevent any noise from escaping steam, and when it became absolutely necessary the steam was blown off very gently under the water. The boats were lowered noiselessly and several passengers and a lot of valuables landed in the surf on the lee side of the vessel, with orders to proceed to Fort Caswell in the distance. At first it seemed impossible to save the ship, as any noise from her paddles would inevitably have led to her destruction by the blockaders, which were seen plainly only a cable's length from the _Kate's_ perilous position. Lockwood held a consultation with his trusted engineer, and decided to open the gangway and quietly slide overboard a lot of lead wire in heavy coils, which was part of the inward cargo, and which was intended to be cut into bullets by the Confederate Government. This served to lighten the ship and also as an effectual bulkhead which prevented the vessel from working higher up on the beach when the tide turned, and the discharge went on for some time without apparent effect; but the rising tide soon after began to bump the bilges of the vessel against the sand bank inside. Lockwood proposed an attempt to back clear or to beach her at once, but the "Boss," as McDougal was called, calmly showed him that unless they were sure of floating clear on the first attempt they would never be permitted to make a second trial, as the paddles would surely betray them to the fleet. Another fifteen minutes that seemed an hour of suspense, and the captain again urged immediate action, but the imperturbable engineer said: "Wait a little longer, Oakie; she is rising every minute; let us be sure of getting off before we make the effort." Meantime the bumping increased, and at last, with everything in readiness and a full head of steam, the engines were reversed full speed, and the _Kate_, quickly afloat and responding to the wheel, gallantly passed the blockading fleet in the gray dawn and shortly afterwards anchored under the guns of Fort Caswell. She had hardly swung to the anchor before she was seen by the disappointed blockaders, who sent shell after shell flying after her, bursting in such uncomfortable proximity, that the _Kate_ was moved up to Mrs. Stuart's wharf at Smithville, where the shell and solid shot still followed her, many passing in a line more than a thousand yards beyond the wharf. With the aid of a good glass a man could be seen in the foretop of the Federal flagship with a flag in his hand, which he waved to right or left as he saw the effect of the firing; this enabled the gunners to better their aim until the shells struck just astern of the _Kate_ or passed in a line ahead of the vessel. On a closer approach of the fleet they were driven off by Fort Caswell's heaviest guns. The _Kate_ and her crew were in great peril on this occasion, owing to the fact that there were a thousand barrels of gunpowder on board for the Confederacy, making the risk from the shells extremely dangerous. Mr. McDougal said to me on this occasion that when the Yankees began shelling them at Fort Caswell a detachment of soldiers was being embarked for Wilmington on the Confederate transport _James T. Petteway_, and that when the first shell struck the beach near the _Petteway_, the whole company broke ranks and ran like rabbits to the fort again.

Some time ago the _Wilmington Daily Review_ published an account of the recovery of a large lot of wire from the bottom of the sea near Fort Caswell. This was doubtless part of the _Kate's_ cargo thrown overboard as described.

The Second "Kate."

The second _Kate_ was a new iron steamer, double-screw propeller, 344 tons, English built, commanded by Captain Stubbs. She had made a successful run into Charleston with a valuable cargo, and was also successful in running out again with 700 bales of cotton, which she landed in Nassau.

She had loaded a second inward cargo at Nassau and sailed for Charleston, but, failing to elude the blockaders, she ran for Wilmington and on July 12, 1863, at 4.55 o'clock a.m., was making for New Inlet close ahead when she was intercepted by the Federal blockader _Penobscot_, which opened a heavy fire on her and drove her ashore on the south end of Smith's Island, where her wrecked hull still remains. The Federals attempted to haul the _Kate_ off into deep water, but were prevented by the Confederates on shore, who drove them away. With the exception of two of her crew who remained and were captured, the officers and men of the _Kate_ escaped to the shore.

The "Night Hawk."

It is not surprising that the Federal blockading fleet so often failed to refloat blockade runners after they were stranded on the beach, because the runners always timed their attempt to pass the fleet at high tide, the depth of water on the bar being only 10 to 12 feet and the channel beset with shoals and obstructions, so that before the Federals could prepare for hauling off these vessels and thereby secure for themselves large sums of prize money, the tide would have fallen, leaving the stranded ships more firmly embedded in the sand, and when in daylight another high tide would come the Federals had to deal with the Confederate guns, which kept them at a distance. There were, however, several instances which I recall of the rescue of stranded ships by the Confederates, notably that of the _Kate_ and of the _Night Hawk_. The latter was a most spectacular, exciting affair, which I will relate in Mr. Thomas Taylor's words:

"It was on my second trip to Bermuda that one of the finest boats we ever possessed, called the _Night Hawk_, came out, and I concluded to run in with her. She was a new side-wheel steamer of some 600 tons gross, rigged as a fore-and-aft schooner, with two funnels, 220 feet long, 21-1/2 feet beam, and 11 feet in depth; a capital boat for the work, fast, strong, of light draught, and a splendid sea boat--a great merit in a blockade runner, which sometimes has to be forced in all weathers. The _Night Hawk's_ career was a very eventful one, and she passed an unusually lively night off Fort Fisher on her first attempt.

"Soon after getting under way our troubles began. We ran ashore outside Hamilton, one of the harbors of Bermuda, and hung on a coral reef for a couple of hours. There loomed before us the dismal prospect of delay for repairs, or, still worse, the chance of springing a leak and experiencing such difficulties and dangers as we had undergone on the _Will-o'-the-Wisp_, but fortunately we came off without damage and were able to proceed on our voyage.

"Another anxiety now engrossed my mind: the captain was an entirely new hand, and nearly all the crew were green at the work; moreover, the Wilmington pilot was quite unknown to me, and I could see from the outset that he was very nervous and badly wanting in confidence. What would I not have given for our trusty pilot Tom Burriss! However, we had to make the best of it, as, owing to the demand, the supply of competent pilots was not nearly sufficient, and toward the close of the blockade the so-called pilots were no more than boatmen or men who had been trading in and out of Wilmington or Charleston in coasters.

"Notwithstanding my fears, all went well on the way across, and the _Night Hawk_ proved to be everything that could be desired in speed and seaworthiness. We had sighted unusually few craft, and nothing eventful occurred until the third night. Soon after midnight we found ourselves uncomfortably near a large vessel. It was evident that we had been seen, as we heard them beating to quarters and were hailed. We promptly sheered off and went full speed ahead, greeted by a broadside which went across our stern. When we arrived within striking distance of Wilmington Bar, the pilot was anxious to go in by Smith's Inlet, but as he acknowledged that he knew very little about it, I concluded it was better to keep to the New Inlet passage, where, at all events, we should have the advantage of our good friend Lamb to protect us; and I felt that as I myself knew the place so well, this was the safest course to pursue. We were comparatively well through the fleet, although heavily fired at, and arrived near to the bar, passing close by two Northern launches which were lying almost upon it. Unfortunately, it was dead low water, and although I pressed the pilot to give our boat a turn around, keeping under way, and to wait awhile until the tide made, he was so demoralized by the firing we had gone through and the nearness of the launches, which were constantly throwing up rockets, that he insisted upon putting her at the bar, and, as I feared, we grounded on it forward and with the strong flood tide quickly broached to, broadside on to the northern breakers. We kept our engines going for some time, but to no purpose, as we found we were only being forced by the tide more on to the breakers. Therefore we stopped, and all at once found our friends, the two launches, close aboard; they had discovered we were ashore, and had made up their minds to attack us.

"At once all was in confusion; the pilot and signalman rushed to the dinghy, lowered it, and made good their escape; the captain lost his head and disappeared; and the crews of the launches, after firing several volleys, one of which slightly wounded me, rowed in to board us on each sponson. Just at this moment I suddenly recollected that our private dispatches, which ought to have been thrown overboard, were still in the starboard lifeboat. I rushed to it, but found the lanyard to which the sinking weight was attached was foul of one of the thwarts; I tugged and tugged, but to no purpose, so I sung out for a knife, which was handed to me by a fireman, and I cut the line and pitched the bag overboard as the Northerners jumped on board. Eighteen months afterwards that fireman accosted me in the Liverpool streets, saying, 'Mr. Taylor, do you remember my lending you a knife?' 'Of course I do,' I replied, giving him a tip at which he was mightily pleased. Poor fellow! he had been thirteen months in a Northern prison.

"When the Northerners jumped on board they were terribly excited. I don't know whether they expected resistance or not, but they acted more like maniacs than sane men, firing their revolvers and cutting right and left with their cutlasses. I stood in front of the men on the poop and said that we surrendered, but all the reply I received from the lieutenant commanding was, 'Oh, you surrender, do you?' accompanied by a string of the choicest Yankee oaths and sundry reflections upon my parentage; whereupon he fired his revolver twice point blank at me not two yards distant; it was a miracle he did not kill me, as I heard the bullets whiz past my head. This roused my wrath, and I expostulated in the strongest terms upon his firing on unarmed men; he then cooled down, giving me into charge of two of his men, one of whom speedily possessed himself of my binocular. Fortunately, as I had no guard to my watch, they didn't discover it, and I have it still.

"Finding they could not get the ship off, and afraid, I presume, of Lamb and his men coming to our rescue, the Federate commenced putting the captain (who had been discovered behind a boat!) and the crew into the boats; they then set the ship on fire fore and aft, and she soon began to blaze merrily. At this moment one of our firemen, an Irishman, sang out, 'Begorra, we shall all be in the air in a minute; the ship is full of gunpowder!' No sooner did the Northern sailors hear this than a panic seized them, and they rushed to their boats, threatening to leave their officers behind if they did not come along. The men who were holding me dropped me like a hot potato, and to my great delight jumped into their boat, and away they rowed as fast as they could, taking all our crew, with the exception of the second officer, one of the engineers, four seamen, and myself, as prisoners.

"We chuckled at our lucky escape, but we were not out of the woods yet, as we had only a boat half stove in in which to reach the shore through some three hundred yards of surf, and we were afraid at any moment that our enemies, finding there was no powder on board, might return. We made a feeble effort to put the fire out, but it had gained too much headway, and although I offered the men with me £50 apiece to stand by me and persevere, they were too demoralized and began to lower the shattered boat, swearing they would leave me behind if I didn't come with them. There was nothing for it but to go, yet the passage through the boiling surf seemed more dangerous to my mind than remaining on the burning ship. The blockaders immediately opened fire when they knew their own men had left the _Night Hawk_ and that she was burning; and Lamb's great shells hurtling over our heads, and those from the blockading fleet bursting all around us, formed a weird picture. In spite of the hail of shot and shell and the dangers of the boiling surf, we reached the shore in safety, wet through, and glad I was, in my state of exhaustion from loss of blood and fatigue, to be welcomed by Lamb's orderly officer.

"The poor _Night Hawk_ was now a sheet of flame, and I thought it was all up with her; and indeed it would have been had it not been for Lamb, who, calling for volunteers from his garrison, sent off two or three boat loads of men to her, and when I came down to the beach, after having my wound dressed and a short rest, I was delighted to find the fire had visibly decreased. I went on board, and after some hours of hard work the fire was extinguished. But what a wreck she was!

"Luckily, with the rising tide she had bumped over the bank, and was now lying on the main beach much more accessible and sheltered. Still it seemed an almost hopeless task to save her; but we were not going to be beaten without a try, so, having ascertained how she lay and the condition she was in, I resolved to have an attempt made to get her dry, and telegraphed to Wilmington for assistance.

"Our agent sent me down about three hundred negroes to assist in bailing and pumping, and I set them to work at once. As good luck would have it, my finest steamer, _Banshee No. 2_, which had just been sent out, ran in the next night. She was a great improvement on the first _Banshee_, having a sea speed of 15-1/2 knots, which was considered very fast in those days; her length was 252 feet, beam 31 feet, depth 11 feet, her registered tonnage 439 tons, and her crew consisted of fifty-three in all. I at once requisitioned her for aid in the shape of engineers and men, so that now I had everything I could want in the way of hands. Our great difficulty was that the _Night Hawk's_ anchors would not hold for us to get a fair haul at her.