Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States Part 6

NEW ORLEANS, May 14, 1861.

SIR:--I have the honor to inclose, herewith, a requisition for the sum of $10,000, which I request may be remitted to the paymaster of the _Sumter_, in specie, for use during my contemplated cruise. I may find it necessary to coal several times, and to supply my crew with fresh provisions, &c., before I have the opportunity of replenis.h.i.+ng my military chest from the enemy.

The ammunition remained to be provided, and on the 20th of May, I dispatched Lieutenant Chapman to the Baton Rouge a.r.s.enal, which had been captured a short time before, for the purpose of procuring it, under the following letter of instructions:

NEW ORLEANS, May 20, 1861.

SIR:--You will proceed to Baton Rouge, and put yourself in communication with the commander of the C. S. a.r.s.enal, at that point, for the purpose of receiving the ammunition, arms, shot, sh.e.l.l, &c., that may be required for the supply of the C. S. steamer _Sumter_, now fitting for sea at this port. It is presumed that the proper orders [which had been requested] have been, or will be dispatched from Montgomery, authorizing the issue of all such articles, as we may need. Should this not be the case, with regard to any of the articles, it is hoped that the ordnance officer in charge will not hesitate to deliver them, as it is highly important that the _Sumter_ should not be detained, because of any oversight, or informality, in the orders of the War Department. Be pleased to present the accompanying requisition to Captain Booth, the superintendent, and ask that it may be filled. The gunner will be directed to report to you, to accompany you to Baton Rouge, on this service.

The reader will thus perceive that many difficulties lay in the way of equipping the _Sumter_; that I was obliged to pick up one material here, and another there, as I could best find it, and that I was not altogether free from the routine of the "Circ.u.mlocution Office," as my requisitions had frequently to pa.s.s through many hands, before they could be complied with.

About this time, we met with a sad accident in the loss of one of our mids.h.i.+pmen, by drowning. He, with other young officers of the _Sumter_, had been stationed, temporarily, on board the receiving s.h.i.+p, in charge of the _Sumter's_ crew, whilst the latter s.h.i.+p was still in the hands of the mechanics. The following letter of condolence to the father of the young gentleman will sufficiently explain the circ.u.mstances of the disaster:

NEW ORLEANS, May 18, 1861.

SIR:--It becomes my melancholy duty to inform you, of the death, by drowning, yesterday, of your son, Mids.h.i.+pman John F. Holden, of the C. S. steamer _Sumter_. Your son was temporarily attached to the receiving s.h.i.+p (late _Star of the West_) at this place, whilst the _Sumter_ was being prepared for sea, and whilst engaged in carrying out an anchor, in a boat belonging to that s.h.i.+p, met his melancholy fate, along with three of the crew, by the swamping of the boat, in which he was embarked. I offer you, my dear sir, my heartfelt condolence on this sad bereavement. You have lost a cherished son, and the Government a valuable and promising young officer.

W. B. HOLDEN, ESQ., _Louisburg, Tenn._

War had begun, thus early, to demand of us our sacrifices. Tennessee had not yet seceded, and yet this ardent Southern youth had withdrawn from the Naval Academy, and cast his lot with his section.

A few extracts from my journal will now, perhaps, give the reader a better idea of the progress of my preparations for sea, and of pa.s.sing events, than any other form of narrative. _May 27th._--News received this morning of the appearance, at Pa.s.s a L'Outre, yesterday, of the U. S. steamer _Brooklyn_, and of the establishment of the blockade. Work is progressing satisfactorily, and I expect to be ready for sea, by Sunday next.

News of skirmis.h.i.+ng in Virginia, and of fresh arrivals of Northern troops, at Was.h.i.+ngton, _en route_ for that State. The Federal Government has crossed the Potomac, in force, and thus inaugurated a b.l.o.o.d.y, and a bitter war, by the invasion of our territory. So be it--we but accept the gantlet, which has been flung in our faces. The future will tell a tale not unworthy of the South, and her glorious cause.

_Monday, May 30th._ My patience is sorely tried by the mechanics. The water-tanks for the _Sumter_ are not yet completed. The carriage for the 8-inch gun was finished, to-day, and we are busy laying down the circles for it, and cutting the holes for the fighting-bolts. The carriages for the 32-pounders are promised us, by Sat.u.r.day next, and also the copper tanks for the magazine. Our ammunition, and small arms arrived, yesterday, from Baton Rouge. Besides the _Brooklyn_, at the Pa.s.ses, we learn, to-day, that the _Niagara_, and _Minnesota_, two of the enemy's fastest, and heaviest steams.h.i.+ps have arrived, to a.s.sist in enforcing the blockade, and to lie in wait for some s.h.i.+ps expected to arrive, laden with arms and ammunition, for the Confederacy. _May 31st._--The tanks are at last finished, and they have all been delivered, to-day. Leeds & Co. have done an excellent job, and I shall be enabled to carry three months' water for my crew. We shall now get on, rapidly, with our preparations.

_Sat.u.r.day, June 1st_, finds us not yet ready for sea! The tanks have all been taken on board, and stowed; the gun carriages for the 32s will be finished on Monday. The circles for the 8-inch gun have been laid down, and the fighting-bolts are ready for placing. On Monday I shall throw the crew on board, and by Thursday next, I shall, _without doubt_ be ready for sea. We are losing a great deal of precious time. The enemy's flag is being flaunted in our faces, at all our ports by his s.h.i.+ps of war, and his vessels of commerce are pa.s.sing, and repa.s.sing, on the ocean, in defiance, or in contempt of our power, and, as yet, we have not struck a blow.

At length on the 3d of June, I was enabled to put the _Sumter_, formally, in commission. On that day her colors were hoisted, for the first time--the ensign having been presented to me, by some patriotic ladies of New Orleans--the crew was transferred to her, from the receiving s.h.i.+p, and the officers were ordered to mess on board. The s.h.i.+p was now hauled off and anch.o.r.ed in the stream, but we were delayed two long and tedious weeks yet, before we were finally ready. During these two weeks we made a trial trip up the river, some ten or twelve miles. Some of the princ.i.p.al citizens were invited on board, and a bright, and beautiful afternoon was pleasantly spent, in testing the qualities of the s.h.i.+p, the range of her guns, and the working of the gun-carriages; the whole ending by a collation, in partaking of which my guests were kind enough to wish me a career full of "_blazing_ honors."

I was somewhat disappointed in the speed of my s.h.i.+p, as we did not succeed in getting more than nine knots out of her. There was another great disadvantage. With all the s.p.a.ce I could allot to my coal-bunkers, she could be made to carry no more than about eight days' fuel. We had masts, and sails, it is true, but these could be of but little use, when the coal was exhausted, as the propeller would remain a drag in the water, there being no means of hoisting it. It was with such drawbacks, that I was to take the sea, alone, against a vindictive and relentless enemy, whose Navy already swarmed on our coasts, and whose means of increasing it were inexhaustible. But the sailor has a saying, that "Luck is a Lord," and we trusted to luck.

On the 18th of June, after all the vexatious delays that have been described, I got up my anchor, and dropped down to the Barracks, below the city a short distance, to receive my powder on board, which, for safety, had been placed in the State magazine. At 10.30 P. M. of the same day, we got up steam, and by the soft and brilliant light of a moon near her full, threw ourselves into the broad, and swift current of the Father of Waters, and ran rapidly down to the anchorage, between Fort Jackson, and Fort St.

Philip, where we came to at 4 A. M. In the course of the day, Captain Brand, an ex-officer of the old Navy, and now second in command of the forts, came on board to make us the ceremonial visit; and I subsequently paid my respects to Major Duncan, the officer in chief command, an ex-officer of the old Army. These gentlemen were both busy, as I found upon inspecting the forts, in perfecting their batteries, and drilling their men, for the hot work that was evidently before them. As was unfortunately the case with our people, generally, at this period, they were over-confident. They kindly supplied some few deficiencies, that still remained in our gunner's department, and I received from them a howitzer, which I mounted on my taffarel, to guard against boat attacks, by night.

I remained three days at my anchors between the forts, for the purpose of stationing, and drilling my crew, before venturing into the presence of the enemy; and I will take advantage of this lull to bring up some matters connected with the s.h.i.+p, which we have hitherto overlooked. On the 7th of June, the Secretary of the Navy--the Government having, in the mean time, removed to Richmond--sent me my sailing orders, and in my letter of the 14th of the same month, acknowledging their receipt, I had said to him: "I have an excellent set of men on board, though they are nearly all green, and will require some little practice, and drilling, at the guns, to enable them to handle them creditably. Should I be fortunate enough to reach the high seas, you may rely upon my implicit obedience of your instructions, 'to do the enemy's commerce the greatest injury, in the shortest time.'"

Here was a model of a letter of instruction--it meant "burn, sink, and destroy," always, of course, within the limits prescribed by the laws of nations, and with due attention to the laws of humanity, in the treatment of prisoners. The reader will see, as we progress, that I gave the "implicit obedience" which had been promised, to these instructions, and that if greater results were not accomplished, it was the fault of the _Sumter_, and not of her commander. In the same letter that brought me my sailing orders, the Secretary had suggested to me the propriety of adopting some means of communicating with him, by cipher, so that, my despatches, if captured by the enemy, would be unintelligible to him. The following letter in reply to this suggestion, will explain how this was arranged: "I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of 'Reid's English Dictionary,' a duplicate of which I retain, for the purpose mentioned in your letter of instructions, of the 7th instant. I have not been able to find in the city of New Orleans, 'Cobb's Miniature Lexicon,' suggested by you, or any other suitable dictionary, with but a single column on a page.

This need make no difference, however. In my communications to the Department, should I have occasion to refer to a word in the copy sent, I will designate the first column on the page, A, and the second column, B.

Thus, if I wish to use the word 'prisoner,' my reference to it would be as follows: 323, B, 15; the first number referring to the page, the letter to the column, and the second number to the number of the word from the top of the column." By means of this simple, and cheap device, I was enabled, at all times, to keep my dispatches out of the hands of the enemy, or, in other words, prevent him from interpreting them, when I had anything of importance to communicate.

Before leaving New Orleans, I had, in obedience to a general order of the service, transmitted to the Navy Department, a Muster Roll of the officers, and men, serving on board the _Sumter_. Her crew, as reported by this roll, consisted of ninety-two persons, exclusive of officers. Twenty of these ninety-two persons were marines--a larger guard than was usual for so small a s.h.i.+p. The officers were as follows:

_Commander._--Raphael Semmes.

_Lieutenants._--John M. Kell; Robert T. Chapman; John M. Stribling; William E. Evans.

_Paymaster._--Henry Myers.

_Surgeon._--Francis L. Galt.

_1st Lieutenant of Marines._--B. Howell.

_Mids.h.i.+pmen._--William A. Hicks; Albert G. Hudgins; Richard F. Armstrong; Joseph D. Wilson.

_Engineers._--Miles J. Freeman; William P. Brooks; Matthew O'Brien; Simeon W. c.u.mmings.

_Boatswain._--Benjamin P. Mecasky.

_Gunner._--Thomas C. Cuddy.

_Sailmaker._--W. P. Beaufort.

_Carpenter._--William Robinson.

_Captain's Clerk._--W. Breedlove Smith.

Commissions had been forwarded to all the officers ent.i.tled to receive them, and acting appointments had been given by me to the warrant officers. It will thus be seen, how formally all these details had been attended to. These commissions were to be our warrants for what we were to do, on the high seas.

And now the poor boon will be permitted to human nature, that before we launch our frail bark, on the wild sea of adventure, before us, we should turn our thoughts, homeward, for a moment.

"'And is he gone?'--on sudden solitude How oft that fearful question will intrude!

'Twas but an instant past--and here he stood!

And now!--without the portal's porch she rushed, And then at length her tears in freedom gushed; Big, bright, and fast, unknown to her they fell; But still her lips refused to send 'farewell!'

For in that word--that fatal word--howe'er We promise--hope--believe--there breathes despair."

Such was the agony of many a fair bosom, as the officers of the _Sumter_ had torn themselves from the embraces of their families, in those scenes of leave-taking, which more than any other, try the sailor's heart.

Several of them were married men, and it was long years before they returned to the homes which they had made sad by their absence.

CHAPTER XI.

AFTER LONG WAITING AND WATCHING, THE SUMTER RUNS THE BLOCKADE OF THE MISSISSIPPI, IN OPEN DAYLIGHT, PURSUED BY THE BROOKLYN.

Whilst we were lying at our anchors between the forts, as described in the last chapter, Governor Moore of Louisiana, who had done good service to the Confederacy, by seizing the forts, and a.r.s.enals in his State, in advance of secession, and the Hon. John Slidell, lately returned from his seat in the Federal Senate, and other distinguished gentlemen came down, on a visit of inspection to the forts. I went on sh.o.r.e to call on them, and brought them on board the _Sumter_ to lunch with me. My s.h.i.+p was, by this time, in excellent order, and my crew well accustomed to their stations, under the judicious management of my first lieutenant, and I took pleasure in showing these gentlemen how much a little discipline could accomplish, in the course of a few weeks. Discipline!--what a power it is everywhere, and under all circ.u.mstances; and how much the want of it lost us, as the war progressed. What a pity the officers of our army did not have their respective commands, encircled by wooden walls, with but a "single monarch to walk the peopled deck."

Just at nightfall, on the evening of the 21st of June, I received the following despatch from the commanding officer of the forts:

CAPTAIN:--I am desired by the commanding officer to state, that the _Ivy_--this was a small tender of the forts, and letter-of-marque--reports that the _Powhatan_ has left, in pursuit of two s.h.i.+ps, and that he has a telegram from Pa.s.s a L'Outre, to the effect, that a boat from the _Brooklyn_ had put into the river and was making for the telegraph station, where she was expected to arrive within a few minutes.

The _Powhatan_ was blockading the Southwest Pa.s.s, and it was barely possible that I might get to sea, through this pa.s.s, if a pilot could be at once procured; and so I immediately ordered steam to be raised, and getting up my anchor, steamed down to the Head of the Pa.s.ses, where the river branches into its three princ.i.p.al outlets. Arriving here, at half-past ten P. M. I dispatched a boat to the light-house, for a pilot; but the keeper _knew nothing_ of the pilots, and was unwilling to come on board, himself, though requested. The night wore away, and nothing could be done.

The telescope revealed to us, the next morning, that the _Powhatan_ had returned to her station. From the sullen, and unsatisfactory message, which had been returned to me, by the keeper of the light-house, I began to suspect that there was something wrong, about the pilots; and it being quite necessary that I should have one constantly, on board, to enable me to take advantage of any temporary absence of the enemy's cruisers, without having to hunt up one for the emergency, I dispatched the _Ivy_, to the pilots' station, at the Southwest Pa.s.s, in search of one. This active little cruiser returned in the course of a few hours, and reported that none of the pilots were willing to come on board of me! I received, about the same time, a telegraphic despatch from the Southwest Pa.s.s, forwarded to me through Major Duncan, which read as follows: "Applied to the Captain of the Pilots' a.s.sociation for a pilot for the _Sumter_. He requested me to state, that there are no pilots on duty now!" "So ho! sits the wind in that quarter," thought I--I will soon set this matter right.

I, at once, sent Lieutenant Stribling on board the _Ivy_, and directed him to proceed to the Pilots' a.s.sociation, and deliver, and see executed the following written order: