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 arsenals 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 shore to call on them,
and brought them on board the _Sumter_ to lunch with me. My ship 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 circumstances; 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 ships, and that he has a telegram from Pass 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 Pass, and it was barely
possible that I might get to sea, through this pass, 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 Passes, where the
river branches into its three principal 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 Pass, 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 Pass,
forwarded to me through Major Duncan, which read as follows: "Applied to
the Captain of the Pilots' Association 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' Association, and deliver, and see executed the
following written order:
C. S. STEAMER SUMTER, HEAD OF THE PASSES,
June 22, 1861.
SIR:--This is to command you to repair on board this ship, with three
or four of the most experienced pilots of the Bar. I am surprised to
learn, that an unwillingness has been expressed, by some of the
pilots of your Association, to come on board the _Sumter_; and my
purpose is to test the fact of such disloyalty to the Confederate
States. If any man disobeys this summons I will not only have his
Branch taken from him, but I will send an armed force, and arrest,
and bring him on board.
This order had the desired effect, and in the course of the afternoon,
Lieutenant Stribling returned, bringing with him, the Captain of the
Association, and several of the pilots. I directed them to be brought into
my cabin, and when they were assembled, demanded to know the reason of
their late behavior. Some stammering excuses were offered, which I cut
short, by informing them that one of them must remain on board constantly,
and that they might determine for themselves, who should take the first
week's service; to be relieved at the end of the week, by another, and so
on, as long as I should find it necessary. One of their number being
designated, I dismissed the rest. The reader will see how many faithful
auxiliaries, Admiral Farragut afterward found, in the Pilots' Association
of the mouths of the Mississippi, when he made his famous ascent of the
river, and captured its great seaport. Nor was this defection confined to
New Orleans. The pilots along our whole Southern coast were, with few
exceptions, Northern men, and as a rule they went over to the enemy,
though pretending, in the beginning of our troubles, to be good
secessionists. The same remark may be applied to our steamboat men, of
Northern birth, as a class. Many of them had become domiciled in the
South, and were supposed to be good Southern men, until the crucial test
of self-interest was applied to them, when they, too, deserted us, and
took service with the enemy.
The object of the _Brooklyn's_ boat, which, as we have seen, pulled into
the telegraph station at Pass a L'Outre, just before we got under way from
between the forts, was to cut the wires, and break up the station, to
prevent intelligence being given me of the movements of the blockading
fleet. I now resorted to a little retaliation. I dispatched an officer to
the different light-houses, to stave the oil-casks, and bring away the
lighting apparatus, to prevent the enemy's shipping from using the lights.
They were of great convenience, not only to the ships employed on the
blockade, but to the enemy's transports, and other ships, bound to and
from the coast of Texas. They could be of no use to our own
blockade-runners, as the passes of the Mississippi, by reason of their
long, and tortuous, and frequently shifting channels, were absolutely
closed to them.
The last letter addressed by me to the Secretary of the Navy, before
escaping through the blockade, as hereinafter described, was the
following:
C. S. STEAMER SUMTER, HEAD OF THE PASSES,
June 30, 1861.
SIR:--I have the honor to inform the Department that I am still at my
anchors at the "Head of the Passes"--the enemy closely investing both
of the practical outlets. At Pass a L'Outre there are three ships,
the _Brooklyn_, and another propeller, and a large side-wheel
steamer; and at the Southwest Pass, there is the _Powhatan_, lying
within half a mile of the bar, and not stirring an inch from her
anchors, night or day. I am only surprised that the _Brooklyn_ does
not come up to this anchorage, which she might easily do--as there is
water enough, and no military precautions, whatever, have been taken
to hold the position--and thus effectually seal all the passes of the
river, by her presence alone; which would enable the enemy to
withdraw the remainder of his blockading force, for use elsewhere.
With the assistance of the _Jackson_, Lieutenant Gwathmey, and the
_McRae_, Lieutenant Huger--neither of which has, as yet, however,
dropped down--I could probably hold my position here, until an
opportunity offers of my getting to sea. I shall watch, diligently,
for such an opportunity, and have no doubt, that sooner or later, it
will present itself. I found, upon dropping down to this point, that
the lights at Pass a L'Outre, and South Pass had been strangely
overlooked, and that they were still being nightly exhibited. I
caused them both to be extinguished, so that if bad weather should
set in--a gale from the south-east, for instance--the blockading
ships, having nothing to "hold on to," will be obliged to make an
offing. At present the worst feature of the blockade of Pass a
L'Outre is, that the _Brooklyn_ has the speed of me; so that even if
I should run the bar, I could not hope to escape her, unless I
surprised her, which with her close watch of the bar, at anchor near
by, both night and day, it will be exceedingly difficult to do. I
should be quite willing to try speed with the _Powhatan_, if I could
hope to run the gantlet of her guns, without being crippled; but here
again, unfortunately, with all the buoys, and other marks removed,
the bar which she is watching is a perfectly blind bar, except by
daylight. In the meantime, I am drilling my green crew, to a proper
use of the great guns, and small arms. With the exception of a
diarrhoea, which is prevailing, to some extent, brought on by too
free use of the river water, in the excessive heats which prevail,
the crew continues healthy.
Nothing in fact surprised me more, during the nine days I lay at the Head
of the Passes, than that the enemy did not attack me with some of his
light-draught, but heavily armed steamers, or by his boats, by night. Here
was the _Sumter_, a small ship, with a crew, all told, of a little over a
hundred men, anchored only ten, or twelve miles from the enemy, without a
gun, or an obstruction between her and him; and yet no offensive movement
was made against her. The enemy watched me closely, day by day, and bent
all his energies toward preventing my escape, but did not seem to think of
the simple expedient of endeavoring to capture me, with a superior force.
In nightly expectation of an assault, I directed the engineer to keep the
water in his boilers, as near the steam-point as possible, without
actually generating the vapor, and sent a patrol of boats some distance
down the Southwest Pass; the boats being relieved every four hours, and
returning to the ship, at the first streaks of dawn. After I went to sea,
the enemy did come in, and take possession of my anchorage, until he was
driven away by Commodore Hollins, in a little nondescript ram; which, by
the way, was the first ram experiment of the war. The reader may imagine
the tedium, and discomforts of our position, if he will reflect that it is
the month of June, and that at this season of the year, the sun comes down
upon the broad, and frequently calm surface of the Father of Waters, with
an African glow, and that clouds of that troublesome little insect the
mosquito tormented us, by night and by day. There was no sleeping at all
without the mosquito bar, and I had accordingly had a supply sent down for
all the crew. Rather than stand the assaults of these little _picadores_,
much longer, I believe my crew would have run the gantlet of the whole
Federal Navy.
My diary will now perhaps give the reader, his clearest conception of the
condition of things on board the _Sumter_, for the remaining few days that
she is to continue at her anchors.
_Tuesday, June 25th._--A sharp thunder-storm at half-past three A. M.,
jarring and shaking the ship with its crashes. The very flood-gates of the
heavens seem open, and the rain is descending on our decks like a
cataract. Clearing toward ten o'clock. Both blockading ships still at
their anchors. The British steam sloop _Jason_ touched at the Southwest
Pass, yesterday, and communicated with the _Powhatan_. We learn by the
newspapers, to-day, that the enemy has taken possession of Ship Island,
and established a blockade of the Sound. The anaconda is drawing his
folds around us. We are filling some shell, and cartridges to-day, and
drilling the crew at the battery.
_Wednesday, June 26th._--Cloudy, with occasional rain squalls, which have
tempered the excessive heats. The _Ivy_ returned from the city to-day, and
brought me eighty barrels of coal. Sent the pilot, in the light-house
keeper's boat, to sound the S. E. bar, an unused and unwatched outlet to
the eastward of the South Pass--in the hope that we may find sufficient
water over it, to permit the egress of the ship. The Federal ships are
keeping close watch, as usual, at both the passes, neither of them having
stirred from her anchor, since we have been at the "Head of the Passes."
_Thursday, June 27th._--Weather sultry, and atmosphere charged with
moisture. Pilot returned this afternoon, and reports ten and a half feet
water on the S. E. bar. Unfortunately the _Sumter_ draws twelve feet; so
we must abandon this hope.
_Saturday, June 29th._--A mistake induced us to expend a little coal,
to-day, uselessly. The pilot having gone aloft, to take his usual
morning's survey of the "situation," reported that the _Brooklyn_ was
nowhere to be seen! Great excitement immediately ensued, on the decks, and
the officer of the watch hurried into my cabin with the information. I
ordered steam to be gotten up with all dispatch, and when, in the course
of a very few minutes, it was reported ready--for we always kept our fires
banked--the anchor was tripped, and the ship was under way, ploughing her
way through the turbid waters, toward Pass a L'Outre. When we had steamed
about four miles down the pass, the _Brooklyn_ was seen riding very
quietly at her anchors, _in her usual berth near the bar_. Explanation:
The _Sumter_ had dragged her anchor during the night, and the alteration
in her position had brought a clump of trees between her, and the enemy's
ship, which had prevented the pilot from seeing the latter! With
disappointed hopes we had nothing to do, but to return to our anchors, and
watch and wait. In half an hour more, the sailors were lounging idly about
the decks, under well-spread awnings; the jest, and banter went round, as
usual, and save the low hissing and singing of the steam, which was still
escaping, there was nothing to remind the beholder of our recent
disappointment. Such is the school of philosophy in which the seaman is
reared. Our patience, however, was soon to be rewarded.
Early on the next morning, which was the 30th of June, the steamer,
_Empire Parish_, came down from the city, and coming alongside of us, put
on board some fresh provisions for the crew, and about one hundred barrels
of coal, which my thoughtful, and attentive friend, Commodore Rousseau,
had sent down to me. Having done this, the steamer shoved off, and
proceeded on her trip, down Pass a L'Outre, to the pilots' station, and
lighthouse. It was a bright Sunday morning, and we were thinking of
nothing but the usual muster, and how we should get through another idle
day. In the course of two or three hours, the steamer returned, and when
she had come near us, she was seen to cast off a boat, which she had been
towing, containing a single boatman--one of the fishermen, or oyster-men
so common in these waters. The boatman pulled rapidly under our stern, and
hailing the officer of the deck, told him, that the _Brooklyn_ had gone
off in chase of a sail, and was no longer in sight. The crew, who had been
"cleaning themselves," for Sunday muster, at once stowed away their bags;
the swinging-booms were gotten alongside, the boats run up, and, in ten
minutes, the steam was again hissing, as if impatient of control. The men
ran round the capstan, in "double-quick," in their eagerness to get up the
anchor, and in a few minutes more, the ship's head swung off gracefully
with the current, and, the propeller being started, she bounded off like a
thing of life, on this new race, which was to decide whether we should
continue to stagnate in midsummer, in the marshes of the Mississippi, or
reach those "glad waters of the dark blue sea," which form as delightful a
picture in the imagination of the sailor, as in that of the poet.
Whilst we were heaving up our anchor, I had noticed the pilot, standing
near me, pale, and apparently nervous, and agitated, but, as yet, he had
said not a word. When we were fairly under way, however, and it seemed
probable, at last, that we should attempt the blockade, the fellow's
courage fairly broke down, and he protested to me that he knew nothing of
the bar of Pass a L'Outre, and durst not attempt to run me over. "I am,"
said he, "a S. W. bar pilot, and know nothing of the other passes."
"What," said I, "did you not know that I was lying at the Head of the
Passes, for the very purpose of taking any one of the outlets through
which an opportunity of escape might present itself, and yet you dare tell
me, that you know but one of them, and have been deceiving me." The fellow
stammered out something in excuse, but I was too impatient to listen to
him, and, turning to the first lieutenant, ordered him to hoist the "Jack"
at the fore, as a signal for a pilot. I had, in fact, resolved to attempt
the passage of the bar, from my own slight acquaintance with it, when I
had been a light-house inspector, rather than forego the opportunity of
escape, and caused the Jack to be hoisted, rather as a matter of course,
than because I hoped for any good result from it. The _Brooklyn_ had not
"chased out of sight," as reported--she had only chased to the westward,
some seven or eight miles, and had been hidden from the boatman, by one of
the spurs of the Delta. She had probably, all the while, had her
telescopes on the _Sumter_, and as soon as she saw the black smoke issuing
from her chimney, and the ship moving rapidly toward the pass, she
abandoned her chase, and commenced to retrace her steps.
We had nearly equal distances to run to the bar, but I had the advantage
of a four-knot current. Several of my officers now collected around me,
and we were discussing the chances of escape. "What think you of our
prospect," said I, turning to one of my lieutenants, who had served a
short time before, on board the _Brooklyn_, and knew well her qualities.
"Prospect, sir! not the least in the world--there is no possible chance of
our escaping that ship. Even if we get over the bar ahead of her, she must
overhaul us, in a very short time. The _Brooklyn_ is good for fourteen
knots an hour, sir." "That was the report," said I, "on her trial trip,
but you know how all such reports are exaggerated; ten to one, she has no
better speed, if so good, as the _Sumter_." "You will see, sir," replied
my lieutenant; "we made a passage in her, only a few months ago, from
Tampico to Pensacola, and averaged about thirteen knots the whole
distance."
Here the conversation dropped, for an officer now came to report to me
that a boat had just shoved off from the pilots' station, evidently with a
pilot in her. Casting my eyes in the given direction, I saw a whale-boat
approaching us, pulled by four stout blacks, who were bending like good
fellows to their long ashen oars, and in the stern sheets was seated, sure
enough, the welcome pilot, swaying his body to, and fro, as his boat
leaped under the oft-repeated strokes of the oars, as though he would
hasten her already great speed. But more beautiful still was another
object which presented itself. In the balcony of the pilot's house, which
had been built in the very marsh, on the margin of the river, there stood
a beautiful woman, the pilot's young wife, waving him on to his duty, with
her handkerchief. We could have tossed a biscuit from the _Sumter_ to the
shore, and I uncovered my head gallantly to my fair countrywoman. A few
moments more, and a tow-line had been thrown to the boat, and the gallant
young fellow stood on the horse-block beside me.
As we swept past the light-house wharf, almost close enough to touch it,
there were other petticoats fluttering in the breeze, the owners of which
were also waving handkerchiefs of encouragement to the _Sumter_. I could
see my sailors' eyes brighten at these spectacles, for the sailor's heart
is capacious enough to love the whole sex, and I now felt sure of their
nerves, in case it should become necessary to tax them. Half a mile or so,
from the light-house, and the bar is reached. There was a Bremen ship
lying aground on the bar, and there was just room, and no more, for us to
pass her. She had run out a kedge, and had a warp attached to it that was
lying across the passage-way. The crew considerately slackened the line,
as we approached, and in another bound the _Sumter_ was outside the bar,
and the Confederate flag was upon the high seas! We now slackened our
speed, for an instant--only an instant, for my officers and men all had
their wits about them, and worked like good fellows--to haul the pilot's
boat alongside, that he might return to the shore. As the gallant young
fellow grasped my hand, and shook it warmly, as he descended from the
horse-block, he said, "Now, Captain, you are all clear; give her h--ll,
and let her go!"
We had now nothing to do, but turn our attention to the enemy. The
_Brooklyn_, as we cleared the bar, was about three and a half, or four
miles distant; we were therefore just out of reach of her guns, with
nothing to spare. Thick volumes of smoke could be seen pouring from the
chimneys of both ships; the firemen, and engineers of each evidently doing
their best. I called a lieutenant, and directed him to heave the log. He
reported our speed to be nine, and a half knots. Loth to believe that we
could be making so little way, through the yet turbid waters, which were
rushing past us with great apparent velocity, I directed the officer to
repeat the experiment; but the same result followed, though he had paid
out the line with a free hand. I now sent for the engineer, and, upon
inquiry, found that he was doing his very best--"though," said he, "there
is a little drawback, just now, in the 'foaming' of our boilers, arising
from the suddenness with which we got up steam; when this subsides, we may
be able to add half a knot more."
The _Brooklyn_ soon loosed, and set her sails, bracing them sharp up on
the starboard tack. I loosed and set mine, also. The enemy's ship was a
little on my weather quarter, say a couple of points, and had thus
slightly the weather-gauge of me. As I knew I could lay nearer the wind
than she, being able to brace my yards sharper, and had besides, the
advantage of larger fore-and-aft sails, comparatively, stay-sails,
try-sails, and a very large spanker, I resolved at once to hold my wind,
so closely, as to compel her to furl her sails, though this would carry me
a little athwart her bows, and bring me perhaps a little nearer to her,
for the next half hour, or so. A rain squall now came up, and enveloped
the two ships, hiding each from the other. As the rain blew off to
leeward, and the _Brooklyn_ reappeared, she seemed fearfully near to us,
and I began to fear I should realize the foreboding of my lieutenant. I
could not but admire the majesty of her appearance, with her broad flaring
bows, and clean, and beautiful run, and her masts, and yards, as taunt and
square, as those of an old time sailing frigate. The stars and stripes of
a large ensign flew out from time to time, from under the lee of her
spanker, and we could see an apparently anxious crowd of officers on her
quarter-deck, many of them with telescopes directed toward us. She had,
evidently, I thought, gained upon us, and I expected every moment to hear
the whiz of a shot; but still she did not fire.
I now ordered my paymaster to get his public chest, and papers ready for
throwing overboard, if it should become necessary. At this crisis the
engineer came up from below, bringing the welcome intelligence that the
"foaming" of his boilers had ceased, and that his engine was "working
beautifully," giving the propeller several additional turns per minute.
The breeze, too, favored me, for it had freshened considerably; and what
was still more to the purpose, I began to perceive that I was "eating" the
_Brooklyn_ "out of the wind"; in other words, that she was falling more
and more to leeward. I knew, of course, that as soon as she fell into my
wake, she would be compelled to furl her sails. This she did in half an
hour or so afterward, and I at once began to breathe more freely, for I
could still hold on to my own canvas. I have witnessed many beautiful
sights at sea, but the most beautiful of them all was when the _Brooklyn_
let fly all her sheets, and halliards, at once, and clewed up, and furled,
in man-of-war style, all her sails, from courses to royals. We now began
to gain quite perceptibly on our pursuer, and at half-past three, the
chase was abandoned, the baffled _Brooklyn_ retracing her steps to Pass a
l'Outre, and the _Sumter_ bounding away on her course seaward.
We fired no gun of triumph in the face of the enemy--my powder was too
precious for that--but I sent the crew aloft, to man the rigging, and
three such cheers were given for the Confederate flag, "that little bit of
striped bunting," that had waved from the _Sumter's_ peak during the
exciting chase, as could proceed only from the throats of American seamen,
in the act of defying a tyrant--those cheers were but a repetition of many
such cheers that had been given, by our ancestors, to that other bit of
"striped bunting" which had defied the power of England in that olden war,
of which our war was but the logical sequence. The reader must not suppose
that our anxiety was wholly allayed, as soon as we saw the _Brooklyn_ turn
away from us.
[Illustration: The Sumter running the blockade of Pass a l'Outre by the
enemy's Ship Brooklyn, on the 30th June, 1861.
LITH. BY A. HOEN & CO. BALTO.]
We were, as yet, only a few miles from the land, and our coast was
swarming with the enemy's cruisers. Ship Island was not a great way
off, and there was a constant passing to and fro, of ships-of-war between
that island and the passes of the Mississippi, and we might stumble upon
one of these at any moment. "Sail ho!" was now shouted from the mast-head.
"Where away!" cried the officer of the deck. "Right ahead," said the
look-out. A few minutes only elapsed, and a second sail was descried,
"broad on the starboard bow." But nothing came of these spectres; we
passed on, seaward, without so much as raising either of them from the
deck, and finally, the friendly robes of night enveloped us. When we at
length realized that we had gained an offing; when we began to feel the
welcome heave of the sea; when we looked upon the changing aspect of its
waters, now darkening into the deepest blue, and breathed the pure air,
fresh from the Gulf, untainted of malaria, and untouched of mosquito's
wing, we felt like so many prisoners who had been turned loose from a long
and painful confinement; and when I reflected upon my mission, to strike
for the right! to endeavor to sweep from the seas the commerce of a
treacherous friend, who had become a cruel and relentless foe, I felt, in
full force, the inspiration of the poet:--
"Ours the wild life in tumult still to range,
From toil to rest, and joy in every change.
Oh, who can tell? Not thou, luxurious slave,
Whose soul would sicken o'er the heaving wave;
Not thou, vain lord of wantonness and ease,
Whom slumber soothes not--pleasures cannot please;
Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried,
And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide,
The exulting sense--the pulse's maddening play,
That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way?
* * * * * * * * * Death!
Come when it will--we snatch the life of life;
When lost--what recks it--by disease or strife?
Let him who crawls, enamored of decay,
Cling to his couch, and sicken years away;
Heave his thick breath, and shake his palsied head;
Ours! the fresh turf, and not the feverish bed;
While gasp by gasp he falters forth his soul,
Ours, with one pang--one bound--escapes control.
His corpse may boast its wan and narrow cave,
And they who loathed his life, may gild his grave:
Ours are the tears, though few, sincerely shed,
When ocean shrouds and sepulchres our dead."