BLOCKADE-RUNNING.
On receiving my rank as post-captain, I found myself shelved, as it
were, for four years, while waiting my turn for a command. This was
according to the rules of the navy, so there was no getting out of it.
What was I to do? I consulted several of my friends who were in a
similar position, who, like myself, did not wish to remain idle so long,
so we looked about us for some enterprise, as something to do.
The upshot of it was that we thought of trying if we could not conceive
some plan for breaking through the much-talked-of blockade of the
Southern States of America, then in revolt against the government of
Washington. Four of us young post-captains took this decision, and as it
would have been, perhaps, considered _infra dig._ for real naval
officers to engage in such an enterprise, we lent our minds, if not our
bodies, to certain _alter egos_, whom we inspired, if we did not
personally control, as to their line of conduct. My man I will call
Roberts, whose adventures I now give, and in whose name I shall write.
There are people who insist that I was Captain Roberts; all that such
people have to do is to prove I was that 'miscreant,' whoever he may
have been. The following is his narrative:--
During the late civil war in America the executive government undertook
the blockade of more than 3,000 miles of coast, and though nothing could
exceed the energy and activity of the naval officers so employed, the
results were very unsatisfactory, inasmuch as it was not till absolute
possession was taken of the forts at the entrance of the great harbours,
such as Charleston, Mobile, and Wilmington, that blockade-running was
stopped.
I trust that our American friends will not be too severe in their
censures on those engaged in blockade-running; for, I say it with the
greatest respect for and admiration of enterprise, had they been
lookers-on instead of principals in the sad drama that was enacted, they
would have been the very men to take the lead. It must be borne in mind
that the excitement of fighting did not exist. One was always either
running away or being deliberately pitched into by the broadsides of the
American cruisers, the slightest resistance to which would have
constituted piracy; whereas capture without resistance merely entailed
confiscation of cargo and vessel.
The vessel I had charge of--which I had brought out from England, was
one of the finest double-screw steamers that had ever been built by
D----n; of 400 tons burden, 250 horse-power, 180 feet long, and 22 feet
beam--and was, so far as sea-going qualities, speed, &c., went, as handy
a little craft as ever floated. Our crew consisted of a captain, three
officers, three engineers, and twenty-eight men, including firemen, that
is, ten seamen and eighteen firemen. They were all Englishmen, and as
they received very high wages, we managed to have picked men. In fact,
the men-of-war on the West India station found it a difficult matter to
prevent their crews from deserting, so great was the temptation offered
by the blockade-runners.
I will begin by explaining how we prepared the vessel for the work. This
was done by reducing her spars to a light pair of lower masts, without
any yards across them; the only break in their sharp outline being a
small crow's-nest on the foremast, to be used as a look-out place. The
hull, which showed about eight feet above water, was painted a dull grey
colour to render her as nearly as possible invisible in the night. The
boats were lowered square with the gunnels. Coal was taken on board of a
smokeless nature (anthracite). The funnel, being what is called
'telescope,' lowered close down to the deck. In order that no noise
might be made, steam was blown off under water. In fact, every ruse was
resorted to to enable the vessel to evade the vigilance of the American
cruisers, who were scattered about in great numbers all the way between
Bermuda and Wilmington--the port at the time I write of most frequented
by blockade-runners. While speaking of the precautions used I may
mention that among the fowls taken on board as provisions, no cocks were
allowed, for fear of their proclaiming the whereabouts of the
blockade-runner. This may seem ridiculous, but it was very necessary.
The distance from Bermuda to Wilmington (the port we were bound to) is
720 miles. We started in the evening. For the first twenty-four hours we
saw nothing to alarm us, but at daylight the second day there was a
large American cruiser not half a mile from us, right ahead, who, before
we could turn round, steamed straight at us, and commenced firing
rapidly, but very much at random, the shot and shell all passing over or
wide of us.
Fortunately, according to orders to have full steam on at daybreak, we
were quite prepared for a run; and still more fortunately a heavy squall
of wind and rain that came on helped us vastly, as we were dead to
windward of the enemy; and having no top-weights we soon dropped him
astern. He most foolishly kept yawing, to fire his bow-chasers, losing
ground every time he did so. By eight o'clock we were out of
range--unhit; and by noon out of sight of anything but smoke.
Luckily, the chase had not taken us much off our course, as the
consumption of coal during a run of this sort, with boilers all but
bursting from high pressure of steam, was a most serious
consideration--there being no coal in the Confederate ports, where wood
was only used, which would not suit our furnaces.
We were now evidently in very dangerous waters, steamers being reported
from our mast-head every hour, and we had to keep moving about in all
directions to avoid them; sometimes stopping to let one pass ahead of
us, at another time turning completely round, and running back on our
course. Luckily, we were never seen or chased. Night came on, and I had
hoped that we should have made rapid progress till daybreak unmolested.
All was quiet until about one o'clock in the morning, when suddenly, to
our dismay, we found a steamer close alongside of us. How she had got
there without our knowledge is a mystery to me even now. However, there
she was, and we had hardly seen her before a stentorian voice howled
out, 'Heave-to in that steamer, or I'll sink you.' It seemed as if all
was over, but I determined to try a ruse before giving the little craft
up. So I answered, 'Ay, ay, sir, we are stopped.' The cruiser was about
eighty yards from us. We heard orders given to man and arm the
quarter-boats, we saw the boats lowered into the water, we saw them
coming, we heard the crews laughing and cheering at the prospect of
their prize. The bowmen had just touched the sides of our vessel with
their boat-hooks when I whispered down the tube into the engine-room,
'Full speed ahead!' and away we shot into the darkness.
I don't know what happened; whether the captain of the man-of-war
thought that his boats had taken possession, and thus did not try to
stop us, or whether he stopped to pick up his boats in the rather nasty
sea that was running, some one who reads this may know. All I can say
is, that not a shot was fired, and that in less than a minute the pitch
darkness hid the cruiser from our view. This was a great piece of luck.
All the next day we passed in dodging about, avoiding the cruisers as
best we could, but always approaching our post.
During the day we got good observations with which our soundings agreed;
and at sunset our position was sixty miles due east of the entrance to
Wilmington river, off which place were cruising a strong squadron of
blockading ships. The American blockading squadron, which had undertaken
the almost impossible task of stopping all traffic along 3,000 miles of
coast, consisted of nearly a hundred vessels of different sorts and
sizes--_bonâ-fide_ men-of-war, captured blockade-runners, unemployed
steam-packets, with many other vessels pressed into government service.
Speed and sufficient strength to carry a long gun were the only
requisites, the Confederate men-of-war being few and far between. These
vessels were generally well commanded and officered, but badly manned.
The inshore squadron off Wilmington consisted of about thirty vessels,
and lay in the form of a crescent facing the entrance to Cape Clear
river, the centre being just out of range of the heavy guns mounted on
Fort Fisher, the horns, as it were, gradually approaching the shore on
each side; the whole line or curve covered about ten miles.
The blockade-runners had been in the habit of trying to get between the
vessel at either extremity; and the coast being quite flat and
dangerous, without any landmark, excepting here and there a tree
somewhat taller than others, the cruisers generally kept at a sufficient
distance to allow of this being done. The runner would then crawl close
along the shore, and when as near as could be judged opposite the
entrance of the river, would show a light on the vessel's inshore side,
which was answered by a very indistinct light being shown on the beach,
close to the water's edge, and another at the background. These two
lights being got into a line was a proof that the opening was arrived
at; the vessels then steered straight in and anchored under the
Confederate batteries at Fort Fisher. More vessels were lost crawling
along this dangerous beach than were taken by the cruisers. I have seen
three burning at one time, for the moment a vessel struck she was set
fire to, to prevent the blockaders getting her off when daylight came.
This system of evading the cruisers, however, having been discovered, it
was put a stop to by a very ingenious method, by which several vessels
were captured and an end put to that little game. Of course I can only
conjecture the way in which it was done, but it seemed to me to be
thus: At the extreme end of the line of blockaders lay one of them with
a kedge anchor, down so close to the shore that she left but a very
little space for the blockade-runner to pass between her and the beach.
The captain of the runner, however, trusting to his vessel's speed and
invisibility, dashed through this space, and having got by the cruiser
thought himself safe. Poor fellow! he was safe for a moment, but in such
a trap that his only chance of getting out of it was by running on shore
or giving up. For no sooner had he passed than up went a rocket from the
cruiser who had seen the runner rush by, and who now moved a little
further in towards the shore, so as to stop her egress by the way she
went in; and the other vessels closing round by a pre-arranged plan, the
capture or destruction of the blockade-runner was a certainty.
Some of the captains most pluckily ran their vessels on shore, and
frequently succeeded in setting fire to them; but the boats of the
cruisers were sometimes too sharp in their movements to admit of this
being done, and the treatment of those who tried to destroy their
vessels was, I am sorry to say, very barbarous and unnecessary.
Moreover, men who endeavoured to escape by jumping overboard after the
vessel was on shore were often fired at by grape and shell, in what
seemed to me a very unjustifiable manner. Great allowance, however, must
be made for the men-of-war's men, who after many hard nights of dreary
watching constantly under weigh, saw their well-earned prize escaping by
being run on shore and set fire to, just as they imagined they had got
possession. On several occasions they have been content to tow the empty
shell of an iron vessel off the shore, her valuable cargo having been
destroyed by fire.
But I have left my little craft lying as was stated about sixty miles
from the entrance of the river. I had determined to try a new method of
getting through the blockading squadron, seeing that the usual plan, as
described above, was no longer feasible or, at least, advisable. I have
mentioned that our position was well defined by observations and
soundings, so we determined to run straight through the blockaders, and
to take our chance. When it was quite dark we started steaming at full
speed. It was extremely thick on the horizon, but clear overhead, with
just enough wind and sea to prevent the little noise the engines and
screws made being heard. Every light was out--even the men's pipes; the
masts were lowered on to the deck; and if ever a vessel was invisible
the _D----n_ was that night.
We passed several outlying cruisers, some unpleasantly near, but still
we passed them. All seemed going favourably, when suddenly I saw through
my glasses the long low line of a steamer right ahead, lying as it were
across our bows so close that it would have been impossible to pass to
the right or left of her without being seen. A prompt order given to the
engine-room (where the chief engineer stood to the engines) to reverse
one engine, was as promptly obeyed, and the little craft spun round like
a _teetotum_. If I had not seen it, I could never have believed it
possible that a vessel would have turned so rapidly, and (although,
perhaps, it is irrelevant to my subject) I cannot refrain from bearing
testimony to the wonderful powers of turning that are given to a vessel
by the application of Symond's turnscrews, as he loves to call them. On
this occasion £50,000 of property was saved to its owners. I do not
believe the cruiser saw us at all, and so very important to us was the
fact that we had turned in so short a space, that I scarcely think we
lost five yards of our position. Having turned we stopped to
reconnoitre, and could still see the faint outline of the cruiser
crawling (propelled, probably, only by the wind) slowly into the
darkness, leaving the way open to us, of which we at once took
advantage. It was now about one o'clock in the morning; our lead, and
an observation of a friendly star, told us that we were rapidly nearing
the shore. But it was so fearfully dark, that it seemed almost hopeless
ever to find our way to the entrance of the river, and no one felt
comfortable. Still we steamed slowly on and shortly made out a small
glimmer of a light right ahead. We eased steam a little, and cautiously
approached.
As we got nearer, we could make out the outline of a vessel lying at
anchor, head to wind, and conjectured that this must be the senior
officer's vessel, which we were told generally lay about two miles and a
half from the river's mouth, and which was obliged to show some sort of
light to the cruisers that were constantly under weigh right and left of
her. The plan of finding out this light, and using it as a guide to the
river's entrance, being shortly after this time discovered, the vessel
that carried it was moved into a different position every night, whereby
several blockade-runners came to grief.
Feeling pretty confident now of our position, we went on again at full
speed, and made out clearly the line of blockaders lying to the right
and left of the ship which showed the light; all excepting her being
apparently under weigh. Seeing an opening between the vessel at anchor
and the one on her left, we made a dash, and, thanks to our disguise and
great speed, got through without being seen, and made the most of our
way towards the land. As a strong current runs close inshore which is
constantly changing its course, and there were no lights or landmarks to
guide us, it was a matter of great difficulty to find the very narrow
entrance to the river.
We were now nearly out of danger from cruisers, who seldom ventured very
close inshore in the vicinity of the batteries; and our pilot, who had
been throughout the voyage in bodily fear of an American prison, began
to wake up, and, after looking well round, told us that he could make
out, over the long line of surf, a heap of sand called 'the mound,'
which was a mark for going into the river.
This good news emboldened us to show a small light from the inshore side
of the vessel; it was promptly answered by two lights being placed a
short distance apart on the beach, in such a position that, when the two
were brought into line, or, as the sailors call it, into one, the vessel
would be in the channel which led into the river. This being done
without interruption from the cruisers, we steamed in and anchored
safely under the batteries of Fort Fisher.
Being now perfectly safe, lights were at once lit, supper and grog
served out _ad libitum_, everybody congratulated everybody, and a
feeling of comfort and jollity, such as can only be experienced after
three nights' and three days' intense anxiety, possessed us all. On the
morning breaking we counted twenty-five cruisers lying as near as they
dared venture off the river's mouth, and a very pleasant sight it was,
situated as we were. There was evidently a move among them of an unusual
kind; for the smaller vessels were steaming in towards the shore on the
north side, and the ships' launches, with guns in their bows, were
pulling about from vessel to vessel. The cause of it as day advanced was
but too apparent.
Just out of range of Fort Fisher's heavy artillery, on the north side of
the river's entrance, a splendid paddle-wheel blockade-runner was lying
on the beach, having been run on shore during the night to avoid
capture.
Her crew had evidently escaped to the shore, and a smouldering smoke
showed that she had been set fire to, and that a little wind was all
that was necessary to make the flames break out. The blockading ships do
not appear to have been aware of the damage they had done till daylight
discovered the vessel, that they probably thought had either got into
the river or escaped to sea, lying on the beach. However, they were not
slow in making preparations for capturing her, if possible.
Meanwhile, two of the crew of the blockade-runner managed to get on
board of her, and setting her on fire in a dozen different places,
everything in the vessel was soon destroyed, and her red-hot sides made
boarding an impossibility.
So the gunboats retired out of range, and the artillery with the
Whitworth guns returned to Fort Fisher. The shell of this vessel lay for
months on the beach and was by no means a bad mark for the
blockade-runners to steer by.
Having witnessed this little bit of excitement and received on board the
crew of the stranded vessel, we took a pilot on board and steamed up the
Cape Clear river to Wilmington.
It will be difficult to erase from my memory the excitement of the
evening we made our little craft fast alongside the quay at Wilmington;
the congratulations we received, the champagne cocktail we imbibed, the
eagerness with which we gave and received news, the many questions we
asked, such as, 'How long shall we be unloading?' 'Was our cargo of
cotton ready?' 'How many bales could we carry?' 'How other
blockade-runners had fared?' &c.; and the visits from thirsty and
hungry Southerners of all ranks and denominations, many of whom had not
tasted alcohol in any form for months, to whom whatever they liked to
eat or drink was freely given, accompanied by congratulations on all
sides. All these things, combined with the delightful feeling of
security from capture, and the glorious prospect of a good night's rest
in a four-poster, wound one up into an inexpressible state of jollity.
If some of us had a little headache in the morning, surely it was small
blame to us. Our host's cocktails, made of champagne bitters and pounded
ice, soon put all things to rights; and after breakfast we lounged down
to the quays on the river-side, which were piled mountains high with
cotton-bales and tobacco tierces, and mixed in the lively and busy scene
of discharging, selling, and shipping cargoes.