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.