_Again at sea--Two captures--The Montmorency--The Arcade--Eastward,
ho!--The Vigilant taken--News from home--Dirty weather--The
whale--Ebenezer Dodge--In irons--A cyclone--The gale rages
--Fire!--Christmas day--No luck--The clank of the pumps--Cadiz_.
Once more afloat on the open sea; and at 4 P.M. of Monday November 25th,
a promising commencement was made in the capture of the fine ship
Montmorency, of 1183 tons, laden with Welsh coal for the English Mail
Packet service. And, fortunately so for her, or she would have shared
the fate of the Golden Balance, the Daniel Trowbridge, and other "burnt
offerings" of the little Sumter. As it was, she paid a light toll in the
shape of small supplies of paint, cordage, &c., and entering into a
ransom bond for 20,000 dollars, to be paid to the Confederate States
Government at the end of the war, her captain and crew were paroled, and
she herself permitted to proceed on her voyage.
At 1.30 P.M., on the 26th November--writes Captain Semmes--showed first
the United States and then our own colours to an English schooner,
probably from the Bahamas to the Windward Islands, and at three captured
the United States schooner Arcade from Portland, Maine, to Port au
Prince, Guadaloupe, loaded with stores. The master and half-owner of the
schooner was Master of the barque Saxony at the time of the loss of the
Central America, and was instrumental in saving lives on that occasion,
for which a handsome telescope had been presented to him. I had the
pleasure of returning the glass to him, captured among the other effects
of his vessel.
Took the master and crew on board (a rough sea running), and set fire to
her. At 4.40 stood on our course. The blaze of the burning vessel still
in sight at 8 P.M. During the night the wind lulled and became variable.
Hauled down the fore and aft sails, and steered N.E. The prize had no
newspapers on board, but we learned from the master that the great naval
expedition which the enemy had been some time preparing had struck at
Beaufort, South Carolina, on Fort Royal Sound. No result known.
* * * * *
After five days of hard fighting with the strong N.E. trade, blowing for
the most part half a gale of wind, and with thick and dirty weather, the
enemy is at length overcome, the sky clears, and the Sumter's head is
turned towards Europe. And now for a time Yankee commerce was to have a
respite, its relentless little enemy directing its attention exclusively
towards maturing her voyage across the Atlantic. She had at this time
but sixty days' water for her own crew, in addition to whom there were
now the six prisoners taken from the schooner. The passage, too, would
have to be made for the most part under canvas, and would probably not
occupy less than fifty days. Of course, she had now but six or seven
days' supply of coal--a small reserve in case of emergency, and hardly
sufficient to enable her to cruise a few days on the other side, and, if
possible, not go quite "empty-handed" into port.
Still the days were not altogether uneventful, and before the week was
out, a fine prize ran, as it were, into her very arms. Of this capture
the journal gives the following account:--
_Tuesday, December 3rd_.--At 6.30 A.M. Sail, ho! a point on the
starboard bow. At 7.30 the sail, which was standing in nearly the
opposite direction from ourselves, approached us within a couple of
miles. We hoisted French colours, when she showed United States'. Took
in all the studding sails, hauled by the wind, tacked, and fired a
shotted gun. The stranger immediately hove to. Lowered a boat, and sent
a lieutenant on board of him. Stood on and tacked, and having brought
the stranger under my guns, I began to feel sure of him (our smoke stack
was down, and we could not have raised steam in less than two hours and
a half). He proved to be the ship Vigilant, of Bath, Maine, bound from
New York to the guano island of Sombrero, in ballast. Captured him. Took
from on board chronometer, charts, &c., and a nine pounder rifled gun,
with ammunition, &c. Set him on fire, and at 3 P.M. made sail. This was
a fine new ship, being only two years old, and worth about 40,000
dollars.
Lat. 29.10 N., Long. 57.2-2 W. Steering E. by N. We received a large
supply of New York papers to the 21st November. We learned from these
papers that the San Jacinto was in search of us when she took Messrs.
Mason and Slidell from on board the Trent. The enemy has thus done us
the honour to send in pursuit of us the Powhattan, the Niagara, the
Iroquois, the Keystone State, and the San Jacinto.
* * * * *
Dirty weather now for several days, the little vessel rolling and
straining, and withal beginning to leak to an extent which caused no
small anxiety to those in command. Still, however, she was quite up to
mischief, and on the 8th December, the Ebenezer Dodge, twelve days from
New Bedford, bound to the Pacific on a whaling voyage, was added to the
fatal list. Forty-three prisoners were now on board, cooped up with the
crew in the narrow berth deck, when the weather forbade their appearance
on deck, and the little Sumter was beginning to feel herself
overcrowded.
It became necessary to adopt precautions, and one-half the prisoners
were now kept constantly in single irons, taking it turn and turn about
to submit to the necessary but disagreeable infliction. The wind, too,
hung perseveringly in the east, and things were getting uncomfortable.
They were destined, as the following extracts will show, to be yet more
so.
_Wednesday, December 11th._--As ugly-looking a morning as one could well
conceive. Thick, dark, gloomy weather, with the wind blowing fresh from
the east, and threatening a gale (bar. 29.70 and falling) and a steady
but moderate rain falling. Put the ship under short sail. Our large
number of prisoners renders the crew very uncomfortable during this bad
weather. At meridian, gale blowing, with thick, driving rain. Lat.
32° 48' N., Long. 49° 32' W.D.R. At 2 P.M., dense clouds hanging very low
all around the horizon in every direction. Wind about E.S.E., inclined
to haul to the southward. Bar. 29.59. The pall of clouds is not so dense
as at noon, and the rain comes only occasionally in squalls. The clouds
are rifted, and appear to be on the point of rapid motion. Wore ship to
the northward and eastward. The wind soon after backed to the northward
and eastward, and we had to run the ship off N.W. for a while. Towards
night, however, the wind went back to E., and blew very fiercely,
raising very heavy and irregular sea-squalls of rain. The lightning was
very vivid. It blew very heavily until about 1 A.M., when it abated for
more than two hours, blowing only in puffs, and then not very hard. Near
the centre of the cyclone, lowest barometer. A little past midnight a
quartermaster entered with the report that the starboard-bow port had
been stove in! It was then blowing furiously. I immediately despatched
the first lieutenant to barricade the port and stop out the water as
effectually as possible, in which he succeeded pretty well. This report
gave me considerable anxiety, as the ports in the gun-deck and the
uppermost works of the ship are her weak points at which the gale would
assault her with most effect. In the meantime the barometer has been
gradually settling, settling, settling--sometimes remaining stationary
for several hours and then going down as before. At 8 P.M. it was 29.53.
We had an awful night--no one able to sleep.
_Thursday, December 12th_.--Thick, gloomy weather, with the gale raging
as fiercely as ever. It blew very heavily all the morning. The barometer
continued to sink until it reached 29.32--at 6 A.M. its lowest point.
The wind has hauled to the south. We are evidently in a cyclone, having
taken it in its northern quarter, the gale travelling north. On the
starboard tack, its centre has passed to the west of us. Ordered the
donkey engine to be got ready for use last night, in case the ship
should make more water than the small bilge pumps could throw out.
Carried away the flying jibboom at 7.30 A.M.--saved the sail. As the
gale progressed the wind hauled to the south and west; and at 4 P.M.,
judging that the strength of the gale had passed us, I kept the ship on
her course, E. by S., which gave a quartering wind and sea; and although
the sea was heavy, and the wind yet blowing a gale, she made beautiful
weather of it, scudding as well as she had lain to. The wind blew fresh
all night, with a slowly rising barometer.
Escaped the "cyclone," a fresh danger threatened, and from the element
more feared by the sailor than either wind or water in their wildest
moods. It was about midnight of December the 14th that the watch on deck
were startled by the smell of fire, soon followed by the appearance of
smoke pouring out of the ventilator leading up from the berth deck. The
alarm was immediately given; hands turned up and sent to quarters, and a
strict investigation made. Fortunately no damage was done except to a
mattress and pea-jacket which were partly consumed; but the escape was a
narrow one, and the sentries on duty below no doubt considered
themselves well off, to escape with no other punishment for their
carelessness than a week's stoppage of their grog.
On went the Sumter with varying fortune, now running pleasant races with
some huge whale, that left a track upon the water almost as broad as her
own; now rolling and tumbling in a gale, with ports barricaded to keep
the water out, and donkey engine ringed to keep it under. And at last
the continued bad weather and consequent confinement to the crowded
lower deck, began to tell upon the health of the crew, and no less than
twelve were at one time upon the sick list. The little vessel herself,
too, was getting rapidly invalided. The leak increased terribly, and
fully half the day was taken up at the pumps. The Christmas-tide entries
in the Journal are as follows:--
_Tuesday, December 24th_.--An unpropitious Christmas-eve; the gale of
last night continuing, with rain and a densely overcast sky. The
barometer is rising, however, which is a portent that the gale will not
last long. I have abandoned the idea of attempting to run into Fayal.
These Azores seem to be so guarded by the Furies of the storm, that it
would appear to be a matter of great difficulty to reach them in the
winter season. We have thirty-eight days of water on board, allowing a
gallon to a man; but still I have put the officers and crew on the
allowance of three quarts per day. I will run for the Straits of
Gibraltar, which will carry me in the vicinity of Madeira, should I have
occasion to make a port sooner.
Weather breaking somewhat at noon, but still thickly overcast. No
observation. Lat. 37° 31' N., Long. 31° 71' W. by computation. It
freshened up from the N. at 2 P.M., and blew a gale of wind all night
from N.N.E. to N.N.W. Running off with the wind a little abaft the beam
very comfortably; but the two small pumps were kept going _nearly all
night_. They do little more than keep her free.
_Wednesday, December 25th_.--Christmas-day! Bringing with it, away here
in mid-ocean, all the kindly recollections of the season and home, and
church and friends. Alas! how great the contrast between these things
and our present condition. A leaky ship filled with prisoners of war,
striving to make a port through the almost constantly recurring gales of
the North Atlantic in mid-winter! Sick list--ten of the crew, and four
prisoners. Wind fresh from the N.W. We are making a good run these
twenty-four hours. Lat. 36'08 N., Long. 28-42 W. Weather cloudy, and
looking squally and ugly, with a falling barometer, it being at noon
29.70; 29.80 is the highest it has been since the last gale. A series of
gales commenced on the 19th inst. Altered our course from S.E. by E. to
S.E. to avoid the St. Mary's bank; a Captain Livingstone having
reported, about forty years ago, that he saw white waters hereabouts,
and no nation having thought it worth while to verify the report.
Thermometer 63°. Heavy rain-squalls. The weather during the night was
dirty and squally, with lightning all around the horizon by turns, and
heavy rain.. Spliced the main-brace.
The 26th December brought the Sumter off Cape Flyaway, and once more she
was rapidly approaching the ordinary track of commerce.
_Monday, December 30th_.--Sail, ho! at daylight, and Sail, ho! in
succession during the whole day, until as many as thirty-five were
reported. There were as many as nine or ten in sight at one time, all
standing on the same course for the tide and wind. Got up steam and
began chasing at 8 A.M., and chased until 4 P.M. The first vessel we
overhauled was a Dutch barque, clipper-looking, on board which we sent a
boat; and we afterwards overhauled, and caused to show their papers,
fifteen others of the fleet, every one of which was European!--Viz.
Dutch (ships), 4; English (2 barques and 5 brigs), 7; French (1 ship and
1 brig), 2; Swedish (brig), 1; Prussian (barque), 1; Hamburg (brig), 1.
One of the results of the war is, that in this whole fleet, as far as we
could ascertain, there was not a single Yankee! So many ships at the
same time so far out at sea, is a sight not often seen. The weather was
very thick and rainy, and from the S. to E., a real dirty day; and in
such a state of weather, with so many ships running down our track, we
had serious apprehensions of collisions as the night set in. To guard
against which we set out masthead as well as side lights. At 4.30 P.M.,
let the steam go down and made sail. No observations. Lat. 35° 39';
Long. 17° 33' D.R.
We first showed the United States colours to all these vessels, and the
only one which saluted it was the Prussian. We afterwards showed our own
flag to a number of them, and they all, with one or two exceptions,
saluted it. The stream of vessels still continued after nightfall--two
having passed us showing lights, one ahead and the other astern. At 6.15
P.M., or about one hour after dark, the wind was blowing fresh from the
E., and they came down upon us with fearful rapidity.
_Friday, January 3rd_, 1862.--Ugly looking morning, with a falling
barometer. Several sail were reported from the masthead during the
morning watch. We shortened sail to permit one of them, which was
steering the same course with ourselves, to come up with us. She proved
to be a Spaniard. We then gave chase to another ahead of us, running
before the wind for the Strait of Gibraltar. We chased her some two
hours, when it began to blow a fierce gale from the west, which obliged
us to give over the chase and to haul up to prevent running to leeward
of our port, and to put the ship under short sail and steam. It blew
very fiercely until near sunset, and raised a heavy, short, abrupt sea,
in which the ship rolled more heavily than I had ever seen her before.
This shook our propeller so as to cause the ship to increase her
quantity of water considerably--so much so that the engineer reported
that under short steam he was just keeping her free with his
bilge-pumps, and that if anything happened to these, he feared the other
pumps would not be sufficient. Under these circumstances, I ran in for
the land, cutting short my cruise by a day or two, as Iliad still two or
three days' coal on board. We made the Cadiz Light in the mid-watch--(my
fine chronometers!)--a beautiful red flash, and soon after got
soundings. Ran in for the light under low steam, and at 7 A.M. we were
within four or five miles of it. The morning was wet and gloomy. Fired a
gun, and hoisted the jack for a pilot; and soon after, having received
one on board, we ran into the harbour and anchored. As we approached,
the scene was most beautiful, in spite of the day. The city of Cadiz is
a perfect picture as you approach it, with domes, and towers, and
minarets, and Moorish-looking houses, of a beautiful white stone. The
harbour was crowded with shipping--_very thinly_ sprinkled with Yankees,
who could get no freights--and a number of villages lay around the
margin of the bay, and were picturesquely half hidden in the slopes of
the surrounding mountains, all speaking of regenerate old Spain, and of
the populousness and thrift of her most famous province of Andalusia.
Visited by the health-officer, who informed us that unless we were
specially exempted, we should be quarantined for three days, for not
having a certificate of health from the Spanish Consul at Martinique. A
number of merchant ships hoisted their flags in honour of our arrival,
and one Yankee showed his in defiance.