RUNNING THE BLOCKADE ON THE LET HER B.--AS TOLD BY HER CAPTAIN-OWNER.
During 1889 we had the pleasure of a visit from Captain George B. Boynton,
the former owner of _Chicora_ in her blockade running days, who was
delighted to renew acquaintance with his early ally. He gave us many
reminiscenses of that stirring period, the narration of them cannot be done
better than by giving extract by courteous permission of the publisher from
his narrative as afterwards contained[5] under the heading "Looking for
Trouble." Copyright, 1911, by _Adventure Magazine_, the Ridgway Company.
After giving an account of his earlier life and share in the American Civil
War, and of a project to join some adventures in Cuba he says, "While I was
wondering how I could get into communication with Cespedes, my interest was
aroused by a newspaper story of the new blockade runner _Let Her B._ The
_Let Her B._, whose name was a play on words, was a long, powerful,
schooner-rigged steamship, built by Lairds on the Mersey. Though classed as
a fifteen-knot ship she could do sixteen or seventeen knots (19 miles)
which was fast going at that time. There was so much money in
blockade-running that the owners of one could well afford to lose her after
she had made three successful trips.
"In five minutes I decided to become a blockade-runner and to buy the new
and already famous ship, if she was to be had at any price within reason. I
bought a letter of credit and took the next ship for Bermuda. On my arrival
there I found that the _Let Her B._ had been expected in for several days
from her second trip and that there was considerable anxiety about her. A
fresh cargo of munitions of war was awaiting the _Let Her B_, and a ship
was ready to take to England the cotton she would bring.
"I got acquainted with the agent for the blockade-runner, and offered to
buy her and take the chance that she might never come in. He wanted me to
wait until the arrival of her owner, Joseph Berry, who was expected daily
from England.
"After waiting several days I said to him one morning, "It looks as though
your ship had been captured or sunk. I'll take a gambler's chance that she
hasn't and will give you $50,000 for her and $25,000 for the cargo that is
waiting for her; you to take the cargo she brings in. I'll give you three
hours to think it over."
"It looked as though I was taking a long chance, but I had a "hunch" that
she was all right, and I never have had a well-defined "hunch" steer me in
anything but a safe course, wherefore I invariably heed them. At the
expiration of the time limit there was not a sign of smoke in any direction
and the agent accepted my proposition. In half an hour I had a bill of sale
for the ship and the warehouse receipts for the cargo of war-supplies.
"At sunset that day a ship came in from England with her former owner. He
criticized his agent sharptly at first, but when two more days passed with
no sign of the anxiously-looked-for ship, Mr. Berry concluded that he had
all the best of the bargain, and complimented his agent on his shrewdness.
"On the third day the _Let Her B._ came tearing in, pursued at long range
by the U.S.S. Powhatan, which proceeded to stand guard over the harbour,
keeping well off shore on account of the reefs and shoals that were under
her lee.
"The _Let Her B._ discharged a full cargo of cotton and was turned over to
me. I went over her carefully while her cargo of arms was going in and
found her in excellent condition. She was unloaded in twelve hours, and all
her cargo was safely stowed in another forty-eight hours. I took command of
her, with John B. Williams, her old captain, as sailing master, and
determined to put to sea at once.
"I knew the Powhatan would not be looking for us so soon, and planned to
catch her off her guard. There was then no man-of-war entrance to the
harbor and it was necessary to enter and leave by daylight. With the sun
just high enough to let us get clear of the reefs before dark, and with the
Powhatan well off shore and at the farthest end of the course she was
lazily patrolling, we put to sea.
"The Powhatan saw us sooner than I had expected, and started but she was
not quick enough. The moment she swung around I increased our speed to a
point which the pilot loudly swore would pile us up on the rocks. But it
didn't and when we cleared the passage we were all of four miles in the
lead. As I had figured, the Powhatan did not suppose we would come out for
at least a week, and was cruising slowly about with fires banked, so it
took her some time to get up a full head of steam. She fired three or four
shots at us, but they fell far short.
"At sunrise we had the ocean to ourselves.
"I started in at once to master practical navigation, the theory of which I
knew, and to familiarize myself with the handling of a ship. I stood at the
wheel for hours at a time and almost wore out the instruments taking
reckonings by the sun and stars. Navigation came to me naturally, for I
loved it, and in three days I would have been willing to undertake a cruise
around the world with a Chinese crew.
"We arrived off Charleston late in the afternoon and steamed up close
inshore until we could make out the smoke of the blockading fleet, which
was standing well out, in a semi-circle. Then we dropped back a bit and
anchored. All of the conditions shaped themselves to favor us. It was a
murky night, with a hard blow, which came up late in the afternoon, and
when we got under way at midnight a good bit of a sea was running.
"With the engines held down to only about half speed, but ready to do their
best in a twinkling, we headed for the harbor, standing as close inshore as
we dared go. We passed so close to the blockading-ship stationed at the
lower end of the crescent that she could not have depressed her guns enough
to hit us even if we had been discovered in time. But she did not see us
until we had passed her. Then she let go at us with her bow guns and, while
they did no damage, we were at such close quarters that their flash gave
the other ships a glimpse of us as we darted away.
"They immediately opened on us, but after the first minute or two it was a
case of haphazard shooting with all of them. The first shells exploded
close around us, and some of the fragments came aboard, but no one was
injured. When I saw where they were firing I threw my ship farther over
toward Sullivan's Island, where she could go on account of her light
draft, and sailed quietly along into the harbor at reduced speed. At
daylight we went up to the dock and were warmly welcomed.
"Before the second night was half over we had everything out of her and a
full cargo of cotton aboard, and we steamed out at once. I knew the
blockaders would not expect us for at least four days, and we surprised
them just as we had surprised the Powhatan at Bermuda. It was a thick
night, and we sailed right through the fleet at half speed, but prepared to
break and run for it at the crack of a gun. Not a shot was fired or an
extra light shown.
"As soon as we were clear of the line we put on full speed and three days
later we were safe at Turk's Island, the most southerly and easterly of the
Bahama Islands, off the coast of Florida, which I had selected as a base of
operations. These islands were a haven and a clearing-house for the
outsiders who were actively aiding the Confederacy for a very substantial
consideration.
"Most of the blockade-runners, including the _Banshee_, _Siren_, _Robert E.
Lee_, _Lady Sterling_, and other famous ships, were operating out of
Nassau, which had the advantage of closer proximity to the chief Southern
posts, being within 600 miles of Charleston and Wilmington, while Turk's
Island was 900 miles away, but I never have believed in following the
crowd. It is my rule to do things alone and in my own way, as must be the
practice of every man who expects to succeed in any dangerous business. The
popularity of Nassau caused it to be closely watched by the Federal
cruisers that patrolled the Gulf Stream, while the less important islands
to the south and east were practically unguarded.
"Though precarious for the men who made them so, those were plenteous days
for the Bahamas, compared with which the rich tourist toll since levied on
the Yankees is but small change. The fortunes yielded by blockade-running
seemed made by magic, so quick was the process. Cotton that was bought in
Charleston or Wilmington for ten cents a pound sold for ten times as much
in the Bahamas, and there were enormous profits in the return cargoes or
military supplies. The captains and crews shared in the proceeds and the
health of the Confederacy was drunk continuously and often riotously.
"By the time I projected myself temporarily into this golden atmosphere of
abnormal activity, running the blockade had become more of a business and
less of a romance than it was in the reckless early days of the war.
"Before leaving Bermuda I had ordered a cargo of munitions of war sent to
Turk's Island. We had to wait nearly a month for this shipment to arrive,
but the time was well spent in overhauling the engines and putting the _Let
Her B_ in perfect condition.
"My second trip to Charleston furnished a degree of excitement that exalted
my soul. While we were held up at Turk's Island the blockading fleet had
been strengthened and supplemented by several small and fast boats which
cruised around outside of the line. Without knowing this I had decided--it
must have been in response to a "hunch"--to make a dash straight through
the line and into the harbor. And it was fortunate that we followed this
plan, for they were expecting us to come up from the south, hugging the
shore as we had done before, and if we had taken that course they certainly
would have sunk us or forced us aground.
"We were proceeding cautiously, but did not think we were close to the
danger zone, when suddenly one of the patrol ships picked us up and opened
fire. Her guns were no better than pea-shooters, but they gave the signal
to the fleet, and instantly lights popped up all along the line ahead.
"In the flashing lights ahead I saw all of the excitement that I had been
longing for, and with an exultant yell to the helmsman to "Tell the
engineer to give her ----l," I pushed him aside and seized the wheel. I
fondled the spokes lovingly and leaned over them in a tumult of joy. It was
the great moment of which I had dreamed from boyhood.
"I had anticipated that when it came I would be considerably excited and
forgetful of all of my carefully-thought-out plans for meeting an
emergency, but to my surprise I found that I was as cool as though we had
been riding at anchor in New York Bay. The opening gun cleared my mind of
all its anxieties and intensified its action. I remember that I took time
to analyze my feelings to make sure that I was calm and collected and not
stunned and stolid and that I was silent from choice and not through
anything of fear.
"As though spurred by a human impulse, the little ship sprang forward as
she felt the full force of her engines and never did she make such a race
as she did that night. In the sea that was running and at the speed that we
were going we would ordinarily have had two men at the wheel, but I found
it so easy and so delightful to handle the ship alone that I declined the
assistance of Captain Williams, who stood behind me.
"Though I am not tall, being not much over five feet and eight inches,
nature was kind in giving me a well-set-up frame and a powerful
constitution, devoid of nerves but with muscles of steel, and with a
reserve supply of strength that made me marvel at its source.
"The widest opening in the already closing line was, luckily directly in
front of us, and I headed for it. The sparks from our smokestack gave the
blockaders our course as plainly as though it had been noon-day, and they
closed in from both sides to head us off. Shot and shell screamed and sang
all around the undaunted _Let Her B._
"First the mainmast and then the foremast came down with a crash, littering
the decks with their gear. A shell carried death into the forecastle. One
shot tore away the two forward stanchions of the pilot-house, and another
one smashed through the roof, but neither Captain Williams nor I was
injured. All of our boats and most of our upper works were literally shot
to pieces.
"From first to last we must have been under the terrific fire for half an
hour, but it seemed not more than a few minutes, and it really was with
something of regret that I found the shots were falling astern. When we got
up to the dock we found that five of our men had been killed and a dozen
more or less injured. The ship had not been damaged at all, so far as speed
and seaworthiness in ordinary weather were concerned, though she looked a
wreck.
"The blockaders expected we would be laid up for a month. Consequently when
we steamed out on the fourth night, after making only temporary repairs,
they were not looking for us and we got through their line without much
trouble.
"We refitted at Turk's Island, where we laid up for three weeks.
"I made two more trips to Charleston without any very exciting experiences,
though we were fired on both times, and then sold the ship to an
enterprising Englishman at Turk's Island. I made a comfortable fortune with
her and sold her for more than I paid for her."
The _Let Her B._ was never captured, but the war closed the year after her
arrival and upon its conclusion she was brought North and registered as a
Canadian vessel at the Port of Pictou, Nova Scotia, and her name at the
same time changed to _Chicora_.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] "Adventure Magazine," New York, Jan. 1911.