The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner Part 1

The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner.

by John Wilkinson.

PREFACE.

In deference to the judgment of two or three literary friends, I have ent.i.tled this, my first attempt at authorship, "The Narrative of a Blockade-runner." They do not agree with Shakspeare that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," to the reading public; nor that it is always advisable to call a thing by its proper name. It will be seen, however, by any reader who has the patience to peruse the work, that it embraces a wider scope than its t.i.tle would imply. I have endeavored to give a full account of the pa.s.sage by the U. S. fleet of the forts below New Orleans; and to contribute some facts that will probably settle the controversy, in the judgment of the reader, as to the real captors of that city. "Honor to whom honor is due."

It will be seen that I have been favored with access to Commodore Mitch.e.l.l's official report of that conflict, a doc.u.ment never published.

The information derived from it, added to facts and circ.u.mstances coming under my personal observation, furnishes the means of laying before the public an account of that action from a new point of view.

In bearing testimony to the kind and humane treatment of the prisoners of war at Fort Warren, I perform a most grateful duty. It was my good fortune to be captured and held a prisoner, before the "retaliatory"

measures were adopted by the United States Government.

I have contributed some new, and, I hope, interesting facts about the manner in which blockade running was conducted.

I cannot do better than furnish the following extract from a literary friend's letter to me in reference to this effort of mine. "I am particularly glad, believing as I do, that such a volume will help to the production of that state of mind, North and South, which every good man wishes to see grow. It is only necessary that we shall all fall into the habit of talking and writing about war matters without feeling; that we shall forget the bitterness of the conflict in our interest in its history; and if you or I can amuse Northern readers, or entertain them with our recollections, we shall certainly leave them in a pleasanter and better state of mind than we found them in."

I should be happy to believe that I had contributed, in ever so small a degree, to this consummation so devoutly to be wished for. But I would make no sacrifice of principle nor of interest to achieve this end.

While accepting the situation consequent upon the unsuccessful appeal to arms, the Southern people do not stultify themselves by professing to renounce their conviction of their right and duty in having responded to the call to defend their respective States from invasion.

But they believe that the war was conducted by the Confederate Government in a spirit of humanity. Conceiving it to be the duty of every southern man to submit any testimony in his possession relating to this subject, and especially to the treatment of prisoners of war, I have quoted some pa.s.sages from a "Vindication of the Confederacy against the charge of Cruelty to Prisoners." This work was recently published by the Southern Historical Society, and was compiled by the Rev. J. Wm.

Jones, D.D., author of "Personal Reminiscences of Gen. R. E. Lee." The candid and dispa.s.sionate student of History, in seeking after the truth, should read this work before forming a judgment upon this point, which has, perhaps, caused more bitter resentments among the Northern people than all the other deplorable events of our civil strife combined.

WOODSIDE, AMELIA CO., VA., Oct. 15th, 1876.

NARRATIVE OF A BLOCKADE-RUNNER.

CHAPTER I.

Secession of Virginia.--Service at Fort Powhatan.--Volunteers at the Big Guns.--"Wide Awake" Clubs.--Want of preparation in Virginia.--Fort Powhatan abandoned.--Service at Acquia Creek.--The "Tigers."--Coal Mining on the Potomac.

When the State of Virginia seceded from the Union, on the 17th day of April, 1861, most of her citizens, belonging to the United States Navy, resigned their commissions, and offered their services to the State of their birth. Many of them had meddled so little with politics as never even to have cast a vote; but having been educated in the belief that their allegiance was due to their State, they did not hesitate to act as honor and patriotism seemed to demand. They were compelled to choose whether they would aid in subjugating their State, or in defending it against invasion; for it was already evident that coercion would be used by the General Government, and that war was inevitable. In reply to the accusation of perjury in breaking their oath of allegiance, since brought against the officers of the Army and Navy who resigned their commissions to render aid to the South, it need only be stated that, in their belief, the resignation of their commissions absolved them from any special obligation. They then occupied the same position towards the Government as other cla.s.ses of citizens. But this charge was never brought against them till the war was ended. The resignation of their commissions was accepted when their purpose was well known. As to the charge of ingrat.i.tude, they reply, their respective States had contributed their full share towards the expenses of the General Government, acting as their disbursing agent; and when these States withdrew from the Union, their citizens belonging to the two branches of the public service did not, and do not, consider themselves amenable to this charge for abandoning their official positions to cast their lot with their kindred and friends. But yielding as they did to necessity, it was nevertheless a painful act to separate themselves from companions with whom they had been long and intimately a.s.sociated, and from the flag under which they had been proud to serve.

During the brief interval which elapsed between the act of secession and the admission of the State into the Confederacy, the Virginia Army and Navy were organized; and all of the naval officers who had tendered their services received commissions in the Virginia, and afterward in the Confederate Navy; but as there were very few vessels in commission, the greater portion of these officers were ordered to sh.o.r.e batteries.

My first experience was at Fort Powhatan, an earthwork situated on James River a short distance below City Point, and carrying six or eight guns mounted on ships' carriages, which had been transported from the Norfolk Navy-yard. "Grim visaged war" had not shown his "wrinkled front" in those fair portions of the land; and our time was chiefly spent in drilling the volunteers at the big guns, and visiting the hospitable families in the neighborhood; but all of us were soon to be transferred to more active scenes. The young gentlemen-privates of the gallant volunteer company, who so daintily handled the side and train-tackles of the 42-pounders in the battery, considered themselves fortunate, not long afterwards, if they obtained full rations of lean beef, or "Na.s.sau"

pork, and "hard tack;" and bore the brunt of many a severely contested battle as part of Stonewall Jackson's "foot cavalry." But at this period there were only a few so called croakers who at all realized the magnitude of the struggle about to ensue. The camps resounded with song and merriment; and many of the young warriors were attended, like the knights-errant of old, by a faithful squire, who polished the boots, cleaned the musket, and performed other menial service for his "young master." My own "fidus Achates," was old "Uncle Billy," whose occupation was gone by the stoppage of a tobacco factory in Richmond, where he had been used to take a prominent part in the peculiar songs of the "profession." He would sometimes give us a specimen of his vocal powers, and would nearly bring the house down, literally and metaphorically, while executing the mysteries of a "Virginny breakdown" in thick soled brogans sixteen inches long.

But to return from this digression, it was believed by many persons that a large party at the North would oppose the prosecution of a war of invasion. It will be remembered by those at all conversant with the history of events at that time, how strong had been the party opposed to secession in the Convention then in session at Richmond, (at least two-thirds of its members having been elected as Union men,) and what strenuous efforts towards peace and compromise had been made by the Border States Commissioners. The call upon Virginia, by President Lincoln, for her quota of troops to aid in subjugating the South, had settled the question, however, in the Convention; and in a few hours after Governor Letcher's reply to that call, Virginia had virtually cast her lot with the Gulf States, although two weeks elapsed before she became a member of the Confederacy. I had visited, some months previous to the secession of the State, many of the little villages in New England, where I saw that the population were in terrible earnest. "Wide awake," and other secret societies were organized; and inflammatory harangues aroused the populace. The favorite theme of the orators was the "martyrdom" of John Brown; the piratical and murderous raid of that fanatic into the State of Virginia being exalted into a praiseworthy act of heroism. When I returned to Virginia and contrasted the apparent apathy and want of preparation there with the state of affairs at the North, I trembled for the result. But when the State severed her relations with the Union, the Governor acted with great vigor and ability, and the most was made of the limited resources at his command.

Volunteers responded with alacrity to the call to defend the State from invasion; and none responded more readily, or served more bravely, than those who had opposed secession in the Convention. It seems invidious to cite particular examples; but the "n.o.blest Trojan of them all" will point a moral, and serve as an exemplar for generations to come. Wise in council, eloquent in debate, bravest and coolest among the brave in battle, and faithful to his convictions in adversity, he still lives to denounce falsehood and wrong. Truly the old hero, in all he says and does, "gives the world a.s.surance of a man."--I allude to Gen. J. A.

Early.

When Fort Powhatan was abandoned, I was ordered to the command of a battery at Acquia Creek on the Potomac. Although situated upon the frontier, few incidents occurred there to vary the monotony of our lives. Occasionally some of the gunboats guarding the river would steam in, and exchange a few shots with us; and we witnessed frequent skirmishes between them and Walker's afterwards famous battery of flying artillery; but ammunition being extremely scarce at that period in the Confederacy, the orders to us were peremptory to be very sparing in the use of it.[1]

The battery at Acquia Creek was constructed at the terminus of the railroad from Fredericksburg, and was manned by an infantry company acting as artillerists. Besides this force, permanently stationed at the battery, and quartered near it, a company of infantry from military headquarters was sent every evening to guard against a night attack. A company called the "Tigers," took their turn at this service, and we would gladly have dispensed with their "protection." Utterly undisciplined, they were more dangerous to friends than to foes.

Mutinous and insubordinate, they were engaged in constant collisions with each other and with the companies so unfortunate as to be quartered near them; and their camp was a pandemonium. In addition to other sources of quarrel and contention, several women (_vivandieres_, they called themselves) followed the company. The patience of Gen. M.[2] who commanded the division, was finally exhausted. He summoned the Captain of the "Tigers" into his presence; and after severely reprimanding him for the misconduct of his men, insisted that the "_vivandieres_" should be sent away. The captain urged many reasons for keeping them; the chief one being the good _moral effect_ of their presence! but the General was inflexible. Even gallantry to the s.e.x must be sacrificed to the truth; and a proper regard for the latter demands the statement that a reformation commenced with the departure of the women; and our friends the "Tigers" eventually became well-behaved soldiers.

We pa.s.sed many months of inglorious inactivity here until the spring of 1862, when the line of the Potomac was abandoned. While the Federal forces had remained comparatively quiet in this part of the Confederacy, they had achieved many important successes elsewhere. Fort Donelson, on the c.u.mberland River, and Roanoke Island in North Carolina had been captured, with large garrisons; and New Orleans and Savannah were threatened. General Joseph E. Johnston, who at the time commanded the Army of Northern Virginia, determined to fall back to the line of the Rappahannock; and all the batteries on the Potomac were abandoned between the 8th and 10th of March, 1862; the guns being removed to other quarters.

The monotonous service at the batteries had tried the patience of all who were attached to them; and we rejoiced at the prospect of more active duty. The reverses sustained by the Confederate arms were not to be disguised, nor were our convictions of great danger to the country to be removed by the politic proclamation issued by the Confederate Government, to the effect that a contraction of the lines could exercise no material influence upon the issue of the war. But as it was deemed necessary by the military authorities to abandon the situation, we were not at all sorry to depart; for although we had seen no active service, insatiate war had claimed many victims, who had perished ingloriously by the malarial fevers of that marshy district. The naval officers were especially elated at the change. Their duties and their authority being alike undefined, there resulted a deplorable want of harmony between them and the military. This was, indeed, the inevitable consequence of the anomalous position held by the former; and this want of concert of action subsequently contributed, in some measure at least, to the disastrous issue of the conflict below New Orleans.

We having been trained in the strict discipline of a man of war, wanted "savoir faire" in dealing with the fastidious young captains, and the equally sensitive "high privates"; while they no doubt looked upon us as a domineering, tyrannical set of exclusives and wished that we were on board the Federal gunboats in the river, or farther. My personal intercourse, however, was always very pleasant with them. Capt. Brown, commanding the company of North Carolinians at the battery, had graduated at the U. S. Naval School a year or two previous to the war, and was a strict disciplinarian. Two years after our separation, I fell in with him accidentally; and he then gave me a sad account of the changes wrought by death and disease in his fine company. He had risen to the rank of Colonel, and was then on his return to duty in the army of Northern Virginia after recovery from wounds received in battle. The graphic account given by him of the manner in which he was wounded and his narrow escape from death, may interest others as much as it did me.

His regiment formed part of Gen. Ed. Johnson's division, which held the salient angle in Gen. Lee's line at Spottsylvania C. H. when it was forced by the Federal troops. The attack was made at early dawn and in the additional obscurity of a Scotch mist; and so complete was the surprise according to B.'s account, that he was only made aware of the close proximity of the enemy by dimly discerning, a few paces distant, a Federal soldier with his musket levelled at him. The soldier fired, and B. fell insensible, shot through one of the lungs. Upon recovering consciousness, he found himself on a litter borne by Federal soldiers.

An officer leaned over him, and offered him some liquor from his canteen, which revived him so far that he was able to speak. His humane captor then volunteered to transmit any message to B.'s friends and relatives. While B. was rallying his failing senses to deliver what he believed to be his dying messages to the loved ones at home, a rattling fire of musketry opened upon them, the litter bearers and the officer were shot down; the latter falling across Brown, who relapsed into insensibility. When he again recovered consciousness, he found himself borne in the same litter, now carried by Confederate soldiers. The position had been retaken. His good friend had been shot dead.

Our mess at Acquia Creek was abundantly supplied with food from land and water. Every member of it, no doubt, frequently longed afterwards for the "flesh pots of Egypt." We discovered, by chance, a large bulk of coal, which had been stored on the long wharf where the Acquia Creek steam-boats used to make their landings. When the Point was sh.e.l.led about the commencement of the war by the gunboats, the wharf was destroyed, the coal falling uninjured ten or twelve feet to the bottom of the river. We fished up our supplies with oyster tongs as they were needed, and our snug quarters were kept warm during the winter. Towards the end of the season, one of the mess servants lately arrived from the rural districts, was sent in the boat for a supply from the _coal mine_.

He had made many a fire of soft coal in the drawing room at home; but although an accomplished servant, his education had been so far neglected that he was ignorant of all the "'ologies." He was very much astonished at our process of coal mining, and asked me with great gravity, on his return with the load, "if coal grew like that all over the Potomac." Of course I replied in the affirmative. It was anthracite hard coal, a specimen of which he had never seen; so he was further informed that it was hard or soft according to the season when it was fished up, being soft in the summer and hard in the winter. He was much pleased to have acquired all this information, and probably took the earliest opportunity, on his return home, to enlighten his circle of friends and acquaintances upon the subject of coal mining on the Potomac.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The belief still prevails, probably, at the North, that extensive preparations had been made by the South for the war. But General Joseph E. Johnston who was a.s.signed to the service of organizing and instructing the Virginia volunteers called out by Governor Letcher states the contrary. He a.s.serts that all the arms to be depended upon at that time, were those found in the Southern a.r.s.enals, U. S. muskets, and rifles of discarded patterns to the number of about 75,000; 40,000 flint muskets belonging to the State of Virginia, and 20,000 procured for the State of Georgia by Governor Brown.

It was charged that Mr. Floyd of Virginia while Secretary of War under President Buchanan had caused the removal of public arms to the Southern a.r.s.enals; but a Committee of the House of Representatives, in 1861, exonerated Mr. Floyd from the charge, and the chairman of that Committee was the Hon. Mr. Stanton, a prominent and zealous member of the Republican party.

General Johnston, who was in a position to know the facts, states in his "Narrative, etc.," that the "Confederate States began the war with one hundred and twenty thousand arms of obsolete models, and seven hundred of the recently adopted weapons rifled-muskets, and the United States with about four hundred and fifty thousand of the old, and all of the modern arms that had been made since the adoption of the new models."

When in August, 1861, it was in contemplation to send the Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland, want of ammunition, according to the distinguished authority just quoted, was one of the chief obstacles to the project.

[2] The allusion is made to Genl. Mears, who commanded at Acquia Creek and to the Baltimore "Tigers", at the time commanded by Captain Thomas.

CHAPTER II.

Ordered to New Orleans.--The Naval Fleet there.--The "River Defence" Squadron.--The iron clad "Louisiana."--Difficulty in managing the Fleet.--Going down the River.--Want of concert.--Admiral Farragut.--Our crew.

I was ordered to report to Commodore Whittle, commanding the naval station at New Orleans, for duty afloat. A powerful fleet of ships of war and bomb vessels, under the command of Commodore (afterwards Admiral) Farragut, was then a.s.sembling at the mouth of the Mississippi, for an attack upon New Orleans, in which a large land force under Gen.

Butler (afterwards called the Beast) was to cooperate. The citizens were under the impression that the place was impregnable. Gen. Duncan, commanding Forts Jackson and St. Philip, below the city, was considered one of the best artillerists in the service; and the land defence was intrusted to Gen. Lovell, with a well appointed force under his command.

The people of that gay city were occupied as usual in business and pleasure, and continued unconscious of their peril up to the very time when the Federal fleet pa.s.sed the forts. But the condition of affairs, so far as naval defence was concerned, was lamentable. The regular C. S.

naval fleet consisted of the Louisiana (Captain McIntosh) and carrying the flag of Commodore Mitch.e.l.l; the steamer McRae (Captain Huger), carrying six light 32-pounders and nine-inch pivot gun; the steamer Jackson (Captain Renshaw), with two pivoted smooth bore 32-pounders; the small ironplated "Ram" Mana.s.sas (Captain Warley), carrying one 32-pounder carronade in the bow; and two launches, each carrying a howitzer and a crew of twenty men. There were also present, at the time the pa.s.sage was forced by the U. S. fleet, two Louisiana State gunboats, viz., the "Governor Moore," Captain Kennon, carrying two 32-pounder rifled guns, and the "General Quitman," with a similar battery. _These_ were converted sea steamers, with pine and cotton barricades to protect the more vulnerable part of their machinery. All of the above vessels, with the exception of the Louisiana and Mana.s.sas, were too slightly built for war purposes. The unarmed steamboats, "Mozier," placed under Commodore Mitch.e.l.l's command. In addition to the above force, there were six steamers carrying from one to two guns each, const.i.tuting what was called the "River Defence Squadron," under the command of Captain Stevenson. These vessels' boilers and machinery were protected by heavy timber barricades, filled in with compressed cotton; and they were prepared with bar-iron casing around their bows to act as "Rams."

The Louisiana was pierced for twelve guns rifled six-inch; and eight-inch sh.e.l.l guns, three in the bow, three in each broadside, and three in the stern. Her armor consisted of railroad-iron bars securely bolted upon the sides and ends of the long covered box built upon her nearly submerged hull. These sides and ends sloped at an angle of about forty-five degrees; around the upper deck was a stout bulwark about five feet high, and iron plated inside, to resist grape shot, and afford a protection to the sharp-shooters stationed there in action.

The propelling power consisted of huge wheels, boxed up in the centre of the vessel; and a propeller on each quarter. A more powerful and efficient iron-clad called the Mississippi had just been launched from the stocks, but the pa.s.sage of the forts was effected before her battery could be put on board.

After a few days' service on board the Jackson, I was ordered on board the Louisiana (as executive officer) then lying alongside the "levee" at New Orleans. Her battery was not mounted; and the mechanics were at work upon her unfinished armor and machinery. Much was to be done, and with the most limited facilities; but many obstacles had been surmounted and affairs were progressing favorably, when we received orders from Commodore Whittle to proceed down the river as far as the forts. Our wheels were in working order; but a great deal was to be done to the propellers, and the crew were still engaged in mounting the guns. But Commodore Whittle, though cognizant of our condition, was compelled against his judgment, to yield to the urgent telegrams of General Duncan to send the Louisiana down the river. We had been unable to man the ship with sailors; for although many of this cla.s.s belonged to the various volunteer companies around New Orleans, their commanding officers were not disposed to part with them; nor were the "jack tars" themselves willing to exchange camp life for the discipline and subordination of the naval service. Our regular crew being too small to man the battery, we gladly accepted the services of the "Crescent Artillery," a fine volunteer company raised in New Orleans. Two river steamboats were a.s.signed to the Louisiana for the purpose of towage, if necessary, and for the accommodation of the mechanics who were still at work on board.

We cast off from the "levee" on Sunday, April the 20th. It was a bright day, and a large concourse was a.s.sembled to witness our departure. Steam had been got up, and as our big wheels were set in motion in the rapid current of the Mississippi, torrents of water rushed through the crevices in the bulkheads and deluged the gun deck, while the Louisiana drifted helplessly down the river, feeling the effect of the wheels no more sensibly than if they were a pair of sculling oars. "Facilis descensus Averno; sed revocare gradum, hoc opus, hic labor est." The aptness of the quotation will be appreciated by the reader who is in at the death of the Louisiana. We accomplished our object of getting down to the forts about seventy miles below the city, thanks to the current and our two transports; but our artillerists were in a shabby plight while trying to work the guns knee-deep in water.

Securing the Louisiana by hawsers to the left bank of the river near Fort St. Philip, on the morning of the 21st, we continued our labors upon the machinery and on the battery. The bombardment of the forts had been in progress for several days and nights, and the sh.e.l.ls from the fleet were thrown with beautiful and destructive precision (some of them occasionally falling in close proximity to the Louisiana,) while the bomb vessels themselves were beyond the range of the fort's guns. The naval officers were quite sure that an attempt would soon be made by Admiral Farragut to force the pa.s.sage, and that so far as the naval strength was concerned, it was apparent our means were inadequate to prevent it.