Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1854-09-06
NAVAL RENINISCENCE.

mandant Richard Somers had command
under him, of the Nautilus. a schooner of
! fourteen guns.
During the several fights which had pre-
viously occurred with the enemy this off
Ger had shown great bravery as command
er of gun boat No aud now suggested
to the Commodore that a happy result
might possibly be obtained BY converting
the keteh Intrepid. captured craft Of
seventy five tons-tbe identical vessel
with which the gallant Decatur had board
/ ed, re captured and burned the frigate
! Philadelphia-into fire ship and send
/ ing her iuto harbor under the walls of
the Bashaw's castle II direct contact
with the entire marine force of the Tri-
politan
This daring and highly dangerous en-
terprise being determined upon, Somers
with whom it had originated, received the
| orders--to which he was thus entitleG-
! to conduct it; and the necessary prepar-
ations were promptly made BY him Eff
/ teen thousand pounds of powder were first
/ placed, loosely. in tie hold of the ketch
and upon this, two lfundred and fifty. thir
teen inch, fused shells, with a train at
tached from cabin and foFepeak Only
one officer, the talented and lamented
Lieut. Henry adswortil-brother of the
present Com WaGsworth--was to accom-
pany him, and four volunteer seamen were
/ to compose his crew.
All things were now In readiness, ex-
cept the selection Of the men-for it came
to this at last, every man on board the
Nautilus having volunteered for the ser
vice This done, 1t was determined with
out delay, to attempt the enterprise-to
succeed in it, or perish
| Two nights successively did the 1ntre
pid move; but owing to light and battling
winds, nothing could be accomplished. =
These failures and an unusual movement
| in the harbor after dark on the third night
led Somers to believe that the suspicious
Of the enemy had been excited, aud they
were on the look out 1t was the general
impression that their powder was nearly
exhausted, and so large quantity as was
on board the ketch, if captured, would
greatly tend to protract the contest; be
! fore setting off he addressed bis crew
upon the subject, telling them Z" that no
man need accompany him who had not
come to the resolution to blow himself up,
rather than be captured and that such
was fully his own determination ~ Three
cheers was the only reply The gallant
crew rose, as a single man, with the reso-
luton Of yielding up their lives sooner
| than surrender 10 their enemies while
each stepped forward aud begged as IA
vor that he might be permitted to apply
the match 1t was a glorious moment,
and made an impression on the hearts Of
all witnessing it, never to be forgotten
A then took leave Of every officer, and
+ of every man, in the most cheerful man
ncr with a shake of the hand as if they
( knew that their fate was doomed; and
one another, as they passed over the side
/ to their post on board the ketch, might be
| heard in their own peculiar manner, to
/ cry out, . | say, Sam Jones, | leave you
my blue jacket and duck trowsers, slowed
away III my bag and. Bill Curtis, you
may have the tarpaulin hat and Guernsey
| frocz. and them petticoat trowsers, | got
/ in Malta,-and mind, boys, when you 20
home. give a good account of US + In
/ like manner did each thus make bis oral
will, to which the writer was witness, and
which last will and testament" he caused
to be executed to the very letter.
/ 1t was about nine oclock, on the night
Of the 4th of September. 1904, that this
third and last attempt was made. The
/ Nautilus had been ordered to follow the
/ Intrepid closely in, to pick up aud bring
out her boats crew, in case they should
succeed in the exploit Houcc, though it
was very dark, we never lost sight of her,
as had been directed by the first Lieu
tenant-the late gallant Washington Reed
/ who commanded in the absence of Som
! ers, to keep constant watch of her for this
purpose with a night glass
/ At the end Of an hour, about 10 o'clock
/ z. II while [ was engaged in this duty,
/ the awful explosion took place. For mo
ment, the flash illumined the whole heav
4 ems around, while the terrific concussion
shook everything far and near. Then all
was hushed again. and every object yelled
/ in darkness of double gloom. On board
/ the Nautilus. the silence Of death seemed
| to pervade the entire crew but quickly
/ the din Of kettle drums. beating to arms,
with the noise of confusion and alarm,
was heard from the Inhabitants on shore
t To aid in the escape of the boat order
was given By Reed. f" to show light
upon the appearance of which. hundreds
/ Of shot. from an equal number of guns. Of
/ heavy caibre, from the batteries near,
came rafting over and around us. But
we needed them not; one thought and
one feeling alone had possession Of our
souls-the preservation of Somers and
/ his crew
As moment after moment passed by,
without bringing with it the preconcerted
signal from the boat, the anxiety on board
/ became intense, and the men with lighted
! lanterns, hung themselves over the side of
! the vessel till their heads almost touched
tie water-a position, in which an object
on It's sprface can be seen furtbeSt in
( dark night-with the hope Of discovering
something which would give assurance of
its safety Still, no boat came, and no
/ signal was given and the unwelcome con
clusion at last was forced upon as, that
/ the fearful alternatiye-of blowing them
selves up rather than be captured-so
bravely determined upon, at the outset Of
the enterprise. had been as bravely put