The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1861-11-21
The Great Expedition,
THE FLEET N A TERRIBLE GALE.
THE ARRIVAL AT PORT ROYAL. S. C.

The Terrible gale of Friday. Nov
did not cost Us SO desrly a. at first we
feared. though the probability that it bsd
wrecked many OF our ships. and drowned
hundreds OF our Gen. was the sutject ol
90 ipconsiderable amount of humane self.
graduation on the part OF the Southern
newspapers. or part of them at lesst.
And we. of the earlier and faster vessels,
as our feet slowly struggled into the bar
tor Of rendezvous after that most fearful
tempest. sod as VIC uoted the continued
absence OF one after another Of our noble
vessels, reluctantly IN ade up our un willing
minds to the sad belief that at least six
of our smaller steamers had gone down;
the ferry boats EthaD Alien and Com mo.
dore Perry, the transports Union Peer
less, Governor, and Belvidere; there was
also much anxiety about the ship Ocean
Express. though, as she is a large and
staUch sailing ship. it va. hoped that she
had merely been blown out OF her course
ADD would weather the gale and yet @ axe
her appearance. This latter vessel was
to a great extent the riaht arm of the ex
petition, for she carried all the heavy
cannon with which it va proposed to
make our Palmetto foothold good. Upon
the sane ship also by strange over
sight Of the Chief of Ordnance (Capt
McNutt) bad bren pl aced the entire stock
of gun posder with which it had been IN
tended to fli the mas aznes for the use
of any siege trains that might be organ
iz-d from Port Royal! fer the benefit Of
Savannah or Chsrleston Should the
Ocean Express be lost. the army would
be SO crippled as to he almost powerlcss
for offensive operations, until new supplies
sould be sent Ii such great loss should
come to the kDoEIedge OF the enemy. ii
is easy to zee the advantage that might
be taken of it, The act of loading ell
the stores OF such an indispensable nature
on q single -hip vas oue so strange ss
hardly to Re credible Of q old and exp~-
rienced officer; and tie condemnation of
the mistake was as uniser,al a. wa the
feverish anxiety regarding the fate of the
ship.
Perhap. this j. the best place to men
ton that the Chiei OF OrdDauce. Capt.
McNutt, on beiDS spoken to 10 the ordi-
nary eour.e of business. one morning, by
Gen. Sherman. became 20 violent 10 bis
language and manner toward that very
quiet and genteuauly offc r, that the by
staOders we're Obliged to -eize McNutt by
force. temporarily but -ummaFily shut his
tD outh, aud drag him away He was or
dered under arrest, aud coufoed to hi
room. His friends caused medical ex
animation to be tad, and he wa- pro
nounced insane. aud wa-. of course. at
once Suspended from his responsible du
ties 1t is said that he has previously :
bseD afflicted with similar symptoms. and
it is not impossible that hiS mind was not
in a healthy state when be committed the
slrsnxe error about the LOADING of the
Ocean Express.
To return from this digression The
anxiety was less eoOoerniUg the other ves-
sels than perhaps it mis BIT otherwise have
been from the fact that, with one ezcep.
ton, they carried DO meD beside their
own creGs.
On boar3 the Go ernor, however aere
Major John @ ReJooIt.'s battalion OF
usrines, 34Y meu, ali told.
The Peerless wa sn Engli-b steamer,
of -maIl size. ant had oD ooard ~ live
beef cattle Tor the use Of the arDy. The
Ethan Allen and Commodore PER- 8
were two terry boat, formerly employed
on the William -burEh Ferries, and were
Of the ssme pattern AM size as those that
nov ply on the East River Whoever
conceived the bright idea that such soat-
could weather Hatteras 10 Nosembe'
gale certainly has mind with origIna
ideas Cd marine subjects, and should By
all means he made our next Secretary o
the Navy However. there we're the
boats. and they were to attempt the pas
cage. aud were intended to be employed
in leading troops when We reached oul
destination.
The BeIVidere had on board horses and
commi-sary stores, and the Union hsc
also a few cattle aud some Qqartermas as
ters' stores.
The Fleet began to arrive 10 Port Roy
al Harbor oD Sunday night. but 10 on'
of the above mentioned missing vessel
was seen until THURSDAY moroinK wheI
the Ocean Express cane iu. to the grsa
relief of all
MeaDwhile, most doleful accounts bao
reached u of tue others. 1t was assert
ed that the Governor had gone down
With 200 mauOes-thie numher, b, de
grees. came down to 20 lost. at whIct
point it steadily remained until some o
the rescued nen arrived to -et the mat
ter right. The other missing vessels wer
all believed to have gone down.
Il has been since ascertained. however
that thr Ucion went ashore. on the shor
of North Carolina, aud aIl her crew wer
saved alive, though ~ were taken prison
ers. there being few soldiers 10 hers to
Belyidere. after such struggle with tn
storm as few ships ever live to tell Of
came safely out. and her story Is know
to the public; the two ferryfoats Etba
A liam and Comm odore Perry, hudlu