New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-11-19
Try two or three days.
Wreck of French Frigate Steamer Prony.


| Wreck of French Frigate Steamer Prony.
ISHuMAS CONDUCT OF YANKEES AND FEDERAL FLEET.
| From the Newbern IN. CO Progress November 81
| We are enabled to lay before the public the fol-
lowing account of the wreck OF the French steam
| er Prony, and of the inhuman conduct OF the an
kee fleet from the lips of the Captain, officers and
crew of that steamer The frigate Prony, OF about
eight hundred tons burthen, left Toulon, in France
| on the I'D of July, 1861, with instructions to sail
| on the American waters. touching at the various
West India Islands. Whilst on the voyage the
| Commodore of the Prony received orders from the
Admiral on board the flag ship of the squadron to
| go to Halifax and thence to Charleston, in South
/ Carolina, and thence to New York.
| When they received the order to sail for New
| York the commander of the Prony on shore at
Charleston, and the weather being boisterous and
heavy, one of the Confederate steamers undertook
to convey the Commodore on board of the Prony,
and whilst under weigh, and as the Confederate
steamer approached the ProDy, the steamer was
fred upon by one of the Federal steamers, and
thereupon boat was despatched from the Prony
to meet the Confederate steamer and bring him on
board. The action the part of the Federal
steamer, which the French Commodore character
lied as g a mean Yankee trick" gave him no IA
Yorahe opinion Of the morals Of the Federal Navy.
The Prony left Charleston in rough and heavy
weather. and the officers, making mistake in their
calculation whilst off the coast of North Carolina.
the ship struck upon a shoal at Ocracoke Bay-all
steam was put upon her, and every effort made to
get her ot-they fired guns and sent off rockets as
would come to their aid and relief.
In the meantime the little Confederate steamer
Albemarle, Capt Salyear, being at Beacon Island,
boat and men commanded BY Capt D, D. Sir
mond was dispatched by order of Col. Singletary
to visit the frigate Prony. By the aid and efficient
management of Capt. Srmond the large anchor of
the Prony was gotten out and carried out as to
heave the ships head around for her relief: and
after rendering every assistance that could be |
given-all of which was truitless-Capt. Sirmond |
returned with his men to the Albemarle for the |
purpose of having her brought to the aid of the |
French ship, but unfortunately he found that the
Albemarle had gotten aground and could not be |
gotten off that day, and not until the making of |
next tide. In the meantime four Federal steamers
hove in sight, coming from the direction of Hat |
teras, and visited the French ship and advised the
French Commodore to keep his ship on the strain |
OF the large anchor, as Capt. Sirmond had adjusted
it, and they would go off and bring other steamers
to his assistance and aid.
The four Federal steamers then left him, and |
never returned or sent him any aid. That night
the weather came on to be exceedingly heavy and |
the sea ran high which caused the French ship to
break to pieces, and the French Commodore be-
lieVing that the Yankee steamers intended to play
upon him a Yankee trick and were only waiting
for the destruction of his Ship SO that they might
plumber the wreck, threw overheard ali of the
small arms, one. cannon, etc., to prevent them
from falling into their hands. The Commodore
officers, and crew were loud and deep in their
curses and execrations of the Yankees. At day
light in the morning the Confederate steamer Abe
marie, having got off the shoal, made two attempts
to get to the French ship, the sea running yery
high, which, for the time, rendered it impossible
for the Albemarle to reach the steamer.
at O'Clock P. NJ. the wind changed to the west
ward, and the Albemarle made third attempt to
make the French steamer, and having at the imrgi-
nent risk of the lives of all on board run as near
the Prony as it was safe to do came to anchor
and having but one small boat the same command
ed by Capt. D. D. Sirmond with Col. Singletary
on board, succeeded in reaching the French steam
er; and having put Singletary on board of the
rlnya Ia doll aos.,z
greeted by all the officers and men, Capt Srm0nd
with the aid of the boats of the PROXY, removed
the entire crew from the wreck to the Confederate
steamers Alhemarle and Curlew.
On one of the trips in his boat to the Albemarle
from the French steamer, the boat with five of the
French seamen and her crew, were overwhelmed :
with the waves and sunk-the boat turning com
pletely over and casting the whole crew into the
sea- In this perilous condition, after the men had
been struggling in the water for half an hour, the
French sailors came to their relief in yawl-boat
and rescued the whole of them from watery y
grave, and Capt SrmOnd and all of the men were '
safely placed on board of the Albemarle No q
hing daunted by this disaster, Capt Sirmond and Z
his men soon baed out the little boat of the AL
oemarle {; and Immediately proceeded to the relief
)f the French crew, and continued to ply on this
GRAND OF mercy until the whole of the crew were
safely rescued and put board of the Confederate
steamers Curlew and Albemarle.
Fifty-siX of the officers and crew of the Pronv
we're brought up to Newborn in the steamer Abe \
marie and comfortably provided and cared for by :,
he citizens of that town, the commodore and the b
est OF the crew intending to follow them in an
lther OF the Confederate steamers. In the mean d.
lme the French commander, after csnferring with 81
Commodore Lynch, of the Confederate steamers | Ii
esolyed to 60 to Norfolk, en- route for New York, |
nd accordingly the whole crew were taken to
hat place by Commodore Lynch, in the Confeder-
tie steamer Curlew, the officers and men leaving S
lewbern on Thursday night last, at II o'clock f.
hat purpose
The French Commodore is not sparine of his
of Gankeas |
ecares their conduct to be both unchristan and 81
says, well knowing as they did that m
e, his vessel and crew were in the most imminent W
erll and distress, and receiving assurances from hi
hem that they should be aided by the whole force &C
hat they could command and believing that thew ba
ad in truth left him and gone to Hatteras for the
urpose OF procuring and returning with additional tn
i'd that after anxously watching in vain for their 70
rival that night, the rolled high and required
Il his strength of manhood and fortitude to sus. 10
ain and support his men. an
He encouraged them in every way, but when he
'st boat after boat, until only two small boats IS
'ere left which were insufficient in such a heavy
ale to save them, he awaited with painful anxiety
nd sollcitude the dawn of day, expecting every
loment that they would all be submerged by the
'aves and find watery grave but when, at the 49,
reak OF day, they perceived the little Confederate
teamer Atbemarie butfeting the waves and strup- "
ing for life, as it were, in attempting to reach I'M
lem his heart was cheered, and they felt that 81
lere were still some friends on earth who mani
,sted an interest in their welfare; but all hone an
gam vanished when he perceived the imminent L.
azard and risk that she encountered and he gave 10
all for lost, being well assured that she could b
Of survive in SO boisterous and heavy sea, &C
And again, when she failed to reach him in her
rst and second attempts, he believed all further
forts to do so would be vain and fruitlets he and
Is whole crew made up their minds to meet their
tie like men, and were sadly and mournfulv
fiicted when they reflected that such an awful
atastrophe might and ought to have been ayerted
the humane and timely aid of the Federal feet
inch they most inhumanely refused to rendar | lea
lem. w 0ooi III,
ne says that they were greatly astonished, and
senl thrill of joy through the whole ship when
le re, little Albemarle, which he perceived was a
al boat, most CALAMITY and bravely made a third
ttemptto save them; and when she dropped her
nchor, apparently safely moored, and sent her !
TIE BOAT to their aid, they all devoutly gave Gle
ranks to God for their safe deliverance. And vf
lat too much praise and grateful commendation tn,
annot be awarded to the Confederate officers "1
OIL Sngletary and Capts. tSayer and Sirmond III,
I'D their crews, for the brave and heroic efforts in m
wing them all from an untimely DEATH mi
MURDER OF Hon. josiah NJ. ANpERsoS,-We W. W.
arm that on the day of the recent election at or a
'ar Dunlap. the county seat of Sequatchie county w
on. Josiah M. Anderson was set upon by band
Lincolnite assassins, and stabbed in the hack
using instant death. Col. Anderson formerly re
esented the Knoxville District in the Congress- of
g United States, and was a delegate from Ten ~
al