St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1862-06-05

on feeufninH W tue snIp, ne 10 una
that Craney Island and all the other bat
teries on the river had been abandoned.
| IL was now seven o'clock in the even
ing. and this unexpected confirmation
rendered prompt measures necessary for
the safety Of the Virginia
q The pilots bad assured me that they
eo-ld take The ship, with draft Of
IS ateen feet, TO- within fviy mills of
This the chief pilot, Mr.. Parrish, and
his chief assistant. Mr.. Wright, had AS
serted again and again and on the after
noon of the 9TH. in my cabin, in the pres
cnco Of Commodore Ilollins and Captain
Stcrritt. in reply tn question of mine.
they both emphatically declared their abil-
ty to do so.
COnfding in these assurances, and, az
ter consulting with the First and Flag
Licutcnants, and learning that the officers.
generally. thought it the most julcious
course, | determined to Tighten the ship at
once, and run up the river for the protcc-
,ion Of Richmond
| AL hands having been called on deck.
! stated to them the condition of things,
aud my hope that, by getting up the
river before the enemy could be made
aware of our desi igns, we might capture
his vessels which had ascendrd il and
render efficient aid to the defence Of
Richmond; but that to effect this would
require all their aid in tightening the
ship. They replied with three cheers
and went to work mt once. The pilots
were on deck and heard this address 10 the
crew.
Being quite nnwcll, I had retired to
bed. Between one aud two o'clock III
the morning the First Lieutenant re-
ported to me that. after the crew had
worked for five or six hours, and Lifted
the ship so as to render her unfit for
action, the pilots had declared their ina
bility to carry eighteen feet above the
jamestown Flats. up to which point the
shore, on each side, was occuricd by the
enemy.
On demanding from the chief plot.
Mr.. Parrish. an explanation of this pal
pable deception, he replied that eighteen
feet could be carried after the prcva-
lcncc Of catcrly winds. and that the
wind for the last two days had been
westerly.
had no time to loose. The ship was
not in condition for battle, even with
an enemy of equal fnrcc-and their force
was overwhelming. | therefore detcrn-
incd. with the concurrence Of the FIRST
and Flag Leutenants, to save the crew
for future service, by landing them at
Craney Island. the only road for retreat
open to US, and to destroy the ship to
prevent her falling into the hands of
the enemy. | may add, that although
not formally consulted. the course was
approved by every commissioned officer in
the ship.
There was no dissenting opinion The
ship was accordingly prt on shore as
near the mainland, in the vicinity of
Craney Island. as possible, and the
crew landed. She was then fired, and
after burning fcrcely fore and aft for
upwards of an hour, blew up little
before five on the morning of the
11th.
We marched for Suffolk. twenty-five
miles. and reached it in the evening.
and from thence came by railroad to
this city.
1t will be asked what motives the pilot,
could have had TO deceive me. The Only
imaginable one is, that they wished to
avoid going into battle
Had the ship MT been lifted, so as to
render her unfit for action a desperate
contest must have cnsu"d with force
against us too great to Justify mu;h
hope of success and. as battle is not
their occupation, they adopted this de-
ceittul course to avoid it, | cannot im-
agine any other motive: for | had seen
no reason to dis,rust their good faith to the
CoLftitracy.
My acknowledgements arc due. to the
FIRST Lieutenant, Ap. Catesby Jones.
Tor his untiring exertions. aud for the
the aid he rendered me in all things -
The details for firing the ship and
landing the crew were left tc him, and
everything was conducted with the most
perfect order.
To the other officers Of the ship, gene
erally, am also thankful for the great
zeal they displayed throughout.
| The Virginia no longer exists, but 800
brave and skillful officers and saamcn are
/ saved to the Cunfedcracy.
| presume that Court of Inquiry viii
be ordered to examine into all the circum-
stances | have narrated and earnestly
solicit it public opinion will never be put
right without it.
| ain, sir. with great respect.
Your obedient scrvas.t,
GSicnedl JoSlAu TArXALL