The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1862-01-10

Cahawba, carrying away their he off
GERS and crewso baggage and the valua
bic sails and furniture Of the ships
Some of the men-of>war boats were en-.
gagged in visiting the sunken ships
and securing -four, potatoes, onions,
and other acceptable provisions, rope fur
niture, &C., which come very handy on
shipboard. and thus preventing them from
being totally lost with the ships. By
midnight most Of the ship. had sunk.
Some of them lay heeled over aud the sea
flowing on their decks. 81. :. -.....
The channel began to appear quite we'll
blocked up, and, with the sigh, ships we
are to sink to morrow we'll placed, it will
trouble apilos boat to 60 through the
main ship channel, l fancy.
ea . WEDNESDAY, Dec. 20, 1861.
At sunrise 10 day we began our lsbors
again.
We have towed in and scuttIed four ships
to-day, and the Pocahontas has also to we'd
in f.sr, which have been sunk, and the
channel is sffectually bleckaded. Many OF
the vessels had been stripped of their sails
before they were tewed in, bu, several wer.
still unstrippsd. Captain Davis sent all
the whalebosts, with their crews, to the
latter vessels, and they were soon stripped
of their sails and valuable cordage, which
were taken to the Cahawba.
One ship, the Robin hood, of Mystic,
originally an East Indiaman, and the won
der of her day, was selected as fit repos-
itory for all the sails not worth sending to
the North, and such cordage and other ar
ticles as the enemy wonld like to obtain.
When ready she WAS 10 be burned. Du-
riug the afternoon the men we're engaged
in cutting away the masts of the ships,
and at sundown, out of sixteen vessels, but
one, the Robin Hood, was unshorn Of her
mass and spars.
] have frequently read of masts going by
the board on ships at sea in gale of wind
but never saw the deed performed till to.
day. l, is certainly worth witnessing,
where you have got the accomplishments
of a bowling gale, wild mountain sea,
and groaning ship, leaking at every joint
beneath you. Under these circumstances
the cutting away masts may afford sense
of relief, but none of qualification or pleas
ure. But, with fleet OF ships sunk across
and blockading an important channel, lea
ding to what was once thrifty city, but
what is now the seat of rebellion and an
object of ust revenge, the dismasting Of
the hulks, within sight of rebel flags and
rebel guns, is really an unalloyed pleasure
One feels that at least one cursed rat hole
has been closed, and one avenue of supplies
cut off by the hulks, and anything that
adds to the efficiency of the work affords
additional pleasure. Most of the ships in
sinking had listed to one side, and the
masts, of course, stood at an angle over
their sides.
The braces and shrouds on the ", ather
side were cut by the sharp axe of the whale
men, and the tall masts, swa,ing for an il
slant, fell together with loud crash, the
sticks swapping like brittle pipe-stems close
to the deck, ard striking the water like an
avalanche, beating it inte q foam, and
throwing the spray high into the air. For
an hour or two this crashing. smashing,
sound was heard on every side, and one af-
ter another ship became mere hulk upon
the waters. All were dismantled save the
Robin Hood, which was spared for anoth-
er purpose.
The scene presented III the harbor when
the work was done was novel and interest.
ing. Here were fifteen di.masted hulks
in every possible position, lying across the
channel-some on their port, others on
their starboard sides. Some were under
water forward, others aft. The sea swept
over some of them; others stood on their
upright kesls and spouted water from their
sides as the swell raised them and dropped
them heavily down upon the sand again
and proudly, among them all, was the Ess,
Indiamsn, brave Robin Hood, with her
graceful, tspering masts towering aloft.
ard apparently still afost.
10 the background were Norris Island,
brownish red walls of Sumter and the low
walls of Moultrie, over which flew rebel
ensign large enough to wrap ship in
One poor, mi,efable ,pg-bost, constituting
the rebel navy in these waters, and a small
schooner, made up the moving objects in
the background Of the panorama
At six O'Clock this evening the fire was
applied to the Robin Hood, and she began
TO burn brightly but not brisklv, and il