Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-09-30


recsived rs eourteeasly, and gava Us bis card 70
assure Us admission on ba6Td. He ststa7 how
ever, that bis sueeTioF ofissr, Caps Msfit, was
gsHsrally to be found On bosrl his vessel. aud
would be glad to see rs. TIE franknsss. cour-
tssy, and total absence of boassing manifested
By this young ofEesr, impressed Us most fayora-
BY.
All next day it blew a gale Of wind in toe
Rsde and we could not fad beat to venture
ont. To-day however, the weather was most
proPiiious, aad cary morning found Us along
side OF the Florida. We sont our cards to Capt.
Maffs and we're Immediately admitted Cn
boagd, the captain himself coming to the top Of
the companion 10 Tscsivs Us. Directly Captain
u sfit aRieTsiood that we were British subjects,
he invited us below into his little cabin snd
when I told him that there were m1ny people in
England who regarded his career with interest,
he entered very freely into recital OF his sd-
ventures.
l vii here s8hjain copy Of Some notes
which Capt Mafitt subsequently handed 60 me,
relative to the career OF tRs Fiorida, promising,
at the sams TINA, continuation, which has not
yet arrived. They are ~ foll0ws:
The c. s steamer Flori3a, commander J
N. Msfitt This steamer was bailt in Livepo1I
and sent to N-ssEu. IN April, 1862; vas put in
the Admiralty court cleared on the 6;h Of Au-
gust, when her present commander took charge
end received guns, etc. On ths l6lh Of August
the yellow fsysr appeared on board, and Capt
II 3fiis had to perform surgeons dutY uutii ne
csssity forced TIE yerssl ii5t1 Gardnnsz There
she lost nearly all her crew, her psymssteT, and
third engineer. She ran the blOchAds eff Ha-
vana in and out, and On the 4ih Of September
appeared off M05is. Tue entire block
sdng heet put after her. Cspt- Nsfit was
brought NJ from bsd of sickness (ysl. ow fe-
veF) % take her IN. For two hours and forty
eight minutes she was under a close fire. All
the crew were sent below, and the off ssT5 only
remained on deck, for she had but eleven men
on duty, and her guns we're not furnished with
T2mmers, quOius, bsds, or sights in fsct sbe
was slmost hopeless. Three hesvyyshois struck
her bull Oas shell strnck her smdships and
passed through, killing Que Raa and WouadjDg
ssvsn. Her sanding rigging was shot away,
and same 500 sha'pael shot struck her hull
ard masts"
The notes which Capt. MlfiH hss Ia has not
found tina to send me. Of the captain himself.
may say thss he is slight, m.dle-s.zsd,
#eil-knit maa, Of about fOrty-two; s. uerry-loak-
ing msn, VITA a ready, determined ar, full Of
lite and business, apparently the sort Of man
who is equally ready for fight OF q jlll:fea-
ton, and whose preference tor the latter woud
hy no means interfere with his cTsiitsbls con
duet Of the former. His plainly furnished liz
tie s.atsT5nn lo0Ead as business Ike as a uner-
chants ofise. The round table IN the center
was 5treFn with books ard inu CmsTsbie mara
scripts, and on the shelves vera f5rnid4ble
looking rOws Of secauat-bosks, chsTts. etc. I
may observe of the cabin, as Of every .p=rt of
the Florida, tbss noas of it appears to have
been built for CrGsment-sl tor use, You
sec" said the captain, pointing to the heaps Of
papers, letters On file, account books, etc,
which literally Uttered the table, "yOH see I've
no siueeurs Of il. Since may paymaystar
died, I've had to be my owu paymsster. There's
young man named DAVIS (no relation 70 he
PresideDt) who does psymsst staT's duty; but he's
not vet guiie up to the work"
Capt Mafhtt forthwith began an animated
recital Of bis career and adventures He is
torty-tWO years old, snd IS the oldest officer On
board All the ofic=r8 we're born in the Con
isdersfe States, sad most OF .hem were officers
N the Uuiscd STATES navy bofHrs the outbreak Of
the war T5a eldest Of the officers Is not more
than twenty eight. The men are more mixed.
There are about ons hundred able sesmcn on
hnsrd the Florida, aud about thirteen Cfiesrs
Four foe fellows are from the neighboghc0d Of
Bress. Capt. Msfit says that he has hardly
ever talJen prize 0Ht what sons Of the c~sz oF
Ihe prizs hsve come forward to say, Should
like to serve with y0U, air Generally speak
ing. he hes to refuse; but If he sess very
likely fat0w. ne takes him on.
Cart Msfist was Esutensnt Of the United
5J2tes navy DsI5Ta ths cu5UUszE, ana III CuaL
capacity distinguished himself greatly. In
1858 ho Commanded the brig Dolphin, rhen he
captured the SLAYER Echo, with four huadrsI
slaves on board, and took her into Charleston
For this aat bis heslsh was drank az = public
diuner At Liverpool; ard Il is a curious fsct, for
those who maintsin thar the civil war in A America
is founded upon the slave question, that the
commander of this important Contsierste cruiser
should Be the very man whl has distinguished
himself actively against the slave trade In
1889 Can't Msfitt commanded the United States
steamer Crusader, and captured four slzvsTs.
The esptsin he'd great deal 70 say s5oat bis
successful feat at Mobile. In his opirion Is has
been tho greatest naval feat Of modern times
He 1welt long sad warmly upon tbs Incidents
Of he sfTair, and pointed proudly 20 .he- parks
Of shrspnel, which sra numerous enough mon
the mls5s and smckeslaeks The Flori6s was
struck with three hesvy shots on the occasion.
aud one can easily perceive in the side Of the
ship where tho mischief csg5a} by the IIineh
shell has been repaired. The Fiori3s made no
enteaV0F % reply 70 tho Ere which she received
the sss running too high to admit Of steady aim
and her small crew being 900 much occapisd in
the management Of the shie The captain
showed US = watoT-eOior sketch (very we'll
drawn by one Of lhe midsbipmsa) of tha FloTida
running tho blockade. II would not have dis
grseed professional artist
The only broAdside which the Florida has
fred in anger wss agsinst the Ericsson, an
srmed merchantmen which sAa errnuntared
some forty miles from New York. The Eyics
son, 4 very large vessel, did not reply, but made
the best of her way OF, aud succeeded in
escaping When they ventured within forty
miles OF New York, they did not know that he
sTrival Of the Eseony, one Of their "out6ss," had
put she New fOTkeIs on their guard, and tkey
soon found that there were about seventy armed
vessels out searching for them, and so were
glad 20 retrsst. I'VE never seeJ = fight" said
Capt Aatiitt, "snd we don't avoid one. You SEQ
ws'vs only two vessels sEain8t fifteen hundred
so we should stand poor chance. Oar object
Is merely to destroy fheir commerce, so As to
bring about psses. We have takan altozsth-
eT seventy-two prizes, and estimated the value
! At about fifteen million dollars. Ths jacob
Bell alone was worth two million one hundred
/ thousand dollars" The esptain exhibited a
book in which ell the prizes were regularly an
tered, and al particulars relating thereto Hs
/ explained thst their mode of procedure was to
| burB and destroy tho property Of he Northeru
/ States wherever they found 2 / asked if they
/ took gold and precious articles, aud the reply
was, pretty quick, when we get them"
| The papers Of the burnt priza sre all kept,
/ and g valuation is made before the destruction
! of the vessels, in the exppetation that when
/ peace is restored the Confederate G5vernmsns
/ viii make an appropriation Of money equivalent
/ to the claims OF the csDt0rs. Ia consequence
| of this arrangement there is very Et',e sctUEl
/ treasure on board the Florida, shs efi5srs aud
/ crew ara working mainly on the faith Of the fu-
] tuTe independence and solvBncy Of the Conisd-
ersey. 'Aay way" ssii Can't. Mafh5t, 1--WE have
cost the Government very little. for we've lived
/ on the enemy; oh, yes, we've served them Gus
4 beautifully" In reply TO some questions as to
/ the method Of capture, the Captsiu said, "ws
I only make war with the United States Govern
/ msnt, and we respect little property. We treat
prisoners of war with the GREATEST respect. Most
4 of those whom We have csptursd hsve spoken
/ we'll of Us. To be sure we have met with soma
ungrstelul rascs!s; but you NEE! with those all
the world over. The last priza we took was the
AuvIo Saxon, which We took in the Eaglisb
| chsnnel the other day, in mid channel, about
sixtv miles from Cork. She had coal on board,