, 1864-07-28
FRQH CAIRO.
Thrilling HemfMter OF the Captain of
the eKearsbrge-arrival OF fzetug -cy-
lhclr Eonoftfon-Amusem nta-Thc
kew CDDQn1au&12nt VI tRe Post.
[Feom Our Own Correspondent

1hcir Condition-Amuse usements-I
kew Gonan1andant VI the Post.
[Fn)m Our Own Correspondent
CAIRO, July IS, 1861. q
The late sinking Of the rebel pirate Ais;
hama by the Kearsarge has undoubtedly crc-
ated the greatest excitement in England aud
.America yet caused by any single event Of Its
magnitude since the commencement Of the
war. mention this, merely to send you
little "Reminiscences OF Captain Winslow, tbs
brave and successful comm snder Of the Kear-
sarge, while the Federal fleet of the then
Commodore since Admiral-DaviB, wns
haumeripg away ut Fort Pillow, one Of the
strongest fort6 tho rebels have ever occupied,
along about the middle OF May two 3elrs
scribblcrs for the press. occupied comfortable
quarters with Captain Dan. Musselman upon
the steamer D1ckey, then used as the store
ship, or .commissary department, of the feet.
am sure that all will remember the joyial,
gent1emanly elderly gentlemen, II tns IN;
our mess, one day, Immediately after the ar
rivelGof The dispatch boat from Cairo. He
was rather short, had small. quick black
eye, grey whiskers, and the little hair he had
lett upon his head WIS fast assuming au IRON
grey hue, He nas agreeable in his manners,
his conversation and daily walk, epe king in
a rspid, disjointed style, and using language
that sn'acbed strongly of the salt sens. In
fnct, as the sequel has revealed, he was an
outand-out sailor or-having passed the greater
part Of his life In tho naval service Of the
liar to the ocean. with which few Of the Bo-
hcmiaDs about had any extensive acquafnt-
ance. This gentleman was also noted Tor his
fits Of abstraction-his absent-mind ndeGness-
and it soon began to be whispered among the
knowing n9 Dofon
OF his BATH ries-in fact, was not CON
6Idered exactly sound i1 bis mind.
Few, questions were asked the officer,
and although perfectly open aud easy Of ap-
quafntapce, he seldom intruded upon the
conversation OF others, seemed rather to pre-
fer quiet and the perusat OF huge copy of
the Bible-With Which the Dickey had been
provided by Christian Captain Musseiman-
more especially for the use OF Juoius
Browne, tho somewbnt skeptical Ct trrespou-
dent Of the New York TsI1u.t-[poor fellow!
over n year passed In rebel prison has hid
its sof:ening and wearing effects upon him,
and uron 4. D. Rich1rdson, a. fellow corre-
spondentl-to the rather boistcrous compa-
W usual, assembled In the Bohemian head
quarte.s-the ladies' cabin of the steamer.
He read the blble carefully. And, By the
that he read the Bible through during the
two months which our feet consumed in
bomtardirg Fort Pillow.
Few Of the correspondents had made much
progress with The naval officer When he was
invited on board the Benton to dine with
emerged from his stateroom, In full uniform,
that We discovered his rank In the navy to be
th1t Of commander. OF course he had
come down to 6upersede somebody. Such,
at4e1st, was the natural anprosition. But
we were wrong. BE had Just returned from
placedupon active sefvfce-,not exactly where
he wanted to be-in the weSrsrn waters. He
had reported to the Commodore nnd awaited
further orders ;.
The morning Of the 10th day Of May ar
rived. The rebel aeet appeared, rounding
well-rememtercd, and to us disastrous battle
Of the day-the first in which Confederate
Htet Ind met a Federal fleet upon the waters
Of the Mississippi then fought, 1t Is
rot the purpose Of this sketch to reproduce
the occurrences Of that dag, suffice It tlat
Of It were telegraphed from Cairo to the New
York Herald, and a5 nsual, the Illustrated
papers copied their engravings from le first
and fau1ty relations. The result may be sum
med up thus: half an hours light to capture
Il mortar boat, On the part of the rebels, to
Of the retef boats badly shattered, many mea
killed-two Of our best gunboats, the Gin
cinnati std Mound City, eunk, the cotnman-
der Of the former md msny of his men
severely wounded. Perhap5 i loss In our
fleet Of eight or ten sramen Killed. -~=
In the excitement occasioned By the battle
adistant sleT Of which ne had from the deck
Of tic Dickey, the Captain WIS lost eight Of
It Yves not until after nll was over and the
entire loss had been ascertained, the dis
tatches written, the wounded cured for, the
! dispatch stenmer started for the north, that
some one thoaght to Inquire for sthe
Cap ain" It was found that, shortly after
| the departure of the badly whipped tteet OF
the rebels for Memphis, ''the Captain" all
covered with persptratiou, powder, dust,
In appcarance-in fact very n:ad-h1d re,
turned to- the store boat in an open skill.
| which he had borrowed from the stern Vi
I the Dickey iu the confusion Of the fight, aud
! which he had propelled with his o Tn hands.
lie had been absent dpriag the entire con-
to Stand the pressure and remain an inactive
spectator Of the battle, 1.-THE Captatn'' had
taken to the water, thrown of bis coat, aud
alone, unarmed and unattended, had Bculled
swiftly into the midst Of the contendin.
crnfte. Blinded by the smoke, but excited
eesEiully nearly every gunboat in the Federal
lcet. and undaunted By whizzlug shot aud
flying shells, exertcd himself to The utmost
to gain the deck Of one and take part in the
fight. At last he was successful. He found
n open port md deserted gun upon the
cured bis skif " the painter, and actually
aimed and worked alone the deserted Gun
uith.some effect upon the sides Of the Con
federate, with Which she was hot1y engaced
When the Cincinnati sunk, he deserted be,
and sought to aid other commanders. But
the fight was over. The rebel fleet was ma
king the best OF tlme.arouDd the point, none
Of our boats In trim to give them very hoi
chase
! "The Captain" was Captain John A.
Winelow, Of the Kcarsarge, the man who
fought, and with the aid Of Yaukce tars
sunk md completely destroyed the pirate
Alabama, commanded BY the Confederate
Captain Semmes. Winslow was subsequent.
u appointed to the charge Of the Baron De
kalo, aud later transferred to the craft he
now commands.
Refugees are still arriving at this post In
large numbers. They are devoid Of clothing,
food or money, and repose upon the ieye5,
unprotected 6y friendly ROOF, and without
any means Of helping themselves. In fact,
many Of them do not appear to have the de.
sire to help themselves. It they desired 1t
ever SO much, however, They could not.
| Ninety-fye Of these poor houseless wretches,
driven from their homes at the south by the
CONSUMPTION officer and the fear of Etarya-
tion for themselves and little ones, arrived
last night on the steamer Belle, of St. Louis.
As write, the most helpless portion Of the
uumber lie upon the hard ground, within my
view, covered only BY the filthy rags they
have brought from seceesla, the thermome.
faces exposed TO The full blaze Of noon-day
sun. Four died before morning. How ma
nv more may die ere night sets in Providence
can only foTetell. But a single, rough, sma all