Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-03-12
NO.. ).

said by More than one that If he had stood
by the North he would have been in Adj
,niral tarra8ut's place to day.
He held, however, strong Southern
views, resigned his commission III The
United 0tat@7 navy, and, in 1862, took
command of the Florida (then called the
Oreto), and sailed from Nassau with twenty
men all told, intending to make for some
Confederate port where he could have
the steamer equipped and invested with
proper nationality. Two days after leav-
lug Nassau yellow fever broke ont on board:
twelve out Of the twenty men died, and
Mafhtt himself WAS prOstrated by the fear
ful plague and not expected to live. Never
theiess he proceeded to Havana, and sniied
thence for Mobile, where the Florida made
her appearance on the 4th of September
off Mobile bar. Here she was encountered
by three Federal men war, and was or
dered to heave to. Maffitt, who Though
scarcely able after the fever to support
himself without assistance) had 1,=umed
command, paid 10 attention, but held on
his course. Immediately the squadron
opened fire with deadly effect. shot after
shot striking the ship, shattering her
boats and damaging her hull, rigging ana
spars. Eleven men were wounded, and
one mans head was torn off by an eleven
inch she'll. Maffitt, however, held on. and,
to the amazement both of his pursuers and
those who were watching from the shores,
conducted his command safely into port.
Before the Florida was equipped and
again ready for sea, the Federal force out
side had been increased from three to
thirteen heavily armed steamers, and the
Commodore reported to the Government
at Washington that there was nothing to
fear, as the Florida was sealed up hermet-
ically in Mobile Bay. Mafitt, however.
was not O man easily intimidated. Early
one morning he got up steam, moved out
just before dawn, and was discovered
steamlng right through the formidable
fleet that had been on the watch for him.
Such firing and racing and chasing en-
sued, as probably the Mexican Gulf had
never seen before but Maffitt, with his
little Florida, escaped, and was soon forth
on his terrible career, lighting up the
ocean with the flames of captured and
burning ships.
found the Captain cultivated and gen
tlemanly man, small-sized and spare in
figure, but with a fine cast head, a dark
keen eye, strong tuft of black whiskers
| on his chin, and firm little mouth, that
seemed to express the energy and determi-
nation of his character. 1 remember very
we'll his dignifed appearance as he stepped
about in his short military cloak, and with
his keen and somewhat stern look. He
was in reduced circumstances, having
staked his whole fortune and position upon
the lost cause; but, like SO many of his old
military and naval associates, he was trying
his hand OF business and striving to recon
cile himself to the new order of things.
"But," said he, shaking his head rue
fully, when cOnyersing with me on this
subject, {" man who has been brought up
to the navy is not fit for much else
Speaking of the war, he said : 'The
Northern Navy contributed materially to
the successful issue of the war. The grand
mistake of the South was neglecting her
navy. All our army movements out West
were baffied by the armed Federal steamers
which swarmed on Western waters. aud
which our Government had provided
nothing to meet. Before the capture of
New Orleans, the South ought to have had
a navy strong enough to prevent the cap
ture of that city, and dhold firmly the Missis-
sippi and its tributaries. This would have
prevented many disastrous battles; it would
have made Sherman's march through the
country impossible and Lee would still
have been master of his lines. Yes, Sir,
the errors Of our Government were numer-
Gus, but her neglect of the navy proved il
remediable and fatal.
"Nobody here,'' he continued, ''wOuld
believe at first that great war was before
us. South Carolina seeded first, and i'm
provlsed navy consisting Of two small
tug boats North Carolina followed suit,
and armed tug and small passenger
boat Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana
put i'll commission handful OF frail river
boats that you could nave knocked to
pieces with q pistol-shot. That was our
navy Then came Congress, and voted
money to pay officers like myself who had
resigned from the Federal navy, but moth
ing to build or arm any ships for us to
command -
"Of course it woke up by and by, and
orderad vessels to be built here, there, and
everywhere; but it was too late"
"And yet," said the Captain, with q
rnomentary kiudling of the eye rs the
thought of other days came back to him,
"the Confederate navy, minute though
it was won place for itself in history. 10
the confederates the credit belongs of test
ing in battle the invulnerability of iron
clads, and of revolptionising the navies OF
the world. The Merrimac did that And
though we had but a handful of light cruis-
ers, while the ocean swarmed with armed
Federal vessels, we defed the Federal navy
and swept Northern commerce from the
seas"
sc If only" he added, 1.-THE old usage
in regard to sea prizes in neutral ports had
been still in vogue, We should have done
more, and the pecuniary gain to the of
ficers and men and to the Confederate
Government would have been immense
But Confederate cruiser out upon the
ocean was a lonely knight-errant. Her
nationality was unrecognized; her facilities
for supply and repairs hampered by 'neu-
trality proclamations' that affected only
her. She had to do everything for herself,
live upon the enemy, and contend friend
less and alone against the world. Well, it
is all over noW."
COINCIDENCE.
In Now York heard of an extraordinary
coincidence which connects itself with Cap
tain Maffitt.
A gentleman on his way, with his wife,
from New York to some port in the South
ern seas-I forget the name-was express
ing to friend his fervent hope that no
"Confederate pirate" would catch sight of
them.
We'll, said his friend, " Goi help you
if Semmes gets his clutches On you. But
an 1 u