Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-06-24
Gales aud Sketthes.
A BATTLE AT SEA.
BY AN EYEWITNESS.

Only one coward disgraced himself that
day; that was man at one of the lower
deck guns, who. seizing an opportunity,
slipped down into the cockpit and hid
among the wounded. After the engage
ment, master-at-arms spying him, gave
him curse, and sent him on deck He
afterwards had three dozen with the thieves
cat, the word coward sewn on his Jacket,
and he was made to mess on the main deck
by himself.
About half-past three, the blight of the
main sheet hanging down over the port
hole, annoying us in the working of our
gun. and another seaman were ordered
on deck, to haul in the slack and get the
rope clear of the muZzle. | can't say |
liked the job. for | had deep impression
on my mind that | was safer at my gun
than elsewhere; nevertheless | felt go
must, SO up ran. On gaining the MAIN
deck found it a terrible scene of carnage
and devastation. A dreadful crash, which
had just heard, as if the ships whole side
had been stove in, was, found, occasioned
by two marble shot of one hundred and
twenty pounds each, which had struck the
main-deck abrest of the main-hatchway,
knocked two ports into one, and killed and
wounded five men. i saw Captain Bath
urst coming down the poop ladder, when
splinter from the bulwarks carried away
the tail of his cooked hat. He took it off,
looked at it, smiled, then came down on
the quarter-deck-the most exposed part of
the shp-and issued his orders with as
much calmness as if he had been only at
gun exercise, while with his sword drawn
he calmly paced the deck. amid showers
of shot and splinters. The rigging was
torn to pieces, the yards looped up and
down. the lifts were torn away, and the
quarterback was so strewn with splinters,
that it looked like a carpenters shop. All
at once the captain looked up aloft and said,
1.-The union-jack's shot awaym and instant
ly sent me to Davy, the signal-man, to
get another. As l went up, saw the Asia
a cables length astern of us, and the ad-
miral standing on the poop-netting, hail
ing US. "Genoa ahoy." through speak
trumpet. He wanted boat from US with
a Hawser, to swing his ship clear of
Turkish tire-ship that was drifting down
upon him. asked Davy for union-jack,
he drew one from his breast, where he had
crammed it before the action, in case it
might be wanted. When went back to
help my comrade with the hawser, found
the Misunderstanding where | had Just
stood, torn to pieces, and poor fellow
lying on his face, dead, on the deck. The
captain snatching the flag from Davy
called out
Who'll go and nail the British union
jack to the fore royal masthead ?"
A good looking fellow, named Neil,
stepped forward took it, and began to
make the best of his way up the tattered
shouds of the fore rigging. looked up
soon afterwards and saw the cool determ-
ined fellow clinging with his feet to the
royal mast, and hammering away with a
serving mallet. l and three other men
then got into the boat alongside while two
others coled in the hawser that the Asia
wanted. From the boat had fine view
of the fleet, and could see the two Turk
ish line-ot-battle ships, one on fire but
still necessarily pounding at us. The
Asia, at this time. had only one large liner
and double-bank trigate plying upon
her. When we had showed off with the
hawser, we found the sea covered with
wreck and drifting masts and yards, to
which hundreds Of drowning wretches
were clinging; they called out to us inn
ploringly in Turkish.
When we got six fathoms from the Asia
we found to our disgust that the hawser
would not reach; SO one of our men,
George Finney, the captain of our MAIN
top, seeing there was only one way, swan
to the Asia, and dragged back with him
hawser. They reached him from the gun
room port, and we then joined the two
ropes with a Carrick bend, AS we pulled
back to the Genoa we saw the Admiral on
the poop of the Asia waving to us with his
handkerchief to make all speed. We had
scarcely got half way home before the
mizzen of the Asia went over the quarter
with crash. We thought the Admiral
had gone with it; but presently we saw
him appear in conspicuous position. On
our way back we picked up ten poor
drowning wretches. As one of our sail
ors was hauling in one tall young Moslem
a shot blew the Turks head to pieces. All
the sailor did was to turn coolly to us, and
say-''did you ever see the like of that?"
But the Turks were cooler even than this
Finney, the man who swan with the haw-
ser, had just rescued handsomely dress