The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-02-06
THRILLING WAR INCIDENT.
The Capture of the Steamer UNDERWATER
by the Confederates.

THRILLING WAR INCIDENT.
The Capture of the Steamer Underwater
by the COnfederates.
Col. J. Thomas Scharf, of Baltimore, an
officer in the confederate navy, recently
/ furnished an interesting account of the
confederate vessels, the Merrimac, the
| Nashville and the Patrick Henry, to the
! Maryland historical society, accompany
ing three pictures of these vessels. The
| account concluded with description of
! the capture Of the Underwater, in Feb
ruarY, 1864, by an expedition under
command of John Taylor Wood, of
| Maryland, of the Confederate States
privateer Tallahassee, and subsequently
an aid on the staff of Jefferson Davis.
! The account is as follows Early in
the year 1864, Col. Wood, who had a
short time before captured a few feder-
al gunboats in the Rappahannock river,
solicited and obtained permission from
the secretary of the Confederate States
navy to fiji ont boats for the capture of
federal blockading vessels, by boarding
them in the night. In the month of
January, 1864, the Confederate States
naval commanders in the ports of Savan-
nah, Charleston, Wilmington and Rich
mond received instructions from tn"
naval department at the last-named
city, to select a boats crew of fifteen
able and trusty seamen at each port,
| from the iron-clads then in commission,
and with their boats to report at Will
mington, n. @. About the latter part
of January, everything being in readi-
ness, we'll armed, and accompanied by
four boats and two launches, we left
Wilmington via the Kingston railway.
Our destination was a matter of much
conjecture, and more than one quid
nunc puzzled his brain over the prob
lem.
At the juncture cf the Neuse and
Trent rivers, situated on point of land,
its shores washed by either stream,
lies the town of Newbern, a place of
some note, in North Carolina. After
the fall of Roanoke island, on the 14th
of February, 1862, it fell into the hands
of the federals, who Immediately after
its surrender threw up Notifications
which extended over an area of twenty
miles. To further increase the strength,
and to render the town proof against
surprise or capture, some three Or four
CunEoats were either anchored off the
| wharf, or cruising up and down the
Neuse or Trent. The largest of these
was the Underwater, which fred the
| first gun on Roanoke island, and whose
capture forms the subject of this
| sketch.
On Sunday morning, Jan. 81, our
| boats being dragged by the men from
| the cars and launched in the Neuse at
| Kingston, we Immediately embarked
and were soon under way, pulling hard
! to Newbern. The trip was one of
no little interest, but would exceed
| proper limits to give detailed account
of it. I shall therefore confine myself
! to q few generalities. Those who re-
member the winter of 1864 will recall
| it as one of unusual severity, and on
the morning of our expedition we saw
| little trace of the almost tropical luxu-
riance for which our southern country
is noted, the river wide and deep with
| floating masses of ice, through which
the waves flowed with hoarse surge
and high low banks, utterly destitute
| of vegetation, arose on either side,
bOrdcred with gnarled cypress trunks
| whose branches, trailing with gray moss
and leadess vines, formed a skeleton
wall, through the openings of which
we caught an Gee clsiopal glimpse of the
bare forest woodlands. succeeded fur
ther on by swamps, and marshes, whose
rank grasses and debris of fallen logs
and dead trunks seemed a vast battle
field, over whose funeral pyre neither
victor or vanquished staid to shed q
tear.
Winding and crossing in many a curve
and turn, flashing in and out, the river
seemed a succession OF tiny lakes; wild
ducks started at our approach, rose
from the bsnks, whirled for an instant
above our heads, and then flew ON rapid
J wing to the forest coverts beyond ST
lently our boat sped down the stream
issuing no sound save the steady splasl
/ and dip of the oars as they fell into the
, water. Occasionally a fallen log, GOV
) cred with sleet and ice, stayed our pro
; gress, and the mOnotony of the hOul
l was varied by boat aground, and nov
and then, as night appeared, the low
solemn screech of the night-owl wa
borne DER the stiffness and hush of thu
: dark waters. The night grew yer!
dark,-a night In consonance with on
work of daring and danger,-and soon
; as the darkness thickened and black
/ ened, our way could only be traced b,
= the faint light of the sky glimmerinl
j through the tree tops. At about clever
! o'clock our way grew clearer, the shore
. seemed to separate, and we soon emeT
f ged into the open country above New
: bern.
[ To understand the plan of attack.
will be necessary to explain briefly
i Gen. Pickett, then commanding, was t
: open fire on the enemy's lines In tn
) morning, thus concentrate their atten
:. tiOn inland, while we, taking advantag
of the diversion, if possible, captur
one or more of the gunboats, an,
clear the river. When IN sight G
q Newborn we ran into a small creek, an
q hauling our boats close to the shor
: landed upon an island whose tall grasse
and shrubs afforded temporary haven
e at midnight the men were called {
= quarters, arms inspected, and ammunitio
$ distributed. To distinguish him eac
o man was furnished with a white badge
to be worn on the left arm, and th
S password C'Sumter being given, til
, brave fellows were ready and eager fo
It action. Tie firing of Pickett was no.
n heard at its hight. and again launehin
y our crafts IN the Neuse, the boats weT
:, arranged IN two divisions, the first con
) manded by Col. Wood, and the secon
n by Lieut.. b. 2. Loyal, and the tw
h forming parallel TO each other, v
n pulled rapidly down stream. After
q short time Col. Wood pulled the boat
: alongside his own to receive iastru'
sipas,-saa AIS done be ytlsFea pp 81