The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-07-04
Again Heard ron

SN-ts ~ 4Sa40~-
CHICAGO. June @-Cap;alu John {.
RraIne. 81 -K-comraanle Ter Iu the Con
federate navy sid captain r the *
psiition which captured the Chea-
peake IN ls65. characierizcs the ac-
counts ~ ne capture ~ that vessel a.
telegraphed from Boston in connection
with the arrest 81 Lieutenant Henry
A. Parr a. grossly Inaccurate. lie
scouts the idea OF being himself ar
rested. and SAYS neither he nor Parr
Wee ever guilty Of piracy. that they
held commissions in the Confederate
navy and wera only amenahle 70 the
rules Of war, and their exploits were
IN the way y legitimate warfare.
Tie conyers1d freely, and gave wha,
he called the true account n tile cap
ture, substantially AZ follows II l~f1.
Robert Small. oolored. recently mem
Der Of Congress from Beaufort :. @.
district. was pilot OF the steamer Plan
ter. then lying AZ Charleston. lie
killed the guards Of the vessel. ran hrr
u and delivered her over 10 the Eel
eral authorities. For this, Snalle va,
presented with a purse and made Cap
tain Of the steamer. This exploit sls
gested the idea Of retaliation Is the
Ao1ltbtIa lt EONfIllllltlll- 1hIIlillaL-
der Braine was ordered 10 90 10 New
York and capture n vessel he saw
fit. He left Richmond. Virginia. i'll
January, 1862. taking with him FIRST
Lieutenant II. \. Parr, and Second
Lieutenant David Collins.
They were all officers IN the Confed
crate navy. They ran the blocka H..
and. after taking passage on different
vessels. reached Halifax: thence they
proceeded TO st. John. where they re
ported TO the Confederate agent. who
had on deposit $500, 600 to $500. 600 III
gold. with orders from Jefferson Dawn
to render Braine,s expedition all the
assistance in his power. Braine drew
on him literally. enlisted a crew q
twenty-five men, and spent the sum
mel IN drilling them. On the lst OF
December, he took his men and made
a trip with them by boa and rail via
Boston to New York. His account OF
their trip and their many subterfu5eS
to avoid detection is very graphic and
interesting. They passed - a com
pany of Union recruits going TO JOIN
their command. The officers wore
their gray uniforms under citizens
dress. On arriving at New York eaclI
man was provided with a brace OF
Colts revolvers and twenty cartridges
by a Confederate government agent. III
William street. Sentries were posted
to watch the loading of the Chesa-
peake, and when she was ready to sail
all went on board except the enlisted
engineer, who had deserted.
The vessel proceeded down the har-
Dor, and, when opposite the Battery.
made a stop. Braine supposed they
had been betrayed, but only a belated
passenger came on board. At supper
the Captain told Braine that none Of
his mems fare had been paid. Il paid
their fare" SAYS Brainc, thinking
that | would Don have the money
back. That night myself and Lleuten-
ant Parr packed and capped the re-
volvers IN my state room and secretly
handed them to the men. At half
past one on Monday morning, Deem
Der 7, | aroused Lieutenant Parr. We
donned our naval uniforms of gray,
turned out our men and informed
them that the time for action had
come. On entering the saloon at 2
o'clock the lights were turned low. and
no one was visible but an old skipper
sitting by the stove. He remarked
thai | was up rather early. | replied
that the sea air did not agree with me-,
and that IN the name of the Confede-
rate States of America, he was my
prisoner. We made all our captures
in the name of our Government. sad
Braine, land the charge of piracy falls
to the ground.
Il then ordered Lieutenant Parr with
three men to proceed on deck and cap
ture the first officer who had the
watch, and wait for orders. LIeuten-
AMI Collins | ordered to the engine
room. He took three men, and his
orders were to arrest all in the name
Of the Confederate States, and N no
account TO fire on any man unless nc
resisted. | then proceeded to the
main deck with the rest OF my men,
and posted a sentinel at the compan-
ion-way. When a~mldshlps heard a
man run to the port side and a shot
fired at the companlon-way. 1t was
the first officer. who, disregarding the
hail of the sentry. and trying to reach
the deck again by the man-hole, was
shot twice. | passed down to the en-
gine-room and found h steam gong
down and no engineer on duty. In
the tire-rOom | found eight firemen III
irons in front Of the furnace. Lieu
tenant Collins reported to me that
while putting the nremen III irons one
of them resisted and was fired at.
Then the engineer hearln. this,
armed himself with a four-barreled
Sharp's Derringer and, on being or
dered to surrender. fired at one OF my
men. The fire was returned and the
engineer was killed. This was Orrln
Shepherd, the second engineer. for
whose murder as a pirate Lieutenant
Parr was arrested. | Immediately
went below and found the engineer
living dead on the threshold Of the en-
gine-room. The body was sewn IN a
sheet and thrown overheard. took
three men and ordered Captain VII
let's to surrender to the Confederate
States as prisoner of war. Instead OF
so doing. he leaped out and ran ten or
twelve times around the deck before
he was captured. did not like 10 fire
on him. | put him in irons in the
wheeI-house. The second officer
found afterwards secretpd in the ice