Connecticut western news., 1878-07-04
IA STORY RErO1n.9
The Capture of the Steamer Chesape ake in
 n.4r 1808s

IOT COMp11cAGy III Lno capture OI tue steamer Chesapeake in 1863, Braine, who commanded the expedition, tells the storysof the capture as follows :---Ir 1862, Robert Smalls (colored), recently member of Congress from Beaufort (S. O. District, was pilot of the steamer Planter, then lying at Charleston. He killed the guards of the vessel, ran her out, and delivered her over to the Federal authorities. For this Small was presented with purse and made cap. tain of the steamer.
 This exploit suggested the idea of re- taliatlon to the Confederate Government. Commander Braine was ordered to go to New York and capture any weasel he saw fit. He left Richmond, Va, in January, 1868, taking, with him. First Lieutenant .H. "A. Parr. and, Second Lieutenant Da. vid Collins. They were all officers in the Confederate Navy, and had orders direct from 5. H. Mallory, Secretary oi the Confederate Navy ....' ..'
 They ran the blockade, and, afte, taking passage on different vessels, reached Halifax. Thence they proceed. ed to St John, where they reported tc the Confederate agent, who had on de. posit $2O0, ,OO0 to $3OO,O in gold, with orders from Jefferson Dav1s to render Braine's expedition all the assistance il his power. Braine drew on him liberal. ly, enlisted a crew of twenty-two men, and spent the summer in drilling them, On the lst of December he took his men and made trip with them by boat and rail via Boston to New York.
 The vessel proceeded down the har bor, and when opposite the Battery made stop. Braine supposed they had been betrayed, but only belated pas. senger came on board at supper. The captain told Braine that none ot the mems fare had been paid. "I paid their fare," says Braine, " thinking that l would soon have the money back. , That night I and Lieutenant Parl unpackedl and capped the revolvers in my state room, and secretly handed them to the men.
 |, At 1:3O on Monday morning, Decem. Der 2, l 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 ore was visible but an old skipper sitting by the stove. He remarked that I was ur rather early. I replied that the seq. lair did not agree with me-. and that, in the name of the Confederate States of fAmer. ica, he was my prisoner. We made all our captures in the name of our Govern ment, and the charge of piracy falls tc the ground.
 l 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. Lieutenant Collins I ordered to the engine-room. He took three men, and his orders were to arrest all in the name of the Confederate States, and on no account to fire on any man un- less he resisted. then proceeded to the main deck with the rest of my men, and posted sentinel at the companion way. When amidships heard man run to the port side and shot fired at the companion-way. It 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. I passed down by the engine-room and found the steam going down and no en- gineer on duty.
 In the fire-room I found eight firemen in irons in front of the furnace. Lieu tenant Collins reported to me that while putting the men in irons one of them re- sisted, and was fired at. Then the en- gineer hearing this, armed himself with a four -barreled Sharp's derringer, and on being ordered to surrender fired at one of my men. The fire was returned, and the engineer was killed. This was Orrin Shepherd, the second engineer, for whose murder, as a pirate, Lieuten- ant Parr was arrested. I immediately went below, and found the engineer lying dead on the threshold of the en- gine-room. The body was sewn in 8 sheet and thrown overheard.
 I took three men and ordered Cap- tain Willetts to surrender to the Con- federate States as prisoner of war. h. stead of so doing, he leaped out, and ran ten or twelve times around the deck be- fore he was captured. I did not like to fire on him. I put him in irons in the The second officer I found secreted behind the ice-chest, and put him in irons to keep the cap- tain company.
 The chief engineer, when ordered to only opened his door on 8 crack, and was fred at and slightly wounded in, the chin. when he dashed out and ran around the deck nearly naked in the frosty wind. Another of the off, cers, Henderson, got down on his knees and begged for his life. I put him in irons, and sent him to the wheel-house. The total time occupied in the capture was thirty-fve minutes, including the putting of all of the crew in the fore- castle in irons. I doused all the lights, changed the ships course, and took de- parture fcom Cape Elizabeth light at four that morning, having orders to take the vessel to Seal Cove, on the English Island of Grand Manan, opposite East port, Me-, and there turn her over to Captain Parker, of the Confederate Navy.
 Snuff.Taking Girls.
 The Atlanta Sunny South says: We