San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1883-03-01

men, the Lane surrendered.
The fight may he said to have taken
place in the dark, it being moonlight
at best, and clouds scudding across
that luminary now and then made il
SO dark on deck men had to feel their
way about. One OF the Lanes big
guns was loaded and fired five or SIX
times during the darkness and smoke
and il was found afterward that each
shell had passed through the gang
way of the steamer alongside.
A BADLY MANAGED CASE.
The court of inquiry over the Gal
weston affair is CLOSED over by the
federal historians, and yet blunt old
Farragut went down for bottom facts,
and made report which reflected
anything but honor on the affair as
handled by the federals. Both land
and naval forces had thirty hours
warning of the attack, and yet no
precautions were taken, and no one
seemed solicitous. The Owasco was
at anchor when the fight began, and
the Westfeld no sooner moved out of
her berth than her pilot ran her hard
aground on a shoal. Outside OF the
Harriet Lane the Clifton was the only
craft using her guns to any extent,
and her firing was all directed at the
confederate force ashore. AS the
Westfeld could not be got of, it was
planned to blow her up rather than
see her possessed by the enemy. Some
bungling brought about premature
explosion, in which the commander
and large number of the crew per-
shed.
While possessing the Clifton and
Owasco, the one having seven and
the other six guns, and each a crew
full of fight, and while the confeder-
ates had only the Lane, with which
they would have dared cross the bar
for fight, Lieut.. Commander Law,
who was now senior officer, left three
vessels in the hands of the enemy
and ran to sea, abandoning the block
AIDE altogether for thirty hours.
CHANGE OF OWNERS.
The Lane was valuable prize to
the confederates. She was too good
to aid in harbor defence, and yet not
fitted for privateer; and aftera while
her guns were taken out, some alter
ations made, and she was changed to
a blockade runner. The abandoned
blockade of Galveston was resumed
so soon and with such strength that
the Lane was never outside the har-
Dor as confederate armed vessel.
There was much Indignation at the
north over the loss of the Lane, and
the government seemed determined
to recaptrlre or destroy her. So long
as she remained in Galveston harbor
she was pretty safe from recapture,
and various plans were set on foot to
destroy her. One of these was for
two men to make their way from the
federal fleet alongside the Lane on
night favorable for the purpose and
explode torpedo under her. The
other was to set her on fire.
Late in the fall of 1868 a federal
scout, said to have been sent from
Washington for the purpose, landed
on the coast within few miles OF
Galveston and succeeded in entering
the city in the guise of confederate
purchasing agent. In the course OF
three or four nights he got aboard
the Lane and set her on fire, but was
detected almost in the act and fired
upon as he went overheard. AS he
II ever afterwrd reported to the federal
authorities the belief is that he was
killed.
Not only were a skiff and crew and
torpedo sent into the bay to destroy
the Lane, but the men approached
within 200 feet of the vessel before
the dangers of the mission caused
them to turn back. There was talk
of steam launch with spar torpedo,
but after a while the startling events
of war caused the subject to be for
gotten, and nothing was done except |
to maintain strict watch that she
did not escape through the blockading
fleet.
MADE A BLoCKADE-RUNNER.
When it was found that the Lane,
as a gun boat, was sealed up in the
bay she was disarmed, some altera-
tons made, and she was made a
blockade runner. This change was
carried to the federals by deserters,
and the vigilance of the blockaderS
was increased instead of diminished.