The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-12-29
A -BLoCKADER,s LAST RUN.
Remarkable Escape aud Final Capture d
the Confederate Steamer Susanna.

IL was dDONL IL tlDck III llt forenoon
some time along in the fall OF 1oG5-in the
month Of October, ] think it was-that ! ran
the federal blockade in the Galveston har-
Dor, in command OF the steamer Susanna,
with a cargo of arms and ammunition for the
confederate government"
The speaker was a medium-sized, square
built man, with deep-set eyes and determined
features.
Il have read the account in the Sunday
News" he continued, 'of the striking chase
at sea and the story of the remarkable escape
OF a confederate steamer at Galveston. Twas
in command of that ship at the time"
The reporter recognized at once an old Sa-
MAMMALIAN, Captain Charles W. Austin, who
Is now in the government employ, and who
figured in many thrilling adventures in the
war, but came out without scar. You had
q narrow escape, Captain, but tell us some
thing about the affair"
AS said, it was some time in the fall of
1865. | had made four or five successful
trips from Havana, bringing arms and NUM-
tions OF war, but tbs trip pretty nearly
wound me up. The Susanna, which the
writer in the News referred TO as q pri-
vateer, was a staunch. trim-built iron vessel,
with a capacity for from l, 400 to $500 bales
of cotton, and with an average speed of
about fifteen knots an hour. She was built
in England, on the Clyde, as a blockade
runner, and lay low in the water, with Ter
long black hull hardly visible except in
broad daylight. She was about 225 feet long
by 80 beam, and being a new vessel, I felt
her equal to anything in a chase. We left
Havana with a crew Of twenty-seven men,
well differed by men who knew their bust
ness. We had fine weather, and calculated
to make land inside the blockade, under
cover of night, between 1 and 3 o'clock in
the morning. However, as luck would have
it, an accident at seattle giving way of
some of our neutrality-suspicious. us several
hours, and brought us to land in open day
light, about 6 o'clock in the morning. BY
this time we were in plain sight of the
b~lockading squadron, but as yet we were I'M
observed.
The entrance to the harbor was filed with
gunboats. 1t was near the close of the war,
and the blockade at other points on the coast
having been raised, all the federal cruisers
were concentrated at Galveston. The 81 tuS-
ton was p~erilous one, and there was but one
thing to be done. II we could evade the en-
envy until nightfall, and then pass the
squadron and enter the harbor unobserved,
we would be all right. Calling the men all
to the bridge, l gave them their orders, and
the ship was soon heading towards land. We
stood we'll to the eastward, close under
shore, with the intention of secreting our
selves until night. We were yet some dis
lance out, and hauling in rapidly, when
about s o'clock discovered a cruiser bearing
down on us. All hope OF making land was
then abandoned, and the only chance for
escape was to put to sea. Having full conf
dence in my men, and knowing the speed of
my ship, l did not fear the result.
Calling 10 the engineer through the pipe,
| discovered that after making a twelve
hours run off shore and back again, l would
not have coal enough to carry me back to
Havana, as there was none to be had at Gal
weston. | was in a quandary, but no time
was to be lost. Give her full head, | shouted
to the engineer, and casting my glass across
flo knrIO, cour {ha foJono1 -
ing for action There was only one ~alterna-
tive, and in forlorn hope l took the desperate
chance OF running the squadron and break
ing the blockade. 1t was then about noon,
l headed the ship for Galveston and passed
over the outer bar into the swash or beach
channel, hauling in south by west, in the
very teeth of the guns on the gnnboat Semi
WefaHGeh4 had already opeSed fire. AT
three of the squadron, WHICH were vs@~~c
down on us all the time.
Push her hard!' | shouted again to the
engineer. All right, SIR came the reply;
and the huge, black volumes OF smoke th9C
poured out of our tunnels and lay in clouds
on the water; the throbbing of the engine In
| fine hold; the straining of the wheels as they
few around, blowing the water ana leaving
a track of boiling, foaming sea lar astern,
told that he was doing his duty. 1t was an
exciting time, but every man wasad ms posi-;
| and not a word was spoken. Inc smell
whizzed over us and s~plashed and drenched
our decks as they fell close under our SIDES,
Two solid shot passed through our tunnels as
I stood on the bridge, and the fragment OF a
shell shattered our bow above water, but
otherwise we were unhurt. L could Watch
the movements of the men on the cruisers
through nv glass, as l stood oil the bridge,
between the flashes of the guns and the clear
ing away of the smoke.
I'VE were even now about half a mile dis
tant from each other and about a mile IRON
the shore. All right below? l inquired
AGAIN through the pipe. All right, Sir, wa
The answer. and the ship rushed through thu
water as the shot fell thick and fast; but thu
chase was about up. The bar was between
ms and the gunboats, and the distance grew
greater as the chanel widened. In ten min
utes more we were out OF their reach, ant
running the ship under Pelican Point, W
were under cover OF our own guns, sne4lele'
from the enemy's.
w were now safe. The open bay wa
before MS. with the white sand hills beyonc
The fleet was lying below about two mile
: and the fort and wharves along the city Wer
| lined with thousands OF spectators who Ina
t witnessed the chase, ana VINO receINeu l
with open arms"
Y ut was a n~ip-and-tuck race, Captain n
t marked the reporter. How did you feel wit
S the shells bursting about your
"Well, about as l do now" was the repl!
as the complacent captain stood, with h
r hands in his pockets, quietly smoking h
e cigar. True, there were about 200 poun'
of powder under the bridge where l stoo
S but it's all in a lifetime. There's no use ge
n ting excited. We lay in port about eightec
e DAYS" he resumed, discharging our cars
e and reloading with cotton, when we aga.
put to sea and passed the squadron Wltho'
being molested or interfered with. Ever
hing went smooth until about sixty mil
off Cuba, when we broke our crank-pin. an
10 SO disabled, were picked up by the FEEDER
cruiser Metacomet, commanded by CAPITA
# Jewett, and taken to Philadelphia "
tried there in the federal courts, and t
r. Susanna was condemned as a goyernme
prize"
a
Danger to China-Painters.