Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1884-02-18
A BLoCKADER's LAST RUN

of 1863-in the month of October |
think it was-that I ran the federal
blockade in the Galveston harbor, in
command of the steamer Susanna,
with cargo of arms and ammuni-
tion for the confederate govern
ment."
The speaker was a medium sized,
square built man, with deep-set eyes
and determined features.
The reporter recognized at once
an old Savannahian, Capt. Charles
W. Austin, who is now in the gov
ernment employ, and who figured IN
many thrilling adventures in the war,
but came out without scar. ''You
had a narrow escape, captain, but
tell us something about the affair."
'sAs / said it was some time in
the fall of 1868. [ had made four
or five successful trips from Havana,
bringing arms and munitions of war,
but this trip pretty nearly wound me
up. The Susanna, was q stanch,
trim-built iron vessel, with capac-
ity for from l 400 to 800 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 her long black hull
hardly visible except in broad day
light. She was about two hundred
and twenty-five feet long by thirty
beam, and being a new vessel, | felt
her equal to anything in chase. We
left Havana with crew of twenty
seven men, we'll differed by men
who knew their business. We had
fine weather and calculated to make
land inside the blockade under cover
Of night between l and 3 o'clock in
the morning. However, as luck
would have it, an accident at sea
by giving way Of some of our ma
chinery-detained us several hours
and brought US to land in open day
light, about O'Clock in the morning.
By this time we were in plain sight
of the blockading squadron, but as
yet were unobserved.
"The entrance to the harbor was
filed with gunboats. It was near
the close of the war, and the block
ade at other points on the coast hay
ing been raised, all the federal cruis-
ersSwere concentrated at Galveston.
The situation was a perilous one, and
there was but one thing left to be
done. If we could evade the enemy
until nightfall, and then pass the
squadron and enter the hnrbor unob-
served we would be all right. Call
ing the men all 10 the bridge | gave
them their orders, and the ship was
soon heading towards land. We
stood we'll to the eastward close un-
der shore with the intention of Sc
creting ourselves until night. We
were yet some distance out, and
hauling in rapidly, when about
s O'Clock | discovered a cruiser bear
ing down on us. All hope of max
ing land was then abandoned, and
the only chance for escape was to
put to sea. Having the confidence
OF my men, and knowing the speed
of my ship, 1 did moi fear the result.
Calling to the engineer through
the pipe, [ discovered that after
making a twelve hours run off shore
and back again, / would not have
coal enough to carry me back to
Havana, as there was none to be had
in Galveston. was in a quandry !;
but no time was to be lost. Give
her full head 7 | shouted to the en-
gineer, and casting my glass across
the harbor [ saw the federal cruisers
preparing for action, There was
only one alternative, and in folorn
hope took the desperate chance of
running the squadron and breaking
| the blockade. 1t was then about
noon. l headed the ship for Calves
ton, 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 gunboat
Seminole, which had already opened
fire. At this point the chase began,
and for an hour we ran under q
heavy fire from the guns of three of
the squadron, which were bearing
down on us all the time. Push her
hard 7 I shouted again to the engi-
neer. 'All right, sir, came the re-
ply, and the huge black volumes of
smoke that poured out of our fun
nels and lay in clouds on the water,
the throbbing of the engine in the
hold, the straining of the wheels as
they flew around blowing the water
and leaving a track of boiling, foam
ing sea astern, told that he was doing
his duty. It was an exciting time,
but every man was at its post and
not a word was spoken. The shells
whizzed over US and splashed and
drenched our decks as they fell close
under our sides. Two solid shot
passed through our tunnels as [
stood on the bridge, and the frag-
ment of a shell shattered our bow
above water, but otherwise we were
unhurt. I could watch the move
ments of the men on the cruisers
through my glass, as | stood on the
bridge, between the flashes of the
guns and the clearing away Of the