, 1885-02-04
ON TO RICHMOND.
"REMINISCENCES or A DAY ON THE
JAMES RIVER.



Il rua In April, 1906, that 4 was attached
70 thu. Commodore ~Perry, under Capt
Foster, lying on the james river about one
half a mile above the Dutch Gap canal The
ines surrounding Lees army were being
irnwn tighter and closer and the final blow
was about TO be struck. On that morning It
vas my watch on deck About 4 o'clock
Capt Foster, who bad been taking an hours
rost. came up from his cabin and asked me II
1 had heard any firing up the river during
his nbeancs l tnld HIN that 4 had not He
thought in silence a moment and said, HMr.
Pierce, ! would not be surprised II tho end OF
al this would come within the next twenty
four hours Scarcely had he spoken when
a sheet Of fame shot into the air, followed by
= tremendous explosion
There" exclaimed the captain, goes a
rebel iron-clnd.' Two similar explosions fol-
lowed Immediately. After waiting for
further Developments Capt Foster ordered
bis gig away, and. going ashore, climbed to
the top OF the -Old Grow Nest signal tower,
from which an excellent view could be OBJ
tained for miles around In about an hour
the captain returned on board, and in a few
minutes the flagship agnalled the Perry,
Get under way. Take the lead to Rich
mond. Be very careful Of torpedos."
Tho old boat had borne the brunt Of ssv-
eral severe fights. and that she was now
kNIAk ANN|IAAUN " EA|.I a. VI
torpedos made the oficora and crew hope
that they would be the first to reach Rich
mond. Ths b~oatswnin's whistle called all
hands to weigh anchor, and In n very short
time the Perry commenced to move up the
river. Boats were sent out In advance. As tho
old ship made progress up the stream, a little
chip was seen floating on the water. Ii was
. torpedo float. The boat crews went to
work cutting lines and wires until the in
81 - - 1871 a.. ~. -. a..
can cut open and the contents spilled INTO
tho river. In this way hfty-one torpedos
were removed and the James opened TO navi-
CATION
When the Perry reached Fort Darling she
run aground on distractions placed across
tho river. Orders were given tho chief en-
| gineer 10 pay no attention to the engine bells,
but 10 force the vessel forward and back
ward ns.hard as possible until she was worked
or There we were, working away, when
the United States steamship Malvern, which
WINS Admiral Porter's flagship, came up
assern of US We then learned for the first
first time that President Lincoln was on
board, and had made his arrangements TO
accompany the fleet to Richmond. 1t being
impossible for tho admirafs vessel TO go by
US hs determined to take the president to
Richmond in his barge. The boat was low
cred, tho president and admiral taking seats
In tho stern sheets, while Lieut. Barnes, with
a body guard OF marines, foIlowed in tho
Malvern's first cutter.
Between the Perry and tho shore was a
very narrow channel OF deep water, and
through which tho admiral intended the boats
70 paaA Tue place, however, was found too
narrow to use the oars, and SO, back
ing water a little, the crow pulled
hard. thinking by the power thus obtained
the boat woald pass through. The dmiral
did not take into account the current, how
ever, and thoso in tho boat were surprised TO
hnd themselves drifting in the direction Of
the steamers immense wheel Just at this
moment the engineer turned the lever, and
in "a moment the engines were churning up
tho sea TO the alarm Of tho boats crow.
Tho president shouted stop her" and the
admiral followed suit The uproar immedl-
ntsly reached the ears OF Capt Foster, who,
with one bound, reached tho engine.room
hatch and shouted 70 the engineer to reverse
In a moment this was done and the boat was
safe When the barge had backed out Of her
p~orllous situation the admiral, rising and
blowing the wator out of his mouth, called
out: Where Is the captain OF the vesself'
~Hero l am" said Capt Foster, leaning
over the ship rail
AWell, air" said the admiral Indignantly,
when you back off from here don't you
ATTEMPT to go to Richmond, but anchor
down below and allow tho other vessels to 90
up before you
Without a moments hesitation the cap
tain. In his usual tone Of voice, responded,
aye, aye. sir and in a moment more tho
boats went on After working the engine
for some time without avail the captain
squeezed the three tugs, which he had used
In clearing the river. through the channel.
A large hawser was then attached TO tho
Perry from each OF the tugs and the captain
gave the order that when he waved his
handkerchief the tugs should go ahoad at
full speed. The handkorchief dropped,
the tugs started, and the old
Perry, putting on steam, crashed
through the distractions, and In a moment
more was floating on the broad stream.
Continuing the journey under a full head Of
steam Richmond was reached, and the Com
modore Perry was the first ship bearing ma
tionai colors to drop anchor before the city.
A few hours after tho Malvern hove in sight,
and dropped anchor near US.
At evening tho admiral, in company with
the president, who had passed the afternoon
IN the robel capital, returned on board his
vessel, and the greatest ordeal Of the whole
campaign was now before Capt Foster, as
he was obliged 10 go on board the flagship
and report the presence Of his vessal to the
admiral As he left in the gig his face looked
a tribe paler. than usual, but his great
dark eyes showed discrimination to
face the music like tho man that
he was Going on board no was
mot by feet Capt Bruce, VIII whispered in
his ear, You'll got hill, old fellow, for
coming up here" His presence was com
inundated to the orderly at tho cabin door,
who announced 10 the admiral that Capt
Foster hal come aboard to reportr He was
accordingly asked into the cabin. whore he
saw the president, and the admiral seated at
a small center table Salnting both, Capt
Foster said: Admiral, | have tho honor TO
report the arrival OF the United States
Steamship. Commodore Perry. at Richmond.
Tbs admiral, in a very stern voice. re-
piled; Capt Foster, ] thought ! told you
not TO come up to Richmond
Tbs captain answered.: sir, / did not I'M
dcrstand you SO. thought you told me that
when [ backed OF not 10 attempt n come VI
hero.~
We'll" returned the admiral ~ tno same
stern voice, what of ~"
In the same measured accents which char
acterined the whole conversation. the cap
tain answered.. 'Sir. / dlI not back of, ]
ran her over how dst"
Tho admiral turned all shades ~ rod. but
beforr he could uttar an accent "pf1 Abe
Aaw tho joke, and laughingly arSs nnl
offered his heertiast congratulations 10 Capt
Foster. The admiral Immediately cooled of,
and rising said; Sir, yuu can now go on
board your vessel; i will see you c ncerning
this matter In the morning. That was this
last TINT ever came OF IL
Eor h,l,o,,. d,.o,do~ q Particle pW.