Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-03-20
CAREER OF A GALLANT NAVAL
OFFICER.
The Confederate Cruiser Which the Late
Cant. WaddelI Commanded.

1itv is a thrilling one. Capt. Waddell
vAs horn in Pittsboro', Chatham county,
Nc. in 1924, and was appointed mid
.bipman in the United States naval SER
vice on Sept. 10, 1S4l. He was assigned
IN duty ON the United States ship Penn
s,lvania, at Portsmouth, Va. A few
months after he entered upon the dis
charge of his duties he was shot in the
hin in a duel with another midshlpman,
which caused him to limp to the day Oh
his death. After several years OF sea ser
vice, during which he was promoted 10
lieutenant, he was in 1858 made assist
ant professor OF navigation at the Naval
Academy at Annapolis. In 1903 ne
was ordered to the East lndia
squadron, and in 1861, when the war
broke out, mailed mis- resignation from ST.
Helena. His reason for reslgnlng was
given BY him in letter published by MIN
In January, 1862, as owing to MS ''un-
willingness TO bear arms against MS
father's home and relatives IN the seeded
States" He declared explicitly that ne
mad ma property in the seeded States;
that he was not hostile TO the constitu-
ton of the United States; That ne ven
Grated the flag and wished that he might
hazard life and limb in its defense against
some foreign Zoe. IL has D6Cn Sdiu buaI OhO
Of the causes OF his resignation was that
he was engaged to be married to Miss
Irlebart, the daughter of James Iglehart,
Of Annapolis. whose family was strongly
inclined to the South. He married this
lady in December, 1861, and she survives
him, He leaves no children.
His resignation at the breaking out of
the war was not accepted, and he stands
on the United States navy register of 1852
as dismissed" In February, 1862, he
ran the blockade to Richmond and entered
the Confederate navy. His commission
"a first lieutenant in the service bears
date March q, 1862. He was assigned to
duty at Drury's Bluff defenses on James
river. subsequently he had command
in Charleston harbOr, from which be was
assigned to especial service" and in 1854
ran the blockade to take command of the
c. 5. cruiser Shenandoah.
The famous Confederate cruiser, then
known as the Sea King, was built by
Messrs. A. Stevens & Sons, Glasgow, in
1858, especially for the China trade, on
the composite principle, with iron knees,
beams, stringers, keelson and planking Of
East India teak. She was go feet long,
81 feet inches beam, 20 feet inches
depth, and LOIS gross and 100 registered
tonnage. The Sea King was a full-rigged
clipper ship, with hollow iron masts and
iron rigging, and all the improved meth
DDS of reefing, furling and setting sails
from deck. She had an auxiliary engine
of go nominal horsepower, with lift
ing screw, and when under sail was
a l6-knot vessel, and under steam 10
knots. She made one voyage to New
Zealand as transport for British troops,
when she proved herself one of the fastest
vessels afioat, her log showing at times
over 800 mikes in "a hours. Capt. Wad-
den once said s'she ran from the Arctic to
Liverpool in $50 days; from the line on
the Pacific to the cape in 26 days; from
the cape to the line on the Atlantic in %
days, and from the line to Liverpool in "a
days" On Sept. 20, 1864, the Sea King
was sold in London to Richard Wright, of
Liverpool, a British subject, and the
Carolina, the managing partner in the
celebrated mercantile house of Fraser,
Trenholm a. Co., of Charleston.
On Oct. 7 Mr.. Wright gave a
power of attorney to Capt. COrbett, who
had formerly commanded Confederate
blockade runners, to ''sell her at any time
within six months for a sum not less
than f45, 900 sterling" The next day the
Sea King cleared for Bombay, loaded
with coal and provisions sufficient for a
twelve months cruise" About the same
time a fast screw steamer called the
Laurel cleared for MatamOras, via Mas
sau, loaded with munitions of war, cloth
ing, and stores, and having on board
Lieutenant Commander Waddell and his
officers. The Sea King arrived of Fun
Dhal the night OF the 10Th, and on the 10Th
the Laurel came out to meet her.
They proceeded to Desertas island, lying
near Madeira, where the transfer was
effected. The Sea King took from the
hrars
6S-pOunder smoOth-bore guns, two
32-pounder rifles and two 12-pounder
smoOtn-bore guns, and quantity of pow
der, muskets, pistols, shot anda shell,
clothing and quantity of other stores.
The transfer having taken place, Capt.
Waddell assumed command in the place
OF Corbett, and, naming the craft Shen-
andoah, hoisted the Confederate flag at
his masthead and Immediately steamed
toward Melbourne. During this cruise,
which lasted 80 days, Is vessels of the
merchant marine of the United States
were destroyed, with valuable cargoes.
On Jan. %, 1865, the Shenandoah dropped
anchor OFT Sandridge, small town about
Two miles from Melbourne.
After taking in more coal and supplies
and doubling her crew, the Shenandoah
left early in the morning of Feb. IS. She
went through the Pacific ocean to the
Arctic seas, via Behring straits, for the
purpose OF destroying the whalers of the
United States. How successful she was
IN her attacks upon the New England
whaling fleet is shown in the long list Of
captured vessels, for whose destruction
The United States demanded after the war
rom Great Britain as compensation the
sum of $6.656. S3S 81.
Long after the downfall of the COnfede-
rate government Capt. Waddell captured
and sunk or burned vessel after vessel in
we Arctic and OchOtsk seas until Aug. 2,
100, more than three months after the
suIrehdef OF Gen. Lee, when he fell in
with the British bark BawacOuta, from
whose Captain he received the first intel
ugehce Of the collapse of the Confederacy.
Alter this II was impossible for him to
proceed further with the work Of burning
Ohlted States ships. Capt. Waddell,
notwithstanding the partial insubordi-
usDioh OF his crew and panic OF his
ssllcefs and men, many of whom were in
taNOr OIL rash and desperate measures,
such as burning the ship, running her
ashore and each man taking care of his
oWn NE, resisted all such persuasIOns,
su9 determined TO run the risk involved,
sna 70 proceed 10 England. He slowed
swsy mis- guns and ammunition in the
noIu' and at once headed his ship for Liv-
81 pooi as the only port In which he was
sure OF personal safety. During the
nhPie Oh The long voyage the Shenandoah
was not met bya single vessel. Conse-
duehtiy no report OF her was re-
oelNeo in any part OF the
wVIia until she unexpectedly