Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1886-10-08
SOLDIERS DEPARTMENT.
coMpLErELY EollEn.

"'och"g on Board ora British Ncsscl LORd
cd with Arms for tho Confcderaoy- Cap
ture of the Craft by Union Bloulad,
Runucr.
In the spring Of 1868, lust after m,
return from voyage to China and bacl
in British barquo, was loaing arount
Liverpool to wait for berth when one
VIM. Savage, an old sailor mate %
mino, run across me ono evening and
offered to ship me in steamer which
had run the blockade into Charleston
three times, and was about to attempt
n fourth trip. She was fair-slzed
side-whceler called the Isle of Wight,
and had nearly finished hor loading.
She carr ed crow of about twenty men,
and Savage was kind enough to say
that should be second mate, and that
the pay would bo the highest ever re-
ceived
In day or two / found that the
steamer was loading with two or three
field batteries, two large guns for cruis-
ors, and an immense amount of other
war material. When every thing was
aboard heard il said that steamer and
cargo were worth n full million dollars,
on three thousand muskots, a lot of hos
pital stores and some odds and ends
badly wanted by the Confederacy. Our
crew were riil-raif set, with nothing
of the sailor about them, while the cap
tam wa3 typical John Bull named
Graham.
heard 1t said that our venture was
known to the American Minister, and
hnI hn 1,- ,nI Il,
mont, but no cruiser would have any
business with us until we left Nassau.
We made that port in due season, every
thing working smoothly, and, although
we took in our additional cargo inside
OF twcnty-four hours, tho steamer do
laycd her sailing to the last day, on ac-
count of Il Yankee man-of-war hover
ing on the coast in hopes to nab us.
Meantime the crew had jolly time
among the tavcrns, and Savage and
myself bore our full part. 1t was one
evening when we were both the worse
for liquor when he took me aside and
began:
William, believe you to be re-
liable man. You are poor, and | can
put you in the way of handling snug
S2j, ,000.n
His language sobered me up and
astonishcd me. He beat around the
bush for awh lc and then came to the
point. which he stated as follows
''Hcrcs a steamer and cargo worth
at least Sl200O0. What's to prevent
us from seiaing her, making Yankee
port, and coming in for the prize
money!"
why, the captain and crew will !
PREVENT" replied.
The captain may try to. but the crew
are all right. Eve sounded 'em to
man, and they'll stick by me-"
Wouldn't it be mutiny and piracyP"
Exactly, If any of us are fools
enough to return to England, we must
stand our chances. The Yankees will
be only too glad to welcome u.s."
To my discredit, perhaps, needed
but little urging to join the conspiracy,
and when we finally put to sea every
thing was ripe for the seizure. The
pilot, who was Southerner, was the
only man besides the captain who was
not in the plot. Savage had sounded
him bit, but found him loyal to the |
core, and gave him up twas arranged
that the seizure should take place at |
midnight. AT that hour the plot was
asleep in his berth, the captain doing
with his clothes on, and the steamer |
was running through calm sea, with |
the stars shining overhead. As the |
moment arrived Savage and | went |
down to secure the captain, while two |
others went to take care of the pilot. |
The latter was the one who gotth start
OF us. The men went down to find him
just turning out. and though they threw
themselves upon him he Knocked them
right and left and got up stairs to the
pilot house. There he was attacked by
the two men at the wheel, but the row
ended in his shooting one stone dead
and bouncing the other out with n
broken head. The racket raised by the |
pilot when first assaulted alarmed the |
captain, and he greeted us with n
shower of bullets and forced us out of the |
cabin, Savage being shot in both the |
arm and leg.
Then began a high old time. Every |
man of us had revolver and we di- |
Vided OIL so as to keep the captain below |
and the pilot in his house. The engi- |
neers and firemen quit their posts to |
take hand in, and in about an hour |
the steamer lay idle on the sea, having
no longer any steam. We were now in
for it and bound to have the craft. We
could keep the captain below, but we
must down the pilot. | should say that
one hundred bullets were fired into the
pilot-house between midnight and day
light, but none of them wounded him.
In return he killed one man and wound
ed two. When daylight came We were
scattered about wherever we could find
cover, and opened on him again. 1t be-
came evident, however, after we had
wasted good deal of lead that the only
way to get him out was to make a rush.
Nobody wanted to head one, as two or
three men were certain to be killed.
We had him penned up, but he had us
rolling on the sea as helpless as log.
1t was about nine O'Clock, and we had
gone aft one by one for bite to eat,
when a Yankee blockader hove in sight.
Indeed, when we first saw her she was
only ten miles off Less than an hour
later she was alongside and we were all
prisoners. We told our story, claiming,
l believe, to have been melted to capture
the craft by patriotic motives, but all
the prize money which we got out of it
was three months in jail apiece Either
the story d dn't wash or the Yankee
commander didn't want to whack up on
his rich haul.-LouiSVtHe Courier-Jour-
nal.