Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-19

and Matrfmony and u Modern
"Joan of Arc"
The writer commanded the United
States steamer Connecticuton the block
ade off Wilmington, N. c.. for fourteen
months. and during that period cap
tured and sent in four steamers-Juno,
Scotia, Minnie and Greyhound, all with
valuablc cargoes; vessels and cargoes
adjudged worth 81, 063, 1852. The Con-
nccticut ashore and destroyed four
other blockade runners = Phantom,
Herald, Ceres, and Diamond.
The blockade unncrs would always
select dark nights to run in and out and
certain stages of the moon (between
the last and first quarters of the moon),
when it set early and rose late. This
moon arrangement was always a mat
ter of great concern to them; then a
tolerably high tide also entered into the
calculations.
The first blockadc-runner captured
by the Connecticut was the Juno. 1t
was q bright. pleasant morning, off
shore, and out about seventy miles from
Wilmington, when, at bay-break, she
was discovered. Chase was mmedi-
ately given. and in three hours she was
a prize. When the Captain was brought
on board he was greeted with the usual
"good morning." with the additional
remark: "Glad to see you," to which
he replied, with an oath, 'I'm not glad
ITO see you." A week before the Juno
had safely run in, had discharged her
English cargo-taken on board the
usual Confcdcrate-American cargo of
cotton, tobacco and turpentine. and was
now bound to Nassau.
Among other letters found on board
was one open and unfinished. begun at
Wilmington and addressed to the own
ers i'll England. In it the Captain
described the successful running past
the sleepy-headed Yankees at night,
and expected to be lucky in running
out. OF this he would inform them
upon his arrival at Nassau, where he
would close and send his letter. The
said letter never reached England, nor
even Nassau.
These blockade-runncrs were all En-
giish steamers, and were painted lead
or stone color to prevent their being
discovered at night when running close
i'll along the land. The fire and steam
arrangements were for burning the
soft English coal, which always made
much black smoke. Thus they could
be discovered a long distance off in the
day time. The smoke could of course
be seen before the vessel was visible.
We have heard and we have read of
the excitement on board a whale-ship,
produced by the cry of the lookout at
the masthead, ''Spout. or ga whale
in sight!' Boats are gotten ready for
lowering, with harpoons, lines and
lances.
On board of the Connecticut, when
the lookout-man at the masthead sang
out. ''Black smoke!' all was likewise
commotion. Every was upon his
feet, and all eyes, as well as the ships
head, were turned in the direction re-
ported. All steam was raised, and the
chase commenced.
A chase Of this kind once lasted fif-
teen hours. Black smoke was discov-
cred at sunrise, and pursuit was COM
mcnced and continued until after dark,
when the blockade-runncr was lost
sight of. The Connecticut. however,
got within two miles of her, making a
gain of ten miles, as it was estimated.
TO enable her to escape she had to
throw overheard nearly all her cargo,
which comprised English goods. as She
was bound in. We passed through and
by innumerable bales and boxes during
the day, some of which we perceived
contained shoes. This caused a wao-
gish sailor to remark: Perhaps if we
could get and put on some of those
shoes, we could run faster, and catch
that fellow"
We will continue with the further
movements of this steamer, which will
be found quite interesting. Suisse
.quently She proved to be the Tristan
Shandy. AS has been stated, she threw
overheard nearly all her cargo, went
into Nassau, filled up hurriedly with
another cargo and steamed once more
for Wilmington, ran the blockade, and
got in. In order to have the dark OF
the moon, she unloaded with great dis
patch, loaded with the usual Confederate
cargo and sailed for Nassau. When she
got a few miles outside. she was discov-
cred by the United States steamer
Pequot, which rave chase. 1t soon be.
came very dark, and the Pequot lost
sight Of her, but continued on the same
course as when the blockade-runncr was
last seen. In Il few minutes a trench.
dous volume of black smoke from the
soft coal came into the faces of the PEG.
pie on board of the Pcquot, and in a
minute afterwarl she was up with the
blockade-runner, and the Tristan
shandy was captured. She had broken
down. The Captain Of her had stated
that the Connecticut had chased him sc
hard those fifteen hours that his ma.
chinery was very much out of order;
and he hadn't time to adjust and repair
it, for he had to hurry very much to gel
out of Nassau and into and out of Viii.
mington in order to save the moon and
the tides. So the Connecticut was the
remote cause of the capture of the
Tristan Shandy with her valuable car.