Saint Mary's beacon., 1888-09-13

depsnded upon that light to guide |
then safely up the river at night.
We had been in the habit of c.oss-
ing the Potomac at night, and rsiding
on The enemy's lines IT different
poiats. We had made over one hun-
dred snecsssful trips. bringing soms
timss as msSs As thirty ner for tie
army Of Northern Virgins and such
things as We might capture q bay for
the nse Of the Coefede.ecv. Der
work wss performed ir AL open row
boat Which carried sal. when aeces.
ssry and when the wird vas favor
able. The Co.:zderata States he'd 70
4 prigstseI on tie Potomac except he
Swan She was zbca thirty fe-,
Ions AMI carried FIVE oars TO s:de.
THIS boat was bough, by NE in Mary
land and her armament consisted Of
double guns as the mos. effective for
ciose quarters az righ;. Some ~ the
glrs would csrIy forty nr fftr b1ck-
stot i. each barrel lad sl-o core
single su.s Tie capacity cf T.ich
were equal TO one hundred bucksho'.
| NJ operations OF the Potomac we're
confined aim est exclusively to night
work. Some. not scqus:nted With
that section, might inquire, wis, set
wee lid the swan render during
those hours Of wer and desnlation
caB say TO them that re eng gsd
the time OF more gun.boats, cutters,
and also land forces. than any other
toat carrying no heavier guns ever
did. This seem 10 be a wonderful
staten ent, bu. there are numbers Of
living witnesses on both sides of The
Potomsc who can testify 70 TIE truth
o. what ! write. Suppose We exam
ine the EorCe on the Federal side.
Tie Potomac fotilla consisted Of the
Fresborn, the Reliance, the Resolu'e,
aI3 other gun-boats carrying come
forty or fifty men each, with caunon
sni email arms, also with several cut
ters to AID them. Those vessels Of
wap had each launches .hat would
carry as many men as ths Swan or
nearly 40, giving them evnr- edvsn-
tsge Besides. there were land f7:ces
es;lneted a; from far to i've tnou.
sand, extending from Charles county
to Point Lookout in the extreme end
Of st. Mary's county. Now i is true
that this entire force YES empiovad
TO capture the Swan or 10 keer ne
out OF lower Maryland. The tcuor-
able B. G. Harris, our dis.,ogUi.Eed
Representative in the L. :. Congress
from st. Mary's, thought we enr!oyed
an immense force to watch US. II is
also true that we were very gsner,u U.s.
ly aided by the citizens Of Charles,
Calvert and St. Msry's counties, all
of whom sympathized deeIlv with
the Southern cause. But to cross
over and accomplish ones mission and
return the same night, required no
little risk and exertion in the face Of
such an enemy The swan must
nave cost the United States Govern
meht hundreds Of thousands Of dol.
lar.
On the night pIoPoso 10 SPEAK u
our cre* numbered only FIVE men,
the smallest number ! ever crossed
the Potomac with Lieut.. Tom Par
ksr. Sergeant James Parker, ]. Spald-
ing, and negro by the name 0: Lew
Is. Lewis had often received from
us ,resen;s Of cofae, sugar and Goth,
ins and was under ii. IMPRESSION
that We were bound or another raid
to rep!enish our larder. 70 he made
application to accompany Us acsoss
the river that night. Mars Cspren.
sad he, do You think that veu wi.
at any 0ommlsasry stores the next
time you 60 .nto the Yankee lines %
@: course. Lewis. we VII be !kely
to get something sad We. He was
fully impressed With the idea that
quartermaster's department was our
aim that night. We found him
good oarsmsn. strong and qnick. /
never shall forget his long salt sack
to hold las part OF the captured goods.
He aad no idea Of the Danger or what
he would likely have to 10 in case Of
Q ESht.
When he started ne was as lively
as you please, but when the time for
action was at hand his eyes seemed 70
change their cclor, and his face be-
come an ashy hue.
As the twilight faded slowly away,
with my little command stood uron
Hollis marsh beach watching the
enemy and ready to take our chances
amid the perils Of the desI and ths
great probability o; being run over