The National tribune., 1888-01-05
A SAILORS STORY.
How the Rebels Got the Sumter privateer.

EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: Be kind
enough to allow an old veteran of the navy to
make few remarks. / entered the service in
1859 on board the U. s. ship Saratoga, Capt
Thomas Turner commanding. Lieut.. Perry,
whose name is mentioned in the 81 Boy Spy in
Dixie" occupied the same position on the Sara
toga that he did afteFward on the Powhatan.
We laid off Vera Cruz during the lombard
ment of that city by Gen. Miramon, being there
to take on board the Mexican officials in case
they were obliged to surrender, and as we were
anchored between the famous old castle and
| the city, we had good view of the fight On
| the 9Th of March, 1860, there was great commo-
ton, caused by the arrival of two large steam
ers. They came there to clean out the Mexican
gunboats, a job easily DONE as each of them
carried but one gun. The strange steamers
| anchored about II miles below the city, and
came from Havana, loaded with arms and
munitions of war for the Church party in the
revolution then in progress.
| Our ship was ordered to destroy or capture
them. We were towed down by steamer,
whose name / now forget She had two guns
| and detachment of sailors and marines on
board. I loaded the first gun that was fired
/ there that night. The action commenced at
| 1890 a. m. We ran up alongside Of the larger
| steamer and called upon them to surrender and
send their boat aboard. They made no reply,
but slipped their cable and commenced to move
| ahead but came to sudden stop when we fired
a broadside, which disabled the machinery and
| killed the engineer, Chas Cooper, of New York,
| the only American on board. Capt Turner
| ordered them to let go their other anchor,
and we then sent an armed boat on board and
| took possession. In the meantime our consort
was busily engaged with a smaller steamer for
| they fought like blazes, and did not surrender
| until they had a number of men killed and
wounded. We sustained some loss on our side
The vessels proved to be the Marquis of Ha-
vana Ozark rigged) and the Gen. Miramon "a
| brig; one carried seven guns and the other
five. We returned to Vera Cruz the next day
| with our prizes, and their crews were turned
over to the Mexican authorities as prisoners Of
war. They made our Captain present of the
| vessels We put prize crews on board and SEM
them to New Orleans. Gen. Mramon, the
leader of the Church party, after losing hi'
ships and the supplies they contained, wai
obliged to raise the siege and withdraw from
Vera Cruz
/ was in New Orleans in March, 1861, anC
saw the two vessels we captured laying at AL
giers, opposite the city. | went on board ant
learned from the Yatchman that the ships wer
still in the hands Of the court. When the wa
broke out the rebel Government soon decided
what to do with them. They were reitted ant
renamed; the small one was called the Gen
Bragg, and the other became the Sumter. SIN
made her escape past the Brooklyn, Commodor
Poor commanding.
have written this to show how th
rebels got possession of the Sumter, and hoy
the Saratoga's crew lost the prize money.
this should meet the eye of anyone who car
give more definite account of this affair,
would like to hear from them through THE Ma
TIoNAL TRIBUNE. When the war broke out
went back to the navy, where remained for si1
, years. Soldiers and sailors did their duty dur
ing the war one can claim no more than th
other. Now, in regard to the seamen of tn
, navy, the majority were foreigners; about one
third were Irish. In the II different ships i
; which ] served / found but very few Ameri
, cans. The fishermen furnished large mum
Der, but very few of them could pass for abb
: seamen. In the first two and half years G
the war; there was no inducement to enter tn
! navy, as the sailors al turned soldiers and wen
I. into the army, where they could get bounty
! Sailors became so scarce they could not &c
: men enough to steer the ships. Then Congress
! passed an act, transferring them back to th
; navy and allowing them their bounty. Thos
, like myself, who shipped regularly for thre
years received no bounty. The men who wer
! to battle for their country have not been use
,, tight.-JoHN II. McGRAIL, Quartermaster, [
S. ships Saratoga and Shawmut, No. p Lippi
ST., Providence, T. I.