The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-05
BENLAMIN,S ESCAPE.
Thrilling Story OF a Manatee Man who
RisKed His Life to save Him.

from me EOTt OgueU Ptd.) -FeUS
The following is a correct history of the
famous fight of the great Confederate Sec
rotary, Judah p Benjamin, as given to II.
A. Ware, ESQ, by Capt. Cresca shortly be-
fore his death, and through the kindness of
Mr.. Ware is first made public through the
columns of the Neics.
In the month of June, 1865, after the cap
ture of the Confederate President, Jeffer-
son Davis, Judah +. Benjamin and John G.
breckenridge, who SO narrowly escaped
capture at the same time, came South to-
gether as far as Tampa, Fla. At this point
they separated.
Mr.. Breckenridge went to the Atlantic
coast at or near jacksonville, to which
point he was conveyed by John Henderson,
of Tampa.
| Mr.. benjamin came on still farther south,
to the then extreme frontier settlements of
the Manatee river, on the Gulf coast, III
company with Capt. L. g. Leslie, and
| stopped at the residence of Capt. A. Mcneil,
on the north side of the river.
The Captain left M Benjamin there
| while he crossed the river to find Capt.
| Tresca and see if he could be induced to
take Mr.. Benjamin to Nassau, across the
| gulf to the southwark. Capt. Tresca said
he would go, aud after conveying the anx-
1ous Secretary to his house, left him there
and proceeded to Cedar Keys. He stopped
| in at Bavport en- route and purch1 sed an
open boat He then went to Capt. Peas and
| Lieut. Stephens, who were the officers in
command at that place, and obtained per-
| nit for coasting az far as Cedar Keys.
From Cedar Keys he returned home,
made the necessary arrangements for his
voyage, and proceeded to Sarasota. He
was here met by Mr.. Benjanlan, who had
come across the country in a one-horse cart
under the escort and guidance of Mr.. E.
Glazier.
Late that evening Capt. F. Tresca,
| Mr.. Benjaman and Hiram McLeod-the
party all told-started down the coast with
the intention of keeping inside as much as
| possible, in order to prevent being stopped
by the boats from the blockade gunboats,
which were lying off every pass of any i'm
| pOrtance.
1t was necessary after leaving Big Sara
sofa Pass to go outside, and Just as they
were off Casey's Pass, sure enough, they
saw four boats from the blockade bearing
| down upon them.
Not being able to continue their course
without capture they returned and went in
at Little Sarasota Pass and secreted their
boat among the thick bushes remaining
there all night and the next day.
When night again came they very eau
/ y
| just before entering Charlotte Harbor they
passed close enough to a blockade vessel to
| throw biscuit on board-but didn't throw
| it, Next morning at sunrise they arrived
at Punta Rassa. sailing inside all the way
| from where they entered Charlotte HarbOr
After remaining at Punta Rassa about
| three hours the party set sail for Marco"
Between the two last points they got out
| of fresh water and stopped at a small river
| In Than tbnU n
| Cape Romano, where they found two wells
| In one of these there were three dead coons,
| in the other two dead snakes. The pros
pect for water was not very inviting, but
under the circumstances it was that or
none. They went to work and cleaned out
| one well, and after waiting for it to fill re-
plenished their water cask again. From there
they went down through the Thousand
| Islands, and passing Indian Key stopped
all day at Tresca's river
Both water and provisions gave out at
this point and their only subsistence was a
large turtle they had the good fortune to
| catch while here. Pushing on to Pavilion
| Key, they procured both water and provi-
sions from Mrs. Bethel and Mrs. Brown.
| AT this place Mr.. Benjamin was suspected
| They met quite a number of friends from
Key West there, among whom were Mrs.
Mary n. Brown, through whose efforts
they were saved from capture, and Capt
| William H. Bethel, who kindly furnished
them with everything necessary for the con-
| tinuance of their voyage. From him Capt.
| Tresca bought large sloop boat to supply
the place of the old one, which had by this
time become pretty well identified, and in
danger of being overhauled by pursuers.
The party remained at Pavilion Key all
day, and at night set sail in their new boat.
The wind was blowing heavily When
some distance off the shore they fell in with
| a government transport, loaded with United
States troops bound North. Capt Tresca
applied for the bearings of Gin Key light.
They gave them to him, and then asked
him what they were doing there. The Cap
tain told them that they were fishing, and
had been blown off their course
After separating from the transport a
light breeze sprang up, and they went on
their way rejoicing. At 6o'clock that even
ing they got on tine banks, and steered for
Bimineys, at which point they arrived with
out further incident.
Upon their arrival Captain Tresca placed
Mr.. Benjamin in charge of an English
negro who was the custom-house officer, and
returned home.
Phillips Digestible Cocoa