The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-03-06
CAPTAIN BRAIN, C. S. N.
A Talk With the Commander of
the Confederate Ship, Nassau.

| the Confederate Ship, Nassau.
Registered at the Markham as John c.
Brain, Chattanooga, is gentleman whose
wonderful dash, audacity and success, served
the confederate navy III many stubborn sea
fight and ocean chase.
The gentleman, though only forty-eight
years Of age, has the appearance of man
of sixty, is of medium ssize, with bright,
keen eyes. and frank, pleasant expression.
yes, I'm Captain Brain" he said pleas
antly, III answer 10 the reporters question. 81
am rather fond of the title, you will notice.
he laughed Though | am convinced as thor
oughly as any one that the war has been ended
for long time So to my friends I am still
Captain Brain. This is great city, Atlanta.
When was here last, in GJ, I don't suppose
there were more than twenty houses, and
noW-why there's no end of houses and shops
and people"
The captain rose to get light for his cigar
"That Imprisonment of mine did more than
give me my limp, for L was the last confed-
crate prisoner of war, being kept in Brooklyn
prison until March 1st 1865. And soon after
that was when 1 saw Atlanta. ] came here to
lecture, but was in such miserable health, and
the weather was 80 bad, that 1 gave it up and
had plenty of time to look at the wreck of the
old gate city"
Captain wasn't it you who captured the
Roanoke?'
eyes, and that's about the last time
smoked good cigar" said the captain, as he
pulled away at his cigar with a look of comical
disgust on his face eyes, that was in June,
IS. You see, before the war the Roanoke be-
longed to the New York and Virginia
steamship line, and, being in New York
at the time Virginia seeded, she was confs-
Gated by the United States government,
and afterwards used as a mail steamer from
New York to Cuba. 1t had been a pet scheme
Of the confederate government for long time
to capture that vessel, and in April L was Or
dered to Cuba to effect the capture. l landed
at Matanzas and went by rail to Havana, but
before l could do anything the ship left for
New York, and Just had to wait for her to
come back. Back she came, and on that day
in June she was lying in the harbor of Ha-
vana. | showed off from shore with
four officers and five men to
capture a ship worth half million, manned
by crew of fifty men, and carrying
rs passengers Our little boat load got on
board, and in ffty-five minutes she was a con-
federate ship, and her yankee crew was in
irons. They were taken completely by sur
prise, and only one man killed, That was the
ships carpenter. After he had surrendered he
tried to get an ak, and my first lieutenant shot
him. He then came by me, and / shot
him twice. He was finally shot by the
officer of the deck. He fell then,
for the first time, and when the surgeon went
to examine him five minutes later he was dead.
1 never regretted anything more in my life,
but it couldn't be helped | was twenty-five
years old then with the rank of commander,
having graduated from Annapolis in 80. 1t
was a rich prize-the Roanoke. She had 500
coo in greenbacks, and $pl1 800 in gold, and
mails and secret government papers that were
valuable at Richmond. They were spies and
agents reports from all over
the southern states. Then that cargo
was valuable, too-cigars, tobacco, sugar,
honey and cotton. About five years ago /
was witness before a court of claims in
New York, and met there Captain Drew, then
Sc years old, who commanded the Roanoke
when she was captured. He told me when
captured him that l had ruined him for life,
and when l saw him nearly twenty years later
he wouldn't speak to me.
They are not'all that, way though for in Sa-
vannah, not long after the war, six of the Roam
oke's yankee sailors came to the hotel and gave
me sailor welcome But though the Roam
oke was a big ship and rich prize, L never
liked it as | did another-the St. Aiary's. On
the 9th of February, 80, was ordered from
Richmond to San Francisco, around the Horn,
and the route marked out for me led me up
the Chesapeake before the trip proper began.
We anchored one evening at the mouth OF the
PatreuXent, and soon after q storm came
up that drove all the craft near us to the Pa
treXent for shelter. Andthat's where we caught
the ST. Mays % officers and men. On the same
day, off the st. Charles Light, we caught
another. Eight more were caught before we
got to Port Royal, where the prisoners were
landed, and where, June nth, was told by
Ii. NJ. Admiral in Port Royal that the war
was over.
Now, Brain said he 'whatll you do
with the Nassau That was my ship.
1" There are only two ways. admiral 1 told
him. I must turn her over to the yankees,
and that's against my religion, or blow her
up, and with the $50 pounds of powder in
her magazine | blew her up. My men were
carried on a British man-of-war, and l went
on q passenger ship to meet them in Liver
pool. We met in the Office of Commander
James Ii. Bullock. the confederate naval
agent, in Beumiort court place, and there my
men were paid off. -
And that scar, captain? ?"
"Ah," said the captain thoughtfully, as he
rubbed the scar on his forehead, THAT mimic
ball and another one through the body, is the
only pay | ever got for that 2lth of May fight
for Richmond"
The scar is almost circular in form, near the
centre of the forehead, and one could readily
believe the captains remark
sit nearly laid me out, too, and L was bloody
all over"
And do YOU meet old faces often, eaptain?"
"Not as often as l would like to. Many of
them are dead now. too. Old Steve Il. NAL
lory is dead, so is Jones, the auditor, and most
of the officers that sailed under the stars and
bars. And after while they will all be dead,
so have concluded that the wisest plan is to
go to work until my time comes"
"And when do you leave, captain?"
Tomorrow. l have learned to obey bust
ness calls as conscientiously as used to follow
old Mallory's orders, and must leave tomor-
row.
COLONEL HAMILTON'S TRIAL.
~--------