Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-05-11
sTAUNTON, VIRGINIA, MAY IL, 1888
his prisoner would enjoy the companionship
Of bic

his prisoner would enjoy the companionship
of his only child.
The man-of-war had long since disappeared
and would reach New York several days
ahead of the Emily St. Pierre Left alone
with the boy, Capt. Wilson said: sFollow me
closely this afternoon, and when you hear
my silver whistle come directly, but without
showing any signs of haste, into the captains
cabin. am going to put you to test from
which a man might shrink, but you must
prove yourself worthy of the trust I repose in
you"
81 will" said the child, and that Instant
hearing approaching footsteps, he brought
back the careless smile to his face, that had
grown suddenly pale at his fathers ominous
words, and when the second officer in COM
mand came up he was apparently absorbed in
pile of wooden playthings he had scornfully
dashed away moment before. A little
later Capt Wilson arose and walked away,
followed at a short distance by the boy, who
carried with noisy soicitude his wooden SOL
diers and other toys.
Capt. Wilson went into the commanding
officers cabin and found him still bending
over the chart. With a pleasant remark,
and a request that his entrance should not
NloVul AlIll3 SdpU w llSOu Wdlh6u up D0uluu
the officer and with a powerful and quick
effort slipped wooden gag in his mouth.
In few moments the dumb officer was Sc
curely tied to his chair with cord the willy
blockader had carried on his person for sew
eral days for the purpose.
At a note from the silver whistle the boy
glided through the door, His father handed
him one of the officers pistols and said:
'Guard this door till I return, and if the
other officer comes in kill him instantly"
He took the weapon and calmly stationed
himself near the door. The intrepid Wilson
hurried off to find the steward. He put
revolver at his head, stated his plans to the
frightened negro and forced him to swear
implicit obedience to him. The negro readily
entered into Capt Wilson's plans for recap
turing the ship, and took the offered revolver
to prevent the access of the marines to the
second officers cabin. In few minutes
more, by a clever and reckless ruse, Wilson
had this officer also gagged and bound fat
on his back in his own BERTH
L This much accomplished, Wilson went
below with his jauntiest air and told the
marines that the commanding officer had
ordered him to go with them into certain
part of the ship to make some needed repairs
at once. Not doubling the statement, one by
one the eight men went down the narrow
stairway. AS soon as the last one had disap-
peared Wilson quickly closed and secured the
hatchway. He called to them to wait until
he should return. He went to the captains
cabin, relieved his fearless child of intense
anxiety, told the officer he thanked him for
the kindness with which he had been treated.
and regretted that he would be forced to keep
both him and his comrade securely bound
until the Emily st. Pierre should reach Tren-
holm & Frasers wharf in Liverpool. He
told how the eight marines had been made
prisoners, assured the commanding officer
that he should be made as comfortable as DOS
sible, and took the gag out of his mouth
Then, with his son and the steward, both
heavily armed, he opened the hatchway, and
called to the wondering group and told them
what he had done.
Only one man could ascend the narrow
stairway at time, so they were entirely at
his mercy. He spoke plausibly to them,
promised them immediate liberty and $25
apiece when he should land at Liverpool, and
plenty of rations during the voyage, which
he assured them would be as brief as the
utmost speed of the Emily st. Pierre could
make it. Under the shadow of the Stars and
Stripes and at the cost of almost superhuman
mental and physical exertion for three days
on the part of Wilson and the steward, the
Emily st. Pierre sped on toward Liverpool
At the end of the third day Wilson became
SO exhausted that he was compelled to bride
one of the marines to help him manage the
ship. He succeeded and the man walked up
the stairway while his comrades held back
before the three cooked revolvers above
them. This bribed recruit was constantly
watched by Wilson or the steward or the
courageous boy, who never showed the least
sign of fright throughout the terrible jour-
ney.
The ship anchored off Liverpool harbor at
night. A member of Trenholm & Fraser's
firm came aboard, and carried detailed &C
count of the unprecedented exploit back to
the city, and The Liverpool Mercury devoted
it's first page to detailed statement of it.
The next morning the city was wild with ex-
element. The Emily St. Pierre touched
Trenholm & Fraser's wharf flying both the
Confederate flag and the Union jack. She
was welcomed by mob of people singing
"Rule Britannia" and the "Southern Mar
seillaise" Wilson was the hero of the hour,
and for six months remained in England, the
guest of numbers of her proudest nobility, at
whose dinner tables he recounted again and
st. Pierre.
He kept his pledges to the Federal officers
and Marines and attended to all their neces-
sites before his cargo was unloaded. The
cotton was sold at fabulous price. Twenty
five thousand dollars was deposited in the
Bank of England to the credit of the brave
boy by his father, and friends in England
forced him to accept an Oxford scholarship.
The cotton merchants of Liverpool ordered
snug, swift boat to be built for Capt Wilson,
which they presented to him, and in which
he made one other successful trip.
Calhoun returned to Charleston in this boat
and expressed himself SO forcibly on the
perils of blockade running that he was ex-
cused from all future service of the kind.
When the Stars and Stripes again foated
from the citadel in Charleston, Calhoun said
the reason he was glad to see it was because
che and Capt. Wilson had whipped ten men
on the broad ocean jes' on account Of de ole
flag floatin above de ship" He brags yet
about the incidents of that memorable voy-
age, and prides himself especially on the en-
thusiastic reception accorded him the t'last
time he crossed de water" Whenever the
price of cotton is discussed he becomes oracu-
lar, and says it will never reach the figures
at which he sold the last cargo he carried to
Liverpool
Some years after the surrender at Appomat-
tox Capt. Wilson became raving maniac,
and after long confinement died in an
asylum in Paris. His physicians said he
never recovered from the intense excitement
and mental strain incident to his last cruise
on the Emily st. Pierre. His son was gradu-
ated with high honors at Oxford, and arrived
in Paris in time to catch last glimpse of
fond recognition in his fathers eyes before
they closed forever.
With the money realized from the perilous
blockade running, which Capt. Wilson had
wisely deposited in the Bank of England to
his sons credit, portion of the paternal
estates was purchased, and now, near the
Chateau de st. Lambert, has recently been
erected beautiful Gothic chapel, sacred to
the memory of Jean Francois Leolyn Alexis,