The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-28
A STORY OF THE sUMrER.
gen. Keu Tells How She Gave the Iro-
ouois the Slip.

From the AHontd (Go.) Journal
Cen Mcintosh Kell said to me few days
ago:
1.-THE brave little Sumter has been too
much overshadowed by the brilliant ex-
ploits of the Alabama
And he told me several incidents in the
brief but eventful cruise OF that wonderful
little ship.
Never did fox so cunningly assume the
lions skin, and do, under the terrors of
that disguise, more than lion could have
done.
A northern protectionist manufacturer
of history to order, says that '.for seven
months" the Sumter 'sdid fearful work
with the union merchantmen
These big merchantmen. every one of
which could have almost stored away the
Sumter in her hold, never dreamed that
their ever vigilart and invincibIe foe was a
rotten hull that every wave threatened to
send to the bottom
'sBelow her water line" said Gen. KelI,
who was her lieutenant, 'she was a pretty
snug and sound little craft, but l could
kick her bows in, she was so unsea-
worthy
She was mere speck of black hulk and
white SAIL as she fitted like a sea gull or
albatross amid the islands of the Carib-
bean. Her commander, as daring a seaman
as any viking of Norway, would not ven
ture with her beyond easv reach of port.
She could not Withstand the swell even of
that shut-in sea, and chung to the shores of
the Antilles, watching for her prey.
She was good sailor She was all wings
like the tireless swift Albatross, and moved
before a breath of wind like a spirit of the
waves. None of the magnificent ships.
upon which she swooped like an osprey
from the sheltering cliffs of the Caribbean,
ever escaped her pursuit. Her lines"
said Gen. Kell .'were beautiful The
waves fell from her graceful bows with
scarcely murmur, so keenly did her PROV
cieave them in twain. The breeze that
barely tapped the top gallants of the
freighted merchantmen, sent the Sumter
light as thistle down, flying with wide
stretched wing, from crest to crest of the
friendly pillows.
But why drives on that ship so fast,
Without or wave or wind?
The air'is cut away before.
And closes from behind"
In June, 1861, Capt. Semmes and his
friend and sharer in all exploits and in all
honor, Lieut.. Mcintosh Kell, ran the Sum-
ter through the blockade at New Orleans.
The little craft had been purchased for the
purpose of cruising after and preying upon
the federal merchant ships She was poorly
suited for the task. Unseaworthy and too
frall to venture out from the shore, she
could not hope to match herself against any
ship that showed pluck enough to fight her.
She sailed swiftly along the gulf coast.
sped silently into the sail-covered waters of
the Caribbean, and lay in wait, under
shelter of cliff or wooded waste in the ports
of the Caribbean islands and Antilles.
Her prey was plentiful Richly-freighted
ships, bearing wealth to the merchant
princes and suStenance to the armies of the
north passed close to the American cy-
IL 10.
pairs or water.
The Sumter was everywhere. She kim
died bonfires of federal ships on the bosom
of the Caribbean, as she swept almost 81
lently on her career of triumph. Every
port every sheltering cliff, every wave of
the sea knew her sales and her prov. For
seven months she proved at will upon the
merchant fleets of her foe.
No ship of her size, her frailness and her
armament ever did such havoc.
After cruise of seven months the Sum-
ter found herself in an almost sinking CON
dition. Her sides were stove in, and she
was leaking everywhere. She must be re-
paired
Capt Semmes decided upon running into
the port of Martinique, in the Caribbean
islands.
Hardly had the little caft swung around
on her anchor, when an enemy that had
long roved the sea in search of her, ap-
peared in the harbor. The federal sloop-
of-war, the Iroquois, had been sent out to
scour the seas, and free the ocean paths
from this ravenous wolf. The Sumter had
at last been brought to bay. But the waters
of France must be respected-in the day, at
least
Then followed desperate game of hide
and seek. In the day the Iroquois would
lie TO Just outside that maritime league, in
which French cannon held the jurisdiction
of A. Il El,o in IL
condition, was under the protection of the
lilies of France
At night, however, the Iroquois would
stealthlly creep into the harbor and get
alongside the Sumter, in the hope of Crap
pling her with chains and towing her away
into federal port.
The firstnight that this was done, Capt.
Semmes notified the French governor, and
the federal sloop was warned to keep out of
the harbor.
One night the Iroquois stole in, despite
the French, and came up close to the Sum
ter. The entire crew Of the little craft was
ready. Every gun was trained on the
black hull of the federal sloop, and at the
slightest attempt on her part to hitch to the
Sumter broadside would have been poured
into her, and the desperate crew of the
southerner, armed with keen Roman swords,
would have boarded her and fought to the
deathon her decks.
b But the danger was too great. The next
night Capt. Semmes determined to elude
his foe and get out of the harbor. The Iro-
quois had stationed man on board ship
in the harbor to give the signal by rockets
if the Sumter left her moorings, and give
the direction of her course.
At midnight the Sumter slipped her Ca
bles Up went the rockets, telling the
Iriquois the Sumter was under. weigh and
was steering to the south.
But as the foxy craft swept under bluff
she dropped her sails and lay to.
The swift Loquois steamed past, across
her bows, unaware, and on into the Carib-
beam
The Sumter was SAFE and spreading her
sails again, started on her perilous trip
across the Atlantic. She breasted the storms
and waves, and arrived safely in the harbor
of Gibraltar, where she was abandoned. In
few weeks her gallant captain and lieu
tenant We're on the deck of the Alabama,
queen of the seas STANHoPE SANS.