The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1892-09-08

ed to the summons, one by running away
and the other by halting long enough to
be disarmed and captured. The raiders
cleaned out the headquarters desks and
escaped, with thousand enemies encamped
about them.
There could hardly have been two opin-
ions aS to the best man in the north At
lantic squadron to attempt the destruc-
tion of the terrible ram Albemarle, that
had twice defeated our feet, driven our
army and navy from Plymouth and proved
. terror generally in the region of Albe-
marie sound. Gushing was sent to New
York to fit out torpedo boats for the pur-
pose, and Of course the south got news of
the doings in ample time to prepare. At
ter many adventures, Gushing reached the
mouth of the Roanoke river on the night
of Oct. q, 1864, with an outfit consisting
of a steam launch about thirty feet long,
mounting one howitzer and carrying four
teen souls. Officers and men were all
volunteers. On the bow of the launch was
new contriyance, consisting Of spar four
teen feet long, that could be raised or de-
pressed by means Of a cord in the hands of
a man standing on the bow of the launch.
On the end of the spar was an adjustable
torpedo, to be detached and exploded un-
The Roanoke was full of picket boats,
but the launch managed to clear them and
bring up at midnight in sight Of the ram
as she lay at a wharf fully guarded for the
encounter, A boom of logs extended all
around her water side about thirty feet
from the hull. A body of troops was en-
camped on the wharf with cannon to sweep
the river in such an emergency. The crew
Of the ram was alert and her guns were
loaded and trained. A fire burning on
shore made the scene as light as day, and
Gushing saw at a glance the desperation
Of his enterprise. He decided to pass the
ram, land and board her; but his move
ment was detected and hail given from
the rams deck. Without hesitating q
moment he ordered his engineer to back
off, get headway and drive the launch over
the log boom. He took his post to handle
the Internal machine, and while the boat
passed over the boom the Confederates
opened fire from the wharf and from the
decks Of the doomed vessel. Cushing's
clothes were riddled with shot, and the
hand that was to pull the torpedo trigger
was cut by bullet, but he remained cool
and handled the lines of the intricate ma
chine so deity as to place the torpedo
under the rams hull and explode it just as
a cannon ten PAGES from him belched a 100
pound charge of canister into the launch.
The ram was totally wrecked. The
boats crew jumped into the water, Cush-
ing and one other escaping after terrible
experiences; were drowned and IL were
captured. Cushing's fight and escape
through a region swarming with enemies
aroused and embittered by his daring sx-
plot, was as marvellous as the execution
Of the deed itself After firing the Internal
machine he told his men to save them
selves, threw OFF his accouterments and
plunged into the chilling water. After
swimming until exhausted he landed in q
swamp within forty rods of a fort.
In order to escape discovery when day
light came he crawled on his stomach for
five hours through thorns and briers, and
at last had the good fortune to find skif
belonging to some Confederate picketS,
| whose backs were conveniently turned
long enough for him to cut it from its
| mornings and push it down stream out of
! sight. Then he got in and padded down
| the river, eluding observation until he
| reached the Union fleet in the sound,
twelve miles distant. Even then his
| friends, suspecting that he was Confeder-
| ate with an internal machine in tow, re-
| fused for some time TO succor him. He
soon gave such an account of himself,
| however, that the heavens blazed with
rockets of rejoicing, the hearty cheers of
sailors rang over the waters and the squad
ron steamed up to Plymouth to elinch the
! victory. GEORGE L. kTLMER.