St. Landry democrat., 1893-07-08
/" LONG TOM. "
HISTORY OF A FAMOUS AMERI-
CAN CANNON.

CAN CANNON.
| A Naval Gun Which Did Good Work
Against the British in 1S14-FoI
the Worlds Fair.
"Long Tom" arrived in New York
Tuesday in the Portuguese steamer Vega
from Fayal. Long Tom has a his
tory and notable one, being indeed tho
most famous gun in, the world. 1t was
used on the United States vessel General
Armstrong, in its battle with a British
fleet at Fayal in 1914, the Armstrong be-
ing commanded by Capt. Samuel Chester
Reid. The old gun is intimately con.
nected with one of the most thrilling
encounters of the naval war with Great
Britain, in which American ships and
American seamen proved themselves the
best and bravest on the seas. 1t is also
the gun that is associated with the story
that has been told in prose and poem of
how "Capt. Reid finally scuttled his YES
sci by firing through her bottom with his
Long Tom,'" which suggested this ex-
preston from the English commander
IF this is the kind of men the Yankees
are. the Lord deliver u.s."
The gun was lost from the private
schooner Armstrong in the battle of
Fayal, after memorable battle with a
British squadron, and was recovered
afterward and mounted in the Castle of
San. Juan, Fayal. Before Mr. Blaine re-
tired from the State Department he
learned that the King of Portugal was
willing to present the gun to the United
States Government, and Gen. George S.
Bachelor, the American representative
at Lisbon, was instructed to present the
compliments of the United States to the
king, and say that his courtesy was &C
cepted.
The gun, says the Tribune, is
not a 42-pounder, as has been said
heretofore by some, but is "a FOUNDER,
the largest gun carried by the Arm
strong. She had nine guns in all, the
others being 9.pounders, or, as they were
called, "long mines" The "Long Tom"
was the largest and longest gun on the
vessel-hence its name It was also the
best gun on the ship, and was mounted
on pivot forward as a bow chaser. In
the war of 1912 number of vessels were
fitted out as privateers, carrying the
American flag into every navigable water
on the globe, the purpose of the priva-
teers being to destroy British commerce
wherever it could be found. These pri-
vateers were fleet, heavily EARNED and
manned with courageous American tars
anxious to cross cutlasses with the enemy
wherever found, and they did not hest
tate to give battle to ships of the line.
In fact, the Yankees were "spoiling for
fight" against John Bulls rank and
file, day and night. All they craved was
the opportunity. This was time when
armored plating had not be n made,
before the steam engine was ttcl into
the warship, long before torpedos be-
came part of the ships armament,
and before revolving cannon were in
vented.
The Armstrong was commanded by
the son of a Connecticut woman, the
only survivor of her family in Arnold's
massacre at Groton, Ct, in 1881, and the
son was born with that spirit vengeance
is mine, l will repay Captain Reid
came from good fighting stock. 1t was
in September, 1914, that the Armstrong
put into Fayal for provisions, and soon
afterward British squadron of three yes
sels-the Plantagenet, "A guns; the Rota,
3S guns, and the Carnation, IS guns
under Admiral Cochran, put into the
same harbor. When the British CON-
mander caught sight of the Armstrong
he distributed his vessels to make escape
of the privateer an impossibility. Believ-
ing that the enemy intended to capture
his vessel, Capt. Reid spread his nets
and prepared for action. On the follow
ing morning all the boats of the British
squadron, fully armed and equipped,
put out toward the American. Capt.
Reid's warning to them were of no avail,
and when they approached dangerously
near he opened fire upon them and drove
them back. Then, expecting a general
attack, Capt. Reid put his ship nearer
the shore. The expected came at mid.
night, and the fight was at close quarters,
and fierce and bloody. Three of the
enemy's boats were sunk.
TheBritish outnumbered theAmericans,
and they were more strongly equipped
and this gave them courage to swarm
over the side of the American, swinging
their cutlasses in every direction and
crying "No quarter" The Americans
returned the cry. and shot the enemy
down with their pistols and prodded
them with their long pixies. The sides
of the vessel and the water were stained
with blood, and victory was with the
Americans. The Fayal authorities warned
the British commander on the following
morning that hostilities must be discon-
tinued, but the latter replied that he in
tended to destroy the privateer and kill
her officers and crew if he knocked down
the entire town. Capt. Reid waited for
the final attack, but he did not have to
wait long. The three British vessels
with their $50 guns and 1900 men.
against nine guns and ninety men, opened
fire, and when he found that further
effort would prove futile, Capt. Reid
lowered boats, scuttled his ship and set
her on fire, and then pulled for the shore.
The British threatened to pursue the
but Capt. Reid seized stone
fortress and dared them to follow. They
didn't.
But the British vessels were so badly
damaged that they had to return to Eng
land for repairs. The story Of the fight
is told in these lines by James Jeffrey
D. III IL. =