The National tribune., 1893-02-09
RUNNING THE BLOCK DE.
An Account of the Capture of the Rebel
Schooner Sarah.

An Account of the Capture of the Rebel
Schooner Sarah.
Wv THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE of Jan. 5, /
4 read in tho Z" Chronological Record OF
l. Operations from June II to June %,
1862" the following: THE schooner
Sarah, OF Nassau. n. p, cargo cotton, was cap
turod by the q. S. S Keystone State off
! Charleston, ;. C.,
find in looking over an old memorandum
book that this schooner was captured Oh Thurs
day night, June 49, 1862. The Sarah was a
small schooner, and not very valuable as Il
prize. but she gave us some trouble and little
excitement to relieve the monotony OF blockade
duty, and some laughabe incidents occurred
in capturing her. On the night of June 10 we
had rain, thunder and lightning, and, no doubt,
the Captain of tho Sarah thought this favor
able weather for passing the bOckading fleet
unseen. About 10 o'clock IN the evening the
man on the lookout called out: =" Sail no, right
abeam.' fash of lightning had revealed
the schooner so close to us that "a stone could
have been thrown on her deck. Had 1T not
been for that flash of lightning the schooner
would have passed out to unseen by the
bOckading feet. TIE cable was slipped. and
we started in pursuit, but III the meantime the
schooner had disappeared in the darkness.
There was good, stiff breeze blowing and no
doubt the schooner had every stitch Of canvas
| spread.
All Hand3 seemed 10 ne on the LOOKOUT, anu
whenever q fash Of lightning would occur
would peer into the darkness hoping to get q
glimpse of the runaway. Finally, after run
ming abont quarter of an hour, the man on
the foreCasie on the lookout called out: Sail
no. right ahead" The Keystone State was
SOON alongside tho schooner, and Capt. LIE Roy
called out to her to heave to; but no response
came from the schooner and no sign Of heaving
to- even when a couple of shots had boon fired
over her deck
Capt. lie Roy came to the conclusion that the
crew of the schooner. when they saw they were
being pursued. with no hope Of escape, had
taken to the small boat and let the schooner go
with all sails sci. 1t was Impossible to lower a
/ boat from the keystone State and board the
schooner at the speed she was going through
the wator. Capt. lie Roy concluded to run into
her and sink her in that way; consequently
the keystone State was headed right for the
/ schooner but jnst as we were about to strike
her amiasiip5. as we thought, we missed her
and ran by closeto the schooner.
The marine guard was drawn up in line in
the starboard gangway, and were ordered to
fire vol!ey ON the schooncr's deck. We did
not fire at anyone particularly. for we saw no
one to fire at in fact, we thought there was no
| one board; but judge Of orr surprise when,
instantly after firing the vocy, n voice came
from the schooner, saying: What ID H
arc you doing there This, of course, angered
Capt. lie Roy. for he knew then there was some.
one OH board and they had been playing pos
sum all this time. He immediately gave or.
ders TO run alongside of the schooner aud fire
broadside Into her We ran ap alongside the
( sauCy little schooner, and were getting the
battery ready to bear upon her. but just we
were about to fire he main sail came down by
| tho run and the schooner hove to. Then boat
was lowered from the Keystone State and
| manned by sailors aud four Marines the writer
OF this being one of the marines.
| 1t was truly a dismal night to DO in a small
| boat at sea. The wind was high, the sea rough,
! the rain came down in torrents, the lightning
| flashed, and the thunder roared. Ali this fuss
| for small schooner OF no benefit to US. |
wished her at the bottom of the sea. When we
| reached the schooner it was easy work to board
| her. as she was low down in the water. We
| found but one man at the wheel, in a rather
! iutux cated condition. He told us that the
! Captain and the rest of the crew were down be-
| low in the cabin. We went below and found
| the men as lie stated. also four citizens who had
| taken passage the schooner in Charleston,
bound for Nassau N. p. Hero is where the
| laughable part comes i'll. All of them were
| drunk on the cabin floor. not able to stand.
| They had been INDUCING in little old rye"
| to get up Dutch" courage to pass the Yam
kee feet" and / suppose they took an over
| Dose
| Here was pretty mess. What were we to do
| Win our priSOHeTS! luty Couiu NOT Walk, auQ
| it was too much trouble to carry them. Some
| picked up the Captain. who was over six feet
| tall slim as a rail, and Timber as "dshcloth,"
which made it rather difficult to carry such
| burden. However. we got the Captain in the
boat all right. The rest were left in charge of
the sailors When got alongside of the
| keystone State rope had to be lowered and
made fast around the Captains waist, aud he
was hauled up OH board and put in double
| irons. The next morning prize crew was put
| on board the schooner and sent North Thus
ended the affair with the Sarah, and l firmly
hoped that We would capture no more such
| prizes-E A. LA BAY. U. s. Marine ON board
| q. s. S. keystone State, Paschal Station, West
| Philadelphia, Pa.