The record-union., 1897-05-31
A ROIn CAPTERE

gigs and a crew of six men and rowed
to Smithville, near the western en-
trance of the river, under cover of
darkness. landing within 800 yards of
Fort Johnson, which was located in the
town Of Smithville, now Southport. He
quietly walked with one or two of his
boats crew to the entrance gate or the
fort, seized the sentry on post, and
compelled him to point out the quar-
ters of the Colonel commanding. Quiet
ly entering, Gushing, led by the guide.
who was covered with a cooked revol-
yer, aroused the Colonel from a sound
slumber and ordered him to get up and
dress himself without making any
noise. The Confederate commander
saw the sort of man he had TO deal
with and obeyed orders without a
question. With the sentry, he was put
into one of the gigs, and the two Were
subsequently sent North as prisoners.
In November, 1862, he went in the
steamer Ellis to Jacksonville. N. c., to
intercept the Wilmington mail and de-
stroy the salt works at New Inlet. He
captured large mail, took two prizes
and shelled a Confederate camp, but
was unable to cross the bar that night.
and in the morning ran aground. The
crew transferred everything except the
pivot gun to one of the captured
schooners and sailed to place of safe
| ty a mile and a half distant. Gushing,
however, remained with six volunteers
on board the vessel, until she was dis
abled by a cross fire from the shore,
when he set her on fire and made his
escape to the steamer in a rowboat.
AT the bombardment of Fort Fisher
| he demonstrated his ability to remain
| in a position of extreme danger without
| showing the slightest trepidation. He
! led his men in the land assault on the
| fort, and was one of the few who gain
ed the stockade, which was too high to
scale. There he was exposed to the
fire of the Federal fleet, and dared not
| show himself lest he should be picked
off by sharpshooter in the fort. He
remained in that place of peril until
the gunships ceased firing. Then he
Joined the military forces again in the
land assault, and entered the fort one
of the conCuerors.
THE ALBEMARLE INCIDENT.
The destruction of the Albemarle is
one of the events in the naval annals
ishable record of dauntless courage and
patriotic determination. You all know
the story too WELL l have no doubt,
/ to care to hear it again in detail. 1t
has been the theme of scores Of writer's,
and they have all united in giving
credit where the credit was justly due.
No one has yet arisen to dispute Cush-
ing's claim, and it is not likely that
anyone ever will. Cushing was not yet
- years of age when he accomplished
the feat which was the climax of his
brilliant career. He was born in Wis
cOnsin in November, 1912, and blew up
the rebel ironclad in October, 1864; so
you see he was a month short of the
age when most young men are about
| beginning active life in the world of
affairs. What he did was at his own
| solicitation. and when he was assigned
to the duty his superiors knew the peril
of it, and the chances We're ten to one
that he would never live to tell the
story Of success or failure
| ITO bring out another phase in this
remarkable character, / must relate
| briefly the main events. / will not
weary you with the minutiae The
| Government was anxious to destroy the
| Albemarle, because she had inflicted
much injury on our fleet and as long
as she remained af1oat was a constant
| menace. In September, 1864, she was
tied up at the town of Plymouth. on the
Roanoke River, and Gushing, who knew
| of her record, and the Government de-
| sire, suggested a plan to put her cut
of harms way to Admiral S. P. Lee.
/
and impractica BILE, but Cushing's man.
ner was SO convincing that he was
| finally sent to Washington to lay his
proposition before the Secretary of the
| Navy. This he did with such clear
ness and force that he was ordered to
| New York to purchase suitable vessels
to carry out his plan.
He visited the Brooklyn Navy Yard,
| Explained his mission and secured two
| )pen launches thirty feet in length,
| With single screws and small engines
| is the motive power. AS soon as he
| lad made everything ready for the
| start. he took flying trip up the State
| % say good-by to his mother of whom
| ne was passionately fond. Next day
| he started. One of the boats was lost
on the way to Norfolk. On the other
| he proceeded through the Albemarle
and Chesapeake canals to the Sound.
From there on the voyage was full of
| peril. He was in the enemy's country
| liable to detection and capture at any
moment. On the night of October 9th
| he entered the Roanoke River and act
ually passed within thirty feet of the
| pickets and ran up to where the Abe
| marie was moored. He found her
| protected by circle Of logs, doomed
we'll out from her side, with the evident
| intention Of preventing the action of
| torpedoes.
HE was discovered when within a
hundred yards, and fire was opened on
his craft from the gunboat, but he kept
| right on until the prov of his launch
| was touching the logs His boat had a
| long spar run out from her starboard
side, and on the end of it was the tor
| pedo which was to be exploded under
| the hull of the rebel ironclad.
1T was necessary that this spar
should be lifted, 50 that it would jump
| over the log circle, and it required the
most skillful manipulation to do that,
and avoid a premature discharge.
| don't think there has been any occasion
| in the history of the American navy
where such courage has been shown as
in this particular achievement. You
must remember there were 200 of the
enemy on the ironclad and thousands
on the shore. Gushing calculated that
the only chance he had for success was
a sudden movement, so audacious as
to take the enemy by surprise, so he
| sent his boat dead set against the logs,
| trusting to their slippery condition to
| boost un the prOW of his boat. and