The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-03-03

hands, and he understood it. An or
dinarily brave man had no business on
blockade runner. He who made
success of it was obliged to have he
cunning of a fox, the patience of
Job, and the bravery of Spartan
warrior. The least show of resistance
placed us in the category of pirates.
The runners must not be armed and
must not resist. They must simply
be cool and quick and watchful, and,
for the rest, trust to God and their
good ship to deliver them safely to
their friends.
The adventures of Capt. Usina and
his brother blockade runners were too
numerous to attempt to enumerate.
There were dozen adventures on
every trip. Once when going into
Wilmington and chased by cruiser,
Capt. Usina ran his vessel across Fry
ing Pan Shoals. The cruiser was un-
willing to follow and he escaped, get
ting safely into port. When Fort
Fisher, which commanded the en-
trance to Wilmington, fell in January,
1865, the Federals also fell heir to the
signal code used by the blockade run
ners and number Of runners who
thought they were having an easy time
run into port and found that they had
only placed themselves at the disposal
of the enemy. Capt. Usina arrived in
the neighborhood Of Wilmington few
days after the fall of Fort Fisher with
the blockade runner Rattlesnake. He
did very nicely, as he thought, getting
in with a heavy fog, but was surprised
to find himself surrounded by the
Federal feet, all the vessels being
lighted up. There were so many ships
that the passage was almost obstruct-
ed. Arriving at che fort he exchang-
ed the usual signals with the signal
officer and was Informed that every
thing was all right. He remained
among the fleet the best part of the
night and not liking such cool recep-
tion turned tail and put back to Mas
sau, where he was Informed that news
of the fall Of Fort Fisher had been re-
ceivcd eight hours after his departure
on the outward trip.
One incident illustrates the charac-
ter of the men who ran the blockade
for the Confederacy. There was an
epidemic of yellow fever at Bermuda
in the Summer of 1864. Capt. Usina
had with him a young Wilmington
pilot named John W. Anderson. On
the passage back to Wilmington An
derson was struck with the fever.
When he bar ''as reached he was in
a dyiu. condition, and there was no
other pilot on board. He offered, if
they would take him on deck, to pilot
the ship in. This was done, and the
dying man, held in the arms Of the
chief officer, piloted the vessel safely
through the enemy's ships, through
the shoals and over the bar, and while
doing this he was throwing up the
deadly black vomit. When the vessel
anchored at Smithville, village at
the mouth of the Cape Fear River,
where Anderson lived, his wife was
sent for. She arrived in half an hour
to find her husband corpse.
These and hundreds of similar sto-
ries are being rehearsed now in the
pilots Offices Of Charleston, Whining
ton, Savannah and Galveston and
other Southern ports. The effort was
made by the Northern newspapers
during and after the war to present
the blockade runners to the world as
lot of pirates and cut-throats, who
deserved to be hung. but Of the num-
Der who still survive it would be hard
to put finger on one who is not known
as an honorable and upright citizen.