The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-30
'.rACoNY'' READ IN CoMmAND.

| | so ~
'"rACONY'' READ IN CoMmAND.
miral Farragut, and also has the pleas
ure of seeing his old antagonist, the
frigate Mississippi. destroyed.
He next appears upon the scene as a
/ lieutenant on board of the nondescript
! cotton and ironclad boat, the Arkansas.
This vessel ran through and fought
to a standstiil. first the heaviest IRON
clad fleet that had ever been seen in
action up to that date and then she
treated Admiral Farragut's renowned
wooden frigates in the same way. In
describing these fights to me- Read
said that so thick were the federal
ships around the Arkansas that it was
not necessary to aim the guns. They
simply loaded and fired. as they could
not miss hitting some one.
Throughout the land the praises of
Reads conduct in this action were
sounded
On May 6, 1863, Read made the fol-
lowing proposition to Captain Maffitt of
the Confederate cruiser Florida:
c. s. S Florida,
At Sea. May 6, 1863
Sir-I propose to take the brig (Clar-
ence) which we have Just captured.
and. with a crew of 20 men. proceed to
Hampton roads. and cut out a gunboat
or steamer of the enemy AS / would
be in possession of the briggs papers,
and as the crew would not be large
enough TO excite suspicion. there can he
no doubt of my passing Fortress Mon
roe successfully. Once in the roads [
would be prepared to avail myself of
any circumstances which might pre-
sent themselves for gaining the deck
OF the enemy's vessel. If it was found
impossible to board gunboat or mer-
chant steamer. il would be possible to
fire the shipping at Baltimore.
If you think proper TO accede to nv
proposal, beg that you will allow me
to take Mr.. Brown and one of the fire
men with me- Mr.. Brown might be
spared from this ship. as his health is
bad. and you could obtain another en-
gineer at Pernambuco.
Very respectfully, your obedient serv-
ant.
(signed) c. w. READ.
Second Lieutenant c. S. Navy.
Lieutenant comma nding. John n. Maj
fit.
Mafitt gave him the brig and
howitzer. and wished him godspeed.
Read shaped his course for the New
England coast. having become con-
WINGED from information received on
board of prize that the Fortress Mon
roe scheme could not be successfully
carried out
He captured. burned and boarded 10
merchant vessels within a few DAYS.
and changed his flag from the brig
Clarence to the bark Tacony. from
which he received his best-known
soubriquet, and, burning the Tacony,'
he cruised in the schooner Archer
And now commenced reign of ter
ror upon the New England coast,
caused by Read in a fishing schooner.
the like of which was never known be-
fore in naval warfare. l gather from
the naval war records the names of 81
vessels. ranging in size from the huge
50-gun frigate Sabine to the yacht
American (the latter being more than
twice the tonnage of the Archer). all
sent in search of Read, with positive
orders to capture him and destroy his
vessel.
General Wool. in command of the de-
lenses of New York, and Governor
Morgan of the same state aided by the
mayor of the city of New York. fran
tically called on the government to
send ironclads to protect them: the
Roanoke being the largest afloat. was
the most often named in the hySterical
appeals.
Read ran in under the guns of Fort
Preble. in the Portland harbor. and cut
out the revenue cutter Cushing. mount
ing two guns. Five steamers loaded
with troops pursued him. After ex-
pending the last shot he could find on
the cutter, he set her afire. and tack
ing to. the boats, surrendered himself.
his crew and the miserable rags they
stood in.
Lieutenant Collins, Seventeenth in
fantry, United States army in COM
mand of the troops on board the Forest !
City. to whom Read surrendered ex- |
cused himself for not killing Read and |
his men in cold blood after they had /,
surrendered. In an official report of |
the affair to his superior officer, he |
says: Nor did l fire on the +
boats, as it was impossible to distin- !
guish the rebels from the prisoners in /
their hands. They were accordingly /
all received as prisoners
This Read is the same Read whom /
Farragut allowed to pass through his /
whole squadron and take his wounded !
TO New Orleans with his flag flying. /
after the battle But Meade differed |
from Farragut in his methods / Won
der If he thought faVorably of him? +,
After Read is safely in prison. Major !
Andrews, commanding at Fort Preble |
reports to the adjutant general. United /
States army, at New York, as follows: /
Major You can form but a |
faint idea of the excitement now exist |
ing among the citizens of Portland and |
RumOf follows rumor IN /
rand succession. and just before day |
light this morning some one from the /
of the post went to the city
with a fresh rumor. which set the I
whole city in ferment. The bells /
were rung and men, women and chill
dren soon filled the streets. and were
rushing hither and thither in aimless
fright.
] would respectfully suggest that the
prisoners be sent from here as quickly
and expeditiOusly as possible as | do
not think it safe for them to be placed
in the custody of the citizens. and while
the present excitement continues feel
obliged to mount so large a guard that
of my force are on duty every
night
Under date of Fort Warren. Boston
harbor. July &c. 1863. poor Read writes
to Mr.. Mallory, secretary of the navy.
Va. AS all of our
was distributed as relics to the
people of Portland. l beg that YOU will
f possible. remit to Assistant Paymas-
ter Nixon sufficient sum of money to I
purchase my men a change"
AT this epoch of Reads career he was