Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1897-05-21

getting confederate ship ready
for good service in the war, wa:
the scarcity of trained officers
Capt. Parker, in his "Recollec
tion of a Naval Officer sale
that Lieutenant on board one
of the gun boats made the fol
lowing entry in the Log Book :
"The moon was Oil the por1
bow and the wind had a star,
board"
What became of the iron clad
vessel on the Neuse is another
story and of little interest.
Capt Cooke had been in com
lnand Of one Of those terrible
little gun boats at the battle OF
Roanoke Island and when all his
ammunition was exhausted, got
a supply from the "Curfew
which had been disabled and
sunk, and he fought on until
they We're all driven back tc
Elizabeth City, where the over
whelming rush of the Federal
Fleet destroyed everything af1oat
that they could reach and Capt.
Cooke gave orders to blow up
his vessel and all hands save
themselves as best they could
In his engagement he displayed
desperate gallantry, was severely
wounded. and captured, and
Capt. Renshaw of the U. S. Navy
told me that Cooke never did
surrender, was simply borne
down by numbers. After he
was exchanged he was selected
to superintend the building of
one of the iron clads before men
toned at Edwards Ferry OH the
farm of Peter +. Smith.
After overcoming every OBJ
stac'e, she was launched, moved
down to Halifax, and later to
Hamilton for fear of low water.
In April 1864 General Hoke,
who was determined to recap
ture Plymouth, visited the CAL
bemarle" and though she was
far from being finished her he
roic commander promised the
General he would cooperate
with him in the attack on Ply
mouth. The distinguished part
he took in that gallant affair will
now be seen. Naval history af>
tords no more remarkable evil
dence of patriotic zeal and indi-
vldual perseverance. His ship
was one of shreds and patches
and with her he went down to-
wards Plymouth to keep his
tryst with General Hoke. AS
soon as he heard the dull con>
cusslon that, to the practical ear,
denotes a heavy bonn bardment,
he moved down upon the scene
at Plymouth. Capt Flussed. an
old shipmate of mine from Ken>
lucky, a man of brilliant prom
lse and full of grit, commanded
the Federal force a1oat, that
guarded the water front where
there was no other defence. 1t
was after midnight on the 10Th
of April, 1864. Immediately
grasping the situation, Cooke
made for the enemy's ships that
were chained together to meet
the shock. dashed his prov into
the "Southfeld" and delivered
the f1e of his guns into the
"Miami,' killing and wounding
many of her crew. Among tie
killed was her commander, my
brave young colnrade of former
days. In the meantime the
"Southheld" was at the bottom
and the Bombshell" sunk by
Hoke's Artillery, and the mi
ami fleeing down the river.
This brilliant success insured
the triumph Of General Hoke.
The defences of Fort Williams
were powerful Oh the land side
and had repulsed several as
saults of our troops. On the
river side the fortifcation was
defective, its open works depend
ing on gunboats for defence.
These having been driven away,
Cooke opened upon the valu-
able part of the Fort, rendering
it unable, and General Ran
SONS command entered the
town on that flank. The result
was the capture of 1900 men
and five pieces of artillery.
Below the town Of Plymouth,
near the mouth OF the river in
the waters of the sound were six
United States gunboats. They
were fully prepared to meet the
"Albemarle" e"-they carried 40
guns, ten of which were 100 per
rifles. Capt. Cooke did not heed
the odds against him with the
little ship carrying two guns
and propelled by feeble en-
gine. His idea and hope was to
clear the sound Of the c. .emv's
ships and tow boats over to Hat
teras with men enough to cap
ture the Fort and shut out the
United States vessels from the