The record-union., 1897-08-01
YOUNG HEROES.
TRAGIC DEATHS OF LIEUTEN.
ANTS TALBOT AND MCKEE.
How Two Brave Kinsmen Gave mn
Their Lives-Their Memory
To BE Honored

| states torpedo boat No. 10, the John
Talbot, and calling torpedo boat No. is
after Hugh w. Mckee, commemora-
tive of the bravery of Lieutenants Tai
bot and Mckee, was in recognition of
| deeds of heroism unsurpassed. in one
case at least, in the history of the navy,
and recalled acts which never received
that public attention which both of
| them deserved, says a Kentucky cor
respondent of the st. Louis Globe
| Democrat
Lieutenant Mckee was a son of the
gallant William r. Mckee, who fell
with Harry Clay at the battle of Buena
Vista. The deed which made his name
an honored one was in leading the des-
perate assault on the Corean forts in
1871. John Talbot, who was the friend.
classmate and distant kinsman of Me-
Kee, perished under the most dramatic
circumstances, after a successful at
tempt to save the lives of his comrades,
having volunteered to make an ocean
journey of 1,5O0 miles in an open boat
for their relief
| On the 18th of October, 1870, the
! United States man-of-war Saginaw
! was wrecked near Ocean Island, in the
Pacific Ocean, and all of her officers
and men cast on its barren and unin-
! habited shores. Ocean Island was
about midway between San Francisco
and Yokahama, entirely out of the GUS
tomary track of navigation, and fully
1,oOO miles from the nearest civilized
port. The crew of the Saginaw was
therefore in a terrible plight Only a
scanty store of provisions had been
saved from the wreckage, the sand
Dank yielded nothing that was nourish-
ing, and the chance of the crew being
saved by passing craft was about as
remote as the possibility of the Pa
clf1c returning the wrecked ship intact.
call was made for volunteers to un-
der take a voyage of 1,5O0 miles in a
small boat-the Captains gig-to pro-
cure relief before the men should per-
ish from starvation and exposure.
Lieutenant Talbot and five seamen vol
unteered to make the journey, with
Honolulu as their objective point. Tai
bot and the men under him began their
trip with meager provisions, some of
them already considerably damaged
and practically useless, insufficient
fresh water, and a small oil cooking
| stove.
| After having been five days out. the
! little company encountered storms and
! lost all means of procuring light or fire
Then commenced many days of suffer-
| ing from exposure and want of food
| which was not positively sickening.
Lieutenant Talbot fell i'll and remained
| so, and then, to add to the horror of
the situation, one of the seamen be-
came insane. Thus the gig and it's he
roIc crew drifted for thirty-one days
| Talbot, at times almost exhausted, but
always courageous and cheerful. keep
ing up the hopes of his comrades and
navigating the little craft in an intelli-
gent manner Finally the boat. Ieaky
and dangerous, with Talbot and two
of the men extremely i'll, and another
insane but harmless to a pitiable de-
gree, sighted the coast of Kauai, one
of the Hawaiian group.
| 1t was here that Talbot met his death
| The boat got into shoal water and was
capsized, and every man save one, Tai
| bot included was washed into the sea
Before the boat was righted, Talbot
| heavily clothed and much exhausted
made a desperate effort to save himself,
| but a breaker carried him away. He
sank without cry One Halford, the
sole survivor, clung to the boat, and
was washed ashore. He told his story
and in a short time a vessel was on
its way to Ocean Island to rescue the
shipwrecked seeenen. Talbots body
was afterward found on the beach and
given temporary burial Later it was
| brought to Danville and finally in
TERED. A modest stone tells, in few
words, the story of his heroism.
Lieutenant Talbot was a son of John
Talbot of Danville, and a nephew of
Albert Gallatin Talbot, for several
terms the Congressman from the Dan
vile District Lieutenant Talbot was
a man of remarkably handsome per-
sonal appearance, and won great favor
in the navy. His promotion was rap
id. He was graduated from the naval
academy in 1866, was commissioned
Ensign in 1868, Master in 1869, and
Lieutenant in 1870 He was 26 years
old at the time of his death.
The death of Lieutenant Hugh Nc
Kee, also historic in naval circles,
which is now recalled by the naming
of the torpedo boat in his honor while
not as tragic in some respects as that
of his friend and classmate, was as
desperate and coura gsouS as that of
his father when he fell at the head of
his regiment in Mexico. Lieutenant
Mckee was killed in July, 1871, while
leading a victorious assault on the cita-
del, now known as Fort McKee," on
Kang Hoa Island, Corea. He was then
the same age as Talbot-26-of fine
physique, heroic features, and splendid
courage He had been carefully edu-
Gated, and had visited the European
courts in company with Admiral Far
ragut.
The citadel was located upon an emf
nence, and the fighting between it's
inmates and the marines had been in
cessant for some hours. There was no
artillery within, but the enemy fought
with reckless coura ge, mounting the
wall and discharging their weapons
rapidly. while the marines from their
resting places picked the Coreans off
with great precision. Finally the order
to storm the fort was given, and the
assault began with Mckee in the lead
The occupants of the fort fired upon
the approaching men as fast as they
could, but without checking their rapid
advance. and as the Americans rushed
up the hill the Coreans. mounted the
parapet and cast stones upon the men
below. Mckee was the first to mount
the top of the inclosure, and no sooner
did he reach the summit than he be-
came surrounded by bowling, savages
band of Coreans. They expected no
quarter from the invaders and gave
LIZ