The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-30

l.
be an officer on the deck on day on tn,
c. 5. S. Patrick Henry. then anchored
at DTuryS Bluff, on the James river
below Richmond. A cartel came UP I'll,
river, and was receiving the prisoner:
they were a sadlooking lot-when the
raggedest and most unkempt-looking o
the long haired ones came up to m,
and asked who commanded the Patrick
Henry gently laid my hand on his
shoulder and said. Go forward. my
man! Go forward: l will attend tC
your wants in moment
Bub, replied the shabby man, 1.-THE
next ship l get I will apply for you
and then we shall see who goes for
ward, 1t was Tacony Read
Shortly after this l was stationed a;
a naval battery III front of Dutch Gap
Read paid me visit there, and one
evening over the fire he told me of his
attempted escape from Fort Warren, in
Boston harbor.
He dug his way up and through an
unused chimney in a casemate. the
lime almost costing him the sight of
one OF his eyes. Accompanied by
Alexander. another navy man, they
found themselves outside of the fort.
Hearing the grand rounds" coming,
they crawled under a pile of rubbish,
composed chiefly of old sailcloth, etc.
One of the guard struck his bayonet
into this heap, the weapon passing
through Reads hip, pinning him 10 the
ground. Another soldier remarked.
You viii have to clean your bayolet
in the morning; that dunnage is wet"
man withdrew his weapon from
Reads person, felt the steel. wet w =
/ ead's blood. and said, 1T is wet" and
they passed on 10 the next post. beag
ana Alexander then swan out to a
small fishing sloop, which was an
chored near the shore and was used by
the officers of the garrison as a pleas
ure boat Once aboard they weighed
the anchor and set sail Shortly after
daylight they fell in with the "Glouces-
ter fishing fleet" BY midday they were
surrounded by men, of-war, and steam
ers loaded down with soldiers, all bent
on catching "Tacony'' Read, the des-
perate pirate"
Reads wound was so painful that he
had lain down in the bottom of the
boat, and slept the sleep of exhaustion.
Something went wrong with the jib
sheets. Alexander. not wishing to dis
turb Read, thought he could go for
ward. remedy the trouble and get back
TO the helm before any accident could
happen, but the 5oat was too quick for
him. She flew up into the wind, and
went about" with the result that she
attracted attention from the armed
Read was a prisoner gain.
How he laughed when he told me Of
his interview of one of the officers.
who was an old acquaintance. What is
your name. sir?" demanded the officer.
Brown" replied Read.
Brown, Well, for your sake. l am
sorry to hear that: l thought you might
be my old friend 'Salvez' Read, and
was going to treat you as an officer,
but if you are only Brown guess you
will have to be put in double irons and
be confined in the brig
Read looked him in the eve for
moment, and then said, Now, Sam.
you wouldn play me such a dirty
trick as that, and me badly wounded,
tool"
Back to his prison the poor fellow
went, and remained there until he was
exchanged.
During the bitter winter of 1s64-5 I
had permanent engagement as
pitcher of balls into the Dutch Gap
canal. One Ben Butler" captained the
competing team; the game was a con-
tinuous one, and was never called. on
account of darkness, the condition of
the ground or of the weather.
One Gay Read came down to the bat
terry from Richmond: ne was greatly
elated. the secretary had granted his
application and had ordered him sup
piled with everything ne asked for. He
proposed to destroy nothing less than a
huge double-turreted monitors. which
was then supposed to-be at anchor off
City Point, and to aeGomplish this re-
suit Read had askedsto be supplied with
a wagon. four mules. a torpedo and
eight men. He had come to the battery
10 look over our men. While he was
telling me OF his plans a shell tore the
ground up almost under his feet. Times
are dull" he said: land l am glad TO
find somebody that is feeling lively"
He took what men. he wanted. en-
barked in mis- wagon, and but for the
merest contretemps ne might have sue
ceeded i'll his object
He jumped on board of an unsuspect-
ing federal tug at night, fitted his tor
pedo 10 ner bows and started down the
river for the ironelad, but unfortu-
nately he met two Sshooners loaded
with hay. Not being willing to leave
them behind him. he set fire to them,
and the game was uD. He DESTROYED
the tug and started back for the con-
lines.
When Lee had surrendered and the
end Of the. confederacy had come. the
United States government still had TO
make arrangements with 'Tacony'
Read.
He fitted out the powerful tugboa1
VIM. H. Webb. then lying in the Yazoo
river. with a torpedo, put a lot of cotton
On board, came fiylng down the Missis
sippi and successfully ran the gauntlet
Of the whole gulf squadron anchored off |
New Orleans, taking the broadside CT
each vessel in the fleet as he passed by.
He tried TO use his torpedo. but it |
broke loose and became eIGangled in J
one OF the wheels of his own boat
Disentangling himself from this dan
ger, he made dash for the Gulf of !
Mexico, hoping TO reach Havana with |
ais cotton, but before he arrived at the
'cl-ts of the Mississippi ne was encount-
cred by the sloop- of-war Richmond |
They were cid accuaintanceS, Read |
having had repeated experiences under |
he fire of her broads.de. and as she /
now turned il up stream to bar his /
passage, Read ran the Webb ashore, |
set fire to her. and made his escape into ,
the marshes. M
Peace reigned in the land. and with il |
zane 20 the naval officers of the lost |
,ause a difficult problem to solve. !
What career in life was to be open to |
hem?" Scutherners owned no SHIPS, !
md no New Highlander could b. ex-
)ected to trust ''Tacony" Read and his !
comrades with their vessels; and it may /
ave been prejudice. but there is no in
stance on record Of a southern naval !
,ficer ever having been sent to con- /
,ress in the place Of a confederate
)rigadier.
IN the winter of. 1866 Read visited |
ne II New Orleans. He said that he
NEW OF a schooner that was for sale,
md he was certain that he could make
good thing out of her. if he could
'nly raise the money necessary to buy
he bcat. She was an old craft and
he insurance people wouldn't take any
isk on her, but Read said that with