The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-03-07
MEMORIES OF THE CIVIL WAR.
Some Stirring Incidents of An Expe-
dition Down the Coast.

San Francisco Call: THE first time
1 ever heard guns fired in earnest, "
said the Old soldier, was in a storm
at sea; from troops on transport that
was laundering. There were a lot of
troops, 10000 or so, on vessels, bound
on an expedition down the coast. Be
sides the transports there were a lot
of naval vessels of all sorts. And then
there We're some vessels in tow, with
supplies AID subsistence stores. The
steamer that my regiment was aboard
had a ship in tow. Altogether it was a
fleet of 20 vessels or more. We went
along down the coast slow and easy,
so as to keep together-no use of get
ting there piece-meal, because nothing
could be dune till all were there-and
so as to accommodate the slower boats
and those that were towing others.
I'VE had one day of bad weather that
finally worked up in a storm. There
was a high sea all day, and the ship
we had in tow charged over it at a
great rate. Sometimes when the steam
er's nose was in a valley and her stern
in the air, looking asteTn from her after
deck you couldn't see the lower masts
of the ship we were towing. All you
could see was her toomasts, and to-
gallantmasts and upper yards. The
ship was out of sight in the valley.
Next minute the steamers bow would
be in the air and her stern buried, and
then looking at the ship, as she rose
up on a great wave behind US you could
see her forefoot a minute later the
steamers stern would be in the air
again and the ship would be sliding
down the face of the wave into the val
ley. 1t seemed as though it was about
the limit OF towing and l almost Won
dered they didn't cut her loose.
las the day went on the weather got
worse. and night shut in early, with the
sky overcast and the wind blowing
gale. the sea rougher than ever, and
vessels al around us rolling and toss
ing. We nad heard once or twice, just
before dark, when the blasts of wind
had let up a little, sounds of firing to
windward. and we knew there must be
a vessel there in distress. After night
fall we could see in the distance the
flash of the guns; the Yolley firing OF
men apparently drawn up in line on
deck. Ii wasn't our place TO help them,
there were many vessels nearer. They
had all the help it was possible to give
them. We learned later that nearly all
on the vessel were saved. There were
about % lost.
when we came on deck on our ship
the next morning we saw something
that interested us very much; the up
per part OF the after chimney-the
steamer had two smokestacks, ranging
fore ard aft-had been carried away
completely, and it lay on deck over on
the port side of the ship. On the star
board side, a boat hanging on davits
had been smashed. and the steamers
rail cut down to the deck This dam
age had been done by the ship we had
in tow. Her jibbOom had poked off
the upper sections of the smokestack
and her cutwater had smashed the boat
and cut down the rail. According to
the story abroad we had occasion in
the night to back. The story was that
there we're breakers ahead. When we
went astern the ship kept coming, and
came aboard of us on the starboard
quarter They cut her loose as soon as
they could. and the men on the ship
made sail on her. She hadn't done us
very much damage have sometimes
wondered what would have happened
il she had struck us a little harder
blow.
I'VE went on easily enough with one
long and one short chimney. We were
going slow and we didn't need the
draught that we lost through the cut
ting down of one Of them We didn't
pick the ship up again, but we saw
her a few days later. at our port of
destination, trim and all right. 1t
hadn't disturbed her to be cut loose
in the storm. in fact, / have no doubt
that she liked il SO much better"