The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-06-14
II. Cushing. why He IL Conn
pared With HobsOn.

Once. while blockading off New Topsail
inlet. he ~reconnoitered a schooner lying
inside, but was soon under the fire Of a
considerable force with a field piece and
small arms. He retired. but late that ev-
ening he anchored his vessel close TO the
beach, abreast Of the schooner and sew
eral miles distant 10 the entrance 10 the
inlet Then he sent two boats on shore,
the larger one to act as support. TYhcv
hauled the smaller boat across the sand
beach and aunched her in the inlet be-
You'd. Ensign Soney, with six men, then
reconnoltered and found that about
twenty men and "a small piece of artil-
Iery We're guarding the vessel. In spite
OF this, an attack was made. the enemy
routed and ten prisoners, a hoWitZer and
eighteen small arms captured. The
schooner and adjacent sand works We're
destroyed and the expedition retoined the
vessel without loss. AT 9th time,
while blockading off Cape Fear river.
Gushing went in his gig with six men
UP the river past Fort Caswell, to Smith
VILE, uWo miles above, and secured i'm
portant Information. once he entered
the river in the same way, captured the
mail rider for Fort Fisher and possessed
himself of his bag.
His most remarkable feat, however. and
the one which win live as long as his
tory lives. was the destruction of the
confederate iron-clad ram A~lbelnarle, the
most formidable vessel of her class, and
1t was this heroic act to which Lieuten-
ant HObSon'S sinking of the Merrimac
Is now being compared. The Albemarie
was secured TO a wharf at Plymouth, n.
c., with a guard of logs placed around
her at a distance of thirty feet, with her
crew on board to use her guns and a
p of soldiers on the wharf with
small arms and howitZeTs. Unfortunately
for Gushing the correspondents of north
ern newspapers had found out thai a
torpedo boat under Cushing was being
fitted out for service at Plymouth, and OF
course the was transmitted
to those on board the big ironclad, sc
that they had ample time for prepa ration
Tn torpedo that Gushing had when he
made his assault was of the early boom
kind and was carried in a steam launch.
The confederateS were vigilant and
CuShingS approach was discovered after
he had assembled the river and before he
came very near ito his victim. But. moth
ing daunted by a mercfleSs fire of artil-
Iery and musketry, he put on steam
jumped his launch bodily over the QUITE
guard of logs, lowered his torpedo in a
most deliberate way and blew the Abe
marie up at the very mOment when a
shell from one of her heavy guns and a
column of water from the explosion OF
the torpedo sent the launch to the bot
tom. Gushing, Paymaster Swan and 9th
ers escaped, after much exposure in
swimming down the ice-cOld water and
hiding in the SwampS. But the sO-cailed
terror of the sounds was safely dis
posed of. For this act ne was made lieu.
tenant commander, being then only about
twenty-five years of age.
His entire career thereafter was n dar-
ing one, but he always succeeded in his
perilOus undertakings. because they were
carefully planned and carried out witt
wonderful nerve. When peace came Cush-
ing seemed to suffer from a lack of pur.
pose. and he could not reconcile himseli
to the ~perfunctory naval life. After the
war he was executive officer Of the Ian.
caster. He commanded the Maumee or
the Asiatic station for three years. H
was promoted to comman der in the regu.
lar order in January, 1872, when he was
about thirty years old. He then com-
manded the Wyoming. In the spring OF
1873 he was ordered to the Washington
navy yard, but was soon etached at his
own request and after a brief Illness died
at the government hospital in Washing
ton on December II. 1874 at the age o!
30 years.-R. B. c. in Atlanta Constitu-
ton.