The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1898-06-11
CHASED THE RUNNER.
BLOCKADE RUNNING DURING
4 THE CIVIL WAR.
First MOntgOmery's History-Forerunne
Of the Present Famous Boat Was
Once Merchant Vessel but Had Good
Speed. n

present splendid cruiser now SO proud
ly pointed to. At that time her master
alarms was William H. Baxter, now
1ire marshal Of the city of Detroit. He
was with her during her famous cruise,
which resulted in the court-martialing
OF her commanding officer, Commander
Hunter, and saw much service On chase
of blockade runners Marshal Baxter
sald recently, according to the Detroit
journal: "The Montgomery was the
only vessel of the United States navy,
$50 far as / know, which has ever dis
turbed Spanish soil. It was in the early
winter of 1862 that we were cruising
along the coast of Cuba. We had been
on rather extended cruise through
the Bahamas and along the coast of
FNorida, and had run in to Havana
we dad not go into the inner bay, but
lay outside. We were only there for
10 short time and then bore away for
Pensacola for COAL Along the north
western coast of Cuba runs coral reef,
some distance out from the shore, and
'RRording a first-class channel inside.
I'VE were heading about northwest,
inside the reef. Subsequent events
proved that she was the steamer
blanche, a blockade runner, bound for
New Orleans, / think, with load of
cotton. Well, of course we had no
right to modest her, as she was inside
the three-mile limit, but we had an old
man, as the captain is always called,
you know, who was a fighter from
away back, and he loved to fight for
Its own sake. He'd fight anything,
and never stopped to argue a delicate
Question of jurisdiction. So we turned
In our course and heading about south
east went after her. We wanted that
cotton. We could see by the smoke
that was pouring out of her tunnels
that they were using resin and every
thing else in the attempt to get away
from us, but it was no good. Our
course was laid so that she would have
been cut off before she reached the
harbor, though it would have taken
her right under the guns of the castle.
First she ran UP a Spanish flag, but
that did no good. Then she hoisted a
British flag, with the Spanish flag UNI
deneath signifying that she was a
British boat, claiming Spanish protec-
Ition, and still we kept after her. We
had the heels Of her and pretty soon
1--WE pitched a round shot across her
bows as a signal to heave to- She
paid no attention to this and we let
another one go. She kept right on,
land the old man got mad We had
p big 15-inch gun amidships, mounted
On pivot, This gun was slued around
Ear enough TO clear our standing star
board rigging, and then we began to
pitch shell at her. There were six
teen OF those 15-inch shells fired and |
every one went clear over into the wa |
ter the other side OF her. Her crew |
got scared, however, and turned her |
nose in shore, and ran her right on the |
sand. They were so close that every |
man but one got clear of the ship by |
using pike poles to swing ashore with.
They had set fire to her, and by the
time that we got alongside she was a
regular furnace. There was no hope
OF saving anything, so we had to pull
back to the ship and let the cotton
burn. All along there the shore is fiat,
and there are, or were, lot Of little
hshermen's huts. 1t was one of the
funniest things l ever saw to see those
fishermen come tumbling out of their
huts, and jumping on their donkeys, or
burros, as they call them, go scurry-
Ing for the hills about half-mile back.
The burros were so small that when
they began to go up the hill they looked
more like lot OF big tarantulas than
anything else. There were so many
legs, and the riders were lying fiat on
their backs in order to duck the shots
rs much as they could. Well, the up-
shot of it all was that when we reached
Mobile we were on blockading duty
hor one week, and then we were order
ID north to the Charlestown navy yard
Vt Boston, where the old man. Com
mander Charles Hunter, was court
nartialed and dismissed the service,
We were sent aboard the receiving
hip, and good number of us, OF whom
was one, came home then. The old
had originally been a
merchant vessel, running between New
Fork and Savannah, and was convert
ID into man of war at the time when
he country was using everything
AVAILABLE. She was a propeller, lust
Iuch a one as you can see by the dozen
my day here in the river during the
ummer, Her engines were aft, and
he had a high forecastle, on which was
a rihsd Parrot. Her speed
Pas about eighteen miles an hour. and
n a pinch probably about twenty. For
hat time, that was very speedy.
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