The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1899-09-02
DEWEY'S CAPTURE.
COnfellerates Get Him in '6:8 in
Front of Port Hudson.

The lanented General Frank
Gardner, who lived and died in
I.afa> cite and whose widow is now
resident ~ our town, adj the
honor during the civil war Of hav-
ing the hero of anila a
prisoner in his charge. The follow
ing from the Mount Pleasant On. }
correspondent # the Globe Demo-
crat will no doubt prove interesting
to the readers Of The G zette:
Capt. J. J. Mcdaniel, promi-
ncnt cotton merchant and wellknown
ex Confederate soldier of Mineola
bears the distinction of being the
Dewey prisoner OF war. In the
was preparing to invest the Confed
crate stronghold, Port Hudson, on
The Mississippi river, prior to
placing his army in position, 1t
became necessary to send war
vessels to that point, and if p 'ssible,
run the blockade, and thus cut off
the supplies Of the Confederate
forces, which were contributed from
Shreveport on transports down Red
River. Farragut's fleet was dis,
patched to do the work, and on its
arrival began sbombarding and
throwing shells from the mortar
vessels INTO the lines occupied by
tie Confederate forces, commanded
by Gen. Gardner.
The P,siti"n of the CCnfederates
WAS cor sltrred very strong ON aC
count of tie t"rtifica tons, consist
i.g CT nine batteries, with from
eight to ten guns each, on bluff,
and two mortar batteries down the
river. George DE wey was :: Young
l'eute. ant, just from lie Naval
Academy. ON one of ia largest
vessels of mis- fleet, the Mississippi,
commanded 10y Capt. Smith. This
vessel mad fifty four large guns,
500 mall arms, 4So marines nd
officers, with the capacity Of turn
ing loose broadside OF twenty
seven guns at one time. Said Capt.
Mcdaniel in an interview to day:
"After one Of the most terrible
artillery engagements ever saw,
and the loss by fire of one Of the
fi"est vessels of the United States
navy, the Mississippi, on which
was Lieut.. Geo. Dewey, the Fed
erals succeeded in running the
blockade on the night of March FL.
1t was then ard there that Dewey
got his first lessons in the destruc-
ton of war vessels Farragut's
fleet was arranged in single file UP
and down the river, with the Hart
ford (port holes closed) in the lead.
The Switzerland, a smaller vessel,
was fastened to the Hartford on
the opposite side from the Confed-
crate batteries. Both vessels we're
painted black, and the night was as
dark as Egypt. The Mississippi
was next in line, and was the first
vessel to open fire on our batteries.
Battery No. 9, a hot shot battery
on the extreme end Of the line next
to the enemy, was tt e first battery
to receive the fire of the enemy's
fleet. This was commanded by
Capt. Ramsey Of the First Alab; ma,
and was the only battery which
used red hot shot exclusively.
"rhe process of firing was neces-
sarily SLOW on account of handling
the balls and the heat produced in
the guns. There were only four
shots fired, three of which took
effect, set the vessel on fire and
burned it up. 1t became necessary
for all on board to get off the ship
to save their lives. Lieut.. George
Dewey, with $50 men, lowered
boats and escaped to the opposite
side of the river, and took refuge in
a sugar mill. During the night a
force of 800 Confed crates crossed
the river in lifeboats, proceeded to
the mill, captured Lieut.. Dewey and
the $50 III marines, and brought them
prisoners to Port Hudson. Being
surrounded, and having no place to
keep prisoners where they could be
protected from the fire of their own
men, and not wishing to hold them
up between US and the enemy, they
were Immediately sent to Baton
Rouge and exchanged. l was in
the fight, and commanded the Con-
federate batteries that did this
work. :"
'rha 0f phi1ir,