Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-03-23

VOWED In quarrel with a man twice
his Size the quarrel soon led TO fight,
and the large man attempted to strike
Baldwin with a camp stool, when
grabbed him from behind. preventing
the blow, and thus myself became part
Of the row. The next morning | was
sent for on the quarterback and, af-
ter having the Articles OF War read TO
me and receiving long lecture on the
en0rmity OF my offense, was locked up
In a dark room In the wardroom. Some
one had reported that Baldwin had a
knife In his hand during the fight, and
that | called out 70 him to use It and
that | would help HIM After being
locked up | made up my mind that my
time had come. in view Of the many Of
lenses mentioned In the Articles OF
War for which the punishment was
death or such other punishment as
court martial may inhict" wrote
a hurried note TO my uncle In Wash
ington TO come at once II he wished 10
see me alive as ] was sure that | was
soon TO be hanged at the yardarm.
He answered that discipline was good
for me, and that he would walt a few
days, or until sentence was pronounced.
After three days confinement / was
sent for by the commanding officer,
aud told him exactly how / became in
yolved In the fight, when ! was at once
sent to duty, and some one else took my
dark room.
on board ship we had our hammocks
10 sleep In instead OF hunks, ana our
messing was regulated Just as 1t would
have been on a cruising vessel In fact,
we lived under service conditions. and
though II Is now the fashion to decry
such training In favor Of barracks on
shore, | have yet 10 be convinced that
for the conditions then existing 1t was
not the best. Many officers OF that
school have achieved great success
both a1oat and ashore, and have GER
tainly met all the requirements Of the
service as fully as those of the new
school can ever meet the requirements
that will face them. Our first impress
slons Of the service were received on
board ship, and the discOmforts Of ship
life were met and overcome In q way
that made such discomforts. and even
much greater ones, seem very trivial
afterward. We grew into ship life
gradually, and our knowledge Of the
niAP ohb az iltI pdlNH was
such knowledge can be acquired in no
other way, and though many able Off
GERS hold that this is not a matter of
Importance, on this point have also
to be convinced Of the soundness Of
their reasoning.
During the winter OF 1S60-'Gl the
anxious faces of our officers foretold
the storm of war that broke so sudden
ly In April OF the latter year 1t was
o time OF great anxiety for all hands;
the greatest strain came on
those in authority; but the midship-
men had their loads to bear as well.
Many Of us came from the South. and
as the States one after another either
seeded or threatened to do So we had
10 make up our minds what we were
going TO do. Conferences were frequent
and serious but never II. one OF them
was there a disloyal word uttered.
Every man followed the example set
by the Southern men among the off,
GERS. SO long as were inside the Aca-
DENY limits. or until our designations
were accepted, we were officers Of the
navy and would behave as such. Lieu
tenant Hunter Davidson afterward the |
torpedo expert of the Confederacy. was |
probably more responsible for this post |
ton than any other man, though both |
c. r. p. and George Rodgers we're con- |
stantly giving us good advice.
During the month Of April, 1851, our |
studies were practically suspended. and |
were made 20 defend the
Academy and the ship Constitution In
case OF attack Drills were constant.
and every precaution taken 10 give the
enemy a warm reception In case be-
came. A Confederate cavalry com
pany was organized on the north bank
Of the Severn river, and FOR seyerz. ,
days they drilled in plain sight Of the
ship; but when a few boats were sent
after them they disappeared, and the
next soldiers we saw wore blue uni
forms We had been told that the
In Baltimore had organ.
ICED an expedition and were coming
down In steamers to capture us. a
bright lookout was kept for them. and
pne dark night. about two o'clock In
the morning, the lookout reported a
large steamer coming In from the bay.
General quarters we're sounded. and In
a few minutes we were ready and wait
Ing for the word to fire. The cabin
bulkheads had all been taken down, and
four thirty-two Founders run out the
cabin stern ports and loaded with
grape and canister.
The steamer slowly came on until she
could be plainly seen with the naked
eye moving up directly astern Of US. as
II to avoid our broadside and carry us
bv boarding. Captain Rodgers clear
voice rang out: Ship ahoyl What
ship Is that?" The gun captains had
the guns trained on the mass Of men