The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-05-11

! They feared not the fury OF the waves,
| nor the storms of the ocean, but they
| knew well mans nhumanity TO man!
| They knew that the Navy Department oil
the United States. freed from the re-
| straints imposed by fear OF retaliation
| would be vindictive and tyrannical To the
| last degree.
That department had always proclaim
ed the Southern people rebels. and their
| cruisers only pirates. On the land we
| had forced a recognition OF belligerent
rights, but at sea we had been pOwerless
, TO retaliate.
On August End, when in north latitude
IL degrees and 122 west longitude; seeing
a sailing bark the Shenandoah made
chase under steam and sail and over
hauled her at o'clock in the afternoon.
1t proved to be the British bark Barra =
I conta-thirteen days out from San Fran
cisco, en- route to Liverpool. When the
+, British captain was asked for the news
/, of the war he inquired in establishment,
| What war;" The war between the
United States and the Confederate
States "
! Why" said he, that war has been
/
| that?'
THE Confederate ship Shenandoah, y
was the reply.
Then came the information OF the sur
render of all the Confederate forces, the
tire collapse of the Confederate cause !;
and the additional information, says
Whittle, that Federal cruisers were
II; II
deal summarily with us, if caught. Files
| of recent papers confirmed it all The
information was appalling. We were be-
reft of country, bereft OF government,
bereft of ground of hope or aspiration.
| bereft of a cause for which TO struggle
! and to suffer!
! That independence for which our brave
people had so nobly fought, suffered and
| died, was, under Gods ruling, denied to
u.s. Our anguish of disappointed hopes
cannot be described,
| Naturally our minds and hearts turned
| to our dear ones at home. What of the
fate of each and all who were dear to
! us. These were the narrowing thoughts
| that entered into our very souls, the
measure and intensity of which cannot be
portrayed.
|
| tensity of feeling engendered by the war
and particularly in the breasts of our
| foes towards us.
We knew that every effort would be
made for our capture, and felt that if we
fell into the hands of the enemy, fired as
| their hearts were, we could not hope for
a fair trial and judgment. Even during
the war we had been opprobriously called
1
would be summarily dealt with as such.
These were reflections that disquieted
us-but they caused no Generalization,
or craven ]" =, but were borne by true
men with cler consciences, who had done
their duty as they saw it, with all the
powers given them by God 1t was a
situation desperate to a degree, to which
history furnishes no parallel. The first
duty was to suspend hostilities and to
proclaim such suspension.
The following entry was made in the
log book August 3, 1865, the Shenandoah
being then off the coast of Mexico:
Having received by the bark Barracon-
ia the sad intelligence of the overthrow
of the Confederate government, all at
tempts to destroy shipping or property of
the United States will cease from this
date, in accordance with which First
Lieut.. w. c. Whittle received the order
from the commander to strike below the
battery and disarm the ship and crew"
The next step was to seek asylum with
some strong nation, strong enough to
maintain the ruling of the law of nations
and resist any demand for our surrender
to our enemies, SO that we might have a
full and fair trial.
Writing Of that critical time, Capt.
Waddell wrote: my own life had been
chequered, and l was tutored to disap-
pointments. The intelligence of the is
sue of the fearful struggle cast a deep
stiffness over the ships company and
would have occupied all my reflection, had
not~a responsibility Of the highest order
rested upon meas to the course l should
pursue, which involved not only my per-
sonal honor, but the honor of that flag
entrusted to me, which had thus far been
triumphant. l determined to run the
ship for a European port-which involved
a distance of 1900 miles-a long gauntlet
to run, and escape. But why should I
not succeed in battling observat ton and
pursuit? The ship had UP to that time
traversed 10000 miles without accident
1 considered it due to the honor of ali
concerned to avoid anything that had
show Of dread-under the severe trial
imposed upon me- that such was my
duty as a man and an officer in whose
hands was placed the honor of my coun-
try's flag and the welfare of my com
mand.
And so Waddell determined to sail for
England No longer did he have legiti-
mate authority, for his commission ex-
pired with the collapse of the Confeder-
acy; yet so we'll disciplined had his crew
become, that to the very end the conduct
of his crew was remarkable.
On the 18th of September. running at
the rate of fifteen miles an hour. the
Shenandoah turned Cape Horn, and took
her course northward for Liverpool We
passed many sails, says Whittle, but ex-
changed no signals We were making no
new acquaintances. They crossed the
equator for the fourth time on October
II, 1863 On October 25th in the after
noon, when about 500 miles south of the
Azores, they sighted a supposed Federal
cruiser. Their courses converged. The
stranger was apparently waiting for the
approaching vessel.
Quoting now from Capt Waddel: The