The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-02-25

IL 4 hau Dccn on DOar0 my vessel i
would have acknowledged the salute Of
the Carolina. She is an enemy, but a
brave foe, and she did what was right
in dipping her colors in a neutral port.
dip the Stars end Stripes TO a
rebel ras,' wrote Mr.. Whiting to MI.
Seward. II told Capt. Temple 1
would sooner hack my hand off than
be guilty of such an act"
Frequently thereafter did Mr.. Whit
ing have occasion to write to Mr..
Seward, and in many of the letters
mentioned that the Kate had arrived
at Nassau with a cargo Of cotton,
which always met with a ready sale.
Nassau was a favorite port for the
blockade runners, as it was under
British control and only $50 miles
from the coast Of Florida. TO avoid
international complications the Con-
fcdcratc skippcrs would dispose of
their cargo to a firm, who would pre-
@NhU SCIi tHC StuI Oh COMMISSION,
aud the money thus acquired would
usually be invested in munitions Of
war for the sccedcrs. The cotton
would be reloaded into English vessels
and sent to England, which country
was in great need of it.
The Kate, as were ether blockade
runners, was painted a dull lead grey,
a color hard to distinguish even a short
distance away in the daytime, and EN-
dering the vessel almost invisible in
the darkness Of night. Anthracite
coal was burned, producing little or no
smoke, aud when about to slip through
the blockading feet all lights were ex-
tinguished, the matches covered and
the stecrsman had to peer at the bin
nacle lamp through q small slit in q
piece of canvas.
at one time before her day came,
the blockading feet thought the Kate
was doomed to capture. She had been
seen off the Florida coast in March,
1862, and had been chased by a num-
Der OF Union vessels. She took refuge
in Mosquito Inlet, near Port Royal,
and hope ran high in the heart of the
commander of the Atlantic squadron,
S. L. Dupont, when he received a
message from the captain of several
ships, that at last the Kate was
hcmmcd in. Dupont ordered the Off
GERS Of the vessels to carefully guard
the Inlet waters, and they tried to,
but the Kate made her escape one
dark, rainy night, and was free to con-
tinue her work.
Another chapter of the naval records
show that on August 10, 1862, James
+. Armstrong, commanding the United
States steamer State Of Georgia, sta
toned off Wilmington, N. c., wrote to
Rear Admiral Golsborough that he
had learned from three contrabands,
who came off the night before, that on
August 6 the steamer Carolina or
Kate, Lockwood, master, entered Will
mington from Nassau with liquor,
clothing and fruit. She had been
chased by some of the blockading
feet, Capt. Armstrong reported, and
had 10 throw part Of her cargo over
board to Tighten her so that she could
escape.
This news was received by the rear
admiral with anything but favor, for
the antics Of Master Lockwood were
beginning to pail On the Union fleet.
SO the rear admiral wrote back to
Capt. Armstrong, expressing his re-
greet at learning that the Kate had
again run the blockade.
"This will never answer" reads the
rear admiral's letter. "More vigilance
must be exercised. Why is it that
the vessels stationed on the side the
Carolina entered have no knowledge OF
the fact? Appoint q board of three
impartial and suitable officers to in
vestigate the subject Of the entrance
Of this vessel
The official inquiry was made, but
amounted to nothing.
TIE report OF the inquiry was duly
forwarded to the real I'D miral. A few
days later Capt. Armstrong wrote the
rear admiral that the force Of Union
vessels off the coast Of North Carolina
was utterly inadequate to maintain
the blockade.
''The utmost vigilance is required
from the vessels blockading," wrote.
Capt. Armstrong, "as the steamer
Kate will cndcavor to escape.
On August %, 1862, Capt. Arm
strong again sounded q note Of warn
ing to Rear Admiral Goldsborough,
telling him that the Kate and a num-
~, 90 o. ,l .1-~-- A.