The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-02-12

well As by his great gallantry, claimed the
right to lead the headmost column, with
the Malvern's men he had taken with him.
carrying your flag. and fell at its very
head. Two more noble spirits the world
never saw, nor had the navy ever two
more intrepid men. Young, talented, and
handsome, the bravest of the brave, pure
in their lives, surely their names deserve
something more than a passing mention
and are worthy to be handed down to pos
terity with the greatest and best of naval
heroes. must speak of theil
singleness of purpose to do their whole
duty; always cheerful and willing, DESTROYS
of undertaking anything which might re
dOund to the credit of the service,
combining with their intelligence a ready
perception as to the best mode of accom-
plishing their orders"
COMMANDER E. p. WILLIAMS.
Quite a different person from ethel
Porter or Preston, yet well known to ant
respected by both, was Commander e. p
Williams, Familiarity called Barney" Viii
liams. He was a good specimen of the
genuine sailor, of the duty-loving follower
of the sea-one of that sort of men who
under the lead of its officers of genius ant
brilliancy, have given substantial char
acter to the United States Navy in all it.
honored history. Williams was from Cas-
tine, Me-, region of hardy sailors. From
his entrance into the navy to the opening
of our civil war he was most of the time
on sea duty. In the Indian Ocean, on the
coast of Africa, along the shores of Bra
iii, and in the Paraguay Expedition, he
served with credit, growing in the conf
dence of his superiors. For short time
he was on duty at the Naval Academy
Early in the war he was doing efficient
service in the South Atlantic Squadron, in
command of the steam gunbOat Pau
Jones. He had lively engagement with
the enemy at st. Johns Bluff, in Florida
and made venturesome run up the st
Johns River to Enterprise. Off Morris
Island he had sharp contest with the
Confederate ram Chicora, while seeking to
draw off the enemy from the wreck Of ouI
double-turreted monitor Keokuk.
In September, 1868, Williams was in
command of a division of the assaulting
column in the night attack from the navy
on Fort Sumter. He there bore himself
most CALAMITY, and his subsequent feeling
was that had he been well supported by
his entire force the move would have been
successful. He was taken prisoner at the
same time with Porter and Preston, who
were his juniors, and with them he came
to Columbia. In prison he was the ranking
naval officer, and as such was looked up to
with respect by his comrades. His charac.
teristics stood out there as elsewhere. He
chafed less in confinement than some 9TH
ers; he adapted himself more easily to the
situation. The prevailing desire in his
mind was not love of adventure, nor a
wish for promotion and renown; it was to
do sailors duty wherever his lot was
cast; hence he could be more centented in
prison, when he must be there. There
was, moreover, genial heartiness about
the man which attached his friends to him
warmly. Re did much to make the prison
life endurable to others, and he is remem-
bered most pleasantly by his Richland Jail
companions. He naturally longed for lib
erty, and he was engaged in more than
one unsuccessful plan of escape. He had
most trying experience while held in
irons for several months as one of the
hostages for Beale and Mcclure, who were
on trial for piracy; yet even this he could
stand better than young Porter, who was
his companion in it all. When, after IA
months of imprisonment, Williams, with
his brother-o officers, was again at liberty,
he had no such brilliant service, nor such
a tragic end in battle, as gives point to the
story of Preston and Porter. He survived
the war, and after it was all over more
than once recalled with him its varied and
thrilling experiences as I visited him in his
Roxbury home, or at his Office at the naval
rendezvous in Boston.
Yet Commander Williams died sailors
death-died as bravely and as grandly as
either of his prison comrades-died a death
which entities his memory to love and
honor from all. 1t was on the afternoon
of Jan. "a, 1870, that Williams, in COM
mand of the sloop-of-war Oneida, left the
port of Yokohama, Japan, to return to the
United States after three years. cruise.
When 10 miles from port, in the Bay of
YeddO, after the darkness of night had
shut in, the Oneida was run into by the
British mail steamer Bombay, bound for
Yokohama, and cut down to the waters
edge. Commander Williams was in his
cabin at the time. He was in reclining
chair, having fallen asleep, perhaps to
dream of home, when the shock of the col
lision came, and he was thrown violently
to the cabin floor, while the water rushed
in upon him, and the sounds of confusion
were heard on the deck above. In an in
slant ne was on deck, as calm and col
iected as if nothing unusual demanded at
tention. Seeing the lights of the moving
steamer which had done the foul deed. he
at once comprehended the situation.
Il told him." says one of his surviving
officers, that the ship had ported her helm
ana cut us down."
~ know it, sir" he quietly replied; and.
with a sailors instinct, added, sLet us
save the ship"
But the ship was not to be saved. His
Executive officer came up and reported:
captain, we shall sink by the stern in
three minutes" urging him at the same
time to take at once to one of the two re-
naming boats. His own safety was not,
however, the thought of. Commander Will
hams at such time as that. There were
"a officers and 152 men on that vessel, and
he was responsible for them all. He
would not desert his ship while they were
on it in peril.
Il saw him." said one of his sailors. con
the port side of the bridge, one hand rest
ing on the iron rail of the bridge, and the
other on the gunwale of the first cutter.
said to him, Captain, you had better
GET INTO this boat! and he answered me,
Never mind me; I will go down with the
ship; you stay in the boat"
And there, unmoved, he stood-stood
at the post of duty, even when standing
there took him under 40 fathoms of water.
,Iwenty-One officers and 95 men went with
him to the bottom. There was no scramble
Tor places of safety; no neglect of dis
clpline. Those who left the ship did so
under orders; those who went down with
it were where for the time they belonged.
1t was no false pride, no undue sensi-
tlveness to his reputation, which made
Commander Williams ready to sink with
his ship. His life was a life of duty-a
sailors duty-duty to his vessel, duty to
his flag, duty to his country; his death
was consistent with his life. 1t is ex-
amples like his that make discipline and
GOODNESS and heroic unselfishness possible
in such scene of disaster on the seas, and