Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-02-04
HOLDING THE
LIGHTHOUSE


charge Of q lighthouse on the North
Carolina coast. and one evening during
The last year OF the war I was driven
Inside by seven Confederate$. who had
landed from n sloop near By and whose
mission was 10 destroy the light. I
wac well provided with arms and am
munition. and as they came within
shootfng distance I opened fire and
wounded one of them All Of them at
once moved To the left To get out Of
range. and five minutes later there was
q demand that I surrender. In case Of
refusal they would burn me out.
A the lower door was n stout one
and loopholed for musketry and as
there WINS no drift stun within a mile
OF us TO make fire. 1 was not greatly
worried over the appearance Of the
men and their threats. I made the door
secure and then climbed TO the top Of
the lighthouse. and just ms got there
the sloop from which the soldiers had
landed and which had been left 10 take
care OF itself was fioated on the beach
BY the rising tide and soon passed be
yond recovery. The situation now pre-
sented was a rather curious one.
was a prisoner inside the lighthouse
but the gang were prisoners outside as
well We were on an island. and there
was no escape for them without a
boat.
expected To be fired on when light
ed the lantern. which was In an ex-
posed position. and. sure enough. they
opened On me with their muskets and
shaved me pretty close three or four
times. I got down safely, however.
and then had only the door to look
after during the night. I got another
demand TO surrender. but only laughed
at II. though two OF the men crept
softly up aud gave me several bullets
through the loopholes. which might
have finished me had 1 been standing
erect.
The fellows could not tell whether /
had been hit or not, and about o'clock
] heard hem crawling up again to lis
ten AZ one Of them rubbed against
the door I fired through loophole. and
the yell which answered the shot was
proof that I had wounded another.
What the unwounded would do during
the night could only guess at and he
on the watch to checkmate. The two
wounded men must have suffered
great deal. but the leader was a deter
mined fellow and bound to carry out
his orders.
Soon after the wounding Of the sec
ond man heard the whole party NOV
ing away. and 10 was matter Of two
hours before they returned They had
searched the shores for driftwood and
brought back loads Of II. "
OF n sudden. while I was listening
with the closest attention. the loop
holes were stopped up with sticks
thrust into them, and then the supply
Of frewood was heaped against the
door. There were three men engaged
In this work. and all ut once I threw
the door wide open and blnzed away
at them with my revoivcr. All went
down. and before the Others could come
ND I had the door shut again IL was
not until two hours later that knew
whether I had killed or wounded the
three. had managed to clear the
loopholes md was on the alert for any
further move when one Of the gang
cpawIed ~ near a. he dared and shout
ed:
Say. you In there. we want to sur
rendery-
-TIow many OF your I asked In re-
ply.
'-seven. and Ave are wounded and
suRcrfng. The sergeant will he n dead
man unless we can get help pretty
soon"
80. here are the two unwounded
uenT-
They swan OF TO get the sloop and
have either been eaten by the sharks
or drowned Say. sergeant. for heat
ems sake don't go back on Us. We
were srut to capture and destroy th..
uRhthousa. but we have got the worst
OF Il and are rendy TO surrender TO
you"
looked on IL as n plot TO take me on
my guard and refused To open the door.
Twice more before daylight the same
man came and again appealed TO me.
but be received the same answer. The
ones I feared were the two unwound-
ed ones 7 believed they were In am
busL instead Of guing Oh after the boat
When daylight came I went upstairs
and looked down from the parapet and
soon made out that there was one man
dead and no others about except the
wounded Before descending and opca-
ing the door I made them disarm. and
Just rs I was going out 20 them my
assistant. who had been away ever
since the morning before TO secure
fresh supplies. ran his boat upon the
bach. We took the wounded In hand
together. The sergeant I'm command Of
"a. squad had bled TO death during the
u1xbt Of his wound. and some Of the
Others were In a very weak condition
We bound up their hurts and made
them as comfortable rs possible. and
that afternoon a Federal craft was sig
naied. and she ran I'm and conveyed the
living W Georgetown as prisoners Of