The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1905-10-05

| the officers and they bent to their oars
while the rebel lookout fired his rife
giving the alarm. A volley was now
poured into the boats-men fell at their
oars. Lieut.. Russell rose and encour-
aged the men. This. perhaps. saved
his life. for the two men. Lamphere and
Herring. sitting beside him, were In
stantly killed, one shot through the
heart. the other through the brain, and
Lieut.. Russell received a buckshot
wound in the left arm. Capt Reynolds,
OF the Marine Corps, fell to the bottom
OF the boat from a slight confusion Of
a buckshot. By this time the alarm
roll and rockets had brought out the
Rae, who were eagerly looking for
something to fire at, while the quick
marching of men in the Navy Yard
| could be heard. No time was to be lost,
and as the boats struck the schooner's
side Lieut.. Russelfs order to board was
quickly obeyed by the gallant crew.
which were now Joined by the men I'm
the other two boats, who had killed the
sentinel, spiked the gun and brought
away the tompion, which is now In the
Navy Yard Museum, New York.
A Desperate Deck Fight.
On board the schooner a desperate
conflict was raging. The Confederatea
| stoutly defended their vessel, fighting
handto-hand with their adversaries.
The man stationed as a lookout, who
| gave the alarm and fired with such
deadly aim from the crosstrees, had
been brought down by either Lieut..
Russell Engineer White or Serg't Fitz-
simmons, as they all fired about the
same time. The crack of rifles, the clash
| OF steel, the muffied reports Of revol-
vers pressed close to the bodies Of the
combatants, mingled with shouts, yells
and ,groans, can be remembered but
| not described. Gradually the defenders
L schooner
forced across the deck to the wharf,
where, reinforced by the crew of the
guard boat which had just pulled in
to be relieved, the fight was renewed
with increased ferociety. During the
progress of the combat Asst Engineer
White and Midshipman Higginson.
with the firing party, gained the cabin,
which was deserted. Turpentine, shaw
| ings and other infiammable material
were strewn around and the match ap-
piled. The second party did the same
forward. The flames spread rapidly
and the destruction OF the vessel being
assured, Lieut. Russell considered 1t
was time to look out for the safety OF
those remaining under his command. as
the double-quick of the Confederates
could be heard coming down the Yard
to reinforce their party.
The Retreat.
The order was given by Lieut.. Rus
sell clear and distinct, which was heard
far up in the Navy Yard: Man the
boats!" This fastened the movements
of the rebels in the Yard, who were
hurrying to join their comrades; but
quickly the well-disciplined crew
obeyed the order. and as the boats left
the schooner's side. through the sky
lights and companion-ways the flames
burst forth. roaring and cracking as
they gained headway, while above all
echoed a yell Of rage from the Con-
federates as they realized that the de-
structfon Of their vessel was now in
evitable. BY this time the entire force
of the Yard had Joined their comrades
on the wharf, peering in the gloom,
anxious to wreak their vengeance on
something. Lieut.. Russell quickly or
dered to form second order of battle:
1.-TWO howitzer boats in the center!"
followed with: /.
wheel the two howizter boats and
open with canister" This sent the con-
fused mass on the wharf back with
yell and prevented them firing on our
retreating boats.
Six rounds were fired and the boats
in line, led by the commanding officer,
started on their return. The retreat re-
fiected credit on officers and men. for
even the wounded and dying returned
in their proper boats.
The Dead and Wounded.
Now that we were clear of the en-
emyS guns, it was necessary to look at
our own condition. Charles Lamphere,
Coxswain, lay dead in the stern of the
boat, shot through the heart, and must
have died instantly. Capt Reynolds,
u. s. M. c., had managed to extricate
himself from the body of Herring, and
was sitting in the stern complaining OF
his arm, which had been grazed by a
buckshot. A man by the name of John
Smith, who pleaded most earnestly to
go in the expedition, during the height
of the conflict on the schooner's deck,
lost his cap with the white cover-the
distinguishing mark-and was met and
bayoneted by one of our own men. He
murmured as he fell back, go ahead,
boys, but you have killed one of your
own men," with that, crawled over into
his boat and died shortly after reach
ing his ship.
Had Lieut. Russelrs suggestion been
adopted. poor Smiths life might have
been spared.
The life of Lieut. Blake was, in all
probability, saved by a flask with
brandy In it, carried in his left side
pocket over the region Of the heart.
and which had been cut in half by a
ball. Although strictly a temperate !,
man, one of his messmates insisted on
his taking it-a fortunate occurrence.
Midshipman Higginson lost a small
portion Of his thumb.
With three killed and 13 wounded the
boats continued their course for the /
ship. Passing close to Santa Rosa Is |
land, some one hailed from shore with:
Russell. I congratulate; nobly done;
have you many wounded?'
Lieut.. Russell replied: Thank you.
Langdon; a good many; why did you
not fire?" :
Some idea of the severity of the fight
ing may be formed when it was dis
covered that nearly one-fifth of the at
tacking force had either been killed or
wounded ~.1i
Although occasional rockets ana
lights continued from the Notifications,
we succeeded in passing safely out, and
at the dawn of day the sentinel OF the
Colorado hailed the approaching boats.
and, on Lieut.. Russell's answering, the
crew could be heard to say:
There is Mr.. Russell, anyway!'
All were cordially received and con- .
graduated by officers and crew. The
battle was fought over, again for the
benefit OF the admiring listeners; the
dead and wounded were hoisted on
board and cared for and sleep sought
by the tired-out participants.
Destruction of the Schooner.
The schooner. freed from her moor
ings by the fire, drifted from the wharf