Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-05-31
Lieutenant cushins's Wonderful Adven,

While the work of torpedo destruction
was being so successfully prosecuted
throughout the South. the rebel ironclad
Albermarle. roughly cons tructed on the
Roanoke river, came out into Alber-
marie Sound and terrorized our wooden
fleet there, sinking the Southheld by
ramming exploding the boilers OF the
Sassacus, and raising Cain generally. 1t
was necessary to get rid of her. and 10
Lieutenant W. B. Cushing, a smooth
faced, long haired young officer who hai
performed several daring exploits, was
allotted the perilous task OF destroying
her.
The Albermarle was moored at Ply
NOUN on the Roanoke river. a stream
about 90 feet wide on the night Of the
27th Of October. when Lieutenant Cush-
ing, with seven picked men. started from
out the sound i'm his steam launch,
towing a boat with thirteen men. ST.
lently the little boats entered the mouth
Of the Roanoke for Plymouth. eight
miles away-an hours run. The enemy
army, numbering thousands. occupied
the town and forts. and the narrow riv-
er was well picketed, a guard being
stationed on the unsubmerged deck OF
the sunken steamer Southfield. n mile
below the town. Fortune favored the
brave, and successfully passing the river
guard without discovery. Gushing cast of
simultaneously with a large fire which
suddenly blazed forth from the river bank,
came a hot fusillade from the ship and
men upon the shore. BY the nre's light
Gushing saw a guard OF logs surrounding
the ship doomed out thirty feet from her
side, but. undaunted. he turned so as to
hit the boom a a right angle, and in the
face OF the firing ran square upon and
over the shiny logs. and with Roadway
nearly gone, as the firing temporarily
ceased, answering nonchalantly the cap
tain's hail with a joke. he found him
self just where he wanted to be- nearly
under the rams quarter port, ten feet
from the ugly muzzle OF lOO-pounder
rified gun.
Holding in his right hand the heel
jigger" of the torpedo and in the left
the exploding line, he stood calmly near
the bow, the peTsonhcation OF cool
courageous heroism. as he gave the order
to lower the BOOM while the slight
remaining motion of the launch carried
the torpedo over the rams overhang-
then a strong pull OF the detaching line
a moments pause for the rising of the
torpedo under the hull, n slight pull by
the left hand just as 1t was cut by
bullet-the explosion. simultaneous with
"a discharge of canister from the hum
dred-pound rifle ten feet from his left
ear crashing into and splintering the
launch, blinded with the thick sulphur
Gus smoke cloud. drenched with the mass
or water thrown up. his clothing with
many bullet holes-and the last of the
ALTERNATE.
There Is not In naval history such
marvellous example of GOODNESS and pro-
fessional skill, says I. r. Solely, as was
SHOWN by Cushing in this exploit. His
adventures after jumping from his dis
abled boat under a volley of musxetry.
chilled while swimming for the opposite
shore, wandering and crawling through
swamps and hiding in the day, swim
ming a. night, avoiding the pickets. fin
ally capturing a little hat-bottomed
boat used by the pickets, floating behind
and pushing it away from him, finally
getting into 1t and family padding his
way to the fleet in the sound-al these
incidents would make a thrilling story Of
themselves. The nation has shown
just appreciation of his services bv
naming the speedy torpedo boat Cushing
IN his memory.-[Frank II. Schell in Les
lies Weekly.