The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-05-14
The ..Black Terrnr.v

size OF the MlSS1S Slppl. All attempts
had failed. At last it was determined
that the army should cross the PENN
sula below the city, while the vessels
of the navy ran the batteries. Two of
Admiral Porter's vessels. the Queen
and the Indianola, got by the forts,
only TO be captured and turned to Con
federate use.
The river curves in S form, 50 that
any vessel must be under the fire of
the batteries for eight or ten miles. The
admiral finally decided to send down a
dummy monitor TO draw the fire away
from his main tactics An old coal
barge was selected, and in twelve hours
was transformed into formidable
gunboat.
Pork barrels formed the smokestacks,
OLD canvas played the part Of quarter
boats. The furnace was made of mud,
intended TO furnish only black smoke
instead o. steam. Such was the Black
Terror, shining with fresh coat of
coal tar, and with an immense Qua
kerr gun protruding from the open
port.
Under the cover Of the night the mon
ster dropped down stream, smoke pour
ing from the pork barrels, the furnace
burning damp oakum. and with no one
on board, not even war correspondent
1t flew the Stars and Stripes, and a
black flag ornamented with skull and
cross-bones.
Slowly the boat made its way, carried
by the current Suddenly it was chal
lenged by a shot from a battery.
The craft deigned no reply, but stood
steadily on its course.
Then came the concentrated fire of
all the batteries.
Still no reply. Sped by the five-knot
current, it proudly moved with impress
sive majesty, apparently uninJured.
The heavens Numbered and the earth
shook. Never" says Admiral Porter,
did the batteries of Vicksburg open
with such din. Shot flew thick about
the devoted craft"
The Queen, under the Confederate
flag, hearing the firing, came up the
river to investigate 1t saw the mon
ster gunboat. paying no attention to the
batteries, bearing directly down upon
it. and turned heels and dashed down
the stream.
The dummy, passing safely all the
forts, steered by the eddy, landed on
| the west side of the river as skillfully
4
Some federal soldiers rushed to ii, saw
what 1t was and pushed it of into the
current Down it drlfted toward the
captured Indianola. The officer took one
look at the bulky form, and with
promptness laid two big guns muzzle to
muzzle. and blew up the boat. Then he
escaped with his hundred men to the
land and over the hills.
The Terror calmly drifted on until it
caught fire and burned.
Did Gen. Lee Expect Defeat.
Ny last official intercourse with Gen
eral Lee was on the retreat, says John
s. Wise in the Circle. l was sent to
him with dispatches from President
| Davis. and reached him near midnight
of April 6, near Rices station. / APP
preached without being challenged by
a, single sentinel, and found him stand
| ing near smoldering fire with Que
of his hands resting on an ambulance
wheel. He was debating some order
| to Colonel Marshall, who sat in the
ambulance with a lap desk, receiving
his dictation. AS General Lee spoke,
| he gaZed into the bed of Goals, as if
weighing every word. There was not
staff or escort about, SO far as l could
see.
! Touching Sailors Greek, he spoke bit
| terly and said, in answer to Mr.. Davis
desire to know the proposed line of re-
treat, that 1t was beyond his control
| that he had intended to retreat by the
line of the Danville road, but had
been forced Off that route by the ar
| rival of Sheridan ahead of him at
| Burkville; that he was then follow
| ing the line of the Southside road to
Lynchburg, but the enemy was out
marching him and might force him off
that his movements were dependent on
| the development of each hour, and
then he added: How can l tell? A
few more Sailor Creeks, and it will
| all be over-just where l thought it
would end from the beginning" When
first published this statement its
truthfulness was questioned. FOrtu-
nately, l afterward saw two of his
staff, both of whom said they had heard
him express himself in the same way.
| There may have been times when
General Lee, elated by some of his sur
prising successes, felt hopeful about
the triumph of our cause From the
probabilities, based on our numbers and
resources, his judgment may have been
warped away now and then by the feel
ing he expressed when, after second
Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg
and Charlottesville, he said: mo gen
eral ever commanded such troops as
those under me-" But his mind was too
mathematical in its workings, and all
its calculations were too habitually
based upon what could be done with a
given number of men and q certain
amount OF material, to make him forget
the vast disparity between the contest
ants, or hope for ultimate triumph.
At last the actual preparation of
plans has been directed for the Baltic
Black Sea Canal. AS the project now
stands it is intended for use by 900
ton barges, and in its length Of 1925
miles there Will be numerous locks and
canalized river sections as well as
strictly artificial canals. The construc-
ton of this waterway will also permit
a large amount of power to be devel-
oped at several places along the Dwina
and Dneiper rivers.
The use Of muslin windows instead
Of glass In dairy construction is said
| loIx t<r toll IL, G~hk ,f,xe