The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1917-03-16
DARING SEA ROVER
An Audacious Commerce Raider
of the Days of 1863.
READS CAMPAIGN OF TERROR.
FOR Time This Clever Young Con-
federste Naval Officer, by the Havoc
Ho Wrought, Had the Shipping Trade
OF the North In State of Panic.

'lo "IOb9ilIg fldC tre OnlpplnJ RAD
Of the North In State of Panic.
. The daring and romantic exploits o
The rowing commerce destroying cruis
rrs in the great European war recall
the deeds Of a very brave and cleve
officer who acted as a commerce de
ftroyer In the service Of the Confed
oracy. Lieutenant Charles w. Read, 8
Iississippian in his early twentles
who had been in the United States
navy, Joined the Confederate cruiser
Florida on Nov 4, 1862, while she lay
st Mobile undergoing repairs. Read
Lad already seen gunboat service In
the fighting at New Orleans.
On May g. 1868, eff the coast Of Bra
zil the Florida captured the brig Clar-
ence, bound from Rio de Janeiro to
Baltimore with cargo Of coffee. Lieu.
tenant Read suggested that he be per
mitted to take the captive, with her
cargo and papers intact, and, proceed
Ing to Hampton roads, gain entrance
there and either cut out a gunboat or
turn the shipping gathered in the
| roads. Captain Maflit gave him how
itzer and detailed an assistant engineer
and twenty men for the enterprise.
A month later. off the South Caro-
| lima coast, the Clarence captured and
| burned the bark Whistling Wind, from
| Philadelphia TO New Orleans with coal
| I he next day II picked up the schooner
| Alfred III. Partridge, and Read put her
captain under a 5000 bond to deliver
the cargo Of arms and clothing to the
COnfederates. On June he took the
brig Mary Alvina, Boston to New Or
leans with commissary stores.
From his prisoners Read came to the
conclusion that an attempt to enter
Hampton Roads would meet with GER
t'in failure, and he turned his atten-
ton entirely to destroying Federal
commerce. On June 12 within eight
miles Of Cape Henry. he made four
captures-thc bark Tacony, the schoon-
o. NJ. a. Shindler, the schooner Kate
s ewart and the brig Arabela. Since
tie Clarence was a poor sailer, the
young commander transferred his crew
aud howitZer to the Tacony. The Clar-
eIce and the NJ. A. Shindler he burned.
Tie Arabella he bonded for $4,000
and the Kate Stewart for $1,000, and
he used the latter to take ashore some
City prisoners.
Those captures stirred the shlpown-
ers, and the shipowners promptly stir
red up the secretary of the navy. The
naval commanders at Newport Views,
Philadelphia and New York were or
dCrcd to send ont vessels to cha Sc the
raider, which they did.
Meanwhile the Tacony, under her
new colors, captured the brig Umpire,
which, with her cargo OF sugar and
molasscs, was burned on June IL.
Five days later the Tacony seized the
pa ckct ship Isaac Webb. Liverpool to
New York with $50 passengers on
beard. and Read bonded her for S4O.-
900. The same day he destroyed the
fishing schooner Micawber The clip
per ship Byzantium and the bark
Goodspeed. both bound for New York.
were sunk on the next day, which was
June 81.
BY that time there were more than
twenty Federal vessels pursuing the
Tacony, and the shipping interests of
New York were almost in a state Of
pG mic.
Read now sailed northward and off
the coast of Massachusetts captured
four fishing schooners on June %. The
following day he took two more. On
June 24 he held up the ship Shatemuc,
from Liverpool to Boston, carrying a
large number of immigrants, and bond
ed her for $l50,000. That night he cap
tured the fishing schooner Archer.
AS the ammunition for the howitzer
had become exhausted, Read transfer
red his crew to the Archer and burned
the Tacony. On the morning of June
26 he picked up Portland light. Two
fishermen, who mistook the schooner
for a pleasure party, piloted her into
Portland harbor.
The following morning at half past 1
o'clock Read and his men boarded the
revenue cutter Caleb Gushing. She was
captured without an alarm being given,
but the tide was running in before her
new masters could get her under way,
srd the wind had dropped.
They did escape from the harbor, but
about twenty miles outside two large
steamers bearing soldiers and armed
civilians overhauled the cutter. Read
had not been able to find the vessels
stock of ammunition, aud after firing
few rounds at the pursuing steamers
be put off his prisoners, set the cutter
on fire and, with his crew, took to the
boats. He surrendered to the COM
nander Of the steamer Forest City.
Lieutenant Read made n brief report
II his cruise OH July 30 from Fort
Warren and q more detailed one the
following year under a Richmond date.
Be- far as the records show, no lives
we're taken in the course OF the raid
g.,,tt,f. al