iiiliiliiiliillli i ilF lllililk ®l)e TLihvaxp ®nii)er£(itp of iSortfjCarolina Collection of Jlortf) Carolmiana (Enbotucb bp 3Jof)n ^jprunt WU of tfjc Class of 1889 (^ S,nf,',l7. °'' ^-^^ '^^ CHAPEL HILL 00032703254 This book must not be token from the Library building. laiS IlILE mi BEEN MiCROFiiLWEO Form No. 471 REAR ADMIRAL JOHN ANCRUM WINSLOW THE LIFE OF JOHN ANCRUM WINSLOW REAR-ADMIRAL, UNITED STATES NAVY WHO COMMANDED THE U.S. STEAMER "KEARSARGE" IN HER ACTION WITH THE CONFEDERATE CRUISER "ALABAMA" BY JOHN M. ELLICOTT LIEUT., U. S. NAVY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK AND LONDON Cbe Iknicherbochcr press 1905 Copyright, igoi BY JOHN M. ELLICOTT Ube ftniclserbociier press, mew U^ock PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. IN bringing out a second edition of the Life of yokn Ancruni VVinslow, the author wishes to express his appreciation of the popular interest taken in the biography, and of the very favorable criticism which it has elicited. The present edition contains some emendations suggested by reviewers, for which the author hereby desires to express his thanks. John M. Ellicott, Lieut. -Commander^ U. S. Navy. Navy Department, Washington, D. C. , May i, igo^. PREFACE. ADMIRAL WINSLOW was careful, through- out his Hfe, to preserve and copy his official and public correspondence. His wife and children were equally painstaking in preserving his papers and private letters, and in collecting everything concerning him that appeared in the public prints. I was requested to undertake his biography about five years ago, and all the collected material was unreservedly placed at my disposal. Much of the labor of chronological assortment had already been done by Mrs. Winslow and Miss Mary C. Winslow, the Admiral's wife and surviving daughter. Be- sides this original material, many published works have been consulted, of which a list is given in this volume, and I desire to express my thanks to their authors for much valuable information. After many interruptions, due to arduous profes- sional duty, I am at last able to give the biography to the public, hoping that I have made it as inter- esting and instructive to others as the original material has been to me. John M. Ellicott, Lieutenant^ U. S. Navy. Naval War College, Newport, R. I., Jan. /, igoi. CONTENTS CHAPTER I — II.— III.— IV.— V. VI.- VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. Antecedents and Childhood From his Marriage to the Burning of the Missouri The Burning of the Missouri . Beginning of the War with Mexico Blockading Mexican Ports Winslow's First Command . •Executive of the Saratoga •On the Frigate St. Lawrence . ■Duty with the Western Flotilla Return to Duty on the Mississippi •Detachment from Western Flotilla ■Assignment to Command the Kearsarge ■Cruising around the Azores •Blockading the Florida ■The Queenstown Incident . ■The Escape of the Georgia and Florida -The Blockade of the Rappahannock . •The Alabama at Cherbourg -The Destruction of the Alabama •The Conduct of the Deerhound PAGE I 6 15 24 Zl 40 48 57 69 80 90 97 104 117 124 138 153 174 188 219 viii Contents CHAPTER PAGE XXI. — The Sojourn of the Victor at Cherbourg 233 XXII. — The Close of the Cruise .... 250 XXIII. — The Ovation at Home .... 259 XXIV. — Duties as Commodore 264 XXV. — The Last Cruise 270 ILLUSTRATIONS. Rear-Admiral John Ancrum Winslow. Frontispiece Map of Theatre of Operations of Mexican War . Theatre of Operations of Western Flotilla . The Kearsarge of 1864 . Kearsarge's Theatre of Operations C. S. S. Alabama . . . . , Diagram of Kearsarge-Alabama Combat U. S. S. Kearsarge 24 70 98 118 174 ig8 WORKS CONSULTED History of the Mexican War. General C. M, Wilcox. The Home Squadron in the Mexican War. P. S. P. Conner. Service Afloat and Ashore in the Mexican War. Raphael Semmes. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. U. S. Naval War Records Office. The Navy in the Civil War ; The Gulf and Inland Waters. Captain A. T. Mahan, U.S.N. The Navy in the Civil War ; The Blockade and the Cruisers. Jas. R. SOLEY. History of the Navy during the Rebellion. Charles B. Boynton. The Confederate States Navy. J. Th^s. Scharf. The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. Jefferson Davis. A History of Our Own Times. Justin McCarthy. France atid the Confederate Navy. John Bigelow. The Secret Service of the Confederate States. James D. Bullock. Service Afloat, "■Sumter " and "Alabama." Raphael Semmes. Two Years on the "Alabama." Arthur Sinclair. An Englishfnan's View of the Battle between the "Alaba?na" and the "Kearsarge." F. M. Edge. Life of Admiral Foote. J. M. Hoppin. Life of Charles Henry Davis. C. H. Davis. The Neutrality of Great Britain during the American Civil War. Montague Bernard. Claims of the United States against Great Britain. U. S. Government. Acte Final de la Conference Internationale de la Paix ; La Haye., i8gg. The Laws and Usages of War at Sea. Captain C. H. STOCKTON, U.S N. Expedition du Mexique. G. Niox. Xll Works Consulted The Fall of Maximilian! s Empire. Seaton Schroeder. The Congressional Record, 1864 and 1865. The Army and Navy yournal, 1S62-66. The Spectator, London. The Times, London, and other leading American, British, and French newspapers. The Century Magazine. THE LIFE OF JOHN ANCRUM WINSLOW LIFE OF REAR ADMIRAL JOHN ANCRUM WINSLOW. CHAPTER I. ANTECEDENTS AND CHILDHOOD. IT is the privilege of the biographer to unfold to his readers, page by page, the life of an indi- vidual who has accomplished great deeds in the world's history, and it is the biographer's duty to show, as best he can, how heredity, environment, education and training, as brought to bear upon the individual by an all-wise Providence, make of him an instrument for the accomplishment of far- seen purposes. Heredity had not a little to do in shaping the career of John Ancrum Winslow. The Winslows, coming from Droitwitch, England, arrived in the Plymouth Colony with the first settlers, and two of the family became governors of the colony. It was from John Winslow, a brother of Edward, the Governor, and Mary Chilton, the first woman to land from the Mayflozuer, that the subject of this 2 John Ancrum Winslow. biography was descended. From Puritan stock came his inheritance of integrity, perseverance and fortitude. On his mother's side, Winslow was descended from Colonel William Rhett, son of Sir Walter Rhett, a baronet in the time of Charles II. Will- iam Rhett married Sarah, dauo-hter of Thomas Amy, Esq., of London, one of the lord propri- etors of the Colony of Carolina under the charter confirmed by King Charles in 1663-65. In 1704, the French and Spaniards, with a frigate and four armed sloops, under the command of Le Feboure, sailed against Charleston from Havana. Rhett was placed in command of an improvised naval force, consisting of six small vessels, and given a commission as vice-admiral. With this force he defeated the invading expedition — killing, wound- ing and capturing three hundred men. In 1718, the colony was subjected to depredations by the Buccaneers under Steed Bonnet, or " Blackbeard." Two sloops were fitted out by Governor Johnson and placed under the command of Rhett, who fol- lowed Bonnet into the waters of Cape Fear, and, after a severe engagement, in which the pirate was badly wounded, captured him with his vessel and crew. Rhett was afterwards appointed Governor- general of the Bahamas, but never accepted the position. From this hero of Carolina, Winslow in- herited the ambition to become a naval warrior and the qualities necessary for success in such a callinor. John Winslow, of Plymouth, moved to Boston, Antecedents and Childhood. 3 and it was there that Edward Winslow, a descen- dant of John and father of the subject of this biography, was born, in 1788. In 1807, Edward went to Wilmington, N. C, to establish a com- mercial partnership with another branch of the family, and, in 1809, he there married Sara E. Berry, a widow, of Scotch descent, her father being John Ancrum, chairman of the Committee of Safety of Wilmington during the Revolutionary War. At fourteen, she had married a Mr. McAl- lister, who was killed a year later while they were travelling. By him she had one child, born after the father's death. At eighteen, she married a Mr. Berry, and by him had five children. She was twenty-nine years of age when she married Edward Winslow, a youth of twenty-one. They had four children, of whom John Ancrum was the second. John Ancrum Winslow was born in Wilmington, N. C, November 19, 181 1,^ combining in his in- heritance, as we have seen, the simplicity, perse- verance, integrity and fortitude of the Plymouth Rock pilgrims with the courage, chivalry and dash of the gentry of Carolina. Even in his boyhood we can see the outcropping of first one and then another of these characteristics. Being the favorite son, he was allowed very much his own way, and his inherited maritime tendency led him frequently to the docks and shipping. Upon one occasion, as he was standing with his elder brother, Edward, near a British ship, her sailors pitted the cabin boy against him, and young John received, without ' He was baptized in the Protestant Episcopal Church. 4 John Ancrum Winslow. warning, a blow upon his head. He turned and made such a spirited defence that in a few minutes the cabin boy was severely whipped. It was such a plucky fight and such a complete victory that the British tars, after a rousing cheer, lifted the little victor upon their shoulders and bore him on board their ship for congratulation and refreshment. The incident was a prophetic forerunner of another duel he was to fight against an adversary equipped and egged on by British enterprise ! Upon another occasion, when but ten years of age, he induced his brother Edward to accompany him upon an impromptu voyage. They cast themselves adrift in a ship's boat, erected a bush for a sail, and, favored by the wind and tide, were swept rapidly to sea. Before anxiety overtook them they both fell asleep, but were luckily met by an incom- ing ship when many miles from land, and brought back in safety to their distressed parents. Being fearless and venturesome, young Winslow soon learned to use firearms, and was given dogs and a gun. He loved his dogs devotedly, and spent many hours of the day roaming with them through the woods, thus cultivating that love of nature's beauty which grew so strong within him, and which draws a man in thought nearer to the omnipotent Creator. Edward Winslow, the father, being a Bostonian, was desirous that his sons should be educated in the North, so young Edward and John were sent first to Dorchester and afterward to Dedham, Massachusetts. At the latter town they were placed Antecedents and Childhood. 5 under the charge of a Rev. Mr. Sewall, to be pre- pared for college. John was then fourteen years of age. He proved apt and progressive in his studies, but, when ready for college, his desire for a naval career had ripened, and he was aided by his indulgent parents to enter the profession of his choice. Through the influence of Daniel Webster, whose home was upon the Winslow estate at Marsh- field, and who held the family in high esteem, an appointment as midshipman was obtained for John, and after a course of study he received his commis- sion February i, 1827, and was attached to the U. S. S. Falmouth. This ship cruised in the West In- dies for three years, during which young Winslow was frequently sent in boat expeditions against pirates, thus treading, at the very outset of his career, in the footprints of that ancestor from whom he had inherited the desire which led him into the naval service. In 1830, Winslow returned home, but in the next year he was again ordered to the Falmouth, and sailed in her to the Pacific around Cape Horn, gain- ing experience in deep-sea cruising early in life. He remained in that ocean without special incident until 1833, when he returned home, passed a credit- able examination, and was promoted to Passed Mid- shipman. After a few months at the Boston Navy Yard, he was ordered to the Brazilian Squadron, where he served until 1837 on the ships Erie and Ontario. CHAPTER II. FROM HIS MARRIAGE TO THE BURNING OF THE MISSOURI. IT was probably during the few months spent in Boston, in 1833, between his Pacific and first BraziHan cruise, that love ripened between young Winslow and his cousin, Catherine Amelia, daugh- ter of Benjamin Winslow of that city. At that critical time, however, his devotion to the trying profession of his choice never wavered, for it is re- lated of him that, after bidding his fair cousin good- by, when departing for his Brazilian cruise, he threw his cap into the air and shouted back, " I hope I will live to be an honor to my country ! " Soon after his return from this cruise they were married, October 18, 1837, and from that time, when Winslow was not on duty elsewhere, they resided in Roxbury, then a suburban village. Al- though intermarriage is a hazardous venture, it must be conceded, from our study of the ante- cedents of these young people, that their union could only strengthen the highest and most admir- able traits in human nature, and must have done much to develop in the youthful officer those 6 Marriage — Burning of the Missouri. 7 characteristics which brought him so brilliantly- through the deep trials of his later life. The companionship of a pure woman is man's God-given encouragement, and fortunate indeed is he who is never without it ! Winslow's marriage at this time was very opportune, for shortly after- ward his mother died, leaving the young wife to continue alone that subtle influence of woman's devotion. Seven children were born of this union, five sons and two daughters. Two sons entered the navy, one in the line and one as a paymaster. The former, Herbert Winslow, is now (1901) a commander. Paymaster William Randolph Winslow died in 1869, leaving one son, the only grandchild of John An- crum Winslow, who graduated from West Point at the head of his class in 1889, and is now Captain Eben Eveleth Winslow, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army. Of the seven children. Commander Her- bert Winslow, U. S. N., is now the only survivor. Two months after marriage, Winslow was ordered to the general rendezvous at Boston, and afterwards to the receiving-ship at the Boston Navy Yard. Two years of home life were thus fortunately per- mitted him to cement domestic bonds. In 1839, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and was then ordered again to Brazilian waters in the U. S. Schooner Enterprise, February 22, 1840. After a cruise of less than a year he returned to the United States on sick leave, and was once more attached to the receiving-ship at the Boston Navy Yard, thus again spending some little time with his wife at 8 John Ancrum Winslow. home. During this shore duty he aided in extin- guishing a fire on a Cunard steamer in Boston Harbor, October 27, 1841, displaying such bravery that he was presented with a sword-knot and a pair of epaulettes from Her Majesty Queen Victoria. These were afterward lost in the steam-frigate Missouri, when she was burned at Gibraltar. Steam vessels were now being built for the navy, and one of the earliest, the frigate Missouri, was equipped at Norfolk, in the spring of 1842, for her maiden cruise. On the 9th of June of that year Lieutenant Winslow was ordered to the sloop of war Warren, then at Norfolk, but the Warren was found to need such extensive repairs that she was soon afterward put out of commission, and Winslov/ was transferred to the Missouri, a prefer- ment indicating that the young lieutenant was gain- ing recognition at the Navy Department as an excellent officer. The Missouri began her cruise by visiting many home ports, so that our people could have a look at her and take pride in their country's naval development. In August she sailed for New York, where she received quite an ovation and spent two weeks. From there she proceeded to Castine, Belfast, Camden, Thomaston, Wiscasset and Bath, returning to New York September 14th, where she remained a month before visiting south- ern ports. On the 14th of October she sailed for Savannah, Georgia. At Savannah the junketing cruise was arrested, and a bearer of despatches for the United States Minister at Mexico was sent to take passage in the Missoiiri to Vera Cruz. Marriage — Burning of tht Afissoun. 9 Until this time Winslow had drifted about the world in a haphazard sort of way, as a ship might drift in untroubled seas, but strong currents were now forming and fierce storms gathering, and we shall see him drawn into their midst, all uncon- sciously at first, but gradually realizing the perils, and meeting them with understanding, fortitude and calm endurance, until he emerges again upon smooth seas with his name and his deeds recorded in the pages of history. His letters show from this time a careful noting of passing events and much thoughtful reflection upon them, which, to- gether with certain deep convictions, cause him almost to foresee national crises and to be pre- pared to take his part in them. As far as these letters will tell the story of his life, I shall permit them to do so, with no unnecessary comment, be- lieving that " the true life of a man is in his letters." To understand some allusions in the earlier ones, it is necessary to fix in our minds the events then transpiring in our country's history, which at that time only tossed the young officer about like a chip in an eddy formed by a strong current. The little Texan war for independence had cul- minated in the decisive battle of San Jacinto, April 10, 1836, when General Houston captured Presi- dent Santa Anna, and extorted a treaty acknow- ledging the Texan Republic ; but the Mexican Government had refused to ratify the treaty. Our Government and many others, however, acknow- ledged Texan independence, and Texas was beg- ging for annexation to the United States. The lo John Ancrum Winslow. Democratic party declared itself in favor of annex- ation, but Santa Anna, once more in power in Mex- ico, was organizing a force for reconquest. Besides this cause of estrangement between the republics, the United States had claims for damages against Mexico for depredations upon commerce, which the latter was compelled to admit but could not be prevailed upon to pay. " Oct. 22d, 1842, " U. S. S. '^ Missouri,'' "Savannah, Georgia. " . . . We have a party of citizens on board, also a bearer of despatches from Washington to our Minister in Mexico ; he left Vera Cruz about six weeks since with de- spatches for our Government. We sail for Vera Cruz this afternoon. I cannot believe we shall be detained over a month, and possibly you may not hear from me again before I reach New York ; the object of the Government is to show a demonstration of proper force. If Santa Anna, President of Mexico, does not pay our claims at once, the United States will blockade the ports of Mexico, and this will prevent his expedition upon Texas which he is about carrying into effect. " I have invented a camel-steam tug for taking vessels over bars, and am getting a model made ; the persons I have shown it to are struck with its simplicity and practicability. I cannot see why it should not succeed. I have no doubt the Russian Government would give me any sum for it. How- ever, I am not over sanguine about it. The next letter is a graphic and true portrayal of Cuban affairs of half a century ago, and contains a paragraph showing Winslow's deep-rooted an- tagonism to slavery : " Havana, Nov. 2d, 1842, " U. S. S. ''Missouri.^ "... We have had a large number of Spaniards and other company on board today. Nothing has tended so much Marriage — Burning of the Missouri, ii to our importance as a nation as the exhibition of this ship. The Spaniards here think we are the Great Mogul. . . . " I dined yesterday with the Governor-General of Cuba, General Valdes, with a party of officers. He distinguished himself in the war against Don Carlos, as Commander of the troops, and was afterwards Minister of War ; he is quite a fine man, and honored us all by giving us each a splendid cigar and handing us in person a cup of coffee ; this he did to no other guests, the servants performing that service for them ; this act of courtesy was done according to our rank ; we had twenty-two courses at dinner. " There is a good deal of Castilian pride on the part of his suite and they have an intense hatred for the people of Cuba, ruling them with a rod of iron ; the strictest military disci- pline prevails, — seven thousand troops about the city. In the Alameda, the drive around the city walls, the people are obliged to keep in lines on one side, and the horse-guards are stationed about to compel them to do so ; no person can walk the streets at night after ii o'clock. I could not help smiling yesterday at the kind-looking old man, as he asked me to take wine, from whom all this military discipline emanates. " There have been several English officers on board today and they were surprised at the ship. " The Governor-General of Cuba here represents the King of Spain, and is a great man. " I was much struck with the checkered path which life so frequently reveals, so strikingly manifested in the case of Mr. Moreland who went home to Boston, having amassed an im- mense fortune after working here for twenty years ; he lost it all, and was obliged to return here in his old age and go to work again. It is said he invested it all with a slave dealer ; if such is the case he deserved to lose it. . . "Vera Cruz, Nov. •jth, 1842, " U. S. S. "^ Missouri.' "... After a long passage (for a steamer) of five days, we are at length at anchor off Vera Cruz. Our bearer of despatches left the ship for that city this afternoon prior to his departure for Mexico. 12 John Ancrum Winslow. " The sloop-of-war Falmouth lays near us, having like us brought a bearer of despatches, and will sail in a few days for Pensacola, " The Captain would have given any of us permission to go to Mexico, but the expense of travelling deterred all but one of us from doing so. It was an opportunity I especially re- gretted not being able to avail myself of, as Mexico is the seat of all the splendor of the New World, rich in the monuments of past ages, and filled with what may be termed the only classical lore of America. " I did not write you that yellow fever was prevalent in Havana while we were there, as I knew you would be anxious. All that worried me was the thought of leaving you and our dear ones to struggle along as you would have to do in case of my death. " We are laying at a distance of three miles from the town and fort ; near us is an island named Sacrificios, filled to me with associations of my early career in the Navy ; it was one of the first places I came to after my debut ; it is now much changed. The harsh-toned convent bell which rested in one of the niches of the walls is removed. The reefs around the island are still there, though no doubt increased by the coral insect, but notwithstanding these changes and the addition of a cemetery, in which repose the bones of many of the French who fell in the attack on the Castle, I can still fancy myself fourteen years back, wading through the water in search of shells and chasing the iguana over the moulder- ing walls, ..." " Batize Light House, " Mississippi River, " U. S. S. 'Missouri,'' ' ' N'ov. 2jd, 1842, ". . . We have left Vera Cruz and are now fast ap- proaching the mouth of the Mississippi with another bearer of despatches on board and the Secretary of Legation bound to Washington. Our stay at Vera Cruz was but six days. We have several Texans with us who went in the Santa Fe expedi- tion ; completely broken down in physique and morale, they are returning home, I hope wiser than they left it. Besides Marriage — Burning of the Missouri. 13 these we have a missionary from the Sandwich Islands accom- panying a Minister Extraordinary to the United States, We have also $14,000 in specie, for which the Captain receives a per centage for carrying, and is consequently anxious to go down to Vera Cruz for a much larger sum. " The pilot has just come on board, and says it is impossible to take the ship to New Orleans, so of course we go to Pensa- cola. " Dec, 3d. — Arrived at Pensacola, ..." *^U. S. Steam-Frigate ^ Missouri^ Norfolk, Jan. jist, 1843. "... Arrived here Saturday, 29th inst. I have leave to go to Washington, and start to-morrow with my 'model.'* Captain Newton and all that have seen it say it is a great thing. I may not get a patent, as it may interfere with others, but I will show it to the Secretary of the Navy and he must give me credit for ingenuity. . . . " With a desire to show the Missouri in European waters, she was selected in the summer of 1843 ^^ convey the Honorable Caleb Gushing, Minister to China, as far as Alexandria, Egypt. "6'^. S. S. ^ Missouri,^ " Norfolk, Va., ' ' A ttg. 2d, 184J. ", . . We have orders to steam with all despatch for Gibraltar, show the ship everywhere, and, after landing Mr. Cushing at Alexandria, return home. ..." "t/. S. S. 'Missouri,'' " Fayal, Azores, "'Aug. igth, 184J. " . . . Yesterday we came in here and found a brig lying in harbor, bound for Boston in about two weeks. A brother of Professor Longfellow is here ; he superintends the education of our Consul's children. ' Note. — A camel steam-tug for carrying vessels over bars. Winslow succeeded in procuring a patent for it, but owing to lack of capital it was never put to practical use. 14 John Ancrum Winslow. " The island is like one great flower garden, beautifully- cultivated ; never before have I seen such a variety of plants from every clime. The splendid magnolia and japonica trees are here as common as lilacs with us. , . . " Twenty years later he was destined again to land upon these islands, weak and in pain, scarcely re- cuperating from sickness and wounds, oppressed with the responsibilities of an actor in a dreadful war, yet indomitably assuming them, although he might, without discredit, have remained at home and been nursed into perfect health. Here, among the flowers which he so glowingly describes, he was to await through many months of impatience the coming of the ship whose name was to be forever linked with his own in undying glory. The Missouri sailed from Fayal August 21st and arrived at Gibraltar August 25th. CHAPTER III. THE BURNING OF THE MISSOURI. A LAMENTABLE catastrophe now cut short the career of America's handsome frigate. On the evening of August 26th, two men were lagging a cyHnder by the light of a lamp. A third man entered a storeroom overhead to get a pair of scales and knocked a wrench down upon a demijohn of spirits of turpentine, breaking it. The spirits dropped down upon the cylinder, saturated the lag- ging and caught fire from the lamp. The confla- gration that followed is best told by quoting part of a description of the event published in a New York paper by the late Rodman M. Price, ex-Governor of New Jersey, who was the purser of the ill-fated ship : " In the summer of 1843, Captain John Thomas Newton, commanding the U. S. Steam-frigate Missouri, lying at Nor- folk, Va., was ordered to receive Caleb Cushing on board and carry him to Alexandria, Egypt, en route to China. Mr. Cush- ing had just been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to protect our first commercial treaty with the Celestial Empire, negociations having been opened by Commodore Lawrence Kearney, then commanding the United States squadron in the China seas. " The Missouri was a perfect specimen of naval architecture 15 i6 John Ancrum Winslow. of 2200 tons, with two inclined engines of 600 horse-power, with four copper boilers, bark rigged, heavily sparred, was capable of keeping the seas under canvas alone, steam being used only as an auxiliary power when needed. " This magnificent ship, being the first naval armed steam- ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, to be exhibited to the Powers of Europe, stimulated the pride of the ship's company to the highest degree. Her officers were distinguished as gallant gentlemen. No finer crew had ever been mustered on the deck of a vessel, while her engineers, then new and important officers to the naval service, were thoroughly skilled in all their duties. *' With President John Tyler on board, and a distinguished party of citizens who had come from Washington to say adieu to Mr. Gushing and pray God speed to his important mission, our flag at the main, we weighed anchor from Hampton Roads, parting with the President and his friends at the Gapes of the Chesapeake. No ship's company ever had more delightful anticipation of a foreign cruise. " Gibraltar was to have been our first port, but running near the Azores, or Western Islands, Gaptain Newton, by general solicitation, consented to touch at Fayal, where we remained two days, during which time we were magnificently entertained by our Gonsul, Mr. Dabney, and his delightful and gracious family. " We steamed away from Fayal to Gibraltar, arriving at the latter place in the early afternoon of a delightful day. Our coming was as unexpected as the astonishment created by it. This surprise was not limited to the large English squadron commanded by Sir George Sartorius (Admiral of the Blue), but was shared by the Danish squadron lying there, and other foreign vessels of war and merchantmen. It extended, as well, to the garrison and people on shore. As the majestic Missouri steamed up the harbor at a ten-knot speed (their band playing a national air) tlirough the numerous shipping, hundreds of glasses were levelled at us ; in coming to anchor every evolu- tion was executed with a precision and in a style only known to Yankee sailors, and was watched by all with an absorbing inter- The Burning of the Missouri, 17 est ; indeed, no such steamship had before been seen. She was, in fact, at that time, a veritable steam leviathan. The size of her hull, the beauty of her outline, her heavy spars, her speed, and the gracefulness of her appearance on the water, extorted the admiration and received the praise of every true sailor. Boats immediately flocked around, and we were the recipients of a constant ovation of complimentary visits. Admiral Sartorius himself was the first to call, and he carefully and minutely inspected the ship and expressed his gratification and admiration, particularly with our battery. Our two 240-pound guns challenged astonishment, being the largest guns then afloat — and ten 68-pounders made our arma- ment very imposing. A stay of several days was contemplated, for the purpose of taking in coal and supplies. " On the evening of the second day after our arrival, the ship was coaling and her engines being overhauled and discon- nected ; the head of a cylinder was being replaced and tamped. Many of the ofificers' were on shore. Mr. Gushing, Captain Newton, and the writer were dining with the American Consul, Mr. Horatio Sprague, when suddenly from the street was heard the alarming cry : ' El frigate vapor Americano es del fuego ! ' (' The American steamer is on fire ! ') It was after sundown, and the regulations of the garrison prohibited boats from landing at the usual place. At one point only boats were permitted to land, known as the water port, where our boat had been ordered at a later hour. Rushing hastily to the water wall, we could plainly see our ship. At first sight the flames appeared as high as her maintop, and seemed to mark her inevitable doom. We were compelled to run a full half mile to the water port, following in our course the esplanade of the water battery, the bastions making an irregular, uneven surface made for the guns en barbette, causing us to fall, in our haste, many times. The English ofificers afforded every facility by opening the portcullis, letting down ladders, and lighting up the water port landing. Fortunately, just as we reached the moat, the Captain's gig came alongside, and we were pulled off in the shortest possible time to the ship, a mile distant. ' Among them Lieutenant Winslow. i8 John Ancrum Winslow. As we approached we could hear the pumps working. The crew were at quarters, and through the ports the lurid glare of the fire was reflected from within. Such, however, was the discipline and order maintained on board, as we came near the marine sentry in the mizzen chains gave, imperturbably, the usual challenge : ' Boat ahoy ! ' answered by Captain Newton, from the fulness of an oppressed heart, and with an agonizing accent of despair : ' Missouri' " In an instant four side boys appeared with lanterns at the ladder, and we passed on board with all the usual honors, re- ceived by the executive officer as calmly as if the crew had been at ordinary exercise. So far, everything possible under the circumstances had been done, but at that moment there was the most imminent danger of the fire communicating with the forward magazine. The fire had originated in the engine- room, down almost to the keelson, and had spread through a manhole in a watertight bulkhead, into the engineer's store- room containing stores of the most inflammable character, such as oils, turpentine, and oakum. The fact that the forward magazine was in danger was well known to the whole ship's company, yet every man was doing his duty as coolly as if en- gaged in 'washing down decks.' " On reaching the ship. Captain Newton took command, and the dreadful element was fought with desperate determi- nation to save the ship. " Water tanks, with hose and pumps, were sent off from shore by order of General Sir Henry Wilson, commanding the garrison. Admiral Sir Charles Sartorius gallantly came on board and took position beside Captain Newton. No boats were allowed to come alongside, being informed of the danger and warned off. " When it became doubtful -as to saving the ship, an order was given to send Mr. Cushing and his effects, together with the ship's papers and treasure, ashore. A battle of more than three hours' duration had been fought against the fire. Ad- miral Sartorius earnestly and repeatedly entreated Newton to abandon the ship — he felt it was criminal madness to longer endanger the lives of the crew. His entreaties were unavail- The Burning of the Missouri. 19 ing, and he left the doomed sliip. Newton, after consultation with the officers, reluctantly gave the order : ' Every man save himself ! ' Many of the exhausted men plunged over- board through the gun-ports, and were picked up by the sur- rounding boats, — our own boats were lowered away, and many let themselves down by the boat falls. After every soul had left the ship, the gallant Captain stood alone on the wheel- house, protecting himself from the raging fire, apparently hesi- tating whether to go in-board and perish with the noble ship, or out-board and be saved. The stentorian voice of Sartorius could be heard invoking Newton to come away, saying he with his boat was waiting the honor to receive him. At last, Newton dropped hand under hand by a single rope over the ship's side into the arms of his own boat's crew, who had just returned from carrying Mr. Gushing on shore. By this time, so much of the ship was in flames as to light up the harbor and the numerous shipping, and the sombre city, reflecting back the frowning fortress and the towering Rock of Gibraltar. The scene was vivid and surpassingly grand. All the vessels had been moved beyond the line of danger. We had not reached that line in our boats when one of the quarter-deck guns went off — a 68-pounder — the cartridge having been ignited by the intense heat communicated to the gun, the bat- tery having been charged with saluting cartridges. Simulta- neously with the report of the gun, as if giving the signal, the forward magazine exploded, and the masts went by the board. The hulk soon settled and speedily sank ; the illumination went suddenly out, and the waters were hushed in darkness. " The officers and men, bruised and exhausted, escaped in their burnt and torn clothing, and were distributed among the many vessels lying at anchor in the harbor. All were invited on board the Malabar, a line-of -battle ship bearing the flag of Admiral Sartorius. Gaptain Newton and most of the officers got on shore, and quarters were provided for them by our Consul. Those who accepted the Admiral's invitation re- ceived warm, cordial hospitality and every kindly attention. The next morning some of our officers went on shore in the uniform of the English Navy, one midshipman, in the uniform 20 John Ancrum Winslow. of the Admiral, causing much merriment as he received and acknowledged the salute due to his high insignia of rank from the sentry of the garrison. The friendly aid, and the many courteous attentions so delicately conferred upon us by the English authorities will never be forgotten by the recipients. Had we been their countrymen, they could not have done more. It was a renewed proof that ' blood is thicker than water.' " On mustering the crew, it was found that not a single soul was lost ; and nothing was saved from the ship ex- cept the chronometers and what went in the boat with Mr. Gushing. . . . " The American ship Rajah was chartered, provisioned, and watered, and 350 officers and men were sent on board and sailed for home after a detention of only forty-eight hours. The remainder of the crew were assigned to the bark Pons, which had also been chartered, to remain near the scene of the wreck to save what property could be secured. Sub- marine divers were employed, who suceeeded in raising the engines and the valuable copper boilers, which were sent home, and the wreck was destroyed so as not to endanger navigation. " After a few days' detention, Mr. Gushing left on one of the Oriental line of steamships for Alexandria. " Immediately after the disaster, Gaptain Newton sent Lieu- tenant John A. Winslow home via England, with despatches to the Secretary of the Navy announcing the loss of the Mis- souri and asking instructions from the Government, Gaptain Newton deciding to await Lieutenant Winslow's return." It was an evidence of high esteem upon the part of his commanding officer that Winslow was se- lected to be sent home with despatches announ- cing this catastrophe. He sailed from Gibraltar for England in a packet, August 31st, and took a Cunard steamer from Liverpool for Boston. Ar- riving in that city at night, he went directly to The Burning of the Missouri. 2 1 his home, and finding the household wrapped in slumber, began to sing beneath his wife's window : " Gaily the troubadour touched his guitar As he was hastening home from the war, Singing, ' From Palestine hither I come, Lady-love, lady-love, welcome me home.' " His young wife, although believing that her hus- band was sailing through the far-off Mediter- ranean, knew that no one else would be singing that song to her, and rushed to the window ex- claiming in tones of gladness and incredulity : " Why, John, is that you ?" "Yes," he replied. So great was her mingled surprise and anxiety that she exclaimed : " What did you ever come home for ? " He laughingly answered : " Come down and let me in and I '11 tell you." Winslow reported at Washington October 5th and was ordered to return to Gibraltar with des- patches for Captain Newton. He therefore retraced his route, via England, Lisbon and Cadiz, and rejoined his commander at Gibraltar, November nth. " Gibraltar, Nov. i8, 1843. " I arrived here Nov. i6th, found Captain Newton delighted beyond everything at the result of my visit to Washington. I found the wreck of the Missouri in the same situation as when I left for the United States. The Captain, Purser, and Engineer and some men remaining here and an English diver with submarine armor employed on the wreck, they had re- covered property to the amount of twenty thousand dollars. 22 John Ancrum Winslow. and they are continuing to bring up materials, and when the ship has been well cleared out I think there will be an attempt to raise her by stopping up all the holes and building her up again with rough boards and then pumping her out ; if Ihis does not succeed she will be blown to pieces by the galvanic process and then parts will be brought up. We have been trying to contract for this purpose, but no one will come for- ward, were it not for this we could start for home at once." Resuming Price's narration : " After Winslow's return, he and I accepted an invitation from the Marquis of Lome, the present Duke of Argyle, to accompany his travelling party to Tangiers, on the opposite coast of Africa, for wild boar hunting. The party was a delightful one and the occasion led to many pleasant and romantic adventures. Several dashing young English officers belonging to the garrison and accustomed to riding with the hounds fox hunting in Spain, near Gibraltar, and some naval officers from the fleet swelled the list of the company. The riding and hunting over the rough country of the coast of Barbary was of the most wild, reckless, daring character. Winslow, not so much of a horseman as sailor, anxious to keep up, only succeeded on the first day's hunt in burying his horse in a quicksand, from which he and the animal were with difficulty extricated. It is pleasant to note that Winslow was saved from an unheroic death to become the distinguished officer and hero as Captain of the U. S. S. Kearsarge, which destroyed the celebrated Confederate ship Alabama. . . , " The Marquis of Lome, then under his majority, was on an extended tour of travel, accompanied by a suite of tutors and instructors equal in number to the average faculty of our colleges." The yacht returned to Marseilles and the party proceeded via Paris to England, where Captain Newton and his officers took a Cunard steamer for home in January, 1844. The Burning of the Missouri. 23 After an uninterrupted spring and summer with his family, young Winslow was summoned to Washington in the following October as a witness before the court-martial trying Captain Newton and other officers for the loss of the Missouri. "Washington, " Oct. nth, ''44. *' . . . Newton delivered his defence yesterday and the trial of the Chief Engineer commences to-morrow. I am afraid it will go hard with him — the best men suffer the most in this world — I think Newton will be honorably acquitted/ . . ." ' Captain Newton was found guilty of negligence and sentenced to two years' suspension from duty. After three months, the unexpired portion was remitted. The chief engineer was suspended for one year. CHAPTER IV. BEGINNING OF THE WAR WITH MEXICO. DURING the winter and spring of 1845 Winslow was seriously ill at his home with erysipelas. In April of that year he was ordered to the Vincennes, but was compelled to inform the Navy Department of his ill health, and these orders were revoked. Recovering;- somewhat durinof the summer and autumn, he was ordered to the U. S. S. Cumberland, in December, 1845, ^s a watch and division officer. This ship was fitting out for a cruise in the Mediterranean, but war-clouds were gathering thick and fast towards Mexico. Texas had been annexed to the American Union in the preceding January, and the annexation had been ratified in the Senate the following July. Mexico had not recognized Texan independence and was debating upon the annexation as a casus belli. The commercial indemnity claims were still unpaid ; a peace-loving president, Herrera, had just been over- thrown by a hot-headed general, Paredes ; and open rupture with the United States seemed imminent. So the destination of the Cinnberland was abruptly changed, and she was assigned to the Gulf Squad- 24 Va/ it £ D ^ St A T £ S ite O X _^ — — 4 T^a }-n fsi c o \^ \ JVieK L CO .^^^ Gen. Taylors Invasion Gen. Scott's Invasion THEATRE OF OPERATIONS, MEXICAN WAR Beginning of the War with Mexico 25 ron to become the flagship of Commodore Connor. She left Nantasket Roads, February 3, 1846, and the Commodore hoisted his flag on her after she reached Vera Cruz, in the beginning of March. At that time the two governments were in the last ditch of diplomatic wrangle, Mexico being ready to relinquish Texas as far south as the Rio Nueces, while that State, supported by the United States, claimed the Rio Grande as the boundary. Our special commissioner, Mr. John Slidell, accredited to the government of Herrera with full power to amicably adjust the difference, had been refused an audience by Herrera's successor, and General Zachary Taylor was awaiting instructions at Corpus Christi, on the Rio Nueces, with 3600 men. " U, S. S. ''Cumberland^ "Vera Cruz, Mar. 4, 1846. "... I closed a letter yesterday, written from time to time during our cruise, giving you an account of my illness,' during which I have had quarters in tne cabin. I am still quite weak, though convalescing and hope soon to be able to attend to duty. . . . ' " . . . As there is a probability of a rupture with Mexico, I look forward with the utmost anxiety to some decisive movement by the Mexicans. Our minister, Slidell, still re- mains at Jalapa, not received by the Government ; we are quietly waiting orders from Washington as to the steps we shall take. General Taylor, who has been encamped at Corpus Christi in Texas for the last year, has been ordered to march upon the Rio Grande del Norte and one of the squadron of vessels sailed yesterday to be in waiting for any despatches. Our minister, Slidell, has notified the Mexican Government that he must be received or his passports must be ' Erysipelas. 26 John Ancrum Winslow. sent him. This may bring on a crisis, though I think the Mexicans are determined to protract as much as possible. Offensive operations on our part will probably amount to nothing more than a blockade of the coast. The Commodore has notified the Department that without a heavy force no attack on the fort should be made and I do not think he would attempt it, as the fort is quite heavily manned and armed now. " . . . of our position — around us are three or four American ships, one Spanish, a French, and an English man- of-war. We are all lying at a small island, three miles from Vera Cruz, called Sacrificios where the ancient Mexicans were in the habit of sacrificing human beings to their gods. We have no communication with the town, quietly waiting events. The Commodore (Connor) has come on board and says in ten days affairs will be settled and we shall know what the Mexicans intend. . . ." "£/, S. S. 'Cumberland,' " Off Sacrificios, " March g, 1846. " . . . By newspapers we have seen the passage of the Oregon question through the House. Our own people seem mad with their braggart course in this question, while England, with a power that could crush us, mildly invokes pacific measures. I think it ungenerous in the United States. We have an English man-of-war near us, with a fine set of ofificers on board, and joking together we have agreed (in case of war) that whichever is successful should secure for the other good quarters in prison. "... We learn that Commodore Perry is coming out in the Indepe?idence to relieve Commodore Connor. (Commo. Connor has made us cut our whiskers off)." "6''. S. S. 'Cumberland^ " Vera Cruz, Mar. 17, 1S46. "... It is tedious waiting for the decision of the Mexicans whether or not to receive our U. S. Minister, Mr. Slidell. Mexico is in a state of anarchy, rebellion, and insur- Beginning of the War with Mexico. 27 rection secretly working everywhere. She is at the mercy of the strongest military leader. The military, all officers and no soldiers, are plotting for their own aggrandizement. . . . " Mr. Slidell, U. S. Minister, was rejected by the Mexican Government, who voted to receive a Commissioner from the United States to agree upon terms connected with running the boundary line of Texas, etc. Mr. Polk, in consequence, sends a minister plenipotentiary and the result is that the Mexicans can delay a little longer in good faith. . . '* The island of Sacrificios, where we land, is perhaps four acres in area, mostly covered by cane-breaks. On one side is a small graveyard with many head boards of men who have died of fever, etc., and one or two monuments. One of these is erected to French officers who fell in the capture of Vera Cruz. The inscription gives the names and rank, and the words, " They fell in the performance of their duty." Such is fame and the world's praise, — but a bubble which too soon displays its emptiness. " March 27, 1846. Minister Slidell took his passports and has written he will come on board." " £/. S. S. ''Cumberland' " Vera Cruz, ' ' March jo, 184.6. " The U. S. S. Mississippi has just come in (four and a half days from Pensacola). Minister Slidell has just arrived from Mexico. The Mexicans have refused to receive him while a squadron is laying here, and the Mississippi takes him back to the United States. ..." While Mr. Slidell was still vainly seeking audi- ence with Paredes, General Taylor received orders from Washington to advance to the Rio Grande opposite Matamoras, which he promptly did, and on April 26 a party of his dragoons was ambushed by the Mexican soldiers, and a number were killed. When General Taylor's action became known, Mr. 28 John Ancrum Winslow. Slidell was promptly given his passports, and war became inevitable. Taylor drew back his depot at Point Isabel to secure his communications, and again advanced to the Rio Grande, where, on May 8, he found before him the Mexican General Arista with a much superior force. Meanwhile the squad- ron off Vera Cruz had been ordered to Taylor's support. "f/. S. S. 'Cumder/a/id,' " A/ay J, 1846. " Since my last letter, we have left Sacrificios and are on our way to the Rio Grande del Norte to co-operate with the army. We left on the morning of the 4th with five sail of vessels, two equal to us in force and two smaller. After a day of agreeable diversion in testing the sailing qualities of the vessels, we are now in company with only two, the others having been beaten and lost sight of in the night. . . . " " f/. S. S. ''Cumberland^ " May 8, 1846. " We have arrived at the mouth of the Rio Grande and our anchor is just down, when one of the vessels is ordered off to New Orleans. . . . You have no doubt heard before this of the commencement of the War with Mexico ; seventy dra- goons having fallen into an ambush laid by the Mexicans. Thus the war commences which will be a short one I think, though the Mexicans have come out very well and have disap- pointed us in their manner of fighting which is one of strata- gem altogether. Instead of civilized warfare, they lay in wait and rise up like Indians. " Today, we think General Taylor is fighting : he will cross the river upon Matamoras, no doubt. He is an enthusiastic old man and says he will march upon Mexico. This with about 3,000 troops against 15,000 is saying much, though no doubt, if he can get them in a plain, he will do it. We are about declaring the coast of Mexico in a state of blockade. The Mexicans have sold their Navy to the English, so we cannot expect much prize money. . . ." Beginning of the War with Mexico. 29 " U. S. S. ''Cumberland,* " Brazos de Santiago, " May 10, 1S46. " I have but a moment to write you. The day before we came in, General Taylor marched off from this place to meet the Mexicans and to carry up to the camp (opposite to the town of Matamoras) his supply of provisions and arms. The Mexicans, having knowledge of all his movements and the cause, threw upwards of 8,000 troops between this place and the American camp which is twenty-six miles distant. Seven- teen miles from here in an open plain, the Mexicans met our army with S,ooo men and gave them battle, fighting all day till the night separated the combatants." ' " U. S. S. ^Cumberland' " Brazos de Santiago, ''May 17, 1846. " We have moved the squadron from the Brazos to the mouth of the Rio del Norte with the intention of watering. A few days ago it would have been impossible to have entered tiie river ; but the complexion of things has very much altered since then. The Mexicans are now broken-spirited, suing for mercy, without money or provisions, and the peasantry almost in a state of insurrection to the military. The loss to the Mexicans of two battles ' will do more towards settling this difficulty about territory than all the diplomacy in the world. " General Taylor is now throwing posts along the river and, though he says he can take Matamoras at any moment by at- tack, yet he prefers starving it out and saving the life which otherwise would be lost. This is humane and shows a man of consideration. He says that the army have acted so gallantly that he will not expose them unnecessarily. General Taylor is a man of fine feelings and of great sympathy for distress. When the Mexican general " left Point Isabel for New Orleans, he asked him if he was a married man, when, being answered in the affirmative, he told him to write any communications freely and they should be sacred, gave him a letter of credit ' Battle of Palo Alto. ' Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. May 8 and 9. ^ Captured. 30 John Ancrum Winslow. upon his banker, and despatched a steamboat to take him to the United States. " I pity these people, they are so deluded. It is impossible for them to do anything against the United States. Such numbers have been whipped by so few of our men. In one action their killed and wounded amounted to 1200 and ours less than 200. However, this will tend to a more speedy termination of the war. . . ." " i/. 5. 5". ' Cnmberland,' " Mouth of River Rio Grande, ''May 21, 1846. " I closed my last letter very hurriedly on the morning of the i8th instant, owing to my being on an expedition which was bound up the Rio Grande. We went up and took the town of Barita, the port of entry to Matamoras ; and there being no further use of the squadron at the Brazos, since the whole Mexican army have run away and left everything in our possession, we have commenced our legitimate cruising. I must tell you that notwithstanding I was in the conjoined army and navy expedition which took Barita, I never saw a Mexican soldier, and I doubt if any of the army and navy will ever see another ; for I expect (though there may be some left at posts) that, following the example exhibited at Barita, they will all shake the dirt of the post off their heels in the same rapid manner on the appearance of any of our men. You will see by the papers the progress of the war and the certain omens of peace ; the refusal of General Taylor to cease hos- tilities at the solicitation of General Arista. We left the Rio Grande on the 21st to rejoin the ship again after our expedi- tion up that river, and are now on our way to Pensacola. . . . . Many of the inhabitants had left Barita for fear of the Mexicans dealing harshly with them, on their return, for encouraging us. Among those that remained was a poor family, a mother and daughter, both with an equal number of children. One of our army officers had taken up his quarters in their house, and we occasionally received a meal there as in a tavern. I felt all my sympathies enlisted for them ; the men of the family had been pressed into the army and might be Beginning of the War with Mexico. 31 called upon to storm the town and retake it, and possibly their very guns might be the weapons to slay their own wives and children. Such is one of the horrors of war, the thought of it is enough to disgust all good men. I was glad that General Taylor had no necessity of firing on Matamoras, to take it, for Heaven knows how much misery and distress it might have occasioned ; it is cheering to know that our army is so re- stricted by discipline that no violence or insult will be offered the inhabitants, which I am told is very different from the course of the Mexican army, who plundered and pillaged everything. I was glad, too, that Matamoras surrendered so soon, as it was intended to starve it out. Flour had already risen to seventy dollars a barrel and, had not the Mexican troops taken flight, I fear the innocent inhabitants would have suffered more from famine than from shot or shells. " May 23. — The war I look upon as ended. The death of Louis Phillipe will forever put at rest the Oregon question and Mexico is a bugbear. . . ." " U. S. S. ' Cumberland' " Pensacola, June 8, 1S46. " . . . The vanity of courage and glory has no charm for me when I think of the misery and bleeding hearts that everywhere strew its tracks I wonder how mad men become to be so tickled with emptiness." " Pensacola, June 10, 1846. "... The Commodore has been advised of a revolu- tion which is going on in Mexico, and we have been asked not to commence any operations against Vera Cruz until it is de- cided, we think a show of force before Vera Cruz will no doubt bring matters to a crisis. Santa Anna will arrive there by steamer of the 15th from Havana, when he will take up his march to put down Paredes. " This is the cause of our leaving here so suddenly. . . . I see no fear of any attack on our side, we are not strong enough by five times our force to attack the Castle, and the moral effect of defeat would be ruinous to our reputation." 32 John Ancrum Winslow. ^' C/, S. S. ^ Cumberland,^ " At sea, June 21, 1846. " We should have been at Vera Cruz ere this but for the light winds which prevail at this season of the year, in the latitude from 29° to 26°, having delayed us. These are called horse latitudes by sailors, and their origin is singular, many years ago they were in the habit of taking large numbers of horses to the West Indies in exchange for products, and the traders were frequently becalmed two or three weeks, and, their water being consumed, they were obliged to cut the horses' throats, hence the name. " After writing this, during my watch on deck, a man was lost overboard, in obeying my orders to take in some of the light sail, it having become squally. Every effort was made to save him, of which he was unable to avail himself. He was probably hurt in falling and sunk to rise no more, which filled me with sorrow from the fact that his life was lost in obeying my order, and threw a gloom over my feelings. . . ." '' U. S. S. ' Cumberland' " June 24, 1846. "Yesterday, we approached Vera Cruz and ere night set in, the Princeton, which lay off the mouth of the channel, came running down to us, one of the crew who manned the boat which came off from her was a brother of the man who was lost overboard the day previous and whom he had not seen for ten years. It was a melancholy thing to inform him of his brother's fate. " Inside at Sacrificios are several foreign vessels at anchor. The Raritan is also here. Santa Anna did not arrive on the steamer but remains at Havana, from what cause I know not, though he was to lead the revolution against Paredes, and all the country have declared in his favor. "... We have news from Mexico that General Taylor was marching to Monterey with 9,000 men ; no doubt by this time he has taken it. He writes to the Commodore that he expects to be at San Luis Potosi by the latter part of July. Should this be the case it will not be long ere he has made a conquest of Mexico. He will soon end the war himself. I have only reports to give you — nothing reliable. . . ." CHAPTER V. BLOCKADING MEXICAN PORTS. MEXICO was now without a vestige of a navy ; had no alHes, and no commerce to be destroyed. General Taylor had advanced into the interior of the country and his communications were absolutely assured. Our navy was consid- ered not strong enough to repeat that brilliant ex- ploit of the French, the capture of the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa and the city of Vera Cruz, so nothing remained but to blockade Mexican ports and cut off supplies. Soon after this blockade commenced Winslow was brought into companionship with a new mess- mate on the Cumberland. Lieut. Raphael Semmes was selected from another vessel by Commodore Connor to fill a vacancy on his personal staff. Semmes well describes the depressing occupation that fell to the fleet : " During the whole of this period, we were confined to our ships, and engaged in the most arduous and active cruising. A rigid blockade was maintained of all the enemy's ports, and his small merchant marine was entirely swept from the sea. During the parching heats of summer and the long and 33 34 John Ancrum Winslow boisterous nights of the winter, our vigilance was expected to be, and was, unremitting. We frequently lived on the ship's ration, having no other means of supplying our table, and our only clean shirts were such as Jack rinsed out for us in a bucket of salt water, and hung up by a rope-yarn to rough- dry, in the rigging. We of the flagship lay most of the time at Anton Lizardo — a harbor formed by several small barren islands, rising no more than a foot or two above the sea-level, — which was even more irksome than active service on the blockade. We looked forth from our ships as from a prison, upon the glittering specks of sand, glowing like so many fur- naces, beneath a tropical sun, day after day, without other variation than the occasional arrival of one of the block- ading squadron, to fill up with water and provisions, and de- part again on her cruise. Thither we resorted toward sunset every evening, when the weather was propitious, to stretch our cramped limbs, smoke an idle cigar, and talk over the events of the war ; a war, for the navy, of toils and vigils, without the prospect of either excitement or glory. The enemy had no navy, and what little maritime commerce he had once possessed we had already destroyed. . . . We juniors chafed some- what under the curb which was thus placed on our ambition of emulating the army in its glorious achievements : but now that the excitement of war has passed, we cannot but recognize the wisdom of the course of our superiors. . , . But the navy, none the less, continued to perform its arduous and thank- less duties. Drenched with rain by day and night, and a part of the time, on an allowance of moldy and worm-eaten bread, the officers and seamen of the several blockading ships, never lost sight (except when occasionally driven off by a norther) of the enemy's coast. Although Vera Cruz, by reason of the dangerous ground in its vicinity, is one of the hardest ports in the world to blockade, especially during the violent gales of winter, I venture to say that the history of no other block- ade presents so few instances of the successful attempts of cupidity to evade the vigilance of cruisers. Although Anton Lizardo, where we lay at anchor in the flagship, was some twelve miles distant from Vera Cruz, the officer of the morn- Blockading Mexican Ports 35 ing watch — frequently after a tempestuous night — was sure to see, by the aid of his spy-glass, at early dawn, the blockading ship standing in, under easy and majestic sail, for the frowning old castle of San Juan d'Ulloa." ' Synopsis of letters, July i to 30, 1846 : " U. S. S. ^ Cumberland^ " Vera Cruz. " What I wrote to you about the war with Mexico proves true; we have little to do but lay here to keep neutral vessels from entering the port, the war will soon be ended by General Tay- lor. The English are doing everything they can to induce the Mexicans to make peace. I am quite buoyant since the set- tlement of the Oregon question, which I see by the papers has been sent to Congress " A few days since we captured a small vessel which would have suited our purpose very well for watering ship, but the Commodore was so interested in the owner's story he let him off again. The fellow was so delighted, for we feasted him well, that he invited us to his place, praising the quality as well as the quantity of his fruit. The Commodore took this in earnest, and the day after he got underway in the steamer Frinceton and ran down to this fellow's place about ten miles from Vera Cruz. Here he seemed to be so well treated he made a bargain for a full supply of fruit and pro- visions for the squadron, which he announced he would bring down on the following day to water. Singular to relate, the next day at daybreak the squadron got underway and down they came, sending all the boats for water. Nothing occurred on the first trip, but on the second a couple of marines were sent to the summit of a hill that overhung the stream where the boats lay, and they discovered a large force concealed in ambush waiting until the boats reached a proper distance to open fire on them, which they did at once, finding they were discovered, but fortunately too far off to do much damage ; only one man being wounded. So the jest went * Service Afloat and Ashore. 3^ John Ancrum Winslow round — * Fresh provisions for the Commodore ! ' However, the Princeiofi was sent in and a few shells soon drove the squad into their holes for cover, and we got another load of water in the boats." " U. S. S. 'Cttmberland,^ '''^ August 4, 1846. ". . . . Yesterday was Sunday, August 3rd, and we were all busily engaged with our letters by the Princeton, de- vouring the news, when bang ! bang ! from the Castle, and a despatch came with the news that the Castle had declared for Santa Anna, so the revolution has taken place and Vera Cruz numbers herself against Paredes and in favor of Santa Anna. Winslow had never fully recuperated from his illness on the trip down to the Gulf, and his weak- ened system quickly imbibed the malarial germs of the tropics, so that he was soon again ill, this time with remittent fever. To the doctors it seemed impossible for him to recover on the scanty nour- ishment of ship's food, but they underestimated his will power. " [/. S. S. ^ Cumberland,'' ' ' A ugust 10, 1846. " . . . I have just been sent for by the Commodore (Connor), who wished to send me home or to the hospital at Pensacola, as the doctors had told him it would be difficult for me to recover from the effects of my illness in this climate, but I said no. Then he replied that if I broke down again he should feel it his duty to do so " Since I last wrote we have made an attempt to capture the town of Alvarado and the Mexican squadron ' lying there, which resulted in a failure, not that we were defeated, for we made no trial, but the attempt was like all our movements, from the affair of the Brazos, characterized by the greatest want of judgment and weakness throughout. ' Mosquito vessels. Blockading Mexican Ports 37 " Nothing was easier than a capture of the whole place, but after making great preparations we were foolishly frightened away. All the officers and men in the other ships are indig- nant. I am no fighting man myself, but I never felt more contempt. It had been determined by the Captains in con- sultation that an attack on the town of Alvarado should be made, and one of those officers who had influence was selected to lead the men from the ship. On the morning of the 8th we got under way with the whole squadron, two English ships of war following to see the fight, and down off Alvarado we went, arriving in the afternoon. We had scarcely taken our position when about two hundred Mexican troops marched over a hill and came down on the beach to dispute our land- ing, when an officer set up a cry in the Commodore's hearing that there was upwards of a thousand men, and after firing about a dozen shots at an old dilapidated fort with five guns in it, we hove up anchor and retreated in the face of the Eng- lishmen. I have indeed felt mortified at the boasting of the Mexicans, knowing how things have been conducted here, but the war is fast coming to a close. The revolution which com- menced here has extended through the central provinces. All the troops have deserted Paredes and a new ministry is formed which is favorably disposed to peace, and who no doubt will be glad to receive a minister. " News has arrived that Monterey is captured by General Taylor. ..." "6^. S. S. ''Cumberland,^ "Vera Cruz, " August jg, 1846. ". . . Two days after I last wrote you, Santa Anna arrived in a steamer from Havana. He was in bed suffering with the joints from which his leg had been amputated. He was much gratified that permission was given him to pass, and said his wife was more so. (She looked like a young girl of fourteen ; he an old man. He married her six months after the death of his first wife, for whom he put the whole of Mexico in mourning.) The Government has given orders for him to pass and received him well. No doubt peace will 38 John Ancrum Winslow. soon be declared. General Taylor has been ordered not to advance beyond Monterey." The inactivity of Commodore Connor, in such striking contrast to the brilliant achievements of General Taylor, could not fail to raise an outcry in the newspapers at home, so that by the middle of August the Commodore was being violently at- tacked in all the public prints. He could have done little that would have affected the war, but had he undertaken more minor exploits, which would have permitted officers and men to display their courage and heroism, he would have saved the navy and himself from unmerited public abuse and kept the personnel of his squadron in a state of greater efficiency and contentment. The Navy Department, better understanding his limitations than the public, realized that it would be unjust to relieve him from his command, but felt the neces- sity for doing something to stop the clamor. " f/. .S". S. ' Cumberland,^ "Vera Cruz, August 2j, 1S46. " . . . Our Government is no doubt satisfied now that California is ours and our boundary secured to the Rio Grande, and desires peace. This has been an unjust war, coveting and seizing territory which did not belong to us ; . . . to the honorable lover of his country a source of pain that it has been achieved at the loss of justice. ..." "6^. S. S. ''Cumberland,^ " Vera CrOz, Sept. 20, 1846. " . . . The man I wrote you about was executed. It was a severe sentence and not commensurate with the offence, but example in a disaffected ship, the St. Mary's, was alleged as a reason. The man was recommended to mercy and no Blockading Mexican Ports 39 doubt would not have been sentenced to death if it had been supposed the sentence would have been carried out. His crime was knocking a lieutenant down on deck. The true cause of his execution was, in my opinion, that the Commo- dore feared he would be attacked through the papers. The crew of the ship (the St. Mary's) was in a bad state and had written an abusive letter of the officers to the Commodore. This was the subject of a secret or informal investigation by him, the mode of which offended the officers so that there had grown up a mutual ill feeling between them and the Com- modore. Hence the Commodore feared that it would be said he backed the crew. However, the Commodore would not extend his time beyond three days. It was an affecting sight, and I could not help remarking that if all of us were punished as unmercifully for our deeds we should all be swinging at the yardarms. I cannot describe to you the poor young fellow's emotions upon his death scene ; it would only harrow your feelings. . . . " The Commodore is more taken up in killing beeves which have been brought here, catching a pail of water and such things than injuring the enemy. In fact the midshipmen relate a good joke on him that he has been elected an honor- ary member of the Peace Society and the members of that society have in consequence adopted the naval uniform as a mark of their profession. " The little steamer from New York has arrived with Com- modore Perry on board, though he is not ordered to the com- mand of the squadron yet. No doubt the Government wish him to have it, and have taken this mode of hinting to Com- modore Connor that he can be relieved at any moment he pleases." " (Blockade) Vera Cruz. " October 8, 1846. " Today Commodore Perry took command of the steamers of the squadron. This is the first time I ever sailed in a squadron with two commodores commanding." CHAPTER VI. WINSLOW'S FIRST COMMAND. GENERAL SCOTT was now expected soon to arrive at Vera Cruz for his advance upon the City of Mexico, and it was desirable that no stronghold should be left to the enemy along the seaboard from which he could harass Scott's com- munications. So Perry's advent in the Gulf Squadron was soon followed by some active opera- tions against the lesser coast towns. In the first of these we find Winslow — who has claimed in his letters to be " no fighting man," and in them has so repeatedly shown his abhorence of the horrors of war — seeking the enemy with a zeal and fearless- ness almost impossible to control. His part in this attack upon Tobasco is told by the correspondent of the New York yotcrnal of Covimerce, writing from Anton Lizardo, Nov. 4, 1846 : "Anton Lizardo, " Aunj. ^, 1846. ". . . It was arranged that the vessels under Com- modore Perry in person should be got under way and stand down the coast, as was generally understood, to Tobasco. . , . The fleet, after knocking about in some heavy weather on the way to the mouth of the Tobasco River, 40 Winslow's First Command 41 crossed the bar on the evening of the 28th of October. . . . the force moved up the river on the 29th. . . . Com- modore Perry under a flag of truce sent a deputation to demand the surrender of the town. A short time was allowed for their decision and, not being satisfactory, the guns of the Vixen (now the temporary flagship of Commodore Perry, as the Mississippi had been left outside the river) opened upon the town. A detachment of men under different officers and the marines under Captain Edson were now landed and directed to hold their position until further orders. . . . Lieutenant Winslow, occupying the wing of the force up the river, per- ceived a number of Mexicans firing from the roofs of their houses on Lieutenant Contee, whose prize vessel had drifted near into the shore, gained permission to dislodge the Mexi- cans from the roofs of their houses, which was done with a few men ; and once adrift from the main force Lieutenant Winslow manifested no disposition to return, but commenced skirmishing further up the street, with some musketeers who had opened upon him further in advance, until following up with his men, who were imbibing all the spirit of their leader he finally reached one of the corners of a square from which he had been fired upon over a vacant space as he made his ad- vance. On reaching the entrance to the square, the Mexican musketeers were seen in numbers to occupy the building on the opposite diagonal, presenting the appearance of barracks. Lieutenant Winslow, leaving his men to hold their position, returned to the main body of the force and begged permission to cross the plaza and " drive the rascals," as he said, " from the barracks." But he could get no order. Capt. Edson could only reply that the force were ordered not to move, from the point where they were until further orders were given. Lieut. Winslow, disappointed and afhrming he could and would, if permitted, carry the barracks with his handful of men, returned to his men and continued his firing at the Mexicans and they at him from the opposite diagonals of the square. This firing was heard on board the vessels, as if in the midst of the town, and was continued by Lieut. Winslow until peremptorily ordered to withdraw to the main body of 42 John Ancrum Winslow. the force, which was now held at the point of their landing by the chains of an order they could not disobey ; and when he had reached the river, the force were already re-embarking for the ships." Captain Edson reported the grallant conduct of Lieutenant Winslow to Commodore Perry, who publicly complimented the young officer, made es- pecial mention of his bravery in despatches to the Navy Department and placed him in command of the Union, a small vessel that had been captured from the Mexicans. Her name was changed to the Morris in memory of Lieutenant Charles Morris, a son of the famous Commodore of 1812, who died of a wound in the throat received at Tobasco. Morris and Winslow had occupied ad- joining staterooms the night before the action and the unfortunate young officer had confided to Winslow in the early morning that he had dreamed he was shot in the throat. "Anton Lizardo, Vera Cruz, '^November /, 1S4.6. " I have just returned from an expedition to Tobasco of which the papers will give you all the information. I have not time to write you full particulars, but I came up in a beautiful vessel, the Union, which I was ordered to command, one which we cut out, and I only arrived in time to get a word to you, but I wanted to relieve your mind of all fears about me. " I was the only one on shore fully engaged with the enemy, but I escaped unhurt. My trust was fully in God's protec- tion. I hope these horrors of war will soon be over and I can return once more to you and our dear children. In the Neio York Herald you will find all the news of the attack on Tobasco. "Poor Morris has gone to his long home, shot in the throat, Winslow's First Command 43 he is just dead. He received his wound in a boat going to the assistance of an officer attacked by a large body of men." "Vera Cruz, " November ^, 1846. " I wrote you I was in the expedition to Tobasco, the only successful one which the Navy has accomplished. For this we are indebted to Commodore Perry. One has only to see the misery which war creates to become sick of its horrors ; poor, miserable, unoffending persons, marks for shots of an excited soldiery. To-day we are called upon to bury poor Morris, I shall be one of his pall-bearers. It was only a few days since I left him on board the Mississippi and he thought he was improving, but it was a wonder he lived so long, for his throat inside was all shot away." "Tampico, Mexico, " N'ov. 21 , 1S46. " We are at length in possession of this place and what is most gratifying, it has been taken without bloodshed. We came in here on the 14th, the whole mosquito fleet having been towed up by the small steamers. We expected fully they would give us a hard battle, but a boat with a flag of truce with the head man of the town met us, and after some preliminaries the town surrendered unconditionally. We have sent up to Matamoras for troops to come down and garrison it, after which we shall no doubt sail again for Vera Cruz. Tampico is a place of great importance to us now, as being necessary to supply the army on its route to Mexico. It possesses great wealth and more commerce and population than Vera Cruz. We were very much surprised at its sur- render, but Santa Anna had ordered all the troops up to San Louis Potosi to oppose the march of General Taylor, The guns had been carried off or thrown into the river, six thou- sand stand of arms, which we are looking for now. The people are glad enough at our taking the town and are desirous to know if we intend holding it after the war. The population is about the same as Monterey and it might have been equally as well defended, in which event it would have been impossible 44 John Ancrum Winslow for us to take it with our small force. Three of their naval vessels have fallen into our hands which we shall use against them, besides one or two merchant vessels." " Tampico, " December z, 1846. " We are still here waiting arrivals from the army which almost daily flock in to garrison this place. The Mexican ves- sel which I command is caulking ; she is one of their navy vessels and will be ready in about three days. Our army has invested Tampico, so there will be no farther need of our ser- vices, so we must soon leave for Vera Cruz. The crew of the Raritan has been transferred to the Cumberland, which is to sail immediately for Norfolk. " My constitution is much debilitated by this Tampico climate with its chills and fevers. The bands are now play- ing on shore the air of * Blue Eyed Mary,' and the plaza is filled with Mexicans to see our soldiers drill, glad enough to see sights so different from the usual horde of Indians," " Tampico, ' ' December 8, 1S4.6. " Still here, more than half of our men ill with intermittent fever. I have been quite ill with it myself and my head seri- ously affected with inflammation, one of the abscesses in my ear burst and discharged quite freely last night, which has re- lieved me from intense pain. "About 1200 of our troops have arrived. Yesterday we drew off all the marines from the town and, though quite sick, I took charge of them with all the boats and conveyed them to the Fleet. When I returned in the afternoon I was so ill I was obliged to go to bed and to-day have my ears poulticed again after a night of suffering. " The mosquitoes prevent sleep, the loss of which causes fever to strangers. I think no net or covering avails ; the tor- ture from them is inconceivable. In the morning, in addition, you find the bed strewed with fleas. " There is very little to interest one in the town or its inhabi- tants. The only thing that can be said in its favor is that it Winslow's First Command 45 has fine walks and clean streets, and, after our tedious block- ading duty, I enjoyed a good walk on terra firtna." During this period, Winslow's former shipmate and companion on the Cumberlajid, Raphael Semmes, also had an independent command, the brig Sooner s. It is a strange coincidence that they should now both lose their vessels by shipwreck and be ao-ain thrown tog-ether on the Raritan, Winslow sharinor his wardrobe and stateroom with Semmes. o " f/. S. S. ' Raritan; " Anton Lizardo Anchorage, " December ig, 1846. " I have just arrived from Tampico this evening and write by a vessel which leaves to-morrow for New Orleans. My vessel has gone ! On the night of the i6th thrown upon the reefs in one of those furious northers, from which after hard work we were relieved by the boats of the John Adams. Scarcely could the boats live in the horrid breakers, but we got off the boats half filled with water. It was all the Com- modore's fault who sent me to sea without instruments, book, map or anything in the way of a light and destitute of every means of navigation. Had not the vessels at anchor changed their places, my direction would have been right. Had not my lead line, the only time I wanted it, broken and the lead been lost, I should have known where we were. After getting on the reef, we hove off again by anchors, and when we could have put sail on and gone free, we could not get loose from the chains which bound us to the anchor. Nothing could be obtained to unshackle the chain : we tried half an hour with our large axes in vain. — Prometheus-like, we remained bound to the reef — until the violent tempest and heavy breakers came rushing upon us, broke us adrift, threw us upon the rocks, the sea breaking over us and filling our boats, the men became clamorous to leave. I told them they might go, I would not. As a last effort I put sail on to push her forward, or over the reef, but the violence of the wind immediately 46 John Ancrum Winslow threw her over, so, finding every effort useless, we left her and, thank heavens, got clear. . . . "The Commodore could say nothing, knowing well that it was shameful in him to send me to sea without the least means of navigation in a sea so liable to heavy tempests, yet all would have been well had not the lead line broken and the Adatns having changed her position, being farther in than usual, the light which she shew became a false guide. " The Commodore has determined upon giving up all opera- tions here until the spring, the sea being a continuous tempest has already occasioned so many losses, — so all the small ves- sels and steamers which we have taken along the coast have been sent to different Mexican ports. . . . " On board our ship is the Captain of the Somers. He is one of our lieutenants and was temporarily in command of the Somers when she was wrecked. Think what an awful experi- ence, a ship struck over in a squall and sinking under you and you obliged to trust to an oar or something such for life, however it is a joke now. All the officers and men saved are here in the ship. Semmes, the Captain that was, I am very in- timate with, so I frequently say, ' Captain Semmes, they are going to send you out to learn to take care of ships in block- ade,' to which he replies, ' Captain Winslow, they are going to send you out to learn the bearing of reefs.' " How remarkable is the paragraph expressing horror at Semmes's predicament when his ship sank under him, in the light of the future when its writer was destined, in another bloody war and with deadly purpose in the grimmest of naval duels, to cause his former friend to pass again through that dreadful experience ! In spite of Winslow's persistent efforts to keep up, it was evident now, not only to the doctors, but to his superior officers, that he was unfit for further duty in the tropics, and he was sent home. Winslow's First Command 47 " Norfolk, Va., ^'■January ii, 1847. " Having been transferred from the Raritan to the Missis- sippi by orders of the Commodore (shortly after my return to Vera Cruz from Tampico) in the place of Lieutenant Parker I have arrived here. The Mississippi has been ordered home for extensive repairs in her machinery and also other altera- tions are contemplated in her internal structure. If we are detached while this is done, if the war with Mexico is not ended, I shall probably apply to be re-attached to her as soon as she is ready to return to the Gulf. I am writing in haste to mail this as soon as we arrive in Hampton Roads, being now off Point Comfort. . . ." Winslowwas detached from Xk\.^ Mississippi, ]2.Vi. 15, 1847, ^^d granted three months' leave, after which he was ordered to the Boston Navy Yard as Ordnance Officer. CHAPTER VII. EXECUTIVE OF THE SARATOGA. ANTICIPATING a full term of shore duty at the Boston Navy Yard, Winslow moved his family into quarters in the yard and settled down to a well-earned recreation after the illness and hard- ships he had so heroically endured. Nothing more was done by the Gulf Squadron which could excite his regret at being compelled to leave it. General Scott marched to Mexico City, and, in February, 1848, the treaty of peace was signed. Scarcely a year had been spent at the Boston Yard, however, when unexpected orders came as- signing the young officer to the U. S. Sloop of War Saratoga, as executive. He joined her at New York, April 8, 1848, be- ing compelled to leave to his wife the task of pack- ing up household goods and moving from the Navy Yard to their Roxbury home. The Saratoga was commanded by Commander W. C. Nicholson. A formidable insurrection had broken out in the republic of Santo Domingo which placed the lives of United States citizens in jeopardy, and \}ci^ Sara- toga was to be sent to the island for their protec- 48 Executive of the Saratoga 49 tion, and thence, when conditions permitted, to make a cruise of surveillance along the Mexican coast until the affairs of that country regained a state of equilibrium. Winslow was now thirty-seven years of age. He had reached that period in life when youthful ardor has worn off and domestic habits are fully formed. The monotonous peace-routine of naval duty afloat, when an officer feels that he is, at the sacrifice of home comfort and happiness, living away his life to no useful purpose and leaving to a wife far away the whole care of bringing up his children, while the latter are wholly forgetting his existence, and when he realizes that in compensation for such service he is receiving a bare livelihood that permits nothing to be laid aside for the family maintenance in the event of his untimely and not unlikely death in his dangerous profession, becomes almost unbearably irksome. Hence we find Wins- low making every effort to leave the service and eno-age in another pursuit, and we cannot help feeling surprised that a man of his indomitable energy, with a commercially valuable invention for those days, should fail to succeed. Matter-of-fact people will be content to attribute it to his total lack of business training, but to others of deeper thought who remember his later brilliant achieve- ments, there is seen the guiding hand of Provi- dence restraining him from a path in which he mio-ht have been useful also, and continuing his preparation until he became a fit instrument for the deeds that he accomplished. Happily, he was 50 John Ancrum Winslow able to pass part of this trying period performing- the duties of an executive officer, or second in command, which are not wholly subordinate. " New York, " April ij, 1S48. " I was glad to hear the Captain reading prayers to the crew at muster. I told him I would cheerfully back him. This will be a pleasant duty for me, for I daily feel the grow- ing necessity of religious duty. Truly, I feel my position without it would be intolerable. . . . " May 20th. Entered the harbor of the port of Aux Cayes, San Domingo. ... to see our sable republican brethren. How truly we have exemplified the dominion of Southern in- fluence in our foreign policy with this island. She, entitled to our best sympathies, as one of the first which followed in our footsteps, to declare her independence and her free republican principles that all men were born free and equal ; and how was she received by us, not with open arms as we welcomed other nations which came afterwards, but so exactly in contra- diction to our professions that well may we be a laughing stock for Europe. Alone of all civilized nations we have refused to acknowledge her independence. It needs no commentary. "... We are nearly off the town of Aux Cayes. The Captain has just given me all his despatches from the State and Navy Department and asked me to go in and call upon the au- thorities. The state of the country being revolutionary, we are sent here by the request of the American residents to our Government. . . . " Sunday evening. May 21. — After a tedious day of rowing and sailing (the town is eight miles from our anchorage), I have just returned to the ship. I have never seen a more miserable place — all negroes of the most dirty and squalid ap- pearance. This part of the island is in complete revolution, suppressed for a moment by the President's presence in town. 1 made every endeavor to get an interview with him, but did not succeed. I saw, however, the General of this Department Executive of the Saratoga 5 1 who does not look unlike one of those negro parsons at the South. I had some conversation with him. Think of my dining with these strapping sable black darkies ! ... An hour before I left, I sent word to the President that I had called to pay my respects and, not being received, I addressed him a letter expressing our disposition to extend all civilities in the way of salutes, and if he was disposed to reciprocate, I should await his answer for an hour, when arrangements would be made. The hour having passed without any reply, I left and shall take no further notice of the authorities without ad- vances on their part. So my Sunday has been passed review- ing about 3000 ' nigger ' troops with cocked hats, long coats, and no shoes or covering on the rest of their bodies. Miserable race ! Far below in intellect our Southern negroes. The plan- tation negroes of the South are infinitely better off. The free government of Hayti is one of the greatest burlesques in the world. The most abject wretchedness prevails here, filth, assassinations and murder under the plea of liberty, military glory the great desideratum. Nothing will make amends for the want of education ; no matter how great the possessions, without it a few years will bring poverty and misery upon any nation." " U. S. S. ' Saratoga ^^ May 23, 1848, " Off the Island of San Domingo, " Fort Aux Cayes. " We received a note from the President, in answer to mine of yesterday, signifying his pleasure to receive the Captain and his suite to-day, and intimating his desire for a salute. . . ." " Harbor of Vera Cruz, " June ^7, 1848. " We are lying about three miles from Vera Cruz, with little or no communication with the town from fear of the fever. There are about ten thousand troops outside the city who are waiting for transportation vessels to take them to New Orleans. They are not permitted to come into the city, on account of the fever. Before a month expires pretty much all of Mexico will be given up to the Mexicans, as the troops are leaving for 52 John Ancrum Winslow home daily. But now comes this Yucatan business, which is likely to trouble the Navy. It seems Captain Waldron with two hundred marines is down at Campeachy to overcome the Indians, who have been endeavoring to obtain their rights in possession of the country, and in order to obtain this end have not been very chary of the manner pursued. The outrages of the Indians have been such that appeal has been made to Commodore Perry for protection, and though we cannot ap- proach within seven miles of any part of the coast, and the protection which ships can give must be of a very limited kind, as the President has stated to Congress, yet we had orders from the Commodore when he left here to remain on the coast till the Secretary of the Navy can be heard from and to go to Laguna (a place in Yucatan near Tobasco) and remain there until we hear from the Department. . . . " My opinion is Vera Cruz in a month's time will be wholly evacuated, so rapid is the embarkation of the army, who are fully disgusted with the war, which it is gratifying to find is closed and an end put, not only to the loss of life, but to the immense concatenation of moral vices which follows in its train ; truly I have been shocked at the relation of some of them. It is a true saying that death is the least evil of war." ' ' At sea, July i, 1848. " On our way to Laguna. . . . The land along the coast at the foot of the bay of Mexico, where we are now running, is of the most mountainous character. On one side are the high mountains of San Martin lifting their rugged heads far above the clouds, on the other is the volcano of Tuxla, belch- ing forth its smoke. Notwithstanding, therefore, that the land presents an outline at once picturesque and romantic, yet all interest is lost in the ideal of its features, because of the dear- bought knowledge that sickness and disease are its accompani- ments. A most uncivilized set are its inhabitants. Laguna, however, is not so free from the ideal, for at a nearer distance are the mountains of Yucatan, at the foot of which are found the ruins of the cities so graphically described by Stephens. . . . Never was there a more pitiful looking set than Executive of the Saratoga 53 the retiring army : to see them and read the ebulitions of editors upon the glorious army, is a travesty upon human nature. . . ." " U. S. S. 'Saratoga,' " Laguna, yu(y ij, 184S. " Since we have been here, one of the churches was burned, struck by lightning in a terrific thunder gust. Nothing could exceed the consternation of the inhabitants, who looked upon it as a visitation of God for their sins. Near the ruins of the church is a large building which has been erected by the Americans for the poor half-breeds, who have fled hither from the interior for protection — most pitiable objects. The Americans applied to the priests to open their churches to give them shelter, which they refused to do, but yesterday they applied to Captain Bigelow to turn these poor people out of this building that they might put their mortar and materials in for rebuilding their church. He flew into a terrible rage with them, and though not superstitious himself, said he be- lieved God had visited them, for refusing shelter to these poor wretches, by burning their church. He refused their request with a terrible reprimand." " Off Campeachy, " Sept. 5, 1848. " We yesterday left Laguna on our way to Pensacola, never I hope again to return to Yucatan, which has now rejoined herself to Mexico and has incorporated herself as an integral part of that state, so by treaty we are now forbidden to keep squadrons upon her coast." " Pensacola, Sept. j6, 1848. ** Our orders received here are to continue sailing round the coast of Mexico, round Yucatan, etc. . . . " " Vera Cruz, Nov. 10, 1848. " There has just come in an English brig of war from Jamaica, on board of which is a Lieutenant Hallett who was on board the Malabar, R. N., when the Missouri was burned at Gibraltar, and was one of those ofificers who was despatched 54 John Ancrum Winslow to assist in extinguishing the flames. He was very glad to see me and talked over that event with the greatest interest, and treated me as a dear friend. He has sent me on board a file of the Illustrated News, all of recent date, and has made very kind offers. . . ." " Vera Cruz, Nov. ij, 1848. "Our anchorge is at the island of Sacrificios. . . . " I was much struck the other day on finding in one of the huts a tablet of white marble, a memorial of Lieutenant Lowe of the British Navy, who died on board the Alarm, under which were two letters addressed to any officers asking their aid in having it suitably set up over his grave, pointing out its position. I intend, should the English brig-of-war not return here, to have it done, as one day we may have to ask similar favors." ' ' Nov. 24, 1848. " Our brig with my kind old friend. Lieutenant Hallett, R. N., on board has gone down the coast on a practice ex- cursion. . . . After writing the above, I went on shore and took all the men and cleared out the burying-ground, which was thickly overgrown with cane. With axes, cutlasses and various other instruments we succeeded in almost clearing it away from the grave of Lieutenant Lowe of the British Navy, fulfilling the wishes expressed in the letters which we found under the tablet. We shall now go to work and build a mausoleum. " I suppose you would like me to tell you something of my messmates and my life on board. But I must say there is little heard in a mess which will bear repetition — stale jokes and conversation which have little charm for me. So you may think I am not the most popular person in the world — not that I am ever in dispute — but I don't think my retired ways and habits of thinking suit the officers, in other words, I am not ' hail fellow well met.' I am more pleased in dis- covering traits of character in the men, with a view of exert- ing a healthy influence over those who seem capable of being improved. . . ," Executive of the Saratoga 55 '• Pensacola, Mar. 4, iS4g. " I have written to Foote, hoping, as his complaint is a lingering one, that my letter may reach him before his death. I have a high opinion of Foote, I know his charity and principles — his example has not been without its fruits to me. ..." Captain, afterwards Rear Admiral, Foote, re- covered from his severe illness, and Winslow, as we shall see, commanded a vessel in his squadron on the Mississippi River in the early part of our Civil War. " New Orleans, Mar. 2g, i84g. " We sail in a day or two for Yucatan and along the coast to Mexico. Is not this horrible to think of continuing this cruise we so often have gone over before ? " " Off Tampico, April 28, 184^. " . . . I am buoyed up with the hope of our return and with the prospect that I may stay with you not to be parted again. I am about sending off all my papers with a model of my camel steam tug to Washington. . . . It is simply a vessel which tows ships over bars, however shallow the water may be, with the same facility as a steamboat ; hence New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, St. Petersburg, Russia, and like places can have ships of the largest size towed up to their wharves with as much ease as the common tow-boats now take a vessel in deep water. Thus the whole southern coast, which before was shut up owing to bars, will be opened, and you may judge how valuable my invention must be. Mr. Gilbert, the celebrated drydock man, with whom I feared I might have to contest the patent, and whom I happened to meet here, said he would do anything in my favor, and handed me a strong letter saying my machine was admirably adapted for its purpose ; so I have made some im- provements and am just sending off a miniature model to Commander Joseph Smith." 56 John Ancrum Winslow " Vera Cruz, May 31, i84g. " I only hope that I may succeed in my machine and have a life with you at home, and that our children may be edu- cated in the knowledge of the true purposes of life." "June 3, 1849. ^^ ^^^ "o^^ O'"^ o^^ ^^^y to Tampico, having commenced our cruising, which we will not finish until our arrival at Pensacola about the 5th of July, as we shall stop and communicate with nearly all the ports, which will fully occupy the intervening time." " Pensacola, July 17, i84g. "We have orders to proceed to Laguna by way of St. Thomas and home to Boston ; ordered off in the utmost haste. I saw Commodore Parker the other day : he spoke of you very warmly, and the difficulties you had moving from the Navy Yard. I thanked him for his kindness. Commodore Parker is very kind and much beloved by the officers in his ship." " Off Pensacola Navy Yard, " July 20, iS^g. " We are delayed again for several days. I am anxious to be off and get home once more, though I know not how long I may be with you. This is the reason I hope so much for a change of profession from this life at sea of constant privation and hardships, exposed to all climates and their diseases, with a small salary which hardly gives one a support." " Off Pensacola Navy Yard, ' ' A tigtist 6, i84g. " Yesterday was Sunday, a fine though very hot day, so I went to Pensacola, eight miles distant, to take the sacrament. We had a good practical sermon and quite a number of com- municants. Lieutenant Trenchard of this ship and Captain Randolph of the Albany among them. I think the Navy sub- scriptions principally support the churches here. Our court martial has lingered so long, we are not going to Laguna." The Saratoga sailed from Pensacola August 15 and arrived at Newport, R. I., early in September, where Winslow was soon afterward detached and went home. CHAPTER VIII. ON THE FRIGATE ST. LAWRENCE. AFTER two years ashore, Lieutenant Winslow received orders to the Frigate St. Lawi^ence, fitting out at the New York Navy Yard for flagship of the Pacific Station. Leaving the comforts of do- mestic Hfe, with which he was just becoming famiHar, and a young wife soon to become a mother, he em- barked upon a cruise of unusual duration — a criuse of long, monotonous journeys at sea and only mi- nor incidents throughout. What little of interest he found he has described in his letters. They take us into Valparaiso in its wild days of youth, into San Francisco during the mad search for gold, and into Hawaii as it emerges from barbarism. On the nth of December, 1851, the Si. Lawrence sailed from New York for her station, intending to stop at Rio en route. " Rio Janeiro, Jan. ji, i8j2. " It is now twelve years since I have been in this port. Its beautiful bay, encircled with towering mountains which rise in every picturesque form, has lost none of its grandeur of na- ture. But art has added changes in the activity of increased commercial life, which gives it an air of more importance. Rio Janeiro is the great half way house for the many ships 57 58 John Ancrum Winslow which stop here on their way from Europe and America in their voyages to the Pacific." "Valparaiso, March i8, 1832. " After an unusually short passage for a sailing vessel, we arrived at this place, Valparaiso, the Valley of Paradise, sad misnomer, which we are to realize in a long detention, from present prospects. We arrived here March 14th from Rio Janeiro and found our Commodore (McCauley) in the Raritan waiting here. " Valparaiso contains about 40,000 inhabitants and is situ- ated at the base of the Cordilleras chain of mountains. The character of the country is so ridgy that the shore of the sea has been stolen to form the only street in the town. This street winds at the base of bold promontories which hang over the sea ; the effect of which is so striking with their projecting peaks and deep ravines between, covered with propped-up buildings, that the sailors have named the most noted hills the fore, main and mizzen tops. Aconcagua, 23,000 feet in height, is the most imposing of the snow-covered mountains and is called here the Belle of Quilota. The hills, without verdure, stretch far back, increasing in elevation until the snow-capped Cordilleras bound the horizon of sight. It is the first city of importance after rounding the Cape, the great- est commercial emporium on the western coast of South America. The climate, beautiful as to temperature, produces fruit and vegetables similar to our own." " £/. S, Frigate ' St. Lawrence,'' " Okf Valparaiso, " April 9, i8j2. " There are so many English, Americans and Germans in Valparaiso, differing in this respect from Spanish cities in general, that officers have the advantage of good society if they desire it. We have been invited to two or three dinner parties and several excursions " We have several French and English ships of war about us, with the officers of which we occasionally exchange visits. " To-day is Good Friday, a great day here among the Roman On the Frigate S/. Lawrence 59 Catholics. The French frigates also have formed their yards into crosses with Judas Iscariot hanging in effigy from them, and on shore all the usual pageantry for which the former are characterized. " I am much surprised at the state of things on this side of America since I was here last. Then, a year would elapse without news from the United States, But commerce has in- creased, new resources developed, the Atlantic has grown old and the Pacific has the energy of youth — San Francisco and Oregon taking the lead — such is the magic of gold." "Caldera, " Seaport of Copiapo, Chili, " May I, 1852. " After I wrote you, at Valparaiso, I met Mr. Wheelwright, brother of Mrs. Codman, of Dorchester. He has been in South America, off and on, for twenty-five years, and keeps open house at Valparaiso. The English Admiral and two Captains, one a nephew of the Duke of Wellington, are here and live constantly with him. He took quite a fancy to me and my camel steam tug invention. He is a leading spirit here, the builder of a railroad from this point to Copiapo, and also the originator and principal owner of the waterworks for supplying Valparaiso. He offered me a room at his house which I never accepted. He gave us permission to pass and repass freely on the railroad, here to Copiapo, the great silver mining district of South America, of which we have availed ourselves. What a country it is, where if they only had fuel, mountains of copper and silver could be smelted, but it is just the limit of the great desert of Atacama, like Africa without its heat, for it is the finest climate in the world, temperature 70° all the year round. " We have visited many mills for working the ore. But, oh, the Spaniards, such a set of gamblers ! I went to the works of a man who had lost in gambling $3,000,000 alone. Think of that sum ! An Englishman, President of the Railroad, was almost as bad. The American engineers told me he had bet before them on the turn of a single card 4000 doubloons, or $70,000, and lost in one night a large fortune. To-night we 6o John Ancrum Winslow were invited to go and see them play, but I declined. Such is the life of the rich men of South America." "Callao, 3Iay i8, 1852. " After leaving Copiapo, where we received our first letters from home, since leaving New York, we touched for a day or two at Arica and the Chincha Islands, off Pisco, the last great island of guano. I expected to remain at Callao two months and write you fully, but we have received orders to sail in thirty hours for the Sandwich Islands, and from thence to San Francisco after our provisions are consumed." " Honolulu, June 28, 18^2. " We arrived here after thirty-two days' passage, having run a greater distance than from here to Boston direct, and equal to one-fourth the circumference of the world " This place evinces more civilization, perhaps, than any of the islands in the Pacific, being now an American town, though originally savage like the other islands. It is now governed by a constitution very liberal in form, with missionaries for ministers, schools as in Massachusetts, other similar insti- tutions, a large commerce, etc., the whole being the work of Massachusetts missionaries, one of the most remarkable in- stances of their successful benevolent efforts. " I have been invited to visit Parliament, now sitting. Yes- terday several officers were received in a most distinguished manner. The Crown Prince, as Speaker, conducted affairs very handsomely. What would Captain Cook, the discoverer of these islands, say now could he rise from the dead and, in contrast to the hordes of savages he found here, see the people now who are far in advance of the Spanish of South America." " San Francisco, Aug. 20, 18^2. " We are on duty every moment. Our men are infected with the gold fever to such a degree that we have to keep all the marine muskets loaded for service, sentries posted every- where, and a brace of pistols for the officer of the deck, conse- quently the Captain is using every effort to get away. Five of our men have deserted to-day." On the Frigate Sf. Lawrence 6i " Honolulu, Sept. 12, 1832. "After a fortnight's passage we have returned here, after looking for an unknown island which we were ordered to survey on our route. The state of the crew from the gold mania was such as compelled our leaving San Francisco, con- sequently we missed the mails from the United States, which we have since learned arrived the day after our departure. Those on shore, periodically in receipt of mails, cannot realize the privation to us. " Few people know the trials of the Navy Life, this continued surveillance of the worst set of scoundrels under the sun. Formerly orders given were promptly obeyed ; now you have to go after a man and enforce your orders. We have now four men confined for attempt at murder. Two of them having quarrelled a few days previous, one held a grudge, watched his chance when the other was sitting down, approached and struck him in the head two heavy blows with an axe, strange to say without killing him. Of course the assailant was arrested. I could only leave the ship once in San Francisco ; I had to be constantly on duty." " 'St. Laivrence,^ Honolulu, " Nov. 20, 18^2. " I enclose a topographical view with explanation and de- scription of the great volcano in the Island of Hawaii, which I took the opportunity while at Hilo of visiting. We had gone down to Hilo to escape the storms of the season, when we last sailed from this port and had expected to have re- mained there quietly until relieved by the Postsmouih, but four days ago a schooner came in, despatched to bring us here again with the news that the American whalers had ar- rived and captured this town, burning several houses. We sailed immediately, and after arriving here found that it was nothing more than a riot. An American sailor had been killed by the police, while resisting arrest, which caused the riot. The harbor is filled with American whalers, and no doubt 3000 sailors could be mustered from them. "We have, however, received our orders to Valparaiso. Our Captain is to relieve Commodore McCauley and to be 62 John Ancrum Winslow Commodore in his place. The Sf. Lawrence will thus be the flagship. Ten thousand miles must we sail before we reach our destination — Valparaiso." In February, 1853, while at Valparaiso, Winslow heard of the death of his youngest child, which he had never seen — the little boy born shortly after his departure from New York. " U. S. FrigSite 'St. Lawrence,'' " Valparaiso, April j, 1853. " A few nights since I, in company with two other officers, was visiting at the house of Mr. Hobson (of the firm of Alsop & Co.) when several ladies came in. Among them I was in- troduced to a Mrs. Ancrum. Somewhat surprised, I asked her if her name was Scotch. She said yes, and I replied my name was also Ancrum and also Scotch. I found that there was a connection between my mother's family and her husband's. She told me her husband, who would be in shortly, would be glad to continue the subject. He came too late for me to refer to it that evening, but two days after I met Dr. Ancrum at a dinner party given by the British Admiral, when I learned that his grandfather and mine were brothers, and that while in the United States he had endeavored to find out his relations, but was unsuccessful. Hehas two uncles in the British Army. His grandfather and mine were opposed to each other in the Revolution, which separated them. " He called afterwards and asked me to dine with him at 6 o'clock Friday. He has charge of the English Hospital here, and is said to be the first surgeon in South America, a pupil of Liston. We shall sail next week for the intermediate ports between here and Callao, possibly down to Panama. We have received a great deal of attention in the way of invita- tions recently and considerable interchange of civilities especi- ally with English officers." The SL Lawrence proceeded to Callao and Payta, thence again to the Sandwich Islands, arriving On the Frigate Sf. Lawrence 63 there in the midst of the frightful smallpox epi- demic which so nearly destroyed their population. She therefore avoided the port of Honolulu and sought the Lahaina anchorage of Maui, where she found the Portsmouth in refuge from the infected ports and badly in need of provisions. Remaining in that pleasant anchorage a fortnight, she then sailed for San Francisco, arriving Sept. i, 1853. There Winslow met several army and navy officers who had resigned and made fortunes, and there many of the St. Lawrences crew resigned, crazed by the gold fever and the gambling and dissipation of the place. When about to sail once more for Valparaiso a letter was received from the U. S. Minister at Mexico requesting that the St. Lawrence proceed to Acapulco to investigate the capture of an Ameri- can vessel. " Acapulco, Mexico, " Oct. 21, i8s3. " . . . We came here in the nick of time, for Americans have been subjected to all sorts of abuses by the government of Santa Anna, who is seeking another war with the United States or the elevation of himself to the throne after the man- ner of Louis Napoleon. We have sent orders to the vessels captured to be ready to go to sea immediately." The seized vessels were released and conducted to sea by the St. Lawrence, which then proceeded to Panama, where orders were received to hasten to Callao on account of the seizure of an American vessel while loading guano at the Chincha Islands. " November i8, iSjj. " Our minister, Mr. Clay, expects instructions by the next 64 John Ancrum Winslow steamer from Washington. The case is one of great injustice and abuse, and required a prompt and efficient course. There being no man-of-war present prevented this, but our arrival alters the face of things and we shall no doubt obtain a settle- ment by the Peruvian Government paying all demands, in amount $70,000, for the maltreatment of the Captain and crew of the vessel. Since our arrival here a revolution has com- menced down at Pisco, seventy miles distant, and it has pro- gressed so far that the Government is placing all their money in the Peruvian ships of war. I should not be surprised to hear of the revolutionists marching on Lima." '^ (/. S. S. ' SL Lawrence,' " Callao, j^an. 12, J8J4. " The Government party are out with a bulletin to-day that they have beaten the revolutionists in fight — doubtful. "There is constant difficulty between our men and the Peruvians ; continued claims are being made upon them for insults. The Peruvians dislike us so much. The other day I was on shore and seeing a crowd running down to the water, I walked down myself, when, to my surprise, I saw all the dock loafers (a mixed breed of Indians, Spaniards, and Negroes) stoning three of our men who were on the wharf. The stones flew like snow balls and quite as large. I went up to the Governor, and told him if his police were so defective that they could not prevent a repetition of this, that we would pre- vent it ourselves. The Commodore took it up. Another case of a different kind is on trial now. . . . " Just half a mile from us is a long narrow strip of land running into the sea ; on the surface remain the cupolas of old churches. These are the only relics of old Callao, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1746. "Jan. 26, 1854. . . . There does not seem to be much chance of a speedy settlement of the Chincha difficulties as the Peruvians prefer negotiating at Washington, and once our Government takes it in hand it may be like claims in Con- gress, a legacy for our children." " Off Callao, Feb. 12, 1854. " Mr. Clay (U. S. Minister) has detained us here to await On the Frigate S^. Lawrence 65 the arrival of the St. Mary's to relieve us. The revolution among the Peruvians still lingers. . . . They have the pest at Callao (a mild kind of yellow fever) in which there is little fatality. We have had several cases on board. . . . The St. Marys arrived this afternoon and we shall sail to- morrow. I am glad of it, we have been here two months and I am heartily tired of this place." " Valparaiso, "6'^. S. S. ' St. Lawrence^ " March j6, 1834. " We arrived here after a passage of twenty-two days. It was very fortunate we got away from Lima when we did, for the yellow fever has become quite virulent there. Some of our acquaintances have died of it, amongst others a very fine fellow, a Lieutenant of the English Navy." "Valparaiso, April i, 18^4. " We have had around us until a few days past, three frig- ates, one English, one French and one Russian. As we were intimate with the officers, it was amusing to hear their differ- ent views and feelings with regard to matters now taking place in Europe : ' the account that war was so imminent that the English and French ships sailed in order to cut off the mail and in case of war to pounce upon the Russian. But no declaration of war came, however ; the Russian, although await- ing the arrival of his consort, no doubt thought things too squally and went off to Asiatic 'Russia. " I must confess the aspect is alarming in Europe. No doubt war is in full vigor before this and God alone can fore- see its termination. The character, too, of this war is one which history records as never ceasing in its injurious results, a war of religion. A fearful crisis seems to be upon the world. Look at China, an empire standing 2200 years without change, now deluged with blood and the revolutionists carrying a cross upon their banners,' with protestant principles, — what but God's power could effect this! Our own country is not secure either ; corruption in morals, in the Government, the people every- ' Culminating in the Crimean War. ' Tai-ping Rebellion under tlie Christian Chinaman, Hung Seu-tseuen. S 66 John Ancrum Winslow where forgetting the great Author of their happiness, forget- ting blessings far greater than those promised the chosen people of God, everywhere ingratitude is manifest to Him. In Congress men rise up in hopes of getting the presidency and renew the negro or slavery war. I know not where the question will end, but it seems to me one of uncommon mag- nitude. Everything looks gloomy." " CoQuiMBO, April i6, 18^4. " We are here for the purpose of exercising, preparing for the inspection which precedes the laying up of vessels after arrival in the United States. This week being Holy Week and all business on shore suspended, we have paid respect to the custom of the country by not firing, but as soon as Mr. Judas Iscariot is hung, which will be to-morrow, we shall commence a grand function. . . "Our minister at Peru has been directed to demand of the Peruvian Government full indemnities for the injuries to our merchants at the Chincha Islands, and, in the event of their not acquiescing, the squadron is to act." "Callao, May 2b, 18^4. " The Chincha affair is still unsettled : the negotiation is changed to Washington — with small prospect of termination. " The other day the combined English and French squad- rons got under way. It was a beautiful sight to see them forming lines. They were in pursuit of two Russian frigates which had sailed for Honolulu. We fired salutes in honor of Her Britannic Majesty on Victoria's birthday. May 25th." " Callao, yune 11, 18^4. "Your letter with accounts of home made me homesick. It requires great self denial to be away from you all. I have missed my profession, I am not fit to remain away. There are many who like this life, but I cannot believe that anyone who is of a domestic turn of mind can receive pleasure away from those he loves. . . ." The St. Lazurence remained at Callao through the summer of 1854, then went to Valparaiso. On the Frigate Sf. Lawrence 67 " Valparaiso, Feb. 7, iS^^. " To our great surprise, February 2d the Independence hove in sight. Great was our rejoicing. It was impossible to keep the men quiet, so great was the excitement after such long de- lay. We have now transferred the squadron. We sail to-mor- row which will be a day of cheering to us all. I cannot write much but you can appreciate my feelings after this long absence to which I have been compelled to submit." " Off Cape Henry Light House, " April 18, i8ss- " After a passage of just seventy days, we have arrived and have a pilot on board. I shall despatch these few lines at once. "A few days must elapse before money can arrive, the men be paid off and other usual matters for placing a ship out of commission. Then you may look for me at home. . . ." The whole of this lone, tedious cruise, from December, 1851, to April, 1855, rendered naval life excessively distasteful to Winslow. Looking for- ward to his return home, he wrote : " No life for hardship and toil, requiring a greater exercise of Christian virtue, exists than that of a sailor. Aside from the exposure to weather of every rigor, it is one in which you are cut off from friends and home, and no man who has not expe- rienced the harassing effects of what is called discipline can for a moment conceive of its wearisome influence." He was detached from the St. Lawrence at Nor- folk, Va., April 21, 1855, and granted three months' leave, but on the 2d of May was placed in charge of the Recruiting Rendezvous, Boston. On the 14th of the following September he was commis- sioned a Commander. For five years he remained ashore in the city of his adoption, enjoying the quiet happiness of domestic life, yet feeling, with 68 John Ancrum Winslow every other thoughtful man of his time, an ever in- creasing anxiety over the gathering clouds of civil war. On the 20th of December, i860, he was ap- pointed Inspector of the 2d Light House District, with his headquarters in Boston. CHAPTER IX. DUTY WITH THE WESTERN FLOTILLA. WHEN the Government at Washington had fully realized the scope of the Southern Rebellion, the strategic importance of controlling the waters of the Mississippi became evident. Passing through the midst of the States in re- bellion, with tributary waters reaching into them on either side, the system formed, in those days of imperfect communications, the chief means of intercourse between the western and eastern portions of the rebellious territory. Furthermore, so long as the river was held by the Confederates, the loyal States lying upon it and its tributaries farther north were in a state of commercial block- ade. Operations to open and control the river were therefore begfun both from the Gulf of Mex- ico and from the rivers north of the Confederacy. For the latter operations, river gunboats of special design had to be built and equipped in cities safely located on tributary waters in loyal territory, and assembled at some good strategic base near the enemy's frontier. Going northward from the Con- federate line, it is seen that St. Louis on the 69 70 John Ancrum Winslow Mississippi and Cincinnati on the Ohio are the first cities with adequate resources. Returning then toward the enemy's frontier, looking for a strategic situation for a base of operations, the eye is almost immediately struck with the position of Cairo. Here the loyal State of Illinois projects down like a wedge between the doubtful border States of Kentucky and Missouri, and at the point of the wedge stands Cairo, its tlanks protected by the two rivers of supply, the Ohio and Mississippi, which join in front of it. In May, 1861, the nucleus of the Western Flo- tilla was formed by the purchase of three river steamers at Cincinnati by Commander John Rodgers, and their conversion into gunboats. The flotilla was to be commanded by him and manned by the navy, but was to be under the control of the General commanding the Department, who was at that time Major-General Fremont. In August a contract was made with Mr. James B. Eads of St. Louis to build seven gunboats and deliver them at Cairo in October. Two other purchased vessels, the Bejiton and Essex, were added to the flotilla, and the construction of still more was begun. At the beginning of September, Commander Rodgers was relieved by Captain A. H. Foote, and the latter immediately applied for Commander Winslow as his chief assistant in fitting out and or- ganizing the flotilla. The latter had applied for duty afloat soon after the outbreak of the Rebellion, so, on September 10, 1861, he received orders to report to Captain Foote at St. Louis for special duty. :Blue ^2oi/a7 States T^ed- Sicdes in TiehellLOTi While. =jJoul)i]-id Siafps. THEATRE OF OPERATIONS OF WESTERN FLOTILLA Duty with the Western Flotilla. 71 " Buffalo, Sept. /j. 1861, " Sunday afternoon. " I left home almost unmanned. The thoughts of what might take place, the troublous times, . . . the large family dependent on me alone, was enough to take the man- hood out of anyone of feeling. However, the feeling is soothed now to some extent ; God never intends wholly to overwhelm one in the severe chastenings necessary for our subjection and I am thankful that He has raised me from the depression and given me hope that in the end I shall have peace." "St. Louis, Sept. 22, 1861. "All the Commanders have formed a military mess on board a large Mississippi steamboat with splendid accommodations. She has been hired for a receiving vessel. " We are sent here to man the Flotilla for the Mississippi. Seven gunboats are building which are to be cased with iron of 2^ inches thickness. I send herewith an account from the newspapers of the experiments tried to ascertain whether they would resist shot ; the experiments were satisfactory, proving balls had no effect on them. " I see no chance of their being ready before the first week in November. The gunboats carry each fifteen guns, nine inch, and rifle guns twenty-four pounders. The wheel of the steamboat is in the centre of the vessel, protected from shot by the inclined sides which extend all around." "St. Louis, Sept. 2g, 1861. " Foote has gone to Cairo to see about affairs there. He is under Fremont and receives orders from him. Fremont has gone up the river to try and whip Price out of Lexington. He has taken a sufficient number of men to do it effectually; but I do not know how it will turn out, for it almost seems as if the other party were having everything their own way. "Foote is very much engaged, . . . everything is at sixes and sevens and nothing is prepared, and all our wants and materials are to be supplied from the East." 72 John Ancrum Winslow. "St. Louis, Oct. j, i86i. " Since I last wrote you several changes have been made, and there is no knowing what a day may bring forth. Stead- man has been relieved and ordered back again to New York to command the Bienville. Hazard has been ordered to Cin- cinnati to recruit men for the expedition and I have received orders to proceed to Cairo, hire a steamboat and take all the stores on board for the expedition, principally ordnance. There is no knowing how long Fremont will be in the North and when the expedition will get off." " St. Louis, Oct. 8, 1861. " Foote is down at Cairo — went yesterday. Porter has gone down in a steamer which looks like a tortoise. He will be pitching-in the first opportunity he gets. I see great reports in your Boston papers of the war here. We hear nothing of it. In fact, it seems to me a sort of guerilla warfare, of the secessionists marching upon some weak place, and then aban- doning it again." " Cincinnati, Oct. 14, 1861. " I received to-day a message from the Commanding Gen- eral of this division that he wanted to see me. The General is Mitchell, the great astronomer, a very pleasant man and I told him I would rather he would talk of the stars than the war. He wanted my opinion in writing of the advantages of gunboats on the Ohio. " I would not be so anxious. You may depend upon it there is no danger or anything like the appearance of it when viewed in prospective. Hope on and trust in God." "Cincinnati, Oct. 16, 1861. " I wrote a strong letter for General Mitchell, as he desired, for which he thanked me very much and said he would urge upon the Government their adoption and should like my superintendence of them if he could get it from the War De- partment. I do not believe they will succeed in getting the gunboats, as too much money has been spent already." Winslow now spent ten days in Cleveland re- cruiting men for the flotilla. His wife was with Duty with the Western Flotilla. 73 him while there. It was a pleasant break in the fever of war work. He then returned to St. Louis. "St. Louis, Oct. 27, 1861. *' I went down the day after you left me to see the gunboats, which are in the form I sent you a sketch of. We were or- dered here in such haste by request of General Fremont. Our business is to go down the river and open it free of batteries. An army of sixty thousand men will go with us. I suppose they take the shore line, when any attacks are made. " General Fremont has gone North with the army to try to recover lost ground which Price is in possession of at Lexing- ton. Foote has just come up from Cairo where he went to see about some gunboats they have there. Rodgers went up to-day in a gunboat, for the purpose of assisting Fremont in his expedition up the river. " Our gunboats are heavy, some fifteen or sixteen guns, 8 inch, and 9 inch, and 42 pound rifle guns, but it is doubtful whether we can get down the river, on account of the draft of water, without first taking out the guns." When the gunboats were finished, Winslow, by Captain Foote's orders, gave the little flotilla a trial trip in squadron, which proved highly satis- factory. The flotilla was then temporarily divided for convenience, and Winslow took the first section to the base at Cairo where he placed them under General Grant's care and returned to St. Louis for the remainder. With this second section was the Benton, a much larger and stronger vessel than the others, having been originally constructed to re- move snags from the rivers, but she was weak in motive power. Because of her heavier battery and protection she had been selected for the flagship. 74 John Ancrum Winslow. In conducting the several sections Winslow took personal command of the Benton and was accom- panied by Mr. Eads, the builder of the gunboats. The Bento7i grounded, as had been feared, on a trip down, and Winslow received a severe and in- capacitating wound in the left arm by the parting of a cable used in getting her off. Mr. Eads's ac- count of the accident, published in the Century Magazine, January, 1885, is as follows: "... I was requested by Admiral Foote, as a special favor to him, to accompany the Benton, the eighth one of the fleet, in her passage down to Cairo. It was in December, and the water was falling rapidly " The wish of Admiral Foote to have me see this boat safely to Cairo was prompted by his knowledge that I had experi- ence in the management of steamboats upon the river, and his fear that she would be detained by grounding. Ice had just begun to float in the Mississippi when the Benton put out from my shipyard at Carondelet for the south. Some thirty or forty miles below St. Louis she grounded. ... An anchor was put out for the purpose of hauling her off. My advice was not asked with reference to this first proceeding, and although I had been requested by Admiral Foote to accom- pany the vessel, he had not instructed the captain, so far as I knew, to be guided by my advice in case of difficulty. After they had been working all night to get the boat afloat, she was harder on than ever ; moreover, the water had fallen about six inches. I then volunteered the opinion to Capt. Winslow that if he would run hawsers ashore in a certain direction, directly opposite to that in which he had been trying to move the boat, she could be got off". He replied, very promptly : * Mr. Eads, if you will undertake to get her off, I shall be very willing to place the entire crew under your direction.' I at once accepted the offer, and Lieutenant Bishop was called up and instructed to obey my directions. Several very large hawsers had been put on board of the boat for the fleet at Duty with the Western Flotilla. 75 Cairo. One of the largest was got out and secured to a large tree on the shore, and as heavy a strain was put upon it as the cable would be likely to bear. As the water was still falling, I ordered out a second one, and a third, and a fourth, until five or six eleven-inch hawsers were heavily strained in the effort to drag the broad-bottomed vessel off the bar. There were three steam capstans on the bow of the vessel, and these were used in tightening the strain by luffs upon the hawsers. One of the hawsers was led through a snatch-block fastened by a large chain to a ringbolt in the side of the vessel. I was on the upper deck of the vessel near Captain Winslow when the chain which held this block broke. It was made of iron one and one-eighth inches in diameter, and the link separated into three pieces. The largest, being one-half of the link, was found on the shore at a distance of at least five hundred feet. Half of the remainder struck the iron plating on the bow of the boat, making an indentation half the thickness of one's finger in depth. The third piece struck Captain Winslow on the fleshy part of the arm, cutting through his coat and the muscles of his arm. The wound was a very painful one, but he bore it as might be expected. The iron had probably cut an inch and a half into the arm below the elbow. In the course of the day the Benton was floated and proceeded on her voyage down the river without further delay. ..." This occurred on Sunday, December 8th, and five days later the Bentoit reached Cairo, when her wounded commander was taken in charge by his son, Paymaster William Randolph Winslow, who thus informed his mother : "Cairo, December ij, 1861, " Dear Mother : " Father arrived here to-day in the Benton about one p.m. He came over to the Emerald this afternoon. He received a very severe wound in his left arm just below the elbow, from the parting of a chain while aground in the Benton last Sun- day. One of the pieces of a link of the broken chain flew 76 John Ancrum Winslow. with such force as to go right through his arm, tearing out all the muscle ; the doctor put the muscle back and sewed up the wound though it was very jagged. ..." In pencil, on the back of his son's letter, Captain Winslow writes as follows : " You see by this that not my right but my left arm is injured, a severe wound. I hope to be confined but a short time. The bolt cut my arm diagonally. I made no com- plaint, but when I was caught and several hands pressed the arteries, I told them to stop and let go, as I wanted to ascer- tain if the bone was broken. Loss of blood created great faintness. My services at present will be a sad loss to Foote. It was a great mercy that the bolt did not strike me on the body, as it would have made an end of me. Good bye. God bless you all, is the prayer of your affectionate husband. Love to the children." His son writes again on December 15, 1861 : " Father has suffered a great deal of pain yesterday and to-day. The doctor poultices his arm every two hours and I do everything I can for him, but he is very badly hurt. Father will not be able to do duty for some time. If he had not been wounded he would have had command of the SA Louis. Moving him from the Bentoi was very bad for him. Everybody is devoted and they all do all they can for him. He sends love and says his recovery will be very tedious. As soon as he was able to travel, Winslow was ordered home to recuperate, and as soon as he had sufficiently recovered his strength he applied for orders, and on May 3, 1862, was ordered back to the Mississippi Flotilla. As he was now to become actively engaged in Mississippi River operations, Duty with the Western Flotilla. n we must go back and briefly bring them up to date. The Confederate reply to the preparations at Cairo was to cross into Kentucky and fortify the river bluffs at Columbus and Hickman, Bluffs suitable for land defences along the Mississippi were few and far apart, and the Confederates had promptly fortified all within their territory soon after war broke out. General Grant then occupied Paducah and Smithland, in Kentucky on the Ohio, to secure his river communications. Nothing further occurred in 1861 except an expedition down the river to Belmont, opposite Columbus. This General Grant had undertaken to prevent the Con- federates from cutting off a force sent on recon- naissance into Missouri, and also to serve as a little practice in combined operations, and to season his troops under fire while waiting for the completion of the flotilla building at St. Louis. By occupying Paducah and Smithland, where the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers emptied into the Ohio, General Grant had sufficiently secured his rear so long as he remained quiescent at the Cairo base, for he could readily reinforce them if they were attacked ; but the Confederates held two strong positions farther up these rivers at Forts Henry and Donelson. When preparations for aggressive operations down the Mississippi were nearing com- pletion, it became apparent to General Grant and Captain Foote that if they took Forts Henry and Donelson, and if then Grant's army advanced along the Tennessee River parallel to the Mississippi 78 John Ancrum Winslow. while Foote went down the latter, the Confederate positions along the east bank, being encompassed front and rear, would be evacuated or surrendered. Accordingly, a combined expedition started for Fort Henry in the beginning of February, 1862, Flag Officer Foote proceeding up the Tennessee with four of his gunboats. The troops were delayed, and on the 6th the gunboats engaged and took the fort. The railroad bridge also was destroyed, and the river raided to the headwaters of navigation and cleared of all Confederate material. Fort Donelson was then invested, and it surrendered to General Grant on the i6th. Columbus, on the Mississippi, with its communicMions by rail now severed, and being out of touch with a supporting force, was evacuated, together with Hickman, in the beginning of March, the Confederates dropping down the river to Island No. 10. Operations against this position continued until the 7th of April, Gen- eral Pope conducting the land work from the Mis- souri side of the river, while General Grant was working his way south along the line of the Ten- nessee. On that date the island fell, and the river was clear as far as Fort Pillow, while on the same date General Grant defeated the Confederates on the Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh), due east of Memphis. The armies from Island No. 10 and Pittsburg Landing had been united near the latter place under General Halleck, and Foote's flotilla had taken a position before Fort Pillow, when Winslow rejoined on the loth of May. On the previous day, Flag Officer Foote had temporarily Duty with the Western Flotilla. 79 turned over the command to Captain Charles H. Davis and gone North to recuperate from wounds received at Donelson, but from which he never sufficiently recovered to resume his command. At the other end of the river Farragut had passed the forts below New Orleans, and was off that city. CHAPTER X. RETURN TO DUTY ON THE MISSISSIPPI. WINSLOW arrived at Fort Pillow in time to be aneye-witness of the attack on the flo- tilla by Confederate rams. From all accounts, this took place on the loth of May, so the following letter describing it must have been misdated : " Off Fort Pillow, ' ' Saturday, May 9, 1862. " I reached here at early daylight this morning, and was waiting for a boat to go to the Flag Ship, when some six or seven of the enemy's boats rounded the Point and went after the gunboat, which was guarding the mortar boat in advance ; then commenced an action in which only about three boats participated in close action. I do not know why it was, but the other boats did not follow. I was making every effort to get on board the Flag Ship, going down to her in a skiff, when the enemy retreated, no doubt disabled. I thought the busi- ness was just commencing when it ceased. They balled and they battered, and the Cincinnati was run on shore, filled with water ; and the Mound City is not much better off. I think it was an expiring effort of the enemy, for they would not wait for all the fleet to get into action before they were off. Except at the mortar boat, which they first attacked, they fired noth- ing but musketry. I saw Foote last night half way to Cairo ; he is suffering. Poor Stembel ' was totally uncovered, fool- ' Stembel commanded the Cincinnati. She was sent to Cairo for repairs. 80 Return to Duty on the Mississippi. 81 ishly so, when he was hit by a sharpshooter in the same way that Charles Morris was at Tobasco. Stembel was a noble man, and his poor wife was in such fine spirits about him, just going to her home in Cincinnati when I left Cairo. " I do not know, at present, what boat I may command, they are in such a turmoil. I will write you more soon. One of the enemy's vessels blew up and struck her flag — drifting down, and the others were disabled, as reports received say, and sunk below, before reaching Fort Pillow. There must have been great loss of life." "St. Louis, Saturday, May jj, 1862. " I was despatched up here for Rams, expecting to find them nearly ready, but they are just commencing to be built, so you may see the chances I have of getting away. Since I cannot hurry them, I must take things as easy as I can." "St. Louis, June 4, 1862. " I have just received a letter from Davis offering me com- mand of the Cincinnati, which I have accepted, and therefore I expect to be in Cairo and in the Cincinnati this time next week. The enemy still hold the Mississippi, but I cannot think it will be long before they are compelled to give up all their positions and the river be opened. " The prospect of passing the summer on the river is immi- nent, consequently the hot season is before us. I am glad of the change of duty, for St. Louis does not present those ad- vantages for me as a shore station which the East would and I like the activity of the regular service when I am away from home. I do not want shore duty except with my family. " The presentation of a flag to one of the Rams came off yesterday. A very handsome speech by Mr. Leighton of Cambridge was made in presenting it. He is Provost Marshal and was deputed by the ladies who made the flag." On the 30th of May the Union armies, having advanced west from Pittsburg Landing, compelled the Confederate army to evacuate Corinth, thus 82 John Ancrum Winslovv. severing the eastern communications with Memphis and Fort Pillow. The latter was therefore evacu- ated on the 4th of June. On the 5th the flotilla moved down within two miles of Memphis. A battle was fought and won next day against the Confederate River Defence Fleet, and Memphis surrendered. " Memphis, June 14, 1S62. " I am now in command of the Cincinnati at this place, which is about as large as Cleveland ; it looks desolated — like Sun- day, no shops open and everything wears a blue look, I pre- sume the shop-keepers are afraid it may again fall into secession hands. It is astonishing what the reign of terror has been, which, even now, retains such power that the people are afraid to expose themselves freely. " We shall not move from here until a sufficient army is left to hold the place against attack, although expeditions may be made. One left to-day for the White River. I sent for Ran- dolph yesterday who came on board looking well and finely, is happy in his present position. The Cincinnati is not very well repaired from the ramming she had, and, in consequence, the magazine leaks and the powder has been taken out. The weather is warm but I manage well enough. I sleep out of my room with a mattress on four chairs, close up to a 32 pound gun. Davis seems a good friend to me but he is not the friend Foote is. Foote at the last account was not so well, but he wants to return here. " A division of Halleck's troops came in yesterday and will hold the town, but I doubt if we move for some time yet." " Memphis, June ij, 1S62. " Long before this reaches you I shall be off up the White River and hope to be back again. You will have seen the telegram of the capture of a place on the White River by the Fleet, supported by a division of the Army. Singular, the ac- cident occurred, which I attempted and used all exertions to obviate by protecting the boilers from shot. A shot went Return to Duty on the Mississippi. 83 through Kilty's vessel, the Mound City, blew up the boilers, killing and scalding horribly more men than a fight of a week's duration would have done. When I was wounded in the Benton, I was using all attempts to prevent this evil. I am now going to put the bulkheads up before I leave in the Cincinnati. " I am ordered to command the expedition. We shall have the Pittsburg, the St. Louis, the Conestoga and two or three other boats. Our object is to try and communicate with Gen- eral Curtis who commands the Army in Arkansas, and open a means to supply him with provisions, but the prospect is bad, as from what I learn the river has fallen, so there is not suffi- cient water to get up at present. " I have just been on board of the Hospital Boat, such a sight I never witnessed. Poor Kilty, the (ex-) Commander of the expedition, is doing well though badly scalded. I do not know how many are killed and wounded. My little friend Brown [son of Rev. Dr. Brown of Cincinnati] whose position I obtained for him, is dead, and his brother, who was to have been R's clerk, is saved and went up this afternoon with the remains. As I was passing through the Hospital Boat, every one was cursing the Rebel Colonel, who, they said, had or- dered the men to be shot as they were swimming to shore, and he ought to be hung for it. "I was anxious to see the Colonel who was wounded and lying in a cot. I was directed to it. I saw a remarkably handsome man, with a fine head. I thought I recognized his countenance as I passed by. On my return he called, * Cap- tain Winslow.' I was astonished and asked, ' Who are you ? ' * Mr. Fry,' he replied, ' an old ship mate of yours.' He was a midshipman in the Missouri with me. He said that reports had got about that he had ordered the fire on the men swim- ming, — it was not so. I knew him too well to believe that such an order could emanate from him, and I fully believed him, for he was a nice fellow. He said that God had visited the sins of the people upon them, and that he was heartily tired of the war, I told him he would be sent to Fort Warren, and he replied he had sailed from thereabouts. It seems, he commanded the port, 84 John Ancrum Winslow. having sunk his gunboat and taken the guns on a bluff to de- fend the river. Singular, he commanded the Ivy which Frank chased in the Water Witch. He said Frank's shell were splashing all about him. He gave a most ridiculous account of the Vincennes and the other vessels at Rollins' fight ' ; said he never laughed so much in his life. He would not fire on the Vincennes., but was in hopes of popping the Richmond. He said that Hollins went down as a spree, more as a joke at the time, and afterwards would not continue the fight, but laid up along the bank of the river, while it went on, and afterwards wrote the most bombastic, foolish letter to the Confederate Government in which he praised himself and nobody else. " I asked him about the river we are going up : he said he was sorry it was nothing but jungle, and I must keep close or the guerillas would shoot me, and he would not have me hurt for anything. I think if any guerillas are about, the last place they will be found will be in reach of our grape and canister. He said I could not go up at any time beyond Augusta, his vessel was ashore there a month ago, and the river had fallen so since we could not even reach there now. But it makes no difference we must try and do the best we can. I do not want you to feel anxious. I wish I had time to write you more fully but it is night, and I am preparing, giving various orders, etc. Poor Kilty said to me, ' You have had your turn, now ours has come.' Randolph no doubt writes you from Fort Pillow." Colonel Fry subsequently commanded the unfor- tunate filibustering steamer Virginius, which was captured by the Spaniards and taken to Santiago de Cuba in 1874, where he and most of his crew were executed. " Off the Mouth of the White River, " Mississippi, June zj, 1862. " I have just come down the White River with the expedi- tion. The depth of water was not sufficient for us, and the river ' Oct. 13, 1861, when Captain Hollins stampeded the Federal fleet at the Head of the Passes by a night attack, but failed to follow up his advantage. Return to Duty on the Mississippi. 85 is falling fast so that we could not have got down had we re- mained longer. On the 22d instant we were attacked by guerillas just after I had read prayers on Sunday, and I was going on shore when they had the opportunity of firing at us — we lost two, killed. " I took two gunboats the following day and three companies of soldiers and went round to Indian Bay in hopes of captur- ing some of them. We took three prisoners and while I was absent, they again attacked the boats that we left, without do- ing any damage. I have just ordered two iron clad boats up to Memphis with despatches and I expect to go up soon my- self but I must remain with the Lexington to protect the sol- diers who are in transports and awaiting a large expedition to go up to succor General Curtis in Arkansas, the river being too low for our gunboats to go up." On the 1 7th of June, Flag Officer Foote had been reHeved from command of the Western Flotilla at his own request on account of his illness, and on the 22d, Captain Davis was appointed Flag Officer. On the 29th, the latter, with a division of his com- mand, went down the river, and joined Farragut above Vicksburg on July ist, leaving Winslow in command of the division at Memphis. The river was now clear of all floating opposition except the ram Aj^kansas, which was destroyed a month later, but Vicksburg still held out for more than a year. " U. S. Gunboat 'Si. Louis,' " Memphis, y^ufy 21, 1862. " General Sherman who is in command has seized all the freighting boats (which have just brought our mails) filled them with troops and sent them down the river. I suppose these are eventually to operate against Vicksburg. I am afraid some of our mail boats have been stopped. A masked battery was sprung on the last one which came up and she was 86 John Ancrum Winslow. considerably damaged by shots, though no person was injured We have every day extravagant reports got up by the Secesh, but now that most of them have been put out of the city or ordered to take the oath, an end will be put to this business. *' I am without news from the lower fleet since I wrote you but 1 expect everything is tranquil as it is here. I think that McLellan's repulse has put a damper on movements all round, and there is an indisposition to undertake further operations until the hot season is over. The officers are all sick at Cairo — this river uses every one up. I do not see any end to the war. If the President does not emancipate the slaves and use energetic measures of confiscation, we might as well make peace at once for our armies support instead of harass the South." " U. S. Gunboat '^ St. Louis, ^ "Memphis, July 22, 1862. " I am sick with intermittent fever . . . They have been very much chagrined in the Fleet by the Ram Arkansas passing the whole of them without destruction. There was a great loss of life on our side, more than in all the fighting passing and repassing Vicksburg. General Sherman is in command here. I have not seen him yet. I think a movement will soon be made by the army down the Mississippi and Vicksburg will no doubt fall ; but the war seems as far as ever from ending. *' The heat is so intense here it is impossible to go on shore. We have a great deal of sickness in the Fleet, but nothing kills as the fire does, our firemen cannot stand it. Randolph is well, his position is a good one at Fort Pillow." " Memphis, Au^.j, 1862. " You will have heard of the abandoning Vicksburg and the Fleet coming to Helena which is some ninety miles below Memphis and is the headquarters of General Curtis' army. Davis passed here last night in company with General Curtis. The boat came alongside at 2 o'clock a.m. when I was aroused, but Davis was asleep and I did not see him. I do not know what he is going to Cairo for. I learn Curtis is on his way to Washington. I do not think any operations will be made Return to Duty on the Mississippi. 87 against Vicksburg until the weather is cooler and reinforce- ments of the troops are made from the 300,000 new levies asked for by the President. The Rebels are very active about here, endeavoring to cross the Mississippi with ammunition and stores for the Arkansas friends. I have sent dov/n the Mound City to cut them off some fifty miles from here. It is a great misfortune that our people could not have seized upon Vicksburg at first, when few guns were mounted. There would have been less loss of life, but there is no army to operate and hence its abandonment. They are now em- boldened and making great efforts to stop up the river at various points. We are now some two miles from Memphis doing the work of enclosing our boilers, so when we get in a fight we shall not be blown up. " The luck which hung to Foote in all his operations seems to be deserting us now. Foote was never known to be un- successful. God in His mercy seems to have given him success through life. . " I meet with the Generals of the army here frequently when on shore, my duty from position requiring frequent ap- plications for support in their movements, and telegrams are received of the operations of the Enemy. This and other duties keep my mind and hands full. " I send you a slip of the latest news of Randolph from the newspaper : " ' Guerillas at Fort Pillow. Great excitement was caused yesterday among the citizens at Fort Pillow. News reached the U. S. Gunboat Cairo, now lying off the fort, that a party of guerillas were in force at Brownsville about forty miles back of the fort, destroying and burning all cotton in that vicinity. They captured several Union men and committed other depredations and were on their way to Fort Pillow. Captain Bryant dispatched Second Master James Moore, accompanied by Paymaster Winslow, with forty men to meet them, but fortunately for them they left at the shortest possible notice. Mr. Moore returned early in the morning after six hours' hot pursuit.' " 88 John Ancrum Winslow. " Memi'His, Aiig. 9, 1862. ** I send herewith a copy of my appointment as Captain.' " The Rebels are about us everywhere in guerilla bands, but I do not apprehend any attack on the city. I captured day before yesterday a boat containing many new swords and three or four hundred caps, tassels, etc., all from Memphis. The capture led to the arrest of certain parties engaged here. The proof was positive and the gang have been incarcerated. The truth is, everybody with few exceptions sympathizes with the Rebels, and supplies are drawn from the North, which im- mediately go South. Davis and Curtis are still at Cairo tele- graphing with Washington. " 1 am not in good health ; I have an affection of the ear, swollen inside and discharging. It first attacked me at the capture of Tampico and has frequently troubled me since. The number of diseases this river brings on is legion. Good bye, God bless and preserve you all in the times which are coming on this country. All looks dark as if God's visitation is upon us." " Memphis, Sept. 4, 1862. " I was never more shocked than, in taking up a paper last night, to see the death of Frank Winslow* announced. Poor fellow, so anxious as he ever was about his family, to die so shortly after leaving them all. I thought if there was one place of more safety than another, it was the station to which he was ordered. His country has lost a brave officer and his friends a Christian gentleman. " Davis got dovvn in the Eastport a day or two since, after having been several times on shore and conveying some 4000 prisoners down to Vicksburg. " I see the news — it is very rebellious. Until the slaves are manumitted we shall do nothing, then we shall go onward to fight God's battles and relieve thousands of His praying Christians. " Young Tom Selfridge has just come out here. He is ' Appointed Captain, July 16,1862. * Commander Francis Winslow, a cousin. Return to Duty on the Mississippi. 89 ordered to command the Cairo, Randolph's ship, which is ordered to leave Fort Pillow and drop down to join the Fleet at Helena. We have daily reports that the Rebels are going to attack this place, but General Sherman says he can whip them all without assistance." " Memphis, September ip, 1862. *' Yesterday I was all day through the army lines examining everything worth seeing, with a Captain of the Russian Navy whom I met in the Pacific, in command of a Frigate. He was very grateful for attentions. He has been sent out by his Govern- ment to examine particularly iron-clad vessels, with the inten- tion of obtaining all information respecting them before their introduction in the Russian Navy. He goes to Helena to examine the Rams, etc." " Memphis, September 2g, 1862, " Our gunboat is now named the Baron de Kalb ; having one St. Louis^ in the East they do not want another in the West. I have been long enough in the West and I do not care to re- main here under the changes made." ' A sailing frigate, afterwards at Cadiz when Winslow commanded the Kearsarge, CHAPTER XI. DETACHMENT FROM WESTERN FLOTILLA. WE have already seen that Winslow was originally assigned to the Western Flo- tilla at the request of Captain Foote. His return to that duty after recovering from his wound was due again to his cordial relations with that officer, as mav be seen in the followingr letter : " Sir : " Roxbury, April lo, 1862. " The capture of the enemy's floating battery, with one or two gunboats, in the Mississippi, has no doubt left an open- ing, without interference with the command of other officers. I respectfully request orders to report myself to Commodore Foote, for any duty he may assign me. " I would beg leave to state, that on my detachment from the Western Flotilla, that Commodore Foote was pleased to express his sincere regrets that my injury was such as to re- quire it ; as on no officer had he depended so much for assistance, from ability and judgment. "Having sufficiently recovered from my injury, I would be pleased to receive orders to this duty, or any other (in accord- ance with my previous application), which the Department may assign me to. "Very respectfully, your obedient servant, "Jno. a. Winslow, Commander. " Hon. Gideon Welles, "Secretary of the Navy, " Washington." 90 Detachment from Western Flotilla. 91 His relations with Davis were less personal but officially cordial, and he remained content with his assignment as long as that officer commanded the flotilla, although his promotion to Captain towards the close of the period gave him rank out of pro- portion to his command. About the ist of October, however, it became known that Davis was to be relieved from command of the flotilla and David D. Porter was to be advanced and assigned to it as flag officer. Porter was junior to Winslow, so that it became the latter's right and duty to request a new assiofnment commensurate with his rank. Another incident occurred at this time which seemed to make him dissatisfied and not a little disgusted with his command. It is fully set forth in the following letter, which seems, too, to have closed it. " Gunboat '^ Baron de Kalb^ " Memphis, October 4, 1862. " My dear Sir : "I am in receipt under your frank, of a communication, addressed by a writer in this vessel, to the editor of the Balti- more American. The endeavor of the author seems to be to show that the late paymaster and myself were not faithful to our trusts. Had the author taken the same pains to show that I was nearly an abolitionist and a person who believed that Wendell Phillips was fifty years in advance of the age, he had come nearer the truth. The two allegations mentioned are, first, that on learning the news of Pope's being driven back to Arlington Heights, I had said ' I was glad of it, I wish they would bag old Abe ' ; this is true, so far as I recollect, but the eaves-dropping hearer is silent as to the context which followed, which was this, 'for until something is done to arouse the Government we shall have no fixed policy.' Secondly, that I had treated a rebel officer in transit for 92 John Ancrum Winslow. exchange courteously, and before his departure had shown him all the weak points of the vessel. The first part of this is also true ; but the author was no doubt ignorant that the officer was a prisoner who had been captured at Donelson, and had fought the boat, and was acquainted from inspection of all her weak points before, and it was to remove his impressions of her weakness, that he was asked if he would like to look at her. The officer had learned that the Mound City had been blown up by plunging shot, and his inspection taught him that this vessel was proof against a similar catastrophe. ** By way of episode, I will state that on the completion of these boats, my attention was directed to remedying some of their many defects, in the most practicable manner, but my absence at home from a hurt received, prevented the con- summation of this object. I had however before leaving, informed poor Kilty of the manner I had intended to protect the boilers, begging him to adopt the same method. His reply was, he v/ould gladly adopt it, but it could not be done ; he was wrong, and from the blowing up of the Mound City, has to mourn this day his error. On my joining the Cincinnati I im- mediately set to work to carry out my views, and the boilers were fully protected before her departure for the White River, to which point I had orders for the command. The Caron- delet next followed, and her escape from being blown up by the Arkansas is alone owing to this protection. Subsequently the remainder of these boats adopted the same mode. Hav- ing been ordered to the command of the Memphis, etc., just before the advent of the Arkansas, time was afforded, and this boat was more effectually protected than any of the others, and the rebel officer was permitted to examine her. " As regards the views of the author on the loyalty of the late paymaster, he is equally at fault here. The paymaster was formerly a correspondent of Chicago Tribune. He was a black republican, who could suit their tastes at that period ; and at present his coat has received a deeper dye. " My would-be loyalist has no doubt learned ere this, that one in power can be kind and considerate to the erring, and yet be true and unshaken in principle, or he has not availed Detachment from Western Flotilla. 93 himself of those teachings, which I have so earnestly en- deavored to inculcate upon the crew. " One remark I will add, that when I was a boy, I learned an exi)osition by Horace of such discoveries, which is this, 'Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus,* which Jack, would translate : ' The fellow has fallen upon a mare's nest.' " With apologies for this unusual epistle for me, I remain, " Very truly yours &c., " J. A. WiNSLOW. " Hon. GusTAVus V. Fox, " Asstsla?it Secretary of the Navy^ " Washington." Endorsement. "C. C. Fulton, " With compliments of G. V. Fox, " Mr. Fulton will recollect the sailor's letter he sent me. " F." The following correspondence then ensued with the Navy Department : " Gunboat ' Baron de Kalb,^ Memphis, Oct. lo, 1862. " Sir : " The Department prior to ordering me to Western Flotilla was pleased to forward for my consideration a letter of Rear Admiral Foote. "The conditions under which I accepted having been ma- terially modified in the recent change of the Commander of the Flotilla fleet, I would respectfully request that the De- partment would assign me to other duty. " Very respectfully, " Your obedient serv't, "J. A. WiNSLOW, Captain. " The Hon'l " Gideon Welles, •' Secy of Navy, Washtn., D. C." 94 John Ancrum Winslow. Endorsement. " The application contained in this letter, which, if unquali- fied, would be regarded as an act of insubordination, is for- warded with the following remark : " The language of Captain Winslow implies that there is a special understanding with the Department : otherwise, I should recommend that the request be not complied with. " C. H. Davis, " Actg. Rear Admiral^ " Comdg. Miss. Squadron." " Navy Department, " Oct. 22, 1862. " Capt. Jno. a. Winslow, U. S. Navy^ " Cairo, Ills. " Sir : " Your letter of the loth instant in which you state that ' the conditions under which I accepted having been materially- modified in the recent change of the Commander of the Flotilla Fleet, I would respectfully request that the Depart- ment would assign me to other duty ' has been received. " You are hereby detached from the Mississippi Squadron and placed on Furlough. " I am respectfully, " Gideon Welles." "Cairo, III., A^ov. i, 1S62. "Sir: " I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the Department's letter placing me on furlough. " It would appear that the Department seems to think that I have in some way reflected on them for placing a Junior Officer in command of the Flotilla. Of this the Department may feel assured, that I never questioned their judgment in the selection they have made : the law is full and am])le, and the Department was the proper judge of who should be ap- pointed, and I may say I do not know a better officer than Admiral Porter. But I beg leave to state that my relations Detachment from Western Flotilla. 95 with Admiral Foote were of that character, on private grounds, that it was a pleasure to be with him, and I accepted his offer, made through the Department, when I knew I was only to command a gunboat of 340 tons. The appointment of Ad- miral Davis, or Porter, I conceive, under the circumstances, warranted me in asking for a better command, and I should have done so under the former, except for the charge of fickle- ness. " I enclose a letter addressed to me by the officers of the Baron de Kalb, which as a testimonial to my character, I re- spectfully submit. My duty is to inform the Department that my residence is in Roxbury, Mass. " Very respectfully, *' Your obedient servt., " J. A. WiNSLOW, Capt. "The Hon. G. AVelles, " Secretary of the Navy, " Washington." " U. S. Gunboat ^ Baron de Kalb^ " Mississippi River, Oct. j/, 1862. " Sir : — It having come to our knowledge that you are de- tached from this vessel, and are soon to leave us for your home, we desire that you bear with you this testimonial of all the officers with whom you have been associated on board this boat. " We feel indeed that no greater calamity could have be- fallen us than to part with you at this time. Your unexampled deportment, your kind and forbearing nature, in connection with your many Christian virtues, has so completely attached us to you, that we feel with deep regret the loss we are about to sustain ; and our earnest wish is that you may soon again be back with us. " In the meantime, while you are far away from us, we would have you bear in mind, in your leisure moments, that far out in the South West is a band of patriots, grouped together on board this boat, in social conversation, which will be often turned to wishing and praying for your health and happiness. 96 John Ancrum Winslow. " Receive now our farewell, with the hope that our country could appreciate your worth as we know it. " Yours, sincerely and truthfully, " (Signed) " R. G. Baldwin, Pilot. " Wm. C. Underwood, Pilot. "John Wise, Asst. Surgeon. " Alex. Frazier, jrd Master. " John N. Johnston, Pirst Lieut. " Wm. Carswell, Chief Pngineer. " Thomas AcKERMAN, ist Asst. Pngineer. " B. Smith, " " " "W. Wilcoxen, " " " "Charles Kenbrick, 2d Master. " R. C. Madill, //// Master. "William A. Mann, A. A. Paymaster. " To Capt. John A. Winslow, " U. S. Gunboat 'Paroti de Kalb.' " " Navy Department, " Washington, November^, 1862. " Captain John A. Winslow, U. S. Navy, " Roxbury, Mass. " Sir : "Your letter of the ist instant, explanatory of your previous one requesting to be detached from the Mississippi Squadron has been received and which is satisfactory to the Depart- ment. " You are hereby relieved from Furlough and you will regard yourself as waiting orders. " I am respectfully, " Gideon Welles." CHAPTER XII. ASSIGNMENT TO COMMAND THE KEARSARGE. CAPTAIN WINSLOW reached home so satu- rated with malaria from the river swamps and weakened by overwork, and so much disturbed in mind and spirit by the method of his detachment, that he quickly succumbed to illness. A painful disease in his right eye, from which he finally lost its sight, now began to develop, while the sudden change of climate brought on neuralgia. He was confined to his bed when orders came, just a month after his arrival home, to take passage in the U. S. S. Vanderbilt, from New York for Fayal, to com- mand the Kearsarge. His physician told him that he was unfit to travel and urged him to apply to be relieved of the orders, but he would not hear of it. On Sunday night, December 7th, he took train for New York, accompanied by his son, and at once sought his berth. It had snowed throughout the previous day and the high wind that followed had caused deep and dangerous drifts along the road. Two enorines forced the train throuQrh until about four miles from Springfield, when they jumped the tracks, dragging the baggage, mail and express 97 98 John Ancrum Winslow. cars with them. Captain Winslow was so ill that he did not leave his berth, but was content with his son's investio^ation of the accident. The U. S. S. Kearsarge was then on her first cruise. She was a bark-rigged steam sloop of war of 1030 tons displacement, and had been launched at Portsmouth, N. H., on the 5th of October, 1861. On the 24th of January, 1862, she was put in com- mission at the Portsmouth Navy Yard by Captain Charles W. Pickering, who was ordered to com- mand her. Captain Pickering's first orders were to join the Gulf Squadron, but they were almost im- mediately modified, and he was directed to proceed with the utmost despatch to Cadiz, Spain, in search of the Confederate cruiser Siimter, commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes. On the 5th of Febru- ary the Kearsarge passed out of Portsmouth har- bor, cheered and saluted from the forts at the entrance, and a month later she arrived at Gibral- tar, where she found the Sumter blockaded by the U. S. S. Tuscarora. The surveillance of the Sumter continued through the spring and sum- mer, when it was learned that she was to be aban- doned as a Confederate cruiser, and orders were sent to Captain Pickering to proceed to his original des- tination in the Gulf of Mexico. These orders were quickly countermanded, however, for the Navy Department, having learned of the commissioning of the Confederate Cruiser Alabama and her first depredations in the Azores, sent the Kearsarge to search their neighborhood. She cruised about these islands during October until it became evi- Assignment to Command Kearsarge. 99 dent that the Alaba77ia had sought other fields ; then she returned to Gibraltar, and went from there to Cadiz, about the end of the year, for necessary- repairs. Through a dilatoriness on the part of Spanish dockyard employees, which seemed almost intentional, she was delayed there nearly four months, although Captain Pickering, who had learned that his relief was awaiting him in Fayal, did everything in his power to hasten the work. These months of waiting, while probably a benefit to Winslow's general health, were endured by him with much impatience. " AsTOR House, New York, " Tues. Night, Dec. 9, 1862. " We sail to-morrow at 9 o'clock in the U. S. S. Vanderbilt. I have been busy making arrangements and am as ready as the short time will allow. The severe strain on my eye in going about so much has not improved it any, though I do not think it worse, and as soon as I get quiet on board ship, I have no doubt I shall mend rapidly. ... we shall cruise slowly, looking about for the Alabama on our way out." " Fayal, Western Islands, "'Dec. 24, 1862. " After a pleasant passage of fourteen days, uninterrupted by encounters with the Alabama, we have dropped anchor in this port, and I have again met that courteous old gentleman, Mr. Dabney. I am sorry to say my eye continues to trouble me with much pain, especially at night, and my cold hangs on, with the lungs inflamed, which keeps me under the weather. It will take a month at least before I regain my usual health. " We learn the Kearsarge, which we expected to find here, is in dry-dock at Cadiz repairing her screw. I know nothing of the future movements of this vessel or my own, which are dependent on our news from England. " Our passage out (in the U. S. S. Vanderbilt) was zigzag. lOo John Ancrum Winslow. under a low head of steam, hoping to hear of or fall in with the Alabama.'' " Fayal, Dec. 30, 1862. " The Barque Azov belonging to Mr. Dabney has just ar- rived — twelve days from Boston — bringing papers up to the 17th. I see Burnside has crossed the Rappahannock, been defeated and again recrossed. — Sad news ! also that the Ala- bama has turned up off Martinique, where she has been burn- ing and laying waste shipping. The Vanderbilt will sail immediately for Martinique. We ' remain here awaiting the arrival of the Kearsarge. " I learn to-day that the Alabama has got out again, and is pursuing her roving mission of destruction. " By a steamer, bound to Cadiz from Havana, which has just come in, I have written Pickering that despatches are here awaiting him to give up his ship. I am in hopes my eye will grow better under the genial influence of this delightful cli- mate. The inflammation in it was so serious that time must elapse before its complete restoration. I am therefore thank- ful for the rest on shore." " Fayal, ^an. ii, /S6j. "On the 8th inst., the Onward, one of our cruisers, which sailed from Boston on the 6th of November in pursuit of the Alabatfta, arrived from Madeira. She has been despatched to England by Captain Craven of the Tuscarora for information connected with sailing of vessels and supplies for the Alabama. Had I any definite information that the Kearsarge would be detained in Cadiz, I would proceed there with the other two officers in the Onward. But as I am daily expecting her here, since I have written Capt. Pickering, I think my best course is to remain here, lest we might cross each other's tracks. I am exceedingly weary and lonely and feel like one expatri- ated, away from home and all I hold dear. My eye is not so well and I have taken cold again. To-day I returned the Governor's call, the principal subject of conversation — the never ending war." ' Lieutenant-Commander Thornton accompanied Captain Winslow as his executive officer. Assignment to Command Kearsarge. loi " Fayal, Azores, Feb. i, 1S63. " I am still without any news of the Kearsarge, and am un- able to say when we shall be released as prisoners from these Islands. It seems strange that the Department did not know more about the Kearsarge before we were ordered here. How- ever, we have only to have patience, of which I am certain it requires no small amount. What I miss more than anything is a Protestant Church, but I have regularly held service for the family of the Hotel, none of the boarders but myself being present. Our news from the United States is up to the 20th of December, giving us details of the battle of Fredericksburg, which occurred six days after we left." " Faval, Azores, March 14, 1863. " What do you think of our remaining here all winter ? The Kearsarge has been in dock, repairing at Cadiz, long enough to have built a vessel in the United States, and I am not aware that she has yet got out. " We hear the Tuscarora has gone to Cadiz to repair boilers. It is singular that neither of these vessels has been about these Islands. For the last fortnight, several suspicious steamers have been cruising about them, from which no information can be gained. You may judge our state of feeling, shut out from the world in this small Island, with only occasional news from some transient vessel passing. It needs all one's phil- osophy to bear patiently this exile. Again I am in need of an oculist for my eye, which has not improved at all since I left home, and although the sight, which was but a haze for the last year or two, has now departed, still the eye remains in- flamed and pains me more or less constantly, and I therefore need the advice of a skilful oculist which is not to be had here. The Department no doubt have felt their error in ordering us here, which Pickering writes me must have been caused by their not receiving his letters, as he has informed them of the state of the Kearsarge. My chiefest sorrow is that the lost time could not have been spent at home, which Mr. Dab- ney says was necessary for my health. " It is true, when I arrived here I was a mere shadow, for the disease which seized hold of my eye on the Mississippi I02 John Ancrum Winslow. River only developed itself afterwards and affected my whole system. The cold which I took before I left home settled in my lungs, and hung on for six weeks after I arrived here, and I cannot foresee how long it will be before the inflammation leaves my eye. "Our accounts from the United States brought up to the attack on the blockading squadron off Charleston and Galves- ton with poor William Renshaw's death and Mayhew Wain- wright's, also the sinking of the Hatteras by the Alabama. The news from Vicksburg, etc. "The Alabama endeavored to capture the ^s^ifr- /lound vciz.dQ off with Captain Semmes and others, and also the very officer who had come on board to surrender. " I learned subsequently that the Deerhound was a con- sort of the Alabama^ and that she received on board all the valuable personal effects of Captain Semmes the night before the engagement. " I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, " Jno. a. Winslow, Captain. " Hon. Gideon Welles, " Secretary of the JVavy, Washington, D. C." " My despatch of the 21st ulto. informed the Department of the proceedings of the Deerhound yacht, her gradual edging to leeward, leading us to suppose she was seeking men who were drifting in the current, and then taking advantage of the hazy weather to make off, while our boats were out busy in rescuing the larger part of the prisoners who were struggling in the water. " It was my mistake at the moment, that I could not recog- nize an enemy, who, under the guise ot a friend was affording assistance." Captain Semmes to Flag Officer Samuel Barron, June 21, 1864 : '■ . Some twenty minutes after my furnace fires had been extinguished, and the ship being on the pomt of settling, every man, in obedience to a previous order which had been given to the crew, jumped overboard and endeavored to save himself. There was no appearance of any boat coming to me from the enemy until after the ship went down. Fortunately, The Conduct of the Deerhound. 223 however, the steam yacht Deerhound^ owned by a gentleman of Lancashire, England (Mr. John Lancaster), who was him- self on board, steamed up in the midst of my drowning men and rescued a number of both officers and men from the water. I was fortunate enough myself thus to escape to the shelter of the neutral flag, together with about forty others, all told. About this time the Kcarsarge sent one and then tardily, another boat. . . ." Confederate Commissioner Mason to Mr. Lan- caster : " 24 Upper Seymour Street, Portman Square, "London, June 21, 1864. " Dear Sir: I received from Captain Semmes at Southamp- ton, where I had the pleasure to see you yesterday, a full report of the efficient service rendered under your orders by the officers and crew of your yacht, the Deerhound^ in rescuing him, with thirteen of his officers and twenty-seven of his crew, from their impending fate after the loss of his ship. " Captain Semmes reports that, finding the Alabama actually sinking, he had barely time to dispatch his wounded in his own boats to the enemy's ship, when the Alabama went down ; that nothing was left to those who remained on board but to throw themselves into the sea; their own boats absent, there seemed no prospect of relief when your yacht arrived in their midst and your boats were launched; and he impressively told me that to this timely and generous succor he, with most of his officers and a portion of his crew, were indebted for their safety. He further told me that on their arrival on board the yacht every care and kindness were extended to them which their exhausted condition required, even to supplying all with dry clothing " I am fully aware of the noble and disinterested spirit which prompted you to go to the rescue of the gallant crew of the Alabama^ and that I can add nothing to the recom- pense already received by you and those acting under you in the consciousness of having ' done as you would be done by' ; yet you will permit me to thank you, and through you 2 24 John Ancrum Winslow. the captain, officers, and crew of the Deerhomid^ for this signal service, and to say that in doing so I but anticipate the grateful sentiment of my country and of the Government of the Confederate States. " I have the honor to be, dear sir, most respectfully and truly, your obedient servant, << j y Mason *' John Lancaster, Esq., " Hindley Hall, Wigan (England)." " Hindley Hall, "Near Wigan (England), June, 24, 1864. *' Dear Sir: " I am in due receipt of your esteemed favor of the 21st instant, and am gratified to find that the timely aid we ren- dered with the yacht DeerJiound to the gallant captain and officers and crew of the Alabama has met with your approval. I shall always look back to that event with satisfaction, how- ever much we may regret the result which necessitated inter- ference. .. Yours, very respectfully, " John Lancaster. " Hon. J. Y. Mason." Letter from Mr. Lancaster to the London Daily News : " Hindley Hall, "Wigan, June 27, 1864. "Sir: " As two correspondents of your journal, in giving their ver- sions of the fight between the Alabama and the Kearsarge^ have designated my share in the escape of Captain Semmes and a portion of the crew of the sunken ship as ' dishonorable, ' and have, moreover, affirmed that my yacht, the Deer/wund, was in the harbor of Cherbourg before the engagement, and pro- ceeded thence on the morning of the engagement in order to assist the Alabama, I presume I may trespass upon your kind- ness so far as to ask for an opportunity to repudiate the imputation and deny the assertion. They admit that when the Alabama went down the yacht, being near the Kearsarge, was hailed by Captain Winslow and requested to aid in picking The Conduct of the Deerhound. 225 up the men who were in the water; but they intimate that my services were expected to be merely ministerial, or, in other words, that I was to put myself under the command of Captain Winslow, and place my yacht at his disposal for the capture of the poor fellows who were struggling in the water for their lives. The fact is, that when we passed the Kearsarge, the captain cried out, ' For God's sake do what you can to 'save them,' and that was my warrant for interfering in any way for the aid and succor of his enemies. It may be a question with some whether, without that, warrant, I should have been justi- fied in endeavoring to rescue any of the crew of the Alabama, but my own opinion is that a man drowning in the open sea cannot be regarded as an enemy at the time to anybody, and is therefore entitled to the assistance of any passer-by.' Be this as it may, I had the earnest request of Captain Winslow to rescue as many of the men who were in the water as I could lay hold of, but that request was not coupled with any stipu- lation to the effect that I should deliver up the rescued men to him as his prisoners. If it had been, I should have declined the task, because I should have deemed it dishonorable— that IS, inconsistent with my notions of honor — to lend my yacht and crew for the purpose of rescuing those brave men from drowning only to hand them over to their enemies for im- prisonment, ill-treatment, and perhaps execution. One of your correspondents opens a letter by expressing a desire to bring to the notice of the yacht clubs of England the conduct of the commander of the Deerhound which followed the en- gagement of the Alabama and Kearsarge. Now that my con- duct has been impugned I am equally wishful that it should come under the notice of the yacht clubs of England, and I am quite willing to leave the point of ' honor ' to be decided by my brother yachtsmen, and, indeed, by any tribunal of gentlemen. As to my legal right to take away Captain Semmes and his friends, I have been educated in the belief that an English ship is English territory, and am therefore unable even now to discover why I was more bound to surrender the people of the Alabafna whom I had on board my yacht than the owner of a garden on the south coast of England would 226 John Ancrum Winslow. have been if they had swum to such a place and landed there, or than the mayor of Southampton was when they were lodging in that city, or than the British Government is now that it is known that they are somewhere in England. " Your other correspondent says that Captain Winslow de- clares that ' the reason he did not pursue the Deerhound or fire into her was that he could not believe at the time that anyone carrying the flag of the Royal Yacht Squadron could act so dishonorable a part as to carry off the prisoners whom he had requested him to save from feelings of humanity.' I was not aware then, and I am not aware now, that the men whom I saved were or ever had been his prisoners. Whether any of the circumstances which had preceded the sinking of the Alabatna constituted them prisoners was a question that never came under my consideration and one which I am not disposed to discuss even now. I can only say that it is a new doctrine to me that when one ship sinks another in warfare the crew of the sunken ship are debarred from swimming for their lives and seeking refuge wherever they can find it, and it is a doctrine which I shall not accept unless backed by better authority than that of the master of the Kearsarge. What Captain Winslow's notion of humanity may be is a point beyond my knowledge, but I have good reason for be- lieving that not many members of the Royal Yacht Squadron would, from motives of humanity, have taken Captain Semmes from the water in order to give him up to the tender mercies of Captain Winslow and his compatriots. Another reason for that hero's forbearance maybe imagined in the reflection that such a performance as that of Captain Wilkes, who dragged two ' enemies ' or ' rebels ' from an English ship, would not bear repetition. Your anonymous correspondent further says that ' Captain Winslow would now have all the officers and men of the Alabama as prisoners had he not placed too much confidence in the honor of an Englishman who carried the flag of the Royal Yacht Squadron.' This is a very question- able assertion, for why did Captain Winslow confide in that Englishman ? Why did he implore his interference, calling out, ' For God's sake do what you can to save them ? ' I The Conduct of the Deerhound. 227 presume it was because he could not or would not save them himself. The fact is that if the captain and crew of the Ala- bama had depended for safety altogether upon Captain Wins- low, not one-half of them would have been saved. He got quite as many of them as he could lay hold of time enough to deliver them from drowning. " I come now to the more definite charges advanced by your correspondents, and these I will soon dispose of. " They maintain that my yacht was in the harbor of Cher- bourg for the purpose of assisting the Alabama, and that her movements before the action prove that she attended her for the same object. My impression was that that yacht was in Cherbourg to suit my convenience and pleasure, and 1 am quite sure that when there I neither did nor intended to do anything to serve the Alabama. We steamed out on Sunday morning to see the engagement, and the resolution to do so was the result of a family council whereat the question ' to go out ' or ' not to go out ' was duly discussed, and the deci- sion in the affirmative was carried by the juveniles rather against the wish of both myself and my wife. Had I contem- plated taking any part in the movements of the Alabama, I do not think I should have been accompanied with my wife and several young children. " One of your correspondents, however, says that he knows that the Deerhound did assist the Alabama, and if he does know this he knows more than I do. As to the movements of the Deerhound before the action, all the movements with which I was acquainted were for the objects of enjoying the summer morning and getting a good and safe place from which to watch the engagement. " Another of your correspondents declares that since the affair it has been discovered that the Deerhound was a consort of the Alabama, and on the night before had received many valuable articles for safe-keeping from that vessel. This is simply untrue. Before the engagement neither I nor any of my family had any knowledge of or communication with either Captain Semmes, any of his officers, or any of his crew. Since the fight I have enquired from my captain whether he or any 228 John Ancrum Winslow. of my crew had had any communication with the captain or crew of the Alabama prior to meeting them on the Decrkoufid after the engagement, and his answer, given in the most em- phatic manner, has been ' None whatever.' " As to the deposit of chronometers and other valuable articles, the whole story is a myth. Nothing was brought from the Alabama to the Deerhound, and I never heard of the tale until I saw it in an extract from your own columns. After the fight was over, the drowning men picked up, and the Deerhound steaming away to Southampton, some of the officers who had been saved began to express their acknowledgments for my services, and my reply to them, which was addressed to all who stood around, was, ' Gentlemen, you have no need to give me any special thanks; I should have done exactly the same for the other people if they had needed it.' This speech would have been a needless and, indeed, an absurd piece of hypocrisy if there had been any league or alliance between the Alabama and the Deerhound. " Both your correspondents agree in maintaining that Captain Semmes and such of his crew as were taken away by the Deerhound are bound in honor to consider themselves still as prisoners, and to render themselves to their lawful captors as soon as practicable. " This is a point which I have nothing to do with, and therefore I shall not discuss it. " My object in this letter is merely to vindicate my conduct from misrepresentation, and I trust that in aiming at this I have not transgressed any of your rules of correspondence, and shall therefore be entitled to a place in your columns. " I am, etc., " John Lancaster. " The Editor of tlie Daily News.''' Statement of the Captain of the Dccrho2i7id (from Two Years on the Alabama, by Lieut. Arthur Sinclair, C. S. N.) : " On June 9, 1864, we were lying at St. Malo, where we landed Mr. Lancaster and family, after a cruise among the The Conduct of the Deerhoitnd. 229 Channel Islands. On their leaving, we immediately set sail for Cherbourg, calling on our way to Jersey for letters. We arrived at Cherbourg, and came to anchor close to the Ala- bama, and to an English sailing-yacht, the Hornet. We had no communication with the Alabama during our stay in the harbor, except to send alongside, asking permission to visit, which they refused, saying that they were too busy. We could see from our vessel that they were practising boarding-drill, and surmised that they had it in view to board the Kearsarge in the engagement which rumor in Cherbourg had it was to take place on the following Sunday. " On the day previous to the fight I met Mr. Lancaster and family at the station (as was my custom), and informed him that the Alabama was lying in the harbor. I reminded him that she was built at Messrs. Lairds' yard, at Birkenhead, during the time that theZ>^^r//6'z^«^was there being lengthened. I also told him that the Kearsarge had steamed in at the east end of the harbor and out at the west, evidently taking a sur- vey of the enemy. No doubt this was a great advantage to Capt. Winslow, who also got at the same time a full report of the Alabamans condition from the American consul of the port — especially as to the condition of her boilers, which I believe were in a very bad state. " After the Alabama went down, we steamed round the star- board quarter of the Kearsarge, and Capt. Winslow asked us to render all assistance possible to the drowning crew. We picked up forty-two, including Captain Semmes, who had a life-belt on when rescued. William Roberts, our chief steward, recognized Semmes in the water from having seen him pre- viously on the Confederate steamship Sumter, at Gibraltar, where the Deerhound happened to be at the same time. Mr. Kell, the first officer of the Alabafna, was rescued with Semmes; and Semmes probably owed his life to him, as he unquestionably did his liberty. It was Kell who suggested that Semmes should lie flat in the bottom of the boat to pre- vent his recognition by the party in the Kearsarge' s launch, which was close by us, and who donned himself one of our crew's hats, with the word " deerhound " on it, and took an 230 John Ancrum Winslow. oar, so as to pass for one of our men. The question was asked from the launch whether Semmes had been saved or not. Kell promptly replied, ' He is drowned; ' and the assurance was accepted, thus securing Semmes's escape. We were sorry we did not succeed in saving Mr. Llewellyn, the surgeon. Our boat was but a few yards off, and pulling toward him, when he went down. " On our way to Southampton we passed the sailing-yacht Hornet^ Hewitt, master; and one of the saved men remarked that they had all their treasure, including about sixty chro- nometers, on board her. The same evening we arrived off Cowes, where Mr. Lancaster went on shore and reported himself at Cowes Castle as a member of the Royal Yacht squadron. We landed all the saved men at Southampton. The next day Mr. Lancaster gave the Times correspondent all the details. Afterward Mr. Mason (of the Mason and Slidell episode) came on board, and thanked Mr. Lancaster and family for their kindness and humanity. " When Semmes came on board he was wounded and ex- hausted, and a most miserable object to look at. But after a little nursing he came on deck as bright as a dandy-cock. Semmes seemed to be greatly reverenced by his crew, but I think Kell had their deepest regard. According to their idea, Kell was Semmes's mainstay and chief counsellor, and the commander owed much of his success and reputation to his first officer's sagacity and promptness of resource. " Evan P. Jones, Captain, " Yacht ' Deer hound.' " The action of the Deerhoimd was the subject of persistent diplomatic discussion between the United States and British governments for nearly six months, and searching inquiry was made by United States officials in England and France to learn how far the yacht had been an accomplice of The Conduct of the Deerhound. 2^1 the Confederate cruiser, but no positive evidence was ever found. The correspondence finally ceased with no official concession on either side. Never- theless, opinion seems now to be crystallizing. The International Peace Conference at The Haeue. 1899, in formulating a convention for adapting the principles of the Geneva Convention of 1864 to maritime warfare, introduced the followino- : o " Article 6. Les batiments de commerce, yachts oc em- barcations neutres, portant ou recueillant des blesses, des malades ou des naufrages des belligerants, ne peuvent etre captures pour le fait de ce transport, mais ils restent exposes a la capture pour les violations de neutralite qu'ils pourraient avoir commisses." " Article g. Sont prisonniers de guerre les naufrages, blesses ou malades, d'un belligerant qui tombent au pouvoir de I'autre. This convention was signed by the representa- tives of France, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Nor- way, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Greece, Mexico, Persia, Siam, Bulgaria, Romania and Mon- tenegro. It was not signed by the representatives of the United States, but in the United States Naval War Code prepared under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, approved by the Presi- dent of the United States, and issued for the navy, June 27, 1900, is found : '* Article 2j. Merchant vessels, yachts, or neutral vessels that happen to be in the vicinity of active maritime hostilities, may gather up the wounded, sick, or shipwrecked of the belligerents. Such vessels, after this service has been per- formed, shall report to the belligerent commander controlling 232 John Ancrum Winslow. the waters thereabouts, for future directions, and while ac- companying a belligerent will be, in all cases, under his orders; and if a neutral, be designated by the national flag of that belligerent carried at the foremasthead, with the red cross flag flying immediately under it. " These vessels are subject to capture for any violation of neutrality that they may commit. Any attempt to carry off such wounded, sick, and shipwrecked, without permission, is a violation of neutrality. . . ." CHAPTER XXI THE SOJOURN OF THE VICTOR AT CHERBOURG. IT was now necessary to repair the damages of battle, to place the wounded in hospitals, and to dispose of the prisoners who encumbered the Kearsarge s decks and for whom she had no berthing space. With characteristic promptness Captain Winslow decided to release his prisoners on parole the afternoon of the day of battle. This action was strongly disapproved by the Navy De- partment. It was, however, perfectly legitimate, and the following correspondence demonstrates its expediency : Sir: U. S. S. ' Kearsarge^ "Cherbourg, France, " yune 21 st, 1864. " I have the honor to report that the number of prisoners brought on board the Kearsarge, belonging to the Alabama, was seventy, six officers and sixty-four men. One officer — Carpenter — and two men dying and seventeen wounded are included in this number. " As we have very contracted accommodations for our own crew, without increase, it became indispensable to send these prisoners on shore, and their parole was taken. With excep- tion of the Doctor, — non-combatant, — who was put on parole that he might attend to his wounded, the officers were held as prisoners of war. 233 234 John Ancrum Winslow. " I learn that three officers with six men were carried on shore at Cherbourg by pilot boats, but of the number who reached England in the Deerhound, I have no reliable accounts. " I have the honor to be " Very respectfully " Your obedient servant, " Jno. a. Winslow, Captain. " Hon. Gideon Welles, " Secretary of the JVavy, "Washington, D. C." " U. S. S. ^ Kearsarge* "Sir: " I have the honor to enclose herewith the original written parole subscribed by the prisoners of the Alabama. " I have the honor to be " Very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, " Jno. a. Winslow, Captain. " Hon. Gideon Welles, ' ' Secretary of the JVavy, "Washington, D. C." " Enclosures. *' U. S. S. ' Kearsarge^ " Port of Cherbourg, France, ' ' fime ig, 1S64. " We, the seamen and others lately belonging to the steamer Alabama^ and captured in the action between that vessel and the U. S. S. Kearsarge off this port on the 19th day of June, 1864, now prisoners of war, do hereby solemnly pledge our sacred word of honor not to engage in arms against or other- wise employ ourselves against the interest of the Government of the United States of America until we shall be regularly exchanged." " t/. 5. S. ' Kear surge,'' "Port of Cherbourg, France, " fune ig, 1S64. *' We, the wounded prisoners of war, late seamen and others on board the Alabama^ captured in the action off Cherbourg Sojourn of the Victor at Cherbourg 235 by the U. S. S. Kearsarge on the 19th of June, 1864, do solemnly affirm upon our sacred word of honor that we will not bear arms against or otherwise operate against the interest of the Government of the United States in any manner what- soever until we shall have been regularly exchanged." The officers of the Alabama, as stated by Wins- low, remained prisoners of war. One of these, however, was subsequently paroled under the fol- lowing circumstances : ,, n, „ "London, July i^, 1864. My dear Sir: . ./ ^ j. ^ " Mr. Wilson, one of the persons taken at the time of the action with the Alabama, and now a prisoner on parole in your ship, has called to see me to ask a word from me to you in favor of giving him his liberty on parole. " I decline to assume any authority with you in regard to the disposition you think proper to make of your prisoners. At the same time, I have reasons to suppose that this young gentleman has acted honorably in this business by recognizing his obligations, and therefore I should regret that he should experience no more liberal treatment in return than one who disregarded them would deserve. " Under these circumstances, if in your judgment this case, for any reason of the health of the person or any other good cause, is one in which you can make an exception, having a reliance on the honor of the individual, that he will take no improper advantage of it, I will very cheerfully concur in your opinion and approve of your act. ' ' I am, very truly, yours, " C. F. Adams. ' ' Envoy Ext7-aordtnary and Minister Plenipotentiary, " Captain Jno. A. Winslow, " Commanding U. S. S. ' Kearsarge^* " Cherbourg, France." Endorsement. " Notify General Butler of this. "Welles." 236 John Ancrum Winslow. "' U. S. S. ' Kearsarge* " Off Dover, July 14, 1864. " The conduct of Joseph D. Wilson, late lieutenant on board the Alabama, has been so honorable, first, in presenting himself on board the Kearsarge and surrendering himself when it was in his power to have gone on board the Deerhoimd and gained his liberty in the dishonorable manner which others had taken, and again, in his repudiation of the means pursued by those who obtained their liberty in this way, and his de- portment while a prisoner having been of the same honorable standard, at the instance of Mr. Adams, minister of the United States at the court of St. James, I have paroled the said Wil- son; and feeling a full confidence and trust in his word and honor, I recommend that all privileges which can be given a prisoner of war should be extended to him, believing fully he will never violate any obligation which he pledges himself to fulfil. " Jno. a. Winslow, Captain. " Lieutenant J. D. Wilson, C. S. Navy." The Navy Department expressed its disapproba- tion of the parole of prisoners as soon as it learned of such action : " Navy Department, " July T2, 1864. "Sir: •' Your dispatch of the 21st ultimo is received, stating your efforts to save the lives of the survivors of the Alabama after the battle of the 19th of June, and after the formal surrender and destruction of that vessel. Your efforts in the cause of humanity in striving to rescue these men, most of them aliens, who have, under their ignoble leader, himself a deserter from our service and a traitor to our flag, been for nearly two years making piratical war on unarmed merchantmen, are rightly appreciated. It is to be regretted that the confidence and generous sympathy which you exercised, and which would actuate all honorable minds under similar circumstances, should have been so requited and abused by the persons on Sojourn of the Victor at Cherbourg 237 board the Deer/iound, an English vessel of the Royal Yacht Squadron. That the wretched commander of the sunken corsair should have resorted to any dishonorable means to escape after his surrender; that he should have thrown over- board the sword that was no longer his ; that before en- countering an armed antagonist the mercenary rover should have removed the chronometers and other plunder stolen from peaceful commerce, are not matters of surprise, for each act has been characteristic of one who has been false to his country and flag. You could not have expected, however, that gentlemen, or those claiming to be gentlemen, would on such an occasion act in bad faith, and that having been called upon or permitted to assist in rescuing persons or property which had been surrendered to you, would run away with either. It is now evident that your confidence in the Deer- hound and the persons connected with her was misplaced. The Department commends your efforts to save the lives of drowning men, although they had been engaged in robbing and destroying the property of those who had never injured them. " In paroling the prisoners, however, you committed a grave error. The Alabama was an English-built vessel, armed and manned by Englishmen; has never visited any port of North America, and her career of devastation since she went forth from England is one that does not entitle those of her crew who were captured to be paroled. This Department expressly disavows that act. Extreme caution must be exer- cised that we in no way change the character of this English- built and English-manned, if not English-owned, vessel, or relieve those who may be implicated in sending forth this rob- ber upon the seas from any responsibility to which they may be liable for the outrages she has committed. " Very respectfully, etc., " Gideon Welles, "Secretary of the Navy. " Captain Jno. A. Winslow, U. S. Navy, " Commanding U. S. S. ' Kearsarge,* " Cherbourg, France." 238 John Ancrum Winslow. Winslow's explanation seems to have closed the subject : ^^ 17. S. S. * Kearsarge, " English Channel, " yuly joth, 1864. " Sir: " The latter part of the despatch of the Department of the 8th inst. refers to the parole of the prisoners in these words: ' It is reported you have paroled the foreign pirates captured on board the Alabat/ia. I trust you have not committed this error of judgment. They should be held at every sacrifice and either sent home in the St. Louts or brought here by yourself.' " I beg the Department will consider the circumstances in which this vessel was placed at the termination of the action with the Alabama. The berth deck, contracted as it is, with insufficient stowage for our own men, was covered with bed- ding of the wounded, the quarter deck was similarly crowded, and the forward part of the ship on the spar deck was filled with prisoners under guard. The ship was damaged both in rigging and hull. A shot had entered the stern post raising the transom frame, and binding the rudder so hard as to require four men at the helm. It was, therefore, important that an examination should be made of the damages sustained. On our arrival at Cherbourg I received information from our Consul at London that the Florida was in the Channel on the French coast, and at the same time information came that the Yeddo was out and the Rappahannock was expected to follow, and in addition to this that the St. Louis had sailed for Madeira. " The Kcarsarge had been acting alone and independently for the last nine months, and I was not aware that any of our cruisers had been ordered in the Channel. " It became therefore in my mind of the utmost importance that the Kearsarge should at once be put in a state to meet these vessels and protect our commerce. This could not be done with prisoners on board equalling the half of our crew, and the room occupied by the wounded taken to the exclu- Sojourn of the Victor at Cherbourg 239 sion of our own men ; to have kept them would have required a quarter watch as guards and the ship would have been wholly ineffective as a man-of-war to meet the emergency which threatened. Under these circumstances, and without an American vessel in port by which any arrangement could be made for transshipping the prisoners outside, I felt it my duty to parole them. " A report appears in the papers that the prisoners were paroled contrary to Mr. Dayton's instructions. This is erroneous. Communication was had with Mr. Dayton on the subject of the officers and after these men were paroled. " I have the honor to be " Very respectfully " Your obedient servant, " Jno. a. Winslow, Captain. '* Hon. Gideon Welles, ' ' Secretary of the JVavy, "Washington, D. C." Of the three Confederate officers remaining in Winslow's custody, one, 3d Assistant Engineer J. W. Pundt, was permitted to go on shore at Dover for the benefit of his heahh, under a pledge to re- turn, which he failed to do, and the others, Chief Engineer M. J. Freeman and Boatswain B. P. Mecaskey, were brought to the United States in the Kearsarge and turned over to the United States Marshal as prisoners of war. One of the French pilot-boats engaged in rescue landed those recovered at Cherbourg. Lieutenant Armstrong, C.S.N. , thus describes the incident: Cherbourg, June 21, 1864. *'Sir: " I have the honor to report for your information the cir- cumstances attending my rescue from drowning by a French 240 John Ancrum Winslow. pilot boat after the Alabama went down. I was wounded in the side by a part of a shell early in the action, and suffered so much pain in the water that had it not been for the exer- tions of the Alabama" s crew I would certainly have gone down. One of the Kearsarge' s boats was very near me, but laid on its oars and made no exertion whatever that I could see to save me, the ofificer apparently looking for some particular person. I made great exertions to reach the French boat, and was finally pulled into her so benumbed by cold and suffering so much from my bruised side that I could not stand, and for two hours was as helpless as a child. I had on, while near the Kearsarge s boat, my uniform cap, which the Federal officer could certainly have seen. " The officers who were saved with me were Second Assist- ant Engineer William P. Brooks and Acting Sailmaker Henry Alcott. What time they got on board of the boat I cannot say. I found when my faculties returned the following men on board with me: " Charles Godwin, captain afterguard; James Welsh, captain top; George Edgerton, ordinary seaman; Thomas Murphy, fireman; William Robinson, seaman, and Morris Britt, boy. " As I got on board of the pilot boat I saw Michael Mars (seaman) plunge from the Kearsarge s boat and swim to the boat which I was in. The Federal officer said nothing, at- tempted nothing, appearing perfectly stupefied by the bold action of this brave man, " I am, sir, " Very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, " R. F. Armstrong, " Second Lieutenant, C. S. Navy. " Flag-Officer Saml. Barron, C. S. Navy, " Paris." Winslow did not overlook these refugees, and ad- dressed Confederate Agent Bonfils, of Cherbourg, on the subject as follows : Sojourn of the Victor at Cherbourg 241 ^'' U. S. S. '' K earsarge, "Cherbourg, France, ' ' June 22nd, 1864. " To Mr. Bonfils, " Sir: " Certain pilot boats, which I permitted for the sake of humanity, rescued several prisoners after the Alabama was sunk and have brought them to Cherbourg. These officers and men are not relieved from obligation which the law of war imposes. They are my prisoners and I demand that they repair on board the Kearsarge and give themselves up. " Should they seek exemption from this obligation by the means employed, hereafter, in similar cases they will be en- titled to no clemency. " I therefore request you will make known to such, the demand that I make. " Very respectfully " Your obedient servant, ** Jno. a, Winslow, Captain.'^ The emergency that warranted him in diverting the St. Louis from her station having passed, Wins- low telegraphed Commander Preble immediately after the battle, annulling the previous telegram, so she did not join the Keai^sarge. The wounded of the two vessels were transferred to the Naval Hospital at Cherbourg. A pen pic- ture of them is given by Mr. F. M. Edge, an Eng- lishman who visited the hospital : I paid a visit to that establishment on the Sun- day following the engagement, and found the sufferers lying in comfortable beds alongside each other in a long and admir- ably ventilated ward on the first floor. Poor Gowen, who died the following Tuesday, was in great pain, and already had the seal of death upon his face. James McBeath, a young fellow of apparently twenty years, with a compound fracture of the leg, chatted with much animation; while 16 242 John Ancrum Winslovv. Dempsey, the stump of his right arm laid on the pillow, was comfortably smoking a cigar, and laughing and talking with one of the Alabama crew, in the bed alongside him. The wounded men of the sunken piivateer were unmistakably English in physiognomy, and I failed to discover any who were not countrymen of ours. I conversed with all of them, stating at the outset that I was an Englishman like themselves, and the information seemed to open their hearts to me. They represented themselves as very comfortable at the hospital, that everything they asked for was given to them, and that they were surprised at the kindness of the Kearsarge men who came to visit the establishment, when they were assured by their own officers before the action that foul treatment would only be shown them in the event of their capture. Condoling with one poor fellow who had his leg carried away by a shell, he remarked to me, ' Ah, it serves me right. They won't catch me fighting again without knowing what I 'm fighting for.' ' That 's me too,' said another poor Englishman alongside of him. " The paroled prisoners (four officers) on shore at Cher- bourg, evinced no hostility whatever to their captors, but were always on the friendliest of terms with them. All alike fre- quented the same hotel in the town (curiously enough — ' The Eagle,') played billiards at the same caf^, and bought their pipes, cigars, and tobacco from the same pretty little brunette on the Quai du Port. The most graphic description of these days spent Cherbourg is given in a letter i Commander Thornton to a friend in Cherbourg is oriven in a letter from Lieutenant- " ' Kearsarge,^ " Cherbourg, June 2j, 1S64. "... Now that I have restored the noble old Kear- sarge to her former beauty and efficiency, and answered my numerous congratulatory letters {s/iort answers, you may de- pend upon it), and am quietly seated in my room, I can escape disturbance and have a pleasant chat with you. *' We have had a great victory, and the whole of Europe is Sojourn of the Victor at Cherbourg 243 ringing with it. Congratulatory letters are pouring in upon us from all quarters, and bouquets of flowers, with offers of boxes at the opera, and thousands of attentions besides. In the midst of it all I have been incessantly, and even furiously, occupied in getting the ship fully re-established in its former good order and condition. " You will learn all about the fight and the destruction of the Alabama in the papers. I believe I am awarded all the credit I could wish for the part I bore in the battle; but military pride and promotion have ceased in a great measure to be a motive with me. / have endeavored to do my duty to the couiitry and the service, both in battle and in the long, laborious and careful preparation for it. I have succeeded, and I am satisfied. I felt no excitement in the fight, but I watched its progress with professional interest, and I felt perfectly satis- fied with the result. That is all. " Very different were my feelings in former battles on the Mississippi and the Gulf. Then I felt all the excitement and all the enthusiasm of the scene, the desire to do and dare, in contempt of danger and death. Perhaps if we had been obliged to ' board ' the Alabama the rush of conflict would have re- vived the old feelings, but I doubt it. However, I must not mourn if I have been enabled to do my duty creditably. My old and honored commander, Admiral Rowan, will be pleased, and that is one gratification to me, and perhaps many another friend will be also. " By the by, we have news that the Alabama, (my head is so full of that nasty ship) rather the Niagara, departed for these waters on the 2d of this month, and we are expecting her daily. Now that the Alabama has been destroyed, the Georgia run into port and sold, the Rappahannock permanently seized by the French Government, and only the Florida left of all the rebel navy, perhaps the Kearsarge may be relieved by the Niagara and be allowed to return home. I can really see no further necessity for her presence in the Channel now, although the ' secesh ' avow, with many strange oaths, that they will fit out another Alabama in six weeks and sink the Kearsarge. But I rather think they have got enough for the 244 John Ancrum Winslow. present. I long to see the old Niagara stick her long nose toward the ' breakwater ' ; but I suppose we must wear out many a weary cruise before she really does come. But I do not think we shall see any more fighting, unless we can pick up the Florida. I have a sort of grudge against my old foe, but am willing that she should be taken by any other fortunate ship. " None of my messmates had ever been in action before. Judging from the papers, there is tremendous excitement both in England and France. The shipping in Liverpool and Havre is decorated, extra papers are issued, crowds collect at the corners of the streets, and the Kearsarge and Alabama are in every mouth. Our ship is full of excited and gaping strangers, and altogether there is such noise and confusion that I have despaired of keeping the ship quiet. If they would only make one day of it, I could stand it very well, but days have elapsed and the crowd is greater than ever. ' There never was such a ship as the Kearsarge, and there never was such an action before.' Such is the common talk, and I am sick and tired of it. " The shores of the old Channel have rung with the sound of naval artillery for centuries; and yet an hour's sharp fight- ing sets the French to jabbering, and John Bull to using worse language. The Alabama happened to have a battery of Etig- lish manufacture, while our own was purely America?!-. In calibre and mathematical force they were about equals, but the disproportion of effect was wonderful. The English will not ascribe it to superior training and discipline on our side, which is the true cause, but persist in trying to find fault with the fairness of the battle, when nothing could be fairer. The two ships were alike in size, the Alabat?ia mounting one gun in the broadside more than the Kearsarge, while the Kearsarge had two 1 1 -inch pivot guns, when the Alabama had one 8-inch and one 120-pounder Blakely rifled gun. There was a differ- ence of only 60 pounds in the weight of iron thrown at a single broadside. They were as nearly equal as ever two ships were. Profiting by former experience, we had " bighted " our sheet cables over the side for the better protection of our boilers. Sojourn of the Victor at Cherbourg 245 This had been done a year and a half before the action. Semmes was aware of this, but underrated its importance, and neglected to provide his ship with a similar defense. The chain was struck twice by the heaviest projectiles, and un- questionably saved us from damage. But the Alabama's men fired hurriedly, and almost always above our ship, while our men, trained to coolness and deliberation, fired slowly and into the Alabama. " Friday Evenitig. All day long we have been receiving and discharging French ofiticers, from the Admirals down to the lowest ' sub.' It is tiresome work, and I had rather fight twenty Alabamas. " Saturday Morning. Our repairs are nearly completed, and we shall leave here early next week for England. The Niagara has just gone into Antwerp, as we are informed by telegraph." Temporary repairs on the Kearsarge were com- pleted by July 5th, and Winslow was notified to leave port within twenty-four hours : "6/. S. S. ' Kearsarge,^ "Cherbourg, France, " Sir: " I have the honor to report that, the temporary repairs of this ship have been completed, by knotting the main and reeving new running rigging, and patching over the shot holes in the bulwarks and sides, and repairing the old sails. *' I would beg leave to state that, owing to there being but one suit of sails furnished this vessel, so much of them as remain are in a very poor state. " Of the main rigging that which is left unknotted, the core only remained unaffected by injury from smoke from the fur- naces. It is therefore necessary to support the masts by pennant tackles in rough weather. " I have already informed the Department that we received a bad shot in our stern post from one hundred pound rifle. 246 John Ancrum Winslow. This has cut away more than half the wood, and by its action of wedging has made the rudder more difficult to turn. On examination it was found that if the shot was cut out, so little of the wood would remain that the slightest sea would, no doubt, carry away rudder and stern post, it was therefore advisable to let it rest for the present during summer months. " Under these circumstances 1 feel it my duty to state that it would be hazardous to continue the cruise of this ship in anything like the heavy weather we experienced during the last wmter. The ship can be repaired in Flushing or some other port in Europe, but the repairs must be extensive. I also feel it my duty to state that, if the Department have in view ordering this ship to the United States the order should be issued in time for us to cross the Atlantic before the equinox sets in, for should it be delayed after this I hold the necessity imperative that we should enter dock and repair our stern post. " 1 have the honor to be " Very respectfully " Your obedient servant, " Jno. a. Winslow, Captain. " Hon. Gideon Welles, " Secretary of the Navy.^' " f/. S. S. " Kearsarge,' "Cherbourg, France, " Juiy 5th, 1864. "Sir: " I have the honor to inform the Department that the re- ports that the Florida is lurking somewhere on the coast of France have decided me to return up the Channel. I shall proceed today towards Dover and touch off some of the in- termediate places for communication with our Consuls and verification of the reports. " The Yeddo which sailed from Bordeaux is reported to have passed into the Prussian hands, and has entered the ' Weser. ' " I have received notice from Lisbon that the Sacramento will sail for Cherbourg. Sojourn of the Victor at Cherbourg 247 " The twenty-four hour law prevents my remaining to com- municate with her, " I have the honor to be " Very respectfully " Your obedient servant, " J NO. A. WiNSLOW, Captain. " Hon. Gideon Welles, ' ' Secretary o/ the Navy. ' ' Having destroyed the greatest of Confederate cruisers, Winslow was concentrating his attention upon the next in importance, the Florida, and planning for the co-operation ot other vessels, which had been tardily sent out by the United States Government : *' U. S. S, ' Kearsarge," "Cherbourg, France, " y^iiy S^fi, 1864. "Sir: " I will be obliged to you to communicate with me as to your movements. I am now going up the Channel and our depot for letters is Dover. I will endeavor to obtain from Craven some information as to his movements also, in the Niagara. A cooperation may be necessary, should the re- ports of the Florida being in the Channel be verified. " Hoping to see you before long " I remain, very respectfully " Your obedient servant, " Jno. a. Winslow, Captain. ** Captain Henry Walke, " Comdg. U. S. S. ^ Sacramento.^ " The Sacramento arrived in Cherbourg the next day, a few hours before the Kearsarge sailed. The relief and joy of all loyal Americans on the Continent and in England, upon learning of the 248 John Ancrum Winslow destruction of the Alabama, was beyond description. Letters and telegrams of congratulation and un- bounded praise showered upon Winslow from offi- cials and civilians alike. Quotations from them here would only be tedious. Minister Adams was prompt to acknowledge the brilliance of the victory. The official news of the action reached Washing- ton on the 6th of July and the congratulations of the United States Government were immediately despatched : " Navy Department, '' July 6, 1864. "Sir: " Your very brief dispatches of the 19th and 20th ultimo, inforuiing the Department that the piratical craft Alabama, or 2go, had been sunk on the 19th June, near meridian, by the Kearsarge, under your command, were this day received. I congratulate you on your good fortune in meeting the Ala- bama, which has so long avoided the fastest ships and some of the most vigilant and intelligent officers of the service, and for the ability displayed in the contest you have the thanks of the Department. " You will please express to the officers and crew of the Kearsarge the satisfaction of the Government at this victory over a vessel superior in tonnage, superior in number of guns, and superior in the number of her crew. The battle was so brief, the victory so decisive, and the comparative results so striking that the country will be reminded of the brilliant actions of our infant Navy, which have been repeated and illustrated in this engagement. " The Alabama represented the best maritime effort of the most skilled English workshops. Her battery was composed of the well-tried 32-pounders of 57 hundredweight, of the 68- pounder of the British navy, and of the only successful rifled loo-pounder yet produced in England. The crew were gen- erally recruited in Great Britain, and many of them received Sojourn of the Victor at Cherbourg 249 superior training on board her Majesty's gunnery ship the Excellent. " The Kearsarge is one of the first gunboats built at our navy yards at the commencement of the rebellion, and lacks the improvements of vessels now under construction. The principal guns composing her battery had never been pre- viously tried in an exclusively naval engagement, yet in one hour you succeeded in sinking your antagonist, thus fitly ending her predatory career, and killed many of her crew, without injury to the Kearsarge or the loss of a single life on your vessel. " Our countrymen have reason to be satisfied that in this, as in every naval action of this unhappy war, neither the ships, the guns, nor the crews have deteriorated, but that they maintain the ability and continue the renown which have ever adorned our naval annals. " The President has signified his intention to recommend that you receive a vote of thanks, in order that you may be ad- vanced to the grade of commodore. Lieutenant-Commander James S. Thornton, the executive officer of the Kearsarge^ will be recommended to the Senate for advancement ten num- bers in his grade, and you will report to the Department the names of any others of the officers or crew whose good con- duct on the occasion entitles them to especial mention. " Very respectfully, etc., " Gideon Welles, ' ' Secretary of the Navy. " Captain John A. Winslow, ' ' Comma?iding U. S. S. ' Kearsarge., ' "Cherbourg, France," CHAPTER XXII. w THE CLOSE OF THE CRUISE. HEN he got to sea, Winslow found a breathing space in which to write home at some length. " Off Hastings, " . . . I have written a letter to the Department, which must carry the Kearsarge home, for we have such shot in our stern post and otherwise, as will make it dangerous to keep at sea in gales of wind. Well, I suppose you have read enough about our fight, what a terrible sensation it had made in Europe, and as for poor me, I have been inundated with letters, etc. I took the only opportunity I had, and went to Paris to see about my eye. There I became a lion — dinners, speeches, writing, painting, permission to dedicate to me — Had to have a reception from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. one day, general handshaking, etc. ; parties and nonsense afterwards. I wished I was in the Kearsarge, where I got as soon as I could, I can't write a word, but someone gets hold of it, garbles and publishes it. " Well, of my eye. — Oculist says ' Irrevocably gone! — might have saved it had I had an operation performed when first at- tacked — must be careful of the other.' " Everyone very kind to me in Paris. Strange things have come to pass — I am, they say, a hero. It would have been gratifying to me when I was young; but now my hope is peace and rest. God grant it may arrive at an early day! 250 The Close of the Cruise. 251 " You can form no idea of the immense correspondence that fight has involved me in. Everybody wants replies, and I am the sufferer. " But the prospect is, we are coming home. The Sacra- mento arrived a few hours before we left Cherbourg — so I was detained till 12 last night, seeing Walke and arranging a co-operation. " I told him to come up to Dover, which he will do as soon as possible. " The Niagara is at Flushing, I am now approaching the English coast, and expect to be bored by people, people who are never satisfied and who think I have nothing to do but to listen to them. If the Ticonderoga is our relief she ought to be here; I have the Boston Advertiser announcing her sailing the i8th ult. . . ." The Georgia was known to have been sold, and rumors of the presence of the Florida on the coast of Europe proved to be groundless, but a letter from the U. S. Consul at London indicated that the Confederates were concentratingf their efTorts upon getting the Rappahannock to sea. " U. S. Consulate, ' ' London, June zy, 1864. " Capt. J. A. WiNSLow, " Dear Sir, " Although you may be apprised of all that I am about to write I think it my duty to inform you that the destruction of the Alabajna has caused great mortification and chagrin among all rebels and their sympathizers in Europe and they are talking of nothing but revenge, etc. and say they will soon be ready to attack you. I don't much regard their boasting but think they are, from all that has come to my knowledge, making preparations to attack you. I saw a letter to-day written by a rebel to a rebel, saying the Rappahafinock would be out by the 2nd of July — that she would carry two 200- pounder rifles and eight 64. I suppose as many guns — that 2^2 John Ancrum Winslow. she would be protected in the hull by wire rope, etc., and that she has now 135 men besides officers and that they were de- termined to attack your ship. I know the writer meant what he said. I hope they will give you a meeting. I have no fear of the result. " I do not wish it to get out that I am seeing such letters, for it would deprive us of information. They are shipping large numbers of men for some purpose. One hundred go to Glasgow on Wednesday, One of the Bordeaux steamers left on Saturday with 65 men on board and is in some Channel port but as yet not known to me. " The Florida arrived in the Channel on Saturday without coal and is supplying herself somewhere: one report is that she is in a small French port. " The Niagara is in the Channel. Perhaps you have com- municated with her before this time. " Your ship is faster than any they have and your gunnery much superior, and I hope they will give your noble command another opportunity for a meeting. " Very truly yours, " T. H. Morse." The blockade of the Rappahannock was there- fore resumed. '' (/. S. S. ' Kearsarge,' "Dover, July 28th, 1S64. "... I am watching \\\q Rappahannock and waiting answer to my letter to the Department. Expect orders home, or I shall go in dock to repair extensively. I never have any peace now, so many thousand people in the ship daily, and I have so many invitations no quiet is given me. Tell to keep cool. It is hot weather in Boston now — am sorry he was not in the Kearsarge to hang all the prisoners, but it can't be helped now. " The Kearsarge is now as popular on the English coast, as she would be at home You need heed no reports about any farther attacks on her. As for the rebels, I think they would be unwilling to take any unfair advantage ot us; they are The Close of the Cruise. 253 going to fight us when they can, my opinion is they will let us alone, and keep as far off as they can get. . . ." On the iith of August, Winslow received the following confidential order : " (Confidential.) •'Navy Department. "Washington, July 2^, 1864. " Sir: " The Florida has committed some depredations on our coast and departed probably for Martinique, whence she will no doubt cruise to the southward and eastward in the track of our homeward-bound vessels via the Cape of Good Hope, as has been the case heretofore. On the receipt of this order you will fill up with coal, and, keeping your departure a secret from every person, you will proceed with all practicable dis- patch to the ground indicated above, touching only for coal on the way. If nothing is heard of the Florida in cruising to the southward and westward, go to Fernando de Noronha, the Rocas, Martinique, and St. Thomas, thence home. " If you meet with a sailing vessel suspected of being a tender to these pirates, hoist Marryat's signal No. 5 at the fore. If replied to by the same signal, search the vessel for extra crew and for any other objects that will authorize a seizure. " I trust you may close your cruise by the same exhibition of skill which has already been so creditable to you. " Very respectfully, etc., " Gideon Welles, ' ' Secretary of the Navy. " Captain John A. Winslow, ' ' Com7nanding U. S. S. ' Kearsarge, ' "Cherbourg, France." The Kearsarge was relieved that day by the Iroquois, Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, and sailed at once for Fayal, touching at Cherbourg, en route^ 254 John Ancrum Winslow. for the wounded who had been left there in the hospital. ^' U. S. S. ' Kearsarge,^ " Dover, Aug. nth, 1864. " , . . I have my orders now from Washington and I leave to-day on my way home, not to arrive for a month or more. I am charged confidentially with duty which will carry me a long distance before we can point our head for home. " The Iroquois has come to Dover and hereafter will follow my round. Raymond Rodgers commands her, and I am glad for the credit of the Navy that so gentlemanly an officer is appointed to this duty. . . ." ''* U. S. S. '■ Kearsarge," " HoRTA Bay, Fayal, i(c^. '^ Atigust 2jrd, 1864. " In obedience to instructions of the Department of the 27th ult. I have the honor to report that the Kearsarge left Dover roads on the nth inst., and the following day touched off Cherbourg, to receive the wounded men left in the hospital at that port. On our arrival at Cherbourg a report was current that the Florida., in company with the Electric Spark., had been seen off the Banks of Newfoundland. For verification of the report, after leaving Cherbourg I cruized to the north- ward to intercept the steamers from America, but missing them, kept away and arrived at this port on the 22nd inst. " The papers from the United States up to the 6th inst. and the local news about these islands, afford no light upon the movements of the Florida. I shall therefore as soon as our stock of coal is renewed, proceed in obedience to the instruc- tions of the Department, as indicated by the despatch of the 23rd ult. " I have the honor to be " Very respectfully " Your obedient servant " John A. Winslow, Captain. " Hon, Gideon Welles, ' ' Secretary of the Navy., "Washington, D. C." The Close of the Cruise. 255 At Fayal, Winslow was able to send letters home. " (7. S. S. ' Kearsarge' " Fayal, Aug. 23d, 1864. "... You see we have arrived here, and found all our friends in a high state of excitement about the Alabama., etc. "We have to go through the same scenes as elsewhere, but I must soon be off on my course. When I wrote you at Dover I supposed we might get home by the last of Septem- ber, but I find it now impossible to carry out the Secretary's orders in that time and we have a long cruise before us first, so I may not reach home before the first of November or thereabouts. " The orders received are secret. As we were coming in port yesterday, a vessel was sailing for Boston, which will re- port us. The St. Louis is here, with Preble commanding, — they cheered the Kearsarge as she came in. I was sorry to see that Grant was not doing well at Petersburg. It certainly is slow work. " I have had so much writing to do, it is wearing me out, besides straining my eye. My clerk has been sick pretty much the whole cruise, and I have no one to supply his place, or I could dictate. We have nothing but the stormiest weather, and the heat is intolerable, after coming from the Channel, where I had a fire every morning. " How I long to get somewhere, where I shall have no writing, no correspondence, no people. It is all work and no play and I am fast becoming a dull fellow. , . . " " U. S. S. ''Kearsarge^ " Fayal, Atig. 2gth, 1864. ... I wrote you, via Lisbon, a few days since. A vessel having come in, bound to Boston, I again wrote. We have nearly completed our supplies, and shall proceed in a few days on our cruise. I do not expect to reach home till early in November. I fear very much the cold weather, as my eye is so sensitive and I have suffered so much from 256 John Ancrum Winslow. change of climate after leaving the Mississippi. I do not like the news from the United States, it looks as if the war might last during my natural life, and I am a peace man." The remainder of the cruise is told by Captain Winslow in his official report to the Secretary of the Navy, upon his arrival at Boston, November 7, 1864: "' U. S. S. ' Kearsarge,^ "Charlestown (Boston) Navy Yard, " November 7, 1864. "Sir: " I have the honor to report the arrival of the Kearsarge at this place. "The Kearsarge left Fayal on the ist of September and proceeded to the southward and westward, preparatory to working up to the equator in the track of vessels bound to the United States. " On the 15th of September, having attained this track in latitude 18° N., we came round and commenced our arduous task of working up against the trade winds. " Owing to necessity, our consumption of coal during the days we were compelled to steam was reduced to the smallest limit, and our progress was accordingly slow. " On the 4th of October we reached the island of St. Paul, where we brought up during the day taking fish, and three days afterwards came to anchor at Fernando de Noronha. " Although it appears from subsequent information that the Florida had been three weeks before cruising about St. Paul, wliere she remained for three weeks or more, yet no informa- tion of her could be obtained at Fernando de Noronha or from any of the vessels spoken, and the mail steamers in- formed us she had not been seen on the coast. We learned from after-examination that she kept to windward of Fernando de Noronha, only once sighting the peak for verification of longitude before proceeding to Bahia, where she arrived the day before we reached St. Paul. The Close of the Cruise. 257 " Having heard from the French mail steamer from Per- nambuco and Bahia that the Wachusett and Ticonderoga were on the coast, the former of which, the governor of Fernando de Norohha informed us, had been cruising about the island, we left Fernando de Noronha and made the Rocas the next day. We found no vessels or inhabitants at these shoals. " Having attained the point marked out by the instructions of the Department, and the information received being that the Wachusett and Ticonderoga were watching this part of the seas, we left the Rocas and arrived at Barbados on the 23d ultimo, which port we put into with our coal all consumed. Having obtained a supply, we left Barbados for Martinique, and touched at the ports of St. Pierre and Fort Royal, and proceeded on to St. Thomas, where we arrived on the 29th ultimo. " The following day the Wachusett arrived from Bahia, with the Florida in company, the latter having been left outside. " I have the honor to inform the Department that the ship James Cheston, of Baltimore, 133 days from Rangoon, in dis- tress, with scurvy, came into St. Thomas while we were there. Having in the Kearsarge nineteen men received from the U. S. Consul at Fayal (distressed American seamen), we were enabled to assist her by putting them on board of her. By the transfer of these men, room having been made, I readily assented to the request of Captain Collins, who complained of embarrassment from having too many prisoners in the Florida, to take them in the Kearsarge. We accordingly re- ceived on board one of the doctors of the Florida, with sixteen of her men. We also received the paymaster of the Wachusett as bearer of despatches. " I have the honor to inform the Department that the Kearsarge was in a poor state for the cruise she has just com- pleted. All her sails are but miserable rags, and the rigging little better. Her stern frame is badly shattered, and before we reached the line the whole transom worked two or more inches from the sternpost and side timbers, leaving the rudder- post without any support except the deadwood below. We 258 John Ancrum Winslow. were only enabled to stay the working by raising the deck abaft and temporarily wedging under the carlines. " I have the honor to be, " Very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, " Jno. a. Winslow, Captain. *' Hon. Gideon Welles, ' ' Secretary of the Navy., "Washington, D. C." CHAPTER XXIII. THE OVATION AT HOME. THE Kearsarge arrived in Boston Harbor after nightfall on the 7th of November, and Winslow reached his family quietly soon after midnight. The ship's arrival was on the eve of two interesting events — the Presidential election and a Sailor's National Fair in Boston, for the benefit of distressed American sailors and mar- ines. So great was the excitement and enthusiasm over the advent of the destroyer of the Ala- bama that interest in the national election flagged and the crowds at the polls melted away to re- assemble at the water-front and gaze in awe and exultation upon the battle-scared victor from across the sea. The Sailors' Fair afforded a most auspicious op- portunity for presenting the heroes of Cherbourg to their lauding countrymen. Winslow and many of his officers and men attended it and held an enormous impromptu handshaking. A reception followed the next day at Winslow's home town of Roxbury, where he was presented 259 26o John Ancrum Winslow. with a magnificent silver service by the citizens of that place. On the loth, a grand public reception to the Captain, officers, and crew of the Kearsarge was held in Faneuil Hall. It was preceded by a parade escorting the honored guests from the ship to the hall, and closed with a collation, at which there were toasting, speechmaking, and vociferous acclama- tions of welcome. Mrs. Winslow appeared in the gallery during the collation and was enthusiastically cheered. On the 15th, a banquet was given to Winslow and his officers by the Boston Board of Trade at the Revere House, which was especially elaborate; Gilmore's full band furnished music, and covers were laid for three hundred guests. On this and all other occasions of its kind, Captain Winslow was called upon to speak, which, although naturally distasteful to him, he did with what grace he could. A reporter on one of these occasions thus describes him : " Modest, unassuming, divested of all the insignia to desig- nate his naval rank, Captain Winslow could have been selected by no stranger present as the fortunate antagonist of the villain Semmes. More like a divine than that of a fighting man is the tout ensemble of the gallant sailor. He is of medium stature, with full dark beard and hair, but with a bald circle upon the top, like the tonsure of the priesthood. Gentleness and affability gleam in every lineament of his countenance, yet we can discern, upon a closer scrutiny, that the iron will and the defiant courage that marked the man when he ordered the decks of the Kearsarge cleared for action are inherent qualities of his nature, born with him." The Ovation at Home. 261 On the 28th of November, the Kearsarge was put out of commission. Being thus released from ofhcial duties, Winslow was obHged to spend the month of December visiting cities that would not be denied the privilege of doing him honor. On the loth, he attended a reception under the aus- pices of the Port Society of New York, at the Academy of Music in that city. On the 13th, the Merchants' Exchange in Philadelphia gave him a grand ovation, followed by a banquet at the Continental Hotel. On the 15th, he was back in New York to attend a large dinner given him by the Union League Club. On the 2 2d, he was the guest of honor at the annual meeting and banquet of the New England Society In Bos- ton. Later, he was entertained with public honor in Washing-ton. The testimonials at this time were not alone of such an unsubstantial nature as receptions and banquets. Twenty-one thousand dollars was sub- scribed by Boston merchants and divided among the Kearsarge s crew. The New York Chamber of Commerce presented Winslow with twenty-five thousand dollars as a testimonial of his services to the merchants of that city alone. The Government had advanced him to the grade of Commodore, his commission dating from the day of battle. This, however, was a promotion of only eighteen numbers. On the 5th of December the President sent the following communication to Congress : 262 John Ancrum Winslow. 28th Congress, Ex. Doc. 2d Session. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. No. 6. CAPTAIN JOHN A. WINSLOW. MESSAGE from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Recommending A vote of thanks to Captain Winslow for skill and gallantry in the destruction of the pirate craft Alabama. December 8, 1864. — Referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs and ordered to be printed. * ' To the Senate and House of Representatives : " In conformity to the law of July 16, 1862, I most cordially recommend that Captain John A. Winslow, United States navy, receive a vote of thanks from Congress for the skill and gallantry exhibited by him in the brilliant action whilst in command of the United States steamer Kearsarge, which led to the total destruction of the piratical craft Alabama, on the 19th of June, 1864, a vessel superior in tonnage, superior in number of guns, and superior in number of crew. " This recommendation is specially made, in order to comply with the requirement of the 9th section of the afore, said act, which is in the following words, viz. : " ' That any line officer of the navy or marine corps may be advanced one grade, if, upon recommendation of the President by name, he receives the thanks of Congress for highly distinguished conduct in conflict with the enemy, or for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession.' " Abraham Lincoln. "Washington City, Decetnber j, 1864." On the 14th and 15th a resohition passed the Senate and House, respectively, without debate, The Ovation at Home. 263 tendering the thanks of Congress to Captain Winslow. ' ' Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the thanks of congress are due, and are hereby tendered, to Captain John A. Winslow, of the United States navy, and to the officers, petty officers, seamen, and marines of the United States steamer Kearsarge, for the skill and gallantry exhibited by him and the officers and men under his command, in the brilliant action on the nineteenth of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, between that ship and the piratical craft Alaba^na — a vessel superior to his own in tonnage, in guns, and in the number of her crew. "Approved, December 20, 1864." CHAPTER XXIV. DUTIES AS COMMODORE. AFTER three months' rest, if the almost in- cessant ovations of that period can be called rest for one of Winslow's disposition, he was made president of a board to supervise the building of ironclads and other vessels at Boston. As it was evident that there could be little more for the navy to accomplish afloat, this duty was quite acceptable to him, being near his home and of a nature for which he was well fitted by his experience on the Mississippi under Flag Officer Foote. The war ended at Appomattox in April, 1865, and in October Winslow was ordered as a member of a general court-martial, of which Admiral Far- ragut was president, convened at Washington, November ist, for the trial of various officers, among them being Commodore T. T. Craven of the Niagara, one of the vessels which had suc- ceeded the Kearsarge in the English channel. Craven's offence was his failure to pursue and fight the Confederate steamer Stonewall, one of the rams which Winslow had had under surveillance at Bor- deaux during his operations on the coast of France. 264 Duties as Commodore. 265 The watchfulness of the Kearsarge and the pres- sure brought to bear upon the French Government forced the Confederate agents to reHnquish these vessels. The Stonewall, as she was subsequently named, was sold by her builders to Denmark and delivered at Copenhagen, but was afterwards pur- chased by the Confederates. At Ferrol she was watched by the Niagara and Sacramento, and sought an engagement with them, but they avoided it. The notoriously inconsistent sentence of the court in Craven's case called forth the comment of Secretary Welles, in his review of the proceedings, that " The incongruous whole has the aspect of an unsuccessful attempt at compromise between those members of the court who believed the accused guilty and those who believed him not guilty," but nothing can be found in Winslow's correspondence indicating his individual views upon the subject. During the autumn of 1865, diplomatic relations between the United States and France were be- coming more and more strained over the occupation of Mexico by French troops and the imposition of the Archduke Maximilian of Austria upon the Mexican people as their Emperor. When the Southern rebellion collapsed. Napoleon realized that he would have to withdraw his troops from Mexico or prepare for war with the United States. Very adroitly, he proposed to Mr. Seward that the French troops would be promptly withdrawn if the United States would recognize and protect Maxi- milian as Emperor. Mr. Seward's reply, although clothed diplomatically, was a point-blank refusal of 266 John Ancrum Winslow. the proposition. It was prepared for transmittal on the 5th of December. ReaHzing that it produced a crisis in the situation and might make war with France inevitable, our Government made disposi- tions accordingly. Troops were already mobilized on the Mexican frontier. The U. S. Gulf Squadron was divided, and a Western Gulf Squadron formed to observe the Mexican coast. A commander was needed for this, who, besides being a fighter, would be familiar with the wiles of European diplomacy, and Seward himself selected Winslow. On De- cember 5th, the latter was ordered to proceed by steamer from New York to New Orleans, to as- sume his new command. On the following day Seward's despatch, refusing to entertain the French proposal, was started on its momentous errand. While Winslow was journeying from New York to New Orleans by steamer, a contingency arose which demanded his presence in Washington. Certain in- fluences upon the Government brought about the arrest of Raphael Semmes and his imprisonment at the Capital, to stand trial for violation of the rules of war in failing to give himself up after surrender- ing the Alabama. Commodore Winslow was, of course, needed as a witness for the prosecution ; so, upon reporting to Acting Rear Admiral Thatcher, at New Orleans, January 2, 1866, he found tele- graphic orders awaiting him directing an immediate return North. Semmes, however, was not brought to trial, the attorney-general deciding that he came under the exemption terms guaranteed by Grant to Lee when Duties as Commodore. 267 the latter surrendered. The case was abandoned in March and Semmes was released. Without having seen his former adversary, Winslow was again ordered to command the Gulf Squadron, as- suming command May 4th at Pensacola. Napoleon was already arranging for the with- drawal of his army from Mexico. Maximilian, after vain appeals and protests, elected to remain. As soon as the French grip relaxed, the Mexican republicans commenced to win victories. The em- barkation of the whole French military and civil establishment was completed at Vera Cruz on the 5th of February, 1867, and the French fleet sailed for France on the 13th of March. Maximilian, with his meagre band of adherents, was quickly be- sieged by Juarez's forces in Queretaro, and taken prisoner on the 15th of May. The need for a separate United States Gulf Squadron thus ceased to exist. Winslow was directed to haul down his flag on the 21st of May, and turn over his squadron to Rear-Admiral James S. Palmer, commanding the naval forces on the North Atlantic. Nothing had occurred demanding an exhibition of the qualities for which the victor of Cherbourg had been selected. The chief inci- dent within the limits of his command had not occurred on the Mexican coast, but in New Or- leans, and was an outcome of the throes of recon- struction. A convention of unionists, known as the Con- vention of 1864, met in New Orleans, July 30, 1866, at the call of the Governor of Louisiana, to 268 John Ancrum Winslow. propose and formulate some changes in state gov- ernment. The place of meeting was assailed by a mob of irreconcilables, including the city police, about forty of those in the hall being killed and nearly one hundred and fifty wounded before the arrival of troops restored order. The action of both Sheridan and Winslow in the emergency was most efficacously drastic, but it did not meet with approval in Washington, and both officers were reprimanded. " Pensacola, Sept. i6ik, 1866. "... From what is in the wind at Washington, I shall not be surprised if I am relieved from this station. I have fallen into disfavor, for during the riot in New Orleans I directed the ironclads to be got ready for immediate service, I wrote orders to the commander of one of our vessels there. My deep regret is he did not land with every man under his command and put an end to the massacre. " In my letter to the Department I characterized the mob as one of the most cruel, cowardly, and dastardly that ever disgraced our flag, and got up for the suppression of free speech. Welles wrote me long and severe letters disapproving my course, and so matters stand. . . ." " Pensacola, Oct. isih, 1866. " My former good relations with Welles are restored. . . ." In November, 1866, Commodore Winslow was joined on the station by his wife, and she remained with him until he was relieved from command in the following May, and returned with him to Boston. On the 5th of the following July, Commodore Winslow obtained leave of absence for four months to take his family to Europe. The trip was to Duties as Commodore. 269 have been taken chiefly to benefit the health of his daughter Fanny, but she was too ill to endure it, and soon afterward died ; so it was abandoned. On January 31, 1868, he was appointed chairman of a board to appraise the ironclads with which he had been so frequently associated, and many of which were, by Act of Congress, to be sold. With the board, he visited Washington, New Orleans, Cairo, Mound City, and League Island. He was as- signed no further public duty until June 2, 1869, when he was ordered to command the Portsmouth Navy Yard, where he remained until promoted. CHAPTER XXV. THE LAST CRUISE. ON the second of March, 1870, Commodore Winslow was promoted to the rank of Rear- Admiral, and on the first of the following July he was assigned to command the Pacific Station. Starting for San Francisco in August, he hoisted his flag on the U. S. S. Saranac and found himself once more amid the scenes of his longr cruise in the St, Lawrence. By permission from the Navy De- partment, he was later joined on board by his wife and daughter, and they accompanied him almost continuously during the cruise. In May, 1871, a trip was made to Puget Sound and thence to Alaska through the inside passages, returning the same way and stopping at Sitka, Victoria, and Portland, Oregon. San Francisco was reached again August 17th. There they found the U. S. S. Califorjiia, which had been sent out to be flag- ship. Admiral Winslow therefore transferred his flag to her, and in November, 1871, sailed for the Sandwich Islands. An unusually severe storm was encountered, which blew the ship many miles out of her course, but she arrived safely at Honolulu 270 The Last Cruise. 271 on the 2 2d of December. The Admiral and his officers and family were received with much pomp, ceremony, and adulation, beginning with a recep- tion at the palace, which is thus described in the Hawaiian Gazette of January 3, 1872 : *' AUDIENCE AT lOLANI PALACE, " The Minister and Admiral, accompanied by Mrs. Wins- low and daughter, arrived at the Palace, in His Majesty's carriage, at precisely 12 o'clock, the band playing Hail Columbia as they passed the Guard. " The Admiral was also accompanied by Captain J. M. B. Clitz, commanding the U. S. Ship California; Commander R. W. Meade, commanding U. S. Ship Narraga?isett; Fleet Surgeon, John M. Browne; Captain P. C. Pope, U. S. M.; Fleet Engineer, Montgomery Fletcher; Fleet Paymaster, Casper Schenck; Lieutenant Commander Henry Glass. " Her Majesty Queen Emma assisted at the audience, and was accompanied by Mrs. Elisha H. Allen, Mrs. J. Mott Smith, Mrs. Governor Dominis, Mrs. C. R. Bishop, Mrs. William F, Allen, and Miss Nannie Harris. " His Majesty was attended by the Chancellor of the King- dom, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Finance, Judges Hartwell and Widemann, the Governor of Oahu, Hon. C. R. Bishop, Colonels Allen and Pratt, Majors Hoffmann, Harris and Kahanu, and His Majesty's Chamberlain, who re- ceived the visitors at the door as they arrived. " Admiral Winslow, on being presented, addressed His Majesty as follows: " ' May it please Your Majesty: " ' After an interval of over eighteen years, I again have the pleasure of visiting the beautiful islands which comprise Your Majesty's Kingdom. " ' I am gratified to find presented on every hand evidences of their progress, prosperity, and happiness. 272 John Ancrum Winslow. " ' The Government and people of the United States feel a lively interest in the welfare of the Hawaiian Islands, not only from the commercial value and the reciprocal advantages which commerce opens to both countries, but as these islands have been the field of labor of American missionaries from an early date, which has so signally illustrated the power and value of Christian influence in elevating a new people. " ' May the cordial relations that have hitherto existed be- tween our respective countries be permanent. " ' I desire to take advantage of this occasion to express my thanks for the timely and efficient aid rendered by Your Majesty's Government to the crew of the United States Steamer Saginaw, one of the vessels which were under my command in the Pacific. " ' May Your Majesty enjoy a long and prosperous reign.* " To which His Majesty was pleased to reply: " 'Admiral: " ' Eighteen years is a long period, and brings changes to all: it has brought to you fame and the highest honors of your profession, I am glad if it appears to you to have brought some prosperity and happiness to My people. " ' With regard to the Sagi?iaw, her Captain took occasion upon his arrival here to return his thanks for the assistance rendered, and since then your Minister Resident has trans- mitted to me the thanks of your Government. But I take this occasion to repeat what I have said before, that in giving assistance to shipwrecked seamen in this ocean, we can at best only follow at respectful distance the alacrity and devotion of the service of which you are so distinguished a member. I am well aware of the good feeling of the Government and people of the United States towards this country — a feeling which I fully reciprocate, and I have no doubt that your stay here will afford the opportunity to My people to give further evidence of the cordiality with which those in the service of your country are always welcome here. In the meantime, I am very glad to see you. Admiral, your wife and daughter, and the officers who accompany you.' The Last Cruise. 273 " After some time spent in social conversation and inspec- tion of the feather cloaks, which of course were a matter of great curiosity to the strangers, His Majesty invited his guests to sit down to a collation in the dining-room, where all enjoyed themselves exceedingly. "The visitors took their departure at 3 o'clock; His Majesty having accepted the Admiral's invitation to visit him on board the Flag Ship to-day at 11 o'clock." Feeling unfit, both in heahh and incHnation, to endure the ordeal of entertainment that threatened him, Winslow sailed for South America on the 4th of January, 1872. Shortl}^ afterward, while off the island of Rimitara, one of the Austral group, he was one day stricken slightly with paralysis just after his bath. From this attack, however, he gradually rallied. The ship continued her cruise, touching at Juan Fernandez, Valparaiso, and other South American points, until Panama was reached, where she was detained by orders from the Department. The seeds of illness sown in a similar climate dur- ing exposure in the Mexican War, were here en- couraged to full fruition, and the Admiral grew rapidly worse. Incessant and excruciating pain developed in his diseased eye, with constant neuralgia in the right side of the face and partial paralysis throughout the right side of his body. He was finally induced to submit himself to a med- ical survey, and, upon the recommendation of the board, he resigned his command and proceeded, with his family, to San Francisco by mail steamer. Orders reached him there in August expressing the Department's deep regret at his illness, and, 2 74 John Ancrum Winslow. agreeably to his request, detaching him from the command of the Pacific Station. Admiral Winslow then spent nearly a year in California, and its recuperative climate seemed greatly to improve his health. In April, 1873, he journeyed East and stopped in Washington to re- port at the Navy Department. On May 9th, he purchased tickets for New York, and, with his wife and daughter, was in the reception-room of the Ebbitt House despatching his baggage when he was stricken with what appeared to be apoplexy, remaining unconscious until late in the evening. As soon as he was able to travel, he was taken to his home in Boston, where, after patiently enduring several months of great suffering, he died, Septem- ber 29, 1873, within a few days of completing his sixty-second year. Mrs. Winslow, as he had wished, declined the tender of a military funeral. A simple service was held at St. James's Episcopal Church, in the pres- ence of the family and a number of friends and comrades in arms, and the remains, covered by the battle-flag of the Kearsarge, were then taken to their last resting-place in Forest Hill Cemetery. There a granite boulder from Kearsarge Moun- tain, appropriately inscribed, now marks the grave. Thus closed the earthly career of the man who fouofht and won the most memorable naval duel yet chronicled in the world's history. I cannot better close this record of his life than by quoting the words of his most illustrious contemporary, Admiral Farragut : The Last Cruise. 275 " I had sooner have fought that fight than any ever fought upon the ocean! " and those of his great antagonist, Raphael Semmes : "He was the Christian gentleman." INDEX. Adams, Charles Francis, 126, 131, 132, 136, 137 Adams, Charles Francis, corre- spondence with Winslow concerning entry of Kear- sarge into British ports, 162-165, 169 Alabama, C. S. S., 98-100, iiS, 170 action with Hatteras, 102, 174 " " Kearsarge,\C)b,7,\Z ammunition expended, 211 at Cherbourg, 174-187 burning vessels on the equator, 106 captures Rockingham and uses her as a target, 176 casualties in action with Kear- sarge, 207 comparison with Kearsarge, 191 condition of, toward end of cruise, 175 destruction of, 188-218 distribution of fighting force in action, 20i meets Florida off Pernambuco, no officers of, 192 preparations for battle, 1S5-187 vessels captured by, 174 Amy, Thomas, 2 Ancrum, Dr. and Mrs., of Valpa- raiso, 62 Ancrum, John, 2 Annette, chartered tender to Kear^ sarge, 158, 161 Arkansas, ram, 86 Armstrong, Lieut., C. S. N., de- scribes rescue of self and others by French pilot-boat, 239, 240 Azores, 14, 99-116 B Benton, U. S. S., 70, 73, 74 Berry, Sarah E., 3 Bullock, Captain, C. S. N., no Camel steam-tug, invention of Wins- low's, 3, 55, 59 Chilton, Mary, i Chincha Islands diflSculties, 63, 64, 66 Clanricarde letter, the, 134-136, 172 " Marquis of, 134-137 Connor, Commodore, U. S. N., 25, 26, 33, 35-39 Coiironne, French ironclad, 1S8-190 277 2 78 Index Craven, Commodore T. T., U. S. N., court-martial of, 264, 265 Cumberland, U. S. S., 24-38 Cunard steamer, Winslow fights fire on, 8 Cushing, Hon. Caleb, 13-19 D Davis, Charles H., 79, 81, 85, 88, 91. 94, 95 Dayton, U. S. Minister, iig, 138, 139 Deerhound, British Yacht : arrival at Cherbourg, i88 conduct of, 219-230 rescues Alabama's crew, 206, 207 Donelson, Fort, capture of, 78 Donoughraore, Earl of, 133 Eads, James B., 70 " " " describes ground- ing of the Benton and vifounding of Winslow, 74, 75 Edge, Mr. F. M., describes visit' to Alabama! s wounded in hos- pital, 241, 242 Edson, Captain, 41, 42 Enterprise, U. S. Schooner, 7 Farragut, Admiral, 79, 85, 275 Florida, C. S. S., 103-106, no, 114-123, 138-152, 157- 170 Foote, Rear Admiral, 55, 70, 71, 78, 82, 85, 87, 90, 95 Fort Donelson, capture of, 78 " Henry, " " 78 " Pillow, 78, 80, 82 Fremont, Major-General, 70-73 Fry, Colonel, 83, 84 Georgia, C. S. S., 103-107, in, 118, 123, 138, 143-152, 155- 157, 162, 170, 171 Gold fever in California, 61, 63 Gowin, William, heroic conduct when wounded on Kear- sarge, 202, 203 Grant, General, 73, 77, 78 H Halleck, General, 78 Henry, Fort, capture of, 78 Hollins' fight, 84 Honolulu, described by Winslow, 60, 61 Horse latitudes, 32 Iroquois, U, S. S., relieves Kear- sarge, 253 Island No. 10, capture of, 78 J Jones, Evan P., Captain of Deer- hound, describes her move- ments, 229, 230 Juno, blockade runner, capture of, 112, 113, 122 Kearsarge, U. S. S., action with Alabama, 196-218 ammunition expended, 211 arrival in Boston, 259 blockades Alabama, 181-188 blockades Rappahannock, 153- 173 captures ymio, 112, 113 collision with pierhead at Os- tend, 167-169, 172 compared with Alabama, igi description of, 98 distribution of fighting force in action, 199, 200 Index 279 Kearsarge — {Continued) early cruising, 98, 99 injuries in action, 210 officers of, 192 relieved by Iroquois, 253 repairing at Cadiz, loi, 102 sojourn at Queenstown, 125- 137 target practice, 177 Winslow ordered to command, 97 Kell, Lt.-Com'd'r J. M., C. S. N., 1S7 L Lancaster, John, owner of the Deerhound : letter to Earl Russell, 220, 221 letter to London Daily News thanked by Confederate Com- missioner Mason, 223, 224. Le Feboure, expedition of, against Charleston, 2 M Macbeth, J., wounded in action, 202 Malabar, H. M. S., receives refu- gees from Missouri, 19 Marin, Commander, U. S. N., 106, 108 Matamoras, action at, 27 Mayjloruer, the, r Memphis, surrender of, 82 Mexico, war with, 22-47 Missouri, U. S. S., 8-14 burning of, 15 Morris, Lieut. Charles, killing of, 42, 43 Morris, Lt.-Com'd'r, C. S. N., 151 N New Orleans, Riot of 1866, 268 Newton. Capt. John Thomas, 15- 23 Officers of the Alabama, 192 " Kearsarge, 192 Orion, blockade runner, 109 P Palo Alto, battle of, 29 Paredes, President of Mexico, 24, 27 Perry, Commodore, 26, 39, 52 Pickering, Capt. C. W., U. S. N., 98, 99, 102, 105 Pillow, Fort, 78, 80, 82 Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 78 Pope, General, 78 Porter, David D., 91, 94, 95 Preble, Com'd'r G. H., 106 Price, Hon. Rodman M., describes cruise and burning of the Missouri, 15-20 Q Queenstown incident, the, 124-137 R Rajah, American ship, takes refugees from the Missouri, 20 Rappahannock, C. S. 6"., iiS, 140, 141, 143. 144. 146, 150, 152-172, 252 Resaca de la Palma, battle of, 29 Rhett, Col. William, 2 " Lieut. Walter, 2 Rio de Janeiro, described by Wins- low, 57 Rockingham, captured by Alabama and used as a target, 176 Rodgers, Com'd'r John, 70, 73 Russell, Earl, 133, 134, 142 S Sacrificios Island, 12, 27, 54 San Jacinto, battle of, 9 Santa Anna, 9, 10, 31, 32, 36, 37, 39 28o Index Saratoga, U. S. S., 48-56 Sartorius, Admiral Sir George, 16- 19 Scott, General, 40, 48 Semmes, Raphael : address to crew before battle, 190, 191 commanding Suinter, 98 commands brig Sotiicrs and is shipwrecked, 45 describes blockade of Mexican ports, 34, 35 imprisoned at Washington, 266 reasons for fighting Kearsarge, 181-185 remarks on condition of Ala- bama toward end of her cruise, 175 room-mate of VVinslow on Rari- tatt, 45, 46 shipmate of Winslow on Cttm- berland, 33 Shiloh, battle of, 78 Sinclair, Com'd'r Geo. T., 186 Sirius, blockade runner, 109 Slidell, Hon. John, 25, 27 Steed Bonnet, or " Blackbeard," buccaneer, depredations in Carolina in 1718, 2 St. Lawrence, U. S. S., 57-67 St. Lotiis, U. S. S., 98, 106, loS, 198 Sumter, C. S. S., 98, 103 Tampico, taking of, 43 Taylor, Gen. Zachary, 25, 27, 32, 33, 37, 43 Texan War, 9 Thornton, Lt. -Com'd'r, 100 letter describing Kearsarge at Cherbourg after battle, 242, 245 Tobasco, taking of, 40-43 Tuscarora, U. S. 6*., 98, lOl U Unfurling of flag at Kearsarge's masthead by shot in battle, 204, 205,. 218 V Valparaiso described by Winslow, 58 Vanderbilt, U. S. S., 97, 99, lOO Virginius, filibustering vessel, 84 W War with Mexico. 24-47 Webster, Daniel, 5 Western Flotilla, 69-96 Wheelwright, 59 Wilson, Lt. Jos. D., U. S. N., pa- roled because of honorable conduct, 236 Winslow, Benjamin, 6 Catherine Amelia, 6 Com'd'r Francis, U. S. N., 88 Eben Eveleth, 7 Edward, 1-3 Herbert, 7 John, 1-3 John Ancrum : appointed midshipman, 5 assignment to Kearsage, 97-103 baptism, 3 bears despatches announcing burning of Missouri, 20, 21 birth, 3 castaway at sea, 4 commands captured brig Union, 42 commands Pacific Station, 270, 271 commands Western Gulf Squad- ron, 266-268 commissioned Captain, 88 Index 281 "Winslow — ( Con tin tted) commissioned Commander, 67 commissioned Lieutenant, 7 confidential orders to seek Florida, 203 correspondence with Minister Adams, 162-166, 169 describes action at Fort Pillow, 80, 81 describes affairs at Santo Do- mingo in 1S48, 50, 51 describes attack on Alvarado, 37 describes capture of Juno, 112, "3 describes Cuban affairs in 1842, II describes Memphis after its sur- render, 82 describes taking of Barita, 30, 31 describes taking of Tampico, 43, 44 describes unfurling of flag at Kearsage's masthead in battle, 218 describes White River Expedi- tion, 82-85 detachment from Western Flo- tilla, 93, 96 disease in right eye, 97, 100, 107 duty on St. Lawrence, 57, 67 " with Western Flotilla, 69- 96 early cruises, 5 " education, 4, 5 executive of Saratoga, 48-56 fight with British cabin boy, 3, 4 first report of action with Ala- bama, 208, 209 gallant conduct at Tobasco, 41, 42 illness from malaria, 36 last illness and death, 274, 275 letter to Marquis of Clanri- carde, 134-136 marriage, 6 member of Craven court-mar- tial, 264, 265 orders St. Louis to join A'ear- sage off Cherbourg, 178 paroles ^/a3awa prisoners, 233- 238 patents camel steam-tug, 13 presented with epaulettes from Queen Victoria, 8 receives thanks of Congress, 261 receptions at home, 259, 363 reception at Honolulu, 271-273 relations with Porter, 91 report of search for Florida 256, 258 report on men for conspicuous conduct in battle, 217, 218 room-mate of Semmes on Ra- ritan, 45, 46 service on the Missouri, 8-21 shipwrecked and loses Union, 45 supplementary report on action with Alabama, 212-216 takes command of Kearsarge, 102 testimonials from officers of Baron de Kalb, 95, 96 wild-boar hunt in Morocco with Marquis of Lome, 22 wounded on Benton, 74, 75 Winslow, Miss Mary C, iii " Paymaster Wm. Ran- dolph, 7, 75, 76, 87 Yucatan insurrection, 32