Part 9 (2/2)
After a week spent in preparation and experiment, the gunboat ”Otsego”
brought the launch to the mouth of the river, where Cus.h.i.+ng cast off and pointed his bow toward Plymouth, towing a cutter full of armed men, who were to capture, if possible, a Confederate guard,--which had been set in a schooner near the sunken ”Southfield,”--to prevent their giving the alarm. But the expedition started badly, for the launch ran aground on a bar. Before Cus.h.i.+ng could float her again it was too late to make the attempt. Cus.h.i.+ng and his boat's crews then returned to the ”Otsego.”
The next night was black and squally, with occasional showers of rain.
They could only make out the loom of the sh.o.r.e by straining their eyes into the darkness. Cus.h.i.+ng was as cool as though taking sh.o.r.e-liberty. As he shook hands with the ”Otsego's” officers he paused at the gangway to say, with a laugh,--
”Well, here goes for another stripe or a coffin.”
They crept slowly up the river, keeping close to the bank, under the shadow of the reeds and trees. The little engine, covered with tarpaulins, made so little sound that the men in the cutter towing astern could hardly hear it. There was not a sound except the plas.h.i.+ng of the gusts of rain and the ripple of the water as the little craft moved steadily on. Cus.h.i.+ng knew he must be pa.s.sing some of the pickets now, so not a word even in whispers was spoken. Every man had his duty and knew when to do it. Acting Ensign William Howarth was aft at Cus.h.i.+ng's side. Acting Master's Mate John Woodman, who knew the river, was next to him. The other officers were Acting Master's Mate Thomas S. Gay, Acting a.s.sistant-Paymaster Francis H.
Swan, and Acting Third-a.s.sistant-Engineers Charles L. Steever and William Stotesbury.
By half-past two A.M., about a mile below Plymouth, where the ”Albemarle”
lay, they came upon the submerged ”Southfield,” and could just make out the lines of the guard-schooner. The machinery of the launch was slowed, almost stopped, for Cus.h.i.+ng had decided to get by her if he could without a fight. It was a moment of utmost anxiety, and every man was prepared for the attack. But there was no sign of discovery from the schooners, and in ten minutes the little expedition had pa.s.sed up the river in safety.
But only the first danger of discovery was over. Between the ”Southfield”
and Plymouth the bank was guarded by a double line of sentries, and the men in the boats, now moving more quickly, could see the red glare of the smouldering fires reaching all the way to town. As they came to the point beyond which the ram was lying, they found, to their delight, that the fires which should have been brightly burning were smouldering in the rain. There was no sign of a man to be made out anywhere, and Cus.h.i.+ng pushed on directly for the ”Albemarle,” which he could now see plainly as she lay at the wharf, grim and menacing, but without a sign of life.
Suddenly from the sh.o.r.e there came the sharp bark of a dog. To the ears of Cus.h.i.+ng and his men in the deep silence and anxiety of the moment it sounded like the report of a Dahlgren. There was a cry from a sentry and a challenge, followed by a musket-shot, and the bullet flew over the boats and struck the water fifty feet away with a vicious _ping_ that sounded not less loud than the report itself. There was another challenge, and in a moment the cries came from everywhere. Other dogs began barking, and it seemed as though the whole town was aroused. The sentries on both sides of the stream threw inflammable material on the smouldering fires, and in a moment the river was as bright as day.
Realizing that further concealment was useless, Cus.h.i.+ng himself cast off the towline of the cutter, and telling the men in her to row for their lives, gave the engineer the order, ”Four bells, ahead full speed,”
setting the nose of the launch directly for the ram. The sparks flew up from her stack, and the dark water churned up in ma.s.ses of foam under her stern, as like a sentient thing she leaped forward on her deadly mission.
It was then that Cus.h.i.+ng discovered for the first time the line of torpedo booms which guarded the ram. In facing the musketry-fire and the great guns of their enormous adversary the task of getting close enough to reach her seemed impossible.
Cus.h.i.+ng knew that if he was to get over the log booms he must strike them fair; then perhaps he could slide over within striking distance. He s.h.i.+fted his helm, and making a wide sweep out into the stream, gathered all the headway he could and came down into the very jaws of the great monster. A tremendous volley from the shot-guns and muskets of the sentries greeted them, and Paymaster Swan was wounded. Cus.h.i.+ng received a charge of buckshot in the back of his coat and had the sole of his shoe torn off, but these were the only shots which took effect.
Cus.h.i.+ng here shouted, in a loud voice, ”Leave the ram; we're going to blow you up!” hoping to create a panic. But the Confederates continued firing, and succeeded in getting in two howitzer-shots, one of which felled a man by Cus.h.i.+ng's side. At this moment, Gay, up forward in the launch, took careful aim with the howitzer, and sent a charge in the midst of the Confederate crew. Then with a slight jar the sled-like bow rose on the boom. She balanced a second, and slid over within the enclosure, half full of water, but within reaching distance.
One of the great guns of the ”Albemarle,” a hundred-pounder, protruded from a broadside port directly in front of them, and they could see the gun-crew frantically training the gun and trying to depress the muzzle enough to bear on them. It was a matter of seconds now. Who would fire first? Cus.h.i.+ng had lowered the torpedo-spar, and as soon as he had it well under the overhang he detached it, then waited until he heard the torpedo strike the hull, when he pulled the trigger-line. He was not a fraction of a second too soon, for the two concussions were almost simultaneous.
There was a m.u.f.fled roar from below the great vessel, and a column of water shot out from under her as she lifted on the wave. The shock of the hundred-pounder was terrific, and it seemed as if the frail launch had been blown to pieces. But Cus.h.i.+ng had been too quick for them. The charge of canister pa.s.sed a few feet over their heads and scattered in the river beyond.
The work of the gallant crew was done. Cus.h.i.+ng had made a hole in the ”Albemarle” large enough to have driven a wagon through. The great wave of the torpedo rose and went completely over the launch, swamping her alongside and throwing her men into the water. All of them got to the booms safely. Here Cus.h.i.+ng paused a moment to throw off his outer clothing, while the Confederates on the banks were shouting to the men to surrender. Several of them, being unable to swim, did so; but Cus.h.i.+ng, calling to the others to follow him, plunged boldly into the water and struck off down the stream. He was a powerful swimmer, but the night was cold, and he knew that he could not keep up very long. But he swam for half an hour, and he came upon Woodman in the middle of the stream, almost exhausted. Though almost entirely f.a.gged out himself, he tried to help the mate towards the sh.o.r.e. Finding that he was being pulled down and unable to save the other, Cus.h.i.+ng struggled on, and reached the shoal water more dead than alive. Here he lay among the reeds until dawn, when he learned from a negro how complete had been his success. At last, after almost twenty-four hours' exposure, he succeeded in finding one of the enemy's deserted picket-skiffs, and managed under cover of the second night to pull off to the Federal ”Valley City,” which he reached at eleven o'clock at night, and was hauled aboard completely exhausted from his labor and exposure. Only one other of his crew reached a place of safety. Woodman and Samuel Higgins, the fireman, were drowned. The others went ash.o.r.e and surrendered or were captured.
This service, because of the great benefit to the Union cause and the daring manner in which it had been performed, made Cus.h.i.+ng the hero of the year. Congress pa.s.sed a vote of thanks and promoted him to the rank of lieutenant-commander, which he held until 1872, when he became a commander.
He did not long enjoy his honors, for two years later he died of brain fever, in Was.h.i.+ngton, at the age of thirty-two. Had he lived he would have been but fifty-six years of age at the outbreak of the war with Spain, and would have been one of the ranking officers in active service of the new navy.
SOMERS AND THE ”INTREPID”
Among the young officers of Commodore Preble's squadron before Tripoli there was a tall, dark, melancholy-looking fellow of about twenty-five.
His name was Richard Somers and his command was the ”Nautilus,” a little schooner of twelve guns and a hundred men. He had been with Decatur and Stewart, a junior officer on Commodore Barry's ”United States” in the war with Spain, and the friends.h.i.+p formed in those early days had been cemented by a score of thrilling adventures which had drawn them more closely together than brothers. Charles Stewart, before Decatur's promotion to post-captain, had been the second in command to Preble, and his vessel, the ”Siren,” had taken a prominent part in all the many actions with the Tripolitan forts and gunboats. He was a year or so older than his companions and had drifted a little away from them. But Decatur and Somers were inseparable. Some bond outside of mere professional sympathy and environment existed between them, and there seemed to be no thought of the one that the other did not share. The difference in their temperaments was marked. Decatur was bold, domineering, and impetuous.
Somers was quiet, mild, and ever avoided the quarrel which Decatur too often sought. But under the quiet exterior men had found a will like iron and the willingness to dare and do anything that came within the province of his profession. He was thoughtful, but not so quiet that he could not enter into the gayety of the mess; he was mild, but not so mild that he would overlook shortcomings among his men or brook any slight upon his office or his reputation.
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