398 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

“T acted under the protection of my father, who was a full
branch pilot; in other words, he was permitted to carry in ves-
sels of any depth suitable for the water then available. I was
an apprentice to him.

‘When the war broke out I was twenty-one years of age and,
in view of certain circumstances favorable to my reputation, I
was given by the Board of Commissioners of Navigation and
Pilotage a license for twelve feet, the laws having been changed

a year or two before the war in respect to the method of issuing
licenses.

“My father, James N. Craig, lived a short distance from
Fort Fisher on the river side at a place called Craig’s Landing,
and his house and landing were both used later by the com-
mander of Fort Fisher, Col. William Lamb, who was so inti-
mately engaged with my father that he gave him general charge
of the duty of setting lights for the benefit of blockade run-
ners, under certain restrictions which had been provided. I
was therefore engaged for nearly two years. after the outbreak
of the war in assisting my father, and became more familiar
with the channel and the approaches of the channel than many
other pilots who had not the opportunity of sounding, as we had
frequently, under government instructions.

“The first proposal made to me to take a ship through the
blockade was by Capt. E. C. Reed, commander of the celebrated
cruiser Sumter. This vessel had been dismantled of her guns
on account of her slow speed and general unfitness for a cruiser,
after her destruction of many vessels of the enemy, and she was
sent into Wilmington with a cargo of war stores, conspicuous
among which were two enormous Blakely guns, which were
subsequently used in the defense of Charleston.

“After the discharge of the cargo at Wilmington, the Sumter
was loaded with cotton, and Captain Reed brought her down to
Old Brunswick landing and anchored before he made arrange-
ments for the engagement of a pilot to take him out.

“In coming into the Cape Fear Captain Reed had, through
a successful ruse, passed through the blockading fleet by hoist-

ing the United States ensign and pretending to be one of the
fleet. The blockaders did not discover his true character until

he was under the guns of Fort Fisher, and consequently they
were very eager to capture him on his voyage outward.

“At that time of the tide it was impossible to take over the
Rip Shoal or across either of the bars a ship drawing more than

 

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Blockade Running 399

eleven feet. The Sumter drew eleven feet of water and
grounded repeatedly in attempting to go out. Captain Reed of-
fered me $1,000 in gold if I would take the ship out successfully
and reach Bermuda, where he would discharge me and proceed
to England with his cargo.

“T made several ineffectual attempts to get the Sumter out-
side, but, owing to the lack of water and the vigilance of the
blockading fleet, we were baffled repeatedly. At last I took her
out successfully over the bar at New Inlet, the fleet in the
meantime having concentrated at the Western Bar, expecting
to capture her there, and Captain Reed subsequently told me
that he proceeded to Bermuda and to England without sighting

a single hostile vessel during the whole voyage. :
“A short time after that I piloted in the Steamship Orion

over New Inlet Bar successfully, the vessel having arrived off

the bar without a pilot and, very luckily for the ship as well
as for me, hailed me while I was setting some lights for an-

other vessel, the Cornubia, ready to go out in charge of Pilot

C. C. Morse.

“Just as Morse was passing us, he called out, ‘Don’t take
your lights in too soon, because if we run afoul of a blockader
outside, he may run us in again, and we want the benefit of the
lights.’

“Sure enough, a few minutes after the Cornubia had faded
from our sight beyond the bar, we were surprised by the sudden
looming up of another large steamer, which at first we supposed
was a blockader chasing the Cornubia.

“We were still more surprised, and really frightened, when
they lowered a boat and pulled close up to us in the semi-dark-
ness and demanded to know who we were, Pilot Thomas Newton
being with me. They asked if we were pilots, which we ad-
mitted was the case. The voice, which proved to be that of the
chief officer of the blockade runner Orion, a very fine ship, then
replied, ‘We have been trying to run into Charleston, and failed
to do so. We are groping around for the New Inlet Bar. Will
you take us in?’ We at once agreed, and proceeded to the ship
and brought her in over the bar and anchored her im safety

under the guns of Fort Fisher.
“Strangely enough, the captain of the Orion, who claimed to

be a Baltimorean, recognized me, and reminded me that I had
taken him over the bar before the war, when he commanded a

schooner from Baltimore.