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480

The Raleigh, a vessel of light construction, was built later at
the wharf near the foot of Church Street; and after being
launched was completed at Cassidy’s shipyard. Her construc-
tion and armament were similar to that of the North Carolina,
but she was covered with heavy iron plates of two thicknesses
running fore and aft and athwart ship.

The star of the Confederacy was waning in the spring of

y and the scant supply of provisions
and clothing had sent prices almost beyond the reach of people
of moderate means. In Richmond, meal was $10 per bushel ;

butter, $5 per pound; sugar, $12 per pound; bacon, hog round,
$4 per pound; brogan shoes, $25 per pair; felt hats, $150;
cotton cloth, $30 per yard; and it was a saying in the Capital of
the Confederacy, that the money had to be carried in the market
basket and the marketing brought home in the pocketbook,

Karly in May the condition of the commissariat was alarm-
ing; but a few days’ rations were left for Lee’s army, and only
the timely arrival of the blockade runner Banshee with pro-
visions saved the troops from suffering.

Wilmington was the only port left to the blockade runners,
and the blockade of the mouths of the Cape Fear had become

dangerously stringent. Some twenty steamers guarded the two
inlets, besides two outer lines of fast cruisers between this city

and the friendly ports of Nassau and the Bermudas. On dark
nights, armed launches were sent into the bar to report outgoing
steamers by firing rockets in the direction taken by them. The
ceaseless vigilance of the forts could scarcely make an exit for
friendly vessels even comparatively free from danger. An hour
after dark, Fort Fisher, having trained its sea-face guns upon
the bar, would ricochet its Columbiad shot and shell upon that
point, so as to frighten off the launches ; and then the blockade
runners would venture out and take their chances of running
the gauntlet of the blockading fleet.

In this emergency, Commodore Lynch, commanding the Con-
federate fleet in the Cape Fear River, determined to raise the
blockade of New Inlet, the favorite entrance of the blockade

The ironclad ram Raleigh, already described, Lieut. J. Pem-

broke Jones commanding, and two small wooden gunboats, Yad-
kin and Equator, were chosen for the purpose. Our late towns-

man, Capt. E. W. Manning, chief engineer of the station, and
the late Engineer Smith, Confederate States Navy, of Fayette-

Blockade Running 481

ville, were in charge of the machinery of the —— mg pe

eet aN ea a te open en De
issance and obtal

Se ceduaak ae fort. Seven vessels were at —— va wn

down: the Tuscarora, Britannia, Nansemond, H owquah, A =

Vernon, Kansas, and Niphon. He arranged a distinguis —

sional for his vessels—a red light above a white one—so

they would not be fired upon by the fort.
Fost Fisher had its sea-face guns manned after dark by ex

perienced artillerists, and about eight o’clock the he he
were set on the mound and the Confederate flotilla = of : ~
The commander of the fort, Col. William 2 ier : es a
his officers, repaired to the ramparts opposite the bar a

th It. .
‘Within thirty minutes after the vessels had disappeared from

the vision of the anxious garrison, . few shots —— _ ren
lue lights were seen -
seaward, and some Coston b ae
lent as the grave. Spec
then all was dark as Erebus and s1
tion was rife among the Confederates who manned the guns.

Had the foe been dispersed or destroyed? Why were = —
sent up to announce a victory, to cheer the — Fae
which beat with anxious hope within Fort Fisher ? i
night of waiting was spent without any sign save the pene
twinkle of a distant light at sea. The gunners were reli
at midnight, but all continued dark and silent. a
At last day dawned, the breakers on the bar became = }
the Raleigh and her consorts appeared, and then yor e -
them, at long range, the enemy’s fleet. Shots were exchange
between the combatants after daylight; one of the Federal ves-
sels fired rapidly at the Raleigh, approaching as she fired, but,

receiving a shot from the ironclad through her smokestack,
withdrew to a safer distance.

Then the seven blockaders came closer to the Confederate
fleet, showing fight, and probably with the intention of _—
to run the Raleigh down; but that vessel and her a
headed for the fort and steamed slowly in, the enemy prudent y
keeping beyond range of the guns of Fort Fisher. es 7
great disappointment that the garrison saw the Ralewg : “ts “Sits
and Equator come over the bar and under the guns 0 )

leaving the blockading squadron apparently unharmed. eee
The Yadkin and Equator came safely into the sons :
Raleigh, after passing the mound and rounding Confederate

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