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482 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

Point, grounded on the Rip at the mouth of the river. Efforts
were made to lighten her and get her off, but the receding tide
caused her to hog and break in two, on account of the heavy
armor, and, becoming a wreck, she subsequently sank and went
to pieces. Little was saved from her; but the crew were not
endangered, as the weather was calm.

The following is the account of the incident given by the

Daily Journal of Tuesday, May 10, 1864, omitting, however,
mention of the accident to the Raleigh:

Tue Iron-Crap “Rateran” at Sra.

Fort Fisurr, N. C., May 7, 1864.

The monotony of garrison life has been disturbed by an act
of gallantry on the part of our navy. Last evening, the iron-
clad Raleigh, Lieut. Pembroke Jones commanding, bearing the
broad pennant of Flag Officer Lynch, steamed out of New Inlet
in quest of the enemy. Not long after leaving the bar the
faleigh met a blockader cruising about, and gave her a seven-
inch shot crashing through her sides; the Federal vessel being
unused to such an encounter, immediately left, making signals
to the fleet. The iron-clad continued her cruise until after mid-
night, when an unsuspecting blockader, taking her for a block-
ade runner, fired a shot and ran down to pick up a prize, but,
instead of receiving the surrender of an unarmed blockade
runner, Jonathan was complimented by a ball that was more
surprising than agreeable. Thinking in wonder that they had
been fired on by one of the squadron through mistake, the block-
ader displayed the usual signal of a bright blue light, when the
faleigh, being very near, sent a rifle shell whistling through
her bulwarks. The Yankee “doused his glim” with unexampled
alacrity. Very soon the red-and-blue signals of the enemy were
seen flashing in different directions, giving the alarm to each
other. Nothing more was seen or heard during the night, and
we who awaited the result on the ramparts of Fort Fisher were
relieved when the dawn commenced to roll the curtain from
the scene. Daylight first disclosed the small steamers Yadkin
and Hquator about two miles from shore awaiting the orders of
the Raleigh, which they accompanied over the bar. Soon the
horizon was clear, and we discovered the iron-clad eight miles
to sea, in quiet possession of the blockading anchorage. Soon

Blockade Running "483

after, the blockaders that had run off to sea appeared on the
horizon, and the little black dots developed themselves into

gunboats. ne

First, came two well in view, and one, approaching within
range of the Raleigh, was greeted by a shot; a long-taw engage
ment now commenced, in which the second blockader joined ;
but the enemy was soon sufficiently amused and ran off, giving
the flag officer a wide berth. Six sails now appeared, but only
One had the temerity to exchange shots with the iron-clad, and
she soon decamped beyond range. About 6 o’clock eight block-
aders came in sight, but notwithstanding the Raleigh steamed
defiantly around their anchorage, eight miles from the guns
of Fort Fisher, not one dared to take up the gauntlet. At 7
o'clock the flag officer, wishing to save the tide on the bar,
signalled for his steamers and turned the Raleugh s prow to
shore. The little trio formed in line some five miles out, and
steamed slowly in, the Confederate flag waving saucily above
their decks. The fort greeted the Raleigh with a salute as she
passed in.

What damage the iron-clad did to the two vessels she struck
is not known. She was not struck.

WILMINGTON DURING THE BLOCKADE.

(By an Ex-Confederate Officer.!)

After the Capital of the Confederacy there was not in the
South a more important place than the little town of Wilming-
ton, North Carolina, about thirty miles from the mouth of the

Cape Fear River, noted in peace times for its exports of tar,
pitch, turpentine, and lumber.

Previous to the War between the States Wilmington was very
gay and social. But the war sadly changed the place—many of
the old families moving away into the interior, and, those who
remained, either from altered circumstances or the loss of rela-
tives in battle, living in retirement. When we first knew it,
Maj. Gen. W. H. ©. Whiting was in command. He had been
a United States Army officer, who for a long time had been
stationed at Smithville, near the Old Inlet at the mouth of the
river, where, prior to the war, there had been a fort and a garri-
son, though for some years disused. Whiting was one of the

1In a Northern Magazine after the war.