326 Nortu Carorina Troops, 1861-’65 :
; CAPTURE OF THE “UNDERWRITER.” 327

shape in January, 1864 1
; and it was deci |
’ as decided to send Gen- for those about to engage in battle. It was a scone

eral Pickett with as much of his divisi . ?
ble to make the attempt. division as might be availa- pressive scene—just as the shades of evening were falling—
orders w : P n Friday, 29 January, 1864 . :
were received by the four ships lying at ak 7 this unusual assemblage of armed men. ‘Then, with mufiled
Bluff, each to fit out a cutter fully ee oars a single line was formed, and we pulled with measured
on a secret expedition. No one in —— se service ) stroke down the stream. The river is narrow and full of
our destination, except myself and Cap es Pp Me and of turns, winding in and out, with low sedgy banks. Here and
on the Patrick Henry, and we were a Se ane there huge cypress and water oak trees, which almost lock
rations. I was put ie command ei pr ered to take five day 8’ their heavy branches over the stream.
tion, with confidential orders to ate roe: a ee expedi- The night was so dark that we could not see each other, and
lor Wood (his naval rank) at Kinston, N ie ain John Tay- often the leading boat ran into a shoal point, got aground, and
To escape notice as much as possible ee 1 d : the whole line would be jumbled up in 8 seyne
river to the Appomattox, and reached P es down James ‘After 2 o’clock in the morning the river widened, and we
light. There was a sailway ie eage rok before day- began to see better around us. Soon we reached the mouth of
hauled our boats out of the water ag oe ee us, and we Swift Creek and sniffed the salt air from the sound. Every
them on the flat cars before the ous le we ar — loaded eye was strained to see a ship. We pulled in the direction of
We started off at once, and it | x : ee se about. the town of New Bern, and searched in vain to find some-
train like that—Jack sitting up on the s fae to see a thing afloat, although we got close enough to the wharf to
waving his hat to the astonished nativ S04 of the boats and hear talking, probably the sentries on the dock.
a circus before. Many of them had WE who never saw such There was nothing to be done but find some refuge out of
reached Kinston on Sunday morning S grt : ioe We sight until next night, but it was hard letting down from the
the boats in the water of the N = Sais immediately ,got pitch of excitement and expectation we had been under—the
e Neuse river, dropped down a unbending of the bow that had been strung for action. We

short distance below A : ‘

the trial of battle th Hie 5 spss a ae in shape for moved up the river some three or four miles to Bachelor’s
plain Wood mict ns 9% amet. (saan Creek, where among the reeds and rushes we tried to hide our-

. ight, and try it again. We felt

we were joi :

oy ios three pee fully armed from Wilmington, selves and rest until next ni

00k command ot Wie ented: Se 7 oe very uneasy lest we should be discovered, and our purpose
urprise, it would be

in the after ; .
noon we shoved ot Semis ie es ee known ; for unless our attack should be a s
No foree in small

down for New as : :
river. ew.Bern, which is about forty miles diggant tg: tie useless and madness to undertake it.
boats, except in overwhelming numbers, can capture an armed

When w : ‘
“ae ap gotten some two miles below the town orders ship, unless by taking her unawares. We spent a day of tedi-
g or every man to put a band of white cotton cloth Officers and men laying low, spinning yarns

= the left ake above the elbow, and the name “Sumpter” I happened to hear the
ras give :
ibaa obese. talking in one of the groups, where a fine young officer said:

These precaution : :
2 & 2 7 ~~), y ”? tas
P are necessary in a night attack, as there “Fellows, where will we be this time to-morrow?” He was

are no fi in si : ;
with me = sed to. rally upon. Every man wes armed among the killed, and it was such a lesson on the uncertainty
a cutlass and navy revolver. of human life. Among those present were Hoge and Gard-

bl Before dark the Commander ordered all boats to assem- ner and Henry Cooke and Gill and Palmer Saunders and
f : a and, 6 we Bonted. omrn Sie Siey anes 10 Goodwin, from Virginia, and Gift and Porcher and Scharf
ered up the petitions from the prayer book to Almighty God and Williamson and Kerr and Roby, all trained at Annapolis

 

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i
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ous waiting.
and talking about our prospects.