362 — Nort CaroLina Troops, 1861-’65.

gentlemen, among them Marshall Kane, of Baltimore; Rey.
Dr. Moses D. Hoge, of Richmond, Va., and others who had
come down from St. Johns, New Brunswick, and joined the
ship at Bermuda, and who were extremely anxious to reach
the Confederate States. By some error in calculation, in-
stead of making Cape Fear light at 3 a. m., as was intended,
they made the light on Cape Lookout, a long distance out of
their course. What was best to be done was the question to
be solved, and to be solved at once, for daylight comes soon in
July. The ship had scarcely enough coal in her bunkers to
take her back to the port she had left*and almost certain cap-
‘ture stared them in the face should they attempt to run in.
However, it was determined to make the attempt, and the
ship was headed for New Inlet. Hugging the shore as closely
as possible, with all steam on, she dashed down the coast with
the speed of a thoroughbred on a hotly contested face course.
Fortunately at that time many persons were engaged in mak-
ing salt on the coast, and the smoke rising from the works
created a cloud or mist which concealed the ship from the
blockaders, although it was broad day. But as she neared
the inlet she was compelled to change her course further out
to sea on account of a shoal or spit that makes out into the
ocean at that point, and was immediately discovered by the
blockading fleet who opened fire upon her and gave chase like
a pack of hounds in eager pursuit of a much coveted quarry.
It was a most trying situation, for the ship was compelled
to keep her course, although it carried her nearer and nearer
to the enemy—until she could round the shoal and run in to-
wards the land when she would be in comparative safety.
Shot and shell were flying around her in every direction, but
she held steadily on, though rushing as it seemed to certain
destruction, when suddenly a roar was heard from the fort;
the heavy guns upon the mound had opened upon the pursu-
ers with such effect as to check their speed and force them
to retire, and the gallant ship which had been so hardly
pressed, soon rounded the shoal and was safe beneath the shel-
tering guns of the fort.
“But the pitcher that goes often to the fountain is broken at
last, and the time came when the career of the Ad-Vance as a

a no ai i

~

BiockaDE RUNNING. 363

blockade-runner was to cease forever. She was captured on
her outward trip a few miles from our coast, owing to an in-
ferior quality of coal she was compelled to use which was very
bituminous and which emitted a black smoke that betrayed
her to the watchful eyes of the fleet; being surrounded by
them, she was obliged to surrender with her cargo of cotton
and her officers and crew as prisoners. She was a noble ship,
greatly endeared to the people of our State, and her capture
was felt as‘a personal calamity.

“With reference to her capture—her name having been in-
correctly referred to as the A. D. Vance, and being still mis-
quoted in the United States Navy Records, whence I obtained
the accompanying illustration—the newspaper Carolinian,
published in Fayetteville 17 September, 1864, said: ‘The
loss of the A. D. Vance is a severe loss to our State. She has
done noble service for our North Carolina soldiers, and has
paid for herself twenty times.”

“In 1867 she made her reapperance in the waters of the
Cape Fear as the United States man-of-war folic, sent to
this port to prevent the Cuban warship Cuba from leaving
Wilmington, which duty was successfully performed. It
happened on that occasion that Captain George Morrison,
her former engineer, met some of her officers and was asked
by them her rate of speed while he had charge of her engines.
IIe replied, “Seventeen knots easily.” “Impossible,” they
said, “for we have not been able to get more than eight or nine
out of her.” ‘Something wrong then,” said the captain,
“and unless you have made some alterations in her machin-
ery, I will guarantee to drive her to Smithville (Southport)
at a rate of seventeen knots an hour.” He was cordially in-
vited on board to examine, did so, found that they had placed
a damper where it ought not to have been and which pre-
vented the generation of steam, removed it and then ran down
to Smithville at the rate of nineteen knots an hour, to the
great surprise of all on board.”

THE AUTHOR'S ADVENTURES.

In the summer of 1864, the Confederate steamer Lilian,
which had repeatedly reached the Confederacy under com-