442 Nortuo Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

conveniently disabled, obtained permission from the authori-
ties to remain a week for repairs. Under the neutrality laws
then being strictly enforced, he was allowed only enough coal
tu take the ship to the nearest Confederate port ; but by offer-
ine the British custom’s officer all the alcoholic load that his
hold could contain, he was made oblivious to the fact that the
Chickamauga’s bunkers were being pretty well filled up with
coal. The supply was still too short to admit of further
ernising, and the ship ran the blockade back into Wilming-
ton, thus closing her history as a belligerent upon the high
seas. In the defence of Fort Fisher, her officers and crew
took a very prominent and distinguished part. After that
disaster the Chickamauga was taken up the river and burned
and sunk.”

The following interesting narrative, which is true in all
its details, was told the writer some time ago by Mr. George
C. McDougal who, by a clever ruse kept out of Fort LaFay-
ette and made some forty voyages as chief engineer in the
little steamer Sirene before his former shipmates were re-
leased.

“The well known blockade running steamer Margaret and
Jessie left Nassau laden for Wilmington, and made a good
run across to the North Carolina coast. About 12:00 merid-
ian she was in latitude of New Inlet, and ran on the western
edge of the,Gulf Stream until sun down, when she headed
for the beach and made land to the northward of the block-
ading fleet off the Cape Fear. While tracking down the beach
one of the cruisers sighted us, and sent up roekets, which made
it necessary for us to run the remainder of the distance under
fire from the whole line of the blockaders. Just as we got the
lights in range at the Inlet and were about to head the ship
over the bar, we distinguished a gunboat anchored in the
channel under cover of the wrecked steamer Arabian. We
immediately put the ship about, and, with the whole fleet
trailing after us, ran off shore. At daylight none of our
followers were in sight, but away off shore to the southward
we sighted the armed transport Fulton, and as we could not
cross her bow, Capt. Robert Lockwood, who commanded our
ship, hauled to the northward and eastward, unfortunately

BiLocKkaDE Runnina. 443

driving us across the bows of all the cruisers which had run
off shore in chase. We had to run the fire of five of these
warships as we crossed their bows and dropped them astern.
During all this time, the Fulton kept the weather gauge of us,
and after a hard day’s chase from New Inlet to Hatteras we
were at last compelled to surrender late in the afternoon, as
the Fulton seemed determined to run us down there being
hardly a cable’s length between us when we hove to and stop-
ped the engines. Before doing this, however, we were careful
to throw the mail bags, Government dispatenes, and ship’s pa-
pers into the furnace of the fire room, where they were quick-
ly consumed. While our ship’s company was being trans-
ferred to the Fulton, the U. S. steamer Keystone State and
two other cruisers came up, and sent several boats’ crews
aboard the Margaret and Jessie who looted her of all the sil-
ver, cutlery, glassware, cabin furniture, table cloths and nap-
kins, doubtless everything they could carry off in their boats,
The Fulton having sent a prize crew on board took us in tow
for New York, where, immediately on our arrival, we were
confined in Ludlow street jail. Two days after, the officers
and crew of the blockade runner Ella and Annie were brought
in, she having been captured off Wilmington after a desperate
resistance by her brave commander, Captain Bonneau. Dur-
ing our incarceration we were visited frequently by Deputy
United States Marshals, who tried to identify some of us sus-
pected of holding commissions in the Confederate service and

of being regularly engaged in blockade running, from those
less harmful members of the crew who would be only too glad

to abandon further attempts on regaining their liberty. These

officers were immediately assailed with questions from all

quarters. “What are you going to do with us here?” “Are you

going to let us out?” to which they would respond ‘We can-

not tell—the crew lists have been sent to Washington for in-

spection: you will have to wait until they are returned.”

We were kept in this state of suspense for about three weeks,

when a squad of Deputy Marshals came to the jail and mus-
tered the entire company, We soon ascertained that the crew
lists had come from Washington, and that we were to go
down to the Marshal’s office where the names of those who