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Show LEAVES THAT ARE TURNED D0WN (By M. M. Clothier) $ J 5 By M. M. Clothier. . By command of President Lincoln,! j Gmcral H. P. Hutlcr, organized a Now i Enslaml division, its purpose and I ItstinatlftD, the capture of New Or-I Or-I leans. In February, 1862, the new I rtnport steamer M !-issippi. in Bos- ton harbor, was loading for the voy I 8 She rnrij.il l.o"0 ton of coal, vim quantities of military stores, the i I Sis' MajM' husetts recipient (stylodi Western Day State' ) lorn) strong, I Wd four companies of the 15th Maine. Tht journey of the 31st from Pitts-j Pitts-j fM to lloplon. was an ovation, andl Botonians loaded us with atabU-s, a1 j ,r' ludln? Rlnger-br( ad and cheesi it I escort of our friends accompanied us j as far as Forts Warren and Indeprnd ence. The forts saluted us with theii bit? guns. Escorting steamers turned I back We were in ihe long swell of the ocean, and night was on. No pre cautions against sea-sickness had been I provided not even a lemon could be; had on board ship. The quick re-turns re-turns from Boston cheese Is painful io contemplate and, to intensify our dis- comfiture, the only fresh water on board was for officers. Soldiers used condensed water, warm and nauseat-, inc. tasting strongly of copper. We arrived off Fortress Monroe. Ya.. in a brisk gale. There General But-. I ler, wife and maid, and his official staff, came aboard. On the 25th of February we left Monroe. As WB 1 n eared Hatteras, a tempest swept the main; seas broke over the deck, yard arm dipped in the sea, breakers became be-came laible on the shore. The captain cap-tain had Rone to bed and, locked in his state room, it was with difficulty he was aroused to meet the peril at hand He headed the ship east and stood -ast till daylight. The ice house, packed with great blocks of ice, gave way; quantities of beet in quarters had been stored on the Ice. The ice soon ground to powder, but the beet, reinforced by barrels of pork, potatoes, rice and miscellaneous provisions, mingling with ammunition, muskets, ind equipment, broken bunks and ii. ncled humani'y. rolled and smashed oi e and aft; four hatches were baf-Ltered baf-Ltered down. Egyptian darkness prevailed. pre-vailed. The roar of the storm, neutralized neu-tralized all other rounds. No pencil can paint, nor tongue may toll, the story of that tempestuous night. I have shared and witnessed much of human woe, yet, condensing the sum-'mary sum-'mary of these for nearly eighty years, into one day, the result would dim in contrast to that night off Hatteras. n the 27th of February, just as the sun was rising, there was o quiver of the ship. We were aground on Prying-Pan Prying-Pan shoals five miles from shore, and in full view of Fort Mason. Casting the "gipsy" we found fourteen feet of water. Our normal draught was eighteen eigh-teen feet. It is told that but one vessel ves-sel of many, in our predicament, had been saved The captain ordered anchor oast, the ship soon forged against it, crushing a five-Inch hole in the ship's side. Water poured through this break, with resistless force. For.unately for us, there were water tight comportments A murmur mur-mur was heard anions the men, accusing ac-cusing the captain of being a "Baltimore "Balti-more Secessionist," and. to save him from violence, he was placed under guard. The bent drilfed company paraded pa-raded 1he quarterdeck Their Cup-tain Cup-tain (Fisk) was lat.r a general. A soldier was sent to the mast head to look out for passing steamers. Horsemen rode furiously Along the beach. We fired one shell from a six-pound six-pound Sftwyi r It said "hands off." A hundred men manned the pump, in1 relays of an hour Strong relays engaged en-gaged In throwing over everything possible to lighten ship. Ridiculous' things are likely to happen and, in our case, bales of mosquito netting were hoisted from below and cast into the! sea. The look-out cried, "Sail ho.'" " Whcro-away ?" "Broad off." An officer went aloft and reported the stranger living a Confederate tlag.i Quickly our deck was cleared for ac-' lion Thirty men stood by the Sawyer' gun. Marksmen were posted about the rigging. All others were sent below, where strange scenes were enacted. Some loaded their muskets with two charges of powder and one ball, otn-1 ers, with one charge and two balls.1 Each individual used his discretion, I bat all resolved that the vessel shoulil not be carried by boarding. The J strange essel proved to be the block j ader Mount Vernon. Her captain came aboard, pale as death. He grasped General Butler's hand, shook his head, ahd paced Ihe deck. Wind was in-greasing. in-greasing. The ship's sides seem to, yield, ns the waves beat upon her. But four hundred soldiers could be i packed on the Mount Vernon, and were soon transferred. General Butler's: wife was also sent away A Maine, chaplain insisted upon going. Butler commanded him to stay and pray for, j.-.. He got away the next day and was dishonorably discharged from the service. The noble boys of Massachus-I Ptts, apparently left to themselves to; perish, maintained exacting discipline. Formed in columns of two, they double-quicked double-quicked fore and aft. Sails were set, I hut not sheeted Pork barrels emptied! of contents, had been used for buoys. I Jrain sacks containing shot, served1 as anchors to them, and they were ar-1 ranged to mark Hie line of deepest water. A lull in the wind and General Butler gave the command. "Sheet1 home, jingle the engine bell" The force started the ship. We were in ileep water, and safe. Such cheers as uprose from that ship, I never heard befote, and shall never hear again. |