. The story of American heroism; thrilling narratives of personal adventures during the great Civil war, as told by the medal winners and roll of honor men . a mile or more, whenhe reached the river, on theopposite bank of which hesaw a boat that had evi-dently been left there byone of the picket more he plunged intothe icy water, swam across,unmoored the little craft,and, clinging to the stern-board, allowed it to driftdown the stream until hewas a safe distance fromthe scene of his adventur-ous exploit. Then scrambling on board,he took up the oars and pulledwith a will for eight c
. The story of American heroism; thrilling narratives of personal adventures during the great Civil war, as told by the medal winners and roll of honor men . a mile or more, whenhe reached the river, on theopposite bank of which hesaw a boat that had evi-dently been left there byone of the picket more he plunged intothe icy water, swam across,unmoored the little craft,and, clinging to the stern-board, allowed it to driftdown the stream until hewas a safe distance fromthe scene of his adventur-ous exploit. Then scrambling on board,he took up the oars and pulledwith a will for eight consecu-tive hours, when the squadi-onwas reached, and he had onlysufficient strength left to hail oneA Friend in Need. of the vessels before he fell in the bottom of the boat, totally exhausted by cold, hunger, fatigue andexcitement. Even then he was not immediately cared for. The officers of the squad-ron feared this frail craft was the beginning of some tiick by the enemy, andwarned its occupant to keep away. Cushing, however, was too nearly exhausted to make any explanation,and after a time, when it was seen that there was nothing to fear from this. AMERICAN HEROISM. 711 almost lifeless man. a boat was sent ont to tow him to the ship. It can wellbe fancied what kind of a reception he met with there. Of Cushings part}, one returned on the steamer Valley City ; he waspicked up after having traveled across the country, and living in the swampsnearly two days. Two of his men Gushing saw drown, and. as he himself said, his armsand his will were the only living portions of his organism during the lastfour hours of his journey down the river. For his services in thus destroying the formidable ram. Gushing receivedthe congratulations of the Navy Department, the thanks of Congress, andwas promoted to the grade of lieutenant commander. The following of his men received medals of honor : Richard Hamilton, coal heaver; Bernard Harley, ordinary seaman;Edward J. Houghton, ordinary seaman;
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