. Popular history of the civil war . e next night was spent in reconnoitring below the dawn Captain Cushing captured a mounted courier fromFort Fisher, and obtained much valuable information fromhis mail. One of the officers put on the couriers hat andcoat, and rode to market, returning witli a good dinner forthe party. They cut the telegraph-wires; and as soon asit was dark they started on their homeward way, havingfound that the Raleigh had already been destroyed. Settingtheir prisoners adrift in the stream, with neither sails noroars, they steadily pulled toward the mouth of the riv
. Popular history of the civil war . e next night was spent in reconnoitring below the dawn Captain Cushing captured a mounted courier fromFort Fisher, and obtained much valuable information fromhis mail. One of the officers put on the couriers hat andcoat, and rode to market, returning witli a good dinner forthe party. They cut the telegraph-wires; and as soon asit was dark they started on their homeward way, havingfound that the Raleigh had already been destroyed. Settingtheir prisoners adrift in the stream, with neither sails noroars, they steadily pulled toward the mouth of the the moon rose, and a guard-boat discoveredthem; then another and another, till five came out ofthe darkness. xA^lways cool in the presence of danger,Cushing darted into the shadow so quickly, that for amoment they could not find him. Every stroke told asthe crew bent to their oars. Away they went, out of theriver, into the surf, where their pursuers dared not venture. The destruction of the Albemarle was next 1864.] They that go doivn to the Sea in Ships. 489 A steam-launch with a torpedo attachment had been riggedfor this purpose, and Lieutenant Gushing was tlie manchosen to do the work. With a volunteer crew of six offi-cers and six men, he left the fleet in the launch, at mid-night on the 27th of October. The Albemarle was lyingin the Roanoke River, at Plymouth, carefully guarded byConfederate picket-boats. Stealthily Gushing slipped pastthem all, without being caught. At length he crossed abelt of light, and a dog barked. Then came the challenge,Who comes there? followed by a shower of rebel Albemarle was protected by a boom of logs aroundher, thirty feet wide. The launch made a wide circle, andwith bows on, dashed upon the enemy at full speed. Thelaunch went over the logs close to the ram. The torpedospar was lowered; and with his own hands Gushing fixedit in place, and pulled the line which exploded it. At thesame moment the Albemarle
Size: 1343px × 1860px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidpopularhisto, bookyear1894
