Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 22.djvu/148

 136 Southern Historical Society Papers.

fog and ran in near land and grounded on a bar. Great confusion at once ensued among the prisoners and also among the Federal officers. We held a hasty council of war, and determined to make a demand on the captain for the surrender of the vessel. It was a desperate undertaking, as it would have been almost certain destruc- tion if we had attempted to reach the deck under the concentrated fire of one hundred muskets. Still, we made the resolve, and placed in the lead Van H. Manning, the brave and dashing Colonel of the Third Arkansas Infantry. Through him we made the demand upon the captain for surrender, and, to the surprise of some of us, he agreed to surrender the vessel on condition, as I remember, that we would have the officers, crew, and soldiers exchanged at Charleston. My recollection is that we had determined to make a landing in the life-boats at or near Cape Remain light-house. While the prelimi- naries of surrender were being arranged, a signal gun was fired from one of the escorts, and she quickly came in sight and steamed di- rectly toward our vessel. This untoward event terminated all fur- ther negotiations for surrender.

While the vessel was aground, Colonel Woolfolk, who occupied a state-room, as before mentioned, hung a sheet out of the window of his room, fastening one end on the inside, to make the impression on the officers and guards of the boat that he had lowered himself into the water and escaped. The ruse was successful, as all on board were impressed with the belief that the Colonel had gone into the water and was drowned, as it would have been impossible for him to have made the shore by swimming, on account of the distance and the intervening breakers. We afterwards learned that in the confu- sion on board the vessel, a woman had concealed him in the linen room, of which she had charge and exclusive control, and fed and successfully concealed him until the vessel returned from Charleston to New York, whence he made good his escape to Nassau, thence to his home in Kentucky, as we were afterwards informed.

Without further incident or delay, we reached Charleston harbor in due time, and the Crescent anchored inside the bar, close to the Federal blockading fleet and in sight of the city of Charleston.

Our anxiety was intense, as we fondly hoped and believed we were on the eve of exchange, and we fully expected that the preliminaries would be arranged without unreasonable delay.

Being surrounded by the Federal fleet, with the monitors anchored between us and Charleston, we thought it reasonable and expected to be allowed to go upon deck, but this privilege was denied us, and we