Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 27.djvu/230

 222 Southern Historical Society Papers.

had expected an engagement, they declined this challenge. For the the failure on the part of Commodore Craven to accept this gage of battle, he was brought to trial by court-martial, found guilty, and sentenced to two years' suspension; but the Secretary of the Navy annulled the sentence on the ground that it was not sufficiently severe for the offence. On a revision of the proceedings, the court-martial made the same finding, which the Secretary again set aside for the same reason, and Captain Craven was restored to duty.

" After this incident the Stoneivall crossed the Atlantic for the purpose of raising the blockade at Port Royal and other seaports on the Atlantic coast, but, on entering the harbor of Havana for supplies, there learned of the conclusion of the war and the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox. The vessel was then bonded to the Captain- General of Cuba for the sum of $16,000, with which her officers and crew were paid off ana! discharged. The Stoneivall was subsequently surrendered to the United States government, and by that govern- ment sold to Japan. She was for some years in the naval service of Japan, and finally sunk in a typhoon.

"After leaving the Stonewall, in April, 1865, in the harbor of Havana, I proceeded to Mexico, where I was engaged in engineering on the first line of railway in that country. Returning to this coun- try in the summer of 1866, I visited the Gosport Navy Yard, at Norfolk, and there, to my surprise, found the old Stonewall in dock, refitting for her subsequent voyage around Cape Horn and delivery to the Japanese authorities."

Dr. Bennett Wood Green, who was a surgeon on board the Stone- wall, recalled the career of the Confederate iron-clad ram at his home 504 east Grace street, last evening, and expressed the sadness which Captain Page's death had caused him. He said: "Captain Page, when I knew him on the Stonewall, was past three-score years, but he was alive, energetic and brave. His bright eye never faltered, and a more courageous office never trod the deck of a vessel."

Dr. Green himself is no longer a young man, but he talked with great animation on the subject of the Stonewall, which he said was quite a formidable vessel in her day. She was a ram, clad with four inches of iron, and armed with three Armstrong guns one 300- pounder and two yo-pounders. The shipbuilding firm of Messrs. Arman, at Bordeaux, France, undertook the contract to build her for the Confederate government, Emperor Napoleon III, granting permission. Before the vessel was completed, however, the Emperor revoked the permission, and refused to allow the delivery of the ves-