State

How We Blew Out Ihe Lighl A legendary version in which daring men and a pretty woman spy combined forces to thwart the Yankee designs on Cape Lookout. By SALLY G. MOGUL In legends a few generations old. usually there is more truth than fiction. Much of 'I'hc War Between the Slates history of the Central N. C. Coast was never recorded, because there were few troops involved and few major battles; but there were many volunteers who fought here and else¬ where. And there was a spy network all along the coast about which little has been heard, because their story could not be told. These people op¬ erated at great personal risk; danger of death or imprisonment, confiscation of property and incendiarism. It was under such circumstances in 1864 that Confederate soldiers — as¬ sisted by local secret agents — under¬ took to destroy the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, to prevent its being used and taken over by the Federals. Keepers of The Light If Outer Bank people — relatively isolated from the Yankees — viewed the matter differently from the main- landers. it must be remembered that they were keepers of the light, had helped to build it, were on intimate terms with its lifesaving role, and re¬ garded it with a special pride and af¬ fection. As their side of the story has been sometimes expressed: "Fort Macon and Beaufort, the county scat, had been captured for two years, and whenever our older folks went into Beaufort them Yankees would brag and strut all around. Bankers never did brag much; thee always figured that a crowing hen was fit for nothing but the pot. And the Yankees would come to the banks at limes, but we didn't have anything thee wanted, so most of the time we were left alone. "Gacr Chadwick was Lighthouse Keeper, John Rile (Royal), First As¬ sistant Lighthouse Keeper and Abner Guthrie, Second Assistant, and each would take turns minding The Light. The banks people had witnessed the sorrows of shipwrecks, so thee knew what a comfort it was to have The Light burning. It gave you a warm feeling, especially if you were out in a boat, late getting in. There had been a lot of rumor about The Light being destroyed and we all sure did hate for anything to happen to it. "Gaer Chadwick was a mainlander and a lot of his kinfolks owned slaves, so he had to be very careful what he said. Most all of his folks were right in the middle of the War and even his cousin Mary Frances Chadwick was a Confederate spy, so he knew more about what was going on than we did." Secret Service To quote Mary Frances Chadwick, she was at this time "a young lady of twenty-two summers, in the purity of matured womanhood, fired with a pa¬ triotic zeal, love of liberty and belief The "new" lighrHoutc of Solly Moore'* Ногу wo* rcilorcd in 1867, ond i* Hill in icrvicc ol Cope Lookout. Originally, in 1812, the government hod built a lighthoutc here with twin tower*, one of brick, one of wood. in the inalienable right of self govern¬ ment.” She was one of Carteret County's Confederate Secret Service Agents, volunteering her services at the beginning of the War. On February I, 1864, Confederate forces launched a major assault on Fed¬ eral forces at New Bern, thus beginning an effort to open up the coastal area to shipping, in order to obtain urgently needed supplies for the Confederacy. At the same time, a Confederate de¬ tachment of troops was sent from Wilmington up the coast to threaten, and if possible, to capture Federal positions in Carteret County. This move was made to draw attention away from New Bern. On Feb. 2nd the Wilmington troops captured enemy outposts at Gales Greek and along Boguc Sound, then turning inland, they marched on to Newport where the Federals had a permanent camp. At Newport they routed the enemy and captured great quantities of stores. The assault on New Bern failed and the Wilmington troops received orders to withdraw and return. Just before departing for Wilmington, to torment the Federals further, they destroyed the railroad bridge over Newport River. Federal forces at Fort Macon, Carolina City and in Morchcad City were very apprehensive, and Beaufort was in an uproar. All through February and March nerves were on edge, not know¬ ing just what to expect, and conditions were very bad for spy work. Scmmes was Expected The Federals. fearing that the Con¬ federates would try to destroy Cape Lookout Lighthouse, had two large boats on guard in the Hook of the Cape. Their greatest fear was that Captain Scmmes (Raphael Scmmes, commander of the famous raider C.S.S. Alabama) would sail in, and they had been expecting him since the first of February when the assault on New Bern started. This tied up two boats which were needed elsewhere, so THE STATE. July IS. 1969