When the Yankees Came
SchiIIi port's ino.sl stirring «lays, as recalled
by a boy who lived tlir«>iigii them.
By JAMES ERASTUS PRICE
I From Hie book, "I’nder Itolli lias»,' published in 1X96)
Down on the coast of North Caro¬
lina. where the Cape hear River makes
a bend, forming a fine bay four miles
wide, just before rushing into the sea.
the town of Southport (formerly Smith-
villc) lies amidst a beautiful grove of
live-oak trees. Here I found my little
world, bounded on one side by pine
forests, and on the other by the great
Atlantic Ocean, over which I often
longingly gazed and wondered what
was beyond the line where sky and
sea seemed to meet.
Across the bay. on the north side
of the river's mouth, was old Fort Cas¬
well, built many years before I was
bom. My grandfather had assisted in
superintending its construction; and the
old place, with its citadel, long brick
galleries, drawbridge, and moat, was
at once a pleasure and a mystery to
me. In the late war this fort and one
on Smith's Island, forming the south¬
eastern boundary of the river's mouth,
served to intimidate the too venture¬
some blockading steamers that lay off
the port to prevent the entrance of
ships which brought supplies for the
Confederacy.
When President Lincoln, on the 19th
of April, 1861, issued his proclama¬
tion for the blockading of the coast of
the Southern States, the Carolina coast
was not included. It was not until the
following July that this, the most im¬
portant port on the Southern coast,
was declared blockaded, and the Fed¬
eral steamer "Monticcllo" sent to in¬
tercept the venturesome traders.
Blockade Running
Being dependent on Fngland for
most of its foreign supplies, the large
production of cotton in the South was
a source of much wealth to the English
traders, who, owing to the immense
profit, took great risk in running the
blockade. As the neutrality law pre¬
vented direct trade with England, the
cotton was taken to intermediate ports,
and there transferred to its true destina¬
tion. I"hc principal intermediate points
for the neutral trade were Nassau, Ber¬
muda, Havana, and Matamoras. Nas¬
sau was the most important of these;
but Bermuda, though second in extent
of its trade, was nearest to the Cape
Fear port, which was — especially in
the latter part of the war — the place
most sought by the blockade-runners,
and became the scene of stirring events,
some of which were indelibly impressed
upon my youthful mind.
When war was declared. I was too
young to fully appreciate the situation;
but when my father told me he was
going away on the ocean to get a ship
at Nassau. I was uneasy, and said
that he might not come back again. 1
was an unconscious prophet; he never
returned. When his ship arrived at
Nassau, he was stricken with yellow-
fever. and died soon after getting on
shore. The vessel on which he went
(the steamer "Kent’’) returned, and
was destroyed by the blockaders. For
years the framework of her walking-
beam, sticking out of the water in
front of our town, was a continual re¬
minder of my great loss.
The clouds of war thickened; our
little town was enlivened by some of
the pageant of military display and the
bright uniforms and bands of music
Fort Coi»cll oftorded protection tor the town,
ond
о
ho»en tor blockade runner». Todo» it i»
о
vocation retreot ot the Baptist Assembly. Until
recent year», gun pit», tilled from worm beoch
springs, oftorded
о
unique swimming pool for
vocatroners ot the tort.
made a pleasure for the boys ( who al¬
ways dearly loved a soldier) that was
only lessened by the continual ex¬
pectation of the enemy, who, to our
youthful imaginations, were monsters
with horns. This belief was somewhat
lessened when a Yankee prisoner was
brought to Fort Johnson, located in
the town. We did not look upon the
poor, lonely fellow, far away from his
friends in the North, as an object of
pity. He was a curiosity, and although
we saw he was as other men, we still
doubted.
Prosperous Port
Never before nor since has the town
Southport — although over a hundred
years old — experienced such prosperity
as came to it in the blockade-running
days. Danger front capture by the
blockaders and the possibility of yel¬
low fever abroad were outweighed, in
the minds of numerous pilots of the
town, by the golden harvest their ser¬
vices brought. Nearly $4,000 were paid
a pilot for each round trip, and the
gold so quickly obtained was lavishly
spent. Money was plentiful and. al¬
though many communities in the South
were suffering for the necessaries of
life, the people of the ports of entry
were well fed and clothed.
This gold was gotten at an enormous
expense to the English people. Hun¬
dreds of vessels were destroyed by the
blockaders, and it is said that, in two
years after the war began, $10,000,-
000 were distributed by relief com¬
mittees in England on account of the
closing of the Lancashire cotton-mills,
which, owing to the impossibility of
securing the raw cotton, were com¬
pelled to shut down. For many years
on the Carolina coast, for miles on
cither side of the Frying-Pan shoals,
could be seen the wrecks of blockade-
runners which had been run aground to
escape capture.
Among these was the steamer "Con¬
dor," the pilot of which was my uncle.
Although it was night, the low gray
hull of this ship, which was difficult
to sec. even by moonlight, was de¬
tected, heading for the bar, by the
THE STATE. DECEMBER 15. 1967
