State

Lieut. Willi a; B. Cushing For individual heroism we believe that you will agree with Mr. Lawrence, that the deeds of Lieutenant Cashing would be hard to surpass. DEEDS of daring always stir the pulse and thrill the soul, and tales of “days of old when Knights were bold” have Iteen em¬ balmed in song and story. Every imagination is fired when we recall Lord Xolson’s message to his men at Trafalgar: “England this day ex¬ pects every man to do his duty”; when we remember the gallant Grena¬ dier whose bravery was such that for я century his name was continued on the muster rolls of the regiment, and at every roll call when his name was reached, a Corporal would step for¬ ward and respond: “Dead. Dead up¬ on the field of honor.” How our pulses pound when we remember the heroic stand of the sons of the Mar¬ seillaise before Verdun, where they died by the tens of thousands that the German horde “shall not pass.” We never shall forget the valor of our cousins of England on the bloody fields of Ypres. and Field Marshal Haig's dramatic language: “We fight with our backs to the wall”; nor shall wo forget the fame of Xii- poleon’s Old Guard, for if died hut never surrendered. We still thrill to the message of Field Marshal Foeh from the Marshes of St. Gond : “My left has been routed ; my center is falling back; I am attacking with ray right.” Other Great Heroes Carolina’s Admiral John Paul Jones, summoned to surrender, sent back the soul-stirring reply: “I have just begun to fight”; Commodore Peary from Lake Erie despatched the message “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” The Civil War had scarce opened when General Lee in an effort to rally his broken lines in the opening battle of Bull Run. pointed with his sword and shouted to his men: “There stands Jackson, standing like a stone wall ; rally be¬ hind the Virginians”; and at Xew Orleans, heroic Admiral Farragui on being told that the river at Xew Orleans was sown with torpedoes merely said: “Damn the torpedoes; go ahead.” Winchester found Gen¬ eral Sheridan “twenty miles away” but be rode there in time to snatch By R. C. LAWRENCE victory from defeat. The Wilder¬ ness found Lee great in victory; Ap¬ pomattox found him supreme in de¬ feat— a leader so superb that Jackson declared Lee was the one man he was willing to follow blindfolded. Deeds of valor are the exclusive pro]>erty of no section, race or clime, but constitute the common heritage of mankind. But to my mind the supreme hero of the sixties was not a son of the South, hut a valiant fighter under the banner of the Union. nnd the deeds which have immortalized his name were all done within the borders of our State. His name was Lieutenant William B. C ushing. His First Daring Deeds Oldest of our coastal defenses was ancient Fort Johnston, situated on a high bluff overlooking the mouth of Cape Fear, within the limits of what is now the town of Southport. It dates back to 1745 when it was located by a committee of which Colonial Chief Justice Eleazar Allen was a member. Nearly a century later, on the opposite shore and nearer the ocean, was built Fort Caswell, named in honor of onr first Governor. At the outbreak of the Civil War the Confederate Government constructed the formidable Fort Fisher on the narrow peninsula between Capo Fear and the ocean. The fort had both sea and land faces, and it protected both the entrance to the Cape Fear and guarded the port of Wilming¬ ton. It took its name from that of Charles F. Fisher, first Carolina Colonel to fall in battle, killed at Bull Run. Lieutenant Cushing was attached to a ship which was a part of the Federal squadron that always hov¬ ered off the Cape Fear bar, lying in wait for the Confederate blockade runners. One night, in 1864 the Lieutenant planned a daring enter¬ prise, the purpose of which was the capture of General Louis Hebert, Confederate commander at Fort Johnston. Under cover of the dark¬ ness, with muffled oars, the launch carrying Cushing and his few sail¬ ors silently passed up Cape Fear and the party reached the foot of the hill under the fort without discov¬ ery; where they landed and lay in wait for the appearance of the Con¬ federate General whom the Lieuten¬ ant purposed to kidnap and convey as a hostage to his ship. Before the General made his appearance the presence of the dnring raiders was discovered, the alarm given, nnd when Cushing and his men fled down Cape Fear a galling fire was poured upon them from the forts. Another Attempt at Capture Shortly thereafter, again under cover of the kindly darkness. Cush¬ ing with a small party again stole up Cape Fear without discovery, and hiding their launch, they lav in wait on the road between Fort Fisher nnd Wilmington in the hope of capturing Colonel William Lamb, commander at the Fort, or his superior. General W. II. C. Whiting, who had the com¬ mand at Wilmington, and who was later to lose his life at Fort Fisher when if fell before the Federal at¬ tack in January 1805. By the merest accident the presence of the little party of Federals was discovered shortly before Colonel Lamb passed along the road, having in his pos¬ session papers which would have been of immense value to the Federal Government. Again the young Lieu¬ tenant eluded the hot pursuit; again he ran the gauntlet of the fort and escaped again in safety to his ship. Once again, clothed in a captured Confederate uniform, the gallant young Lieutenant got safely through the Confederate lines and walked the very streets of the city of Wilming¬ ton. leaving a message that he would yet capture General Whiting and Colonel Lamb. This was an act dar ing in its rashness, as had he been captured in his Confederate garb, he would have been treated as a spy mid summarily hanged, in which event lie would no doubt have said as (Continued on poy? twenty)