USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 39
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Sixty-five years is a long period of service for a war-ship, but per- haps in the case of this ship it might be said she has had no service. It would not be proper to say this. She did not have hard war service, but she had by no means been idle, and before this chapter is finished it may be learned that she also performed real war service and had her adventure. At the beginning she seemed to be regarded very much in the light of a school for the young officers of the navy, and assignment to the Michigan was a service all were eager to secure. Perhaps it was not alone for the experience to be derived from connection with the representative of Uncle Sam's navy that sailed the unsalted seas. Looking back over that period and permitting the history like a moving- picture show to pass before our gaze, there may be a general condition that will color it with a rosy tint. For here were conditions. Erie, that always boasted of a high order of society, was also famed for the beauty of its daughters. The American navy from the days of Paul Jones had renown for the gallantry of its sons. Here were the foundation elements of romance. The result: for years Erie has been known as the mother-in-law of the American navy. And the title belongs to her. From first to last there have been as many Erie wives of naval officers as the years that number the service of the old ship,-yes, and more.
Besides the work of lending aid in case of distress, which in the olden days was frequently done, there have been occasions when the Michigan was of service in other ways. In the year 1853 it became necessary for the government to take cognizance of the doings of a man named James J. Strang. He was a Mormon. He placed himself at the head of a considerable colony and, setting forth that he had a divine commission as the successor of Joseph Smith, established himself on one of the Beaver Islands in northern Lake Michigan and proclaimed himself king. He went so far as to sink a trading schooner and was carrying things with a high hand. At this juncture orders came to the taken back to Detroit. A little later, 1853 or 1854, there was a threat warlike act was accordingly fully and faithfully performed, Strang being Michigan to go to Detroit, take on the sheriff and arrest the king. This
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of a Fenian invasion of Canada from Buffalo, but it was frustrated by the presence of the Michigan. In 1866, however, the Fenian trouble became more serious, for then the invaders did obtain a footing upon Canadian soil and a fight ensued in which several were killed and wounded, but upon the retreat of the Fenians a number of arrests were made by the Michigan, which put an end to the Fenian war. The ac- count of the Michigan's services while guarding the Confederate prisoners at Johnston's Island concludes this chapter.
The roster of the Michigan for the year 1852 shows the following officers : Capt. Bigelow, First Lieutenant McDougal, Second Lieutenant Collins, Third Lieutenant Crossen. The second lieutenant of that time, a citizen of Erie then and for years afterward for he made Erie his home and his children atttended school here, was destined to become a man of far more than ordinary fame-indeed, to attain to distinction. It was during the war of the Rebellion. He had a most excellent record through- out all that great conflict. In 1861 he commanded the Anacosta of the Potomac fleet and was at the engagement of Acquia Creek; in 1862 of the Unadilla of the South Atlantic squadron, took part in the capture of Port Royal; in 1864 as commander of the Octarora in the West India service. It was that year that Commander Napoleon Collins distinguished himself. He was transferred to the Wachusett on special service, and on October 7 entered the port of Bahia, Brazil. It does not appear what his errand there was unless that may be judged from what occurred. At that period there were a number of Confederate privateers scouring the seas and destroying American commerce, and the Government was ex- ceedingly desirous of destroying the destroyers, but no matter how alert the Yankee captains endeavored to be they were not equal-or had not been-to the task of capturing any of these very elusive craft. Com- mander Collins found the Confederate privateer Florida in the harbor of Bahia. Presumably his orders were to trail her with a view to cap- turing or sinking her. But Napoleon Collins, seeing the Florida within easy reach choose not to run any chance of losing her. Right there, in that Brazilian port, he went about capturing her and succeeded, and then he conveyed her to Hampton Roads, where she was sunk. Of course this exploit created a stir. The Brazilian government promptly lodged a protest against so flagrant a violation of the neutrality laws, and of course the government at Washington was under the necessity of taking cognizance. Secretary Seward ordered that Collins be tried by court- martial. It is presumed that the enterprising Collins lost nothing by his temerity, for in 1866 he was promoted to captain, in 1871 advanced to commodore, and in 1874 became rear admiral and was given command of the South Pacific squadron and died at Callao August 5, 1895.
For many years the Michigan has been employed in making surveys on the Great Lakes, and also in affording opportunities for instruction and drill to the volunteer naval reserves. Its most important work, how-
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ever has been that of recruiting for the navy, and this is kept up to the present time. But, as was stated at the beginning of this chapter, at and during the period of the War of the Rebellion recruiting was a most important service. Early, about sixty young men went to New York to enlist under the command of Lieut. T. H. Stevens, formerly of the Michigan. During the war the old ship was in command of Capt. John C. Carter, and he enlisted upwards of 700 men, who were sent forward in detachments, sometimes to New York, or to Philadelphia or Washington, but many were sent to Natchez or St. Louis or to some one of the river towns that were for the time being headquarters for the gunboat service. These were enlistments of ordinary seamen, but in that great war Erie was represented as well and largely in the lists of naval officers of the time. The lists included these :
Regular officers, U. S. Navy-R. B. Lowry, Thomas H. Stevens, R. N. Spotts, James E. Jouett, James W. Shirk, Leonard Paulding, D. Lauman, Napoleon Collins, Captains and Commanders; W. H. Ruther- ford, chief engineer ; W. Maxwell Wood, surgeon; J. P. Loomis, Walter W. Chester and George A. Lyon, paymasters.
Volunteer service-Masters: Jolin H. Welsh. M. J. Cronin, James C. Marshall, Jr. ; Ensigns: A. J. Louch, M. E. Flannigan, Patrick Don- nelly, William Slocum, James Hunter, George W. Bone, Felix McCann, Philip Engelhart, James S. Roberts, C. M. Bragg, John Dunlap, Frank Oliver, James Downs, J. M. Reed, John Sullivan, Norman McLeod, Warren Burch, the two Reeds, Patrick Murphy and Braxton Bragg; Engineers : Patrick Maloney, Robert Riley, William Bass, Bennett Jones, P. H. Fales, Jonas Slocum, William Moran, John Miles, George Odell ; Gunners : John Murray, William Barton, Thomas Carpenter ; Carpenters : J. G. Thomas, John O. Baker ; Master's Mates : Patrick Sullivan, Horace Sprague, Robert Roberts, Thomas J. Dunlap, William Marsh, Henry C. Warren, William E. Leonard, Jesse H. Rutherford, Joseph K. Kelso, James Cummins, Henry Van Velsor.
In the summer of 1864, the lake frontier was plunged into a state of feverish excitement and apprehension. There were rumors of threat- ened attacks upon the lake cities; rumors that the rebels, driven to des- peration by their reverses in the south, had planned a diversion to effect the capture of a number of steamers, which were to be manned and armed by Confederate refugees in Canada, and, reinforced by the rebel prisoners at Johnson's Island, these were to attack all the great cities on the lake and destroy them. Here in Erie the alarm was keen, and for a tinie there was great activity. It did not long endure, however, and many people came to regard the rumor as a cruel canard.
It was not a false report. On the contrary there was ample founda- tion for it all, but the real extent of the plot is known to but few-how near the desperate rebels came to carrying out their purpose, which for
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the beginning was to capture the U. S. steamer Michigan and release the prisoners at Sandusky, and then, with a thorough-going, well-armed naval vessel to range the lakes, destroy at their will everything along the shores-how near it came to being carried out, one who had a hand in foiling the rebel plans still lives to tell, and he has furnished a detailed and reliable account of the whole proceedings. The narrator of the yarn is Capt. James Hunter, who during the time was an officer on the Michigan, that was then engaged in the duty of guarding the harbor of Sandusky and Johnson's Island, at its entrance, where the Union military prison was located. The story of this affair is the history of the most active part played by the Michigan in that famous war.
Recently Capt. Laird, preparing a history of the old ship, asked Capt. Hunter to give an account of the attempt of the rebels to capture her, and the captain furnishes the story appended, which is given in practically his exact words :
Capt. James Hunter, of Erie, Pa., was an ensign in the U. S. navy during the war of the Rebellion, and served on the Great Lakes and on the seaboard during that war. He was on board the U. S. S. Michigan, Great Lakes, from September, 1861, to February, 1862, then ordered to sea, serving on the gunboat Port Royal, with Capt. George U. Morris, who commanded the Cumberland during her engagement with the Merri- mac ; was ordered back again from about May, 1863, to October, 1864, to the Michigan, Commander John C. Carter, U. S. navy, then in com- mand. Acting Master Martin was executive officer, and the other officers were Ensign Chas E. Eddy, Ensign Pavey, Gunner Murray, Third Assist- ant Engineers Bennett Jones, Robert Riley and William Baas. Engineers Riley and Baas are still living in Erie.
For those days the armament of the Michigan was considered quite a powerful one. It consisted of fifteen guns-one 68-pounder Paxton gun, smooth bore, pivot, mounted forward; six 30-pounder Parrotts, rifled, forward on spar deck; six 25-pounder Dahlgrens, aft on quarter deck, and two 12-pounder Howitzers, on hurricane deck. The following is the statement of Capt. James Hunter of how the Confederates at- tempted to capture the U. S. S. Michigan and release the rebel prisoners of war confined on Johnson's Island, Sandusky, Ohio, while the man-of- war was acting as guardship over them :
The U. S. S. Michigan was ordered to go to Johnson's Island, and to report to Commandant Hill to assist in guarding the 2,600 Confederate officers confined as prisoners of war on the island during 1863-64. Upon arrival of the ship took bearings of entrance to channel so as to get the elevation and range and then fired the ship's guns on trial.
The Michigan now commanded the channel and entrance to the harbor. A tug, the Gen. Burnside, was hired to go out each night on patrol duty, Ensign Hunter in charge, with Boatswain's Mate Peter Turley and a complement of men, whose orders were to search every
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vessel coming into the harbor, and if necessary signal to the Michigan with rockets that a vessel had refused to stop and be searched. During the day the man-of-war's boats performed this patrol work.
After being at Johnson's Island some time the Michigan's officers were introduced to a Mr. Cole, by a U. S. army officer, while Mr. Cole was stopping at the West House, a Sandusky hotel. There were only three line officers to stand deck duty on board the Michigan, consequently each could only get ashore every third day for two or three hours in the afternoon, as two of these officers must be on board at all times.
"While we were on shore," says Mr. Hunter, "Mr. Cole was always on hand to meet us and gave us every social attention possible in a seeming effort to win our favor, and Ensign Pavey and Mr. Cole formed a very close friendship. Mr. Cole endeavored to lavish his money on us whenever opportunity offered, at one time sending a case of cham- pagne to Mr. Pavey, but the other officers, outside of Mr. Pavey, did not indulge in any of the wine-for their own private reasons. When I went ashore he asked me how I liked the wine. I told him it was sent to Mr. Pavey, therefore Mr. Pavey would have to drink it. He said he sent it to all the wardroom officers, and that he would send us another case, which he did, evidently to gain our favor. The single case, however, was all the wine that ever came aboard, notwithstanding other stories. Subsequently Ensign Pavey was, for neglect of duty, detached from the ship and ordered to the seaboard, and Mr. Cole lost his most intimate friend on the Michigan."
There had been a great many rumors that the Confederates would make a bold attempt to capture the Michigan and release the rebel pris- oners on Johnson's Island, and Ensign Hunter was sent under secret orders several times to visit the Welland canal, Port Stanley and Detroit, because he could pass as a Canadian, having sailed much on the Great Lakes, and being familiar with these places, his orders being to investi- gate if there was any truth in these rumors of Confederate plots.
On one occasion he was ordered in the forenoon to go to Detroit, to investigate a rumor there, that the Confederates were coming to take the Michigan. Before starting, while Ensign Hunter was at lunch, Capt. Carter sent his orderly, Private Snyder, who said:
"The captain wishes to see you in the cabin."
Ensign Hunter promptly reported in the cabin, when the captain said: "Mr. Hunter, you need not go, for here is a telegraphic dispatch that the rebels are coming on the steamer Philo Parsons from Detroit, and that some of our ship's officers are traitors; that you are to be poisoned, and that Mr. Eddy and Mr. Murray are to be put out of the way. and that Mr. Cole is a spy !"
Ensign Hunter replied : "Captain, I am a thorough Union man, who, upon orders from the secretary of the navy, paid my own fare to New York to enter the service. As for Mr. Martin: he is from Connecticut,
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and I will vouch for him. Mr. Eddy is from Rhode Island, and is true blue. Mr. Jones, engineer, is a Welshman, and is thoroughly loyal. Mr. Riley has been twenty years in the navy, and I'll guarantee him ; I know him well, and Mr. Baas is a German by descent, and is a true Union man.
The captain said: "Do you know this man Cole?"
"Yes, sir, I do."
"What acquaintance have you had with him?"
"I asked him where he belonged; he said Philadelphia; that his mother was a widow; that he was dealing in oil stock at Enniskillen, Canada, and he wanted me to resign from the naval service and go as captain of the schooner Fremont, and take a load of oil to Liverpool, England."
The captain said: "Mr. Hunter, get your side arms on and come ashore with me in the gig to call on Commandant Hill!"
After a consultation with Commandant Hill in regard to the dis- patch. it was finally agreed that the Michigan should continue to guard the entrance to the harbor, and watch out for the arrival of the steamer Philo Parsons, and that the commandant would send an armed military force to watch the railroads and telegraph lines at Sandusky, for fear the rebels might come by rail. The program was faithfully carried out both by Capt. Carter and Commandant Hill.
Speaking of what followed, Mr. Hunter says: "I was ordered to return on board with the gig, tell the executive officer, Mr. Martin, to get the ship ready for action, send the gig back for Capt. Carter, then take the barge. arm myself with a revolver, go ashore and arrest the spy-Cole-and bring him on board ship. After departing from the commandant's office, his orderly ran after me and said :
""'You are wanted back at headquarters !'
"I returned immediately, and was told not to take a revolver, but to arrest the spy quietly, as he was certain to have accomplices.
"I then went on board the Michigan and delivered my orders to the executive officer, took the barge and went ashore to Sandusky. Peter Turley was coxswain of the barge, and Peter Shufell, later a policeman at Frie, James Brown, John Dougherty, still living in Erie, and William Grant, now on the Erie police force, were among the members of the barge's crew. Just as I was leaving the ship in command of the barge, Richard Gregory, captain's steward, now living in Erie, who had been on shore, told me that Mr. Cole wanted to see me.
"Upon landing I ordered Coxswain Pete Turley to turn the barge around, bow out, and the boat's crew to sit ready at their oars, and for Coxswain Turley to follow me.
"I said to Turley: 'Now, there is going to be some trouble shortly, and I want you to stand by to help me. If you hear me give that
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peculiar long, sharp, Australian whistle of mine-Co-o-o-o-o! Whee-e !!- you come at once, as I am going up stairs in the West House.'
"On reaching Cole's room I found it was empty. I thought the bird had flown, and as I had in my orders previous to this time authority to use the telegraph lines and railroads if I wanted them. I ran down to the hotel clerk, and asked: 'How long since Cole left?'
" 'He is all ready to leave, but just now he is in parlor B.'
"On going into parlor B, I found the spy-Cole-putting on his shirt, his supposed wife sitting already dressed for traveling, and their trunks all packed and ready for a start.
"He was glad to see me and said: 'Did you receive my message from Mr. Gregory? Take a drink,' he said. 'out of the demijohn.'
"He insisted on my taking a drink several times, so I took a swallow in my mouth, but was afraid that it might be drugged, and pretending I had a chew of tobacco in my mouth, I choked and coughed, then went to the spittoon and spat the liquor into it.
"'Take another, Hunter,' said Cole.
"I replied. 'After you, Cole.'
"He took one, and as I did not want to arouse his suspicions, I took a drink, thinking if he could stand it I could, but I was careful to see that he swallowed his before drinking myself.
"Cole then told his wife he had some business to attend to and that he would return in a few minutes, but he never came back. 'Come on, Mr. Hunter,' he said, and we both went to the bank, Coxswain Turley following in our wake, dodging from lamp post to lamp post. Cole drew out $900 in gold. We came back to the West House and a U. S. army officer from the island asked us to take a drink. We had one and then I treated. I then, in a familiar and friendly way, took Cole by the arm, and while walking toward the barge, I said :
" 'What's up. Cole? Gregory told me you wanted to see me.
"He said: 'I'm going to have a little private party this afternoon. a short distance out in the country, and I want you to go along and have a good time.'
"I told him that I could not go without the executive officer's per- mission but if he would wait at the dock I would go on board and get it. Cole's purpose was to get the officers away and disable the ship.
"By that time we were at the boat. I still held him by the arm, and Turley was close behind us. I gave Cole a quick push from behind, and away he tumbled into the barge. I followed close after him, and Cox- swain Turley jumped into the stern and took the tiller.
"I gave the order. 'Give way!'
"Cole shouted, 'No, no! No, no! Put me back ! Put me back !'
"I said: 'You are all right where you are. Cole, and we'll have a good time this afternoon. Give way, men !'
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"He told the men, 'Pull lively, then, and I'll treat you all when we get back to the dock!'
"On arriving alongside the ship the sentry at the gangway, told me to bring the prisoner into the cabin.
"Cole, who was a small man, had lost his nerve and wilted, and I took hold of him and assisted him into the cabin. Capt. Carter said to him: 'I suppose you know why you are arrested, Cole ?'
"Cole said: 'Captain, if you will give me just five minutes private conversation with you, I will explain everything.'
"Capt. Carter replied: 'No, I guess not. Mr. Hunter here is an officer and has arrested you. Search him, Mr. Hunter !"
"I then put my hand in his hip pocket, took out his revolver, cocked it, handed it to Capt. Carter, and told him to cover Cole with it. Then I proceeded to strip Cole naked, the captain covering him meanwhile with the revolver.
"After searching the pockets of the prisoner, and taking all letters, papers and valuables from his clothes, he was told to dress, and Sergt. of Marines Stevenson was called and ordered to put him in irons in a room in the wardroom.
"On searching the papers taken from him we found his commission as a major in the Confederate army. We also found the names of seven men belonging to Sandusky, who were his accomplices, also that of a U. S. regular army captain stationed at Columbus, Ohio. Some were to cut the telegraph wires, and others to spike the guns at Sandusky. Then, going ashore and reporting to Commandant Hill what we had found on the prisoner spy-Cole- the commandant caused the immediate arrest of the seven Sandusky citizens and the U. S. army officer.
"Capt. Carter ordered MIr. Martin to go ashore in the cutter, and bring aboard from the West House all of Cole's trunks and effects. When brought on board they were soon searched and contents noted.
"The Michigan had been cleared for action-guns loaded, steam on the engines. anchor hove short, and officers and men at their stations- waiting for the arrival of the steamer Philo Parsons, which did not arrive at Sandusky. There were reasons for her non-arrival."
To begin with, the Philo Parsons took on twenty-five barrels of coal tar at Detroit as a part of her cargo, and a large wooden box. On com- ing down the river, twenty miles from Detroit, at a place called Malden, as usual, she stopped for passengers, and among the large number of passengers taken on board there were the daring and desperate Confed- erate raiders, Beale in command, who was afterwards hanged. As soon as they were on board they broke open the before-mentioned wooden box, which was full of arms and ammunition. They then armed them- selves, took charge of the steamer, stationed their own men in the pilot house and engine room, made the crew and real passengers close prisoners in the hold, then proceeded on their way toward Sandusky.
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On nearing Sandusky, and not getting the pre-arranged signal from the spy-Cole- the Parsons dared not venture into the harbor, as Cole had expected to have most of the Michigan's officers on shore at that time, and then signal to the Parsons that all was in readiness for the capture of the man-of-war.
The rebels upon entering the harbor, intended to set fire to the coal tar, and while the Parsons was burning they expected the Michigan to send all of her ship's boats to rescue the passengers-the supposed pas- sengers being the rebels on board-as the crew and real passengers, men and women, were confined in the hold, and would have been burned to death. The Michigan's boats' crews not being armed, the rebels had planned not to allow them to come on board the Michigan, but either demand their surrender as prisoners of war, or turn the ship's great guns on them and sink them in their boats. But that part of their des- perate plan to capture the Michigan never took place, for want of the pre-arranged signal from Cole, the spy.
Failing to get the signal and judging something had gone wrong, the steamer Parsons turned round and went to Kelley's Island. From there she proceeded to Middle Bass Island, and there they put the women passengers ashore, and made the men passengers carry wood on board for fuel. While lying there the steamer Island Queen, on hier regular route to Toledo, with 100 volunteer Union soldiers on board, going there to be mustered out. their time having expired, came alongside the Philo Parsons at night time, it being very dark. She was captured by the rebels, and the Union soldiers were put in the hold as prisoners. The engineer of the Island Queen, while the capture was going on, the rebels having stationed themselves in all parts of the vessel, continued to work his engines so they would not stop on the center. The rebels ordered him to stop the engines at once. Not doing it, and looking out into the dark to see who gave the orders, he was shot in the face, the ball entering alongside the nose and coming out near the ear. The engineer after- wards endeavored to get a pension from the government for this wound, which bothered him considerably, but it was never granted.
The rebels then made a hawser fast to the steamer Island Queen, broke the sea-cock in the engine room which feeds the boiler, so that the water would rush in and sink the vessel, and then they cast her adrift in the darkness of night on Lake Erie. They then proceeded with all speed back to Detroit, where they took clothing and shoes off the captured passengers, broke up the piano in the cabin on board, then scuttled and sank the Philo Parsons on the Canadian side of the Detroit river, and went ashore on Canadian soil.
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