Captain Crosby adds that she was a new and very handsome steamer, expensively fitted out. It is presumed that the Emily's captain and crew, numbering about fifty men, succeeded in reaching the protection of the Confederates.
The "Ella."
An ex-Confederate officer describing Wilmington during the blockade, among many interesting things, said the following:
"Owing to the configuration of the coast it was almost impossible to effect a close blockade. The Cape Fear had two mouths, Old Inlet, at the entrance of which Fort Caswell stands, and New Inlet, nine miles up the river, where Fort Fisher guarded the entrance. From the station off Old Inlet, where there were usually from five to six blockaders, around to the station off New Inlet, a vessel would have to make an arc of some fifty miles, owing to the Frying Pan Shoals intervening, while from Caswell across to Fisher was only nine miles. The plan of the blockade runners coming in was to strike the coast thirty or forty miles above or below the inlets, and then run along (of course at night) until they got under the protection of the forts. Sometimes they got in or out by boldly running through the blockading fleet, but that was hazardous; for, if discovered, the ocean was alive with rockets and lights, and it was no pleasant thing to have shells and balls whistling over you and around you. The chances were then that if you were not caught you had, in spite of your speed, to throw a good many bales of cotton overboard.
"The wreck of these blockade runners not infrequently occurred by being stranded or beached, and highly diverting skirmishes would occur between the blockaders and the garrisons of the forts for the possession. The fleet, however, never liked the Whitworth guns we had, which shot almost with the accuracy of a rifle and with a tremendous range. The soldiers generally managed to wreck the stranded vessel successfully, though often-times with great peril and hardship. It mattered very little to the owners then who got her, as they did not see much of what was recovered—the soldiers thinking they were entitled to what they got at the risk of their lives. But a wreck was a most demoralizing affair. The whole garrison generally got drunk and stayed drunk for a week or so afterwards. Brandy and fine wines flowed like water; and it was a month perhaps before matters could be got straight. Many accumulated snug little sums from the misfortunes of the blockade runners, who generally denounced such pillage as piracy; but it could not be helped.
"We recollect the wrecking of the Ella, off Bald Head, in December, 1864. She belonged to the Bee Company, of Charleston, and was a splendid new steamer, on her second trip in, with a large and valuable cargo almost entirely owned by private parties and speculators. She was chased ashore by the blockading fleet, and immediately abandoned by her officers and crew, whom nothing would induce to go back in order to save her cargo. Yankee shells flying over, and through, and around her, had no charms for these sons of Neptune. Captain Badham, however, and his company, the Edenton (N. C.) Battery, with Captain Bahnson, a fighting Quaker from Salem, N.C., boarded and wrecked her under the fire of the Federals, six shells passing through the Ella while they were removing her cargo. The consequence was that for a month afterwards nearly the whole garrison was on 'a tight,' and groceries and dry goods were plentiful in that vicinity. The general demoralization produced by 'London Dock' and 'Hollands' seemed even to have affected that holy man, the chaplain, who said some very queer graces at the headquarters mess table."
The "Modern Greece."
One of the earliest strandings of friendly steamers near New Inlet, or Cape Fear main bar, was that of the Modern Greece, which was also the most important and interesting. On the morning of the 27th of June, 1862, at 4.15 o'clock the Modern Greece had safely evaded many Federal cruisers and was within three miles of Fort Fisher, headed for New Inlet, when she was seen by one of the Federal blockaders, the Cambridge, which immediately gave chase and pelted the Modern Greece with bombshells. The Cambridge was joined by the Federal cruiser Stars and Stripes, which also opened fire on the Modern Greece, the latter being then run ashore to avoid capture, her crew escaping in their boats to the shore. In the meantime Fort Fisher was firing at the enemy and also at the Modern Greece where she was stranded, in order to prevent the Federals from hauling her off. The crew of the Modern Greece was in great peril during this bombardment, as part of her valuable cargo consisted of a thousand tons of powder for the Confederacy and many guns. The garrison at Fort Fisher subsequently landed a large amount of clothing and barrels of spirits, and the spirits flowed like water for several weeks to the scandal of the fort and its defenders. Its potent influence was also felt in Wilmington. The Modern Greece was a large British propeller of about 1,000 tons net register, one of the largest blockade runners of the war. She now lies deep in the sand near Fort Fisher.
The "Elizabeth."