Captain Ridgely of the Federal cruiser Shenandoah (which chased my ship the Lilian for five hours later) reported to Admiral S.P. Lee, December 16, 1863, that on the evening of the 11th of December, 1863, between seven and eight o'clock, the cruiser Howquah saw the General Beauregard coming down the beach heading for Cape Fear or New Inlet. He gave chase and opened fire on him. The Beauregard being impeded by a heavy sea and finding escape impossible, ran ashore at the point already described.
The next morning the cruiser, accompanied by the Tuscarora, tried to board the Beauregard, but they were attacked by two Confederate batteries, one to the north and another to the south of the stranded vessel, and driven off, the Tuscarora being struck by a Confederate shell in her quarter. The Beauregard is still conspicuous on Carolina Beach at all stages of the tide, showing her battered hull high above the level of the sea.
The "Douro."
In the spring of 1863 this fine steamer was captured at sea by the Federal cruisers, sent to a port of adjudication in the North, condemned and sold at auction, taken to the British Provinces (Halifax, I think) and there purchased, it was said, by the Confederate Government. At all events she was fitted out for the same service and in a few weeks reappeared at Nassau, where I saw her as a Confederate steamer under the Confederate flag. On the night of the 11th of October, 1863, the Douro attempted to run the blockade at New Inlet, loaded with a valuable cargo of 550 bales of cotton, 279 boxes of tobacco, 20 tierces of tobacco, and a quantity of turpentine and rosin, belonging to the Confederate Government. At 8.30 of the same night she eluded the Federal fleet and was running up the beach towards Masonboro in two and one-half fathoms of water, when she was pursued by the cruiser Nansemond, which tried to get between the Douro and the beach, but failed because of shoal water. Had the Douro kept on her course she would have escaped, but, taking a panic, she reversed her course, and headed back for the bar at New Inlet, was then intercepted by the Nansemond and run ashore, instead of facing the gun fire of the fleet with a chance of getting under Fort Fisher's protection. The captain and most of the crew escaped in the Douro's boats, but five, remaining on board, were captured by the cruiser Nansemond. It was said at the time that this fine ship (a propeller) was owned in Wilmington and that her cargo was for the Confederate Government. She now lies just above the Hebe between Fort Fisher and Masonboro Inlet.
The "Dee."
Two of the finest blockade runners, sister ships, called the Don and the Dee, met at last with disaster. The Don, after running the gauntlet some ten or twelve times, was captured at sea. She had been commanded from her first voyage to the one before the last by Captain Roberts, so-called, really Captain Hobart, of the Royal British Navy, who later became Hobart Pasha, admiral in chief of the Turkish Navy. He was a son of the Earl of Buckinghamshire. The Dee was commanded for three successful voyages by Capt. George H. Bier, formerly a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. At 8 o'clock a.m. February 6, 1864, the U.S.S. Cambridge on the blockade off New Inlet discovered the Dee from Hamilton, Bermuda, loaded with pig lead, bacon, and military stores, bound for Wilmington, ashore and on fire about a mile to the southward of Masonboro Inlet.
The Cambridge at once boarded the stranded vessel and attempted to salve her, but the fire was too hot and the ship too deeply embedded in the sand to haul her off into deep water. She was accordingly bombarded and abandoned. The Dee's crew escaped to the shore, with the exception of seven men, who fell into the hands of the Federals. It is not known whether the Dee ran ashore from accident or design.
Steamer "Nutfield."
I learn from official reports that after Captain Roe of the U.S.S. Sassacus had practically destroyed the Wild Dayrell by gun fire he stood out to sea and regained his position in the outer line of cruisers, known as the Bermuda line or track, and that at daylight of the 4th of February, 1864, he discovered a blockade runner to the northward, which proved to be the fine new iron steamer Nutfield of 750 tons (unusually large size), from Bermuda bound for Wilmington. The Sassacus, being the faster ship, increased her speed to thirteen knots, and at noon succeeded in getting in range of the Nutfield with her 100-pounder rifle guns, which did such execution that the hard pressed Nutfield changed her course, heading for the land, and ran ashore at New River Inlet. The Nutfield's crew set her on fire and fled precipitately in their boats for the beach. One of the Nutfield's boats capsized in the surf and the Federals tried to rescue the crew but only succeeded in saving the purser, the others being supposedly drowned. Efforts were made by the Sassacus for two days to haul off the Nutfield, which was a very valuable prize, being loaded with an assorted cargo of merchandise, drugs, munitions of war, Enfield rifles, a battery of eight very valuable Whitworth guns, and a quantity of pig lead; the battery and the lead were thrown overboard during the chase. The Nutfield had escaped from the blockading fleet at New Inlet the night before and was off New River intending to try the Cape Fear the following night, but most unfortunately fell in with the Sassacus, a fast cruiser, during the day. A large part of her valuable cargo was taken out of her by the Federals.