WILLIAM WATSON'S "EAGLE (I)"

and
OTHER U.S. CIVIL WAR BLOCKADE
RUNNERS
On the north bank of the Clyde, just a few miles to the south of Glasgow, lies Bowling's
harbour, at the start of The Forth and Clyde Canal, its association with the wintering of the
Clyde Steamers of almost ancient date, probably coeval with that of the steamboat itself, its
sheltered situation doubtless causing it to be early recognised as a snug haven.

Only on one occasion has the harbour failed to shield its occupants from the storm, and that
was when the great hurricane of 1856 struck the Clyde valley. The disaster took place on the
night between the 6th and 7th of February, when many of the river-steamers were laid up in
the bay and the morning of the 7th brought to light an appalling spectacle of destruction.

The "Chancellor", first of the name, a two-funnelled steamer which plied to Arrochar, was lying
on the breakwater with the water washing in and out of her. The "Glow-Worm", a paddle
steamer, employed between Ardrossan and Belfast, lay aground beside her.

The "Eagle", also first of the name, had got jammed between two other vessels and so badly
buckled that the bell-mouths of her two funnels, both abaft the paddles, were in contact, this
of some consequence in her later career as a blockade-runner under the command of
Skelmorlie-born William Watson.

The "Venus", of M'Kellar's Largs and Millport fleet, had been stripped of her paddle-boxes and
sponsons; the Kilmun steamer "Wellington" had sunk at her moorings; while two old steamers,
the "Merlin", the Largs and Millport boat and the "Invincible", which had been sailing to
Rothesay during the previous season, had been driven bow-on to the breakwater and were
lying with their after-decks submerged.

Strange to say, no one of the boats, with the possible exception of the "Merlin", which was not
again advertised, was damaged beyond repair. The others all resumed their sailings when the
summer season came round.

1
Some of them survived for many years, the "Eagle" having an adventurous career as a
blockade-runner in the American Civil War. Captured by the Federals, she was sold by them
and once more engaged in blockade-running, continuing to trade with the Confederate ports
as long as the Confederates had a port for her to enter.

In February, 1855, just a year before the great hurricane, the steamers in Bowling Bay were
frozen in, so that it was impossible to get them out and the resumption of sailings to Loch Goil
had to be postponed for a fortnight in consequence, but since these two exceptional years we
cannot trace that frost or storm has ever caused any inconvenience to the occupants of
Bowling Bay.
THE PURCHASES OF "THE EMPEROR OF CHINA"
from Andrew McQueen's "Echoes of Old Paddle Wheels" (1924) and "Clyde River Steamers of
The Last Fifty Years" (1923)

When President Lincoln, on 19th April, 1861, declared a blockade of all the seaports of the
seceding States, the Federal Government was not in possession of a sufficiency of ships to
render it effective. For some time the trade of the threatened ports remained unaffected, and
vessels arrived and departed without hindrance, but after a lapse of some months Federal
gunboats began to make their appearance and some captures were made.

It was evident that, if communication with the blockaded ports was to be maintained, special
measures would require to be taken. The blockade threatened not only to force the surrender
of these ports by cutting off supplies from without, but also, by stopping the export of cotton,
to create a famine in that indispensable commodity all over the world.

Obviously, if communication could be maintained in spite of the blockade, the enterprise was
certain to be lucrative, the inhabitants of the ports, threatened with starvation, would be
willing to pay good prices for the necessaries of life and that not in worthless greenbacks but
in honest cotton, for which, in turn, the Lancashire spinners would outbid one another, in order
to secure material to keep their machinery going.

There was always the risk of losing ship and cargo by capture, but when everything was
weighed up the prospects were decidedly bright. All depended on the obtaining of the proper
kind of vessels and the proper men to sail them.

The blockading ships were not, as a rule, distinguished either for speed or handiness, and the
difficulty of their task was increased by the fact that most of the harbours could be entered by
several channels. Many of these channels were narrow and winding, strewn with reefs and
shoals and accessible only to handy craft of shallow draught, in the hands of expert local
pilots. The pilots were obtainable; their services commanded high prices, but these could
easily be afforded from the profits of a successful run, and the attention of the intending
blockade-runners was directed to the securing of ships ready to hand for immediate use.

Naturally the Clyde's reputation for steamship production attracted them and, by the middle of
1862, we find overtures being made to the owners of fast channel and river-craft for the
purchase of their vessels. The would-be purchasers showed no anxiety to reveal their identity,
or the trade for which the vessels were destined; the latter was usually referred to in general
terms as the "South American trade" while the purchases were occasionally attributed to "a
Spanish firm", or, more
frequently, to the "Emperor of China".

Nassau, in The Bahamas, some six or seven hundred miles distant, was the head-quarters of
the traffic, a traffic so lucrative, although attended with big risks, that a couple of successful
trips were usually sufficient to clear the whole cost of the vessel and leave a profit.

2
For successful blockade-running, the boats had to be fast, handy and of light draught: fast, to
run away when pursued; handy, to steer through narrow and tortuous channels; and shallow,
to pass in safety over shoals and sandbanks, where the deeper and comparatively clumsy
vessels of the blockading fleet dared not follow.

The Clyde river-steamers of that time, none of which drew more than five feet of water, whose
proportion of length to beam rendered them sensitive to the helm and whose average speed
was probably higher than that of any other class of vessel then afloat, were promptly fixed
upon as ideal craft for the enterprise; they were eagerly sought after, prices far too tempting
for their owners to refuse were offered and freely paid, with the result that the Clyde was
practically denuded of its best boats.

In the newspapers of the time we find frequent references to the inroads that were being made
on the fleet. 'The Herald' of 11th May 1863 had a leader lamenting the departure of the
"Ruby", "Neptune", "Pearl", "Kelpie", "Eagle", "Juno", "Jupiter", "Vesta" and "Mail".

Among the first of that potentate's acquisitions were three fast paddle-steamers in the channel
trade, the "Leopard", the "Herald" and the "Adela".

The "Leopard" a vessel of about 700 tons, had been built at Dumbarton by Denny for Messrs.
Burns in 1858 and had been
plying in their Liverpool service, where she had established herself as a favourite with the
travelling public. She had made way for two screw-steamers in 1860 and after a spell on
charter to another firm had been offered for sale in the autumn of 1861.

The "Herald" was a smaller and older vessel, which had been plying in the Dublin trade for
Lewis Potter & Co. for about a dozen years. She would probably have come into the market
soon in any case, her owners having a new vessel on the stocks.

The "Adela" was a very smart little steamer, built in 1859 by J. & G. Thomson for the Ardrossan
- Belfast route, a run which she repeatedly accomplished in 5 hours and 20 minutes. She was
constructed on somewhat similar lines to the first "Iona", but a broader and deeper boat.

The river steamer "Pearl" drops out of the advertisements at the end of September in the
same year and, although there is no trace of her sale or departure, subsequent events show
that she had gone blockade-running.

On the 11th of November 1863 we read that Messrs Hutcheson & Co's magnificent saloon
steamer "Iona" had been sold for £20,000 and her handsome deck saloon had been removed
and other preparations made for a voyage across the Atlantic.

The "Iona" had ceased sailing at the middle of September, but as her season would have
terminated then in ordinary course little notice was taken of the fact. About a fortnight later,
on 2nd October, she sailed down the river, fitted up for a trans-Atlantic voyage, but in Gourock
Bay was run down and sunk by a new screw-steamer called the "Chanticleer", returning from a
speed trial.

The "Iona" went down stern foremost half an hour after being struck, her crew being rescued
by the colliding vessel. Her wreck was advertised for sale in the following summer and was
actually sold to a Glasgow man in February, 1863, for £95 but, the purchaser never succeeded
in salving her and this appears to have given rise to a report that the whole story of the
sinking was merely a ruse to conceal the fact of her departure.

3
The full report of the incident, however, published at the time, just two days after its
occurrence, is altogether too circumstantial to leave room for such an idea.

Before the end of the year the river-fleet had been further reduced by the departure of the
"Eagle", the "Ruby" and the "Dolphin", while of channel steamers, the paddle-boats "Giraffe"
and " Havelock" and the screws "Fingal", "Tubal Cain", "Antona", "Thistle" and "Princess Royal"
had also gone.

The "Eagle" had been built by Denny in 1852 for the Rothesay run, and the "Ruby", a very
speedy boat, also in the Broomielaw - Rothesay trade, had come from Henderson's yard at
Renfrew in 1861.

The "Dolphin", on the contrary, was an old boat, launched in 1844 and had been employed for
a number of years running with mails and passengers from Oban to Mull, Staffa, and Iona and
later on the Glasgow and Inveraray station.

The "Giraffe" had made her appearance in 1860, being placed on the Greenock and Belfast
route by Messrs. Burns, to make the return journey between these ports in a single day. Her
builders were J. & G. Thomson. This steamer's performances on service had been rather
disappointing, but there is no doubt she possessed great speed, as on a preliminary trial run
she covered the distance in 5 hours and 45 minutes.

The "Havelock", also built by Thomson, had been running as a consort to the "Herald" on the
Dublin route since 1858 and
her performances had stamped her as something above the average in point of speed.

Of the screw boats, the "Fingal", one of Hutcheson's West Highland steamers, had only
commenced plying in June, 1861; she also was from Thomson's yard. The "Antona" had
appeared on the Londonderry run for M'Connell & Laird about the same time.

The "Thistle" had been built for Cameron's Londonderry service in 1859 by Laurence Hill & Co.,
of Port-Glasgow. The "Princess Royal", one of Tod & M'Gregory productions, had made her first
run in Langlands' Liverpool service in July, 1861. The "Tubal Cain" was a small steamer, built at
Paisley in 1853 by Blackwood & Gordon, and had figured in various employments.

The "Ruby" and "Giraffe" sailed together from Greenock at the middle of November, but
appear to have parted company shortly after leaving the Clyde.

Next to go was the "Neptune", Napier's crack Rothesay boat, turned out in 1861. She sailed
from Rothesay on 19th January, 1863.

In the following month news of the doings of some of the blockade-runners began to reach
home, meagre in detail but of considerable interest to those who had known the boats in their
home waters.

It was learnt that the "Princess Royal" had successfully run the blockade, that the "Giraffe" had
arrived at a Southern port and had brought out a cargo of cotton, but that the "Pearl",
"Antona" and "Adela" had fallen into the hands of the Federals.

On 9th April news arrived of the capture of the "Princess Royal" and "Thistle". The "Tubal Cain"
and "Leopard" too had met their fate, the former being captured on her first run and the latter
destroyed after eight successful trips.

4
The "Thistle" had only left the Clyde in October, 1862, but had run the blockade repeatedly,
bringing her owner a profit of £18,000, after reimbursing him for the £13,800 paid for the
vessel. Her first run alone cleared £7,000. The "Princess Royal" appears to have got through
only once.

The month of May witnessed the departure from the Clyde of the "Juno", the crack boat of
M'Kellar's Largs, Millport and
Arran fleet and also that of the latest addition to the Dublin and Glasgow Co's fleet, the "Lord
Clyde", launched by Caird, of Greenock, only ten months before.

The screw-steamer "Tuskar", of the Clyde Shipping Co., also sailed in that month. She had
made her debut in 1860, Blackwood & Gordon being her builders. The "Tuskar" appears to
have been captured at her first attempt.

On 13th May 1863 it was intimated that the "Spunkie" had been sold to run the blockade. On
the 18th it was reported that the steamer "Gem", plying in the Glasgow and Rothesay trade,
"was last week sold to the Eastern potentate who has made such havoc of late amongst our
crack steamers".

In June the "Spunkie" went off. She was one of a pair of fast steamers which Tod & M'Gregor
had placed on the Largs and Millport station in 1857. Her sister-ship, the "Kelpie", transferred
in her second season to the Shannon, had joined the "Imperial" service in 1862, but had come
to grief in the same year.

A steamer building to replace the "Eagle" was bought on the stocks at Connell's, received the
name of "Mary Anne" and after a trial-trip, in the course of which a speed of 19 miles an hour
was realised, despatched to Nassau on 23rd June. She made seven successful trips before
falling into the blockaders' hands.

Two paddle-steamers, the "Roe" and the "Fox", building at Caird's for Burns' Belfast trade, also
changed hands while in course of construction, other two vessels to replace them in the Burns
fleet being laid down in the vacant berths immediately they were launched.

On 15th June 1863 we are told that the "unknown potentate" has turned his attention to the
swift steamer "Rothesay Castle", but that no treaty has yet been concluded. Eleven days later
the sale of this vessel for £8,500 was chronicled and, Simons' "Rothesay Castle", the last of the
three fliers whose performances had enlivened the Rothesay route in 1861 and 1862, made
her last run to Rothesay on 1st July, being replaced next day by the "Hero", a former Clyde
steamer, brought back from Belfast Lough, where she had been employed for a couple of
seasons.

The "Mail", the crack boat of the Kilmun station, owned by Captain Campbell, who had got her
from Tod & M'Gregor in 1860 and the "Jupiter", consort to the "Juno" in M'Kellar's fleet, went
away in July.

The two M'Kellar boats had also come from the Partick yard, the "Jupiter" in 1856 and her
consort in 1860. Their owner
probably welcomed the opportunity to dispose of them at a good price, as the impending
opening of the Wemyss-Bay Railway rendered the prospects of the trade from the Broomielaw
to Largs and Millport very precarious.

The August departures included the "Rothesay Castle", already mentioned, the "Gem", built by
J Henderson & Sons at Renfrew in 1854, to run to Helensburgh and Garelochhead, but which
had latterly been sailing to Rothesay; the "Scotia", an

5
old steamer on the Ayr and Campbeltown run and a steamer called the "Diamond".

The "Diamond". had been bought by Messrs. Henderson on the Neva, where she had been
plying and brought over to the Clyde to replace the boats they had sold. The price paid for her
was £4,000, but before she had been placed on the river her new owners accepted the
"Emperor's" offer of £7,500 for her and she was promptly fitted out for his service.

It has been repeatedly stated that this vessel was originally the "Baron", which sailed on the
Glasgow and Rothesay run between 1854 and 1857, but as that steamer was sent to Havre in
the latter year and is still traceable in Lloyd's Register nearly thirty years later as the
"Normandie", French-owned and with no indication of having ever borne any previous name
except "Baron", it scarcely seems likely that the "Diamond" can have been the same vessel.

Another of M'Kellar's boats left in September, the " Star." Her builders were Tod & M'Gregor,
but she was an older boat than the "Jupiter" and the "Juno", nevertheless, in her new
occupation she proved the most successful of the three.

After leaving Queenstown this steamer had to put back, leaky, and discharge there for repairs,
the "Rothesay Castle" too returned to that port with a damaged paddle-box, but both
eventually crossed the Atlantic all right.

An interesting item in the shipping news of 6th August might readily pass unnoticed. It is in
these words : "Queenstown, 5th Aug., sailed, "Alliance" (s), Liverpool for Nassau". This was
George Mills' somewhat unsuccessful 1856-built double-hulled 'catamaran', the Clyde's first
'saloon' steamer and first 'three-funnelled' Clyde steamer.

News had come home at the end of July that the "Herald" had made a successful run from
Nassau to Charleston, but a message received on 19th October announced her capture by the
Federals. By that time she must have paid her cost over and over again, having eluded the
blockading fleet on no fewer than 28 occasions.

The "Neptune" had failed to escape from the blockaders in May, after several profitable trips.
The "Jupiter" was less fortunate.

Little more than two months after leaving Greenock she was 'hors de combat'. It was also
reported that the "Mail" had been set on fire by her skipper, lest her cargo should fall into the
hands of the Federals, but this must have been erroneous, as, though the Federals eventually
got her, it was not till the autumn of 1864 - 1865 by which time she had no doubt had ample
opportunities of making money for her owners.

The "Giraffe" and the "Spunkie" were reported to be working with great success. The former,
which had been renamed "Robert E. Lee", had made Halifax her headquarters and was running
in and out of Wilmington, her weatherly qualities suiting her well for this long trip in exposed
waters.

The blockade of Charleston was by that time so closely maintained that the run thither from
Nassau could only be made with much difficulty and risk. But the pitcher went once too often
to the well.

According to a despatch received on 28th November, the old Belfast boat had been fired on
and struck, on a run from Wilmington to Halifax, in September, but her speed had saved her,
though her hull was damaged and three of her crew wounded.

6
Of course, her speed was her only defence, as a single shot fired by a blockade-runner would
have been an act of piracy and have exposed her crew, in the event of subsequent capture, to
the unpleasant treatment meted out to pirates.

The steamer left Halifax again on 22nd October, but the people of Wilmington were left vainly
"waiting for the 'Robert E. Lee' ", for on this trip she was captured by a cruiser.

The "Adela" is again heard of, this time in the role of a Federal cruiser in Tampa Bay, where, in
company with a consort,
she captured and destroyed two vessels attempting to enter the port.

On Christmas Day the "Caledonia", a paddle steamer which had been running to Ayr, set out to
cross the Atlantic and five days later the second "Iona", built to replace the one which had
been sold and lost in the previous year, went down the river, stripped of her saloons and
painted light grey.

This was a measure adopted with all the blockade-runners to render them difficult of detection
against the land. The precaution was even taken of dressing the crew in garments of a similar
inconspicuous hue. Many ships were fitted with telescopic smoke-stacks and hinged masts,
features that, when employed, made them almost invisible against the grey Atlantic skyline,
coal as nearly smokeless as could be obtained was burnt and, on occasion, the paddle-floats
were muffled.

Running the lights on 30th December, the "Iona" is said to have attained a speed of twenty-
one miles an hour, which was probably within her powers, but which would be more convincing
without the claim that it was done "under easy steaming" and against wind and tide. One is
inclined to ask why they did not run the lights in the opposite direction and "let her rip".

Her final departure from the Clyde well loaded with coals took place on 18th January, 1864 and
she lay at Queenstown till the end of the month, insubordination having broken out among her
crew, thirteen of whom refused to proceed to sea in her.

Their reluctance was justified when bad weather was encountered shortly after leaving
Queenstown and the vessel sprang a leak, the water entering faster than the pumps could
cope with it, so that the captain found himself compelled to put about and run for Milford
Haven.

Before she could get there he had to abandon her, the stokehold being drowned out and the
engines stopped and half an hour afterwards the "Iona" foundered. It has been stated,
probably through carelessness, that she was lost with all hands. Fortunately the affair was not
so tragic, the crew being all landed at Ilfracombe safe and sound.

Among the last boats picked up for the "South American trade" were a paddle-boat of
Cameron's Derry fleet, the "Thistle", only a few months old, built to replace the screw steamer
of the same name which had gone blockade-running in 1862 and the "Fairy", also a paddle
steamer, built by Thomson in 1862 to ply on the Caledonian Canal, the first saloon-steamer in
the Hutcheson fleet.

By this time a number of boats had been built specially for the requirements of this
exceptional trade, the increased stringency of the blockade had rendered the nearer ports
almost inaccessible and something more substantial than an ordinary river steamer was
required to face the longer and stormier routes to such ports as could still be entered.

7
Among the most successful of the Clyde boats engaged in the enterprise were the "Herald",
which, as already stated, made 28 trips, the "Lord Clyde" (18 trips), the "Havelock" and the
"Giraffe" (14 each), the "Leopard" (8), "Ruby" (7), "Spunkie" and "Eagle" (6 each), the "Scotia"
(5), the "Star" and the "Rothesay Castle".

The number of trips accomplished by the two last-named is not available, but it must have
been very considerable, as neither was ever captured. All the others mentioned in this list
were either captured, sunk or destroyed.

The "Eagle", captured after three trips by the USS Octorara, was sold off as 'prize' and, as the
"Jeanette", resumed the old game and carried a final cotton cargo from Galveston to Tampico,
in Mexico, under the command of Skelmorlie-born William Watson, just before the close of the
war.

After the war the "Rothesay Castle" was sent to the Canadian lakes, where she sailed for a
very long time; the "Star" remained at Nassau and is there to this day (1924).

The case of the "Dolphin" is a strange one. According to a letter purporting to be signed by her
owner and published in April, 1863, she was seized by a Federal vessel on her outward voyage
to Nassau, when off the Danish island of St. Thomas, where she had called to replenish her
coal supply.

If the facts are as stated in the letter the Yankee skipper's action was very high-handed, as the
steamer was bound from one British port to another; but, as nothing more is heard of the
incident, the suspicion arises that there may have been some
details of the affair which the writer has not thought fit to emphasise.

The "Dolphin" was sold in New York in the summer of 1864 and went back to blockade-running,
in which occupation she was captured off Key West on 27th February, 1865, bearing the name
of "Ruby".

Word arrived in April, 1864, that the "Juno" had foundered in a storm and taken part of her
crew to the bottom with her.

The capture of the "Lord Clyde", the "Diamond" and the "Scotia" and the destruction of the
"Havelock" were reported about the same time. It was also reported that the "Gem" had been
lost, but this seems to have been untrue, as according to later reports she was still running.

The "Alliance" was captured at Savannah in April, 1864, after several successful trips, and was
afterwards auctioned at New York finding her way eventually to New Zealand, where she
stranded on the north spit of Hokitika Bar on August 7, 1865.

Following the "Alliance", the "Caledonia", "Fairy" and paddle steamer " Thistle " were soon
captured. The former "Thistle", the screw boat, had now become the U.S. Blockade-watcher
"Cherokee" and distinguished herself by the seizure of the new paddle blockade-runner "Emma
Hendry".

There may have been other Clyde steamers engaged in blockade-running, whose names have
not been mentioned. The "Craignish Castle" for example, was in the market in May, 1862 and
is not advertised to sail after that year. It is said and may well be true, that she went into the
"South American trade", but there is no trace of her in the newspaper reports from the other
side. Likely enough she came to grief on the passage out, a fate which befell the first
"Chancellor", despatched from the Clyde for blockade running in the summer of 1863.

8
The details given are all from contemporary sources, which should, naturally, be the most
reliable, yet even the accuracy of these is not always to be implicitly depended on.

For instance, one account stated that the "Vesta" and the "Hero" had gone off across the
Atlantic and that the "Vulcan" was about to follow. None of these boats left the Clyde and yet,
in a trans-Atlantic message, received on 30th January, 1864, the capture was announced of
"the Arran, Rothesay and Glasgow' steamer "Hero", when attempting to enter a blockaded
port", whereas, at that time, the steamer was plying regularly between Glasgow and Rothesay.

Probably this was a case of mistaken identity; the name of "Hero" may well have been given to
some old Clyde favourite in
trans-Atlantic waters, in which case confusion might naturally arise.

A similar incident occurred in connection with the Belfast steamer "Lynx", which was plying on
her regular station when word came home that she had been destroyed at Wilmington, but in
this instance it was evident that the vessel which had suffered the mishap was a Liverpool-
built steamer of the same name.

None of the blockade-runners, so far as I can trace, re-crossed the Atlantic, although some of
them survived for many years in American waters and one, the "Star", is still afloat at Nassau
(1924).

The few boats left on the Firth were mostly such been esteemed too old or too slow to engage
successfully in blockade-running, yet the owners of these had little reason to regret that they
had not sold them for, in the absence of their swifter sisters, they reaped a rich harvest in their
native waters until such time as a new fleet could be built.

In spite of all the "Emperor of China's" purchases, an astonishingly good steamboat service
was maintained on the Firth during the summer of 1863, the only time when there was any
inconvenience from shortage of boats being the Glasgow Fair week, when some of the
channel-steamers were placed in excursion work on the Firth for a day or two.

By the following summer a number of new boats had appeared, sufficient to meet all the
demands of the coast traffic but, there were to be few sensational performers amongst the
new boats, and no attempt was made to revive the great speed contests of the early 1860's,
when "Ruby", "Rothesay Castle" and "Neptune" raced one another "hell for leather" all the way
from The Broomielaw to Gourock, to the great delight of their passengers, the fining of their
skippers and the glory of their owner-builders, Henderson of Renfrew, Simons of Renfrew and
Napier of Govan.

Those were the days when Captain Dicky Price, anxious to prevent a rival steamer from getting
too far ahead, started the "Ruby" from Dunoon pier while the passengers were embarking and
steamed off, leaving the gangway with passengers on it, sticking over the edge of the pier and
when remonstrated with for his recklessness, coolly asked, "What are ten shillings' worth of
passengers compared to spoiling a good race ? "

The conveyance of passengers was merely a side-line then, the steamers were run primarily
for the purpose of racing one another, and each skipper's object was to get his boat there first,
whether full or empty.

These boats had served their end as advertisements, albeit at great cost to their owners and
when they went blockade-running they were not replaced, and steamboat-owning on the Clyde
came thenceforward to be regarded less as a sport and more as a business proposition.

9
An insight into the interesting and exhilarating work that awaited such of the boats as survived
the passage out can be obtained from Mr William Watson's delightful "Adventures of A
Blockade-runner", in which he describes a trip which he made from Galveston to Tampico
towards the close of the war, in command of the "Jeanette", formerly the Glasgow and
Rothesay passenger steamer "Eagle".

He tells how, after escaping from a Yankee cruiser which had put a shot through his funnel, he
found that the weight of cotton bales, piled round the boiler as a protection, was causing the
steamer to sag amidships and threatening to break her back.

The bales were removed in a hurry and distributed more evenly over the ship, her bow and
stern sections then sinking back to their normal positions and Tampico was reached in safety.

The Adventures of A Blockade-Runner - Chapter XXIII

On shore at Galveston - Appointed to another steamer - The steamer Jeannette - Short of coal -
Sail for Tampico - An exciting chase - Arrival at Tampico

As soon as the Phoenix was alongside of the wharf at Galveston, my duties and responsibilities
were over for the inward trip, and it would be several weeks before she would be discharged,
loaded, and ready for sea.

The vessel and cargo were consigned to Mr. H., the same gentleman who had aided me by his
counsel in my dispute with the Messrs. M. on my second trip, but I had nothing to do with the
shore business this trip, which was a source of great relief to me. Having, therefore, nothing to
do I was much in company with the officers of the other steamers, then in port, and as those
engaged in this calling were always ready to aid each other, I got some information which
would be useful to me on the passage out.

There was at the time lying at the wharf a paddle steamer, named the Jeannette, which was
already loaded and cleared for sea. She had sailed out about the time of our arrival, but
meeting with bad weather, and one of her boiler-tubes having given out, she had put back and
returned to Galvcston on the following night.

A few days after our arrival Mr. H. sent for me, and asked if I would be willing to take the
command of this vessel, and take her to Tampico. He said her present captain was in rather an
unfortunate position. He lived at Houston, and some of his family were seriously ill; and
although it was of great importance that the vessel should sail immediately he, Mr. H., did not
like to ask Captain S. to leave his family in their present helpless condition, and although
Captain S. had that day expressed his willingness to sail immediately, he believed that was
only because of some idle and undeserved remarks which had been made, about his having
put back into Galveston after being out through the blockading fleet. He said he had a high
regard for Captain S., and felt very much for him, and that he had already talked the matter
over with Captain E. of the Phoenix, and proposed that I should take out the Jeannette, and
Captain S. would take my place as sailing master of the Phoenix for the outward trip. This
would allow him a longer stay in port with his family, and Captain E. had consented.

If I would agree to this they would allow me a hundred dollars extra over my present
agreement, and the cost of a passage from Tampico to Havana on the mail steamer. He
explained that the boiler tubes of the Jeannette were in bad order, and a new set had been
ordered which had arrived at Havana, but owing to this mishap, and having to put back, she
had used up so much of her coal that she had not sufficient left to take her to Havana. It was
therefore necessary to take her to Tampico as the nearest neutral port, and the tubes would be
sent from Havana to Tampico, and the boilers retubed at that place.

10
I was rather averse to taking command of a steamer with defective boilers, but I was assured
that since she had put back into Galveston, all defective tubes had been taken out and the
boilers made quite sufficient to take her to Tampico.

Having assured myself of this, an arrangement was made to the satisfaction of all parties and I
agreed to start at once. I was to take full command as captain, and they were to send a
supercargo to take charge of the cargo when landed.

A note of the change of masters was made on the crew list by the Consul at Galveston, it being
thought best not to make any record of it upon the register in a blockaded port.

When I came to examine the vessel I had taken charge of, I found her to be a sharp little
steamer drawing a little over five feet of water when loaded ; she seemed to have undergone
much hard work.

I found by her register that she had been built on the Clyde, and had plyed on that river
between Glasgow and Rothesay her original name had been the "Eagle", built in 1852 by
Messrs. Denny of Dumbarton and engined by M'Nab & Clark, Greenock.

Owned for a time by her builders, the "Eagle" had been acquired by Williamson & Buchanan,
who employed her successively on the Rothesay and Arran and the Kyles of Bute stations and,
purchased in 1862 to run the blockade, had made several trips before being captured and
taken to New York where she had been condemned in a prize court, sold, again put under the
British flag, re-named the "Jeanette" and sailed to Havana, this her second or third trip
between Havana and Galveston.

The "Eagle" had been considerably altered in her inward arrangements since her days on the
Clyde. Her passengers saloon was converted into an after-hold, her stewards refreshment
rooms into a forehold, the small ladies cabin aft was now used as a cabin for the officers, and
the steerage forward as a forecastle for the crew. The after part of the paddle-boxes were
stripped of the planking, to allow the water to go free from the paddles in heavy seas. She was
considered a pretty swift vessel, but owing to a number of tubes in her boilers being at the
time shut off, her steaming power was somewhat reduced. She had what is called a haystack
boiler standing high above her deck, an oscillating engine, and her light draft of water made
her very suitable for running the blockade into Galveston. It was therefore desirable that her
boilers should be retubed, and the vessel got ready for business without delay. I was therefore
directed to sail as soon as possible.

It now seemed to me that blockade running between Havana and Galveston bad been largely
taken up by companies or syndicates who owned several vessels, and whose policy seemed to
be to play a high stake, by running their vessels harder, taking up less time in precaution, and
doing a large trade, and in event of a capture now and then to apportion the loss with the
profits. This policy was no doubt more applicable to steamers whose working expenses were
high, but I question much if this system of combination and venture was as successful as the
more cautious policy adopted by private individuals, barring of course the losses sustained by
the latter in the business transactions.

Having now a steamer there was no detention in waiting for a favourable wind, a dark night
being all that was necessary and it being now near the end of the moon, we soon got
everything ready, left the harbour about 8 p.m., and steamed slowly down the bay, the policy
being to confine steam and proceed slow and make little noise or smoke, until we got abreast
of, or past, the blockading fleet, and then dash off at full speed.

11
I may here observe that such tactics accounted much for the success of so many steamers
getting through the blockade.

The blockade runners with help from the shore knew shallow passages which the blockading
vessels could not approach, on account of their draught of water. These passages could
generally be entered from some point near the shore. The light draught of the blockade-
running steamers enabled them to keep at some distance from the fleet, and on a dark night
their low hulls were obscured by the dark loom of the land beyond.

Coming up slowly and noiselessly they were generally up with, or past the fleet before they
could be observed, and with caution they often passed without being observed, and if
observed, having their steam confined ready for a spurt, they got quickly away in the
darkness, and if on the inward run they were soon under cover of the Forts. If on the outward
run they were still better prepared for a spurt, and even if fired upon they knew that it was
generally done hurriedly and partly at random, and if the first shot did not take fatal effect
they were in less danger from those that followed as the smoke of the first shot made the
darkness thicker, and shrouded them from view, and they were soon away out of sight in the
darkness. They might be chased, but with their speed and the advantage of a dark night they
might laugh at their pursuers.

I must confess that I felt a little nervous at first; the steamer seemed so much longer and more
unwieldy to handle in the narrow channel than the little schooner. I soon found, however, that
this was more than compensated for by the advantage the steamer had in a steady command
of headway, and her readiness to turn in any direction without regard to the direction of the
wind. I had also found out by this time more about the channel, and at the outer end where
the first gunboat lay, that there was sufficient water to allow us to pass closer to the shore if
there was not much sea on.

Having got safely into the Swash channel, we stood along, keeping as close as possible to the
shore side of the channel. The breakers were sounding loud enough to drown the noise of our
paddle wheels, and the land beyond completely darkened the low hull of the steamer, and it
now seemed plain to me that the steamer, showing little above her decks, would be less apt to
be observed than the schooner with her cloud of canvas.

I could make out with the glass two of the blockading vessels, the nearest was just about the
same place as on my two former trips, and I remembered, with some satisfaction, that there
was no moon to break through and light up the scene this time.

Having brought the last gunboat on the port quarter, we set off at full speed, intending to
stand square off the coast until daylight, and then if nothing was in sight, shape the course
straight for Tampico.

I had scarcely spoken to any one on board yet, except the mate and the engineer; I now called
all hands, and the watches were set. The steamer was making about twelve knots by the log,
the engineer stating that his supply of coals was limited, and in the present condition of the
boilers he did not wish to drive her too hard. I therefore concluded to shorten the run as much
as possible, and, after getting about thirty miles off the coast, I directed the course straight for
Tampico, wishing to save coal as much as possible, in case we might be chased out of our
course.

All went well throughout the night, and when daylight broke nothing could be seen, and all was
favourable so far. As the day advanced a strong breeze sprung up from north east, and as this
was almost a fair wind for us we set the jib. which helped her a little, and all seemed to be
going well when about 1 p.m. a cruiser was seen to leeward; she bore about W.S.W., distant

12
about ten or twelve miles. The position she was in was very much to our disadvantage, our
course was about S.S.W.

There was a stiff breeze and a heavy sea from north-east. If we stood away from her we should
have to breast a heavy wind and sea, which with our short supply of coal was not to be
thought of. To continue on our course she would cut us off, or at least come very close to us,
and we saw by the way she was shaping her course that such was her intention. The mate was
certain that if we could get to leeward of her we would soon leave her astern. I was satisfied of
that myself, but the difficulty was to get past her without coming under the range of her guns.

The best we could do in the meantime was to alter our course to about south by east, and
keep more away from her until we were certain we could cross her bow without coming within
the range of her shot. We soon found, however, that this course brought us rather more into
the trough of the sea, which had now got pretty high, and we had to keep her away a little.
The whole question now depended upon the speed of the respective vessels. We were
certainly the fastest vessel, but, being a paddle steamer, having to lay partly side to the seas
was to our disadvantage. The cruiser being a propeller had the sea nearly abeam, which was
in her favour.

The winds kept steady from the north-east, and the sea was pretty high. The mate was on the
bridge with me, and as he gazed on the large seas coming up quartering, would often say,
"Oh, if we could once get her before those seas, would not they make her propeller whirr ! "

Of course that was our object, but to gain this advantage we should have to cross the bows of
our pursuer, and we must get sufficient distance to enable us to do this with safety.

I had carefully watched the position of the two vessels from the time the chase began. The
wind kept steady at north east. When we first sighted the cruiser she bore W.S.W., distant
about twelve miles. We had sailed about south half east, and at 2.30 had run about eighteen
miles by the log. The cruiser now bore about due west, and was distant fully four miles, this
showed that we had run the greatest distance, but driving so hard with a heavy sea partly on
the beam, was both to our disadvantage and danger, but we had not yet sufficient room to
cross her track, and we must keep on our course a little longer.

About 3 p.m. we had brought her nearly north-west, and distant fully three miles, and we came
round so as to bring the wind and sea nearly astern; this made a marked difference in our
sailing, we went along smooth and easy with increased speed. It brought us, however, for a
time closer to our pursuer. We now required all the speed we could put on, and our foresail was
set to help her along. "Now," said the mate, "you will see us leave her astern."

"Don't holloa till you are out of the wood," said one of the men, as the report of a gun was
heard from the cruiser, and a ball whistled near to us.

The cruiser had altered her course, and was now sailing parallel with us, and being broadside
on to us we could see that she was a short vessel, and being before the wind and sea, she was
pitching heavily and throwing her propeller out of water.

This was just the position we wished to get her into, as her speed would now be greatly
impeded, while ours would be increased, but the seaman's warning to the mate was not
without cause.

The cruiser kept firing with what seemed to be a small rifled gun, which sent shot to a great
distance, some of them even passing over and falling beyond us, but all very wide of the mark,
and I was just in the act of saying, by way of encouragement, to the men, that the cruiser was

13
rolling too much to throw shot with any accuracy, when a shot struck our funnel, passing
through it about three feet above the crown of the boiler.

This was rather dangerous, as had that shot been a little lower it would have perforated the
boiler. The men looked at me, but I put the best face I could on the matter, and observing that
the deck-load of cotton protected the boiler a good way up; I told them to bring a few bales
from the forward and after parts of the deck-load and pack over the exposed part of the boiler.

The mate took some hands and set quickly about getting this done, telling the men at the
same time that that was only a chance shot, and they could not do it again to save their lives,
and it seemed to have been chance as all the shots that followed either fell short or went wide
of us.

The mate had soon a large pile of cotton bales all round and over the boiler. The hole through
the funnel was not over three inches in diameter, showing that it was a gun of very small
calibre they were using, and soon every shot was falling short, and we were getting fast
beyond range.

Suddenly the engineer came running up to say that the vessel was buckling amidship. I looked
and saw her bending up at the bow and stern, as she pitched in the seas. The taking away of
the cotton bales from the bow and stern to place round the boiler had lightened her too much
at the bow and stern, and weighted her too heavily amidships, and this caused her to strain in
running before a heavy sea.

[Almost certainly unknown to Watson was the fact that the "Eagle" had previously been
weakened around that area of her hull when lying in Bowling Harbour at the time when the
great hurricane of 1856 struck the Clyde valley. The disaster took place on the night between
the 6th and 7th of February, when many of the river-steamers were laid up in the bay and the
morning of the 7th brought to light an appalling spectacle of destruction.

The "Eagle" being jammed between two other vessels also laid up for the winter and so badly
buckled that the bell-mouths of her two funnels, both abaft the paddles, were in contact].

All hands were immediately set to roll out bales towards the bow and stern to stiffen the
vessel, and this was rather difficult work in a heavy sea. Fortunately the cruiser had now fallen
astern out of range, and had ceased firing, and we got the deck-load arranged, and the vessel
properly trimmed again. I saw from this incident the great importance of having the weight
properly distributed on such fragile vessels.

The cruiser was now fully five miles astern, but she still kept up the chase, with the view no
doubt of keeping us in sight in
case of some chance accident which might cause a falling off in our speed, such as a boiler
tube giving way, which was not an uncommon incident, and was the cause of several captures,
and the Yankees were well aware of the likelihood of such mishaps on this class of steamers.

Fortunately nothing happened; all went well, and towards sunset the wind fell, and the sea
began to go down, and when darkness set in, I put the steamer upon her proper course again.
The wind died away during the night, and in the morning the sea was calm, and nothing was to
be seen from the mast head.

I was now wishful to ascertain our position : we had been running out of our course, but as
part of the time we had been running to the south of it, and the other part to the north of it,
we might not be far out of our way. At noon I found by observation that we were about seventy
miles north-east of Tampico. We were now out of the track most frequented by the cruisers,

14
but as they sometimes hovered out round Tampico, a strict look out was kept from the
masthead, but nothing was seen all day.

About 5 p.m. we sighted Mount Tamana, on the starboard bow, bearing about west, and by
sunset we could discover some ships anchored in the roads off Tampico, one of which was a
large vessel which we supposed to be a French transport. We took her bearings and steered
straight for her, coming up cautiously in the darkness, until we saw her anchor light, and about
8 p.m. we anchored close to her.

All was now well for this trip so far, but I had not yet for got my experience at this place six
months previous, and it now came up in my mind that it was then the equinox in September,
and it was now the equinox in March, and I gave orders, as the night was calm, to put very
little chain out, the engineer to bank his fires and keep steam up, and everything in readiness
to get under weigh in short time, and a double anchor watch was set to keep a strict look out
on the weather, and report immediately the slightest appearance of any change or indication
of a norther.

Few of the crew had been at Tampico before, and they did not understand the meaning of such
extraordinary precautions. I got but little sleep that night, for the watch continued to call me
from time to time to observe some little passing cloud or other imaginary indication of a
change. This I believe they did out of pure mischief, in retaliation for my having enjoined such
precautions, and setting a double anchor watch. Of course I could find no fault after having
given such strict orders.

If a norther had come it would have been very awkward for us as we would have to put to sea,
and lay to until it was over, and our small supply of coal might have been exhausted; I was,
therefore, very glad to see the weather continue fine.

About 9 a.m. the pilot come onboard, but I could not prevail upon him to take the steamer in
over the bar before the afternoon, when the tide would be full. I was very anxious to get in,
and pressed him hard, and explained our lack of coal and the danger of a norther. It was no
use, however, to try to put a Mexican past his usual jog trot, and we had to wait.

The weather continued fine, however, and about 2 p.m. the pilot returned, and the steamer
slipped easily in over the bar, and we passed up the river and anchored off the town. It was
very fortunate that we had got in, as there was not sufficient coal left to have steamed six
hours longer; and whilst it was pleasing to think of the short time in which we had made the
trip from Galveston, as compared to the long and tedious passages on the schooner, there was
also some cause to reflect on how it might have been with us in such a vessel if we had been
chased far out of our course by a cruiser and got short of coal, or a norther had caused us to
put to sea before we got in over the bar. Soon afterwards Watson contracted smallpox and was
quarantined in a hotel in Mexico.

Three weeks later, almost fully recovered, but still not allowed outside, he spotted a fellow
seaman passing below his hotel balcony and learned from him that Lincoln had been
assassinated and that Lee had surrendered bringing the war to an end.

Returning to Scotland, he built a house in Glasgow’s Argyle Street, near St Enoch Square and
married Helen Milligan, the daughter of a Glasgow baker, in April 1871 and moved back to
Skelmorlie, building Beechgrove (now Beechwood). Later he built two more houses in
Skelmorlie, Pea Ridge (now Craigallion) and Oakhill, both named after civil war battles.

In 1878 Watson took over Greenock's Ladyburn Boiler Works in 1878 and on 11th August 1882
the Greenock Advertiser reported that Watson had launched the "Talisman", a 160 ton iron

15
screw steamer, for Glasgow fish merchant William McLachlan. Watson's Ladyburn Works
damaged by construction work on the adjacent railway line, he successfully sued and was
awarded £22,937 for prejudice to his business. Watson, aged 80, died peacefully at home, in
Pea Ridge, in 1906.

16