Newspaper Page Text
Car Deps CM .-. -S: V'' lk .:.. d mum Qma IZsfEf ESTABL1SEED 1S77-NEW ?w ; 9 v&f 9e5 ... CKPROPITIOUS BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO. x . A FORLORN, WIND .'Settling the Government of California. (corYniGirr.l TOOK ONE SOL dier with me, Pri vato Barnes, with four horses, two of which we rode, and j Liie ouier two ayu drove ahead. The fi rst d ay we rea ched Gilrov's and camn- cd by a stream near three or four adohe i i...i i r;i j ii ms Miunu ua vjii- roy's Banch. The next day we passed Murphy's, Sau Jose flJNMfcand Santa Clara Mission, camping jsome four miles beyond, where a kind of hole-had been dug in the ground for water. The whole of this distance, now bo beautifully improved and settled, -was then scarcely occupied, except by poor ranches producing liorses -and cattle. The pueblo of San Jose was a string of low adobe-houses festooned -with red peppers and garlic; and tin Mission of Santa Clara was a dilapidated concern, with its church and orchard.. The long line of jjpplar trees lining tho road from Rnn JnsR to Santa Glara besnnke a .former period when the priests had ruled 4k 1 '.j, ) I - "V.". I fdfii m im mm Sm JH AVHsmu ffjtfft. h .riKttm Wm ii ii JiJW'.'&fW ; fen? -da A Mifsiox. the land. Just about dark I was tying on the ground near the well, and my soldier (Barnes) had -watered our horses and picketed them to grass, when we heard a horse crushing his way through the high mustard-bushes which filled the lain, and soon a man came to us to inquire if we had seen a saddle-horse pass up the road. AVe explained to him what he had heard, and he went off in pursuit of his horse. Before dark he came back, unsuccessful, and gave his name as Bidwcll, the same gentleman who has since been a member of Con gres?, who is married to Miss Kennedy, of Washington City, and now lives in princel' style at Chico, Cal. He explained that he was a Surveyor, and had been in the lower country en gaged in surveying land ; that the horse had escaped him with his saddle-bags con aiiiiing all his notes and papers, and some sSMBSS Tun Hair Skat, or the Pacific. EG00 in money, all the money he had arned. He spent the night with us on the ground, and the next morning we left turn there to continue the search for his t)orsei and I afterward heard that he had Tound his saddle-bags all right, but never ccovercd the horse. The next day to ward night we approached the MI8BIOK OF SAN PJtAKCISCO, and the village of Ycrha Buena, tired and weary the wind as usual blowing a perfect hurricane, and a more desolate regian it was impossible to conceive of. Leaving Barnes to work his way into the town as best he could with the tired animals, I took the freshest horse and rode forward. I fell in with Lieut. Fabius Stanley, United States Navy, nnd we rode into Yerba Buena together about an hour before sundown, there be ing nothing but a path from the Mission into the town, deep and heavy with drift-sand. My horse could hardly drag I'utilUliail liy pRrm!t-8toii of I), Appk-ton & Co., vubhblieie of the I'cibouuI Mcuiulm vt Gcu. W. T. felicnuau. .- """"" "t'i ty Vv" yfe '7-Xp. T5uii- fc--V-wii-liiV?3-. i ;m SERIES. h-MRMOIRiS ft of W' IflM. .. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF - SWEPT "WASTE, one foot after the other "when -we reached the old Hudson Bay Company's house, which was then the store of Howard & Melius. Then I learned "where Capt. Folsom, the Quartermaster, was to be found. He was sta3ring with a family of the name of Grimes, who had a small house back of Howard's store, which must have been near where Sacramento street now crosses Kearney. Folsom -was a classmate of mine, had come out with Stevenson's regiment as Quarter master, and was at the time the Chief Quartermaster of the Department. His office was in the old Customhouse, stand ing at the northwest corner of the Plaza. He had hired two -warehouses, the only ones there at the time, of one Liedesdorfi, the principal man of Yerba Buena, "who also owned the only public-house, or tavern, called the City Hotel, on Kearney street, at the southeast corner of the Plaza. I stopped with Folsom at Mrs. Grimes's, and lie sent my horse, as also the other three when Barnes had got in after dark, to a corral, -where he had a little barley, but no ha'. At that time nobody fed a horse, but he was usually turned out to pick such scanty grass :is he could find on the side-hills. The few Government horses used in town were usually sent, out to the Presidio, where the grass was somewhat better. At that time (July, 1847.) what is now called San Francisco was called YKJtBA BUEN'A. A naval officer, Lieut. Washington A Bartlctt, its first Alcalde, had caused it to be surveyed and laid out into blocks and lots, which were being sold at $10 a lot of 50 varus square ; the understanding being that no single person could pur chase of the Alcalde more than onein-lot 50 varas and one out-lot of 100 varas. Folsom, however, had got his clerks, Or derlies, eta, to buy lots, and they, for a small consideration, conveyed them to him, so that he was nominally the owner of a good many lots. Lieut Hal lock had bought one of each kind, and so had Warner. Many naval officers had also invested, and OapL Folsom advised me to buy some; but I felt actually insult ed that he should think me such a fool as to pay money for property in such a horrid place as Verba Buena, especially ridiculing his quarter of the city, then called Happy Valley. At that day Montgomery street was, as now, the business fctrcet, extending from Jackson to Sacramento, the water of the bay leaving barely room for a few houses oh its cast side ; and the public warehouses were on a sandy beach about where the Bank of California now stands, viz., near the intersection of Sansome and California streets. Along Montgomery street were tlie stores of Howard & Mel ius, Frank Ward, Sherman & Buckel, Boss & Co., and it maybe one or two others. Around the Plaza were a few houses, among them the City Hotel and the Customhouse, single-story adobes with tiled roofs ; and they were by far the most substantial and best houses in the place. The population was estimated at about 400, of whom Kanakas (natives of the Sandwich Islands) formed the bulk. At the foot of Clay street was a small wharf which small boats could reach at high tide; but the principal landing- place was where some stones had fallen into the water, about whers Broadway now intersects Battery street. On the steep bluff above had been excavated by the navy during the year before, a bench, wherein were mounted a couple of navy guns, styled the Battery, which, I sup pose, gave name to the street. I ex mi si "ff mc far Wnt plained to Folsom the object of my visit, and learned from him that he had no boat in which to send me to Sonoma, and that the only chance to get there 'was to borrow a boat from the navy. The line-of-battle-ship Columbus was then lying at auchor off the town, and he said if I would get up early the next morning I could go off to her in one of the market-boats. Accordingly, I was up bright and early, down at the wharf, found a boat, and went off to the Columbus TO SKK COMMODOliE lilDDLE. On reaching the ship and stating to the officer of the deck my business, I was shown into the Commodore's cabin, and soon made known to him my object. Biddle was a small-sized man, but viva cious in the extreme. He had a perfect contempt for all humbug, and at once entered into the business with extreme alacritv. I was somewhat amused at the importance he attached to the step. He had a Chaplain and a private Sec retary in a small room latticed otf from his cabin, and he first called on them to go out, and, when we were alone, he en larged on the folly of Sloat's proclama tion, giving the people the right to elect their own officers, and commended Kear ney and Mason for nipping that idea in ITuxtixo Bi:An. the bud, and keeping the power in their own hands. He then sent for the First Lieutenant (Drayton), and inquired if there were among the officers on board any who had ever been in the Upper Bay, and learning that there was a Mid shipman (Whittaker), he was sent for. It so happened that this Midshipman had been on a frolic on shore a few nights before, and was accordingly much frightened when summoned into the Gommocre's presence, but as soon as ho was questioned as to his. knowledge of the Bay, he was sensibly relieved, and professed to know everything about it. Accord ingly, the long-boat was or dered with this Midshipman and eight sailors, prepared with water and pro visions for several days' absence. Bid die then asked me if I knew any of his own officers, and which one of them I would prefer to accompany me. I knew most of them, and we settled down on Louis McLanc. He was sent for, and it was settled that Mc Lanc and I were to conduct this im portant mission, and the Commodore enjoined on us complete secrecy, so as to insure success, and he especially cau tioned us against being pumped by his ward-room officeis Chapman, Lewis, Wise, etc. while on board his ship. With this injunction I was dismissed to the ward-room, where I found Chapman, Lewis, and Wise, dreadfully exercised at our profound secrecy. The fact that McLanc and I had been closeted with the Commodore for an hour, that orders for the boat and stores had been made, that die Chaplain and clerk had been sent out of the cabin, etc., all excited their cuiosity; but McLanc and I kept our secret well. The general impression was that we had some knowledge about the I-'ATK OF CAPT. jrON'TOOMnUY'S TWO SONS and the crew that had been lost the year before. In 18-iG Capt. Montgom ery commanded at Yerba Buena, on board the St. Mary sloop-of-war, and he had a detachment of men stationed up An at Sonoma. Occasionally a boat was sent up with provisions or intelligence to them. Montgomery had two sons on board his ship, one a Midshipman, the other his Secretary. Having occasion to send some money up to Sonoma, he sent his two sons with a good boat and crew. The boat started with a strong breeze and a very large sail; was watched from the deck until she was out of sight, and has never been heard of since. There was, of course, much speculation as to their fate, some con tending that the boat must have been capsized in San Pablo Bay, and that all were lost; others contending that the crew had murdered the officers for the money and then escaped ; but, so far as I know, not a man of that crew has ever been seen or heard of since. if I1 Hl p- ' " ji'ijAtTtP:''J''S5LT' win to Iitttc the Imttte, nnft for lite WASHINGTON, D. 0., THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1896. When at last the boat was ready for us, we started, leaving all hands, save the Commodore, impressed with the belief that we were going on some errand con nected with the loss of the missing boat and crew of the St. Mary. Wc sailed directly north up the bay and across San Pablo, reached the mouth of So noma Creek about dark, and during the night worked up the creek some 12 miles, by means of the tide, to a landing called the Embarcadcro. To maintain the secrecy which the Commodore had enjoined on us, McLano and I agreed to keep .up the delusion by pretending to' be on a marketing expedition to pick up chickens, pigs, etc., for the mess of the. Columbus, soon to depart for home. leaving the Midshipman and four sailors to guard the boat, wo started on foot with the other four for Sonoma Town, which we soon reached. It was a simple open square, around which were some adobe houses, that of Gen. Vallejo occupying one side. Oh another was an unfinished two-story adobe building, oc cupied as a barrack by Brackett's com pany. Wc soon found Capt. Bracket:, and I told him that I intended to take Nash a prisoner and convey him back to Monterey to answer for his muti nous behavior. I got an old Sergeant of his company, whom I had known in the 3d Art., quietly to ascertain the whereabouts of Nash, who was a bach elor, stopping with the family of a law yer named Green. The Sergeant soon returned, saying that Nash had gone over to Napa, but would be back that evening. So McLanc and I went up to a farm of some pretensions, occupied by one Andreas Hoepner, with a pretty Sitka wife, who lived a couple of miles above Sonoma, and we bought of him some chickens, pigs, etc. We then vis ited Gov. Boggs's family and that of Gen. Vallejo, who was th'en,;ns no.w,joiic of the most prominent and influential natives of California. About dark I learned that Nash had come back, and then, giving Brackett orders to have a cart ready at the corner of the Plaza, McLane and I went to the house of Green. Posting an armed sailor on each side of the house, we knocked at the door nnd walked in. We found Green, Nash, and two women at supper. I inquired if Nash were in, and was first answered " Noi"" but one ofj the women soon pointed to him, and he rose. We were armed with pistol", and the familv was evidently alarmed. I walked up to' him and took Ins armband told mm to come along with me. He asked me," Where?" nnd I said "Monterey." "Why?" I would explain that more at leisure. Green put himself between me and the door, and demanded, in theatrical style, why I dared arrest a peaceable citizen in his house. I simply pointed to my pistol, and told him to get out of the way, which he did. Nash asked to get some clothing, but I told him he should want for nothing. - AVe passed out, Green following us with loud words, which brought the four sailors to the front door, when I told him to hush up or I would lake . him prisoner also. About that time one of "the sailors, handling his pistol carelessly, discharged it, and G71EKK DIBAPPRATIEP VERY SUDDENLY. Wc took Nash to the cart, put him in, and proceeded back to our boat The next morning we were gone. Nash being out of the way, Bogg3 en tered on his office, and the right to ap point or remove from civil office was never again questioned in . California during the military regime. Nash was an old man, and was very much alarmed for his personal safety. He had come across the plains, and had never yet seen the sea. While on our way down the bay, I explained fully to him the state of things in California, and he admitted he had never looked on it in that light before, and professed a willingness to surrender his office ; but, having gone so far, I thought it best to Adobe. take him to Monterey. On our way down the bay the wind' was so strong as wc approached 'the Cofumbus that we had "to take refuge, behind Yerba Buena Island, then called Goat Island, where wo landed, and I killecj a- gray seal. The next morning, the wind being com paratively light, we got out and worked our way up to, the Columbus, where I left my prisoner. on-board, and went on shore to find Commodore Biddle, who had gone to dine with Frank Wank I found him there, and committed Nash to his charge, with the request that he would send him down to Monterey, which he did. in the sloop-of-war Dale, Capt. Selfridge commanding. I then returned to Monterey by land, and when the Dale arrived, Col. Mason and I went on board, found poor old Mr, Nash J uiu"ou nnft orphan?." half dead with sea-sickness, and fear lest Col. Mason would treat him with extreme military rigor. But, on the contrary, the Colonel spoke to him kindly, released him as a prisoner on his promise to go back to Sonoma, surrender his office to Boggs, and account to him for his acts while in office. He after ward came on shore, was provided with clothing and a horse, returned to Sonoma, and I never have seen him since. Matters and thing3 settled down in Upper California, and all moved along with peaco and harmony. The war still continued in Mexico, and the navy authorities resolved to employ their time with the capture of Mazatlan and Gu ay mas. Lower California had already been occupied by two companies of Stevenson's regiment, under Lieut.-Col. Burton, who had taken post at La Paz, and a small party of sailors was on shore at San Josef, near Cape San Lucas, de tached from the Lexington, Lieutenant Commander Bailey. The . orders for this occupation were made by Gen. Kearney before ho left, in pursuance of instructions from the. War Department, merely to subserve a political end, for there were few or no people in Lower California, which is a miserable, wretch ed, dried-up peninsula. I remember the proclamation made by Burton and Capt. Bailey, in taking possession, which was in the usual florid style. Bailey signed lii3 name a3 the senior naval officer at the station, but, a3 it was necessary to put it into Spanish to reach the inhabitants of the newly-acquired country, it was interpreted, "El mas j antiguo dc todos los oficialcs de la man na," etc., which, literally, is "the most ancient of all the naval officers," etc., a translation at which we made some fun. THE EXPEDITION TO jrAZAT'jAN was, however, for a different purpose, viz., to get possession of the ports of Mazatlan and Guaymns, as a part of the vhr against Mexico, and not for perma nent conquest. Commodore Shtibrick commanded thi3 expedition, and took Iiallcck along as his Engineer officer. They captured Mazat lan and Gtiaymas and- then called on Col. Mason to send soldiers down to hold possession, but he had none to spare, and it was found impossible to raise other vol unteers either in California or Oregon, and. the navy held these places by detach ments of sailors and marines till the end of the war. Burton also called for rein forcements? and -Nngleda company was. sent him from Monterey, and these three companies occupied Lower California at the end of the Mexican war. Mai. Hardie still commanded at San Fran cisco and above; Co. F, 3d Art., and Shannon's company of volunteers, were at Monterey; Lippett's company at Santa Barbara; Col. Stevenson, with one company of his regiment, and the company of the 1st Dragoons, was at Los Angeles ; and a company of Mor mons, re-enlisted out of the Mormon battalion, garrisoned San Diego and thus matters went along throughout 1847 into 1848. I had occasion to make several trips to Yerba Buena and back, and in the Spring of 1848 Col. Mason and I went down to Santa Bar bara in the sloop-of-war Dale. I spent much time in hunting deer and bear in the mountains back of the Carmel Mission, and ducks and geese in the plains of the Salinas. As soon as the Fall rains set in the young oats would sprout up, and myriads of ducks, brant, and geese made their appearance. Ill a single day, or rather in the even ing of one day and the morning of the next, I could load a pack-mule with geese and ducks. They had grown somewhat wild from the increased num ber of hunters, yet, by marking well the place where n iiock lighted, I could, by taking advantage of gullies or the shape of the ground, creep up within range; and, giving one barrel on the ground and the other as they rose, I have secured as many as nine at one discharge. Col. Mason on one occa sion killed 11 geese by one discharge of small shot. The seasons in Cali fornia arc well marked. About Oc tober and November the rains begin, and the whole country, plains and mount ains, becomes covered with a bright green grass, with endless flowers. The intervals between the rains give the finest weather possible. These rains are les3 frequent in March, and cease altogether in April and May, when gradually the grass dies and the whole aspect of things changes, first to yellow, then to brown, and by Midsummer all is burnt up and dry as an ash-heap. When Gen. Kearney first departed we took his office at Larkin's, but shortly afterward we had a broad stairway con structed to lead from the outside to the tipper front porch of the barrack. By cutting a large door through the adobe wall, wc made the upper room in the center our office; and auother side room, connected with it by a door, was Col. Mason's private office. I had a single clerk, a soldier named Baden; and William E. P. Hartnell, citizen, also had a table in the same room. He was the Government Inter preter, and had charge of the civil ar chives. After Hal leek's return from Mazatlan, he was, by Col. Mason, made Secretary of State; and he then had charge of the civil archives, including the land-titles, of which Fremont first had possession, but which had reverted to us when he left the country. To be continued. . ' VOL. SALISBURY PRISON. - An Account of the Famous Outbreak at That Place of Suffering GREAT MORTALITY". Only Open Insurrection of Prisoners During the "War. FIERCE ATTACK Failure Through an Ill-Timed Signal. BY IIB.Vr.Y AIAKN-, 59t X. Y., 710 HANCOCK ST., CKOOKt.V'. T IS A SINGU lar fact that so little is known by the general public of the history of the Confederate prison for Union soldiers at Salisbury, N. C. Ike names of Libby and Andersonvillo are familiar to yf hi 4' ?m -J if a v 11- I s r . : -j ;v v;i.yuiiv, uiiu iiv have heard of Salisbury ? Yet nearly 12,000 Union soldiera per ished within the stockade of this prison, to about 13,000 at Andersonvillo, whereas the number of prisoners at Salisbury was probably not over one-third the number confined at Andersonvillo. In other words, of about 16,000 prisoners in the Salisbury pen, 11,700 perished, according to the figures on the handsome shaft that mark3 the resting place of the dead. The writer was probably the youngest prisoner in Salisbury, and was there throughout the- period of the greatest mortality, and took part in the attempt, on Nov. 25, 1864, to break out of the j Ml pill 1 7fi7ri,ii.'J .i7- m .'Xrs'&Sr M3 &U'Jfr&l i""y W, - ',1I?.ZT f I 3k -r vr'Sf'A1, fjzacL gumo Mv.vr. aiMotmst :f V -.. - v . JJLJULXJL.'S- S 4-" 'fi fKa?feO x4 'xtsi '' oga y noose. Sj V - DAD DITCH. Ks,N 1 fy 5T0CKADS. ' - .L. p" " " S p $ p CUAROS- ? J Diagram of Salisbury Prison. prison by a direct attack upon the guards. This was the only open insur rection of prisoners, so far as the writer is aware, made during the war. Captured in the battle of Eeams's Station, Aug. 25, 1864, 1 was first taken to Libby, and thence to Belle Isle. At about tho be ginning of October we were removed to Salisbury. I was without shoes at this time, those I had when taken having been worn out. The Guard. Three days were occupied in tho re moval from Belle Isle to the Salisbury stockade, about 12 hours being con sumed in tho final stage of 80 miles from Greensboro to Salisbury, where we nr rived at night. I have since learned that it was the custom of the Confederates to bring all tho prisoners into Salisbury at night, and then by a circuitous route mHHH XY - NO. 30-TVHOLE NO. 769. to the prison. On arrival I was ogned to a tont, which happened to bo in tho ' DIRECT LINE WITH A CANNON that frowned into the prison from a corner of thefcstockade. The prison" appeared to have been tho site of some factory or warehouse in dustry, probably carried on by slavo labor. In one corner was a tall brick building, which had apparently been a factory. Here were confined Union officers and Confederate civilian prison ers, alleged to bo Union men, but in some instances, at least, rebel spies. In A Mess. a central position was a wooden build . ing, raised a little from the ground, ac cording to the Southern custom, and which seemed to have been the resi dence of a manager or overseer. It waa now used as a hospital. Near thisstmcture was a small brfck building, which we called the " dead house," because the dead were carried there every day. Along one side of tho grounds wa3 a row of log huts, in which negroes had probably lived, but which, as the harvest of death became abun dant, were used for hospitals. One-half a loaf of bread a dav was supposed to bo a ration for a prisoner, and small pieces of meat were sometimes, but rarely, given out. On several occasions, however, wo went without any food for nearly 48 hours. The DEATH BATE EAPIDLY GREW as Winter advanced. The dead wero stacked like cord-wood in the dead wagons, and borne to the pits or trenches, since transformed, with the adjoining land, into one of the most beautiful of National Cemeteries. GUARDS. For some reason the Confederates ap peared to suppose that soldiers of foreign birth would be less faithful to the causo of the Union than those native of origin As the scenes within the stockade grew more awful, multitudes of our comrades were borne to the trenches, and death seemed to be inevitable for all. The Con federates thought it a favorable time to make an attempt on the loyalty of the survivors. They sent in word that any foreign-born prisoner willing to take the oath of .allegiance to the Confederacy would be taken out of the prison, well treated and well fed, and not required to serve against the Union armies. Hundreds went out, not all of them foreigners. Of Scottish birth myself, I answered when I heard the message,. "I have taken an oath to serve tha Union, and will die before I will break it." On the 25th of November was made.- the attempt TO BREAK OUT of the prison, which resulted in the kill ing and yvounding of many of our men- Of the beginning of the plot I am. unable to speak fully. It was organized by several leading prisoners, and cames very near success. The effective regi ment which had been on guard at the prison could no longer be spared from the front, and was to leave on the 25th, to join the army of Gen. Lee, its place to be taken. byJess efficient troops. The plan was to have a general rising: of the prisoners when the regiment had gotten some distance off on the railway. It appeared that the signal for the rising was given too soon, and while the regi ment was still at the station, about a. fourth of a mile from the prison. I had long before left the tent to which I had been originally assigned,, and used to sleep on the ground under the central hospital. I yyas reclining; J .jSiAbfeiaetoSifesSMlf &&&& .sO-iWwk-OuAk, m ;jaafcSLflH,.-tXj(M&ai-rA 1 j oSs2 UbfcA4&&i, -A-A skaa.&M 0i r -x& &tf&a& ;,&&&y:& .iSL' .-&? ri& tiw"v S-J g'at'&4f-i i'jj4afelifcKa8i.a5'fefcHg. ...I