Raphael Semmes, Memoirs of Service Afloat During the War Between the States

[530] enjoying one of Bartelli's cups of good coffee, hopeless for that day of my California steamer, and my million of dollars in gold. Suddenly the prolonged cry of ‘S-a-i-l-h-o!’ came ringing, in a clear musical voice, from aloft; the look-out having at length descried a steamer, and being anxious to impart the intelligence in as emphatic a manner as possible, to the startled listeners on the deck below. The ‘Where-away?’ of the officer of the deck, shouted through his trumpet, followed, and in a moment more came the rejoinder, ‘Broad on the port bow, sir!’ ‘What does she look like?’ again inquired the officer of the deck. ‘She is a large steamer, brig-rigged, sir!’ was the reply. An officer now came below to announce to me what I had already heard.

Here was a steamer at last, but unfortunately she was not in the right direction, being in the north-west instead of the southeast—the latter being the direction in which the California steamer should appear. All was excitement now on deck. The engineers and firemen were set at work, in great haste, to get up their steam. The sailors were hurried with their ‘cleaning,’ and the bags stowed away. ‘All hands work ship!’ being called, the first lieutenant took the trumpet, and furled the sails, making a ‘snug roll — up of it,’ so that they might hold as little wind as possible, and lowered the propeller. In twenty minutes we were ready for the chase, with very thing snug ‘alow and aloft,’ and with the steam hissing from the gauge-cocks. The strange steamer came up very rapidly, and we scrutinized her anxiously to see whether she was a ship of war, or a packet-ship. She showed too much hull out of the water to be a ship of war, and yet we could not be sure, as the enemy had commissioned a great many packetsteamers, and put heavy armaments on board of them. When she was within three or four miles of us, we showed her the United States colors, and she responded in a few minutes, by hoisting the same. Like ourselves, she had her sails furled, and was carrying a very large ‘bone in her mouth’ under steam alone.

We could now see that she was fast, and from the absence of guns at her sides, a packet-ship. I now put my ship in motion, with a view to lay her across the stranger's path, as