Old Marblehead
Captain William D. Gregory in the Civil War
This is an excerpt from a news clipping found in an old scrapbook. In this clipping, which gives the history of the house at 16 South Street, there is a story of the Civil War exploits of one of its owners, Capt. William D. Gregory.
"Early in the autumn of 1861 Capt. William D. Gregory and his brother Capt. Samuel B. Gregory enlisted in the U. S. navy and were assigned to duty on board the gunboat E. B. Hale then in New York harbor. While getting ready for sea and daily expecting sailing orders, they were summarily dismissed from the service. An investigation proved that a few of their personal enemies in Marblehead had preferred Charges of Disloyalty against them to the Secretary of the Navy. Upon ascertaining the origin of these charges, the brothers at once returned to Marblehead. Shortly after their arrival in town, a large and enthusiastic meeting of citizens, irrespective of party, was held in Lyceum hall and resolutions were adopted severely condemning the actions of those who had preferred the charges and expressing the confidence of the people in the integrity and loyalty of the officers. Armed with the record of this meeting and with a petition signed by nearly every legal voter in Marblehead, the brothers proceeded to Washington and were at once reinstated in the service. Their commissions were dated Oct 3, 1861. Capt. Samuel B. Gregory being assigned to command of the United States steamer Western World and Capt. William D Gregory to the United States ship Bohio.
Both vessels had several Marblehead sailors on board. They sailed from New York harbor on the first day of January, 1862. On the seventh of February, while cruising off the coast of Louisiana, Capt. William D. Gregory discovered a schooner sailing under British flag. He immediately gave chase and on overtaking the stranger, found her to be the Confederate Eugenie Smith, bound from Havana to Matamoras, with a valuable cargo of coffee, soap, dry goods and other articles. She was put in charge of a prize master and sent to the United States district court at Key West, Fla. The officers and crew were placed on board the United States steamer Rhode Island as prisoners of war. Immediately after forwarding his prize to the proper authorities, Capt. Gregory sailed for the Southwest Pass at the mouth of the Mississippi River, where he arrived in the afternoon of Friday, March 7. On his arrival, he was informed that the captain of a United States ship, which arrived the day before, had fallen in with and boarded a suspicious looking schooner sailing under an English flag and register, but after an examination of her papers had allowed her to proceed on her voyage. Ascertaining the latitude and longitude in which the strange schooner had been seen, Capt. Gregory obtained permission to cruise for her and at 11 P. M. the Bohio was under way.
At 5 o’clock the next morning a sail was discovered on the lee bow. All drawing sails were at once set on board the Bohio and the captain gave directions to keep off for the stranger. Noticing that he was being pursued, the commander of the strange vessel set all sails and an exciting chase ensued. The stranger proved to be a fast sailer and it was with difficulty that the Bohio kept up with her. At 8 A. M. a shot was fired from the Bohio with no effect. At noon, finding that the stranger was steadily outsailing him, Capt. Gregory resolved to capture her if possible by stratagem. Several barrels were placed upon the deck and upon these about 12 feet of stovepipe were fastened for a smokestack.
The precaution having been taken to place sand in the bottom of the lower barrel, a fire was started with bits of rope, old junk and other materials and in a short time the smoke began to pour out of the funnel in fine style. The men were constantly employed in wetting the sails and as the wind filled them and the speed of the ship increased, the stratagem had the desired effect. The schooner hove to at about 2 P. M. and surrendered. She proved to be the Confederate schooner Henry Travers of New Orleans sailing under British register. The captain of the schooner stated that when he perceived the Bohio getting up steam, as he supposed, and saw how fast she was gaining on him, he considered it useless to try to outsail a steamship. He therefore held a consultation with his officers and was advised by his mate to surrender, as the Yankee would certainly blow the schooner out of the water after chasing her so far.
Capt. Gregory cruised for several months in Mississippi sound capturing prizes and effectively putting an end to blockaded running in that vicinity. He continued in command of the Bohio until midsummer 1862 when he resigned and retired from the service. The Marblehead sailors on board the Bohio were distinguished at all times for their daring and bravery."