  The chase after the steamer "Harriet Deford," which was captured by pirates, supposedly to supply a means of escape to Jefferson Davis from the crumbling Confederacy—Captain Fitzhugh. Headquarters, Middle Department, Major: I have written to Commodore Dornin requesting him to send a small steamer in pursuit of the "Harriet Deford," if he has one ready, and to permit Lieut. Smith and his guard to accompany her. If Commodore Dornin can not send a steamer I have written to Colonel Newport, to request him to place a tug at your disposal. You will please see that Smith goes in Command with sufficient guard and ammunition. If you want a Howitzer, send to C.O. Fort McHenry, or let the steamer stop there and get it. Very respy. your obdt. servt., To Commandant's Office. Colonel: I regret that I have no steamer in the proper condition to Very respy. your obdt. servt, To A report had reached us that the steamer "Harriet Deford," plying between the Patuxent river and Baltimore, had been captured by a gang of pirates, in Fair Haven bay, which is midway between the Patuxent river and the Severn river; the passengers were robbed and put ashore. Richmond had fallen; Jefferson Davis was seeking to escape, and the theory, quickly arrived at, was that this steamer had been seized to furnish the means, perhaps, to run him to the Bahamas, or Bermuda. The bay and its tributaries were alive with anxiety. In a very short time I was away in a tug. I put the guards below decks, in the Early in the evening we arrived at the mouth of Fair Haven bay. Our pilot did not know the harbor, but soon discovered he could not run his boat on the mere appearance of water. He ran us onto a bar, where we thumped and thumped, backed and poled off, and then ran onto another. We finally concluded to back off, go back to the Severn river and Annapolis, and wait for daylight. When we arrived in the Severn, we found the shore and water full of alertness. We were hailed and threatened until our character was understood. To my delight I found there a large steamer, with two hundred men on, that Colonel Lawrence had sent down to support me. A landlubber feels better on a larger vessel, so I took my men on the steamer, and we started again for Fair Haven. We arrived there early in the morning. My theory was that I could pick up some clue there to follow up, and events sustained me. I sauntered up from the dock towards a store. I met two men, and to my question, one of the men admitted he was pressed into service by the gang in the mouth of the Patuxent. He said the party had crossed the Potomac in a small sail boat, and compelled him to pilot them, to overhaul the "Harriet Deford." He said they steamed down the bay, after leaving Fair Haven. We held him, and at once ran on down the Chesapeake, to the mouth of the Potomac. We were then in Commodore I learned afterwards that they ran the "Deford" into Mobjack bay, where she was burned, after first stripping her joiner work. I visited, and afterwards married, Aunt Mag, in the region of Mobjack bay, but never referred to the incident. I thought it might not bring up pleasant recollections. I have often wondered if some of the "Deford's" saloon trimmings might be in use in some of the houses there. Let us forget it. The following account of the affair appeared in the New York papers under date April 6th, 1865, with big headline: "Another Pirate!" "Baltimore, April 5th, 1865. A daring act of piracy was perpetrated at Fair Haven, Herring Bay, about fifty miles from this city, the Steamer Harriet Deford being seized by a company of Rebel soldiers in disguise. The Deford had scarcely left Fair Haven Wharf before a dozen or more of newly received passengers threw off their overcoats and drawing revolvers revealed to the astonished gaze of the passengers the uniforms of Rebel soldiers. The passengers, about seventy in number, thirty being ladies, were ordered to the saloon and guards placed over them while When about a mile from Fair Haven, Fitzhugh compelled the Engineer to sound the steam whistle three times, in answer to which signal three boats containing thirty-two men put off from each side of the river and stood for the Steamer. The crews of these boats having been taken aboard, the Steamer was headed down Chesapeake Bay. On the way down Captain Leage, Captain Dayton, officer in charge of the Steamer and several old gentlemen with ladies and children, were placed on board of the Schooner Hiawatha, bound for this city. The balance of The Deford was valued at fifty thousand dollars and had a cargo of tobacco, potatoes, grain, furs, &c., valued at eighty thousand dollars. Fitzhugh would not permit his men to rob passengers. The captured Steamer is a fast sailer, having repeatedly made fourteen knots per hour. The intention of the pirates could not be learned, but it is supposed they will endeavor to run outside the Capes, transfer the cargo to a larger vessel, burn the Deford, and proceed to Nassau. The paroled passengers arrived here this morning. One of them positively asserts that Jeff. Davis was among the party who came out in small boats, but no reliance whatever can be placed in the possibility of Jeff. having thus escaped from Richmond. The receipt of this news caused great excitement here, and measures looking to the defence of the Bay boats are being made. A steamer has also been despatched to intercept the pirates before they reach the Capes." |
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