Cagey Civil War Commando Laid Groundwork for Naval Special Warfare

By DAVID F. WINKLER

On Dec. 5, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln sent a recommendation to Congress urging a vote of thanks to Navy Lt. William B. Cushing, “for his important, gallant, and perilous achievement in destroying the rebel ironclad steamer Albemarle on the night of Oct. 27, 1864, at Plymouth, N.C.”

Accounts of Cushing’s daring attack using a specially constructed steam launch earned the Fredonia, N.Y., native national notoriety. However, his reputation had been building for some time — on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.

When Cushing arrived off Cape Fear, N.C., in February 1864 as the commanding officer of USS Monticello, he found that the channels leading to the Cape Fear River and passage up to Wilmington were heavily defended by Confederate forces. Despite the efforts of the Union Navy, blockade runners still managed to slip in and out of these channels in the dark of night.

Closing the port would help seal the fate of the South. During the next few months, Cushing carried out a series of daring reconnaissance missions along the Cape Fear River that collected important intelligence on enemy positions and troop strength. An early venture, conducted on Feb. 29, established a pattern for boldness. The target for that night’s foray was Brig. Gen. Louis Hebert, who commanded the heavy artillery that guarded the approaches to Wilmington.

Setting out from Monticello after dusk with a gig, a cutter and nearly 20 sailors, Cushing worked his way up the Cape Fear River, sneaking past the batteries and the town of Smithville on the west bank. Once upstream of Wilmington, he reversed course to quietly approach the town from the north.

The boats pulled up against the sloping shore that led to a bluff and a lit hotel beyond. Cushing left about a dozen of his men behind and took the remainder with him into the one-street town. Beside one building, two Negroes kept warm by a fire. They proved cooperative and one offered to guide Cushing to the general’s house.

Sending half of his men back to the boats, Cushing advanced though the town with Acting Ens. J.E. Jones, Acting Master’s Mate W.L. Howath, a sailor and the guide. They came upon a large white house with a veranda; across the street were barracks housing hundreds of sleeping Confederate troops. Releasing the guide from his duties, Cushing and his three shipmates surrounded the residence.

Cushing entered via an unlocked front door and crept up the stairs to the second floor. Lighting a match, he saw three closed doors. He was on the verge of opening the middle door when a bang and a call from Howath came from below. Apparently the adjutant general, W.D. Hardman, was sleeping by a first-floor open window when he awoke to spy Howath slinking by.

Disoriented, Hardman somehow pulled the window down on his arm. In pain, he bolted out of the residence to alert the nearby troops.

Coming back down the stairs, Cushing burst into a room and found a tall man flailing a chair around. After knocking the man down, Cushing lit a candle to find he had captured Hebert’s chief engineer for local fortifications. Hebert, however, was away that night.

Howath rushed in to report he saw a man escape. Realizing their time was limited, the northerners grabbed assorted papers and the southern officer and walked back through the town as Confederate soldiers scampered about, “looking everywhere but the right place,” as Cushing recounted. The prisoner, with a pistol pressed against his side, kept quiet.

Joined by the two Negroes, the party of seven made it to the boats which then pulled far enough away to render small arms fire ineffective. Avoiding artillery fire on their outbound trip, the cutter and gig returned to the Monticello at 0325. Later that day, Cushing sent Ens. Jones to the Confederate stronghold at Fort Caswell under a flag of truce to obtain clothes and other comforts for their newly captured prisoner.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the fort’s commander turned toward him with a wry smile and exclaimed, “That was a damned splendid affair, sir!” The two men then amiably chatted. Upon departing, Jones left a note for Gen. Hebert. It read: “My Dear General: I deeply regret that you were not at home when I called. Very Respectfully, W.B. Cushing.”

Source: Ralph J. Roske and Charles Van Doren, Lincoln’s Commando: The Biography of Commander W.B. Cushing, U.S.N. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1957).

Dr. David F. Winkler is a historian with the Naval Historical Foundation.