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Capture of the Maple Leaf June 13, 1863

"CAPTURE OF THE MAPLE LEAF."
"On June 13, 1863, myself and twenty-six Confederate officers, having been cooped up in a room 12 by 30 feet, with but one barred window, in Fort Norfolk, were surprised and much gratified at the order to prepare for removal to Fort Delaware, and at once were taken out into the fresh, glorious air and placed upon the magnificent United States Steamer ‘Maple Leaf', which was passing on her way from New Orleans to Fort Delaware.
"On board of her were about seventy-five Confederate officers, prisoners of war from New Orleans, guarded by about fifty United States soldiers.
"Among the prisoners was the captain of the Confederate vessel 'Star of the West,' which had been recently captured at New Orleans.
"When we went aboard we were cordially received by the Confederates, and at once we passed out of the bay, then steaming by Fortress Monroe we were soon out at sea, or out of the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.
"Everything was still and the evening shades had begun to lengthen; when at the tap of the great bell, the Confederates· agreed signal to seize the ship, every man from his station pounced down upon his man, armed and unarmed, and a desperate struggle for supremacy ensued; each man to his man, arm to arm, and '·freedom or death" was the word.
'The first to yield was the guard, and next and next, each one yielding strengthening the attacking party, for it gave them guns, sabers and pistols.
"The commanding officer was asleep in his cabin; two Confederate officers broke in the door and commanded him to surrender. Waking from his sleep he drew his sword to defend himself. The Confederates quietly told him that the boat was ours and that resistance was useless, and he gave up his sword. Within five  minutes from the tap of the bell, the officers, guard and crew of the ‘Maple Leaf' were cowing under the guns and pistols of the Confederates.
"Not a lick was given, not a shot was fired, but, as it seemed, in a twinkle the transaction was completed.
"Grey uniforms took the place of blue, and the vessel moved on as if nothing had occurred ;  the course was varied a little, a hurried council was held, and the captain of the ·’Star of the West' took command of the ’Maple Leaf.'
"We  headed for  the  Virginia   coast,   with   the determination  to empty  and  burn the  vessel;  but before this was carried out milder counsel prevailed . "The Federal officers agreed to  take an oath  of parole and also agreed that they would proceed on their way  to  Fort  Delaware and  not communicate the event of the day at any intervening point or until they reached their destination upon the condition that  the Confederates would parole them and save the vessel.  They also agreed to take care of the sick Confederates, who could not make the journey of one hundred or more miles through the country to the Confederates' lines. The Confederates stood guard over the Federal officers and soldiers until the last Confederate was in the small boat and near the shore, when at a signal the  vessel was surrendered to them, the Confederates having taken all of the arms and plenty of ammunition.  They gave a yell and a salute and were lost in the shade of the woods. The  Maple Leaf was then headed for Fort Delaware, but night and darkness being on us,   I being one of the sick that remained, we knew nothing of our course until we arrived back at  Fortress Monroe, at the very point our friends were  trying to prevent the Federal officers  from going, knowing that the Federal cavalry would be put on them at once, and possibly intercept them on their way; and true it was.  Before 12 o'clock that night one thousand cavalry were after them,  but  did not intercept them, for the who e company, without the loss of a man, after great hardships, sore feet, hungry and tired out, reached the  Confederate lines on the third  day's journey. This I learned after reaching Richmond in 1864. Having never seen an account of this brilliant act in print and never having met a participant since the war, I thought that I would, alter the lapse of twenty-three years, give you this plain statement and ask: 'Where are those gallant fellows? And who are left to tell this episode besides myself?’
A. E. ASBURY.
Higginsville, Mo, Feb. 8, 1886."

Fort Norfolk Documents

Before 1794, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865

Source of Information

Asbury, A Edgar. My Experiences in the War, 1861 to 1865. Kansas City, MO:  Berkowitz and Company. 1894. Holland, Keith V., Lee B. Manley, and James W Towart. eds. The Maple Leaf: An Extraordinary American Civil War Shipwreck. Jacksonville. FL: St. Johns Archaeological Expeditions, Inc., 1993