Towed behind the torpedo boat was a cutter from the USS Shamrock whose duty, as Cushing described it, "...was to dash aboard the Southfield at the first hail and prevent any rocket from being ignited." The Southfield had been captured by the Confederates in an earlier attack by the Albemarle (19 April 1864) and had been sunk in the Roanoke River a mile below where the Ram was docked. The Confederates were using it as a lookout post.
With the steam launch's engine noise muffled by a heavy tarpaulin, the expedition moved out to cover the eight miles between Albemarle Sound and Plymouth, keeping close to the bank and anticipating discovery at any moment.
Cushing's renowned good luck, however, held, and he succeeded in passing within twenty feet of the Southfield without being challenged.
--Old B-R'er
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