November 14, 1863: "The Notorious James Duke" Foiled

NOVEMBER 14, 1863:  The USS Bermuda, Acting Lieutenant  J.W. Smith, recaptured schooner Mary Campbell after she had been seized earlier the same day by Confederates under the command of Master Duke, CSN, whose daring exploits five months before, 8 June 1863, had resulted on the capture of a Union ship near New Orleans.

The Bermuda also took an unnamed lugger which the Confederates had used to capture the Mary Campbell.  The captures took place off Pensacola after the ship had come out of the Perdido River under Duke's command.

Lieutenant Smith reported that  "...the notorious James Duke ... also captured the Norman, with which vessel he, with ten of his crew, had made for the land upon my heaving in sight, and I have reason to believe that he beached and burned her...."

Another John Yates Beall?  --Old B-Runner

James Duke Must Have Been Another John Yates Beall

Both had commissions as acting masters in the Confederate Navy and both were involved with secret missions.  I will have to do more research on this Duke fellow.

I have already written a lot about Beall in this blog and right now am writing a whole lot about him in my Saw the Elephant Civil War blog.

--Old B-Runner

USS Bermuda-- Part 8: Encounter with James Duke, CSN

On her next cruise out of Pensacola, Florida,, the Bermuda spotted three schooners and a large lugger (type of ship) together on November 19, 1863.  As it approached them, they separated and the Bermuda fired a shot across the bow of the closest one.  It stopped, but the others headed off quickly to seaward.

It proved to be the Venice of New Orleans which was heading to Pensacola under charter of the Union Army.  He explained that the other two schooners, the Norman and Mary Campbell, were also under contract and he too was confused as to why the others fled.

The Bermuda then gave a four-hour chase and fired seven shots before overtaking the Mary Campbell.  It was learned that earlier that day, a Confederate raiding party under Acting Master James Duke, CSN,  had captured the other two boats and probably intended to take the Venice until the Bermuda showed up on the scene.

James Duke was already notorious for doing things like this and fled toward land in the Norman and ten members of the luggers crew and ran the ship aground, set the ship on fire and escaped.  The Bermuda returned the Mary Campbell to her original master and allowed the ships to continue on their way to Pensacola.

Duke Is Foiled.  --Old B-Runner