122 HEREDITY AND DEVELOPMENT OF NAVAL OFFICERS. 



37. JOHN NEWLAND MAFFITT. 



JOHN NEWLAND MAFFITT was born at sea, February 22, 1819. He was 

 brought up chiefly in North Carolina at the home of his uncle, Dr. William Maffitt. 

 He returned to his father in White Plains, New York, at the age of 9 years, travel- 

 ing alone, "with a ticket pinned to his jacket." He went to school for a time 

 and at the age of 13 he was commissioned midshipman in the United States 

 navy. In 1835 he was ordered to the Constitution and went to the Mediterranean. 

 Appointed acting lieutenant; in 1842 he was detached and ordered to the Coast 

 Survey for a while under Hassler, and in 1843 under Blake. Thus he continued with 

 Gulf Stream and harbor surveys and the like for 13 years, when the naval board 

 voted to furlough him, but having protested that he was only following orders he 

 was restored and placed in command of the United States brig Dolphin (1857). In 

 1859 he was ordered to the command of the United States steamer Crusader and 

 sent to capture slavers and pirates. In June 1861 he resigned from the navy and 

 joined the staff of General Robert E. Lee a little later in the year. In January 

 1862 he took command of the blockade-runner Cecile and later secured the Florida, 

 which repeatedly ran the blockade of the southern ports, carrying cotton to Nassau 

 and returning with British gunpowder. After the war Maffitt became a farmer 

 near Wilmington, North Carolina, and devoted his evenings to literary pursuits 

 and to reading. He died May 15, 1886. 



Maffitt's primary characteristic was a love of adventure and absence of 

 fear. As a small boy he was a leader in all boys' sports and used to run about the 

 woods "like a Mohawk Indian"; at the age of 9 years he willingly traveled 

 alone from North Carolina to White Plains, New York, and this in the days of 

 stage-coaches. His adventurousness and courage are illustrated by his own vivid 

 description of running a blockade, in The United Service Magazine, June and 

 July, 1882. 



Coming down the Cape Fear River in the swift steamer Cecile, to run out 

 to Nassau, he reaches the mouth of the river. "Night glasses scan the bleared 

 horizon for a time in vain; suddenly an officer with bated breath announces several 

 steamers. Eagerly pointing, he reports two at anchor and others slowly cruising. 

 Instantly out of the gloom and spoondrift emerges the sober phantom form of the 

 blockading fleet. The moment of trial is at hand; firmness and decision are 

 essential for the emergency. Dashing between two at anchor, we pass so near 

 as to excite astonishment at our non-discovery; but this resulted from the color 

 of our hull, which, under certain stages of the atmosphere, blended so perfectly 

 with the haze as to render the steamer nearly invisible. [The pilot declared they 

 would get through undisturbed.] 



"Ere a response could be uttered, a broad-spread flash of intense light blazed 

 from the flag's drummond, for in passing to windward the noise of our paddles 

 betrayed the proximity of a blockade runner. 'Full speed' I shouted to the engi- 

 neer. Instantly the increased revolutions responded to the order. Then came 

 the roar of heavy guns, the howl of shot and the scream of bursting shells. Around, 

 above and through the severed rigging the iron demons howled, as if pandemonium 

 had discharged its infernal spirits into the air. 



"Under the influence of a terrible shock the steamer quivers with aspen 

 vibrations. An explosion follows; she is struck! 

 ' ' What is the damage?' I asked. 



"'A shell, sir, has knocked overboard several bales of cotton and wounded 

 two of the crew,' was the response of the boatswain. 



