MAFFITT. 123 



"By the sheen of the drummond lights the sea is so clearly illuminated as 

 to exhibit the perils of our position, and show the grouping around us of the fleet, 

 as their batteries belched forth a hailstorm of missiles, threatening instant annihi- 

 lation. ... As perils multiplied, our Mazeppa speed increased and gradually 

 withdrew us from the circle of danger. At last we distance the party." 



Maffitt's daughter, Florence (1842-1883), showed a similar absence of fear. 

 On one occasion, during the running of blockades, she was sent to the States on 

 board the steamer Nassau, which at that time was captured by an enemy ship. 

 As told by the enemy: 



"She sat on the open deck of the Nassau during our firing at her to make her 

 bring to, until the captain warned her of her danger and advised her to go to her 

 cabin. She would watch our guns, and as she saw the flame and smoke jut out 

 would manifest just enough excitement to give the appearance of being well enter- 

 tained. And she continued to enjoy the amusement through the window of her 

 cabin when she went below. It must be borne in mind that the Nassau had tons 

 of powder on board, to realize the awful danger of her situation. A single shell 

 exploding in that cargo would have blown her into a thousand atoms. Her family 

 were told by some who were on board the Nassau at the time that Florence urged 

 the captain not to surrender, and when he reminded her of the danger from the 

 cargo of powder and his duty to her father, she exclaimed, with tears in her eyes, 

 that her father would prefer her being blown up than that the steamer should be 

 captured." 



Maffitt's son, Eugene A., was a midshipman on the Confederate States steamer 

 Alabama under Semmes, and was in her when she was sunk by the Kearsarge. 

 He and Semmes plunged into the water as the Alabama sunk, were picked up by 

 the British Deerhound, and taken to England. On returning to the United States 

 in 1865 he for a time suffered military imprisonment. 



Maffitt was highly intelligent, as evinced by his employment on the coast 

 survey. In blockade-running he was full of resources, devices, and deceptions to 

 escape capture. He came of intellectual stock, especially on the paternal side. 

 His father, Rev. John Newland Maffitt (born at Dublin in 1794; died at Mobile, 

 Alabama, in 1850), was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, of wealthy parents, 

 and a "born preacher"; he traveled in Ireland as a missionary, and occupied the 

 highest place in popular esteem. Coming to New England, he was an itinerant 

 Methodist preacher there (1822-1830); he then went to Nashville, Tennessee, 

 and issued there the first number of the Western Methodist, now the Christian 

 Advocate. In 1841 he was elected chaplain to the lower house of Congress. 



His father's sister Emily had a mind that sparkled with wit and intelligence; 

 she married into the nobility of England. Her brother William was a physician, 

 who also came to the United States. 



Of Maffitt's sibs, Eliza was celebrated for her intellectuality as well as for her 

 beauty; living in Texas, she was called the "Belle of the Brazos." Another sister, 

 Matilda, married a Texas judge and is reputed to have written some of her hus- 

 band's speeches. A third sister, Henrietta, married General Mirabeau Lamar, 

 the second president of Texas. 



Maffitt expressed himself well in writing. He wrote "Nautilus, or Cruising 

 under Canvas" (autobiographical); also articles on "Blockade-running," an extract 

 from one of which is given above. Admiral D. D. Porter remarks on his genial 

 humor as a messmate. 



