While looking through the Official Records of the Confederate and Union Navies for shipwrecks off the North Carolina coast I came across this interesting passage on page 475 of Volume 9 in a report from Commander Pierce Crosby of the USS Florida “The second engineer tells me that there was a handsome sword, gold mounted, for General R. E. Lee on board. It was destroyed with the vessel; it was a presentation sword.” Commander Crosby’s report is very detailed (the full report appears in the sources at the end of the post) which I’ll summarize below.

The Shipwreck of the Fanny and Jenny

At  5:50 AM on February 10, 1864, Commander Pierce Crosby aboard the USS Florida discovered a steamer inshore and to his north. He fired a 12-pounder howitzer and stood inshore to head the vessel off where she ran aground just above Masonboro Inlet (Wrightsville, NC). At the same time he discovered another ship that had grounded about half a mile to the north. He sent out boats and took possession of both vessels. They were the side-wheel steamer Fanny and Jenny, and the screw steamer Emily of London from Nassau. Captain Louis Coxetter commanded the Fanny and Jenny. He (the Captain survived) and the paymaster (purser J.E. Thouron survived) were reported drowned while trying to escape and land on the beach. The pilot a man named Joseph Newton Burrows [actually Joseph Burriss], escaped and made it to shore safely. Twenty five members of the crew were captured. The ship was filled with small articles of merchandise and coal. The Florida anchored and sent out ropes to try and free the Fanny and Jenny. While they were in the process Confederates opened on the Florida from a 12-pounder Whitworth cannon placed behind sand dunes south of the inlet. The first four shots struck the hull and damaged one paddle-wheel arm, broke a second and cut one rim of the wheel in two. A shell exploded under the guard, but did little damage. Given the accuracy of the Rebel guns the crew pulled in the ropes, and set the two ships on fire. In the process their paymaster, William F, Keeler, received a severe flesh wound. Sharpshooters were also gathering on shore and firing on the Florida. The steamers burned all night and by morning were completely destroyed. From the Confederate engineers and crew Commander Crosby learned that the steamer stopped two or three times during the night of the capture while running down the coast. Unsure of their location boats were sent ashore to ascertain their position without success. The ship continued south and eventually ran aground. It was their captain’s intention to make land about 2 miles north of Fort Fisher. Crosby also learned that ten ships had recently sailed for Wilmington from Nassau during this dark period of the moon. Three were destroyed, one returned, leaving six others still at sea. The City of Petersburg was thought to already be in Wilmington. A list of the vessels is shown below. The second engineer also informed him that there was a handsome presentation sword, gold mounted, for General Robert E. Lee on board. It was reportedly destroyed with the vessel.

Commander Crosby forwarded to Acting Rear Admiral Lee the log books taken from the Emily, a Confederate flag from the Fanny and Jenny, a spy-glass, the chronometer, one sextant, and her charts. In addition, flags were sent from the Emily, and Wild Dayrell. What followed that month in the Wilmington Journal was finger pointing between the Captain and the Pilot as to who was responsible for the ship being off course and grounding. The articles are shown below.

Wilmington Journal Thursday, February 18, 1864, page 2. This article involves a statement from one of the officers of the Fanny and Jenny who was likely the Captain himself, or the Purser. It includes a roster of the crew and their fates.

A clarification from the Wilmington Journal on Thursday, February 25, 1864, page 4.

The Daily Journal, Saturday, March 05, 1864, page 2, Joseph Burriss’ story- the ship’s pilot’s story.

The wreck is located near Masonboro Inlet at the south end of Wrightsville Beach about 250 yards offshore. The bow points south toward the inlet. Here it would remain until it was rediscovered in 2013.

The Discovery of the Fanny and Jenny

The Fanny & Jenny was one of over 50 Confederate blockade runners that were either captured or ran aground trying to run the Union blockade into Wilmington. An article from the Wrightsville Beach Magazine written by Marimar McNaughton, Cole Dittmer, and Kelly Corbett published on September 24, 2013, described the discovery of the wreck (Link). In August of 2013 while Kenny Hand owner of the KowaBunga Surf School was paddleboard fishing near the Masonboro Inlet’s north jetty he noticed something below the surface. After a series of free dives with a GoPro camera he found the remains of a shipwreck. He emailed the photographs to Nathan Henry of the states underwater archaeology branch at Fort Fisher in Kure Beach. The images were confirmed to be the wreck of the Fanny & Jenny.

Visibility was good when Kenny Hand dove into 5 to 10 feet of water to photograph exposed parts of the wreck on the ocean side of the Masonboro Inlet’s north jetty wall. The wreck was about 200 to 250 yards offshore and about 40 to 50 feet of the ship was exposed. The bow pointed south toward the inlet and the stern faced north. He was able to photograph parts of the ship’s steam propulsion system including a pressure tank, a piston, a spindle, and shaft. Overhead images of the wreck site from Google Earth Pro and a YouTube video are shown below.

On the desktop version of Google Earth Pro one can access old versions of satellite images. If on that day the water is clear enough the site of the wreck is visible.

Screen captures of drone images from YouTube by Kim Crouch a Wilmington, NC, Real Estate Realtor and Broker, and founder of the Kimberly Crouch Realty Inc at eXp Realty LLC.

In McNaughton’s article phone interviews were conducted with Gordon Watts of Tidewater Atlantic Research. Watts is a former East Carolina University professor of Maritime History and Underwater Archaeology. He is affiliated with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.  Watts confirmed that the photos taken by Kenny Hand were from The Fanny and Jenny. He stated that The Fanny and Jenny is located on the ocean side of the north jetty about two-thirds of the way past the beginning of the capped sheet pile bulkhead before the stone rubble begins. The Emily lies north of The Fanny and Jenny. Another wreck was located at the end of the Crystal Pier before it was partially destroyed during a recent hurricane. A third wreck, which could be the USS Columbia, is located at the east end of the jetty. The USS Columbia accidentally ran aground and sank in January 1863. Watt stated we still don’t know where the Columbia is. Many believe The Fanny and Jenny to have sunk near the location of Crystal Pier farther north along the Wrightsville Beach strand. Watts said that’s not the case and explained there are three shipwrecks of Civil War era vessels in the same vicinity south of Crystal Pier and near Masonboro Inlets north jetty. In addition to The Fanny and Jenny, The Emily of London, and The Dee, which were run aground by Union forces set ablaze and sunk in February 1864, there is the USS Columbia which accidentally ran aground and sank in January 1863.

Images of the wreck from Facebook by Ashley Edwards

What happened to the sword?

The fascination with this particular shipwreck lies with its unique cargo, the gold mounted presentation sword which was to be a gift for General Robert E. Lee from English admirers. The sword has been referred to as the Holy Grail of Civil War relics. The first reference to the sword appeared in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies Commander Crosby reports that the Fanny and Jenny’s 2nd engineer, John Cowan, told him of the existence of the sword (full report in Sources). In a letter to his wife the paymaster of the USS Florida, William Keeler also verified the existence of the sword (full letter appears in Sources). “Of course in such a haste there was but little time for plunder or even to examine to see what the cargo was. However while some were firing the vessel others hastily ransacked the cabins where the most valuable articles are usually found. They secured a small quantity of silks, velvets, cloths, some silver ware & one found five hundred sovereigns & another was said to have come across a large amount in Bank of England notes. If he did he kept it to himself. One of the engineers which we took from the Fanny & Jenny told us there was a splendid sword on board sent by some English noblemen to Gen. Lee at a cost of $2500. He told us that as soon as the vessel was beached the Capt. ordered his boat lowered, went into the cabin & got the sword, remarking as he passed the engineer, “I have got to go to hell anyhow & I might as well go now as any time.” In attempting to get into the boat he lost the sword overboard & the boat was soon after swamped & every one in her lost, most of them were the officers of the vessel. Some of their bodies had been drawn up on the beach, others were rolling about in the surf.” The letter was written on March 3, 1864. Keeler adds details not in Commander Crosby’s report including: the cost of the sword was $2500; and the Captain removed the sword from the ship but lost it when the sword fell into the water during the escape. He also appears to state that Captain Coxetter was killed in the process.

Many years later in 1920 James Sprunt in his book- Derelicts An Account of Ships Lost at Sea in General Commercial Traffic and a Brief History of Blockade Runners Stranded Along the North Carolina Coast, 1861-1865, states “The Florida returned the fire, which so alarmed the captain and crew of the Fannie and Jennie that some of them attempted to reach the beach in boats. In this attempt Captain Coxetter and his purser were drowned in the breakers, the others gaining the shore; the rest of the crew, twenty-five in number, who remained on board were made prisoners by the Federals. Captain Coxetter had in his keeping a very valuable gold jewelled sword, which was to be delivered to Gen. R. E. Lee as an expression of the admiration of many prominent English sympathizers. It is still on board this wreck, which lies near a line of breakers to the south of Lumina.” Sprunk served during the Civil War as a purser’s clerk on the blockade runner Lillian. Several months after the Fanny and Jenny was destroyed he was captured by the USS Keystone State commanded by Commander Pierce Crosby, the former commander of the USS Florida!

Little appeared in the presses subsequently until this December 4, 1955 article in the Rocky Mount Telegram written by F.L. Meier. He states “I was quite young when I first heard the story of the Fanny and Jenny. I was standing on Wrightsville Beach out in front of Lumina with my great uncle, and for some time I had been watching a black object that kept appearing in the trough of the waves just off shore.” He goes on to state that “But the best part of the story came next. On her last voyage the ship had been carrying a golden sword with a jewelled hilt a present for Gen. Robert E. Lee from his admirers in England. And after the ship ran aground her Captain and her Purser bad been drowned trying to get the sword off the wreck. As far as anyone knew the golden sword was still out there on the deed ship, Just under the surface of the ocean.” “But later, when a fishing pier was built out over the wreck, I’d stand out there when the water was clear and gaze down at the dark shape on the bottom and wonder about that sword. Was it really down there? Did it ever actually exist!” The remainder of the article is well worth reading. He also notes that Corporal Robert Marx had obtained permission to salvage the wreck. As it turns out, there was no way Corporal Marx could find the sword there because this was not the site where the Fanny and Jenny wrecked. Although the prevailing wisdom at the time was that the wreck was just off the end of the Crystal Pier, about 50 years later the actual site would be identified about 300 yards further south.

Placing the wreck near the Crystal Pier would have been an easy error to make, as within a 5-day period in February of 1864, three blockade runners wrecked within 600 yards of each other (Fanny and Jenny, Dee, Emily of London). The ship at the end of the pier could be either the Dee or Emily of London.

So where is the lost sword? Some speculate that it doesn’t exist at all and is merely a legend. But if so then why would the Fanny and Jenny’s 2nd engineer make up such a story that was repeated by both Commander Crosby and William Keeler, the paymaster, of the USS Florida. It seems more likely than not that there was such a sword. Others have speculated that it went down with the ship, or was carried off the ship by the Captain or one of the officers and lost when they wound up in the ocean as the result of an accident that occurred while their boat was being loaded into the water. While searching the internet I came across another possibility on the TreasuryNet Forum shown below. This individual claims to know where the sword is but never posted back to the thread.

A few years later on the forum this post appeared with no reply.

Slightly north of the North Jetty the site of the wreck of the Fanny and Jenny and probably where Lee’s sword rests today.

Appendix- The History of the Fanny and Jenny

The blockade runner Fanny & Jenny was originally known as the Scotia. It was built in the Blackwall Yard in London, England in 1847 by Money and H.L. Wigram for the Chester and Holyhead Railroad. The ship was a side-wheel steamer that was 194-feet long and 27-feet wide. It weighed 479 tons and had an iron hull. In December of 1861 the Scotia was purchased for use as a blockade runners by Arthur Forwood, a cotton broker.

The Scotia ran the blockade successfully twice into Charleston before she was captured on October 24, 1862 at Bulls Bay by the USS Restless. In the process the Scotia grounded and Captain Henry Lebby along with a gentleman and a lady escaped in an open boat. The crew were intoxicated and Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Conroy placed them in irons. Conroy and his men did not succeed in getting her off until the morning of the 26th. While trying to get a hawser off the Scotia two men drowned (seaman John Martin and a fireman of the Scotia. The story of the capture of the blockade runner Scotia appears in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, Volume 13, pages 409-411 (see sources at the end of the post).

The Scotia was deemed unfit for Naval service, condemned by the New York prize court and sold at public auction for $23,000 to the Massachusetts investment firm Whitney and Hathaway. They resold the ship now named the General Banks to a group of Confederates that included John Ferguson, James Gibbes, Benjamin Weir, and Colonel Weaver. She was refitted as a blockade runner and renamed the Fanny and Jenny after John Ferguson’s daughter Fanny and his sister-in-law Jenny Lennerton. She would sail for Bermuda in August of 1863. On February 6, 1864, she set out from Nassau on her maiden and final voyage captained by Louis M. Coxetter with a crew of 58.

Sources

Article from the Wrightsville Beach Magazine describing the discovery of the wreck by Marimar McNaughton Cole Dittmer and Kelly Corbett published on September 24, 2013 (Link).

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, Volume 13, pages 409-411.

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, Volume 9, pages 473-476.

The survivors and how they escaped from the Daily Richmond Whig, Friday February 19, 1864, page 1 “Of fifty-five persons, composing the officers and crew, twenty-six ate known to be alive, including Captain L. H. Coxetter, 1st, 2nd and 3rd mates, the purser and supercargo.” “When they were nearly alongside, the order was given on board the Fanny and Jenny to take to the boats. While one of these, containing the Purser and others was being lowered, the davit broke, spilling them all into the sea. Some of these were rescued, in a sinking and exhausted condition by the second and third mates in the other starboard boat, while others got ashore by clinging to trunks and other articles thrown overboard from the steamer. Through the kindness of Mr. Morri and Dr. Corbin, the survivors that escaped capture reached the mainland and were kindly cared for by these gentlemen.”

Multiple blockade runners destroyed in a short period

The New York Times, Tuesday, February 16, 1864, page 1

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Wednesday, February 17, 1864, page 1

The Rocky Mount Telegram, Sunday, December 04, 1955, page 13

Derelicts An Account of Ships Lost at Sea in General Commercial Traffic and a. Rief History of Blockade Runners Stranded Along the North Carolina Coast, 1861-1865, pages 53-55, by James Sprunt (link)

Aboard the USS Florida, 1863-65 : the letters of Paymaster William Frederick Keeler, U.S. Navy, to his wife, Anna (link)

The Salisbury Post Monday, October 17, 1955, page 12