Hillsborough (NC) Recorder
July 17, 1861
Page 3
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FEDERAL PRIZES CAPTURED—Tallahassee,
Fla., July 7—First Lieutenant
Burtchal, of the Columbia Rifles, with a guard of six men, arrived yesterday,
in charge of a prize crew, First Lieutenant G. L. Seldon, of the U. S. Navy,
and nineteen sailors, which were captured on the 2nd instant, at
Cedar Keys, by a detachment of Confederate troops under command of Maj. E. M.
Smith, on board the steamer Madison.
Four
valuable prizes were taken; among which is the schooner Fanny, with railroad
iron, recently captured off the mouth of the Mississippi, by Old Abe’s blockading fleet.
Seldon
is Second Lieutenant of the United
States steamer Massachusetts. He is a native of Virginia, and is the first naval officer of
old Abe’s, who has been captured by confederate forces.
The
vessels are now at Cedar Keys, unloading.
Fifteen prisoners were found on board the schooner, consisting of the
crew, who were greatly rejoiced at their unexpected release.
[Transcribed by Sharon Strout]