 |
| Thomas B. Huger (d. April 25, 1862) |
"Tom Huger* resigned his place in the U.S. Navy and come to us. The Iroquois was his ship in the old navy. They say as he stood in the rigging, after he was shot in the leg, his ship leading the attack upon the Iroquois &c&c, his old crew in the Iroquois cheered him. And when his body was borne in, the Federals took off their caps, in respect for his gallant conduct. When he was dying, Meta Huger said to him, 'An officer wants to see you. He is one of the enemy.'
'Let him come in. I have no enemies now.'
But when he heard the man's name:
'No, no. I do not want to see a Southern man who is now in Lincoln's navy.'
The officers of the U.S.N. attended his funeral."
*Thomas B. Huger served in the U.S. Navy for over 20 years before he resigned his commission in January 1861 after his native state of South Carolina seceded from the Union. He subsequently became a First Lieutenant in the Confederate Navy. He was mortally wounded while battling Federal Navy ships near Fort Jackson and Fort St Philip on the Mississippi River, and died the following day.
