My ancestor G.W. (George Washington) Bethard is included in your roster. The family lore has it that he was born in Ruddles Mill, Bourbon County, Kentucky--and all the generations of my family on that side would always pay particular attention to the Kentucky Derby each year, which I never understood as a child, but now think was a holdover from his legacy.

The story goes that he was orphaned, then taken in and reared and educated by a Jewish couple. His writing does bespeak an educated man--If only his war notes had not been lost on the Webb as she burnt.

He supposedly walked home with a buddy after his release following the war and met and married my great-grandmother Mary Clark Bethard, and they established a "resort" at White Sulphur Springs near Alexandria--The Bethard Hotel.

Here is the letter:
CONFEDERATE STATES NAVY!!!
GEORGE WASHINGTON BETHARD

This letter was written by my great-grandfather G.W. Bethard showing his participation in the Confederate Navy. This information was needed by one of his compatriot’s widow who needed verification of her husband’s service in the Civil War in order to receive her pension.

I have typed the paper from a carbon copy (typed) version of the original letter, and occasionally figures were hard to read. I have indicated with a “?GST?” typed characters which I found difficult to read. George Washington Bethard was the father of my grandmother Sallie Bethard Buatt.

White Sulphur Springs, La,
December 23, 1896

Kind friend, you ask a favor from me that I fear is almost impossible for me to comply with, as I have forgotten the names of many who were with me on the “Webb”, but I will do the best I can hoping you will overlook all mistakes as all my war notes were burned up on the “Webb” and it is too long a time to write correctly from memory.

The “Webb” was stationed sometime at Shreveport until the beginning of 1865 when about the first of March, the “Webb” was ordered to Alexandria and it was rumored at that time that a new crew of officers were to be sent from Richmond with letters of Marque to take out to the Gulf of Mexico as a Confederate Privateer, and we were ordered to get her machinery in fix at once so as to be ready to leave soon as the officers came. So we took the “Webb” up the river to Cottile, now Boyce, and took aboard 150 cords of pine wood and 20 barrels of tar and some rosin and also white washed her from truck (?GST?) to keelson and she having walking beam engines we took on board 150 bales of cotton to protect the machinery. This work brought us up to near the middle of April, and we dropped down the river to the falls near Alexandria and reported ready and in a few days the officers from Richmond arrived and took command. The captain’s name was Reed, he had some experience in the Navy with Lieut. Scott, midshipman LeBlanch, Doctor’s name I forgot, Gunner Travis, Pilots for the river, John Lewis, Bar (GST?) Pilot Pierce, and staple quartermasters Kelly and Biggis, 3 signal officers, and Hall, Master at arms, Engineers Wm. Smith, Chief, G.R. Marsh, 2nd engineer and G.W. Bethard and Deters, Oilers. There were 2 or 3 high pressure engineers, Lewis and Walters were two of them, and we had a crew all told of 80 men, but the night we left 3 men swam to the iron clad. There were but a few of the officers or crew who had been to sea, the crew were mostly volunteers from Gen. Shelby’s Missouri troops.

Everything being ready on the evening of April 20th, we anchored in Red River above the falls awaiting order from General Thomas to let us know when his scouts would have the wires cut so the same evening the General came aboard and told Capt. Reed that all the wires on the Mississippi River would be cut by 9 o’clock that night so orders were to leave at 4 o’clock on the morning 21st of April and all communications with shore stopped. Mr. LeBlanch was officer of the deck, Biggis was anchor watch, and Bethard on watch in engine room. About one o’clock Biggis called my attention to the rats going ashore on a cable we had fastened to a tree on the bank to reef the boat steady, and as it is an old saying rats will leave an unlucky ship and knowing the superstition of some men, Biggis and myself agreed to tell no one. Although we could not keep from thinking about it, we told no one until the jig was up.

The “Webb” had an armament consisting of one 58 pound rifled cannon on the forward deck and two 12 round brass guns on her after deck with about 50 rifles and pikes for the crew. She had a solid wood bow for 50 feet which made for a pretty good ram, she had a spar 50 feet long fastened at the waters edge in the bow with a 100 pound torpedo on the end so it could be lowered or raised as need be. Being ready at 4 o’clock we raise anchor and on the morning of 21st of April we started on what many supposed to be our last voyage on this earth, but we were determined and ready to risk it. After going down the river to near Fort Rerussy (?GST?) we landed and took on about 50 cords of dry ash wood for the purpose of raising steam without sparks or smoke it being our purpose to hold our steam and drift down as close to the mouth of Red River as we could and then pass the Gunboat fleet with a full head of steam and take them by surprise and outrun their cannon balls.

Just above the mouth of Black River we captured 2 men who were returning from the mouth of the river having been down with cotton to sell and had a daily paper with an account of the murder of President Lincoln, and the men told us the position of the fleet of Gun Boats which was a great help to us as we knew how to run so as to keep clear of them. So we ran along slowly so as to be near the mouth of Red River by dark and having tied down the safety valves so as to have all the steam possible it was about 9 o’clock that we straightened her up for the mouth of the river, and opened wide the throttle valves of both our engines, and let her go which she did at the rate of 25 (?GST?) miles per hour, at the start and after we got below Hog Point we heard the report of the big gun on the Iron clad “Choctaw” after this, Capt. Reed stopped the “Webb” and sent a boat ashore to cut the telegraph wire, but landed in a camp of colored soldiers who fired upon the boat, and made them come back to the “Webb” and still although General Thomas pledged his word to Capt. Reed that all the wires would be down by 9 o’clock that night Reed would stop and send a crew ashore to cut the wire which was done no less than 5 times between the mouth of Red River and New Orleans, causing a great delay of time, so as we had agreed to run with a full head of steam, which would have passed New Orleans at 4 o’clock a.m. instead of so much delay, which caused us to pass it at noon next day.

It was a magnificent sight to see us firing up in the big furnaces of the “Webb” when a fire door would be opened one of the men would dip a five foot piece of pine in a barrel of tar and throw it in while 2 or 3 more men was shoveling coal and rosin as fast as they could. Officers and all taking a turn at it, and as the furnace was so hot no one could stay long enough to put in more than one or two sticks before he was burned out, and had to give way to someone else and then to see the big roll of black smoke coming out of her chimney and roll and settle on the water like a huge snake writhing in misery, but although there were 72 persons all told on the boat and all took a hand too. We could not keep up a good head of steam, so as to make her do her best and if we had to make a run of several days we could have kept up steam enough for her to make a good run. After we got below Morganza through some mistake of the Pilot we came very near blowing up with our torpedo, the passenger steamer “Saratoga” loaded with passengers. We passed Baton Rouge at daylight and Donaldsonville at 9 o’clock. We cut the wire the last time about Carrolton, and had an even run with a locomotive to New Orleans, and beat her, but someone found out it was the “Webb’ coming and just as we got opposite Canal Street a gunboat fired a shot at us, but it did no damage, and 11shots were fired at us in passing the city, After we passed the city a small gunboat ran after us shooting and whistling and making all the noise she could. After we got 25 miles below the city we met a large frigate, the “Brooklin” and we run the “Webb” ashore and set her afire. I think it was the best we could do so as the “Webb” was rotten and could not stand much rough sea weather. For if we had got to sea and done anything wrong it would have been bad for us, as the war was over and we knew it. After we got ashore some of the officers captured an oyster boat and tried to get to Berwick Bay, but did not succeed. I was in a crowd of 15 or 20. We went up to a planter’s house by the name of Gen. Morgan who treated us very nice and told us for a fact that the war was over so we concluded to go up to the city and give up not expecting to be put in prison, but we guessed badly. We had not gone far before we were met by the 10 Illinois Cavalry who took us and put us in the Picayune Cotton Press and we were guarded by a New York Regiment of Negroes who treated us with as much contempt as could be heaped upon us and came near starving us before we were exchanged at the mouth of Red River on the second day of May 1865.

I hope if there is any of the crew of the “Webb” who see these few lines they will look over all the mistakes I have made in my statement.
Signed: G.W. Bethard, C.S. Navy.
Also signed by J.H. Lewis, Pilot William Smith, Chief Engineer, Geo. R. Marsh, 1st Asst. Engineer:Alexandria, La., Oct. 27, 1913 This will certify that George W. Bethard served with me in Confederate States Navy for two years under Commander Carter, he was on the C.S. Gunboat “W.N. Webb”, C. W. Reed commanding when she made the run by New Orleans, and was burned where we were all taken prisoners.