ugh
their secret sources of information, had been promptly notified of the
fact that the plot had been betrayed to the United States authorities.
How the Federal Government obtained its intelligence will, perhaps,
forever remain a mystery to the public; but there was a very general
belief in the Confederacy, that an individual near the President was a
paid traitor to the cause.

These futile projects for the release of prisoners, serve to show the
desperate straits to which the Confederacy was reduced, for want of
soldiers.

It was deemed expedient, at this period, to reestablish the light on
Smith's Island, which had been discontinued ever since the commencement
of hostilities; and to erect a structure for a light on the Mound. At
the beginning of the war, nearly all of the lights along the Southern
coast had been discontinued; the apparatus being removed to places of
safety.

Under special instructions, I was charged with the duties of relighting
the approaches to the Cape Fear River, and of detailing pilots, and
signal officers to the blockade-runners. To provide the means of light,
every blockade-runner was required to bring in a barrel of sperm oil.
In addition to these aids to navigation, the signal stations were
extended farther along the coast, and compulsory service was required of
the pilots. Owing to the constantly increasing vigilance of the
blockading fleet, and the accession to the navy of fast cruisers, many
prizes had been captured of late. Their pilots were, of course, held as
prisoners of war; and the demand for those available for service,
increasing in proportion to their diminished number, there was much
competition between the rival companies, to the great detriment of the
public service.[10] It was considered necessary, therefore, to establish
an office of "Orders and Detail" at Wilmington, whence should proceed
all orders and assignments in relation to pilots and signal officers. In
a short time, the benefit of these arrangements was very perceptible.
The blockade-runners were never delayed for want of a pilot, and the
casualties were much diminished.

The staid old town of Wilmington was turned "topsy turvy" during the
war. Here resorted the speculators from all parts of the South, to
attend the weekly auctions of imported cargoes; and the town was
infested with rogues and desperadoes, who made a livelihood by robbery
and murder. It was unsafe to venture into the suburbs at night, and even