THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 7, 1996 TAG: 9606050133
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Olde Towne Journal
SOURCE: Alan Flanders
LENGTH: 95 lines
The exceptional events surrounding John Julius Guthrie's life should place him high on the list of national heroes.
One of the strangest ironies of his life started out during a routine patrol by the USS Saratoga off the west coast of Africa on April 21, 1861.
The U.S. Navy had been active in the international suppression of slavery for the past 20 years. While political debate over the legality of domestic slavery heated up back home, Cmdr. Alfred Taylor, commanding officer of the Saratoga, and his executive officer, Lt. John Julius Guthrie of Portsmouth, were on the lookout for merchantmen engaged in the slave trade. Guthrie was no doubt justifiably proud of his ship as she had refitted at Gosport before departing for Africa from Philadelphia and carried a number of local men among her crew.
Just at the mouth of the Congo, a report reached Saratoga that a large ship loaded with slaves was hidden up river. It soon was learned that the ship was none other than the Nightingale. Despite her name, she was one of the most notorious slavers of them all. As second in command, Guthrie was chosen to handpick a boarding party and sail inland to capture the slaver.
Details about Guthrie's action off Kabenda, Africa, are sketchy except that the mission was an overall success with the capture of the Nightingale and her cargo of 900 slaves. After the slaves were released at Liberia, the Saratoga, with her prize, the Nightingale, in tow, headed back for the United States.
No doubt Guthrie dreamed about certain promotion in the U.S. Navy as one of its newest rising stars. In fact, since early childhood in Washington, N.C., Guthrie had been raised in a family rich in military tradition. Samuel Guthrie, the great-grandfather, and two great uncles served in the Revolutionary War. Dr. John Wilburn Guthrie, his grandfather, was a surgeon in the War of 1812. His father, Dr. J.W. Guthrie, also was a respected U.S. Army surgeon who finally talked him into leaving Chapel Hill for an appointment at West Point. After only a year, he switched to the Navy, entering as a midshipman in 1834.
Visiting Portsmouth and Gosport for the first time, he was ordered to the sloop-of-war John Adams. He next served aboard the USS Columbia on her voyage to China and after three years passed his naval officer's examination. Returning to Portsmouth, Guthrie took some time in 1840 for courtship and married a local girl from one of the city's prominent families, Louisa S. Spratley. The couple settled in what is today Swimming Point.
After service in the Mexican War on blockade duty, Guthrie was sent in 1852 to the frigate Brandywine off the Brazil station. There he found time to learn Spanish and translate a history of the host nation. That translation, unfortunately, was lost at sea while en route to his publishers. Guthrie next received orders to serve under Capt. Mathew Fontaine Maury, who was establishing the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington.
Guthrie's second voyage to China, this time on the Levant in 1855, proved very eventful. He arrived in time for the Anglo-French war in the Far East as the two European colonials fought over the tea and spice empires of the Orient.
After American ships were fired upon during passage on the Canton River by Chinese forces in the river's Barrier Forts, the Levant, accompanied by the Plymouth, were ordered to return fire. During the first night of the engagement, Guthrie led a reconnaissance mission to evaluate the strength of the strongholds. Under heavy fire the next morning, Guthrie directed a party of sailors and marines ashore to storm the forts. After a fierce battle, Guthrie's men forced the Chinese to retreat, personally hauling down their flag.
No doubt memories of his exploits on the Canton River in China and now his most recent adventure on the Congo in Africa gave him good reason to hope for promotion and command when the Saratoga reached New York.
However, little did the victorious sailors and their executive officer know that this was to be the last slave ship captured by a U.S. Navy ship. Upon reaching New York on Aug. 25, 1861, Saratoga's crew learned that during their voyage home, the Southern states had seceded from the Union and that the Civil War had begun. It was a sad moment among the crewmen to say farewell to former shipmates who would soon be future enemies.
Guthrie faced the same tough decision. He was visited by a senior captain in the U.S. Navy who said, ``Guthrie, I hope you will remain in the service.'' According to family tradition, he replied, ``I shall do that which my conscience enjoins me, as I understand my duty.'' His friend replied, ``I know you will,'' and departed knowing Guthrie would head back to Portsmouth.
Returning to Gosport, he accepted a commission as a captain in the Confederate Navy and served until the end of the war. But his career wasn't over yet. After Reconstruction, he was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as general superintendent of the life-saving stations on the coast of North Carolina and Virginia in 1875.
For the next two years, he became a pioneer in building the life-saving service into one of the finest in the world. Almost as if destiny had a hand in it, the USS Huron became stranded in a terrible storm off Kitty Hawk on Nov. 25, 1877. Fighting to save the lives of his former enemies, and before that, his former shipmates, Capt. John Julius Guthrie drowned.
No doubt history has a place for this swashbuckling young naval officer who was Mathew Fontaine Maury's assistant, historian of Brazil, a ``rebel'' naval officer who captured the last slave ship for the Union, and was a hero in the fight to save the Huron. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Lt. John Julius Guthrie gave his life to save the Huron crew. by CNB