Queen of the Confederacy: The Innocent Deceits of Lucy Holcombe Pickens

CHAPTER SIX: “The only kindred blood I ever knew, stains the green shore of Cuba.” Lucy Petway Holcombe (1851)

43 1851 T he rendezvous, as described by Lucy in The Free Flag of Cuba, took place Friday, 31 July 1851, at Old Hickory, the plantation owned by the Sigur family, which was close to the Mississippi River and New Orleans.1 A group of men sat in the center of the room, their attention on a large map spread out on the table. General Narciso Lopez hovered nearby while the handsome Colonel William Logan Crittenden sat at some distance. Although Colonel Crittenden had not previously been mentioned in letters, he apparently was one of Lucy’s beaus. Later, it was reported that she was engaged to Crittenden. Whether this was a serious engagement or one of Lucy’s flirtations is not known. General Lopez, noting that everyone was present, began to inform the gathering of his intended expedition. CHAPTER SIX 1851 “The only kindred blood I ever knew, stains the green shore of Cuba.” Lucy Petway Holcombe 44 The only kindred blood I ever knew Once again General Quitman urged delay, stressing that five hundred volunteers would not be enough to carry out a successful expedition . His caution went unheeded. The assembled officers, tired of waiting, hailed the earliest departure as expedient. With much bravado they toasted the ladies present, their host, and the success of what was to be known as the Bahia Honda Expedition. The party continued until the officers left for New Orleans to join their men on board the Pampero. Before daybreak, 3 August 1851, five hundred soldiers crowded the decks of the Pampero.2 Seasoned soldiers from Kentucky, adventurers , and a good number of Hungarian refugees had signed on. Excitement ran high. Honor and glory overshadowed all thought of danger. They called themselves filibusters, even if President Millard Fillmore considered them “pirates.”3 The expedition seemed doomed from the very start. The Pampero’s engines would not turn over. Towed to the mouth of the river, the ship wallowed in the swells while mechanics among the volunteer soldiers worked to repair the engines.4 On the third day, the engines repaired, the ship steamed to Key West. Unable to get a pilot to guide him north and into St. John’s River to pick up artillery and extra ammunition, Lopez ordered the Captain to make a run for the coast of Cuba. The volunteers stacked their muskets against the ship’s compass and continued their card games. The magnetic needle of the compass, attracted to the metal gun barrels, led to a false reading and the ship went off course. The next morning they awoke to see the menacing walls of Morro Castle guarding the entrance to Havana’s harbor. Captain Lewis turned the Pampero and immediately steamed northwest toward Bahia Honda. When close to land, the Captain hailed a pilot from a passing ship. He came on board under duress and ordered full steam ahead, racing the Pampero toward shore and grounding the ship on a coral reef. The men grabbed their weapons and rowed ashore to be met not by friendly natives but by hostile gunfire. By two o’clock in the morning, 453 volunteers had landed at the coastal village of Murillo, twelve miles west of Bahia Honda. The Pampero returned to Key West. Lopez, anxious to press inland, took 323 45 1851 men and headed through the jungle-like terrain to Las Pozas. Colonel Crittenden, with 130 men to guard the supplies, ammunition, and personal luggage, followed as soon as he could commandeer wagons for transportation. Late that night, Crittenden and his men headed for the mountains but were cut off by the Spanish Militia under General Enna. Crittenden’s company fell back and split. Half of his men made it through General Enna’s line and to Las Pozas. They begged Lopez to send relief to Crittenden and the rest of their company, but the General refused. Crittenden and the remaining fifty men hid in the dense undergrowth . Eventually they made their way to the shore. Scrambling into four abandoned fishing boats they pushed out to sea only to be apprehended by the Spanish ship Habanero. The captain threw them in chains and delivered Crittenden and his men to the authorities in Havana on 16 August.5 Without benefit of trial or contact with the American Consul, Mr. Allen F. Owens, the prisoners were condemned to be shot. One concession was granted them. They were allowed time...