Off the South Carolina coast, the only survivor of the wreck of a lightship has a fortunate escape from death

John Cruse was a crewman on the R.B. Howlett, a vessel from Philadelphia being used as a lightship of the South Carolina coast near Charleston.  A storm had destroyed the lightship the night before leaving Cruse the sole survivor of the seven men in the crew, clinging to a piece of wreckage.  After hours in the water, Cruse cheated drowning when the Union dispatch boat Eliza Hancox spotted him the next evening around dusk. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
"The Sole Survivor of a Wreck Rescued," Harpers Weekly Magazine, January 21, 1865, p. 45. 
How to Cite This Page: "Off the South Carolina coast, the only survivor of the wreck of a lightship has a fortunate escape from death," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/43581.