The Tragic Death of Master's Mate Samuel Keene.

by Terry Foenander.

Samuel Keene (whose surname is also shown as Keen), was appointed, from Virginia, as an acting master’s mate in the Confederate States Navy on December 16, 1863.   His very brief service was served aboard the CSS Beaufort, on the James River Squadron, and lasted for just a period of forty-eight days, until he was shot through the head, and killed by one of the guard on duty at Castle Thunder, Richmond, Virginia, on February 2, 1864.

At the time of his death he was aged just twenty-eight years, and had resided in Richmond, with his mother living on Eighteenth Street, near Franklin.   Keene was originally from Washington, D.C., but had resided in Richmond for a number of years, before his untimely death.   Prior to his service in the Confederate States Navy, he had been a pilot aboard the local steamers West Point and the Schulz, and had left the Schulz on being appointed as acting master’s mate.

The CSS Beaufort had been lying in the canal at the end of Eighteenth Street, and Keene was sent out from the gunboat in the early evening of Tuesday, February 1, 1864, to apprehend a deserter from the vessel.   Becoming intoxicated he had returned to the gunboat to retire for the night.   However, at about 10 o’clock that same night he appeared on deck, and, against the wishes of some of the crew on board, had set forth to search for the missing man, taking with him a large cutlass belonging to the vessel.   On leaving the vessel for the second time he had still been intoxicated “but not turbulent nor violent.”   Another observation made of Keene, after his death, was that “when sober he was regarded as a good officer and a peaceable man, but when intoxicated, seemed bereft of reason.”

Keene had come upon a patient of the Chimborazo Hospital, named M. Conroy, whom he accused of being a deserter, and forced the patient to accompany him, through the use of the cutlass.   On the way, up Eighteenth Street, he came upon the guard from Castle Thunder, who challenged him in the usual way: “Who goes there?”   Keene waved his cutlass at the guard, who then called for the corporal of the guard, William Traylor, who turned out the rest of the guard, disarmed Keene, and placed him under arrest.   Accompanied by the guard detail, Keene was ordered to the guard room, but, while proceeding in that direction, he suddenly took off, on the run.   Three times the order to halt was yelled out to Keene, and on his refusing to accede to this demand, the order to shoot was then given, at which point two of the guard, privates Samuel T. Rowell, of Southampton County, and John R. Cotton, of Petersburg, raised their muskets and fired.   Only one minie ball hit its target, entering the back of Keene’s head, about one inch to the right of the left ear, and which carried away his left eye and the frontal part of the face.   Keene fell dead near the corner of Eighteenth and Cary streets, and a pool of congealed blood  was left at the spot, the next day, after his remains had been removed.

At ten o’clock on the morning of Wednesday, February 2, 1864, an inquest into the death of Keene was held in the guard room of Castle Thunder, where the body lay, and several witnesses were examined for the facts of his death.   The commander of the guard post at Castle Thunder, Captain Richardson testified that all members of the guard were instructed to first challenge an intruder, then halt him three times, and failing to halt the person, to shoot him.   The guard detail were subsequently exonerated of any criminal activity, as they were clearly in the lawful discharge of their duty, when they had fired on Keene.

Daily Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia) newspaper, Wednesday, February 3, 1864.   Article titled "Fatal Shooting at Castle Thunder."

Daily Richmond Examiner (Richmond, Virginia) newspaper, Wednesday, February 3, 1864.   Article titled "Another Tragedy at Castle Thunder - An Intruder Shot Dead by the Guard."

Register of Officers of the Confederate States Navy, 1861 - 1865 originally compiled and revised by the Office of Naval Records and Library, United States Navy Department, 1931; re-printed 1983 by J.M. Carroll & Company, Box 1200, Mattituck, New York 11952.

© Terry Foenander.

February, 2008.