The Wreck of the Circassian To Be Remembered in Talk at Bridgehampton Museum

Peter Walsh was admiring the view of the Atlantic Ocean from the foot of Ocean Road in Bridgehampton one day about six years ago, when a man, walking a yellow Labrador wearing a red bandana, approached him.

“Too bad what happened here” the stranger said. When Walsh, who thought the man was referring to a recent occurrence, asked what he was talking about, he simply replied, “Oh, a bunch of people died on a ship a few yards off shore,” before walking away.

That ship, as Walsh would soon find out, was the Circassian, a 280-foot-long, sailing vessel with an iron hull that had run aground during a blinding gale, just 300 yards off Ocean Road in Bridgehampton on the night of December 11, 1876.

A tragedy in slow motion ensued over the following three weeks when 28 crewmen and workers, including 10 men from the Shinnecock Nation and one local man, who were on board to salvage cargo and refloat the ship, lost their lives when the stranded vessel broke up in yet another storm on December 30.

By his own account, Walsh, the former owner of Coogan’s Bar in New York City who now serves on the Board of trustees of the Bridgehampton Museum, became obsessed with the Circassian’s story, writing a 40-page detailed history of the ill-fated ship that he hopes to turn into a play or novel.

Walsh will read excerpts from that work, “Ocean Road: The Story of the Circassian,” at 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 12, at the museum’s Nathaniel Rogers House at the corner of Montauk Highway and Ocean Road.

He will be joined by musician John Ludlow of the Mecox farming family. Ludlow is a descendant of Gurdon Ludlow, who served at the Bridgehampton Life-Saving Station and participated in rescue efforts that succeeded in safely bringing to dry land the 49 crew members and passengers who were on board when the ship initially ran aground on a sand bar. Ludlow will perform interludes on saxophone of songs that were popular at the time of the sinking, common sea chanteys, and hymns the doomed men may have sung as their fate approached.

Shane Weeks, an author, drummer, dancer from the Shinnecock Nation will also participate to perform chants and traditional Shinnecock songs.

“I wanted answers,” Walsh said of his pursuit of the Circassian’s story — a story, he said, that was muddled by errors reported by the newspapers of the day and repeated over the years. Walsh said a college professor of his used to say, “When you have a good question, you arrive at a better question,” and that marked his pursuit of the history of the ship, the role of life-saving crews in protecting the Atlantic coast, and the cost in human lives, particularly to the Shinnecock Nation, of the disaster.

Learning about the Circassian, he said, taught him a great deal about the strength and courage of those who took part in its attempted rescue.

“I’ve developed empathy for the men who worked at the life-saving stations, for the locals, the Shinnecocks, the British sailors, and the Irish stowaway,” Walsh said. “It’s just humbling. They humble the hell out of you.”

“This is both a local and an international story,” interjected Nina Rayburn Dec, the executive director of the museum. “The idea that the Shinnecock lost an entire generation of men is a very powerful part of the story.” And it’s the kind of story that the museum feels duty-bound to present in a world in which history often ignores the perspectives of marginalized groups.

Walsh noted that the Shinnecock who died left behind nine widows and 25 children. The episode also left a hole in the tight-knit community and helped contribute to a narrative that the tribe would soon cease to exist.

But Walsh is equally interested in the history of the Circassian, a British-built ship that served as a blockade runner during the Civil War when the British sought embargoed cotton from the Confederacy for their mills. Captured by the Union, it was used to ferry supplies to its armies and bring prisoners and wounded soldiers back to the North. Auctioned off after the war, the ship was reconfigured and its steam engine removed. It was then put back into service.

On its fateful voyage from Liverpool to New York, the Circassian encountered the foundering Heath Park, another British vessel, about 500 miles from Montauk, and Captain Richard Williams ordered its 12 crew members taken on board. As the Circassian approached New York, James Sullivan, a pilot captain came on board to help bring the ship into New York, but in stormy conditions and with no visibility, the ship soon ran aground off Bridgehampton.

The following day, crews from the nearby Bridgehampton Life-Saving Station braved rough surf conditions to rescue the 49 men on board. It would seem that tragedy had been averted.

But a ship loaded with cargo was too valuable a thing to leave to nature’s whims, and Captain James Lewis of the Coastal Wrecking Company was hired to try to lighten the ship’s load so that it could be maneuvered off the sand bar.

Lewis enticed many members of the Circassian’s crew to remain to help with the salvage operations, and they were joined by the 10 Shinnecock and a laborer from Southampton. They made steady progress over the following two weeks. Lewis, who had hoped to refloat the ship, ordered a safety line cut, effectively signing a death warrant for all aboard, Walsh said.

Their fate was sealed when the ship, weighted down by cargo that remained at either end, broke apart in yet another storm.

Tickets for Saturday’s event are $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers. Seating is limited and reservations have been requested by calling 631-537-1088, extension 5, or emailing events@bhmuseum.org. For more information about the Bridgehampton Museum, visit bridgehamptonmuseum.org.