mm Class Book COPYRJGOT DEPOSIT f) s t. OUR NAVY IN THE GREAT REBELLION. HEEOES AlVTD BATTLES OF THE WAE 1861-65. ^' :r^\^^ n HON. J. T. TIEADLEY, AUTHOR OF "WASHINGTON AND HIS GENERALS," "NAPOLEON AND HIS MARSHALS, "SACRED MOUNTAINS, AND SCENES," ETC., ETC , ETC. COMPRISING AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF BATTLES AND SIEGES, ADVEN- TURES AND INCIDENTS, INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE PROMINENT NAVAL HEROES WHO WERE INSTRU- MENTAL IN BRINGING THE CIVIL WAR TO A TRIUMPHANT CLOSE. WITH NUMEROUS 1[inB fi>iul yoHmib, Jailb ^tanas, ^ Hap. SOLD BY SUBSCRIPTION. NEW YORK: E. B, TREAT, 5 COOPER UNION. 1891. PREFACE. /// The object of the following work is twofold : first, to bring out into distinct relief the important actions of our navy dui'ing the recent war ; and, second, to give a per- sonal history of the brave officers who covered themselves and the nation with honor. Our navy has always been the pride and boast of the people, for its record is without a blot. Disgrace and defeat have often been visited on our arras on the land, but the former never, and the latter rarely on the sea. We have never lost a vessel in a fair combat, so that no commander, however unfortunate in the loss of his vessel, has ever lost his reputation with it — nay, rather, he has added to his renown by the gallant and determined man ner in which he fought it. Isolated, and so far from the great powers of the world, we could protect ourselves at home ; but without a navy with a brilliant record, we could not command respect abroad. Our honor on the deep and in foreign ports had therefore to be entrusted to our naval com- manders, and nobly did they fulfil their trust. We have never been, till now, scarce a third-rate power in our maritime strength, yet the navy, by its deeds of renown, VUl PREFACE. has made us to be regarded as a first-rate oue through- out the world. Our national flag seemed almost lost amid the swarming fleets of England and France ; still, wherever it floated, it asserted its supremacy and claimed and received that respect which hitherto had been awarded only to numbers. This high character, won by no other navy of our size in the civilized world, has not only been sustained, but elevated by our commanders in the recent struggle for self-preservation. They therefore deserve a separate place in history. Besides, our naval commanders seem not so much a part of the people as the volunteer generals, who step from their office and ordinary employments to the head of our armies. From boyhood their home is on the ocean, and they are lost to view except by their immediate fi'iends ; and we know them only by theii' deeds of renown. A volunteer navy is impossible, except in its crews. The sailing and ma- noeuvring and fighting of a ship can be done only by those who have had years of practical training — only the results of which we see. We have thought, there- fore, that the early history, experience, and struggles of those men who have covered our flag with glory, would be interesting to the American people. Besides, the new instruments of warfare — the heavy ordnance and monster shells and unparalleled range which have been reached — ^the iron-clad vessels and destructive rams and novel modes of attack and defence which have charac- terized this naval contest, have made it unique and worthy of a separate and distinct notice. PREFACE. IX It is not to be inferred, that, because some admirals and commodores are omitted in tlie following sketches, and others of lower rank inserted, the distinction is meant as a test of their respective merits. Those have been selected who performed marked service or fought separate engagements. Officers in command of navy- yards, or on peaceful stations, may have rendered equal service to the nation, but the character of it was such as to furnish no material for a biograj^hical sketch ; yet their rank indicates the high appreciation of their worth and services by the Government. We have only to add that, in almost every case, the facts and personal details in the biographical sketches have been furnished either by the commanders them- selves, or their friends, with their approval. Hence they can be relied on. Newburgh, N. Y. September, 1890. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE The Open Record, ..---- Half Title. Admiral D. G. Farragut, ----- {Frontispiece.) '• D. D. Porter, - . - - - - - - " S. F. DtJPONT, -.---- " A. H. FooTE, ------- " Armament of 1861-65 Contrasted, - - - - - 10 Rear- Admiral. S. H Dahlgren, ... - - 33 " l. m. goldsborough, - - - - - " " S. H. Stringham, - . . - - " C. H. Davis, .---.." Commodore W. D. Porter, - - - - - - " Captain C. S. Boggs, .-.----" Lieutenant W. B. Cushing, ------ " Gunboat Fight on the Mississippi, - - - - - 81 The Monitor and Merrimac Combat, ----- " Destruction of the Mississippi at Port Hudson , - - - " Farragut's Naval Engagement (Mobile Bay), - - - 93 The Rebel Iron Clad Atlanta, ------ 149 The Rebel Steam Ram Stonewall, - - - - - '' The Roanoke, A Three Turreted Iron Clad, - . . . 165 Rear- Admiral Hiram Paulding. . - . - . 206 '' J. A Winslow, - - - - - - " " Charles Wilkes, - - - - - - " " J. L. Worden, - *' " T. Bailey, ------- " Captain P. Drayton, - - - - - - - " Colonel Charles Ellet, - - - - - - " Sinking of the Iron Clad Monitor, ----- 263 Gunboat Fight at Fort Pillow, Tenn. , - - - - " The Iron Clad Battery Ozark, ------ 270 The Iron Clad Battery Monayunk, - - - - - " Sinking of the Pirate Alabama off the Coast of France, - - 303 THE Red River Expedition Passing the Rapids, - - - 368 Bombardment and Capture of Fort Fisher, - . - . 381 The Iron Clad Battery Yazoo, . . - . - 400 The Iron Clad Battery Onondaga, - - - - - " Fort Pulaski, G a. , - - - - - - - 434 Obstructions — Entrance to Savannah, Ga., - - - - " i^'oRT Clinch, Fern ANDiNA, Fla , - - - - - " \^^i THE NEW IRONSIDES AND MONITOR. Naval Armament of 1861-65 Contrasted. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I tint Modem Science in Naval Warfare — Earliest Naval Engagement on Record — Bat- tle of Salamis — Roman Mode of Fighting — Ancient Engines and Implements of Destruction — Cannon First Used in Navid Combats — The Terrible Battle of Lepanto — Rapidity with which Ancient Naval Expeditions were Fitted Out — Improvement in Ship-Building — The Paixhan Gim — Explosion of Shells by Concussion — Our Second War with England — Astounding Results of the Various Combats — Chief Cause of our Victories — Sights on Cannon — Inferiority of our Navy at the Commencement of the Rebellion — Improve- ments in Guns — Dahlgren Gun — Description of the Parrott Gim — Construc- tion of Iron-Clads — The Monitor, Galena, and Ironsides — Foundation of the Iron-Clad Navy — Strength of the Navy at the Commencement of the War — Its Division — Extent of Coast to be Blockaded — Nvunber of Vessels Built and Purchased — Europe on the Blockade — England — Southern Efiforts to Break the Blockade — Blockade Runners — Number Captured the First Year — Total Number During the War — Increase of our Naval Force During the War — Amount Expended by our Navy Department .... 33 14 CONTENTS. CH AFTER II. ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. FlOB His Parentage — His Father Serves in the Revolutionary Army — ^Nativity of David — Appointed Midshipman when Nine Years of Age — Serves under Captain Porter — His First Cruise — Description of the Fight in Valparaiso Harbor — David's Heroic Conduct — Is Wounded — Sent Home on Parole — Put to School — Sent to the Mediterranean — Studies under the Chaplain — His Pro- motion — Stationed at Norfolk — His Marriage — Commands the Navy-Yard at San Francisco — Second Marriage — Remains Loyal at the Breaking Out of the Rebellion — Compelled to Leave Norfolk — Commands the Expedition Against New Orleans — Passage of the Forts — Capture of the City — His Career on the Mississippi — Daring Passage of the Rebel Batteries — Anec- dote — Expedition Against Mobile — Passes the Forts Lashed to the Main- mast — His After-Services and Promotion. 46 CHAPTER III. REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES WILKES. His Nativity — A Midshipman — His First Cruise — His Early Services — Appointed to the Depot of Charts and Instruments — His Efforts to Create a National Observatory Declared Unconstitutional — Sent to Survey St. George's Bank — Appointed to Command the Antarctic Expedition — Account of his Explora- tions — Takes Vengeance on the Cannibals for the Murder of his Nephew — His After- Voyage Round the World — Court-Martialled — Names of the Va- rious Works that he Published — At the Beginning of the War Placed in Command of the Frigate San Jacinto, and Sent to the West Indies to Cap- ture the Privateer Suinter — Seizes the British Mail-Steamer Trent, and Carries off Mason and Slidell — Excitement in Both Hemispheres over the Seizure — the Act Finally condemned by the President — Made Commodore, CONTENTS. 15 PAOB und pkced First on the List — Assigned to the Command of the Potomac Flotilla — Made Acting Rear-Admiral, and Sent to Protect om: Commerce in the West Indies — Suspended — Placed on the Retired List. .... 108 CHAPTER IV. REAR-ADMIRAL SILAS H. STRINGHAM. His Nativity — Enters the Navy— Sails under Rodgers — Affair of the President and Little Belt — War Declared — Chase of the Belvidere — Serves under De- catur on the Coast of Algiers — Rescues the Crew of a French Brig at Gib- raltar — A Gallant Feat — Captures Slavers on the African Coast and Sent Home with his Prizes — Made Lieutenant, and Sent to the West India Sta- tion — Captures a Notorious Slaver — Transferred to the Brooklyn Navy- Yard — Commands the Ohio in the Bombardment of Vera Cruz — Commands the Brazilian Squadron— Sent to the Mediterranean — Placed over Gosport Navy Yard — At Commencement of the Rebellion made Flag-Officer of the Atlantic Blockading Squadron — Commands the Expedition sent to Cap- ture Hatteras— The Bombardment — Joy over his Victory — Blamed for not Prosecuting it, and is Relieved of his Command — Placed on the Retired List. ... ...... 112 CHAPTER V. REAR-ADMIRAL SAMUEL FRANCIS DUPONT. His Nativity — Made Midshipman at Twelve Years of Age — First Cruise under Commodore Stewart — Commander in 1845 — Commands the Congress during 16 CONTENTS. PAOI the Jlexican War — Rescues a Party Beleaguered in the Mission of San Jose — Made Captain and Placed in Command of the Steam Frigate Minnesota, and Conveys our Minister to China — Cruise in the Chinese Waters — At the Breaking Out of the Rebellion placed over the Philadelphia Navy Yard — Proposes the Capture of Port Royal — Placed in Command of the Expedition — Excitement of the Country on its Departure — Mystery Respecting its Des- tination — A Terrific Storm — Forebodings of the People and Exultation of the South — The Fleet Scattered — Shipwreck and Death — Sinking of the Governor — Frightful Scenes — Arrival at Port Royal — The Attack — A Thrilling Spectacle — Surrender of the Forts — Enthusiasm over the Victory — Dupont's Conquests along the Coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida — His Stringent Blockade — Raid of the Rebel Rams of Charleston on his Fleet — The Mercedita and Keystone State — Commands the Iron-Clad Fleet in the Great Attack on Charleston — Description of the Combat — Dis- appointment over the Failure — Dupont Blamed for not Renewing the Attack — His Defence — Court-Martials the Chief Engineer — Relieved of his Command — Admiral Foote put in his Place — His Sudden Death — Admiral Dahlgren Succeeds him — Retirement of Dupont — His Death — His Char- acter. ......... 12S CHAPTER VI. REAR-ADMIRAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. Bis Nativity, Ancestry, and Early Education — Enters the Navy — First Cruise — Second Cruise, under Commodore Hull — Third Cruise to the West Indies — A Great Change in his Character — Dedicates his Life to God — Voyage Round the World — Becomes the Champion of the Persecuted Missionaries of the Sandwich Islands — Appointed over the Naval Asylum of Philadelphia — Gets the Inmates to give up their Grog — Cruise in the Mediterranean — Preaches to the Sailors — Laid up with Sore Eyes — Commands the Sloop of War Portsmouth, on the East India Station — Bombards Chinese Forts- Commands the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the Breaking Out of the Rebellion — CONTENTS. 17 Sent West to Organize a Flotilla on the Mississippi — Captures Fort Henry — Attack on Fort Donaldson — Is Wounded — Subsequent Operations on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers — Phelp's Report — Advance Against Columbus — Operations Around Island No. 10 — Passage of tho Batteries by the Carondelet — Moves against Memphis — Is Relieved to Recruit his Health — Domestic Afflictions — Our Bureau of Equipment and Navigation at Wash- ington — Made Rear-Admiral — Placed over the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron — His Death and Character. . . . . .161 CHAPTER VII. COMMODORE CHARLES STUART BOGGS. Saily Impressions — His Nativity and Early Education — Anecdote — Enters the Naval Service — His First Cruise — Greek Pirates — Cruise to the West Indies — A Lieutenant — Service in the Pacific Ocean — Has Charge of the Apprentices in New York Harbor — Ordered to the African Coast — Serves on Board the Princeton during the Mexican War — A Daring Act — Cruise in the Mediter- ranean — The Greeks Astonished at a Propeller — Sent to the World's Fair — Inspector of Clothing and Provisions in New York Harbor — Commands a California Steamer — Inspector of Lights on the Coast of California — His Position and Feelings on the Breaking Out of the Rebellion — Offers a Re- ward to the most Gallant Soldier of his Country — Ordered Home — Given the Command of the Vai-ana — Joins Farragut's Squadron — Passage of the Forts Below New Orleans — His Gallant Conduct — The Boy Oscar — Is Pre- sented with a Sword for his Gallantry — On Blockading Duty off Wilmington Harbor — His Health Fails — Appointed on Admiral Gregory's Staff at New York — Plans and Builds Torpedo-Boats — His Services since the War — His Character. ....... . 182 18 CONTENTS. CHAPTERVIII. REAR-ADMIRAL LOUIS MALESHERBES GOLDSBOROUGH. PAOI ffis Nativity — A Midshipman at Seven Years of Age — His First Cruise — Early Services — A Lieutenant at Twenty — Prosecutes liis Studies at Paris — Battle witli Pirates in the Archipelago — Placed in Charge of the Depot of Cliarts and Instruments at Washington — Establishes a German Colony in Florida — Takes Part in the Seminole War — Takes Part in the Bombardment of Vera Cruz — Explores the Coast of California and Oregon — Commands the Brazil- ian Squadron — Made Captain — At Commencement of the Rebellion, made Flag-OflScer of the North-Atlantic Blockading Squadron — Commands the Expedition Sent to the Sounds of North Carolina — Storm at Cape Hatteras — Its Destructive Eifects — Sails for Roanoke Island — Bombardment of the • Works — His Services in the Chesapeake Bay and James River — Resigns his Command — Shore Duty — Present Command. . . . .196 CHAPTER IX. COLONEL CHARLES ELLET. A^merican Ingenuity — Ellet's Nativity — Early Education — Becomes Surveyor- Finishes his Education in Paris — Becomes Engineer-in-Chief on the James River and Kanawha Canal — PubUshes a Work on the Laws of Trade — Pro- poses to Build a Wire Bridge Across the Mississippi — Builds the First Sus- pension Bridge in America — Plans Others — Visits Europe— Plans Improve- ments of Navigation in the Ohio River — Sent by the War Department to Survey the Lower Mississippi — Publishes a Work on the Ohio and Missis- sippi Rivers — Plans there the Ram — Submits his Invention to the Russian Emperor — Also to our Navy Department — Publishes a Pamphlet on hia CONTENTS. 19 <>Aes Projects — Urges his Invention on Government at the Breaking out of the Rebellion — Attaclis McClellan — Sent West to Build Rams — His Difficulties — His First Experiment at Memphis — Is Wounded — His Sickness and Death — Charles Rivers Ellet — His Birth and Early Education — Joins the Ram Fleet — Succeeds his Father — His Bravery — Complimented by Porter — Attacks the City of Vicksburg — Destroys Rebel Transports — Gets Aground, and Loses his Vessel — Commands the Switzerland — Runs the Vicksburg Bat- teries — After-Services — His Sickness and Early Death. . . . 208 CHAPTER X. REAR-ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY. His Nativity — Early Impressions — Appointed Midshipman — Sent to the Ooast of Africa — Criuse in the Pacific Ocean — Placed on the West India Station- Made Lieutenant — Voyage Round the World — Second Voyage Round the World — Stationed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard — Assumes an Independent Command — Sails in the Lexington for the Coast of Mexico — Sherman, Hal- leck, and Oid, then Lieutenants, accompany him — Their Appearance — An Incident off Cape Horn in a Gale — Arrival in California — Meets Commodore Stockton and Fremont — His Services on the Coast during the Mexican War — A Practical Joke — Correspondence with a British Captain, on Blockade Rights — Cruise in the Pacific — Compels Island Chiefs to do Justice— At Panama after the Massacre of Americans — Commands the Colorado in Com- mencement of the War — Blockades Pensacola — Placed Second in Command in the Expedition against New Orleans — Unable to get his Ship over the Bar — Determines to lead in Something — Anecdote of him — Leads in the Cayuga — The Combat — Demands the Surrender of New Orleans — Interviews with the Mayor, Lovell and Soul6 — Sent Home with Despatches — Placed in Com- mand of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron — Exhibits great Energy and Efficiency — Complimented by the Department — His Hospitality — Astonishes a Secesh Vestry — Smitten down by the Yellow Fever — Attempt to bribe him — Returns North. 234 20 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. PAUl Scientific Attainments in the Naval Profession — Birth and Parentage of Da%'is^ His Early Education — Enters the Navy — Three Years' Cruise in the Pacific Ocean — Visits its remote Islands — On his Return receives his Warrant and Cruises in the West Indies — In the Mediterranean — Made Lieutenant — Enters on the Study of the Modern Languages — Fourth Cruise in the Pacific — Sails for St. Petersburg — Appointed to the Coast Survey — His Surveys, Investi- gations, etc. — His Reports and Memoirs — His Marriage — Superintends the Preparation of the American Ephcmeris and Nautical Almanac — His Trans- lations and Publications — Once More Afloat — Receives the Capitulation of the Filibuster Walker — Shore Duty — Breaking out of the Rebellion — Davis' Services at Washington — Placed on a Commission to hivestigate the Subject of Armored Ships — Dupont's Chief of StaflF in the Port Royal Expedition — His great Services — Commands the Stone Fleet sunk in Charleston Harbor — Sent up the little Tybee — Engages Tatnall's Fleet — Relieves Foote in Com- mand of the Mississippi Flotilla — Combat of Fort Pillow — Destroys the Rebel Fleet off Memphis — Battery of St. Charles captured — Davis' Despatch — Before Vicksburg — After Services — Recalled to Washington — Receives the Thanks of Congress, and made Rear-Admiral — Chief of Bureau of Naviga- tion — Superintendent of National Observatory, etc 25S CHAPTER XII. COMMANDER HOMER C. BLAKE. A Great Example worth more than an Ordinary Victory — Blake's Nativity and Early Education — Enters the Navy — His First Cruise Round the World — Keeps Communication open between our Vessels in the Chinese Sea — Serves CONTENTS. 21 PAGE on the Coast of Africa — Enters the Naval School — Passed Midshipman — Senres in the War with Mexico — Cruise to the East Indies — Sent Home to Recruit his Health — Joins the Paraguay Expedition — Anecdote — Second Cruise to the African Coast — Breaking out of the Rebellion — Blake joins the Port Royal Expedition — Commands the R. R. Cuyler — Transferred to the Hatteras — A Description of her — On Blockade Duty off Galveston — Sent in Pursuit of a strange Steamer — His Fight with the Alabama — Correspondence with an English Captain in Kingston — Is Exchanged — His Crew ask the Government to give him another Vessel to Cruise after the Alabama — Com- mands the Eutaw in the James River— His Great Services here — Now over the Bureau of Navigation in Portsmouth, N. H. ..... 271 CHAPTER XIII. / COMMODORE JOHN A. WINSLOW. His Birth — Ancestry — Enters the Naval Service — Sent to the West Indies — Cruises in the Pacific Ocean — Subsequent Services — Promotion — Serves ui the War with Mexico — Fight in Tobasco — Given a Choice of Vessels for his Gallantry — Semmes becomes his Roommate — Strange Contrasts — In Hayti and Yucatan — A Cruise in the Pacific — Breaking out of the Rebellion — Winslow sent West to co-operate with Foote — Equips his Flotilla — Is Wounded in trying to get the " Benton " afloat after Grounding — Sent up the White River — Deters OflBcers fi-om demanding of the Government his Appointment to the Command of the Mississippi Flotilla — Ordered East to take Command of the Kearsarge — His Cruise in Search of the Alabama — Bold Navigation — Blockades the Florida — His Vessel run Ashore by Rebel ' Pilots — Finds the Alabama at Cherbourg — Is Challenged by Semmes — Before the Combat — The Combat — A Brave Seaman— The Victory — Yacht Grey- hound — English Perfidy — Semmes' Falsehoods refuted — The English Press — The two Vessels compared — Letter of the Secretary of the Navy — Unjust Censure — Feehng of the People — Winslow's Vindication — His Character. . 288 2? ooNTEirrs. CHAPTER XIV VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. PAoa His Birth and Early Education — Accompanies his Father to the West Indies in Search of Pirates — Enters the Mexican Navy as Midshipman — His first Fight on the Cuban Coast — Is taken Prisoner and placed in Confinement — Parolled and Returns to Mexico — Returns home — Enters the Naval School — Midship- man in the U. S. Navy — His Subsequent Services and Cruises — Sent by Buchanan to Hayti to investigate the Condition of the Dominican Republic — Made First Lieutenant on the Spitfire in the Mexican War — At Vera Cruz — His Gallant Attack of Tobasco — At Tuspan — Commands the Pacific Mail Steamship Panama, and sails through the Straits of Magellan — Commands the George Law Steamer Georgia, for three years — Commands the Steamer Golden Age — Remarkable Voyage to Australia — Sent by the Secretary of War to Import Camels — Breaking out of the Rebellion — Sent to relieve Fort Pickens — A Curious Piece of History — Blockades the Mississippi — Long Chase after the Privateer Sumter — Commands the Mortar Fleet under Farra- gut in the Attack on New Orleans — The Bombardment — Goes to Pensacola and Mobile — Aids Farragut in Passing the Batteriei of Vicksburg and Port Hudson — Put in Command of the Mississippi Fleet — Co-operates with Farragut, Sherman, and Grant — Arkansas Port — White River— Battle of Grand Gulf — Aids Grant in the Siege of Vicksburg — Expedition to the Sun- flower Country — Fall of Vicksburg — Receives the Thanks of Congress — Made Admiral — Subsequent Operations on the Mississippi River — The Red River Expedition— A New Chapter in its History — Passnge of the Falls near Alexandria by the Fleet — Bailey, Engineer of the Dams, rewarded by Porter — Renders Sherman valuable Aid in his March to Chattanooga — Various Operations in his extensive District of Command — Returns North to Visit his Family^Placed over the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron — The First Expedition against Fort Fishei- — The Bombardment — Second Expedition — The Attack — The Victory — Aids Grant in his last Movement against Lee — His Character — Present Command 32C CONTENTO. 28 CH AFTER XV. COMMANDER WILLIAM B. GUSHING. p His Nativity — Enters the Naval Academy — His Resignation — Enters the Naval Service — Expedition against Franklin, in Virginia — A Second Expedition — Loses his Vessel — Attempt to Capture Wilmington Pilots — Takes a Fort by Assault — Commands a Gunboat in the Nansemond — A Severe Battle — Charges Rebel Cavalry — Anecdotes of him — Destroys a Blockade Runner — Plans the Destruction of the Albemarle by a Torpedo — His Boldness and Success — Miraculous Escape — Complimentary Letter of the Secretary of the Navy — Sent to Destroy the Raleigh — Takes part in the Bombardment of Fort Fisher — His present Position. . CHAPTER XV I. REAR-ADMIRAL STEPHEN C. ROWAN. Nativity. — ^Appointed Midshipman. — Cruise Round the World — On Duty in New York — Passed Midshipman — Serves in the West Indies — His S^vices in the Florida War — Joins the South Sea Exploring Expedition — Promoted to Lieutenant — On the Coast Survey — Cruises on Coast of Brazil and in the Mediterranean — Serves under Dupont on the Coast of California — Mexico — At Monterey — At Mazatlan — Land March and Fight with Mexicans — Is Wounded — Other Services during the War — Inspector of Ordnance in New York Navy Yard — Commands Receiving Ship North Carolina — At Breaking out of the Rebellion put in Command of the Pawnee — Covers Washington, etc. — Sent to Relieve Sumter — In the Potomac — ^Fires the First Naval Gun in the War — Matthias Point — Gallant Conduct — Fort Hatteras — Commands a Division in Bumside's Expedition — Destroys the Rebel Fleet — A Daring Act — After Services — Commands the Fleet — Cooperates with Bumside in 24 CONTENTS. the Attack on Newbem — Ordered to fit out the Soanoke — Commands the Ironsides under Dahlgren at Charleston — His Services — A Gallant fight — Promoted to Commodore — The Ironsides damaged by a Torpedo— Rowan Returns with her to Philadelphia for Repairs — Promoted to Rear- Admiral — Now Commands the Norfolk Navy Yard 401 CHAPTER XVII. COMMODORE S. P. LEE. His Birth— Commands the Oneida in the Passage of the Forts below New Or- leans — Demands the Surrender of Vicksburg — Placed over the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron — His Services here — Fight between the Ram Albe- marle and our Vessels in the Albemarle Sound — Placed over the Mississippi Fleet — Co-operates with the Army in the Campaign against Hood — Compli- mentary Letter from General Thompson. - 416 CHAPTER XVIII. COMMODORE THORNTON A. JENKINS. His Nativity — Enters the Service — First Cruise — On the Coast Survey — Light- house Duty — Serves in the Mexican War — Commands Hydrographic Party in Coaat Survey — Brings Home Prisoners from Mexico— Employed in Secret Service in Vir^nia — His Services in the James River — In the West Gulf OOIfTENTS. 25 PASBi Blockading Squadron — Made Fleet Captain to Farragut — His Senlces — Is VVouaded — In the Action below Mobile — ^Farragut's Opinion of him — Chief of Bureau of Navigation. 428 CHAPTER XIX. REAR-ADMIRAL HENRY KNOX THATCHER. Rank a Test of Merit as well as Victories — Thatcher's Birth and Eariy Education — Enters the Navy — First Cruises — Cruise to Suppress the Slave-Trade — Promotion — Breaking out of the Rebellion — Commands in the Gulf Block- ading Squadron — His Gallantry in the Bombardment of Fort Fisher — Por- ter's Eulogy of him — Commands the Squadron in Mobile Bay — Sinking of Vessels by Torpedoes — Capture of Mobile — His After Services on the Mis- sissippi and at Galveston — Destruction of the Rebel Vessel Webb — Com- mands the Gulf Squadron. 426 CHAPTER XX. COMMODORE WILLIAM D. PORtER. His Nativity — Breaking out of the Rebellion — His Letter to the Government — Sent to the Western Department — Turns a Ferry-boat into a Gunboat — Names her the Essex — On Watch above Colmnbus — Challenges the Enemy — ^Attack on Fort Henry — Is Wounded — Overhauls the Essex — Designs two 26 CONTENTS. PA«a Other GunboatB — Joins Davis before Vicksburg- -The Ram Arkansas — Por^ ter's Bold Attack on her — Desperate Undertaking — Aids General Williams at Baton Rouge — Destroys the Ram Arkansas — ^At Bayou Sara — Asks for Aid to prevent the Erection of Works at Port Hudson — Burns Bayou Sara — Bombards Natchez — Runs the Batteries at Port Hudson — Made Commodore —His Sicloiess — Obtains Leave of Absence — His Death. ... - 434 CHAPTER XXI. REAR-ADMIRAL JOHN A. DAHLGREN. His Birth and Ancestry — Enters the Navy — First Cruise — On the Coast Survey, Under Hassler — Distinguished as a Mathematician — Hassler's Estimation of his Ability — Made Sailing-Master in the Southern Exploring Expedition — Declines the Appomtment— Loses the Use of his Eyes — Goes to Paris — Paixhan Guns — Goes on a Farm — Cruise in the Mediterranean — Assigned to Ordnance Duty — Placed over the Rocket Department — His Labors — Tests the Range of the 32-Pounders of the Navy — Originates the Boat Howitzer — Resolves to Revolutionize Naval Armament — ^History pf his Difficulties and Final Success — Shell Guns — Publishes his Work on Boat Armament — Other Works — " Shells and Shell Guns" — Sails in the Plymouth to test his own Guns — Settles Difficulties in Mexico — Designs a Foundery — Rifled Guns — Placed over the Navy Yard at Washington — Prepares for an Attack — Account of his Services here — Interview with President Lincoln — Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance — His Son Ulric — Placed over the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron' — His Services before Charleston, and his Difficulties with Gilmore — Close of the War — Impressive Funeral Ceremonies of his Son — His Character. . . - 46t CONTENTS. 27 CHAPTER XXII, REAR-ADMIRAL HIRAM PAULDING. PAGK A Navy- Yard in Time of War — Paulding's Birth and Parentage — Enters the Navy — Sword Voted iiim by Congress for his Gallantry in the Battle of Lake Champlain — Cruise after Mutineers in the Islands of the Pacific — Publishes a Journal of it — Promotion — Breaks up Walker's Filibustering Expedition to Nicaragua — His Action not WhoUy Approved by Government — The President of Nicaragua Presents him with a Sword — ^Not Allowed to Accept a Tract of Land — At the Breaking out of the Rebellion Sent to Destroy the Navy-Yard at Norfolk — Description of the Scene — Appointed Commandant of the Navy-Yard at New York — Contracts for the First Armored Vessela. ......... 496 CHAPTER XXIII. REAR-ADMIRAL JAMES S. PALMER. His Nativity — Enters the Navy — Length of Sea-Service — At the Beginning of tlie War Sent in the Iroquois in Search of the Privateer Sumter — Blockades her in the Harbor of St. Pierre — Her Escape — Condemnation of Palmer — His Vindication — Joins Farragut above New Orleans — Demands the Surrender of Baton Rouge — Of Natchez — Leads the Line in Passing Vicksburg — Com- mands the Flag Ship in the Passage of Port Hudson — Commands the West Gulf Blockading Squadron — With Admiral Thatcher in the Capture of Mo- bile — Highly Complimentary Letter of the Latter. . . . 603 28 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV CAPTAIN JOHN LORIMER WORDEN. PAQ? [lis Nativity — Early Services — Serves in the War with Mexico — First Lieutenant in the Brooklyn Navy Yard — Before Hostilities Commenced in 1861, was Sent to Pensacola with Secret Despatches — His Success and after Imprison- ment — Exchanged — Loses his Health — Put in Command of the New Monitor — Fight with the Merrimac in Hampton Roads — Is Wounded — Com- mands the Montauk — Attacks Fort M'Alister — Destroys the Privateer Nash- ville — Takes Part in the Attack of the Iron-Clads on Fort Sumter — His Present Command. .... .612 CHAPTER XXV REAK-ADMIRAL HENRY H. BELL. ffis Nativity — Avenges an Insult Oifered to the National Flag in China — At the Secession of the South Disowns his Native State — Services in New York — Appointed Farragut's Fleet Captain — A Bold Reconnoissance — Cuts the Barrier Across the Mississippi — Leads One Division of the Fleet in the Pas- sage of the Forts — Hoists the National Colors over the Custom House in New Orleans — Coolness in Passing the Vicksburg Batteries — Succeeds Farra- gut in Command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron — Ordered North — Service in New York — His Health Breaks Down — His Present Position. . 628 CONTENTS. i9 CHAPTER XXYI. COMMODORE MELANCTHON SMITH. His Birth and Ancestry — Enters the Navy — His Early Services — Comjpands in Florida — Sent to the Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1861 — Drives the Enemy from Ship Island — Commands the Steamer Mississippi in the Passage of the Forts Below New Orleans — Captures the Ram Manassas — Loses his Vessel in Passing Port Hudson — His Gallant Conduct — Takes Part in the Siege of the Place — On Court-Martial Duty — Ordered North — On Picket Duty in the James River — Commands in the North Carolina Sounds — Battle with the Ram Albemarle — Captures the Bombshell — Divisional Commander on James River — Takes Part in the Two Attacks on Fort Fisher — Subsequent Services — Present Condition. ...... 681 CHAPTER XXVII, COMMODORE JOHN ROGERS. Bis Nativity — ^Enters the Navy — At the Commencement of the War Sent West to Superintend the Building of Iron-Clads — Placed in Command of the Galena — Fight at Drury's Bluff — Commands the Wehawken — Attack on Fort Sumter — Captures the Atlanta — Complimentary Letter from the Secretan of the Navy. . . . . . . . . .542 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII, REAR-ADMIRAL THOMAS T. CRAVEN S68 REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES H. BELL, 670 REAR-ADMIRAL GEORGE F. PEARSON, ilO REAR-ADMIRAL SYLVANUS GODON, 571 REAR-ADMIRAL LANDER, 871 REAR-ADMIRAL GREGORY, 671 REAR-ADMIRAL WILLIAM RADFORD, 672 COMMODORE HENRY WALKS, 678 COMMODORE JAMES ALDEN, 674 COMMODORE PEROIVAL DRAYTON, 674 APPENDIX, 677 ■^S*"i7-5E3S*'^-^ HEROES AND BATTLES, 1861-65. CHAPTER I. aODERN SOIENOK IN NAVAL WARFARE.- -EARLIESl NAVAL ENGAGEMENT ON BDO- ORD. — BATTLE OF SALAMIS. — ROMAN MODE OF FIGHTING. — ANCIENT ENGINB8 AND IMPLEMENTS OF DESTRUCTION. — CANNON FIRST USED IN NAVAL COM- BATS. THE TERRIBLE BATTLE OF LEPANTO. RAPIDITY WITH WHICH AN- CIENT NAVAL EXPEDITIONS WERE FITTED OUT. — IMPROVEMENT IN SHIP- BUILDING. THE PAIXHAN GUN. — EXPLOSION OF SHELLS BY CONCUSSION. — OUB SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND. — ASTOUNDING RESULTS OF THE VARIOUS COMBATS. — CHIEF CAUSE OF OUE VICTORIES. — SIGHTS ON CANNON. — ^IN- FERIORITY OF OUK NAVY AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE REBELLION. — IMPROVEMENTS IN GUNS. — DAHLGREN GUN. — DESCRIPTION OF THE PARROTT GUN. — CONSTRUCTION OF IRON-CLADS. — THE MONITOR, GALENA, AND IRON- SIDES. FOUNDATION OF THE IRON-CLAD NAVY. STRENGTH OF THE NAVY AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR. — ITS DIVISION. EXTENT OF COAST TO BE BLOCKADED. — NUMBER OF VESSELS BUILT AND PURCHASED. — EUROPE ON THE BLOCKADE. ENGLAND. — SOUTHERN EFFORTS TO BREAK THE BLOCKADE. BLOCKADE RUNNERS. NUMBER CAPTURED THE FIRST YEAR. TOTAL NUM- BER DURING THE WAR. INCREASE OF OUR NAVAL FORCE DURING THE WAB. AMOUNT EXPENDED BY OUR NAVY DEPARTMENT. Modern science has worked greater changes in naval warfare since the breaking out of the recent rebellion than ever before in the same period of time. These changes have been Qot only in the size and destructive power of cannons, but in the mode of constructing ships of war. The earliest naval engagement on record was fought by Eurythus, a prince who controlled the Red Sea. 3 34 INTRODUCTION. The most noted one of ancient times was that of Sa- lamis, between the Greeks and Persians. The fleet of the latter consisted of twelve hundred galleys, manned by five hundred thousand men, while the former had but four hundred vessels. Xerxes caused his throne to be placed on a mountain overlooking the scene of com- bat, in which he sat surrounded with secretaries, pen in hand, to note the heroic deeds of individual commanders, and to mark the laggards in the conflict. The moun- tain ridges near the Acropolis and the Hill of Mars were crowded with spectators of the fight, which ended in the dispersion and destruction of the whole Persian fleet. This was five hundi-ed years before Christ. The Romans were accustomed to advance to the attack with their galleys arranged in the form of a trian- gle — the admiral's vessel at the head. Then, as now, human ingenuity multiplied the engines of destruction. Turrets were erected on the prow or stern, from which arrows could be discharged in showers ; huge engines arose fi^om the centre, from which rocks were hurled with a power that sent them, like round-shot, through the bot- toms of the vessels; battering-rams swung from the masts, to beat in their sides ; while pots of live coals and melted pitch and combustible coi^ipounds were added to the battle-axe and spear. It is said that the ancestor of Hannibal threw pots of live and poisonous serpents on board his enemy's ships, which, dartiug around on deck, spread consternation among the crew. The invention of cannon introduced a new element into naval warfare. The Venetians and Genoese, the great naval powers of the 16th century, first used them in naval combats. The first great battle fought after their introduction was that of Lepanto, in 1571, between the BATTLE OF LEPAIHI'O. 35 Venetians and Spanish on one side, and the Turks on the other, in which the great question was decided whethei Christianity or Mohammedanism should control Southern Europe. The Turks had two hundi-ed and thirty galleys and transports, with six vessels carrying heavy artillery. The Christians had two hundred and fifty, manned with fifty thousand men. Nearly five hundred vessels, with two mighty armies on board, met in mortal combat. No time was lost in distant firing, for the vessels rushed on each other in a close death-grapple. Modern naval war- fare furnishes no such an imposing array of force. It was a frightful struggle, and when it closed nearly a hundred of the Turkish vessels had sunk to the bottom of the sea, and twenty-five thousand men lay dead on the decks, or had disappeared beneath the waves. Ten thousand Christians also had fallen, making the total number of victims in this terrific sea-fight thirty-five thousand. Such a loss of life in a naval combat at the present day can hardly be conceived of In those old barbarous times, as we are accustomed to call them, grand naval expeditions were fitted out with a rapidity that even in these days would be re- garded with astonishment. Rome once fitted out an immense fleet in ninety days after the trees were stand- ing in the forest. Piso built and equipped a fleet, to sail against the king of Syracuse, of two hundred and twenty vessels in forty-five days. War-vessels kept pace with improvements in ship- building, till huge fabrics with three gun-decks, and throwing a terrific amount of metal in a single broad- side, were launched by the great maritime powers of the world. Hollow shot or shells were very early introduced into 36 INTEODFCTION. the nsivy ; but being thrown from mortars, were used chiefly in assailing fortified places on land. The Paix- han gun, though invented by an American, about 1812, received but little attention here until it was introduced into France by Captain Paixhan. This was a great im provement in naval warfare, for with this piece of ord nance shell were fired point-blank like round-shot Before they were thrown in a curve, and hence of but little use on the water. The explosion of shells by con cussion was a great step forward. With this exception, however, the improvement in cannon was very slight. There is, however, a great difierence between the howitzer of 1693 and the Dahlgren howitzer, which is used for firing grape and canister at close quarters. In our second war with England we made a great stride forward in naval warfare. England had been re- garded by the world as " mistress of the sea," and the attempt to contend with her on her favorite element was considered the world over to be a piece of madness on oui' part. The first conflict took place between the Constitution and Guerri^re, and lasted less than an hour, yet so terri- bly was the English frigate cut up, that she went down in the waves while yet crimson with the blood of her slain. In the single-handed fight that occurred not long after between the United States and Macedonian, the latter had a third of her entire crew and officers, numbering three hundred men, killed and wounded, while the American frig-ate lost but twelve, all told. So also the United States suffered but very little in her hull, while the Macedonian received a hundied shot below her bul- warks. In the fight between the Constitution and Java, the fonner came out of it with every spar standing, and CHIEF CAUSE OF OUE VTOTOEIES. * Si ready for anotlier antagonist, while tlie latter resembled a slaughter-pen, and sank a helpless wreck to the bottom. In nearly every contest the same result followed. Not only were we the victors, but the disparity between the killed in the two ships, and the frightful manner in which the enemy was cut up, while we suffered but little, caused the most unbounded astonishment. The English accounted for it on the ground of a slight difference in the weight of the respective broadsides, or attributed it to mere accident. We made as great a mistake in boasting that our success arose from superior bravery or seamanship. The simple truth was, we had introduced an improvement in gunnery, of which the English at that time were ignorant. We had placed sights on our cannon. The English regulated their firing by a pendu- lum, swinging in the square of the hatchway, by which the inclination of the ship was indicated, and which en- abled them to know when the guns were in a horizontal position, and thus, if in a smooth sea, on a level with the hostile ship. But with a vessel rolling on a swell it was a very uncertain guide. On the contrary, we had sights on the guns, sometimes on the muzzle-ring, answering to the forward sight of the rifle, and sometimes tubes were laid along the gun, and capable of being adjusted to suit the range. Hence our gunners took aim when they fired, and the consequence was, that in a broadside engagement, we, in an incredibly short space of time, made a wreck of the enemy. This rifle-practice with cannon on board ships was an entirely new thing in naval warfare. This new improvement was soon adopted by the naval powers of Europe, and others made, — so that at the com- mencement of the recent civil war, our navy was hardly equal to one of the third-rate maritime powers. The 38 mTEODUCTION. country was living on the fame of its former achievements, and had we been suddenly thro\ATi into war with either France or England, we would have been amazed and mortified at the sorry exhibition our navy would have made. Our ports would have been blockaded and our ships shut up in harbors, until we could have built vessels and created a navy of respectable proportions. We were, however, making improvements in guns as well as England. The Dahlgren gun differs from ordi- nary cannon only in that the metal is taken from the forward part of the piece and put around the breech. The great strain always being in the back pai't of a can. non, the strength is concentrated here, so that a Dahl- gren gun and one constructed on the old principle of the same weight, would have very different calibres — the former throwing a much larger shot. Almost endless experiments have been made to make guns of large calibre that would be safe. The casting of so large a mass as a gun that should be capable of throwing one hundred or two hundred pound shot, and yet have it, in the cooling process, retain its strength, was very difficult. Throwing a jet of water in the bore while the atmosphere cooled the outside has overcome some of the difficulty. The rifled cannon of Parrott attracted but little at- tention from the public at large, until the breaking out of the war. It seems strange that the superior accuracy of the rifle to the musket did not suggest rifled cannon before, but the great difficulty was to make any large iron ball fit so closely as to get a spiral motion from the grooves. This was at last overcome by having the ball long instead of round, and slightly conical, and a band of copper metal around the base, which would expand into the grooves by the air being forced underneath it CONSTRUCTION OF IRON-CLADS. 39 when the charge was fired. A tumbling shot from a rifled piece would, of course, be svorse than a round shot from a smooth bore. But a charge of thirty or forty pounds of powder required great strength in the breech of the piece, and to secure this, Parrott resorted to an ingenious contriv- ance. After the gun was east, the surface of the breech was made of polished smoothness. Then a wrought-iron bar, several inches square, was rolled by madiinery into a spiral coil, and the inside dressed off perfectly smooth, yet a fraction too small in bore to slip over the gun. This was then heated to make it expand, when it was driven over the breech. Contractino in coolins^, it hu2fSfed the piece almost as close as though it had been welded to it. This wi'ought-iron reinforcement gives the rifled cannon prodigious strength, for the strain on the former is lengthwise of the metal. The various English- rifled guns, such as the Whitworth, Armstrong, and others, differ only in the manner of producing the spiral motion of the shot or in being breech-loading. But the greatest improvements have been in the con- struction of iron-clad vessels. France and Eng^land had both for a long time been experimenting on a large scale in their construction, and though our attention had been directed to it, but little had been done except to encour- age by large appropriations the completion of the famous Stevens Battery at New York. But the breaking out of the civil war stimulated at once the proverbial ingenuity of Americans, and a great variety of models were pro- posed. The increased size of ordnance rendered a corre- sponding power of resistance in ships necessary, and Congress made an appropriation for the carrying out of some experiments in building iron-clad steamers. The 40 INTEODUCTION. Secretary of the Navy was also authorized to appoint a boai'd of three skilful naval officers to iuvestig-ate the plans and specifications that might be submitted for their construction, and report on the same. The Navy De- partment immediately issued an advertisement for the construction of " one or more iron^clad steam vessels of war" for sea or river service, " to carry an armament of from eighty to one hundred and twenty tons' weight, with provisions and stores for from one hundred and eighty-five to three hundred persons, according to arma- ment, for sixty days, with coal for eight days." This was in the forepart of August, 1861. The board consisted of Joseph Smith, H. Paulding, and C. H. Davis. By the middle of the next month their report was ready. Some seventeen propositions with specifications were sent in, of which only three were accepted. One was the Moni- tor of. Ericsson, the price of which was to be $275,000 ; length of vessel 172 feet, breadth of beam 41 feet, depth of hold 10 feet, displacement 1,255 tons ; speed per hour, nine statute miles. The second was the famous Ironsides, of Philadelphia, offered by Merrick & Sons. The price of this was to be $780,000 ; length of vessel 220 feet, breadth of beam 60 feet, depth of hold 23 feet, draught of water 13 feet, displacement 3,296 tons, speed per hour, nine and a half knots. The third proposition accepted, was that of Bushnell &> Co., New Haven' (the Galena). The price of this was $235,250 ; length of vessel 180 feet, breadth of beam — feet, depth of hold 12;^ feet, draught of water 10 feet, displacement, tons ; speed per hour, twelve knots. Of these it will be seen that the Ironsidijs was to be a very large vessel, and the contractors asked for nine months' time in which to complete her. In ac- cordance with the recommendation of the Board the FOUNDATION OF IRON-CLAD NAVY. 41 Navy Department immediately made a contract with the three parties named above, and our iron-clad navy was commenced. Ericsson's model was a novel one — the ves- sel being made to lie very low in the water, and to carry but two guns of large calibre, which were to be mounted in a shot-proof turret that revolved by machinery placed within it, so that, without manoeuvring the vessel, the broadside of two guns could be brought to bear on any desired point. These were not to be made for exhibition, and to awaken criticism or excite doubts, but for actual imme- diate combat. No time could be wasted on tai-get prac- tice. The ponderous shot and shell already in use and to which wooden vessels presented no resistance, were to be tested on these, and the question settled at once for the whole world whether anything that would resist them could be made to float. The Board did not think it desirable to go into the question of large sea-going steamers ; for in the first place the appropriation was not sufficient, and in the second place, in this war, upon which we had entered, we should have little need of these, as the contest on the water was to be chiefly in our harbors and shoal rivers. Various minor improvements, of course, followed these, but the three vessels contracted for settled the question of iron-clads, and revolutionized naval warfare. But some months would necessarily elapse before these would be ready for service, and in the mean time the rebel ports must be blockaded, and such war-vessels as the enemy had stolen, or could extemporize, met and disposed of. The coast was to be sruarded over three thousand miles in extent, while our little navj was scattered over 42 INTEODUCTION. the world at the time of the breaking out of hostilities, so that the home squadron consisted on the 4th of March, 1861, the time of Mr. Lincoln's inauguration, of but twelve vessels, only a few of which were in Northern ports. These were the Pawnee, screw, at Washington, Crusader and Mohawk steamers, and a supply and store- ship at New York. Before the month closed, however, the Powhatan, Pocahontas, and Cumberland arrived. The old navy, all told, consisted of but seventy-six vessels, carrying 1,783 guns. Fifteen vessels returned during the year, which, as fast as they could, were ordered on duty. It can scarcely be wondered at, that European powers at first ridiculed the idea of our blockading so great an extent of coast with such an insignificant fleet. At the outset our naval force was divided into two squadrons — the Atlantic, extending south of Cape Florida, under Stringham, and the Gulf squadron, its line of blockade reaching from Cape Florida to Grand Gulf, under G. W. Mason, who, in September, was superseded by McKean. Besides these there was the Potomac flotil- la, necessary to keep open the water communication with Washington. Added to this, the Mississippi River must be opened, and a flotilla was at once ordered to be built on our western waters. Of course the necessities of the Government in a war of such gigantic ^proportions, and thrown so suddenly upon it, were too urgent to permit it to wait for the building of a sufficient number of ves- sels, and those to be used as a part of the navy, or that could be easily transformed into war-vessels, were pur- chased. One hundred and thirty-six were thus bought the first year, and fifty-two built, which, added to the old navy, made the new one to consist of 264 vessels, in all BLOCKADING THE SEAPORTS. 43 carrying 2,557 guns, with an aggregate of 218,000 tons and 22,000 seamen. Although the seaports of Wlbnington, Newbern, Charleston, Mobile, and New Orleans were very import- ant ones in a military point of view, and their occupa- tion by our forces necessaiy in the great plan for the overthrow of the rebel army, it was not expected they would be taken at once. Hence the sudden and great accession of naval strength was for the purpose of block- ading them, for the South beino; a non-manufacturine; country, its guns, ammunition, clothing, etc., must be brought from abroad. It was of the utmost importance to cut off these supplies ; and the vessels which brought them belonging in the main to neutral powers, and the South having nothing deserving the name of a navy at sea, comparatively weak vessels would answer for block- ading purposes. Speed was the first consideration ; number and size of guns a secondary one. The South being filled with cotton, the want of which had stopped many mills in England, it furnished a tempting prize to adventui'ous ship-owners, especially as the articles which they brought in exchange for it would command fabu- lous prices. It had long ago been established as a law of nations that a paper blockade^ or a blockade simply declared by proclamation, was not binding. There must be an adequate force to maintain it, or neutral powers were not obliared to reo-ard it. Hence the enormous efforts of our Government to accumulate sufficient force at the various Southern seaports to sustain the Presi- dent's proclamation. Of course, we could not have main- tained the blockade of such an extent of coast had we been at a war Avith even a third-rate maritime power. The Southern Government, aware of this, began at once 44 INTEODtJCTION. to construct a powerfal ram, for the purpose of running down our vessels and breaking up the blockade. Rams, or vessels constructed with an iron beak to sink ves- sels by running into them, had been talked of before the war, and Col. Ellet urged on Congress the advantage to the Grovernment of building such vessels. Their final adoption was another new feature in naval warfare. On our rivers and the smooth waters of our harbors they became powerful engines of destruction. Great efforts were made by Sou^ern emissaries to get France and England to deny the blockade, and it was fondly believed by the rebel Government that Eng- land would do this, on account of the cotton, on which her mills depended. It had been repeated so often by Southern speakers that " Cotton was king," that the South believed it, and that England, to keep her great manufactories going, and her millions from starving, would risk a war rather than do without it. But the British Government dreaded nothing so much as a colli- sion with us, for although at the outset her powerful navy might overwhelm us, her statesmen well knew our vast resources, great inventive capacity, national pride, and indomitable perseverance in anything that we un- dertook ; in short, that if we fell, like Samson, we would carry the pillars of her commercial temple with us in our overthrow. But though, as a nation, she did not dare to disre- gard our blockade, she was not at all anxious to interfere with the private enterprise of her citizens in their efforts to render it ineffectual. The amount of shipping engaged in this nefarious business may be gathered fi'om the fact that the very first year, with our inadequate naval force, we captured a hundred and sixty-one blockade- OUR NAVAL EXPENSES. 46 runners, and during the war, of both small and great, more than a thousand were taken or destroyed. When it is remembered that only a small percentage of those actually employed in this business were taken, at least in their first voyage, some estimate may be made of the number of times the blockade was run. From this brief summary it may be seen how weak our naval force was at the outset of the war — the urgency of the Government in getting those vessels home that were scattei-ed over different seas, and the prodigious efforts it put forth to obtain a naval force sufficient for the vast work it had to do. How great this work was, may be gath- ered from the fact that during the war, two hundred and eight vessels were commenced, and most of them com- pleted, and four hundred and eighteen purchased, while the number of men in the service was increased from 7,600 to 51,500, and the number of artisans and laborers in the various navy-yards from 3,844 to 16,880, exclusive of an almost equal number engaged in private shipyards and establishments under contracts. The total sum expended by the Navy Department during the war was $314,1'70,960 68, or an annual average expenditure of 172,500,990 93. Desio-nino; this brief outline of naval affairs as an introduction to the heroic deeds of our naval commanders, we refer the reader to the Appendix for fuller and more complete statistics. CHAPTER [I. ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. BM PAEKNTAGE. — niS FATHER SERVES IN THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY. — NA- TIVITY OF DAVID. — APPOINTED MIDSHIPMAN WHEN NINE YEARS OF AGE. — SERVES UNDER CAPTAIN PORTER. — HIS FIRST CRUISE. — DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGHT IN VALPARAISO HARBOR. — DAVId's HEROIC CONDUCT. — IS WOUNDED. — SENT HOME ON PAROLE. — PUT TO SCHOOL. — SENT TO THE MEDITER- RANEAN. — STUDIES UNDER THE CHAPLAIN. — HIS PROMOTION. — STATIONED AT NORFOLK. — HIS MARRIAGE — COMMANDS THE NAVY-YARD AT SAN FRANCTSUO. — SECOND MARRIAGE. — REMAINS LOYAL AT THE BREAKING OUT OF THE REBELLION. — COMPELLED TO LEAVE NORFOLK. — COMMANDS THE EXPEDITION AGAINST NEW ORLEANS. PASSAGE OF THE FORTS. — CAPTURE OF THE CITY. — HIS CAREER ON THE MISSISSIPPI. — DARING PASSAGE OF THE REBEL BATTERIES. — ANECDOTE. — EXPEDITION AGAINST MOBILE. — PASSES THE FORTS LASHED TO THE MAINMAST. — HIS AFTER-SERVICES AND PRO- MOTION. Ever since the second war witli England the navy has been the pride of the country. When the sea closed over tlie Guerri^re, a new era dawned on naval history. From that moment the supremacy of England on the seas was broken, and ever since, wherever the national flag has been borne over the waters of the world, it has been looked on with respect. Our navy, in that war, obtained a character which commanders and sailors have been proud to maintain, until the "blue coats" have been synonymous with bravery. The shout that shook the ITRST CRUISE. 47 land when Hull returned witli the news of that first vic- tory in a fair broadside-to-broadside engagement with one of England's finest frigates, kindled a feeling of pride in the heart of the people that has never since died out. Defeats may be expected on the land, but never on the sea. With such names heading the list of naval heroes as Hull and Bainbridge and Lawrence and Deca- tur and Porter and Perry and McDonough and Blakely and others, our commanders at the commencement of this war had a difficult task before them to maintain the high reputation which these illustrious captains had giv^n the navy. But no bettei' name could be, found than Farragut's with which to recommence that roll of renown. His father was born on the island of Minorca, in the Mediter- ranean Sea, but came to this country in 1776, at the open- ing of the great struggle for our independence. Entering at once into the spirit of that contest, like Kosciusko, Steuben, and Pulaski, he joined the ragged, ill-paid army of the colonies, and by his gallant conduct rose to the rank of Major. At the close of the war he married Miss iShire, of North Carolina, and settled down on oiu* west- ern fi'ontier near Kuoxville, Tennessee. Here, at Camp- bell's station, in 1801, David Glascoe Farragut was born. Although his early childliood was passed among the great forests of the West, his mind turned to the distant ocean, and in 18 JO, though but nine years of age, he ob- tained a midshipman's berth under Capt. Porter. This place was probaljly secured through the influence of his father, who was a "svaim friend of the captain, they being at that time sailing-masters in the navy together. A mere boy, of an age needing a mother's care, and scarce big enough to climb to the top of the bulwarks of his 48 ADMIEAL DAVID GLASCOE FAREAGUT. vessel, lie was launched forth on the sea and the world together. Two years after, the war with England broke out, and he put to sea in the Essex, bearing on her defiant flag, " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." Porter sailed in April, and as he passed down by the battery, he sent five shots into Castle William, to "try its strength;" then floating through the Narrows, swept off into the broad Atlantic. Young Farragut's first experience of a battle on that element which was to be his future home and field of renown, was in August. On the 13th the Eng- lish sloop-of-war Alert hove in sight, and thinking to make an easy prey of the Essex, ran boldly down on her weather quarter, and giving three cheers, poui'ed in a broadside. The Essex returned it with such fury that in eight minutes the English vessel had s.ven feet of water in her hold, and struck her colors. Young Farragut had gone to school in a wild sort of fashion, and his first les- son was one he was not likely ever to forget. A fort- night after. Porter came in sight of an English frigate just at dark, and fearing his powerful antagonist might lose him in the night, he hoisted a light, l)ut in the morning the enemy was nowhere to be seen. Four days later he found himself near St. George's bank, close u2:)ou two ships of war, which immediately gave chase. As night came on he found the enemy gaining I'apidly on him, and so he determined to heave about, and try to pass the largest ship unobserved, and in case he failed to do so, to give him one broadside and board him. He called the crew about him and made known his plans. Three cheers greeted the bold determination, and soon the vessel was bowlino; alons; in the darkness in the direction where his powerful adversary was last seen. He, how-, ever, passed him without- being observed. THE ESSEX m THE PACIFIO. 49 Not long after Farragut received another lesson in navjil matters which his after-career shows was not lost on him. Sir James Yeo, of the frigate Southampton, sent a challenge to Porter in which, aftej* presenting his compliments, he said he " would be glad to have a tete-a- tete anywhere between the Capes of Delaware and the Havana, when he would have the pleasure to break his own sword over his d — d head, and put him down forward in irons." To this Porter replied that he " accepted with pleasure his polite invitation," and " would prefer meet- ing near the Delaware Capes, where Capt. P. pledges his honor that no other American vessel shall interrupt their tete-d-tete. The Essex may be known by a flag bearing the motto : ' Fi-ee Trade and Sailoi's' Rights.' And when that is struck to the Southampton, Capt. Porter will deserve the treatment promised by Sir James." The blustering Englishman, however, did not take advantage of the offer, but one can see that the boy Farragut was to study his profession under a competent teacher. But young David was soon transferred to a different scene. In October, Commodore Bainbridge having sailed ft'om Boston with the Constitution and Hornet, Porter, then lying in the Delaware with the Essex, was ordered to join him in Port Praya, in St. Jago, or at Fernando, Norenha. But the capture of the Java by the Constitu- tion, and of the Peacock by the Hornet, caused a change in the plans of Bainbridge ; and Porter not finding him at either of the places above mentioned, or off Frio, another rendezvous designated by the Commodore, he was left to cruise where he thought best. After revolving various schemes, he at length, in midwinter, took the bold resolu- tion to go alone into the Pacific, where he had not a depot of any kind, or a place in which a vessel could be 4 1*0 ADMIEAL DAVID GLASOOE FAEEAGUT. refitted, wliile all the neutral ports were under the influ- ence of our enemy, and make a dash at the British fisher- men, and obtain his supplies from them. His prow was at once tui'ned southward. Fierce storms off Cape Horn again and again beat him back ; but he held on, and at length took the breezes of the Pacific, and stretched northward. Cruising here, he captured several vessels, until he had quite a little fleet. One of them, the Atlan- tic, he named the Essex Junior, and put it under the com- mand of Lieut. Downes. Finding at length it was neces- sary to refit, and hearing that English cruisers were after him, he repaired to the Marquesas islands, and there, in a sequestered bay, repaired his vessels. The natives were at first friendly, but at length the Typees, a warlike tribe, succeeded in arousing the others to hostilities, and a plan was laid to murder all the American crews. Por- ter saw that he must make them feel his power, and so taking nearly his whole crew with him, he boldly entered the mountains, swarming with thousands of the natives, and marched towards the Tyj)ee villages. Compelled at first to retreat, he at length, after incredible hardships, reached the summit of the mountains^ from which he descended in wrath on the beautiful plain below, and driving the natives into a foi'tress, set fire to their towns, and returned to the ship. David was now only twelve years old, yet he was eager to join the expedition ; but much to his disappointment was left behind with the few that remained to take care of the ships. In the noontide of his fame, his attention being called to this period of his boyhood, he was asked why he did not accompa,ny the captain in his notable campaign against the Typees. He replied, with his usual humor : ^^ I was ruled out — my hg& being considered too short to cross the mountains^'^ ACTION WITH THE PHCEBE. 51 It may easily be imagined that tliey were altogether too short for such a rough land-cruise as that of the captain's against the hostile tribes. But all these new and trying scenes were merely pre- paratory to the great trial which was to fix his character for all future time. Porter, having finished his repairs, and leaving his two prizes behind, set sail in December, and arrived in Valparaiso the 12th of January. Here he determined to wait for the British ship Phoebe, which, he learned, had been sent out on purpose to capture him. She at length arrived; but not alone — the Cherub, sloop-of-war, bearing her company. These vessels bore flags with the mottoes : " God and our country — British sailors' best rights — Traitors offend them." Porter im- mediatel}^ hoisted at his mizen : " God, our country,, and liberty — Tyrants oifend them." The English ships having taken in supplies, cruised outside for six weeks, completely blockading the Essex. Porter tried in vain to bring on an engagement with the Phcebe, but the latter steadily avoided it, though superior both in weight of metal and the number of men. Por- ter, finding that he had got to fight both vessels at once or not at all, and hearing that other British cruisers were on their way to the port, resolved to put to sea. So on the 28th of March, the wind blowing fresh, he stood out of port. But in doubling the Point of Angels to clear the harbor, a squall struck the vessel, carrying away the maintop-mast, and with it several men, who were drowned. It would not do to go to sea in this crippled condition, and unable to beat back to his former anchor age ground, he ran to the northeast side of the harbor and dropped anchor within three miles of the city, and a mile and a half from the Castello Viego. He was 52 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. clearly on neutral ground, and where now, in the same circumstances, no nation on the globe would dare to fire into an American man-of-war. Yet Captain Hillyai' moved down on hun with both his vessels, and choosing his position, opened his broadsides on the Essex. Porter saw at once that to conquer was impossible, yet he resolved to fight his vessel to the last, and ordered the decks cleared for action. With the few guns he could bring to bear, he opened such a terrific fire that in a short time both vessels had to haul off for repairs. The cannonading had aroused the inhabitants, and they came thronging by thousands to see the unequal fight, and soon darkened the suri'ounding heights. Hillyar, having completed his repairs, came back and took his position where Porter could not bring a gun to bear. Proud and unyielding, he lay there for a while a helpless target on the water. Seeing that he would soon be sent to the bottom, he determined to make a desperate effort to board the largest vessel. But his sheets and halyards ha,d been so shot away, that not a sail could be set except the flying jib. Giving this to the wind and cutting his cable, he drifted slowly down on his foes, and getting them at length within range of his carronades, oj^ened a terrible fire. The cannonade on both sides now became swift and awful. The Essex, being set on fire and swept by the broadsides of both vessels, at length became almost totally unmanageable ; but still she worked slowly forward, hoping to close, when Poi'tei' knew his inferior but brave crew would carry the vessel like a storm. But the English commanders, seeing tlieir ad- vantage, kept away. It was a painful sight to behold that crippled vessel, bravely limping up to grapple with her powerful adversary, and that adversary as slowly TEERIFIC FIGHTING. 53 moving off, and pouring in the while a rapid, muiderou8 fire. Hulled at almost every shot, her decks ripped up, and strewed with the dead, her guns torn fi-om their carriages and rendered useless, it was evident the noble frigate could not be fought much longer. Porter saw his hopeless condition and, as a last resort, rather than strike his flag, resolved to run his vessel ashore and blow her up. Her head was with difficulty turned towards the beach and had .actually got within musket-shot of it when the unsympathizing wind suddenly veered and blew him straight back on the Phoebe and under her raking broadsides. Still unyielding, Porter hoped by this untoward event to get foul and board the enemy. It was a last vain effort — fate was against him ; the Phoebe kept edging away, raking the Essex as she retired. The scene on board the frigate at this time was hor- rible. The cock-pit was crowded with the wounded ; men by the dozen were mowed down at every dis- charge ; fifteen had fallen successively at one gun, and scarcely a quarter-deck officer was left standing. And where was the boy Farragut all this time ? A midship- man, it is true, he was, but nevertheless a lad only twelve years of age, too young to be standing in such a human slaughter-house. Only old and war-hardened hearts should beat unmoved amid such a wild scene. Yet there he stood — his delicate form rigid as iron, and his young heart fearless and proud as that of his commander. The deck ran blood beneath his tender feet, the splintered timbers crashed and shivered around him, and the mur- derous shot lifted the locks from his fair young head as they shrieked past him. The gore and clotted flesh of the brave men falling around him covered his garments, 54 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. and the blood was trickling from a wound in Lis own side ; yet there he stood manfully to the guns, his childish v^oice sounding strangely in that wild uproar, and his innocent blue eyes blazing with unnatural light amid that carnival of death as they turned unblenchingly on his beloved commander. Porter's case was evidently hope, less; but disdaining to yield, he made one more final attempt to bring his vessel around so as to make his broadside bear. He let go his sheet-anchor, and the staggering vessel, swinging slowly around again, pre- sented her guns to the astonished foe. But the hawser parted in the strain, and the vessel lay an unmanageable wreck on the water, while to complete the disaster, the flames burst from the hatchway and rolled away towards the magazine. Porter now saw that his doom was inevitably sealed; and seeing that his boats had all been shot away, he ordered those of his crew who could swim, to jump overboard and attempt to reach the shore, three quarters of a mile distant. He then, with the few who chose to remain on board, among whom was young Far- ragut, extinguished the flames, and again shotted the few guns that could be brought to bear. It was, however, the last feeble effort of despair, for the water being smooth, and the enemy able to choose his own positions, he soon made a riddle of the American frigate. Her wounded were killed while under the hands of the surgeons, and only one of the carpenter's crew remained to stop the shot-holes, though the water was now pouring through in torrents. Porter would have gone down with his flag flying, but for the number of wounded that he would be compelled to take to the bottom with him ; and so, after this unparalleled struggle of two hours and a half, he gave the melancholy orders to lower his flag. A CHRISTENING FOR WAR. 55 I have given a lengthy description of this naval com- bat, because of its important bearing on Farragut's char- acter. The future Admii^al was christened in this awful baptism of fire. It was his first great lesson in naval combat, and it could not have been otherwise than stamped in indelible lines on his young heart. It was a fearful trial for one so youthful ; but as he had chosen the navy for his profession, it was important he should see how a ship ought to be fought. To one of his age it would naturally occur that such was the only way a gal- lant commander would act, and of course he would set- tle it in his mind at once and forever, that it was the way he must act if ever called to command a vessel. That his futm^e character was fixed in this unj^aralleled combat, his after-life clearly shows. In his daring pas- sage of the forts below New Orleans, which to common men seemed madness — in his entrance to Mobile harbor, lashed to the maintop to direct the battle, he only acted over again the scenes of his boyhood. As one contem- plates him in these daring enterprises, the miud involun- tarily goes back to that battle in Valparaiso harbor. They are the lessons of boyhood put into practice in ma- turer years. We see simply the soul of Porter transferred to the soul of the boy that stood and battled by his side. That his bearing on this occasion was gallant and heroic beyond his years, is evident from the fact that it attracted the especial attention of Porter. A hero of the grandest mould himself, and surrounded by heroic men — witnessing a devotion and courage seldom seen — he yet was struck by the conduct of this boy of twelve, and made special mention of him in his report to the Secretary of the Navy, adding, evidently with regret, that notwithstanding his meritorious conduct, he was 56 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FAERAGUT. " too young for promotion.'- Only twelve years old, he yet had behaved with such distinguished gallantry that he deserved a lieutenant's commission. The history of our navy records no other such instance. That such a boy, if he lived and circumstances permitted it, would be heard from again, was evident. He received his first wound in this engagement ; but young as he was, it did not keep him from his post of duty. He was sent home in the Essex Junior, among the paroled officers. Por- ter's interest in the boy was enhanced by his heroic con- duct in this battle, and he had him put to school at Chester and taught military tactics. He however was soon afloat ao:ain, beins; attached to the Mediterranean squadron. In 1816, we find him on board a ship of the line, where he became acquainted with the chaplain, the Rev. Charles Folsom, who took a great interest in him, and to whose instructions Farragut attributes much of his after-success in life. Afterwards, the chaplain was appointed our consul at Tunis, and David was sent with him. From this intimacy of three years' duration, sprung up a fi'iendship which neither change of circumstances nor years of separation evei' weakened, Mr. Folsom, in a letter respecting Farragut's life during the long peace that followed, says that it diftered little from that of other officers. By slow degrees he worked his way up the difficult ladder of promotion, but did not reach the rank of lieutenant till the year 1825. He then married a lady of Norfolk ; but it proved a less happy connec- tion than he had anticipated, for she soon became a great suff'erer, and continued so till relieved by death. Her trials, however, were relieved as much as they could be by a care and devotion and tenderness, such as a great soul like his alone can exhibit. LOYAL TO THE LAST. 67 In 1841 lie was made commander, and in 1851 cap tain. Promotion comes so slow in " piping times of peace " that it took him forty-one years to reach the rank of captain. He by turns sailed in almost every sea visited by our fleets, and by his studies and intercourse with other nations became proficient in several modern languages. At one time he was stationed at the Norfolk navy-yard, and afterwards was placed in command of the navy-yard at San Francisco. He also held the post of assistant inspector of ordnance for three years. In the mean time he manied again, and this time also took his wife from Norfolk, Miss Virginia Loyall, daughter of a prominent citizen of the place. By her he had one son, now a cadet at West Point — choosing the military rather than the naval service. He thus passed through his youth and manhood, and bade fair to pass through life without exhibiting any of those extraordinary qualities for which his boyhood was distinguished. He was nearly threescore years old when the rebellion broke out, having seen forty-eight years of service. At this time he was living at Norfolk, and being a Southerner by birth and connected with the South by marriage, it was supposed by his Southern friends that he would cast in his lot with them. The tide seemed all to set that way. Officers went over by the dozen, whole messes resigned ; and it was held dishonorable not " to go with their States," as it was termed. Very few Southern officers were proof against this feeling, especially as it was fully believed by them that the North and South would hereafter be separate nations. Even Lee said that if he thought the Union would ever be restored, he would go with the North, but as the two portions 58 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASOOE FAERAGtfT. must inevitably constitute separate nationalities, lie felt it bis duty to cast his future in with the South. A few, however, remained true ; and among these was Farragut. He had grown up from childhood with the old flag wav- ing morning and night over his head ; and from the time when, a mere boy, he had watched its bright folds gleaming amid the storm of battle in Valparaiso har- bor — and with a great sorrow, such as his young heart never felt before, had seen it lowered to the foe — his love for it had grown with his growth and strength- ened with his strength ; and now he could not desert it. It was dearer to him than kindred, and he would stand by it to the last, and if fall he must in the deadly strife, it should be beneath it waving in all its pristine glory. He made no concealment of his views, and his Southern friends were at first astonished at what they considered his treason to the South ; and then became indignant, and plainly hinted to him that it might be unsafe to re- main longer in the South. " Very well," said he, " I will then go where I can live with such sentiments." At length Fort Sumter fell, and then came the conspiracy to seize the Norfolk navy-yard. Farragut now saw that if he expected to render his country any service in the awful struggle on which she was being so wildly launched, he must leave Norfolk ; and so, on the night of the 18th of April, 1861, he bade adieu to his home, and turned his face northward. The very next day the navy-yard was set on fire. The Government was thunderstruck at the abyss opening beneath it, and knew not whom to trust amid the general defection. It had but few ships ; and Farragut's services being uncalled for, he took up his abode on the Hudson River, just below Tarrytown, and watched with gloomy forebodings the increasing storm. FORCE OF THE EXPEDITION. 59 Being a stranger in the vicinity, his solitary walks in the fields were watched with suspicion, and it was whispered about that he was one of a band of conspirators to cut the Croton Aqueduct. The Administration seemed asleep or stupefied ; but after the battle of Bull Run, the following summer, it aroused from its lethargy, and began to act as though the country was really in the midst of civil war. In the autumn it resolved to make a bold push for the capture of New Orleans. The West Gulf Blockading Squadron, with twenty bomb-schooners, was to constitute the naval force, with which a land force of eighteen hundred men under Maj. Gen. Butler was to cooperate. Preparations were set on foot before the naval commander was deter- mined on — an unwise step to start with ; but the blunder was more than compensated by the fortunate selection of Farragut. Tlie country knew but little about him, and when his name was published as the head of the expedi- dion, vastly more was expected from Porter, who com- manded the bomb vessels, than from him. He received his orders on the 20th of January, 1862, and on the 3d of next month sailed from Hampton Koads in the flag-ship Hartford — a vessel destined to assume a place in our naval history second only to that of the Old Constitution. The place of rendezvous was Ship Island, at which he arrived in seventeen days, and immediately began to make the arrangements necessary for the hercu- lean task before him. He would have entered into a com- bat on the deep without any hesitation ; but the work to which he was assigned — to beat down or run the batteries lining both sides of a river — was an entirely different under- taking. It was a new, untried experiment, and presented difficulties that to some seemed impossible to surmount ; 60 ADMIEAL DAVID GLASCOE FAEKAGUT. but indomitable energy, he well knew, could over- come the greatest obstacles, and the fleet set sail and arrived safely at the entrance of the Mississippi. It was desirable to get the powerful steam frigate Colorado, Cap- tain Bailey commanding, over the bars at the mouth of the river; but as she drew, with her armament aboarcl, twenty-two feet of water, and the deepest soundings gave only fifteen, this was found to be impossible. The Islis- sissippi and Pensacola were got over only by great labor ; and at length the fleet was safely anchored at the head of the Pass k TOutre and the Southwest Pass. Those who saw with what care Farragut attended to the minutest details — the thorough preparation which he made for every contingency — felt that his bravery was equalled by his prudence and forethought. The expedition, when it sailed on its secret, unknown destination fi^om the North, created the liveliest interest; and when, at last, it was discovered tliat its object Avas the capture of New Orleans, the greatest enthusiasm prevailed, for the opening of the Mississippi was the first great object of the administration. But the long delays that followed, cooled down the public expectation, and it was at last almost lost sight of in the stirring victories that were taking place farther north under the gallant Foote. But Farragut, patient as well as daring, Avas biding his time. Six war steamers, sixteen gunboats, twenty-one mortar vessels, with five other national vessels, comprised the fleet which had now fairly entered on its work. It was a grand spectacle when, on the 16th of March, this formidable fleet at last opened its fire. The low banks of the river on both sides seemed inherent with flame, and the deep reverberations of the guns rolled like A FIEE-EAFT. 61 heavy thunder up the lordly Mississippi. All day long the earth trembled under the heavy explosions, and by nioht two thousand shells had been hurled ao;ainst the forts.* Farrao-ut and Porter had obtained the exact distance o of the forts by triangulation, performed by the coast survey under Captain Gerdes — Messrs. Harris and Olt- manns doing the work. Thus, sui-veyors' instruments pre- pared the way for the direct cannon shot. The rebels had not been idle during the delays of the previous weeks, but had contrived and constructed every possible instrument of destruction and defence. On the first morning of the bombardment they set adrift a fire-ship made of a huge flatboat piled with lighted pitch-pine cord- wood. It came drifting slowly down the sluggish stream, burning with a fierce crackling roar, and darkening all the sky with its volumes of black eddying smoke. Shot and shell had no effect on it, save to till the air with flying sparks and blazing brands, and it kept steadily on its flaming path, straight towards our vessels. Two of the advance steam- ers were in danger of getting foul of it, and, slipping their cables, moved down the stream. On swept the unwieldy, blazing mass, and, keeping the middle of the stream, passed the entire fleet without inflicting any damage. As it disappeared below, the taunts and jeers of the sailors followed it. To be prepared for another. Captain Por ter ordered all the row-boats of the flotilla, a hundred and tifty in number, to be supplied with grapnels, ropes, and buckets, ready at a moment's notice to seize it and 1/Ow it ashore. At night the rebels set another adrift, and as it towered majestically in the darkness near the forts, * The account of the bombardment by the mortars will be found in the sketcL of Vice- Admiral Porter, 62 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. signal-lights were run up on all the vessels, and those hun- dred and fifty boats leaped forth on the water as though created by magic. Do^vn came the pyramid of flame, lighting the reed-fringed shores with a ruddy glow, and turning the muddy waters into molten flame. Swinging easily on the mighty current, it moved steadily down till its baleful glare was cast over the vessels at anchor along the banks. Suddenly out of the surrounding darkness, right into the blazing light the Westfield dashed with a full head of steam on, and, steering straight for the burn- ing pile, buried its bows in the crackling mass, while her hose poured a torrent of water upon it. The next mo- ment the diminutive row-boats shot into the light, and, sweeping swiftly over the ruddy waters, each sailor and oar painted in dark lines against the flery background, fastened boldly to the burning structure, not knowing but that it was filled with torpedoes and missiles of death that might explode at any moment. They then gave way with a will, and in a short time the grand and imposing struc- ture that seemed fraugh* with destruction, was consuming ignobly away against the shore. Loud cheers from the whole fleet greeted the gallant exploit. The bombardment which had commenced was kept up steadily for a week, and although the fire, when the exact range was got, was very severe, setting the citadel of Fort Jackson on fire and drivino; the j^unners from their pieces, the forts seemed as far from being reduced as ever. In the mean time shells, fuses, cartridge-boxes, coal, and hospital stores were getting short ; the gunners on the mortar-boats were worn out, and when relieved from their guns would fall down exhausted on deck. It was evident that something else must be tried, or the expedition be abandoned. In this extremitv a council of war was called PREPARmG THE SHIPS. 63 on board the flag-ship, composed of the different com- manders, and the question was put, What next shall be done ? After it was over, Farragut issued his order : "The flag-officer, having heard all the opinions exj^ressed by the diflerent commanders, is of the opinion that what- ever is to be done will have to be done quickly. When, in the opinion of the flag-officers, the propitious time has arrived, the signal will he made to weigh^ and advance to the conflict. * * '^' He will make the signal for close action. No. 8, and abide the result — conquer or be con- quered.'''' A short time before, a French vessel had gone up to the forts, and on its return, one of its officers told Farragut he never could get by them. He replied, " I am ordered to go to New Orleans, and I intend to do so." This decision having been reached, it only remained to get his wooden fleet in the best possible state of pre- paration for the terrible ordeal to which it was to be ex- posed. How this was done cannot be better described than in Farragut's own language. He says : " Every vessel was as well prepared as the ingenuity of her com- mander and officers could suggest, both for the preserva- tion of life and of the vessel ; and perhaps there is not on record such a display of ingenuity as has been evinced in this little squadron. The flrst was by the engineer of the Richmond, Mr. Moore, by suggesting that the sheet cables be stopped up and down on the sides, in the line of the engines, which Avas immediately adopted by all the vessels. Then each commander made his own arrangements for stopping the shot from penetrating the boilers or ma- chinery, that might come in forward or abaft, by ham- mocks, coal, bags of ashes, bags of sand, clothes-bags, and, hi fact, every device imaginable. The bulwarks were 64 ADMIRAL BAVID GLASCOlC FAEEAGUT. lined with hammocks by some, by splinter-nettings made with ropes by others. Some rubbed their vessels over with mud, to make their ships less visible, and some white-washed their decks, to make things more visible by niffht durino; the fio-ht. In the afternoon, I visited each ship, in order to know positively that each commander understood my orders for the attack, and to see that all was in readiness. I had looked to their efficiency beibre. Every one appeared to understand his orders well, and looked forward to the conflict with firmness, but with anxiety, as it was to be in the night, or two o'clock in the morning."" The following order had been previously issued to the various commanders : You will prepare your ship for service in the Mississippi river in the fol- lowing manner : Send down the top-gallant masts. Rig in the flying jib-boom, and land all the spars and rigging, except what are necessary for the three topsails, foresail, jib, and spanker. Trice up the topmast stays, or land the whiskers, and bring all the rigging into the bowsprit, so that there shall be nothing in the range of the direct fire ahead. Make arrangements, if possible, to mount one or two guns on the poop and top-gallant forecastle ; in other words, be prepared to use as many guns as possible ahead and astern, to protect yourself against the enemy's gun- boats and batteries, bearing in mind that you will always have to ride head to the current, and can only avail yourself of the sheer of the helm to point a broadside gun more than three points forward of the beam. Have ii kedge in the mizzen chains (or any convenient place) on the quarter, with a hawser bent and leading through in the stern chock, ready for any emergency; also grapnels in the boats, ready to hook on to, and to tow off, fire-ships. Trim your vessel a few inches by the head, so that if she touches the bottom she will not swing head down the river. Put your boat howitzers in the foremaintops, on the boat carriages, and secure them for firing abeam, &c. Should any injury occur to the machinery of the ship making it necessary to drop down the river, you will back and fill down under sail, or you can drop your anchor and drift down, but in no case attempt to turn the ship's head down stream. You will have a spare hawser ready, and when ordered to take in tow your next astern, do so, keeping the FAERA.GUTS ORDER. 65 hawser slack so long as the ship can maintain her own position, haNing a care not to foul the propeller. No vessel must withdraw from battle, under any circumstances, without the consent of the flag-officer. You wiU see that force and other pumps and engine hose are in good order, and men stationed by them, and your men will be drilled to the extinguishing of fire. Have light Jacob-ladders made to thi'ow over the side for the use of the carpenters in stopping shot holes, who are to be supplied with pieces of inch board lined with felt and oidinary nails, and see that the ports are marked in accordance with the "ordnance instructions" on the berth deck, to show the locality of the shot hole. Have many tubs of water about the decks, both for the purpose of extin- guisliing fire and for drinking. Have a heavy kedge in the port main-chains, and a whip on the main-yard, ready to run it up and let fall on the deck of any vessel you may run alongside of, in order to secure her for boarding. You wiU be careful to have lanyards on the lever of the screw, so as to secure the gun at tlie proper elevation, and prevent it from running down at each fire. I wish you to understand that the day is at hand when you will be called upon to meet the enemy in the worst form for our profession. You must be prepared to execute all those duties to which you have been so long trained in the navy without having the opportunity of practising, ^.expect every vessel's crew to be well exercised at their guns, because it is required by the regulations of the service, and it is usually the first object of our attention ; but they must be equally well trained for stopping shot holes and extinguishing fire. Hot and cold shot will, no doubt, be freely dealt to ns, and there must be stout hearts and quick hands to extinguish the one and stop the holes of the other. I shall expect the most prompt attention to signals and verbal orders sitlier from myself or the captain of the fieet, who, it will be understood, in all cases acts by my authority. D. G. FAERAGUT, Flag- Officer^ Western Oulf Blockading Squadron. Having at last made all the preparations that he could with the means allowed him, and the mortar-boats havino; accomplished all that was in their power to do for the present, the 2 (3th day of April was fixed for the passage of the forts. The chain across the channel had been cut a few nights before, and a daring reconnoissance by Lieu- tenant Caldwell, on the night preceding the intended movement, showed that it had not been repaired, 5 66 ADMIRAL DAYED GLA.SCOE FARRAGUT. It was determined to start at two o'clock in the morn- ing, and, the evening before, Farragut visited his ships for a last interview with the commanders. These brave men were anxious as he himself was, as he went from ship to ship on that momentous afternoon, to see that his orders were understood ; for there were two powerful forts, mounted with heavy guns, with their terrific cross-fire, to be passed, while fire-ships, rams, and iron-clad gunboats lay beyond this gate of death, ready to receive what might remain of the crippled squadron, if any portion should succeed in getting through. Hopes, fears, doubts of suc- cess, and anticipations of glory, by turns filled their hearts, but on none did such a heavy load lay as on Farragut. That quiet spring evening was, passed as the few hours that precede a desperate battle always is. Some, gay and reckless, laughed and joked over the coming encounter, with all the thoughtlessness of sailors ; others spent it in indictino; last letters to loved ones at -home, and entrustino; keepsakes to friends, should they fall ; while some God- fearing men knelt in prayer, and committed their lives calmly into the hands of Him whose purposes are ever right. The mighty river swept placidly by, fanned by the balmy breeze, and the quiet stars came out one by one and looked down, tranquil as ever, on the unconscious stream, giving no token of the coming earthquake. Some, inured to danger, lay down and slept soundly as ever; others paced the deck, taking, as they believed, their last look of the tranquil heavens. Thus the hours wore away, and midnight came, and still all was quiet on land and water, save the solemn boom, at short intervals, of a gun from the boats on watch far up stream. At length, at two o'clock, two lanterns were seen to rise slowly to the mizzen peak of the Hart- THE ADVANCE. 6T ford. The hour of action had come, and quickly the boatswain's shrill call rung over the water, " Up all ham- mocks," and the drums beat to quarters. In a moment that quiet scene was changed to one of intense activity and bustle. The rattling of chains, the "yo heave ho" at the anchors, and quick, stern com- mands of the officers, and slow revolving of wheels, and answering signal-lights sparkling through the gloom, sent the blood with a quicker flow through every heart. The surrounding darkness imparted a mystery to these sounds of preparation, and added a deeper interest to the scene. In one hour everything was ready, and the low, black masses were moving steadily up towards the slumbering forts. The attack was to be made in two columns. The rigkt, led by Captain Bailey in the Cayuga, was composed of the l^ensacola, Mississippi, Oneida, Varuna, Katahdin, Kineo, and Wissahickon ; the left, led by Farragui in the Hartford, of the Brooklyn, Richmond, Sciota, Iro- quois, Kennebec, Pinola, Itasca, and Winona, The latter was to eno;ao;e Fort Jackson, and the former St. Philip. Porter, with the Harriet Lane, Westfield, Owasco, Miami, Clifton, and Jackson, was to take up a position Avhere he could pour in an enhlading fire while the fleet was passing the forts. The enemy was on the look-out, and the vessels had scarcely got under way when signal-lights flashed along the batteries, and then a belt of fire gleamed through the darkness, and the next moment the heavy shot came shrieking along the bosom of the stream. AH eyes were now turned on the Hartford, as she silently steamed on —the signal " close action" blazing from her rigging. In the mean time the mortar-boats below opened their fire, 68 ADJHEAL DAVID GLASCOE FAERAGUT. and tlie hissing shells rose in graceful curves, and, weaving an arch of fiery network over the advancing fleet, . dropped with a thunderous sound into the forts above. In a few minutes the advanced vessels opened, firing at the flash from the forts. The white smoke rolled and heaved in vast volumes along the shuddering waters, and one of the wildest scenes in the history of war now com- menced. The fleet, with full steam on, was soon abreast of the forts, and its rapid broadsides mingling in with the deafening explosions on shore, turned night into fiery day. Louder than redoubled thunders the heavy guns sent their deafening roar through the gloom, not in dis- tinct explosions, but in one long, wild, protracted crash, as though the ribs of nature were breaking in final con- vulsion. Amid this hell of terrors, a fire-raft, pushed steadily forward by the ram Manassas, loomed through the smoke like a phantom from the unseen world. As if steered by adverse fate, it bore straight down on the Hartford. Farragut sheered off to avoid the collision, and in so doing ran aground, when the fire-ship came full against him. In a moment the hungry flames leaped up the rigging and darted along the smoking sides of the Hartford. It seemed all up with the gallant Farra- gut, and but for that stern discipline he always maintains, his fate would have been sealed. There was no panic on board at this awful catastrophe — every man was in his place, and in a moment the hose was manned and a stream of water turned on the flames. The powerful ensfines were reversed, and soon forced the vessel off into deep water, though all aflame. The firemen, cool and collected, plied their hose, while the gunners still stood to their guns, and poured in their broadsides, and still the signal, " close action," flamed above the staggering THE FORTS PASSED. 69 ship. The fire was at length got under, and Farragut again moved at the head of his column. And now came down the rebel fleet of thirteen gunboats and two iron- clad rams to mingle in the combat. Broadside to broad- side, hull crashing against hull, it became at once a gladiatorial combat of ships. Tlie Varuna, Captain Boggs, sent five to the bottom one after another ; and, finally overcome by her unparalleled exertions, the noble boat went down to join her adversaries beneath the turbid Mississippi. Farragut at last found himself past all the forts, with thirteen out of the seventeen vessels of the fleet. The Itasca, Winona, and Kennebec were so terribly cut up that they had to turn back, and floated in a crippled condition down the river. The Kineo was accidentally run into by the Brooklyn, and badly stove — receiving besides twelve shots in her hull ; yet she gallantly fought her way through. The Hartford, Cayuga, and Varuna encountered the greatest apparent dangers ; yet every vessel, especially the Brooklyn, humanly speaking, ought to have been lost, for never before were such trail boats exposed to such a terrible fire and lived. The several commanders were worthy to fight under such a glorious leader, and carried their ships forward with a steadiness and nerve that have covered their names with imperishable renown. When the sun struggled up through the morning mist, he looked down on a scene never to be forgotten while naval deeds are honored by the nation. There lay the forts with the rebel flags still flying. But their doom was sealed. And there, too, driven ashore or ^vrecked or captured, were thirteen of the enemy's gunboats out TO ADMIEAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. of the seventeen he had brought down to assist the forts in demolishing our fleet. Our total loss in this unparalleled combat was one hundred and seventy-one. Farragut now steamed up the river towards New Orleans, having first dispatched Captain Boggs in an open boat, through a bayou inlet, to announce to Poner his success. In his letter to the latter he says, with a sang fr Old and brevity that provoke a smile : " We have had a rough time of it, as Boggs will tell you ; " and then adds, that as soon as he has captured New Orleans he will return and finish the forts. As he passed up, he heard cannonading ahead, for Bailey in advance had come upon powerful batteries at English Town, and was getting severely handled. But the Hartford coming to his rescue, they were soon finished. The way these were disposed of cannot be given better than in Farragut's own language : " They permitted us to approach within a mile and a quarter before they opened on us. Captain Bailey, in the Cayuga, Lieuten- ant-Commander Harrison, was in advance of me, and received the most of the first fire ; but, although the shoot- ing was good, they did not damage his little vessel much. He fell back, and the Hartford took her place. We had only two guns, which I had placed on the top-gallant forecastle, that could bear on them, until we got within half a mile. We then sheered off, and gave them such a fire 'as they never dreamed of in their philosophy.' The Pensacola ran up after a while, and took the star- board battery off our hands ; and in a few moments the Brooklyn ranged and took a chance at my friends on the left bank. They were silenced in, I should say, twenty minutes or half an hour. But I cannot keep a note of MAYOR MUNROE. Yl time on such occasions. I only know that half of the vessels did not get a chance at them. The river was too narrow for more than two or three vessels to act to ad- vantage ; but all were so anxious, that my greatest fear was that we should lire into each other ; and Captain Wainwrio;ht and mvself were hallooino; ourselves hoarse at the men not to fire into our ships. This last affair," lie says, " was what I call one of the little elegances ot the profession — a dash and a victory." But in speaking of the passage of the forts, in the same letter, he says : " It was one of the most awful sights and events I ever saw or experienced. The smoke was so dense that it was only now and then you could see anything but the flash of the cannon and the fire-ships and rafts." New Orleans was now at his mercy, and Lovell, com- manding the rebel troops in the city, took himself off and left it once more under the control of the mayor, Monroe From him Farragut, through Captain Bailey, demanded the surrender of the city, and that the national flag be hoisted by noon on the City Hall, Mint, and Custom House, which were the property of the United States. To this summons the Mayor sent a long, windy, ridiculous an- swer. In regard to the raising of the flags, he said: "As to the hoisting any flag other than the flag of our adoption and allegiance, let me say to you that the man lives not in our midst whose hand and heart would not be paralyzed at the mere thought of such cm act ; nor could I find in my entire constituency so wretched and desperate a rene- gade as would dare to profane with his hand the sacred emblem of our aspirations." He then goes on to com- pliment Farragut as much as he could concerning his "noble but deluded nature," and winds up with an ap- peal to be very careful of the feelings of his gallant con- 72 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FAEEAGUT. stituency, assuming an air of superiority and injured in- nocence that entitle him to a preeminence among all con- quered rulers of cities. To this piece of fustian and rhodomantade Farragut returned the following quiet, brief reply: United States Flag-Ship Haetford, | Off the City of New Orleans, April 26. j To his Honor the Mayor of New Orleans: Your Honor will please give directions that no flag but that of the United States will be permitted to fly in the presence of this fleet so long as it has the power to prevent it; and as all displays of that kind may be the cause of bloodshed, I have to request that you will give this communication as general a circulation as possible. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, D. G. FARRAGUT. No bluster in this, but a very plain hint, that his hon- or, pompous and inflated as he is, may easily understand. '' No llaoj but the stars and stripes will kiss the air in my sight while my guns, shotted and ready, bear on your city.*" Stern and inflexible in the discharge of his duty, yet humble and meek before his Creator, he, on the same day on which this curt message was sent to the mayor, issued the following order : United States Flag-Ship Haetford, j Off the City of New Orleans, April 26, 1862. ( General Order: Eleven o'clock this morning is the hour appointed for all the ofBcers and crews of tlie fleet to return thanks to Almighty God for His great goodness and mercy in permitting us to pass through the events of the last two days with so little loss of life and blood. At that hour the church pennant will be hoisted on every vessel of the fleet, and their crews assembled will, in humili- ation and prayer, make their acknowledgments therefor to the Great Dis- penser of all human events. D. G. FARRAGUT, Flag- Officer Western Gulf Blockading Squadron. ESrSULT TO THE FLAG. 73 Although he had refused to confer further with the impudent Mayor, he ordered Captain Morris to hoist the flag on the Mint. The latter sent a party on shore, and soon the old flag swung once more to the breeze in sight of the enraged population. The officer ir. charge warned the spectators that the guns of the Pen- sacola would open fire on the building if any one attempt- ed to haul it down. Leaving no guard to protect it, he returned to the ship and directed the howitzers in the maintop to be loaded mth grape and trained on it. At eleven o'clock, in accordance with the order given above, the crews were all assembled on deck for prayers, and only one look-out left in the maintop to v/atch the flag. The solemn service had been progressing perhaps twenty minutes when the deep silence was broken by the discharge of the howitzers overhead. It at once aroused every man from his devotions, and as all eyes turned towards the Mint they saw four men on the roof of the buildino- tearino; down the flasf. In an instant the gun- ners, without waiting for orders, sprang to the guns and pulled the strings. The next moment a whole broad- side was expected to pour into the city ; but not a gun went off: As it looked like ram, the gunners had removed the " wafers " by which they were discharged, before the service commenced, so that only the click of the locks was heard. But for this, fearful destruction would have ensued. Farragut also had trouble with Clouet, the commander of a French man-of-war, who, choosing to consider the order of the former as threatening the city with immedi- ate bombardment, had protested indignantly against it. Wearied out with the ridiculous proceedings all round, he gladly turned over the city to Butler, and 74 ADMIEAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. advanced up the river with his fleet. He sent Cap- tain Palmer ahead to demand the surrender of Baton Rouge, and, while the correspondence with the Mayor was going on, arrived himself and took possession. He then directed the Captain to proceed to Natchez and seize it, while S. P. Lee continued on to Vicksburg and demanded its surrender. To this the military governor, Antry, replied that Mississippians did not know how to surrender, and if Farragut could teach them, to come on and try. After a somewhat spicy correspondence with Lovell, with. regard his to taking vengeance on the inhabitants of a place near which the latter chose to place guns to fire into our passing vessels, Farragut proceeded to test the batteries of Vicksburg, Porter was ordered up with his mortar flotilla to shell out the heights, and at two o'clock on the 28th of June the signal to weigh anchor was given, and with the Iroquois (Roland commanding), the Oneida (S. P. Lee), the Richmond (James Alden), and Sciota, Pinola, and Winona, slowly steamed up into the fire of the batteries. The rebel guns opened on the fleet, the shot apparently being directed principally on the flag-ship. As the Hart- ford slowly approached, moving only fast enough to give steerage way, she opened a fearful fire from her starboard battery. She was so near that the gunners on shore could be plainly seen working their guns and waving their hats in defiance. Farragut, with his accustomed audacity, mounted to the mizen rigging to direct the movements ; but his life there was not worth a farthing, for the enemy fired too hio;h, and hence their concentrated storm of shot and shell tore through the rio;(>;ino; of the vessel, shrieking in a perfect hurricane around him. He therefore de- PASSING THE BATTERIES. 75 scended to the deck, and not two minutes after, the rigging where he had been standing was torn into shreds. Had he remained a little longer, he undoubtedly would have fallen a dead or wounded man on the deck below. For two hours he lay broadside to the batteries, pour- ing in an incessant fire, when, finding that he could not bring his guns to bear any longer, he put on steam and shot past", up the river. He had been struck by a splinter, which, however, only made a bruise. The Richmond, Oneida, Pinola, Sciota, ran the batteries with him. Captain Craven, of the Brooklyn, had received orders not to leave any batteries behind him without silencing them, and after sustaining the same fire for two hours, dropped down the river, remaining with the Kennebeck, Katahdin, and Porter mortar fleet. The loss on those which succeeded in passing the batteries was forty-five. Farragut now sent dispatches to Captain Davis, com- manding the squadron of the Upper Mississippi, and Halleck, asking their cooperation in the movements against Vicksburg. In the mean time, he wrote to the Government, that, though he might be able to silence the batteries of Vicksburg, and could go up and down when he chose, yet the place could not be captured without the aid of ten or twelve thousand men to approach it from the rear. The bombardment, however, was kept up, though with but little efi'ect. About the middle of July, Farragut again steamed past the batteries, and anchored below with the rest of his fleet. The next month he fulfilled his threat against Donaldsonville, unless the inhabitants ceased the prac- tice of firing on his vessels as they passed up and down the river, and opened his guns on the place and nearly de- stj*oyed it. 76 ADBnRAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAQUT. He also dispatched a part of his force to take Gal- veston, Corpus Christi, and Sabine City. Commander W. B. Renshaw captured the former, and G. W. Kittredge seized Corpus Christi, and Acting-master F. Crocker Sa- bine Pass. Lieut. -commander Thos. McKean Buchanan was also dispatched to the Southwest Pass ; and up tlie •Teche he had a sharp engagement with rebel batteries, and the rebel gunboat Cotton. The next month we find Farrao;ut again down the river, in front of Baton Pouge — a part of his fleet assist- ing in the engagement on land, in which the gallant Gen- eral Williams fell in the very moment of victory. His career during the rest of the season was dis- tinguished chiefly for hard work, mthout any great battles. Among the incidents illustrative of his character that abound on the Mississippi, is one which showed his sang froid. In order to show how impervious iron- clads could be made against the heaviest shot, he was asked one time to accompany the Benton, the strongest boat in Davis's fleet, in a reconnoissance of a new battery that had been erected near Vicksburg. He did so ; but the vessel had been but a short time under the fire of the battery, when a heavy shot crashed through the mailed sides, and, striking a person beside him, tore him to frag- ments, throwinn; the blood and, clotted flesh over his own person. Gazing a moment at the frightful spec- tacle, he coolly turned to the ofiicer beside him and said : " I am not going to stay here ; I am going on deck." It seemed a curious place to go for safety ; but the anec- dote throws a world of light on the character of the man. When the storm raged fiercest, and shot and shell fell thickest on the vessel, he wished to stand on her exposed '**»ck. PASSAGE OF PORT HUDSON. 77 But the next year, in the very month (April) in which he passed the batteries of forts Philip and Jackson, he a2:ain showed what wooden vessels could do ao-ainst for- midable shore batteries. Grant was working his slow, toilsome way towards Vicksburg, and Farragut was ordered up to cooperate with him. But since he was there the year before, the rebels, owing to the stupidity ot the War Department, which, in the face of Porters earnest representations, refused to occupy Port Hudson, had erected formidable works, which were more difficult to pass than the batteries at Vicksburg. With the flag-ship Hartford, accompanied by the Rich- mond, armed with twenty-six eight and nine-inch Colum- biads, the Mississippi, with twenty-one, the Monongahela with sixteen heavy guns, and the gunboats Kineo, Al- batross, Sachem, and Gennessee, carrying each three Columbiads and two rifled 32-pounders (all screw pro- pellers except the Mississippi), he, on the morning of the 14th of April, anchored below the place. Here the pre- parations were all completed, and as Farragut determined to run the terrible gauntlet in the night, and hence could have no lights aboard the vessels, the decks, gun-carriages and nettings were whitewashed, so that the gunners could distinguish enough to work their pieces. The next morn- ing he reached Prophet's Island, in full view of the rebel batteries. Four mortar-boats were anchored some three miles distant, to throw shells into the hostile works. At one o'clock these opened fire, and all the afternoon the blazing shells swept in long curves over the stream and dropped amid the hostile guns. They seemed, however^ to produce but little eff'ect. A small land force had been sent to the rear of the garrison to distract their attention ; for Farragut, notwithstanding his former success, saw 78 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FAREAGUT. clearly enough that his vessels were to be put to a severer test than ever before. That night, when all was ready, the Hartford ran up a red lioht — the signal to weio-h anchor — and the little o o o fleet moved cautiously up the stream. The Hartford, with the Albatross lashed to her side, led the van, fol- lowed by the Richmond with the Gennessee, and the Monongahela with the Kineo. The Mississippi and Sa- chem came last. The rebel batteries extended for nearly four miles along the banks, tier above tier. The ex- perience of the past year had not been lost on the enemy, and they had fortified the place so that it was thought impossible for boats to get past it. Made perfectly aware by their men on watch of the movements of Farragut, the latter had scarcely started, when signal-lights flashed from battery to battery, and then a blaze leaped up on the shore from a pile of combustibles gathered for the pur- pose, which soon swelled to a conflagration that made the whole bosom of the stream in front, light as day. Not- withstanding all his precaution, it was plain that Farragut would have light enough on his awful passage. When the silent, dark vessels entered this illuminated space, the fire of the rebel batteries was awful beyond conception. The vessels at once poured in their starboard broadsides, as rapidly as the guns could be loaded and fired. There was but little air stirring. The huge volumes of smoke, rolling out in fierce contortions over the ruddy bosom of the stream, added indescribably to the terror of the com- bat, while above it the shells rose and fell incessantly, with shrieks that ribbed the continuous thunder-peal be- low with a strange, unearthly sound. The immense volumes of smoke soon wrapped river and shore in im- penetrable darkness, rent only by the solid sheets of fire A DESPEKATE STRUGGLE. 79 that burst through. Amid this terrific uproar there arose from the water the despairing cry of " Help ! oh, help ! " from a drowning; man who had fallen overboard. But amid this wild hurricane of death no help could be given, and the cry grew fainter and fainter, as the poor fellow was borne down by the swift current, till it was lost in the distance. The river was narrow at this point, and soon the ships, in the smoke and darkness, could not see each other, and again and again barely escaped firing a broad- side into each other. The shouts of the officers rose over the din, and the whole scene became one of complete be- wilderment ; yet the brave ships struggled on, stemming the mighty current, in the stern endeavor to pass this gateway of hell. An officer stood on the prow of each vessel, striving to pierce the gloom, while a line of men stretched from him to the stern, to transmit orders ; for if she should run aground in the darkness, her doom was sealed. For an hour and a half tliis fearful nightly combat lasted, before the Hartford, with the Albatross lashed to her side, succeeded in passing beyond the bat- teries. Farragut now turned his eye down stream, to see what had become of the rest of his fl^et ; but not a vessel greeted his eye, except, through the intervening darkness, now and then a black hull would start out amid the gushes of flame, that, like a blaze of lightning, illuminated the river, shoAving that they were still struggling below. The Richmond came next to him, but a shell had entered her starboard port, bursting inside with a terrific explosion that almost lifted the strong ship from the water. Soon after a storm of shot burst through her bulwarks, sending everything to wreck in its passage. Lieut. -Commander Cummings, with speaking trumpet in hand, was shouting out over the uproar to his crew at the time, and by his 80 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FAREAGUT. side stood Captain Alden, and both fell at once to the deck — the former with his left leg torn off just below the knee. As they bore him away, he said : " Put a tourni- quet on my leg, boys. Send my letters to my wife, and tell her I fell in doing my duty." As the surgeon took off the shattered limb, he said, " I would willingly give my other leg, if we could but pass those batteries." The vessel struggled on amid flame and smoke, and succeeded in passing the most powerful batteries, when a shot en- tered her steam-chest, which so disabled her that she began to drift helplessly down stream. Just then a tor- pedo burst under her stern, with a force that made all her timbers quiver. The Gennessee, which was alongside, now took her in tow, and steamed rapidly down stream. The Monongahela, with the Kineo, that came next, fared but little better. Her commander (McKinstry) fell early in the battle, and the command devolved on Lieutenant Thomas. In the smoke and darkness, she lost the chan- nel, and suddenly found herself aground directly under the fire of a heavy battery, where she lay for nearly a half an hour, riddled and torn by shot and shell. At length she succeeded in backing off, and once more boldly turned her prow up stream, and began to stem the rapid current. But the tremendous fire to which she had been so long exposed had disabled her machinery, and it was soon evident that the o-allant struo-o-le was in vain, and she too dropped down to the mortar fleet at Prophet's Island. Last of all came the noble Mississippi, with a crew of three hundred aboard, sweeping proudly over the waters whose name she bore, with the Selma lashed to her larboard side, to assist her in case her machinery gave way. She got opposite the town, and, feeling that her greatest danger was over, put on steam and shot swiftly ahead. BUENDfG OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 81 The next moment she struck bottom near the western shore, having lost her course in the darkness. There she lay, a moveless target. The enemy saw her, and imme- diately concentrated an awful fire upon her. Captain Smith ordered the gunners to keep up their fire, and her broadsides exploded so rapidly that one could scarcely count the reports, and in the mean time he put forth every effort to get the vessel afloat. Her decks were soon slippery with blood, and the dead and wounded lay strewn around like autumn leaves. The ship, however, under her great headway, had buried herself so deep in the mud that she could not be forced off, and Smith re- solved to destroy her. Amid the raining shot, com- bustibles were piled fore and aft, to be fired as soon as the crew had taken to the boats. By some mistake the torch was applied forward before the order was given, and while the crew still crowded the deck. A panic followed, and some flung themselves overboard, many of whom were drowned. Captain Smith, however, coolly lighted his segar, and quietly, but rapidly, hurried the men ashore ; and then, spiking the guns — many of them with his own hand — he, with Lieutenant Dewey and Engineers Boek- elder and Tower, who had stood by him to share his fate, left the vessel, and stepped on board the iron-clad Essex, which had come to his assistance, commanded by Captain Caldwell, and amid the tempest of shot and shell that incessantly swept both vessels, removed all the sick and wounded, and dropped down stream. As the light of the burning vessel arose on the midnight air, the eilemy on shore sent up frantic yells of delight. The next moment two shells burst in the abandoned ship, scattering several casks of turpentine amid the blazing combustibles. A torrent of fire immediately rolled over the vessel, which, 82 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. lightened by the removal of her crew and the action of the flames, now slowly floated off ; and her bow, catching the downward current, swung heavily down stream, bringing her other broadside to bear, which had not yet been ujed. The guns, heated by the fire, soon began to go off, one after another, as though fired by an invisible hand. The flag was still floating above the flaming ruin, and the grand old vessel, as if conscious that the country's honor was committed to her keeping, swept steadily down stream, flaunting her colors in the face of the foe, and in her death-struo;o;les still thunderino- on the hostile batteries. It was a wild and grand spectacle that she presented, as, erect amid the roaring flames — not wildly swaying with the current, but moving steadily, as though steered by an un- seen hand, with her flag still flying and her guns roaring — she passed proudly and all alone, out of the desolating fire. Still drifting with the current, she swept on till Prophet's Island concealed her form. Then there sud- denly arose a pyramid of fire and smoke, lighting up the shores like a conflagration, followed by an earthquake sound. The fire had reached her magazine, and in one loud explosion the proud vessel, which had so long braved the seas, went to the bottom, carrying her flag with her. Of about three hundred that composed her crew, sixty- five, or nearly a quarter, were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. Seventy, who reached the western shore, made their way through the woods and swamps, and finally reached the ships below, Farragut, with the Albatross, was now above the place, but all alone. His fleet was cut ofl^ from him. He had not only been lucky in getting safely through, but his ves- sel had been handled with consummate skill; for it was necessary to strike the rapid current running almost at FAULT-FINDING. 83 right angles to his course, as he passed the point, so as to keep his bows from being swept around, and the vessel borne back down the stream under the batteries. In the darkness, this was a very difficult matter. Though he had not succeeded in getting the vessels he needed above the place, he at once began to bombard it, while the fleet attacked it from below. In the subsequent siege of the place by Banks, Farra- gut did good service, inflicting severe injury on the rebel batteries. While at Port Hudson he heard, in the latter part of June, that Donaldsonville Avas about to be attacked by the rebels, and moved down before it, and on the day of attack opened such a flanking fire on the enemy that he was obliged to withdraw, although the storming party had already got inside. He also bombarded Grand Gulf. Much impatience was exhibited East at the slowness with which operations went on around Vicksburg. Far- ragut was blamed by a portion of the press. Among other papers which showed dissatisfaction with his course was the Journal of Commerce. This one he took notice of in a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, saying that he did so because he heard that the information of the writer was obtained from the War Department. His duties on the waters of the Mississippi and coast of Texas, the blockading of which was under his charge, were not of the kind most congenial to his tastes, for a great part of the time he was compelled to keep his squadron scattered on every side. Guerrillas had to be attacked in one place, an annoying little battery silenced in another, streams and channels opened to our forces, or shut to blockade run- ners, and rebel property destroyed where it was of use to the Confederate government^^^niaking those duties varied 84 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FAKRAftUT and harrassing. Here and there, too, losses were sus- tained whicli he had no means of preventing, as most of the work had to be done by subordinates that, from the peculiar circumstances in which they were placed, had to act without specific orders. Hence it was with satisfaction that he heard he was to to be removed from this sort of gueiTilla warfare on the water, and once more hoist his pennant on the deep. The strongholds on the Mississippi having fallen, the Govern- ment next turned its attention to Mobile. It was decided that a land and naval force combined should operate against it — the former under Generals Canby and Granger, and the latter under Farragut. In January, 1864, he sailed for Mobile Bay to make a reconnoissance of the forts and batteries, and vessels commanding its entrance, for the purpose of obtaining an accurate knowledge of their streno;th. Mor2:an and Gaines were the chief forts bar- ring it, and he gives the following as the results of his investigations: On the morning of the 20th instant I made a reconnoissance of Forts Morgan and Gaines. I went in over the har in the gunboat Octorara, Lieu- tenant Commander Lowe, taking the Itasca in company ms a precaution against accident. We passed up to Land Ish\nd, and laid abreast of the light-house on it. The day was uncommonly fine and the air very clear. We were distant from the forts three (3) and three and a half (3^) miles, and could see everything distinctly, so that it was easy to verify the state- ments of the refugee Mcintosh, in respect to the number of guns visible on the bastions of the fort. I could count the guns and the men who stood by them; could see the piles that had been driven across fi'om Fort Gaines to the channel opposite Fort Morgan— the object of which is to force the ships to keep as close as possible to the latter. There were no vessels in the bay except one transport steamer. I am satisfied that if I had one iron-clad at this time, I could destroy their whole force in the bay, and reduce the forts at my leisure, by cooper- ation with our land forces — say five thousand men. We must have about two thousand and five hundred men in the rear of each fort, to make regular MOBILE BAY. 85 approaches by land, and to prevent the garrison's receiving supplies and re- inforcements ; the fleet to run the batteries, and fight the flotilla in tlie bay. But without iron-clads, we should not be able to flght the enemy's vessels of that class with much prospect of success, as the latter would lie on the flats where our ships could not go to destroy them. Wooden vessels can do noth- ing with theui unless by getting within one or two hundred yards, so as to ram them or pour in a broadside. I am told by Mr. Shock, the first engineer, that two of the iron-clads now being constructed at St. Louis are finished, and that three or four ought to be by this time. If I could get these, I would attack them at once. There was a very full and elaborate description of the rebel works in and about Mobile bay and harbor furnished by a mechanic from New Hampshire who was employed in the South when the rebellion broke out, and who took work at his trade at Mobile on half-pay to escape conscription. Taking advantage of a furlough granted him that he might visit his father in Alabama or Florida, he escaped to Pen- sacola, and at this time was on board the Octorara. Ac- cording to his statement Fort Morgan mounted some thirty guns in all — a portion of them carrying an enormous weight of metal — and Fort Gaines twenty-one. There were also three steamers and four rams inside, waitino; to receive any vessels that might succeed in passing the forts. Batteries also lined the shore, and torpedoes paved the bed of the channel. That Farragut thought "with one iron-clad he could destroy all the force in the bay" shows a daring and consciousness of power that would be alarm- ing in any one but a commander who was not born to be beaten. The latter part of next month (February), he shelled Fort Powell on Shell Island in Grant's Pass for a week, but made but little impression on it, as he could not, on account of the shallowness of the water, get his vessels nearer than 4000 yards. The powerful rebel ram Tennes- see had not at this time got over Dog River Bar into the 86 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. harbor, and Farragut wished to make his attack before she did. On the 1st of March he again bombarded Fort Powell, and in an horn' and a half silenced it. During the day, however, to his great surprise, he saw the Tennessee steam slowly up opposite Grant's Pass, where his squadron lay. He now wrote to the Department that it would be "much more difficult to take Mobile with wooden vessels than it would have been a week ago." A month later he says : I fully understand and appreciate my situation. The experience I had of the fight between the Arkansas and Admiral Davis's vessels en the Missis- sippi, showed plainly how unequal the contest is between iron-clads and wooden vessels in loss of life, unless you succeed in destroying the iron-clad. I tlierefore deeply regret that the Department has not been able to give us ONE of the many iron-clads that are off Charleston and on the Mississippi. I have always looked for the latter, but it appears that it takes us twice as long to build an iron-clad as any one else. It, looks as if the contractors and the fates were against us. While the rebels are bending their whole ener- gies to the war, our people are expecting the war to close by default : and if they do not awaken to a sense of their danger soon, it will be so. But be a-isured, sir, that the navy will do its duty, let the issue come when it may, or I am greatly deceived. I tliink you have many ready and willing to make any sacrifice their coun- try can require of them. All I ask of them is to do their whole duty ; the result belongs to God. A few weeks subsequent to this he says : My mail from New Orleans this morning is very discouraging. Our army is not only falling b ick to that most demoralizing of places, New Or- leans, but I am informed by Lieutenant-Commander Cook, at Matagorda, that General Banks has ordered Matagorda to be abandoned, and the forts and earthworks to be destroyed. The general is in New Orleans; the army said to be at Morganzia, just above Port Hudson, on the western shore. I ran in shore yesterday, and took a good look at the iron-clad Tennessee. She flies the blue flag of Admiral Buchanan. She has four ports of a side, out of which she fights, I understand from the refugees, four 7-inch Brooks rifles, and two 19-inch columbiads. She has a torpedo fixture on the bow. Their four iron-clads and three wooden gunboats make quite a formidable appearance. PREPARATIONS FOR ATTACK. 87 The Department has not yet responded to my call for the iron-clads in the Mississippi, which I was led to believe were intended for this squadron. I am placing heavy iron cutters on the bows of my vessels, and shall also have torpedoes to place me on an equality with my enemy, if he comes out- side. No doubt he will have the advantage of me inside, as they are plant- ing them every day ; we can see them distinctly when at work. Torpedoes are not so agreeable when used on both sides; therefore I have reluctantly brought myself to it, and have always deemed it unworthy of a chivalrous nation ; but it does not do to give your enemy such a decided superiority over you. Thus the winter and spring wore away, and mid-sum- mer came before the preparations were completed for the contemplated attack. Farragut was at length informed that the iron-clad Tecumseh had arrived at Pensacola. There she was detained for want of coal, and had it not been for Captain Jenkins, of the Richmond, Craven said on his arrival, " God knows when I should have got here." He worked incessantly to carry out Farragut's wishes, and the latter said of him, " He carries out the spirit of one of Lord Collingwood's best sayings, ' Not to be afraid of doing too much ; those who are, seldom do as much as they ought.'" On the 8th of July he had an interview with General Canby, audit was finally agreed that the latter should first invest Fort Gaines with the army ; and the troops were landed for that purpose, and began to throw up works. He, in the mean time, had issued the following order : Strip your vessels and prepare for the conflict. Send down all your superfluous spars and rigging. Trice up or remove the whiskers. Put up the splinter-nets on the starboard side, and barricade the wheel and steers- men with sails and hammocks. Lay chains or sand-bags on the decks over the machinery, to resist a plunging lire. Hang the sheet-chains over the side, or make any other arrangement for security that your ingenuity may suggest. Land your starboard boats, or lower and tow them to the port side, and lower the port boats down to the water's edge. Place a leadsman and the pilot in the port-quarter boat, or the one most convenient to the commander. 05 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FAERAGUT. The vessels will run past the forts in couples, lashed side by side, as here- inafter designated. The flag-ship will lead, and steer from Sand Island N. by E. by conipas?, until abreast of Fort Morgan; then N.W. lialf N., until past the Middle Ground; then N. by W, ; and the others, as designated in the drawing, will follow in due order, until ordered to anchor; but the bow and quarter line must be preserved, to give the chase-guns a fair range ; and each vessel must be kept astern of the broadside of the next ahead. Each vessel will keep a very little on the starboard quarter of his next ahead, and wlien abreast of the fort will keep directly astern, and as we pass the fort will take the same distance on the port-quarter of the next ahead, to enable the stern guns to fire clear of the next vessel astern. It will be the object of the admiral to get as close to the fort as possible before opening fire ; the ships, however, will open fire the moment the enemy opens upon us, witli their chase and other guns, as fast as they can be brought to bear. Use short fuses for the shell and shrapnell, and as soon as within three or four hundred yards, give the grape. It is understood that hereto- fore we have fired too high ; but with grape-shot it is necessary to elevate a little above the object, as grape will dribble from the muzzle of the gun. If one or more of the vessels be disabled, their partners must carry them through, if possible ; but if they cannot, then the next astern must render the required assistance ; but as the admiral contemplates moving with the flood- tide, it will only require suflicient power to keep the crippled vessels in the channel. Vessels that can, must place guns upon the poop and topgallant forecastle, and in the tops on the starboard side. Should the enemy fire grape, they will remove the men from the topgallant forecastle and poop to the gims be- low, out of grape range. The howitzers must keep up a constant fire from the time they can reach with shrapnell until out of its range. D. G. FARRAGUT, Rear-Admiral, Commanding W. G. B. Squadron. The pi^eparations having been completed, the signal was hoisted at daylight, August 5th, to weigh anchor and get under way. The wooden vessels were lashed in the fol- lowing order: The Brooklyn, Captain James Alden, commander, led the fleet with the Octorara, Lieutenant- Commander C. H. Greene, on the port side. Next came the flag-ship Hartford, Captain Percival Drayton, with the Metacomet, Lieutenant-Commander J. E. Jewett ; the Richmond, Captain T. A. Jenkins, with the Port Royal, THE ADVANCE. 89 Lieutenant-Commander B. Gheradi ; the Lackawana, Captain G. B. Marchand, with the Seminole, Commander E. Donaldson; the Monongahela, Commander F. H. Strong, with the Kennebec, Lieutenant-Commander W. P. McCann; the Ossipee, Commander W. E. LeBoy, with the Itasca, Lieutenant-Commander George Brown ; and the Oneida, Commander B. M. Mullany, with the Galena, Lieutenant- Commander C. H. Wells, completed the line. It was a novel position for Farragut to find himself in — following instead of leading — and one which he took very reluctantly, and only at the earnest solicitations of the officers, who said that the Brooklyn, having four chase guns to the Hartford's one, and also an ingenious machine for picking up torpedoes, with which they knew the chan- nel to be lined, should be the leading vessel. They stated, moreover, that in their judgment the flag-ship, on the movements and signals of which all the other movements depended, should not be so much exposed as she would be at the head of the line, for she might be crippled before they came up with the forts. Farragut demurred very much to this arrangement, saying that " exposure was one of the penalties of rank in the navy;" besides, it did not matter where the flag-ship was, as "she would always be the main target of the enemy." The fleet, with the Brooklyn ahead, steamed slowly on, and at a quarter to seven the Tecumseh fired the first gun. Twenty minutes later the forts opened their fii'e, when the Brooklyn replied with two 100-pounder Parrott rifles, and the battle fairly commenced. The rebel rams and iron- clads, lying under the protection of the fort, added their fire, playing almost exclusively on the wooden vessels. Farragut had lashed himself near the mamtop, so as to 90 ADMIRAL DAVTD GLASCOE FARRAGUT, be able to overlook the whole scene, and watched with absorbing anxiety the progress of the fleet through the tremendous fire now concentrated upon it. Suddenly, to his utter amazement, he saw the Brooklyn stop and begin to back, causing the order to reverse engines to pass down through the whole fleet, and bringing it to a sudden halt just as it was entering the fiery vortex. " What could this mean," had hardly leaped to the lips of Farragut, when he heard the cry, "The Tecumseh is going down!" Glancing his eye towards the spot where she lay, he saw only the top of her turrets rapidly disappearing beneath the water. The sight at this moment was enough to try the stoutest heart, and it brought out, like a flash of light- ning, all the heroism in the man. What ! his whole line halted — the Tecumseh, for which he had waited so long, as the only match in his fleet for the ram Tennessee, gone to the bottom with all her noble crew, and the fiery tem- pest full upon him! With his usually mild face now blazing with the light of battle, and unalterable resolu- tion written on every lineament, he shouted out, in a voice that rung over the thunder of cannon, to start the engines and steam right on ; and, dashing to the head of the line, with his bold signal flutterino* aloft "close action" he drove straight foi* the blazing fort, followed by the squad- ron, — the commanders believing, as he said, " that they were going to a noble death Avith their commander-in- chief." The buoys were right ahead which had turned the Brooklyn back, indicating where torpedoes were supposed to be sunk, ready to lift his ship into the air as they had the Tecumseh ; but, pointing between them, the order was to move on, and with the foam dashing from the bows of his vessel he swept forward, "determined," he said, " to take the chances." The fleet followed, gun answering FIGHT WITH THE EEBEL EAM. 91 gun, in one continuous thunder-peal that shook land and water. Wheeling to the northwest as he kept the channel, he brouo-ht his Avhole broadside to bear with fearful effect on o the fort. As he moved in flame and smoke past it, still standing high up in the rigging, he saw the ram Tennessee steam out to attack him. He, however, did not stop to engage her, but, giving her one broadside, kept on towards the rebel gunboats Selma, Gaines, and Morgan, that were raking him with a scourging fire. The Selma, especially, by keeping on his bows, made sad havoc with her stern- guns, while his own 100-pounder rifle could not be brought to bear, as its carriage had been shattered by a shell. He therefore cast off his consort, the Metacomet, with orders to pursue her. She at once gave chase, and, after a sharp race of an hour, captured her. The Morgan and Gaines ran into shallow water under the guns of the fort, where the latter was set on fire, but the former in the night escaped up the Mobile river. The other vessels following in the wake of the flag-ship, one after another swept past the batteries, the crews loudly cheering, and were signalled by Farragut to come to an- chor. But the officers had scarcely commenced clearing decks when the rebel ram was seen boldly standing out into the bay, and steering straight for the fleet, with the purpose of attacking it. The moment Farragut dis- covered it, he signalled the vessels to run her down, and, hoisting up his own anchor, ordered the pilot to drive the Hartford full on the monster. The Monongahela, under the command of the intrepid Strong, being near the rear of the line, was still moving up the bay when he saw the ram heading for the line. He instantly sheered out, and, ordering on a full head of steam, drove with tremendous 92 ADMIEAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. force straio-ht on the iroii-clacl structure. He struck her fair, then, swinging round, poured a broadside of eleven- inch shot, which, fired at such close range, fell with the weight of descending rocks on her mailed side. Yet they bounded back, and dropped harmlessly into the water. Wheelino;, he ag-ain struck her, thousfh he had carried away his own iron prow and cutwater."^' The Lackawana came next, and striking the ram while under full head- way, rolled her over on her side. Such was the force of the shock that her o^vn stern was cut and crushed to the planks for a distance of three feet above the water s edge to five feet below, springing her aleak. If his yards and topmasts had not been down, they would have gone over- board under the shock. As the vessel swung around broadside to, a gunner succeeded in planting a nine-inch shell, fired within twelve feet of the ram, into one of the shutters, breaking it into fragments, which were driven into the casemate. The rebels could be seen through the portholes making defiant gestures, while they cursed and blackguarded our crew in revolting language, which so exasperated them that they fired on them with muskets, and even hurled a spittoon and holy-stone at them, which made them scatter. The next moment, down came Far- ragut in the Hartford, but just before the vessel struck, the ram sheered so that the blow was a glancing one,, and the former rasped along her iron-plated hull and fell alongside. Recoiling for some ten or twelve feet, the Hartford poured in at that short distance a whole broad- side of nine-inch solid shot, hurled with charges of thirteen pounds of powder. The heavy metal, though sent with such awful force, and in such close proximity, made no * Strong, by this bold movement, doubtless saved some of the vessels, and ought to have been promoted. LOSS OF THE TECUMSEH. 93 impression, but broke into fragments on the mailed sides, or dropped back into the water. The shot and shell from the Tennessee, on the other hand, went crashing throuo-h and throuo;h the wooden sides of the Hartford, strewing her deck with the dead. One 150-pound shell, exploding inside, prostrated men on the right hand and left, one of the fragments going through the spar and berth decks, and clean through the launch into the hold below anion o' the wounded. Farragut now stood off, and began to make a circuit in order to come down again, when the Lackawana, which was driving the second time on the monster, struck by accident the Hartford a little forward of the mizzen mast, and cut her down to within two feet of the water. She was at first thought to be sinking, and " the Admiral ! the Admiral ! — save the Admi- ral!" rang over the shattered deck. But Farragut, seeing that the vessel would still float, shouted out to put on steam, determined to send her, crushed and broken as she was, full on the ram. By this time the monitors had crawled up, and were pouring in their heavy shot. The Chickesaw got under the stern and knocked away the smokestack, while the Man- hattan sent one shot clean through the vessel, and disabled her stern port shutter with a shell, so that the gun could not be used, while a third carried away the steering gear. Thus, with her steering-chains gone, her smokestack shot aAv^ay, many of her port shutters jammed, the Tennessee stood amid the crowding gunboats like a bleeding stag at bay among the hounds, while the Ossipee, Le Roy comma'iidino;, was now drivins; towards her under full headway ; and a little farther off, bearing down on the same awful errand, were coming the Hartford, Mononga- 94 ADMIEAL DAVID GLASCOE FAEEAGUT hela and Lackawana. The fate of the poor vessel was now sealed, and her commander hoisted the white flag, but not until the Ossipee was so near, that Le Roy could not prevent a collision, and his vessel rasped heavily along the iron sides of the ram. He received her surren- der from commander Johnson — the admiral, Buchanan, having been previously wounded in the leg. This ended the morning's work, and, at ten minutes past ten, Farra- ffut brouo-ht his fleet to anchor within four miles of Fort Morgan. The killed and wounded on board the fleet amounted to two hundred and twenty-two — among the latter was Captain Mallory, of the Galena. Fifty-two were killed, of which twenty-five, or about half, were killed on board the Hartford, showing to what a fearful fire the flag-ship had been exposed. The Brooklyn was the next severest suff'erer, receivino; the heaviest fire of the fort. The loss of the Tecumseh, with her gallant commander Craven and his crew, nearly all of whom went to the bot- tom, chastened somewhat the joy over this great victory. Craven was in the turret when the torpedo exploded, which almost lifted the iron-clad from the water, and blowing such a huge opening in her bottom that she sunk before the men from below could get on deck. Farragut, when he saw her go down, and just as he was starting to the head of the line, sent Acting Ensign Henry C. Nields with a boat to rescue any of the sur- vivors that might be swimming in the water, and nobly did he perform the perilous duty assigned him. Sitting in the stern of the boat, he gave his orders coolly as his great commander could have done, and the rowers bent steadily to their oars while shot and shell fell in a per- petual shower around them. He succeeded in picking CONDUCT OF THE MEN". 95 up ten within six hundred yards of the fort. A smile of pleasure lighted for a moment Farragut's face as he sa^^ from his high perch how faithfully and heroically the daring youth performed his perilous task. The only other vessel lost was the Philippi, which fol- lowed the fleet against orders, and being struck by a shot was run ashore by her commander and deserted, when the rebels burned her. Some idea of the terrible fire that had rolled over the waters that morning may be obtained by reflecting what an enormous amount of powder must have been exploded, since the Hartford and Brooklyn alone fired nearly five thousand pounds. The fleet and batteries together must have expended enough, if put together, to have lifted the city of Mobile bodily from its firm foundations. The spirit of the commander in this great combat seemed to have actuated every officer and man. Farragut said of his flag-lieutenant, G. Crittenden Watson, who stood on the poop during the entire action, attending to the signals, " He is a scion worthy of the noble stock he sprang from." Drayton, the flag-captain, said that al- though many of the crew had never before seen a battle, not one flinched. At difl*erent times the greater part of four guns'' crews were swept away, yet in every case the killed and wounded were quietly removed, the injury at the guns made good, and in a few moments, except from the crimson deck, nothing could lead one to suspect that anything out of the ordinary routine had happened. Charles Melville, knocked down and wounded with fifteen others, and presenting a ghastly spectacle, no sooner got his wounds dressed than he returned to his gun, and, though scarcely able to stand, worked it bravely to the last Thomas Fitzpatrick set the same splendid 3xample, mov- 96 ADMIEAL DAVID GLASCOE FAREAGUT. ing a hero amid the crew, though his face was streaming with blood. The same could be said of James R. Garri- . son, Thomas O'Connel, James E. Sterling, and Alexander Mack, all wounded — and all fighting bravely till the last shot was fired. But to mention all who bore themselves worthily and well, one would have to give the entire list of the ofiicers and crews. Two days after the victory, Farragut issued the fol- lowing order : Flag-Ship Hartfoed, ^ Molile Bay^ Aug. "th, 1864. ( The admiral desires the fleet to return thanks to Almighty God for the signal victory over the enemy on the morning of the 5th instant. D. G. FARRAGUT, Rear- Admiral Commamding W. G. B. Squad/ron. Thus, after every battle, this great yet humble com- mander exclaimed, " Not unto us, but to Thy name be all the praise and glory ! " His dependence on God was full and complete, yet all his plans were laid with care and consummate skill. He showed admirable forethought in lashing his ships together ; for the one on the farther side from the fort would necessarily receive but little injury ; and therefore, if her consort was disabled by the enemy's fire, could carry her out of range, and, if she sunk, pick up her crew. Hence, though he lost half his fleet, he would have the other half safe in Mobile Bay for further service. By this arrangement he also shortened his line of battle one half, and consequently it was only half as long under fire as if he had advanced in single line. If they had sailed two abreast without being lashed together, there would have been great danger of getting fouled. The night after the battle. Fort Powell was evacuate,d, the rebels blowing it up. The next morning the Chick' BOMBARDMENT OF FOET MOEGAN. 9*? 8saw went down and shelled Fort Gaines, and the foUow- ino; mornino; Colonel Anderson, the commander, sent a note to Farragut, offering to surrender, and asking for terms. The reply was, first, unconditional surrender. When this was done the prisoners should be treated in conformity with the custom of civilized nations, and pri- vate property, with the exception of arms, be respected. These terms were accepted, and at a quarter to ten o'clock the same morning the rebel flag came down, and the stars and stripes went up, amid the loud and prolonged cheers of the fleet. Fort Morgan still refused to surrender, and Granger having perfected his siege operations, Farragut moved down on Sunday night, the 21st, with his fleet, and next morning at daybreak opened a terrific bombardment upon it. The batteries on shore joined in with their overwhelm- ing fire, and all day long it rained a horrible tempest on the devoted fort. Farragut said : " A more magnificent fire has rarely been kept up." The inhabitants of Mobile gathered on the shores and house-tops and towers to gaze on the terrific scene, while the buildings, though miles away, rattled under the awful explosions, and one vast sulphurous cloud heaved and tossed above the quiet waters of the bay. Just at twilight the citadel of the fort took fire, and the garrison, finding themselves unable to ex- tinguish the flames, which now shot heavenward in the increasing darkness, flooded the magazine to prevent its blowing up, and threw large quantities of powder into the wells. All night long the bombardment was kept up, ribbing the darkness with ghastly seams of light, as shells crossed and recrossed each other in their fiery track. Thus the fearful night wore on, and at six in the 7 98 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT. morning a dull, heavy explosion came over the bay from the smoking fort, and half an hour later a white flag was seen to wave from its ramparts. General Page offered to surrender the fort, and asked the terms. The same as those given to Fort Gaines were offered and accepted. In his impotent rage, however, the commander ordered all the guns to be spiked, the carriages disabled, and arms, ammunition, &c., destroyed. He also, with some other officers, broke their swords, under the silly impression that this would lessen the humiliation of the surrender. " The whole conduct of the officers of Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan," said Farragut, " presents such a striking contrast in moral principle that I cannot fail to remark upon it. Colonel Anderson, who commanded the former, finding himself in a position perfectly untenable, and en- cumbered with a superfluous number of conscripts, many of whom were mere boys, determined to surrender a fort which he could not defend, and in this determination was supported by all his officers save one ; but, from the mo- ment he hoisted the white flag, he scrupulously kept every- thing intact, and in that condition delivered it over ; whilst General Page and his officers, with a childish spitefulness, destroyed the guns which they had said they would defend to the last, but which they never defended at all, and threw away or broke those weapons which they had not the manliness to use against their enemies ; for Fort Morgan never fired a gun after the commencement of the bombardment, and the advanced pickets of our army were actually on its glacis." As before stated, the ceremony of surrender took place at two p. M., and that same afternoon the garrison was sent to New Orleans in the United States steamers Ten- nessee and Bienville, where they arrived safely. RETURN TO TSTEW YORK. 99 Farragut remained for awhile blockading the place_ and sending off expeditions to destroy public property ; but his health needing some relaxation from his duties, he at length received permission to return home. He sailed in the Hartford on the 20th of November, and on the 12th of December reached New York harbor. The city, apprised of his coming, made preparations to receive him with fittino- ceremonies. A revenue cutter, with the committee of reception on board, met him down in the Narrows, and a crowd welcom- ed him at the docks in New York. He was then driven to the Custom House, where a more formal reception took place. Collector Draper welcomed him to the city in a flattering address, to which Admiral Farragut made the following reply, which we give as being, in our estimation, the most characteristic, unstudied, and best one of any that he has made : " My Friends : I can only reply to you as I did before, by saying that I receive these compliments with great thankfulness and deep emotions. I am entirely unaccustomed to make such an address as I would desire to do upon this occasion ; but, if I do not express what I think of the honor you do me, trust me I feel it most deeply. I don't think, however, that I particularly deserve anything from your hands. I can merely say that I have done my duty to the best of my abilities. I have been devoted to the service of my country since I was eight years of age, and my father was devoted to it before me. I have not specially deserved these demonstrations of your regard. I owe everything, perhaps, to chance, and to the praiseworthy exertions of my brother officers serving with me. That I have been fortunate is most true, and I am thankful, deeply thankful for it, for my country's sake. I return my thanks to the committee for their resolutions, especially for the one in regard to the creation of an add tional rank." On the last day of the year another reception took place at the collectors headquarters, when the sum of $50,000 — a gift from the wealthy men of New York — was presented to him. 100 ADMIRAL DAVID GLASCOE FAEEAGUT. Wherever he went ovations awaited him — even the little village of Hastings, to which he retired with his wife in the winter, made an imposing display on his arrival. • His reception at this place contrasted strikingly with his first entrance into it, an unknown man, three years before. Suspected of conspiracy, his movements were then watched ; now the wintry heavens rang with acclamations and the shout of " See, the conquering hero comes ! " Farragut was no more afloat during the war ; and in 1865 was made Admiral, and modestly wore the honors a grateful nation loved to heap on his head. The next year he was put in command of the European squadron, and in every port he was re- ceived with distinguished honors. In 1869 he and his family visited California, where similar honors awaited him. He spent 1871 in New Hampshire. The sloop- of-war Dale was in harbor, and one day he made a visit to it, and as he stepped ashore, he said with a tone of sadness in his voice : " This is the last time I shall ever tread the deck of a man-of-war." The prediction proved true, for in August, 1872, he died. The fu- neral procession in honor of him in New York was the most imposing display ever seen in the city, with the exception of Grant's funeral. Although the rain poured in torrents, Broadway was packed with the military and people. A bronze statue was erected to him in Washington, and another in Madison Square, New York. In person Farragut was spare, but his form was firmly knit and very supple. He had always prided himself on the latter quality, and it had been his cus- tom almost daily for years to interlace his fingers in HIS CHAEACTEB. 101 front of him and tlirust his legs, one after another, through the letter " O " made by his clasped hands. A few months after, however, he caught a severe tumble while going through this difficult operation, which caused him to abandon it. He found that age and hard work would tell on limbs, however vigorous and elastic. Although Farragut possessed the originality, in con- ception and plan, belonging to true genius, he was not like Napoleon the First, who rarely called a council of war. He advised with his commanders, heard their suggestions, grafted the good ones on to his own plan, and thus made an admirable use of the ability which surrounded him. Brave as a lion, he had the dash and daring which a sailor loves, and which, if joined with success, makes a commander the idol of the people. To see him drive on through the deadly fire of batteries towards the enemy's vessels beyond, one would think him a reck- less, desperate man, to whom success, if it came at all, would be pure luck. But this would be an erroneous conclusion, for no man ever planned more carefully his blow beforehand than Fari'agut. He endeavored to as- certain from the enemy's defences and preparations where he least expected that blow to fall, then planted it so suddenly that he had no time to interpose a new defence, and so terribly that it ground everything to powder. His crouch was as careful and stealthy as the panther, and his leap as sudden and deadly. The awful fury with which he pressed the attack when once com- menced, did not arise from the frenzied excitement of battle, but from the well-settled conviction that he had chosen the best course that could be adopted, and vic- tory must be reached right on^vard in it, if reached at all. 102 ADMIBAL DAVID GLASCOE FAEBAGUT. Genius, prudence, and judgment in preparing for battle, unconquerable energy and desperate vehemence in pushing it ; imperturbable coolness in the most un- expected and sudden disaster, and total unconscious- ness of danger, though death and havoc reigned supreme on his decks ; loving to lead his line where the peril was greatest, and asking his subordinates only to follow him — he possessed all those qualities which go to make up a great and successful commander. Modest and un- assuming, he disliked the pompous ceremony of public ovations — retaining still his boyish frankness of nature and geniality of heart, that made him accessible to the humblest and beloved by all. Many anecdotes are told of the kindness of his heart, playfulness of disposition, and boyish freshness of nature, that add greatly to the interest one takes in his character. Among others, on a trip the Admiral made to the White Mountains ; at Conway, a man brought his little daughter, at her urgent request, fifteen miles to see "the great Admiral." Far- ragut took the child in his arms, kissed her, and talked playfully with her. He was dressed in citizen's costume, and looked in her eyes very much like any other man, and totally unlike the hero whose praises had been so long ringing over the land. In her innocent surprise, she said, " Why, you do not look like a great general. I saw one the other day, and he was covered all over with gold." The Admiral laughed, and, to please her, actually went to his room, and put on his uniform, when she went away satisfied. One such little incident throws a flood of light on his character, showing that he was kind and good as he was brave and great. The nation de- lights to honor him, not only for the aid he brought to our cause by his astonishing victories, but for the lustre he has shed on our navy the world over. CHAPTER III. REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES WILKES. HIS NATIVITY. — A MIDSHIPMAX. — HIS FIRST CETJISE. — HIS EARLT SERVIOES. — APPOINTED TO THE DEPOT OF CHARTS AND INSTRUMENTS. HIS EFFORTS TO CREATE A NATIONAL OBSERVATORY DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL. SENT TO SURVEY ST. GEORGe's BANK. APPOINTED TO COMMAND THE ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPLORATIONS, — TAKES VENGEANCE ON THE CANNIBALS FOE THE MURDER OF HIS NEPHEW. — HIS AFTER- VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. — COURT-MARTIALLED. NAMES OF THE VARIOUS WORKS THAT HE PUBLISHED. — AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR PLACED IN COMMAND OF THE FRIGATE SAN JACINTO, AND SENT TO THE WEST INDIES TO CAPTURE THE PRIVATEER SUMTER. SEIZES THE BRITISH MAIL-STEAMER TRENT, AND CARRIES OFF MASON AND SLIDELL. EXCITEMENT IN BOTH HEMISPHERES OVEE THE SEIZUEE.- THE ACT FINALLY CONDEMNED BY THE PRESIDENT. — MADE COMMODORE, AND PLACED FIRST ON THE LIST. ASSIGNED TO THE COMMAND OF THE POTOMAC FLOTILLA. MADE ACTING REAR-ADMIRAL, AND SENT TO PROTECT OUR COMMERCE IN THE WEST INDIES. SUSPENDED, PLACED ON THE RETIRED LIST. Charles WiLkes was a native of the city of New York, where he was born in the year 1801. A mere lad, he entered the navy as midshipman, when he was fifteen years old. In 1819 and 1820 he was attached to the squadron oi McDonough in the Mediterranean. The two following years he served in the Pacific under Com- modore Stewart, and exhibited so much nautical skill that he was selected for a separate command. In 1826. 104 REAK-ADMIEAL CHARLES WILKES. when twenty-five years old, he, after ten years' service, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In 1830 he was. appointed over depot of charts and instruments, and was the first man in the country to set up fixed astronomical instruments and make observations with them. He placed the observator}' in his own garden ; but, on at- tempting to build a firm inclosure around the stone piers erected to sustain his instruments, he received an informal notice from the Navy Department, that it would not be allowed. On inquiring the reason, he was told that a national observatory was unconstitutional. It seems hardly credible that this could have happened a little over thu-ty years ago. The constitution has been made to play a very curious role in our national history. He vv^as taken from this post and sent to survey St. George's Bank, which was a great bugbear to navigators, and performed the service with entire satisfaction. He was now transferred to a position of still greater responsibility. For some time the Government had been contemplating an expedition into the Antarctic Ocean, to see what lay beyond the stormy seas of Cape Horn, and at length organized it, and placed him at its head. It consisted of five ships, and set sail August 18th, 1838. Reaching the Pa(nfic Ocean, he explored various groups of islands lying south of the equator, and discovered many never before known. Having finished his surveys here, he, at the end of the year 1839, turned his prow for the Antarctic. Pushing boldly toward the south pole, he at length reached the icy barrier that surrounds it, and dis- covered the Antarctic Continent, never before seen by explorers. With the American flag flying in the strange breezes of this unknown, mysterious region, he boldly sailed along the barrier of ice in full sight of the land he THE ANTARCTIC CONTnSTENT. 105 could not reach, — running half as many degrees of longi- tude as it is across the Atlantic Ocean. The next year he explored the Fejee Islands, where a nephew of his was killed by the cannibals, for which act he took summary vengeance. He thus opened these islands to future navi- gators and missionary establishments, which were subse- quently planted by the Christian world. He then set sail north, and visited the Hawaiian Islands, the Northwest Coast of North America, and made explorations by land in California. Crossino- thence to Asia, he visited Ma- nilla, Loochoo, Borneo and Singapore ; and, returning by way of the Cape of Good Hope and the isle of St. Helena, completed his voyage around the world, and reached home June 10th, 1842, having been gone four years. The next month he was made commander. Hurino- the o year charges were made against him, by some of his offi- cers, and he was court-marshalled. He was, however, acquitted of all, except of illegally punishing some of his crew, for which he was reprimanded. He published ja narrative of his explorations in five octavo volumes, which made his name widely known in both hemispheres. Eleven other volumes and atlases were subsequently pub- lished, of which he was the author of the one on meteor- ology. In 1849 he published another book, giving an account of his observations in California and Oreo;on. In 1855 he was made Captain. The next year he pub- lished his "Theory of Wind." Five years of comparative quiet now passed, but on the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861, he vv'as sent to the West Indies in the frigate San Jacinto, to capture the privateer Sumter. While cruisino- in the reo-ion he learned that Messrs. o o Mason and Slidell had reached Havana from Charleston on their way to England, as accredited ministers for the 106 EEAE- ADMIRAL CHARLES WILKES. Confederate States to Great Britain and France. He immediatel}^ sailed for that port, and there ascertained that they had taken passage on board the English mail steamer Trent, which was to sail from St. Thomas on the 1st of November. He immediately determined to cap- tm^e them, and for that purpose cruised in the neighbor- hood of the course it was supposed the vessel would take on her voyage to England. On the 8th he saw her smoke rising over the water, and immediately beat to quarters, and ordered Lieutenant Fairfax to have two boats manned for the purpose of boarding her. The steamer, as she approached the waiting frigate, hoisted English colors. Wilkes ran up the American flag, and, as she drew near, fired a shot across her bow as a sign to heave to. She however paid no attention to the summons, and kept steadily on ; he then fired a shell across her bow, which was saying, " the next will be a broadside." The English commander understood it, and hove to. Lieutenant Fairfax then proceeded with his boats alongside, and mounted the deck. The captain being pointed out to him, he informed him that he was Lieutenant Fairfax of the American frigate San Jacinto, commanded by Cap- tain Wilkes, and asked to see the passenger list. The request was peremptorily declined. The Lieutenant then told him that he was informed that Messrs. Mason, Slidell, Eustis, and McFarland, were on board, and he meant to find them. These gentlemen, hearino- the discussion, then came forward. Lieut. Fair- fax quietly communicated to them the object of his visit. They at once protested against being taken on board of the American vessel. The passengers now began to crowd around, in a state of great excitement. The lieu- tenant, fearing that violence would be used, ordered the CAPTURE OF MASON AND SLIDELL. lOY lieutenant in the boat alongside to come on board with a party of marines. The appearance of these armed men on deck of the British vessel was the signal of still greater excitement, " Marines on board ! " was shouted on every side. "What an outrage!" "What a piratical act!" " England will open the blockade for this," and various other exclamations which showed the bittep feelino; that was aroused. Fairfax was in the cabin, and the lieuten- ant, hearing the altercation and angry threats, marched his marines in among the startled passengers, who fell back at their presence. Amid the confusion was heard a woman's voice, which proved to be that of Slidell's daugh- ter, who stood before the door of the state-room into which her father had retired, declaring that no one should take him away. Finding that the prisoners would not go without force, the lieutenant took Mr. Mason by the col- lar and called on Mr. Hall to assist him. Slidell now came through the window of the state-room, when he too was seized, and the party hurried off into the boats. The families of the gentlemen preferring to keep on to Eng- land, they were allowed to remain on board the steamer, and she resumed her course. The news of the arrest of these men in our port caused the wildest excitement. Washington was thrown into fever heat, and the whole nation aroused. Some were delighted at the capture of these arch traitors, others alarmed at the consequences that would result from their capture. " What would England say to it ? " was asked on every side. Pages of argument were written to show that the seizure was in accordance with the law of nations, and past history was ransacked for precedents to justify it. The Secretary of the Navy indorsed the act by a letter of thanks to Capt. Wilkes, and Congress passed a vote 108 KEAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES WILKES. of thanks. A banquet was given to the Captain in Bos- ton, and the country seemed determined to sustain the act at all hazards. The news caused still greater excite- ment in England. "The British flag had been insulted," was the angry exclamation on every side. The deck of an English vessel had been invaded by a hostile force, and the cry of "^'edress or war " rolled over the land. After the first burst of passion had subsided with us, the affair did not wear so gratifying an aspect. We were not in a condition just then to go to war with England, and what- ever else might be the result, it was plain that such a catastrophe at this critical juncture would give the South its independence. This was not a pleasant alternative ; yet Congress and the Secretary of the Navy had indorsed the act, and if the President did the same, we must abide the decision, whatever the results might be. The British government at once denounced it as an affront to the British flag, a violation of international law, and demand- ed the restoration of the prisoners. The press throughout the country laughed at this extreme sensitiveness to the obligations of international law on the part of a nation which had violated it more than all other maritime powers put together. Still her crimes in this respect could not sanction us in committing similar ones. The wrong, if one, was the same, whatever her conduct may have been. The feelino;, however, was very general, that, because Great Britain was the chief of sinners in the invasion of maritime rights, therefore we had a right to sin also. But fortunately our Government took a more statesman- like view of it. What England deserved was one thing ; what precedent we should establish to be used in future complications was quite anothei. Our record must be kept clean, without any reference to feelings of pride or passion. PUBLIC FEELING. 109 The demand of the British government for the return of the prisoners on board an English ship was finally ac- ceded to, and the threatened storm averted. Some, who be- lieved the North could conquer both the South and Cana- da, and at the same time maintain the blockade, whip the Eno-lish navv, and chase her commerce from the seas, were disappointed and offended at the humiliation, as they termed it, of the Government. But none, judging from the tone of their press, were more chagrined than the rebels. They professed to be ashamed of the poltroonery of Ameri- can blood, and scoffed at the base self-degradation. But the truth was, this unfortunate occurrence seemed to be such a stroke of good fortune for them that they did not want to lose the benefits of it. Mason and Slidell were sent abroad to secure the intervention of foreign governments in their behalf, and their mission promised to be success- ful before it was begun. In their imao-inations, the storm of foreign war was already darkening over the North, and they saw their independence secured. To see it dissi- pated so suddenly, aroused all their anger and derision. Many at the North accepted the action of our Govern- ment on the ground of expediency alone, but it was in fact justified on the strict ground of international law. Much ingenious argument was expended to justify Capt. Wilkes, but men forgot that international law, like the laws of civilized warfare, is not based on the strict rule of justice, but of mutual benefit. They are simply gen- eral rules, adopted for the good of all parties, under the present order of things ; nothing more. The Secretary of State gave several reasons to show the propriety of the decision which the government came to, but only one was needed. Capt. Wilkes' duty under international law was, if he regarded the carrying of 110 EEAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES WILKES, Mason and Slidell as a violation of neutral rights, to seize the vessel and carry her into a neutral port, and have the case decided by a prize court. This was the first step to be taken ; and until this was done, all require- ments about the status of these men, and what constituted articles contraband of war, were out of place. Neither the press, nor the people, nor Capt. Wilkes, were to be judges of that. The first step which he did take being a wrong one, there was no use of discussing the intrinsic merits of the case. To justify Capt. Wilkes would be to lay down the extraordinary doctrine, that any sloop-of-war may turn her deck into a prize court and adjudicate on its own seizures. This would be a monstrous principle for our government to establish, and yet this is exactly what it would have done, had it sustained Capt. Wilkes. It evidently dawned on his own mind, after his first report was sent to the Government, that his action was unjusti- fiable on this very ground, for he made a second, in which he apologizes for not bringing the vessel in, on the ground of inability to do so. But this was plainly an after- thoug-ht, and had no foundation in fact. On the reorganization of the navy in 1862, he was promoted to the rank of Commodore, and placed first on the list. He was then assigned the command of the flotilla in the James River. The rebel troops at City Point having attacked our transports, he moved up and shelled it, leaving it a heap of ruins. Afterwards he was made acting rear-admiral, and was sent in command of a squadron to the West Indies, to protect our commerce there. His presence in those waters annoyed the Eng- lish much, who imagined that it was done to insult them, because of their denunciations of his conduct in the IS SU8PEia)ED. Ill Trent affair. The scene of his discomfiture was made to witness his promotion and a still larger exercise of power orranted him. o Afterward, having allowed some Governmental docu- ments to be made public, he was court-martialled, and the trial told so heavily against him, that he-was sus- pended for awhile, and eventually placed on the retired list, 1 864, on account of age. His report of his exploration of the Antarctic ocean was to be published in twenty- eight large quarto volumes, but only nineteen were ever completed. He received a gold medal from the London Geographical Society, He also published a book en- titled " Western America, including California and Oregon.'" He died February 8th, 1877, in Washing- ton, D. C. He was an able man, and stood among the first of American explorers, and as such was more widely known than any other regular naval commander. CHAPTER IV. REAR-ADMIRAL SILAS H. STRINGHAM. HIS NATIVITY. — ENTERS THE NAVY. — SAILS TJNDEE RODGERS. — AFFAIR OF THE PRESIDENT AND LITTLE BELT.— WAR DECLARED. — CHASE OF THE BELVI- DEEE. — SERVES UNDER DECATUR ON THE COAST OF ALGIERS. — RESCUES THE CREW OF A FRENCH BRIG AT GIBRALTAR. — A GALLANT FEAT. — CAPTDRES SLAVERS ON THE AFRICAN COAST AND SENT HOME WITH HIS PRIZES. — MADE LIEUTENANT, AND SENT TO THE WEST INDIA STATION. — CAPTURES A NOTORIOUS SLAVER. TRANSFERRED TO THE BROOKLYN NAVY YARD. — COMMANDS THE OHIO IN THE BOMBARDMENT OF VERA CRUZ. COMMANDS THE BRAZILIAN SQUADRON. — SENT TO THE MEDITERRANEAN. PLACED OVER GOSPORT NAVY YARD. AT COMMENCEMENT OF THE REBEL- LION MADE FLAG-OFFICER OF THE ATLANTIC BLOCKADING SQUADRON. COMMANDS THE RXPEDITION SENT TO CAPTURE HATTER AS. — THE BOM- BARDMENT. — JOY OVER HIS VICTORY. — BLAMED FOR NOT PROSECUTING IT, AND IS RELIEVED OF HIS COMMAND. PLACED ON THE RETIRED LIST. Admiral Stringham was born in New York State, and entered the service in 1809, in 1810 as midshipman, and served under the gallant Rodgers in the frigate Presi- dent till 1815. In 1811, the year before the second war Avith England was declared, though then but thirteen years of age, he got a taste of the life he might expect in his profession. In May of that year, Commodore Rodgers, whose vessel was then lying at Annapolis, heard that an American had been impressed on board an English frig- ate, near Sandy Hook. Impressment of Americans on THE PEESIDENT AND LITTLE BELT. 113 board of British men-of-war was at that time one of the outrages against which we remonstrated, and for which we finally declared war. Its repetition, right on our coast, Avas too gross an insult to be overlooked, and he immediately weighed anchor and hastened northward to get the man released, or fight the English vessel. On the 16th of May, at noon, a sail was made, and the Presi- dent immediately stood towards it. The latter bore away, and the President gave chase. Rodgcrs did not come up with the stranger till after dark, and so did not know his strength. But when he got within hail, he de- manded the name of the ship. No answer being returned, except to send back, word for word, his own hail, the question, after a short interval, was again put, when a shot came for a reply from the stranger, striking the main- mast of the frigate. Three more guns followed, in quick succession, when the President opened her broadsides. After a few shots, Bodgers, finding that his insolent enemy made but feeble resistance, ordered the tire to cease, and ao;ain hailed the vessel. This time he got an answer. Seeing that his antagonist was disabled, and having finally compelled him to answer his hail, he though he had given him a sufficient lesson in good man- ners, and so gave the name of his own ship. He then wore round, and, running a short distance to leeward, hove to for the night. The next morning he sent an officer aboard, who reported the vessel to be the English ship of war Little Belt. "She was sadly cut up, having lost thirty-one of her crew by the President's broadsides. The captain, Bingham, angrily refusing any assistance, both vessels bore away to their respective ports, to report this momentous event to the two nations, already on the verge of war, and needing only a spark to kindle the 114 EEAE-ADMIRAL SILAS H. STRING 1 1 AM. smouldering embers into a blaze. No one at this day can imao;ine the tremendous excitement this affair created on both sides of the water. Rodgers was assailed on all sides ; but his officers stood by him. ^ The next year war was declared. Our little navy at this critical period was so insignificant, compared to that of the English, that it was at first determined not to send it to sea at all, but to keep it for harbor defences ; but this fatal decision was changed by the resolute determina- tion of two naval officers — Bainbrido;e and Stewart. A large fleet of Jamaica men was reported to have sailed, and should be at this time off our coast, and Rod- gers, who was then in New York harbor, was ordered to intercept it. The amount of abuse he had received for his attack on the Little Belt had not lessened his anti- pathy to the English ; and, in an hour after he received the orders — as if fearing they might be revoked — his squadron, with all sail set, was standing proudly down the bay. Stringham was now fourteen years old, and the scene he witnessed left an indelible impression on his memory. The gallant officers and sailors of that squad- ron had none of the misgivings of the Government. They wanted no shelter in port, and asked no favors but an un- fettered command and the broad ocean, and the privilege, with their flag flying in the breeze, to lay alongside of the proudest frigate in the proud English navy. When the order to weigh was given, never was anchor to the cat- head sooner, or with a heartier " yo-heave-ho," nor top- sail sheeted home sooner, for every pulse on board that little squadron was bounding with joy. As the vessels bore majestically down the bay, the men were beat to quarters, and all told, if any among them disliked the coming contest, or a single one who had not rather sink HIS FIRST FIGHT. 115 alongside, giving gun for gun, than surrender, he might leave at once and go ashore in the pilot boat. Fore-and- aft, like a rising storm, went ^'' not one, not one!" and then three thundering cheers rolled over the placid waters of the bay. Stringham's voice joined in the shout, and, though a mere lad, he panted for the fight. That little squadron was to make the first claim for equal rights on the sea. Two days after, just at sunrise, an English frig- ate was seen in the northeast, and all sail crowded in pur- suit. The chase led down the wind, and the President being a fast sailer, when going free, soon left the squadron far astern, and all day long bore steadily down on the Englishman, gaining slowly but steadily. At four o'clock he got within gunshot, and in a very short time the ex- cited crew expected to be alongside. But at this critical moment the wind lulled, and the Eno-lishman be";an to creep away from the President. Rodgers then deter- mined to cripple his antagonist, so that he could come up, and, training the first gun himself, pulled the lanyard. The well-aimed shot struck the stern of the British frig- ate, and, crashing through her timbers, plunged into the gun-room. Shot after shot was now fired in quick suc- cession ; but at the fourth discharge the gun burst, killing and Avounding sixteen of our own men, and flinging the Commodore into the air, who fell back on the deck with such violence that his leg was broken. The enemy, seeing the accident, now opened fire ; but the President, recoverino- from her disaster, soon be^an to heave her shot with such precision, that the Belvidere (the name of the English vessel) was compelled to cut away her anchors, throw overboard her boats, and spring fourteen tons of water, in order to lighten herself. By this sacri- fice she gained in the desperate chase, and the President 116 REAR-ADMIRAL SILAS H. STRINGHAM. was compelled to give up the pursuit. This was the first real engagement with a foe of equal size that young Stringham was in, and his disappointment at the result was intense. He was in no after engagement during the war, though the navy covered itself with imperishable glory. In 1815, he was transferred to the brig Spark, Capt. Gamble, which constituted a part of Decatur's squadron in the Algerine war, and lielped to take an Al- gerine frigate. The next year, while his vessel was lying at Gibraltar, he performed one of those acts of gallant daring that have always distinguished our navy. A French brig, attempting to come into the bay in a heavy gale, was capsized, and lay wallowing in the sea, totally helpless. The crew of the Spark saw her distress, and Stringham, though a stripling of only eighteen years of age, volunteered to g;© to her assistance. Gamble gave his consent, and the former, with six seamen, leaped into a small boat and pulled through the turbulent sea to- wards the Frenchman. He reached the brig, and, with great difficulty and danger to his boat, succeeded in tak- ing off five of the crew, and then bore away to transfer his burden to his vessel and return. But the wind and waves beat him back, and he could make no headway in that direction. He then turned and pulled for the Al- gerian shore ; but as he approached it he saw the surf, lashed by the gale, breaking furiously upon it. There was now no alternative, however, but to pass through it ; and the rowers bent to their oars with all their strength. The breakers caught the frail, heavily-laden boat, and, lifting it high into the air, hurled it, bottom side up, on the beach. Each one now had to struggle for his life. Stringham got ashore : but one of his crew and two of the Frenchmen were borne away by the surf and drowned. HIS CRUISES AISTD SERVICES. IIY In 1819 we find Stringham on board the Cyane, con- veying the fi-rst settlers to Liberia. While on the Afii- can coast he was put with an armed crew in command of a boat, and sent out in search of slavers. He suc- ceeded in capturing four, and was made prize-master, and sent home with his prizes. In 1821 he was promoted to a first-lieutenancy, and ordered to the Hornet, then on the West India station. There he captured a notorious pi- rate-ship and slaver. From 1825 to 1829 he was at the Brooklyn navy yard, and afterward went as first- lieutenant of the Peacock in search of the Hornet, sup- posed to be lost. During the search he was transferred to the Falmouth, and sent to Carthagena, and in 1830 re- turned to New York. For the next five years he was engaged on shore duty. He then was sent to the Mediter- ranean, but in 1837 was again in command of the Brook- lyn navy yard. In 1842 he was ordered to the razee In- dependence, but the next year returned to the navy yard. He was here when Marshal Bertrand visited the country, and helped to honor the illustrious Frenchman. In 1846 he was placed in command of the ship-of-the-line Ohio, and took part in the bombardment of Vera Cruz during its investment by Scott. Afterward, for a short time, he commanded the Brazilian squadron, but in 1851 took charge of the Gosport navy yard. The three subsequent years he commanded the Mediterranean squadron — his flag-ship being the ill-fated Cumberland. He was then ordered again to the Gosport navy yard, where he re- mained till 1859. In March, 1861, he was called to Washington as a member of a naval court-martial. The rebellion breaking out, he was appointed flag-ofiicer of the Atlantic blockading squadron. In August he was sent with General Butler, commanding a land force, to 118 KEAR- ADMIRAL SILAS H. STRINGHAM. capture Fort Hatteras. This fort commanded the inlet to Pamlico and Albermarle Sounds — a great rendezvous for rebel privateers, and the waters of which commanded nearly the whole coast of North Carolina. No secret was made of the expedition, and the Confederate authorities had ample time and notice to prepare for defence. The expedition consisted of the flag-ship Minnesota, the United States steamers Wabash, Monticello, Pawnee, Harriet Lane, and the chartered steamers Adelaide, Peabody, and the tug Fanny. The Adelaide and Peabody were trans- ports carrying the troops, and towing schooners loaded with surf-boats, in which to land them. These were a part of two regiments — five hundred of the Twentieth New York Volunteers, Colonel Weber commanding, and two hundred and twenty of the Ninth, Colonel Hawkins commanding, with one hundred of the coast-guard, under Captain Nixon, and sixty of the Second United States Ar- tillery, under Lieutenant Larned — making nine hundred in all. The expedition sailed on the 26th of August, 1861, at one o'clock, and the news of its departure was soon telegraphed all over the country, causing the greatest excitement, — for all were eager to have something done to offset the mortification caused by the defeat of Bull Run. Light summer airs prevailed, and the next morning, at half past nine o'clock. Cape Hatteras was sighted. At five the s(|uadron came to anchor south of the Cape, and the boats were hoisted out ready to commence landing the troops in the morning. At four next morning the drum roused the men, and, a hasty breakfast being taken, between six and seven the signal was made to disembark the troops — the Pawnee, Monticello, and Harriet Lane, in the mean time to cover the landing, which was to take BOMBARDMENT OF FORT HATTERAS. 119 place about two miles east of Fort Clark. Fort Hat teras, a regularly constructed earthwork, with bomb-proofs, and guns mounted en barbette, was some one hundred and thirty rods inland, while fort Clark was a redoubt lying between it and the ships, and near the shore. At ten o'clock the Wabash, Cumberland, and Minne- sota opened their broadsides, and, running backwards and forwards past the battery, rained shot and shell without intermission upon it. An hour later, the Susquehannah came up, and the four vessels poured in a continuous fire on the doomed earthwork. The smoke from fifty-seven guns rolled away over the water, and, settling in the still air, shut out, except at intervals, the fort, whose guns replied, but could not reach the ships. While this tre- mendous cannonading was going on, three miles away the surl-boats were pulling for the shore. Although the weather was calm, a heavy southerly gale had prevailed just before the fleet arrived, and was evidently still blow- ing farther doAvn the coast, from the efiect of which the surf was breaking with tremendous power on the exposed beach and momentarily increasing in force. The boats, as soon as they entered the breakers, were hurled vio- lently forwards, then left aground, so that the soldiers had to wade ashore, wetting their guns and ammunition. It was impossible in the heavy seas, to launch the boats again, and return after the remaining troops, lying oft' in smooth water. All this time Stringham kept up the bombardment, though expecting every moment the signal of the land attack, which was to be the signal to cease firing. But, despite all their exertions, but three hundred men could be got on shore, with only two howitzers, one of which was disabled in the landing. This little force however, immediately formed and marched along the 120 EEAR- ADMIRAL SILAS H. STRINGHAM. beach toward the fort. The vessels ceased firing, and watched its steady progress. The garrison at the battery also saw it advancing, and fled inland to the protection of Fort Hatteras. At two o'clock the American flag was flying above it. The Monticello, Capt. Gillis, was now ordered to feel her way into the inlet. In doing so, how- ever, she came within rano-e of the o;uns of Fort Hat- teras, and was struck several times ; while inside, a rebel steamer was seen towing a schooner filled with troops, toward the fort. Stringham immediately hoisted the sig- nal "engage batteries," and the ponderous shot and shell again rained a<2:ainst the fortifications. The cannonade was kept up till a little after six, when the signal "cease fir- ing" was displayed from the flag-ship, and silence once more reigned over the waters. The wind now rising, the squadron hauled off to get an offing in case of a gale, with the exception of the Monticello, Pawnee, and Harriet Lane, which were ordered to lie close in shore and protect the troops. The condition of the latter was any thing but pleasant. Cut off from their comrades, cut off from the ships, and., if a storm arose, which might be expected at any moment on that iniiospitable coast, sure to be ca[)tured, the prospect before them was gloomy enough. Wet through, with but little ammunition, and no provisions, they, as night came on, fell back toward the shore. As they did so they luckily came upon some sheep and geese, A\diich they at once appropriated and carried back to the beach. Camp fires were then built, and the hastily dressed mutton and fowls spitted on bayonets and cut- lasses, and roasted. As darkness closed around them, the rain began to fall, foretelling a stormy night. The few fires burned dimly along the strand, on which all night long the white-crested billows broke with a deep moton- STJUEENDER OF THE EOET. 121 onous roar. The hours passed slowly away, and the poor fellows looked forward to a southern prison as their doom. But at length it began to lighten in the east, and as the early dawn brightened over the broadly heaving Atlantic, they saw with joy the vessels again standing towards the land. A little after seven the signal was again run up '• engage batteries, " and now Fort Hatteras took all the storm. After a couple of hours, however, Stringham saw that many of his shot fell short, and ordered the fir- ing to cease, and the gunners use fifteen-second fuses only, with ten-inch guns. He had been using ten-second fuses. The fire was then renewed, and, the Harriet Lane coming up with her rifled guns, the fort took a terrible pounding. Commodore Barron, of the rebel navy, — in whose charge the defences of the North Carolina coast had been placed, — came to the fort the previous evening, and assumed command. A few months before, his flag had waved from the Wabash, that he as a federal officer commanded, and now he saw her guns turned on him, a traitor. He soon noticed that the guns of the fort were too light to reach the ships, which with their heavy metal could, while keeping out of his range, hurl shells and shot, with unerring precision, into his works. He saw at once it was a hopeless fight, yet he could have kept to his bomb-proofs, and waited for a storm to disperse the fleet, which might be expected any hour on that coast; but the wooden ventilator of his magazine taking fire from our shells, a panic, it was supposed, seized the troops, and the}' demanded that the fort should be surrendered. So just before noon a white flag went up — the firing ceased, and the little band on shore began to move towards the fort. The crews of the squadron, when they saw this, simultaneously sent up three rousing cheers. 1*^2 REAR- ADMIRAL SILAS H. STRINGHAM. Gen. Butler went in to receive the surrender, and soon returned with Barron and the officers on board. Seven hundred and fifteen men, a thousand stand of arms, sev. enty-five kegs of powder, five stand of colors, thirty-one cannon, besides provisions, stores, and cotton, were the fruits of this victory. The wild delight with which the news was received, showed how deeply the nation had felt the disgrace of Bull B,un, and how eager it was to seize on any success that would help to wipe out its re- membrance. The Harriet Lane, in trying to cross the bar, grounded, and it was feared for a while that she would be lost, but she was finally got off. The fleet returned to Fortress Monroe amid the acclamations of the people, and ova- tions were freely tendered to Stringham. But the plau- dits that were rained on him soon gave way to unmeas- ured and unmerited blame, for not taking his fleet into the sound, and prosecuting his victories along the coast. It was said that he was in a hurry to get back, and be feted and lionized, and an attempt was made to throw ridicule upon him. It afterwards turned out that his vessels drew too much water to go over the bar, and, moreover, that his orders were to return immediately, after the reduction of the forts, to Fortress Monroe. When this was finally ascertained, the denunciations were turned from him on the navy department, for its shiftless management; but too late to soothe the wounded feelings of the brave commander. Whether it was owing to the unmerited abuse he received, causing him to be dissatisfied with the service, or not, he, for some reason, the next month, at his own request, was relieved from his command. The next year, Aug. 1st, he was made rear-admiral on the retired list. He died in Brooklyn, 1876. CHAPTER V. REAR-ADMIRAL SAMUEL FRANCIS DUPONT. HIS NATIVITY. — MADE MIDSHIPMAN AT TWELVE TEARS OF AGE. FIRST 0EUI8H TTNDKR COMMODORE STEWART. — COMMANDER ESf 1845. — COMMANDS THK CONGRESS DURING THE MEXICAN WAR. RESCUES A PARTY BELEAGUERED IN THE MISSION OF SAN JOSE. — MADE CAPTAIN AND PLACED IN COMMAND OF THE STEAM FRIGATE MINNESOTA, AND CONVEYS OUR MINISTER TO CHINA. — CRUISE IN THE CHINESE WATERS. — AT THE BREAKING OUT OF THE REBELLION PLACED OVER THE PHILADELPHIA NAVY YARD. PROPOSES THE CAPTURE OF PORT ROYAL. PLACED IN COMMAND OF THE EXPEDI- TION. EXCITEMENT OF THE COUNTRY ON ITS DEPARTURE. — MYSTERY RE- SPECTING ITS DESTINATION. A TERRIFIC STORM. FOREBODINGS OF THE PEOPLE AND EXULTATION OF THE SOUTH. THE FLEET SCATTERED. SHIP- WRECK AND DEATH. — SINKING OF THE GOVERNOR. — FRIGHTFUL SCENES. — ARRIVAL AT PORT ROYAL. — THE ATTACK. — A THRILLING SPECTACLE. — SUK- EENDER OF THE FORTS. — ENTHUSIASM OVER THE VICTORY. — DUPONt's CON- QUESTS ALONG THE COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA. — HIS STRINGENT BLOCKADE. RAID OF THE REBEL RAMS OF CHARLESTON ON HIS FLEET. — THE MEROEDITA AND KEYSTONE STATE. — COMMANDS THE IRON- CLAD FLEET IN THE GREAT ATTACK ON CHARLESTON.— DESCRIPTION OP THE COMBAT. — DISAPPOINTMENT OVER THE FAILURE. — DUPONT BLAMED FOR NOT RENEWING THE ATTACK. — HIS DEFENCE — COURT-MARTIALS THE CHIEF ENGINEER. — RELIEVED OF HIS COMMAND. ADMIRAL FOOTE PUT IN HIS PLACE. — HIS SUDDEN DEATH. ADMIRAL DAHLGREN SUCCEEDS HIM. — BETIREMENT OF DUPONT. — HIS DEATH. — HIS CHARACTER. DuPONT, as his name indicates, was of French extrac- tion, his father and gi'andfather both having emigrated to this country in 1799. 124 EEAR-ABMIEAL S. F. DUPONT. He was born at Bergen Point, New Jersey, Septem- ber 27th, 1803. The remembrance of the vital aid rendered us by the French nation in our struggle for in- dependence being fresh in our memories, it was not diffi- cult to get a son of one of its recent citizens into our nav}' ; and Samuel, in 1817, at twelve years of age, obtained a midshipman's warrant and sailed on his first cruise in the seventy-four gunship Franklin, under the gallant Com- modore Stewart. Being an apt scholar, he rapidly ac- quired the knowledge of his profession, but, promotion coming slowly in times of peace, he, though steadily rising step by step in rank, did not reach the position of com- mander till 1845. All this time he faithfully fulfilled his duties in whatever waters he sailed. In 1845 he was or- dered to the Pacific to the command of the Congress, and saw much service, during the Mexican war, on the coast of California. Ill 1848, hearing that Lieutenant Heywood, with a small party, was beleaguered in the Mission House at St. Jose by some five hundred Mexicans, he landed a hundred marines and sailors, and boldly advancing against this force, five times as great as his own, scattered them in confusion, and rescued the lieutenant. His gallant " blue jackets " were received by the rescued party with rousing cheers, which they returned with a sailor s heartiness. In 1856 he was made captain, and the next year placed in command of the steam-frigate Minnesota, and ordered to convey Mr. Reed, the American minister, to China. He remained cruising in the Chinese waters for two years, when he returned to the United States, and, on the 1st of January, 1861, was appointed over the Philadelphia navy yard. In the summer, while String- ham was preparing the expedition against Hatteras, the POltT EOYAL EXPEDITION. 125 Secretary of the Navy consulted with him respecting the seizure of some Southern harbor occupying a central posi- tion, which would answer for a depot and place of rendez- vous, etc., for our fleets in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. He recommended Port Royal, a place but little known at the time in the North. His views being adopted, he was put in command of the Atlantic block- ading squadron, and directed to fit out an expedition to capture it. A fleet of fifty sail — transports and all — was assem- bled in Hampton Roads, attached to which was a land force, some twenty thousand strong, under Gen. W. T. Sherman. The Government, having learned wisdom by experience, determined that the destination of this expedi- tion should be kept secret ; and each commander was furnished with sealed orders, which were not to be opened till out to sea. Bad management in some of the minor details delayed the sailing of the fleet later than was intended, and the beautiful month of October slipped away, leaving it still in the waters of the Chesapeake. Dupont had sent ofi* some twenty coal vessels, with direc- tions to rendezvous ofl" Savannah, in order to deceive the enemy as to the real point of attack ; and, at length, on the 24th of October, gave the signal to the fleet to weigh anchor. No such imposing naval force had ever before been seen in our waters,' and the appearance it presented as it moved down the bay, was most grand and striking. When the news was received that it was fairly out to sea, the most intense excitement prevailed throughout the country. The secret of its destination had been well kept ; and hence a mystery enveloped it which served to increase the excitement. Various conjectures were made respecting the point along the coast on wliich the descent 126 REAR-ADMIRAL S. Y. DUPONT. was to be made. Some suggested Wilmington, others Savannah and Charleston ; while but a few guessed its real destination. All were agreed in one thing, however, that it would send consternation through the South. But in a few days, however, the elation of the people was changed into gloomy forebodings, for a storm of unpre- cedented fury swept along the Atlantic coast, carrying wreck and destruction in its path. One might have well been filled with anxiety had the fleet been composed oi thorough-going sea vessels ; but it was known that many of those used as transports were never intended for the sea — being mere river steamers, and even ferry-boats. Loaded to their utmost capacity with stores and ammuni- tion, and precious lives, how could they outride such a hurricane ? ]\Ieii in Washington turned pale as they heard, hour after hour, the heavy storm surging by, and it beo:an to look as thouo;h God's frown was on the enter- prise. The Southern papers overflowed with exultation and thanksgiving, and every one called to mind the Spanish Armada, whose strength and pride were humbled by just such a storm, and left a helpless wreck on the waters. Rumors of wreck and disaster came at intervals from along the coast ; but it was many days before any defin- ite information was received. The fleet took the storm on the most dangerous part of our coast — ofl* Cajje Hatteras — and was scattered by it like autumn leaves in a gale. From four o'clock, Fri- day morning, till midnight, the tempest was at its height. Signal lights were hoisted after dark in the rigging of the vessels, which rose and fell like fireflies along the heaving deep. Now up and now down, as the laboring ships reeled from the watery summits to the yawning gulfs be- A FEAEFUL STOEM. 127 low ; they one moment gleamed dimly through the blind- ing storm and rain, that fell in torrents, and then disap- peared, as if quenched for ever, in the tumultuous billows. Some of the vessels soon became unmanageable, others endeavored to lay-to, and all were fearful, even could they outride the hurricane, that they would be dashed against each other in the darkness. The wind howled and shrieked through the rigging, and the thousands of sol- diers, unaccustomed to the sea, stood appalled at the might and terror of the angry elements. The Winfield Scott, loaded with nearly five hundred troops, labored fearfully, and soon sprung a leak. Hoisting signals of distress, she cut away her masts. This failing "to relieve her, she tumbled overboard her three rifled cannon. Next, the tents, equipments, and muskets were thrown into the sea, while the pumps were kept vigorously at work. The Bienville saAv her signal of distress and hove-to. It did not seem possible that a small boat could live a moment in such a sea, and Captain Steed- man, mi^villing to order any of his crew to attempt the perilous task of carrying a hawser to her, shouted, "Who will volunteer to save the "Winfield Scott?" "I," "I," replied a score of brave sailors, and three boats were at once lowered, and the next moment were riding like cockle-shells on the careering waves. Two were swamped, but the lives of the crew saved. At lensth the two ves- sels drifted too;ether, with a crash. Takino- advantao-e of the collision, fifty soldiers leaped aboard the Bienville — some fell between, and, with a shriek, disappeared in the boiling waters. Three were caught between the grinding timbers, and, crushed out of the form of humanity, dropped silently into the deep. The chief-engineer and his assistants, panic-stricken, also escaped over the sides 128 RE AE- ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. of the vessel while in contact with the Bienville. The remaining soldiers were now wild with terror ; but the captain of the vessel, seeing the dastardly escape of the en- gineer, came on board, and, putting him in irons, took him and the crew back. It was midnight, and five feet of water were in the hold, and terror and death were on every side. But the return of the captain, with the engineer and crew, restored order, and the soldiers became calm and steady again. The storm at length began to abate, when they then gained on the leak, and the vessel was saved. The crew of the transport Peerless were taken from her in a sinking condition ; but the steamer Governor, with the Marine battalion on board, was soon left help- less and sinking. Under the blows of the heavy seas the brace-chains of the smoke-stack parted, and it went overboard ; but breaking three feet above the hurricane- deck, a little steam could be kept up. Then the steam- pipe burst, while the frail vessel was leaking badly. At dark a vessel was seen in the distance, and a rocket was sent up through the storm, asking for help. An answer- ing signal flashed out, filling every heart with hope. But she was unable to render any assistance, and kept on her way. Rocket after rocket was now sent up in the darkness — mute cries of distress, till all were gone — and then the soldiers were ordered to keep up a fire of musketry ; but the vollies scarcely made a sound in the louder tumult of the wind and waves. A hundred men were kept at the pumps, others held on to the braces, that threatened to part every moment, and thus the fearful night wore away. As daylight broke slowly over the wild and stormy waste, two vessels were descried off the starboard bow. One, the Isaac Smith, commanded by Lieut Nicholson, "WEEOK or THE GOVEENOR. 129 saw the signal of distress and stood towards her. At ten o'clock the former hailed, sa3'ing he would take off the crew. By great exertion a haAvser was got on board ; but through some carelessness was soon lost and dragged in the water. The Smith then stood off, and the Young Rover came up, the captain of which said he would stand by them to the last, which was answered by a loud cheer from the deck of the Governor. The Smith soon came back, and another hawser was got aboard, but again parted. All this while the water was rapidly gaining on the vessel, and every moment she threatened to go do-vNTi with all on board. The Young Rover, seeing a frigate in sight, stood toward her with a signal of distress. It proved to be the Sabine, Capt. Ringgold, who soon was within hail, giving the comforting assurance that he would take all on board. But night was now coming on again, and it was not until eight or nine o'clock that her stern could be brought near enough to the bow of the Sa- bine to allow a boom to be rigged out, along which thirty were "whipped" aboard, when hawsers and cables parted, under the tremendous plunges of the vessels. Ringgold now determined to get alongside, hazardous as the at- tempt was. It seemed impossible to do this without com- mg in collision with the Governor with a force that would crush her like an egg-shell. It was, however, done ; though the Sabine had twenty feet of her hurricane-deck carried away by the former. Forty were then got on board, while one, falling between the vessels, was crushed to death. The Sabine now started ahead, determined to tow the disabled vessel till mornino-. The hearts of those left on board sunk at the prospect. There were three feet of water in the hold, and rapidly gaining; and the sea running mountains high. That she could be kept 130 EEAR- ADMIRAL S. F. DUPOJ^T. afloat till morning seemed hardly possible. But every thing- movable was thrown overboard, and the water casks started to lighten the ship ; so that, though slowly settling, she floated nobly through the rest of the night. At day- break, the boats of the Sabine put off to her relief, though a fearful sea was ruiniing at the time. They dared not approach the guards of the vessels lest they should be swamped, and so lay off and called on the soldiers and crew to jump overboard. It was a fearful alternative ; but no other was left. The ranks were kept in military order, and one soldier after another stepped out as he was or- dered and leaped into the sea, and was hauled aboard the boats. Thus all were saved, with the exception of one corporal and six privates, who left the ranks in their fright, and were lost. The hawser was then cast loose, and the vessel wallowed for a short time heavily in the sea, and then with a heavy lurch went to the bottom. At length the gale spent its fury, and the scattered vessels, some far out to sea, resumed their course, and, by Sabbath evening, fourteen of them were in sight of each other, though the flag-ship Wabash was nowhere to be seen. On Monday these vessels arrived off Port Royal, and at noon t: e Wabash hove in sight, with the Susquehan- nah — which Dupont had taken from blockading duty off Charleston harbor — and some thirty-six more of the fleet and the gunboats. This and the next day, while the gunboats were feel- ing their way up the channel and marking it out for the passage of the larger vessels, three rebel gunboats came down and attacked them, but were easil\' driven off. Preparations were now made to land the troops ; but on consultation it was deemed best, for several reasons, that ATTACK ON PORT ROYAL. 131 the navy should first attack alone. The following clay, Wednesday, was spent in completing preparations, and every thing got ready for action in the morning. The two islands of Hilton Head and Bay Point guard the entrance of Port Royal Sound and are nearly three miles apart. On the extreme point of these two islands two fortifications had been erected — Fort Walker, on Hilton Head, mounting twenty-three guns ; and Fort Beauregard, on Bay Point, mounting fifteen guns There was, besides, a mortar battery, mounting four guns. Thursday morning dawned calm and beautiful, and the waters of the bay flashed like a mirror in the early moonlight. At nine o'clock the signal from the Wabash to get under way was run up, and thirteen vessels, the Wabash leading, moved majestically oft" toward the bat- teries. Dupont could get none of his large frigates up, and the battle was to be fought by the Wabash, Susque- hanna, Mohican, Seminole, Pawnee, Unadilla, Pembina, Bienville, Seneca, Curlew, Penguin, Ottawa, and Van- dalia. In single file, with ports open and bristling with heavy guns, these vessels swept rapidly up toward Fort Walker, presenting a majestic spectacle. Beyond the entrance of the harbor lay the little rebel fleet, under command of Tatnall, formerly of our navy, -and, still far- ther in, a fleet of steamers loaded with spectators, that had come down from Charleston to witness the destruc- tion of the Yankee fleet. Dupont, in the Wabash, led the imposing column, and every eye watched Avith the in- tensest interest his movements, as he steadily approached the low silent structure on Hilton Head. As he came near, it poured in a tremendous fire, but Dupont kept on in dead silence, till the second steamer came abreast, when the three forward vessels opened at once with their 132 EEAK-ADMIKAL S. F. DUPONT. powerful broadsides, and the shot and shell from seventy- five guns fell in one wild crash on the fort. Dupont had determined to fight the forts Avhile in motion, so as not to let his wooden vessels be stationary targets for the enemy's fire ; and, having delivered his broadsides, moved on. Each vessel as it came opposite the fort delivered its broadside, so that there was no cessation to t»he fire till the whole had passed. Having got beyond the fort, Dupont wheeled, still followed by the vessels in single file, and poured his fire into Fort Beauregard. Thus these thirteen vessels moved in the form of a flat letter O, flaming and thunder- ing all the w^hile wdth a power and terror indescribable. An eighty-pound rifle ball went clean through the main- mast of the Wabash, making an ugly hole. Another pierced her after-magazine, letting the water into it, yet she still kept on her sublime way, proudly leading the long file of flaming ships. Captain Rogers, acting as aid to Du- pont, says : " The AV abash was a destroying angel — hug- ging the shore ; calling the soundings with cold indiffer- ence ; slowing the engine so as only to give steerage way ; signalling the vessels their various evolutions ; and at the same time raining shell, as with target practice, too fast to count. Shell fell in the fort, not twenty-eight in a minute, but as fast as a horse's feet beat the ground in a gallop. The resistance was heroic, but what could flesh and blood do against such a fire ? 1 watched two men particularly, in red shirts ; I saw them seated at • the muzzle of a gun, apparently waiting, exhausted, for more ammunition. They were so still that I doubted whether they were men. This terrible fire fell around them — I saw them move, and I knew they were men. They loaded the gun — a shell burst near them, and they dropped, doubtless blown to atoms," THE VICTOEY. 133 In the mean time the gunboats, having found that in a cove they could get an enfilading fire on Hilton Head, took up their position there, and rendered good service. A little after noon the sional "cease firino;" was made fi'om the flag-ship, and the steamers swept beyond the reach of the batteries to rest the men and give them some refreshment before returning to their terribly exhausting work. The gunboats, however, from their enfilading position, kept up a galling fire. About three o'clock, just as the vessels were getting ready for action again, the rebel flag was struck The firing ceased, and Captain Rogers jumped into a boat lowered from the flag-ship, and rowed swiftl}' toward the shore. He found the works deserted, the ramparts desolate, and planted the stars and stripes upon them. When the thousands on board the fleet, who for five long hours had watched the terrible conflict, saw our flag go up, the excitement was unbounded. ^lany of the officers wept like children, but a wild enthusiasm over- rode every other feeling, and from ship to ship, doAvn the whole mighty fleet, there went up a cheer such as never before stirred the placid waters of that bay, ^vhile the various bands struck up "The Star-spangled Banner,*" making the air ring with the stirring strains. Upon see- ing this fort abandoned, the garrison of the other left also and fled inland. A portion of the troo|)s were now landed, and Gen- eral Sherman assumed command of the place, and issued a proclamation to the people of the State of South Caro- lina. This was General T. W. Sherman, not W. T. Sherman, the hero of Atlanta. Savannah could proba- bly have been taken at this time, had he marched 134 EEAK-ADMIRAT S. F. DUPONT, promptly forward, such was the terror occasi Dried by this victory of Dupont. His orders, however, were to fortify himself there, build piers, docks, &c., and fit up the port for a naval depot. Port Koyal, from this time through the Avar, sus- tained a prominent position in all our naval movements along the Atlantic coast. The victory created the wildest enthusiasm through- out the North. The national flag had been planted on the traitorous soil of South Carolina, never to be dis- placed till every stronghold of the State was in our pos- session. Dupont at once became the hero of the day. Naval men were especially delighted. Our ill-successes on land thus far had been a cause of deep mortification, and this first great essay of the navy recalled to mind the halo of glory it hung round the nation during the first year of the second war with England, when successive defeats on land made the people's cheeks crimson with shame. Whenever one met a naval man the eye of the latter brightened, and with a proud shake of the head he would say, " I told you how it would be when the ' blue jackets' got a chance." "Ah! we are all sure of the navy," was the common remark. It is said that Com- modore Barron, then a prisoner in Fort Warren, when he read a description of the fight, and how gallantly his old ship, the AYabash, bore herself, forgot he was a rebel prisoner, and exclaimed, " By heavens ! our navy can beat the world." Dupont's career was now one of continued success along the coast. Fort Clinch surrendered — the first na- tional fort reclaimed. Captain Drayton, sending a boat's crew on shore to raise the American flag, pushed on to Old Fernandina, where a white flag was displayed. Short- GUNBOATS AGAINST RAILEOAD TRAINS. 135 ly after, and when passing New Fernandina, a few rifle- shots were fired from some bushes, and a railroad train was perceived jnst starting. As it was naturally supposed to contain soldiers escaping, he directed Lieutenant-Command- ing Stevens to try and stop it ; and the road passing for some distance near the river, "and we going at full speed, there was an opportunity of firing several shots at the two locomotives attached to the train, which, however, did not prevent its escape across the railroad bridge, which is four miles from the town, and it was soon lost in the woods on the other side. We afterwards found on the track the bodies of two men who had been killed by our shots, one of whom was a soldier ; and the report was that ex-Senator Yulee was on board one of the cars, and had also been struck, but this, I think, was a mistake." Thus was presented the novel spectacle of a vessel-of- war attacking a railroad train. Dupont also visited the coast of Florida, and captured St. Augustine, keeping the whole Southern seaboard in a state of alarm. The slaves crowded to the })rotection of his flag, and were left sole occupants of their late masters' plantations. The waters of Warsaw and Ossibaw Sounds, Bruns- wick, Darien, and other places, owned the sway of his flag, and the whole coast of Georgia was held by his squad- ron. At the siege of Pulaski, one of the batteries on shore was under the command of the ofiicers and crew of the Wabash. He also seized Stone Inlet and River^ and thus secured a base of operations against Charleston, and maintained the blockade with a rigor not before exhibited, and did all a man could do with the limited means in his power. In 1862 he was made one of the nine active rear- 136 REAR-ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. admirals. In January of the next year occurred the fa- mous raid of two rebel rams on his blockading squadron off Charleston Harbor, As so many conflicting statements have been given of this affair, we insert the accounts of the tw^o commanders, Avhose vessels alone were seriously injured. The captain of the Mercedita says, under date of the last day of January : Sir: I have to report tliat, at 4.25 this morning, two h'on-clad rams, from Charleston, in the obscurity of a thick haze, and the moon having just set, succeeded in passing the bar, near ship channel, unperceived by the squad- ron, and made an attack upon this ship, being first encountered. Particular vigilance was exhibited by officers and men in expedition of vessels to run the blockade. At 3 A. M., we had slipped cable and overhauled a troop steamer, running for the channel by mistake. At 4, 1 laid down. Lieut. Commander Abbott was on deck giving orders to Acting Master Dwyer about recovering the anchor, wlien they saw a smoke and the faint appearance of a vessel close at hand. I heard them exclaim, " She has black smoke ; " " watch, man the guns," " spring the rattle," " call all hands to quarters." Mr. Dwyer came to the cabin door, telling me a steamboat was close aboard. I was then in the act of getting my pea-jacket, and slipped it on as I followed him out; jumped to poop ladder, saw smoke and a low boat, apparently a tug, although I thought it might be a little propeller for the squadron. I sang out, " Train your guns right on him, and be ready to fire as soon as I order." I hailed, " Steamer ahoy ! Steer clear of us and heave-to. What steimer is that ? " Then ordered my men, " Fire on him." Told him, " You will be into us. What steamer is that ? " His answer to first or sec- ond hail was, " Hallo ! " The other replies were indistinct, either by inten- tion or from being spoken inside of his mail armor, until in the act of striking us with his prow, when he said, "This is the Confederate States steam ram." I repeated the order, '' Fire ! fire ! " but no gun CDuld be trained on him, as he approached on the quarter, struck us just abaft onr aforemost 32-pounder gun, and fired a heavy rifle through us diagonally, penetrating the starboard side through our Normandy condenser, the steam-drum of port boiler, and exploding against port side of ship, blowing a hole in its exit some four or five feet square. The vessel was instantly filled and enveloped with steam. Eeports were brought to me, "Shot througli both boilers," "fires put out by steam and water," " gunner and one man killed, and a number of men fatally scalded, water over fire-room floor, vessel sinking fast." "The ram has cut RAID OF THE EAMS. IST us through at and below water-line on one side, and the shell has burst at the other almost at water-edge." After the ram struck, she swung round under our starboard counter, her prow touching, and hailed, '• Surrender, or I'll sink you! Do you surren- der ? " And after receiving reports, I nnswered, " I can make no resistance ; my boiler is destroyed." " Then, do you surrender? " I said, " Yes ; " hav- ing found my moving power destroyed, and that I could bring nothing to bear but muskets against his shot-proof coating. He hailed several times to- send a boat, and threatened to fire again. After some delay, a boat was lowered, and Lieut. Commander Abbott asked if he should go in her, aud asked for orders what to say. 1 told him to see what they demanded, and to tell him the condition we were in. He proceeded aboard, and, according to their demand, gave his parole on behalf of himself and all the oflScers and crew. His report accompanies this. The ram having been detained half an hour or more, ran out for steamer Keystone State, which vessel and three others we had ti'ied to alarm by lights. We saw a shell explode as it hit the ram, without injuring her. Saw the Keystone State was hit several times, and saw the smoke and steam pouring from her. The firing then receded to northward aud east- ward, and was preity brisk at the head of the line. The Keystone State, commanded by Le Hoy, was also disabled, and claimed as a prize by the rebels. The details of the fight are thus given by the commander : Between four and five a. m., 31st January, 1868, a gun was fired near, and supposed to be the Mercedita, and some lights were seen. Soon after disco veered a dark object a little ahead of her, and then a column of black smoke was noticed rising from the vessel, but I supposed was either a tug out from Charleston or some stranger passing along. Another column of black smoke was seen more to the north and east of the Mercedita. My suspicions aroused, 1 ordered the forward rifle trained upon the first steamer, which was standing toward this ship, also other guns to be ready. Gave notice to the engineer of the watch to be ready to move, and, the steamers drawing nearer, ordered the cable slipped, and enough motion to get com- mand of the ship. By this time the stranger was abreast the starboard waist. On hailing, " What steamer is that? " the reply was, "Hallo! " fol- lowed by some words that were unintelligible. Satisfied, from tlie view ob- tained through my night glasses, that the steamer was a ram, I ordered the starboard bow gun fired at her, which was at once responded to by a shot from the stranger, when I ordered the starboard battery fired as soon as the guns could be brought to bear, putting the helm aport. On heading to the northward and eastward, discovered a ram on either quarter. Soou after 138 EEAK-ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. the first gnn, fire was reported forward below. After extinguishing ft, fire was again reported in the same place, when the ship was kept off seaward to enable us to put out the fire and get things in a condition to attack the enemy. Ordered full steam, and about daylight discovered black smoke and stood for it, for the purpose of running her down, exchanging shots rapidly with her, striking her repeatedly, hut making no Impression, while every shot froui her was striking us. About 6.17 a.m., a shell, entering on the port side, forward of the forward guard, destroyed the steam chimneys, filling aU the forward part of the ship with steam. The port boiler emptied of its con- tents, the ship gave a heel to starboard, nearly down to the guard, and the water from the boiler, and two shot-holes under water, led to the impression the ship was filling and sinking, a foot and a half water being repurted in the hold. Owing to the steam, men were unable to get supplies of ammuni- tion from forward. Ordered all boats ready for lowering. Signal-books thrown overboard, also some small arms. The ram being so near, and the ship helpless, and the men being slaughtered by almost every discharge of the enemy, I ordered the colors to be hauled down, but finding the enemy were still firing upon us, directed the colors to be rehoisted and resume our fire from the after-battery. Now the enemy, either injured, or to avoid the squadron approaching, sheered off towards the harbor, exchanging shots with the Housatonic, which vessel was in chase. Put fore-and-aft sail on the ship, sent yards aloft and bent sails ; there being no wind, drifted along to the north and east, when the Memphis took us in tow. Our surgeon being killed, the surgeon of the Memphis came on board. Having accomplished this much, the rams returned to the harbor. Beauregard issued a proclama- tion declaring the blockade destroyed, and that foreign governments should so regard it. The pompous manifesto was not regarded by Dupont, and he continued the blockade. Many blockade runners were captured by Dupont du- ring the year, and he had the entire confidence of the Navy Department and the people. The successful fight of the Monitor with the Merri- mac threatened an entire revolution in maritime conflicts, especially in harbor warfare, and Secretary Welles imme- diately set about having a fleet of these vessels made, which he believed would put every port on the coast in our possession. In addition to these, a powerful iron-clad, the Ironsides, was built, and, in the spring of 1863, was ready for service. When the fleet was completed, it was ATTACK ON CHARLESTON. 139 determined the first essay of its strength should be against Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. Of its sue- cess no one seemed to entertain a doubt, for the impene- trability of these vessels to shot was assumed, while it was believed that no mason- work ever built by man could long withstand the tremendous weight of metal they could hurl from their monster guns, the like of which had never before been used on ships of war. This fleet was com- posed of nine vessels, and placed under the command of Admiral Lhipont. Having rendezvoused in Port Koyal, he sailed from there on the 1st of April, 1863, to try the great experi- ment of the century, and the next day arrived at the embouchure of the Edisto river. The water over Charles- ton bar not being of sufficient depth in ordinary times to float them, the heavy spring tides of April, which gave a foot more of water, was selected for the passage of the vessels. On Sunday morning at daybreak the fleet moved out to sea, and in a few hours lay ofi* Charleston harbor. The next day Dupont transferred his flag to the Ironsides, and the fleet, taking the flood-tide, passed safely over the bar, and came to anchor inside. The wooden vessels lay outside as a reserve. The rebels hav- ing destroyed all the old land-marks by which pilots were guided, the channel had to be buoyed out, which was suc- cessfully done by Mr. Boutelle of the Coast Sui-vey. But just as everything was ready, a thick haze settled down over the water, obscuring the range, so that the attack had to be postponed. On the 7th, however, a gentle northerly breeze dissipated the mist, and the bay and forts and distant city lay basking in the clear sunshine. Just two years before, this month, the national flag was hauled down on Fort Sumter, and now it was universally be- 140 REAE- ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. lieved that its anniversary day would be celebrated by salutes from national cannon from the same spot and to the same flao;. The officers of the navy, however, were not so sanguine. Dupont, like Farragut, had not unbounded fliith in iron clads, least of all in unwieldy monitors. As through his glass he surveyed the work before him, he saw that his little fleet was to be put into a crucible to which no ves- sels before had ever been subjected. Steeples and roofs, in the far background, and the neio-hborino; shores, were lined with sjjectators, assembled to witness the Titanic struggle. As Duponf s eye swept around that bristling harbor, it was cannon here, and there, and everywhere. In front, lay Sullivan''s Island to the right, and Morris Island on the left, the two points curving in towards each other till they approached within a mile. Midway in the channel between them, built on an artificial island, stood Fort Sumter. Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, was opposite Sumter, while, above and below, batteries were erected on every available point. On the left, opposite this central fortress, stood battery Bee, on Cummings- Point, while beyond, should the vessels ever get there, battery succeeded battery, clear up to the city, three miles distant. Stretching down towards the fleet were other batteries on Morris Island, and among them Fort Wag- ner. The sio;ht was enouo;h to daunt the stoutest heart, for uncounted cannon lay shotted and aimed, ready to open on that little fleet. It was Dupont's purpose to pass as quickly as possible up the channel, and get to the west and northwest of Fort Sumter, which was known to be less impregnable than the front face. That there would be great difficulty in reaching this desirable point was well known, for it had been ascertained that torpe- THE FIGHT. 141 does, and all sorts of obstacles which engineering skill could invent, had been sunk in the channel opposite the fort. To remove these Ericsson had invented a machine which was to be fastened to the bow of the leading vessel, and pushed up amid this net of obstructions, exploding and pulling up whatever might arrest the passage of the ships. At noon, the signal from the flag ship to move to the attack was seen, and the little fleet, looking like mere rafts on the water, steamed slowly forward. There was none of the pomp or splendor of grand old frigates, tower- ing proudly over the deep, in these low black monitors, creeping slowly to the conflict. It was four miles to Fort Sumter, and the batteries of Morris Island commanded the whole distance. The vessels had advanced but a short distance before the Weehawken, leading the way with the strange machine in front, stoj^ped, having got tangled up with the un- wieldy, novel thing. It took an hour to free herself, and then the fleet moved on again. The spectators on shore gazed with breathless interest on the spectacle, the music in Fort Samter ceased, and the rapid roll of the drum was heard beating to quarters, which called every gunner to his place. The fleet kept steadily on till opposite Fort Wag- ner, where Dupont expected to meet the first blow of the hurricane; but all its guns kept motionless and still in their places, and only curious eyes greeted the advancing vessels. Next they floated by Battery Bee, but silence like death rei<2:ned over the low works. What does all this mean ? This silence is ominous, and shows a confi- dence in something yet to come that portends no good. Still the fleet kept on ; but just as the Weehawken was rounding-to, to make the entrance of the harbor, she came 142 REAR- ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. within the circle of fire from Forts Sumter and Moultrie Then the crater opened from the top of Sumter, and down came a storm of shot and shell. Moultrie joined in, and thunder answered thunder with awful rapidity. The heavy metal fell like hailstones on the Weehawken ; but she kept steadily on towards her assigned position, followed by the whole fleet. But suddenly she stopped in the very vortex of the fire. She had run upon a haw- ser stretched from Sumter to Moultrie, buoyed up on casks, and strung with nets, cables, and torpedoes. Her propeller, getting entangled in these, became unmanage- able, and she drifted helpless through the wild hurricane. The other vessels, as they come up, see the danger, and sheer off to try the channel on the other side of the fort. But here a row of piles is encountered, rising ten feet out of the water — while farther up, the channel is crossed and recrossed with obstructions, backed by three iron-clads, that can hold those vessels under a fire that nothing that ever floated could survive. To add to the perplexity, the Ironsides, in the heavy tide, suddenly refused to obey her rudder, and she drifted towards Fort Moultrie, get- ting foul of the Catskill and Nantucket in her passage. The plan of the battle was now irrecoverably gone, and Dupont signalled to the fleet to disregard his move- ments. It was therefore every one for himself; and then was seen what splendid commanders Dupont had to sec- ond him in this unprecedented struggle. Five batteries were in full play, and nearly three hundred cannon ot the heaviest metal were trained on those monitors, that now had only the simple problem to solve — whether they can knock Fort Sumter to pieces with their enormous gun&, before they are carried to the bottom under the tons of metal that fall with a ceaseless crash upon them. A FEARFUL CONFLICT. 143 The gallant Rhind, left to act as lie pleased, lays the Keokuk boldly alongside of the fort as though it were a ship, and with his little monitor makes a broadside en- o-ao;ement of it Close behind him comes Rodo-ers in the DO O Catskill, and, following hard after, the heroic Worden in the Montauk. A little farther off lie the other vessels, all seeking to sound the full terrors of this awful abyss of fire. Within rifle-shot distance of the nearest batteries, they stand and hurl against them their ponderous shells. The gunners, stripped to their waists, and begrimed with powder and smoke, work their monster guns with a cool- ness and rapidity that tells fearfully on the solid face of Sumter. Shot weighing four hundred and twenty pounds strike like heaven's own thunderbolts the trem- bling structure, but they are nothing to the answering shots that fall faster than the forge's hammer on their sides. The din of this heavy metal striking and bursting on every side is infernal, and the deafening explosions shake land and sea. It seems one vast volcano, be- fore which everything must be engulfed. Nothing built with mortal hands could long live there, and in thirty minutes the Keokuk came limping out of the fire, fast settling in the waters. One of the port shutters of the flagship was shot a^vay, exposing her gun deck, while a red-hot shot buried itself in her wooden bows. The Nahant was soon disfigured with thirty wounds. The Passaic was in the same plight, with her turret so knocked to pieces that it could not revolve. The Nan- tucket was reduced to one gun, while the Catskill had been pierced by a rifled shot. Five of the new iron clads must now be reckoned out of the ti<2;ht. But what thirty-two guns, (the total armament of this fleet,) against those encircling batteries could do had been done, and 144 BEAR- ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. now, to put only fifteen or sixteen against them, waa downrio;ht madness. Besides, night was comino^ on, and so Dupont wisely signalled the fleet to retire. During the evening, the commanders of the iron-clads came on board the flagship, and Dupont, after a ftill report of the condition of the vessels, decided that it would be impossible to take Charleston with them alone. From the following statement, made by him to the War Department, the folly of renewing the attempt with the same vessels is so apparent, that it is a matter of wonder that aay one could be found so destitute of com- mon judgment as to uphold it : " No ship had been exposed to the severest fire of the enemy over forty minutes, and yet, in that brief period, as the Department will perceive, by the detailed reports of the commanding officers, five of the iron-clads were wholly or partially disabled ; disabled, too (as the ob- structions could not be passed), in that which was most essential to our success — I mean, in their armament, or power of inflicting injury by their guns. " Commander Kliind, in the Keokuk, had only been able to fire three times during the short period he was ex- posed to the guns of the enemy, and was obliged to with- draw from action to prevent his vessel from sinking, which event occurred on the followino; mornino-. " The Nahant, Commander Downes, was most seriously damaged, her turret being so jammed as effectually to pre- vent its turning ; many of the bolts of both turret and pilot-house were broken, and the latter became nearly untenable, in consequence of the nuts and ends flying across it. " Captain P. Drayton, in the Passaic, after the fourth fire from her 11-inch gun, was unable to use it again HIS REPORT. 145 during the action ; and his turret also became jammed, though he was, after some delay, enabled to get it in mo- tion again. " Commander Ammen, of the Patapsco, lost the use of his rifled gun after the fifth fire, owing to the carrying away of the forward-cap square bolts. On the Nantucket, Commander Fairfax reports that, after the third shot from the 15-inch gun, the port stopper became jammed, several shot striking very near the port, and driving in the plates, preventing the further use of that gun during the action. " The other iron-clads, though struck many times se- verely, were still able to use their guns, but I am convinced that, in all probability, in another thirty minutes they would have been likewise disabled. " Any attempt to pass through the obstructions I have referred to would have entangled the vessels, and held them under the most severe fire of heavy ordnance that ^has ever been delivered ; and w^hile it is barely possible that some vessels might have forced their way through, it would only have been to be again impeded by fresh and more formidable obstructions, and to encounter other pow^erful batteries, with which the whole harbor of Charleston had been lined. '' I had hoped that the endurance of the iron-clads would liave enabled them to have borne any weight of fire to which they might have been exposed; but when I found that so large a portion of them were wholly or one- half disabled, by less than an hours engagement, before attempting to remove (overcome) the obstructions, or test- ing the power of the torpedoes, I was convinced that per- sistence in the attack would only result in the loss of the greater portion of the iron-clad fleet, and in leaving many 10 146 EEAE-ADIVnRAL S. F. DUPONT. of them inside the harbor, to fall into the hands of the enemy. " The slowness of our fire, and our inability to occupy any battery that we might silence, or to prevent its being restored under cover of night, were difficulties of the gravest character, and, until the outer forts should have been taken, the army could not enter the harbor or afford me any assistance.'* So unequal was the contest, which lasted less than forty minutes, that the entire fleet of iron-clatls fired only one hundred and thirty-nine shots, " though, during that same period, Dupont says the " enemy poured upon us an incessant storm of round-shot and shell, rifled projectiles of all descriptions, and red-hot shot." The whole affair was so palpable and complete a fail- ure, that the Department dared not directly blame Du- pont for not succeeding. Still, reluctant to acknowledge itself any way in fault, it reproached him for not saying beforehand, how impossible success was. The simple truth is, the Secretary of the Navy, as well as the public gen- erally, had come to have such a high opinion of the invul- nerability of the iron-clads, that they considered Charles- ton as virtually ours, the moment the attack commenced. But, instead of complete success, this iron-clad fleet, the first ever set afloat and tested, effected absolutely nothing. It was too mortifying to confess the fact, without put- ting the blame on some one, and so it was placed on the commander, Dupont. He felt this keenly, and indignant- ly denounced the injustice of it. A correspondent of the Baltimore American published such a false statement of the whole matter in that paper, that Dupont felt bound, in justice to his officers as well as to himself, to notice it, which he did in a lengthy review. In a clear, concise HIS DEFENCE. 147 statement of facts, he fixed the charge of deliberate false- hood against the writer, leaving no doubt as to the motive that instigated the base attack. In conclusion he says, "I now take leave of this, the most odious subject that I ever had occasion to notice. Some other assertions of Mr. Fulton, which might be flatly contradicted, I have not discussed, nor have I thought it worth while to con- sider his opinions upon purely professional points. To undergo the fire of the enemy and the stabs of an assas- sin of character, at one and the same time, is too much for my philosophy ; and, for fui'ther protection against as- saults of the latter kind, I look for and expect the coun- tenance of the Department." Chief-Engineer Stimers joined in the attack on Du- pont, and, in the steamer Arago, on which he was a passenger on his wa}' North, indulged in such unwar- rantable language towards his commander, that the latter brought charges against him, and he was court-martialled. Though no definite result was reached, the public has long since rendered its verdict in the matter. A lengthy correspondence also followed between Dupont and the Secretary of the Navy, and, although the latter avoided all direct accusation, the tone of his letters wounded the chivalrous old Admiral, who felt that he was beinjr made the scapegoat of other men's sins. He felt espe- cially the censure pronounced against him, some time afterwards, for allowing the guns of the sunken Keokuk to fall into the hands of the rebels, for which he was in no wise to blame ; and, said in a letter to the Secretary of the Navy : " Having indulged the hope that my command, covering a period of twenty-one months afloat, had not been without results, I was not prepared for a contin- 148 REAR-ADAURAL S. F. DUPONT. uance of that censure from the Department which has characterized its letters to me since monitors failed to take Charleston. " I can only add now, that, to an officer of my temper- ament — whose sole aim has been to do his whole duty, and who has passed through forty-seven years of service without a word of reproof^ — these censures of the Navy Department would be keenly felt if I did not know they were wholly undeserved." This was a little evasive ; for " he did feel them keenly, although the}- were undeserved." The injustice stung him, against which there was no redress. Brave and chivalrous himself as a knight of the olden time, this deliberate infliction of wrong by others, in order to shield themselves, wounded most deeply his sensitive nature. It ended — as all such affairs must end — in the resig;- nation or removal of the commander, and the ultimate condemnation and exposure of those who are really the guilty parties. In June, Dupont was relieved from his command, and Admiral Foote ordered to take his place. The lat- ter, however, was taken sick in New York, just as he was about to leave for his destination, and died. After the failure to take Charleston with the iron- clads, General Hunter, who was in command of the land forces operating against the city, forwarded the most se- rious complaints against Dupont, for not cooperating with him, as he desired, in his contemplated movements to take the place. He declares that he has " exercised patience with the Admiral," asks to be liberated from the order to cooperate with the navy, &c., &c., and he would raise colored regimeitts — take Charleston — in fact, electrify THE IRON-CLAD "YAZOO." Built at Philadelphia. 2 guns, light draught. There were twenty vessels of this class, carrying X from one to two guns, 614 tons each. THE IRON-CLAD BATTERY "ONONDAGA." Built at Greenpoint, L. I., 18G3. 4 guns, 1250 tons; Length 228 feet, breadth 50 feet. HIS PERSONAL APPEARAITCE. 149 the nation. His after career shows how much he prob- ably would have accomplished. The sudden death of Admiral Foote compelled the De- partment to reverse its order of removal, and to direct Dupont to resume his command. During the short inter- val that elapsed before he was succeeded by Admiral Dahlgren, he sent the Weehawken and Nahant down to Warsaw Sound to look after the rebel ram Atlanta, which was reported to be a most formidable vessel. They succeeded in capturing her on the 17th of June. The next month, Dupont returned to Delaware, and was no more afloat during the war. Dupont was a superb man physically ; of grand and imposing presence, he trod the deck of his battle-ship like one of Nature's noblemen. Even those accustomed to see men of distinguished personal appearance in va- rious parts of the world, were struck with the majesty and grandeur of his mien. A gentleman of the old school, or rather a knight of the olden time, his bearing was that of dignified courtesy to all, and impressed every one that approached him with profound respect. Chiv- alrous in his own feelings, he was incapable of wound- ing those of others, while he was keenly sensitive to any censure upon his conduct. Insensible to fear, he never shrunk from encountering any danger, while he was too lofty and noble to rush into it to obtain mere notoriety. Master of his profession, he knew his duty better than the Department that censured him, and experienced his greatest humiliation and suffering in performing it. Proud as he was sensitive, he could not brook unmerited rebuke. Irritated at his manly independence, the Gov- ernment lost one of its best officers by gratifying its spleen, and under the pretence of maintaining its dig- 150 EEAE- ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. nity. Dupont's name, however, will live long after those who [)ersecuted "him are consigned to forgetful- ness, or to an immortality worse than oblivion. He was retired July 5th, 1863. He Avas the author of sev- eral papers on naval matters, notably one on floating batteries. He died in Philadelphia, June 23d, 1865, at the age of sixty-seven. CHAPTER VI. REAR-ADMIRAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. HIS NATITITT, ANCESTRY, AND EARLY EDUCATION. — ENTERS THE NAVY. — FIRST CRUISE. — SECOND CRUISE, UNDER COMMODORE HULL. THIRD CRUISE TO THE WEST INDIES. — A GREAT CHANGE IN HIS CHARACTER. — DEDICATES HIS LIFE TO GOD. — VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. — BECOMES THE CHAM- PION OF THE PERSECUTED MISSIONARIES OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. — APPOINTED OVER THE NAVAL ASYLUM OF PHILADELPHIA. — GETS THE IN- MATES TO GIVE UP THEIR GROG. — CRUISE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. — PREACHES TO THE SAILORS. LAID UP WITH SORE EYES. — COMMANDS THE SLOOP OF WAR PORTSMOUTH, ON THE EAST INDIA STATION. — BOMBARDS CHINESE FORTS. — COMMANDS THE BROOKLYN NAVY YARD ON THE BREAK- ING OUT OF THE REBELLION. — SENT WEST TO ORGANIZE A FLOTILLA ON THE MISSISSIPPI. — CAPTURES FORT HENRY. — ATTACK ON FORT DONALD- SON. — IS WOUNDED. SUBSEQUENT OPERATIONS ON THE TENNESSEE AND CUMBERLAND RIVERS. — PHELPS' REPORT. — ADVANCE AGAINST COLUMBUS. — OPERATIONS AROUND ISLAND NO. 10. — PASSAGE OF THE BATTERIES BY THE CORONDELET. — MOVES AGAINST MEMPHIS. — IS RELIEVED TO RECEUIT HIS HEALTH. — DOMESTIC AFFLICTIONS. — OUR BUREAU OF EQUIPMENT AND NAVI- GATION AT WASHINGTON. MADE REAR-ADMIRAL. PLACED OVER THE SOUTH ATLANTIC BLOCKADING SQUADRON.— HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. Some men go through life without ever meeting the circumstances adapted to call forth their greatest powers, while others seem born for those into which they are thrown, and become great men or leaders in the nation. On the other hand, some, apparently, just enter on their true career in life as that life is drawing to a close. 152 REAE-ADlVnRAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. To the latter class Admiral Foote belonged, for his sun was just rising, when it set forever on the earth, and the waves of that mighty struggle, in which he seemed des- tined to bear so conspicuous a part, rolled over his grave. Andrew Foote, like so many of our great men, did not spring from obscure parentage. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on the 12th of September, 1806, and was the second son of Samuel A. Foote, a graduate of Yale College, and a lawyer by profession ; but who, at the time of the birth of this second son, was a merchant en- gaged in the West India trade. He was distinguished in the political world, having served several times as mem- ber of Congress from his district, and once as senator from the State. He was subsequently elected governor. The grandfather of Andrew was for fifty years pas- tor of the church of Cheshire, a beautiful village about thirteen miles from New Haven. Here his father was born ; and here, having acquired the means of a com- fortable subsistence, he returned to live in the old home- stead. Andrew was six jenrs old when his father took up his home in this quiet village, and for three years afterwards attended the district school. He was then sent to the academy of the place, an institution of great reputation, and presided over by the learned Rev. Tillot- son Bronson, D. D. He remained in this school for six years, or until he was fifteen years of age. During all this period he was un- der the strict religious discipline characteristic at that time of Connecticut, and other portions of New England. The rod had not then been banished from the parental roof, and young Andrew often felt its weight, as wielded by his mother ; she convinced, him by irrefragable proof, that " he that spareth the rod hateth his son." She was the HIS EABLY TRAINING. 153 daughter of General Andrew Hull, a militia general, and gave her father s name to the boy. He was not allowed to play out evenings — forbidden to quarrel, or dicker, as it was called, and allowed very little spending money. Laziness was always punished with an extra amount of work. The Bible, the catechism, and the strict laws of Connecticut, were made equally binding on him when tempted to commit any of the grosser vices, such as vio- lation of the Sabbath, attending the circus, &c. The old New England Sabbath began on Saturday evening at sunset, and ended at the same time on Sunday evening. During these twenty-four hours the ancient Jews were not more strict than w^ere the parents of Andrew. The close restraint was irksome to him, as it always must be to all boys, and an older brother says, " I doubt whether the Admiral ever watched for stars in a storm, or on a lee-shore, with more interest than he was wont, when a boy, to watch for them of a Sunday evening, as a signal iJiat he might begia play.'' In the rigid old puritanic way, which has produced so many valiant men, the future Admiral was brought up. At this early age, he had determined to enter the Navy and pass his life on the sea. Perhaps his fathers accounts of his voyages to the West Indies may have had some- thing to do with his desire to become a sailor ; but more probably the astonishing victories of our young Navy, when he was fourteen or fifteen years old, were the prin- cipal cause. The names of Hull, Bainbridge, Lawrence, Decatur, Perry, Macdonough, and others, made the land rock with loud huzzas, which were quite enough to set every ambitious youth crazy after a sea-faring life. Be this as it may, Andrew was fixed in his desire to enter the Navy, and, though his parents, especially the 154 EEAR-ADMIBAL ANDEEW HULL FOOTE. mother, opposed it by every argument and inducement in their power, yet, seeing that he was inflexibly set that way, at last wisely yielded. His father, owing to bis political influence, was able to procure for him a midship- man's berth, and he was ordered to report on board the schooner Grampus, under the command of Lieutenant, late Admiral Gregory. He had now completed his six- teenth year — a time when life wears only a rose color to the imagination. His father accompanied him on board and presented him to his commander, with a formality common to that time. Said he to the lieutenant : "I have come to put my boy under your care, not only as a com- mander, but as a friend. He is capable, and I believe he is pure-minded, I hope you will watch over him as carefully and kindly as if he were your brother or son." His parting address to his boy was more lengthy. With true New England faithfulness, he charged him to remem- ber the principles in which he had been brought up, and do nothing that should make his parents, who had watched over and prayed for him, blush; and with grand old puritanic solemnity bade " him remember his duty to his country and to his God." Grave and stern externally, his heart yet overflowed with parental tender- ness, and the tears rolled down his cheeks as he bade his boy good-bye, and sent him away to the perils of the deep and into the temptations of a sailor's life. Andrew soon shook off his grief at parting, and entered on his new life, not only with all the ardor of youth, but with visions of glory directly before him, for the Grampus was to sail for the West India station, in the limits of which — the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea^ — a piratical craft was then lurking. But the deadly grapple and glorious vic- tory over these robbers of the sea, which excited his youth- Hia CONVERSION. 155 ful imagination, never took place ; and, after a year's cruise, lie returned home. He was now transferred to the sloop-of-war Peacock, of glorious memory, which was ordered to the Pacific Ocean. At Callao he was trans- ferred to the frigate United States, the flagship of Com- modore Isaac Hull. The education of the commanders who distinguished themselves during the recent war, under those who gave our navy its renown, doubtless had much to do in forming their characters. A son would as soon dishonor his father, as one of these officers the great commander under whom he had served. He was absent over three years on this cruise, com- pleting his naval education and enlarging his experience, and returned to New York in the spring of 1837. Re- ceiving a short furlough, he now returned home, no longer a boy, but a full-grown, developed young man. For a time the haunts and scenes of his boyhood — the old home — the old schoolbouse, and the old church, and friends, made his time pass pleasantly. But years of active lile soon rendered idleness irksome to him, and he was glad when the time came again for him to return to his ship. He now applied to be attached to the Mediterranean squadron, for he longed to see the Old World. His re- quest was, however, denied, and he was once more ordered to the West Indies. Kepairing to Norfolk, he sailed in the latter part of summer, in the sloop-of-war Natches, for his destination. This cruise was not a long one, and in December he returned in the sloop-of-war Hornet. During this short interval, however, a great change had passed over him. One of the lieutenants was a re- ligious man, and took occasion, before they sailed, to speak with him on the subject of personal Christianity. Young Foote, proud and averse to such conversation — enough 156 REAR- ADMIRAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. of which he thought he had had in his boyhood — closed the interview abruptly by informing him that he intend(;d to do what was right and honorable, and that was enough for him. Of a generous and manly nature, he afterwards felt that he had been uncivil in treatins; a kind and well-meant act with such coldness, not to say rudeness. It so happened, that, after they had reached their station, he and this lieutenant were on duty on deck the same night. It was a beautiful evening — the full moon was tranquilly sailing through the cloudless heav- ens, shedding a flood of golden light on the gently-heaving sea, and revealino; a scene of beautv never witnessed ex- cept in those tropical regions. It was a night and scene well calculated to hush all the angry feelings, and fill the heart with sad and gentle musings. After a while, he himself introduced the conversation he had so curtly closed before, when his friend talked long and earnestly on the subject so dear to his own heart. His words had a strange power amid the tranquil beauty of that night. So deep was the impression made on young Foote, that, after the watch was over and he found himself alone, he fell on his knees in prayer, for tlie first time since he was a sailor. He took up his Bible, and for tAvo weeks he continued to read this, now to him a new book. He had just entered on the great struggle of his life, and truths he had scarcely thought of before, came back upon him with overwhelming power. He knew that prayers at home were ascending for him, and he added his OAvn for light and gindance. The old church and the old pastor were far away, and he must fight this great moral battle alone with his God. At length, one day, after an hour of solitary reading and thinking, he arose and went on deck. The clouds HIS GEEATEST VICTORY. ISY and darkness seemed to gather thicker and thicker around him, when suddenly there arose in his heart the resolu- tion, " Henceforth, under all circumstances, I will act for God." The struggle was over; the victory won — the most important of his life — and light and peace beamed on his soul. The greatest battles are not fought on the deep, amid the thunder of cannon . and the crashing of timbers, nor on the bloody plain, where armies reel and go down m the onset ; but on the field of the human heart, unseen by mortal eye, and over which no peans are sung, except the voiceless one : "To him that over- cometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life." There, too, are the greatest defeats encountered, fi'om the disastrous effects of which there is no rallying and no recovery. In this new state of mind his thoughts turned at once to that mother who had so often prayed with him, and wept over him, and he at once wrote to her, com- mencing his letter with: "Dear Mother, — You may dis- charge your mind from anxiety about your wayward son ; he is safe for eternity as well as for time." The effect of that letter no one can describe — next to the joy that the angels felt, wsls the joy of that dear mother, and her mute song of praise had in it the harmony of the upper skies. At the close of this voyage, Foote prepared himself for examination as passed midshipman, and was pro- moted. During this interval he was married to a young lady of Cheshire, named Caroline Flagg, daughter of Bethuel Fiao-or. The next year, Feb. 1829, he sailed in the sloop-of- war St. Louis, for another cruise in the Pacific. During his absence he was commissioned as lieutenant. He re- turned home in 1831. Two years after, his desire to visit the Old World 158 EEAK-ADMIEAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. was gratified, and he sailed in the frigate Delaware foi the Mediterranean, which, on her way out, carried Ed- ward Livingston, the newly-appointed Minister to France. During this cruise, which lasted between two and three years, he acted as flag-lieutenant. He returned in 1836. In 1838, he was transferred to the frigate Columbia, Commodore Read, which, with the sloop- of- war John Adams, sailed on the 6th of May, for the island of Madeira. From this point the voyage was continued by way of Rio Janeiro and Cape of Good Hope to China, thence on to Valparaiso and around Cape Horn, and so home — making the circuit of the world. He took great interest in the missionary stations at the Sandwich Islands and in the China Sea. The vessels reached the Sandwich Islands in the heat of the conflict between the missionaries and Captain La Place, who had been sent out by the French Govern- ment to compel the Hawaiian Chief to sign a treaty, which permitted Romish priests, contrary to his express command, to reside on the island, and French brandy to be imported. Foote, after investigating the matter, warmly espoused the cause of the missionaries, whom the French commander had included with the chief in his persecutions. He advised them to appeal to Commodore Read, and ask for a court of inquiry to investigate their conduct, which had been grossly misrepresented. The commodore did not feel authorized to take such a step, and the request was denied. Foote, though he must act alone and take all the re- sponsibility of his conduct, nevertheless determined to make another eff'ort in behalf of the missionaries, for he felt that he owed not only a duty to them as citizens, but as servants of his Master above ; and he drew up a paper AIDS THE MISSIONARIES. 159 exonerating the missionaries and expressing the utmost confidence in the good influence of the mission. He also gave a clear and full account of the outrao;es of La Place, embracing his correspondence with the Hawaiian authorities. To this paper he obtained nearly all the signatures of the ofiicers of both ships. This was pub- lished in pamphlet form, and freely circulated. Its clear and truthful narrative of facts helped to open the eyes of the foreign residents, and contributed not a little to the right understanding of the case. Not satisfied with what he had done here, Foote, when he arrived in the United States, gave a public statement of the case, and indirectly caused the Government to take a deeper in- terest in the welfare of our missionaries in foreio;n lands. His arrival at home was marked with circumstances of peculiar sadness. During this long voyage his wife had died, and he found his little girl, whom he had left three years before an infant in her mother s arms, now an orphan. At the end of a year and a half he married again, his wife being the daughter of Augustus R. Street, of Mott- Haven. He was at this time, and for a year afterwards, on duty at the Naval Asylum of Philadelphia, the in- mates of which long had cause to remember his kindness and the interest he took both in their temporal and spirit- ual welfare. He persuaded them to give up their grog rations, and sign a pledge of total abstinence — and in every way contributed to elevate their moral condition. From 1843 to 1845 he was attached to the Mediter- ranean squadron, being executive offi.cer of the Cunaber- land, the crew of which he persuaded to give up their grog. Like Havelock among his soldiers, he became a voluntary chaplain to them — giving every Sunday a re- 160 REAE- ADMIRAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. ligious address, on the berth-deck, to as many as choose to hear him. Sometimes he would have on these occa- sions a congregation of two hundred, to whom the sight of a commander turned preacher was a novel one. After his return from this voyage, he was laid up for awhile with a disease of the eyes, which rendered him unfit for duty. Although but partially restored, he, at the end of six months, was ordered to the navy yard at Charlestown, Massachusetts, where he remained during the whole of the Mexican war, much to his disappointment. In 1849 he was sent to the West African station, in command of the Perry, to help suppress the slave-trade. His zeal as an officer to perform his duty, was intensified by his strong feelings of abhorrence at the infamous traffic ; and his efi:orts were indefatigable in suppressing it. He succeeded in banishing liquor from the Perry, in this cruise ; and, notwithstanding the unheal thiness of the coast, which was thought to require the use of ardent spirits to some extent, he never lost a man — thus showing their injurious tendency under all circumstances. For some years after his return, he remained on shore, engaged in no active duty. But in 1856 he again went to sea, as commander of the sloop-of-war Portsmouth, which was ordered to the East India station. Durino; this cruise, he, for the first time, had a taste of actual war, and showed what he was capable of doing by the daring and fierce manner in which he bombarded the barrier forts in the Canton Piver. • On his return to America, he was placed over the Brooklyn navy yard, where the breaking out of the rebel- lion found him. His labors were now herculean. To protect it from attack at home and fill all the requisitions SEin: WEST. 161 of Government, tasked him to the utmost ; and it wag \nth a feeling of relief he received orders, in September, 1861, to repair West, and superintend the creation of an inland navy on the Mississippi. From such motley materials as could be gathered on these waters, he labored night and day to get a respect- able force afloat. Having at length got together seven gunboats, four of them iron-clad, he left Cairo, on the 4th of February, 1862, and ascended the Tennessee, to attack Fort Henry, while the rebels thought Colum- bus, on the Mississippi, to be the point he was aiming at. This delusion had purposely been kept up ; and Foote had several partial engagements with the gunboats that were under the protection of its guns. In January he had sent to the Department, saying that he needed a thousand men to man his fleet. They were not furnished, however, and on the 3d of February he forwarded another despatch to the Government, announcing his departure for Fort Henry. In it he said : " It is peculiarly unfor- tunate that we have not been able to obtain men for the flotilla, as they only are wanting to enable me to have at this moment eleven full-manned instead of seven partially- manned gunboats, ready for efficient operations at any point." But delay was impossible under the circum- stances ; and with such force as he had he steamed up the river. The following special order shows how thoroughly he had studied and prepared the attack, which was to be really the first great blo^v^ struck at the rebellion : The captains of the gunboats, before going into action, will always see that the hoods covering the gratings of the hatches at the bows, and sterns, and elsewhere, are taken olf ; otherwise great injury will result from the concussion of the guns in firing. The anchors, also, must be unstocked, if they interfere with the range of the bow guns. U 162 KEAE-ADMIKAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. In attacking the fort, the first order of steaming will be observed, as, by the vessels being parallel, they will be much less exposed to the enemy's range than if not in a parallel line, and by moving ahead or astern, which all the vessels will do by following the motions of the flag-ship, it will be diffi- cult for the enemy to get an accurate range of the gunboats. Equal distances from one another must be observed by all the vessels in action. The flag-ship will, of coarse, open the fire first, and then others will follow when good sight of the enemy's guns in the forts can be obtained. There must be no firing until correct sights can be obtained, as this would not only be throwing away ammunition, but it would encourage the enemy to see us firing wildly and harmlessly at the fort. The captains will enforce upon their men the absolute necessity of observing this order ; and let it be also distinctly impressed on the mind of every man firing a gun, that, while the first shot may be either of too ranch elevation or too little, there is no excuse for a second wild fire, as the first wUl indicate the inaccuracy of the aim of the gun, which must be elevated, or depressed, or trained, as circum- stances require. Let it be reiterated that random firing is not a mere waste of ammunition, but, what is far worse, it encourages the enemy when he sees shot and shell falling harmlessly about and beyond him. The great object is to dismount the guns in the fort by the accuracy of our fire, although a shell in the mean time may occasionally be thrown in among a body of the enemy's troops. Great caution will be observed lest our own troops be mistaken for the enemy. "When the flag-ship ceases firing, it will be a signal for the other vessels also to cease, as the ceasing of firing will indicate the surrender, or the readi- ness to surrender, the. fort. As the vessels will all be so near one another, verbal communication will be held with the commander-in-chief when it is wanted. The commander-in-chief has every confidence in the spirit and valor of officers and men under his command, and his only solicitude arises lest the firing should be too rapid for precision, and that coolness and order, so essential to complete success, should not be observed ; and hence he has, in this general order, expressed his views, which must be observed by all under his command. A. H. FOOTE. That he had a premonition of victory is evident from the following Order, No. 3, to Lieutenant Phelps, who commanded the three gunboats not iron-plated, and which were directed during the action to throw shells from a comparatively safe distance in the rear, into the fort : Lieutenant Phelps will, as soon as the fort shall have surrendered, and upon signal from the flag-ship, proceed with the Conestoga, Taylor, and NIGHT BEFORE THE ATTACK. 168 Lexington up the river, to where the railroad bridge crosses, and if the army shall have not already got possession, he will destroy so much of the track as will entirely prevent its use by the rebels. He wUl then proceed as far up the river as the stage of water will admit, and capture the enemy's gunboats and other vessels, which might prove available to the enemy. The infantry was landed a few miles below the fort, when Foote made a reconnoissance to ascertain the posi- tion of the hostile batteries. He had been told that the bed of the stream, near the fort., was lined with torpedoes ; and he ordered it to be thoroughly raked. The swift current at this season of the year had disarranged these engines of destruction — still several were removed, and the channel made clear. The night before the attack, the fleet anchored abreast of the army under Grant, encamped on the bank. The camp-fires lighted up the gloomy shores, and were re- flected on the smoothly-flowing stream — throwing into bolder relief the seven dark hulls, swinging lazily on the bosom of the Tennessee, combining to form a new and thrilling scene to the bold Western men, who, on both land and water, were about to enter on their first conflict. It was the more striking, as the night was dark — heavy, sombre clouds wrapping the heavens, — while the wintry wind surged by in fitful gusts, blending its roar with that of the waters that swept majestically through the gloom. Nature seemed to symj^athize with coming events ; and before morning a fierce storm burst along the banks of the river, and the rain came down in torrents. But the tempestuous night at length passed, and the morning broke cold and clear. Foote at once ordered the vessels to be got ready for the attack. Admon- ishing Grant that he must hurry, or he would not be in time to do his part, which was to cut off the rel,reat 164 EEAK-ADMIRAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. of the enemy, he began about ten o'clock to stem the rapid current. Grant, on the other hand, assuring him that he need not trouble himself about the army being up in time, put his troops in motion. The fort stood on a bend of the river, and commanded it for a long way down. An island lay about a mile below it, behind which Foote kept his boats, so as to avoid the shots of the rifled o-uns of the fort, which, with their lono- ran^e, might cripple him before he came to close action. The iron-clads abreast moved slowly up stream, until the fort opened to view directly ahead, when the wooden vessels halted. The commander of the fort, aware of Footers ap- proach through the force on watch, the moment the latter s appeared, opened on him with his batteries, and shot and shell came hurtling down the river. Foote answered with his heavy bow guns, and the conflict commenced. The rebel gunners, from long })ractice, had obtained the exact range of every point in view, and hence sent their shot with fearful accurac^^ ajxainst the advancins; vessels. Those of the ounboats had to o-et theirs : but havino; re- ceived orders to fire slowly and deliberatel}', they were soon able to throw their shells with such precision that the rebel infantry outside of the works retired precipi- tately. The gunners, however, stood manfully to their work, though the fire to which they were exjDosed aston- ished them with its precision and effect. Foote opened fire at the distance of seventeen hun- dred yards, using only his bow guns, as he steamed slowly toward the blazing batteries, increasing the ra- pidity of his fire as he advanced. Leading the w^ay on the flagship Cincinnati, he was follow^ed by the Essex, under Porter ; the Carondelet, under Walke, and the St. Louis, Lieutenant Paulding commanding. The fire Irom THE COMBAT. 165 the Cincinnati and Essex was most terrific ; and to these the enemy gave their chief attention. Shot after shot bounded from their mailed sides, while others crashed amid the timbers ; but the boats moved steadily forward, creep- ing up to the flaming batteries, relentless as fate. Foote saw, by the earth and sand-bags that flew around the hos- tile guns, and the sudden silence of some of them, that he was slowly grinding them to powder, and steamed still nearer. At length, an unlucky shot entered the porthole of the Essex, and, traversing the boat, carried death and devastation in its track, and plunged at last into the boiler, letting the steam out in a cloud upon the crew. As she drifted helplessly down the current, the rebels sent up a loud cheer, and opened Are with renewed courage. Foote saw that his right hand was gone ; but, undismayed, pushed steadily forward, until he lay within six hundred yards of the fort. The firing was now fearful. You could hear the ponderous shot strike, and see the guns lift and tumble from their carriages as the shells exploded under them. Begrimed with powder and smoke, and their faces ablaze with excitement, the ounners worked their pieces with astonishing rapidity. The close prox- imity of the opposing cannon gave additional terror to the scene, and the heavy explosions, blending into one, made the shores tremble. TilgTiman, the rebel com- mander, fought until nearly every one of his guns was dismounted, when, seeing that longer resistance was user less, he lowered his flag. A boat was sent ashore, and soon the stars and stripes were seen floating in the breeze from the rebel flagstaff, when a loud, long cheer arose from boat after boat, and was borne away toward the Ohio by the swiftly descending current. The infantry had left some time before, Grant not 166 EEAR-ADMIEAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. having arrived in time to intercept their flight ; so that only between sixty and seventy prisoners surrendered, with General Tilghman and his staff. Foote reported forty-eight killed, wounded, and mis- sing. His ship was struck thirty-one times, the Essex fifteen, the St. Louis seven, and the Carondelet six. The fort was mounted with twenty guns, and had tents and barracks capable of holding fifteen thousand men. It was a great victory, and Foote's name was re- peated with acclamations from one end of the North to the other. As soon as he had secured the prisoners, he sent off Phelps, as he had previously planned. This gallant offi- cer, taking the Taylor, Lieutenant Gwin commanding, and the Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk, with his own boat, the Conestoga, immediately steamed up the river. But we will let him tell his own story of his expedition. I arrived after dark at the railroad crossing, twenty-five miles above the fort, having on the way destroyed a small amount of camp equipage aban- doned by the rebels. Tlie draw of the bridge was found closed, and the machinery for turning it disabled. About a mile and half above were sev- eral rebel transport steamers escaping up stream. A party was landed, and in one hour I had the satisfaction to see the draw open. The Taylor being the slowest of the gimboats, Lieutenant-Command- ing Gwin landed a force to destroy a portion of the railroad track and to secure such military stores ag might be found, while I directed Lieutenant- Commanding Shirk to follow me with all speed in chase of the fleeing boats. In five hours the boat succeeded in forcing the rebels to abandon and burn three of their boats loaded with military stores. The first one fired (S:imuel Orr) had on board a quantity of submarine batteries, which very soon ex- ploded. The second one was freighted with powder, cannon, shot, grape, balls, &c. Fearing an explosion from the fired boats — there were two to- gether — I had stopped at a distance of one thousand yards ; but even there our skylights were broken by the concussion, the light upper deck was raised bodily, doors were forced open, and locks and fastenings everywhere broken. The whole river, for half a mile round about, was completely " beaten PHELP'S NARRATIVE. 167 np" by the falling fragments and the shower of shot, grape, balls, &c. The house of a reported Union mnn was blown to pieces, and it is suspected there was design in landing the boats in front of the doomed home. The Lexing- ton having fallen astern, and being without a pilot on board, I concluded to wait for both of the boats to come up. Joined bj them, we proceeded up the river. Lieutenant-Commanding Gwin had destroyed some of the trestle- work at the end of the bridge, burning with them a lot of camp equipage. L N. Brown, formerly a lieutenant in the navy, now signing himself " Lieut. 0. S. N".," had fled with such precipitation as to leave his papers behind. These Lieutenant-Commanding Gwin brought away, and I send them to you, as tiiey give an oflicial history of the rebel floating preparations on the Mississippi, Cumberland, and Tennessee. Lieutenant Brown had charge of the construction of gunboats. At night, on the 7th, we arrived at a landing in Hardin County, Tennes- see, known as Oerro Gordo, where we found the steamer Eastport being converted into a gunboat. Armed boat crews were immediately sent on board, and search made for means of destruction that might have been de- vised. She had been scuttled and the suction-pipes broken. These leaks were soon stopped. A number of rifle-shots were fired at our vessels, but a couple of shells dispersed the i ebels. On examination I found that there were large quantities of timber and lumber preparrd for fitting up the East- port ; that the vessel itself — some two hundred and eighty feet long — was in excellent condition, and already half finished ; considerable of the plating designed for her was lying on the bank, and everything at hand to complete her. I therefore directed Lieutenant-Commanding Gwin to remain with the Taylor to guard the prize, and to load the lumber, &c., while the Lexington and Oonestoga should proceed still higher up. Soon after daylight, on the 8th, we passed Eastport, Mississippi ; and at Chickasaw, further up, near the State line, seized two steamers, the Sallie Wood and Muscle — the former laid up, and the latter freighted with iron destined for Kiehmond and for rebel use. We then proceeded on up the river, entering the State of Alabama, and ascending to Florence at the foot of the Muscle Shoals. On coming in sight of the town, three steamers were discovered, which were immediately set on fire by the rebels. Some shots were fired from the opposite side of the river below. A force was landed, and considerable quantities of supplies, marked " Fort Henry," were secured from the burning wrecks. Some had been lande-l and stored. These I seized, putting such as we could bring away on our vessels, and destroying the remainder. No flats or other craft could be found. I found, also, more of the iron and plat-ing intended for. the Eastport. A deputation of citizens of Florence waited upon me, first desiring that they might be able to quiet the fears of their wives and daughters with assurances from me that they would not be molested ; and, secondly, praying that I would not destroy their railroad bridge. As for the first, I told them 168 EEAK-ADMIEAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. we were neither ruffians nor savages, and that we were there to protect from violence and to enforce the law ; and, with reference to the second, that if the bridge were away we could ascend no higher, and that it could possess no military importance, so tar as I saw, as it simply connected Florence itself with the railroad on the south bank of the river. We had seized three of their steamers — one the half-finished gunboat — and had forced the rebels to burn six others loaded with supplies ; and their loss, with th;it of the freight, is a heavy blow to the enemy. Two biats are still known to be on the Tennessee, and are doubtless hidden in some of the creeks, where we shall be able to find them whea there is time for the search. We returneil, on the night of the 8th, to where the Eastport lay. The crew of the Taylor had already gotten on board of the prize an imm.nse amount of lumber, ko,. -The crews of the three boats set to work to finish the undertaking, and we have brought away probably two hundred and fifty thousand feet of the best quality of ship and building lumber, all the iron, machinery, s[)ikes, plating, nails, &c., belonging to the rebel gunboats, and I caused the mill to be destroyed where the lumber had been sawed. Lieutenant-Comm miling Gwin had, in our absence, enlisted some twenty- five Tennessceans, who gave information of the encampment of Colonel Drew's rebel regiment at Savannah, Tennessee. A portion of the six or seven hundred men were known to be " pressed " men, sind all were badly armed. After consnltation with Lieutenants-Commanding Grwin and Shirk, I determined to make a land attack upon the encampment. Lieutenant- Commanding Shii-k, with thirty riflemen, came on board the Conestoga, leaving his vessel to guard the Eastport, and, accompanied by the Taylor, we proceeded up to that place, prepared to land one hundred and thirty riflemen and a twelve-pounder rifle howitzer. Lieutenant-Commanding Gwin took command of this force when landed, but had the mortification to find the camp deserted. The rebels had fled at 1 o'clock, in the night, leaving considerable quanti- ties of arms, clothing, shoes, camp utensils, provisions, implements, &c., all of which were secured or destroyed, and their winter-quarters of log-huts were burned. 1 seized, also, a large mail-bag, and send you tlie letters giving military information. The gunboats were then dropped down to a point where arms, gathered under the rebel "press-law," had been stored, and an armed party, under Second-Master Goudy, of the Taylor, succeeded in seizing about seventy rifles and fowling-pieces. Eetnrning to Cerro Gordo, we took the Eastport, Sallie Wood, and Muscle in tow, and came down the river to the railroad crossing. The Muscle sprang a leak, and, all efforts failing to prevent her sinking, we were forced to abandon her, and with her a consid- erable quantity of fine lumber. We are having trouble in getting through the draw of the bridge here. I now come to the, to me, most interesting portion of this report — one which has already become lengthy ; but I must trust you will find some SOUTHERlSr UNIOJaSM. 169 excuse for this in the fact that it embraces a history of labors and movements day and night, from the 6th to the 10th of the month, all of which detaili I deem it proper to give yon. We have met with the most gratifying proofs of loyalty everywhere across Tennessee and in the portions of Mississippi and Alabama we visited. Most affecting instances greeted us almost hourly. Ifen^ icomen, and children, several times gathered in crowds of hundreds, shouted their welcome, and hailed their national fag with an enthusiasm there was no mistaJcing ; it was genuine and heartfelt. Those people braved every- thing to go to the river bank, where a sight of their flag might once more be enjoyed. Tears flowed freely down the cheeks of men as well as women, and there were those wlio had fought under the stars and stripes at Moultrie, who on this morning testified their joy. This display of feeling and sense of gladness at our success, and the hopes it created in the hearts of so many people in the heart of the Southern Con- federacy, astonished us not a little ; and I assure you, sir, I would not have failed to witness it for any consideration. I trust it has given us all a higher sense of the sacred character of our present duties. I was assured, at Sa- vannah, that of the several hundred troops there, more than one-half, had we gone to the attack in time, would have hailed us as deliverers, and gladly enlisted with the national forces. In Tennessee the people generally braved the secessionists, and spoke their views freely, but in Mississippi and Alabama, what was said was guarded : '■"Ifwe dared express ourselves freely ., you would hear such a shout greeting your coming as you never heard,'''' " We know there are many Unionists among us, but a reign of terror makes us all afraid of our shadows." We were told, too : " Bring us a small organized force, with arms and ammunition for us, and we can maintain our position, and put down rebel- lion in our midst." There were, it is true, whole communities, who, on our approacli, fled to the woods ; but these were where there was less of the loyal element, and when the fleeing steamers, in advance, had spread tales of our coming with firebrands, burning, destroying, ravishing, and plundering. Foote was much encouraged at this report of the state of feeling. On the return of the expedition he steamed do^Yn the river to Cairo, and, eight days after the surren- der of Fort Henry, was ascending the Cumberland to assist Grant, who was marching across the country to attack Fort Don el son. He was aware of the superior strength of this fort, and his force being now reduced by the loss of the iron-clad Essex, he feared that the attempt to re- duce it from the river would prove fruitless. He, how- ITO REAE-ADMIRAL AISIDREW HULL FOOTE. ever, at the urgent request of Major-Gen eral Halleck and Gen. Grant, who regarded the movement as a " military necessity,"" consented to make it. The works here were of the most formidable kind, and, it was thought, able to resist any attempt to ascend the river to Nashville. On the river side were two batteries : the lower one mounting eight 32-pounders and a 10-inch columbiad, and the upper, some ten yards above this, two 32-pound carronades and a 32-pound rifled gun. The range of these commanded every foot of the river in sight below the fort. The day before the attack, Foote sent the Carondelet upon a reconnoissance, and the vessel being fired upon, returned the fire and maintained the unequal contest till she had discharged over a hundred shots, and did not retire until struck by a heavy shot which, entering one of her forvv^ard ports, wounded eight men. Foote knew the desperate undertaking before him, but, on the 14th, moved resolutely up to the batteries with his four iron-clads and two wooden gunboats. He soon found that he was exposed to a different fire than the one he had encountered at Fort Henry. The heavy metal of the batteries fell raj>id as hailstones on his ves- sel, and the water around the boats was beaten into foam by the falling shots and shell. The flagship, as usual, received the cliief attention of the enenn-. Yet Foote moved steadily forward into the volcano before him, nobly sustained by his other vessels. Noticing that the pilot, under the horrible fire that smote the vessel, was getting nervous, he walked up to him, placed his hand on his shoulder, and spoke some encouraging words, when a heavy shot struck the poor fellow, leaving him a mangled mass beside his broken wheel. Foote, though wounded THE ATTACK ABANDONED. 17 1 himself in the foot by a splinter, still limped around, giv- ing his orders with imperturbable coolness, and anxiously watching the effect of the shot on the rebel w^orks. But this unlucky shot had carried away the wheel, with the pilot; and the boat — which had now got within four hundred yards of the fort — became unmanageable ; and, swinging to the current, drifted slowly down stream. At the same time, the tiller-ropes of the Louisville were cut, and she, too, floated down stream. The enemy no sooner saw this than lie redoubled his fire. Only two boats were now left to maintain the conflict ; but they too, being dam- aged between wind and water, soon followed the flagship, and the fight, that had raged with such ferocity for an hour and a quarter, was over. Fifty-four had been killed or wounded, and the flagship been struck fifty-nine times. Although he could bring but twelve guns to bear on bat- teries that mounted twenty, Foote thought, but for the untoward accident that destroyed the steering apparatus of the two vessels, he would have succeeded in capturing the works, as the fire of the enemy had materially slack- ened. Some such accident, however, was to be expected in so unequal a fight. Leaving two boats here to protect the transports, Foote returned with the ten disabled ones to Cairo, to repair damages and prepare for another attack. Fort Donelson, however, surrendered a few days after to Grant, and he again advanced up the river to Clarkes- ville, farther on toward Nashville, which surrendered to him. He found much Union feelino; amonsi: the inhab- itants along the shore, and here issued a proclamation promising security to private jjroperty and citizens, and calling on the latter to resume their peaceful avocations. He now, in conjunction with Grant, resolved to move on 172 REAE-ADMTRAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. Nashville ; and the two were about starting, when Grant, "to his astonishment," he says, "received a telegram from General Halleck, not to let the gunboats go higher than Clarkesville. " Havinsf received no telegram him- self, he could not understand it ; and immediately sent a despatch to Halleck's Chief of Staff, saying, " The Cum- berland is in a good stage of water, and General Grant and I believe that we can take Nashville. Please, ask General Halleck if we shall do it. We will talk per telegraph. Captain Phelps representing me in the office, as I am still on crutches."" But permission was not given him, and he returned to Cairo, and once more turned his attention to Columbus. On the 23d, he made a recon- noissance of the works with four iron-clads, ten mortar- boats, and three transports, containing a thousand men. He found that nothing could be done without an addi- tional force, and returned to Cairo, to wait the comple- tion of other boats. In the mean time, he had despatched the gunboats Tyler and Lexington up the Tennessee, which attacked the enemy's works at Pittsburg, and captured them with small loss, while there were a hundred and fifty of the enemy killed or wounded. On the 1st of March, Lieu- tenant Phelps, who had been sent with a flag of truce to Columbus, returned and reported it evacuated, the army having retired to Island No. 10. Foote now transferred his flag to the powerful iron-clad Benton, and advanced against the strong works which had been erected here. Attack after attack followed, and a ceaseless bombard- ment from the mortar-boats was kept up ; but no serious impression could be made on them. General Pope at length arrived below with a large force ; but he had no boats with which to transport his troops across to the PEEPARESTG TO RUN THE BATTERIES. 173 other side and march against the enemy, and so lay idle on the banks. For three weeks the fleet lay here, pounding away at the rebel fortifications, and the end seemed as far off as ever, while the public began t > weary of hearing of Island No. 10. The arrival of Pope below made it imperative that a gunboat should be got through to hira ; but whether one could run the formidable batteries that lined the sliore was very problematical. It, however, must be tried, or Pope could never cross and move up to Island No. 10, and compel its evacuation. There was no prospect of capturing the works by our gunboats from above, and so Foote assigned the liazardous duty of running the bat- teries to the commander of the Carondelet, directing him to avail himself of the tirst i'oggy or rainy night to start. If he succeeded, he was to cooperate with Pope, and when the army moved, to attack the fortifications. In closing his directions he used the following: solemn languag-e : On this delicate and somewhat hazardous service to which I assign you I must enjoin upon you the importance of keeping your lights secreted in the hold or put out, keeping your officers and men from speaking at all, when passing the forts, above a whisper, and then only on duty, and of using every other precaution to prevent the rebels suspecting that you are dropping be- li)W their batteries. If you successfully perform this duty assigned you, which you so willingly undertake, it will reflect the highest credit upon you and all belonging to your vessel, and I doubt not but that the Ciovei-nment will fully appreciate and reward you for a service which, I trust, will enable the army to cross the river and make a successful attack in the rear, while we storm the bat- teries in front of this stronghold of the rebels. Commending you and all who compose your command to the care and j)rotection of God, who rules the world and directs all things, I am, respect- fully, your obedient servant, A. H. FOOTE. To this was added the following postscript: 1*74 EEAK-ADMIRAL ANDEEW HULL FOOTE. p. S.— Should you meet with disiister, you will, as a last resort, destroy the steam machinery, mid, if po-;sible to esca'pe, set fire to your gunboat, or sink her, aud prevent her from falling into the hands of the rebels. A. H. F. Everything that ingenuity could dev^ise was done to insure success, for the boat was first to run, head on, to a powerful batter}', then take the fire of forty-seven cannon in her daring passage. Chains were coiled around the pilot-house and other vulnerable parts — cord- wood piled ao-ainst the boilers, and the hose connected with the lat- ter to hurl jets of steam to repel boarders in case of an attack. A boat, loaded with pressed hay, was lashed to the side exposed to the batteries, while, to balance this, and, at the same time, to furnish the steamer with fuel, should she get through safely, a barge loaded with coal was lashed to the other side. Twenty sharpshooters were also added to the crew, who were all thoroughly armed for any emergency. The night of the 4th of April was dark and tem- pestuous, and about ten o'clock the Carondelet cut loose from her anchorage, and, rounding slowly to on the stream, turned her head down the Mississippi. The fleet, aware of the ex})edition, was silent and anxious. Every officer felt the peril into which the intrepid Walke was moving. Darkness soon wrapped his boat from sight ; but the blinding flashes of lightning would ever and anon reveal its black form moving forward through the gloom. It was an hour of painful suspense to Foote, for vast results hung on the welfare of that single vessel. As if to impart still greater grandeur to the scene, the thunder rolled heavily overhead, or broke in deafening claps alono; the shore. Wrapping itself in the thunder storm, as in a. mantle, the Carondelet swept forward into the volcano that EUNNING THE BATTERIES. iTS awaited her approach. Everything passed quietly for awhile, but suddenly, as she approached the batteries, the soot in the chimneys caught fire, and a blaze, five feet high, leaped fi'om their tops, shedding a broad glare on the surrounding water. " Open the flue caps," passed quietly and quickly to the engineer, and the flames subsided. So suddenly did this strange apparition appear and vanish, that it was either unseen, or, blending in as it did with the lip-htnins:, it deceived the o-uard. Walke, from his silent deck, gazed intently towards the batteries, expecting every moment to hear the drum beat to quarters, and see the flash of the signal-gun light up the gloom. But, to his great relief, all passed off quietly, and the Carondelet kept on her perilous way. But just as she got abreast of the upper battery, the chimneys caught fire again and blazed like a torch on the breast of the stream. The next moment the report of a musket was heard. In an instant, rockets from island and mainland arose through the storm. The rapid roll of drums was heard in the intervals of the thunder, and then came a single report, followed by a deafening crash that drowned the artillery of heaven. Concealment was now over, and Walke, putting on a full head of steam and hugging the batteries close, to let the shot fly over him, pushed rapidly down the current. A man stood forward with lead and line, coolly calling out from time to time in a low voice the soundings, which a second man on deck repeated, sending the report aft to Walke, who stood beside the pilot, calm and collected, but with every nerve strung to its utmost tension and all his senses keenly alive to every movement and sound. The flashes of the enemy's guns and of the lightning above them, revealed almost momentarily the shores, and thus showed 176 EEAK- AD JURAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. the channel ; yet the light coming and going so rapidly, and the utter darkness of the intervals, confused and blinded the pilot, and once the boat was heading straight for the shore. But just then a fierce flash of lightning lit up the scene, and " hard a-port ! " fell from the Cap- tain's ]\ps in calm accents, yet so sharp and stern that the pilot threw himself with all his might upon the wheel, and the Carondelet swung back into the channel. A wilder, sublimer scene cannot be imagined than that boat presented, as, silent as death, she moved steadi- ly on, — one moment painted red on the stream by the flashes of lightning or of artillery, and the next moment lost to sight as completely as though she had gone to the bottom. The rain came down in torrents, the wind swept by in fierce gusts, while the thunder breaking above, and the artillery exploding below, imparted an indescribable terror to this midnight hour. But at length the last battery was passed, the echo of the last gun died sullenly away up the river, and a heavy load lifted from the heart of Walke. With a cheerful voice he ordered the ports to be thrown open and the euns run out to fire minute o-uns — the si2:nal ao-reed on with Foote, should the Carondelet pass the batteries in safety. The latter stood on deck listening to the uproar below, telling him of the fiery ordeal his brave subordi- nate was enduring, and when it ceased he bent attentively to catch the report of the signal guns. Suddenly it came^ but so blent in with the thunder, that he could not certainly tell whether it was not the boom of the latter ; others, also, heard it, but the raging storm so drowned it that they too doubted. At New Madrid, however, there was no doubt, no uncertainty. The soldiers and officers there had also SAFE PASSAGE OF THE BOAT. 177 heard the terrific cannonading up the Mississippi, and knew what it meant, and every eye was strained up stream to catch sight of the coming vessel, while lights danced along the shore to guide her course. As the Carontlelet, untouched by a single shot, came proudly up to the wharf, the frenzied cheers that arose drowned the voice of the storm, and the soldiers, rushing down, seized the sailors and bore them in their arms up the banks to the nearest hotel, and unbounded joy reigned throughout the army. Pope immediately despatched a messenger announcing the safe arrival of the Carondelet, and urging Foote in the most earnest manner to send another boat the next night, as its presence was necessary to ensure success. In his ardor, he said, " I am thus urgent, sir, because the lives of thousands of men and the success of our opera- tions, hang upon your decision." To this, Foote replied in full, stating that it was im- possible to send a boat till there came a dark night. He did not like the tone of Pope's letter, and said : I am sorry to find the expression in your letter, " The success of our operations hangs upon your (my) decision," especially referring to my di- recting a gunboat to attempt running the blockade in this clear night ; for, in my judgment, and that of all the other officers, the boat might as well expect to run it in the daytime. I cannot consider the running of your blockade, where the river is nearly a mile wide, and only exposed to a few light guns, at all comparable to running it here, where a boat has not only to pass seven batteries, but has to be kept " head on " to a battery of eleven heavy guns, at the head of Island No. 10, and to pass within three hundred yards of this strong battery. If it did not sink the gunboat, we would, in the navy, consider the gunners totally unfit for employment in the service ; and, therefore, my responsibility for the lives of the officers and men under my charge, induces me to decline a request which would, especially without protection to the boat, were the rebels at all competent to perform their duty, result in the sacrifice of the boat, her officers, and men, which sacrifice [ should not be justified in making — certainly not now, when, by your own 12 178 EEAR-ADMIEAL ANDREW HULL FOOTE. admission, it will be easy for the new rebel steamers, reported to he on their way up the river, to pass your batteries in the night, and if they meet my squadron, reduced by loss, so as to be unable to cope with them, can con- tinue up the Mississippi or Ohio to St. Louis or to Cincinnati. In view, however, of rendering you all the aid you request, and no doubt require, while I regret that you had not earlier expressed the appre- hension of the necessity of two gunboats, instead of the smaller gunboat, I will, to-morrow, endeavor to prepare another boat ; and if the night is such as will render her running the blockade without serious disaster at all prob- able, I will make the attempt to send you the additional boat requested in your letter of this day's date I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, A. H. FOOTE, Flag- Ojfficsr Commanding Naval Forces^ Western Waters. Major General John Pope, Commanding Army at New Madrid. A few days after the 8tli, anotlier heavy thunder storm occurring, the Pittsburg, Lieutenant Thompson commanding, started at two o'clock in the morning, and, though exposed to the fire of seventy-three guns, safely passed the batteries. Previous to these movements, Colonel Bissell, an en- gineer, had, with incredible labor, cut a canal through sloughs and streams, V)y which transports were got through, so that now the fate of Island No. 10 was sealed. The gunboats silenced the batteries on the oppo- site shore, when the troops were carried over and began their march for the rebel works. The commander, Mackall, seeing that all was lost, evacuated the place, and it fell with all its stores and armament into our hands. While these stirring events were passing on the Mis- sissippi, the terrible battle of Pittsburg Landing was fought, in which two of Foote's fleet did great service. The Tyler and Lexington, under the command of Gwin and Shirk, by the effective manner in which they shelled the rebel left, on the aFtei'nov^n of the first day, did much towards preventing a total defeat of our arms. FOOTE BELIEVED. 179 Foote now moved down to Fort Pillow, and while operating here and making arrangements to drive out the enemy, he said, in a letter to the Secretary of the Navy : " The effects of my wound have quite a dispiriting effect upon me, from the increased inflammation, and swelling of my foot and leg, which have induced a febrile action, depriving me of a good deal of sleep and energy. I cannot give the wound that attention and rest it ab- solutely requires, until this place is captured." Another event which soon after occurred, had a still more depressing effect upon him. He had made arrange- ments that, he thought, with the cooperation of Pope's army, would give him Fort Pillow within six days, when that officer received a despatcli from Halleck, to join him at once, with his twenty thousand men, at Pittsburg. In a letter to the Department, the former said : " I am greatly exercised about our position here, on account ot the Avithdrawal of the army of twenty thousand men, so important an element in the capture of the i)lace." He, however, continued to shell the place, and was busy in devising ways and means preparatory to a successful attack on the fort. But his health con- tinued to grow worse, and, although he managed to limp around on his crutches, it was plain to all, and especially so to his surgeon, that he must be relieved from the cares that pressed upon him, and he finally asked leave ot absence. C. H. Davis was placed in command of the fleet till he could recover. Foote retired to Cleveland, where, with his brothers, he rested for awhile, the subject of anxious solicitude to his countrymen, who felt that he S iOMMOI>ORK eilAROJSi v^TlWRT Bt>t^G8. tbiU) he Jor thiit very liuty. \\c yo^o^isod tlu> ^^uavftt^r in "j menhi and frnfit^r m r^ in a ivmarkable manner, .uul \w snet'eeiled in maintaining oixler, aiul a«.H]|ninng the esteem anii ivspe^n of all. Oaptaiu Bogg^ \vith liis wife and dMii^litor. wcie at Panama dnring the masissaer© of 1S56, and narixnvly ei»- eaped falling vietimsi to it. He sserved i»s ivmmauder of the Illinois for tluve yeais, find then wiis tran.sfenvd to the coast of Oaliforni.-u The light-hons^e system needeil extens^ion, and in K^oO and lS6l\ he \vas apjx^inted In.^pet'tor of Lights The steiimer Sh\ihrii*k was plated nniler his ivminand. and he was iwjniivil lo make ^^Y0 annual trips along the eoast fivm Yanev^nver s Island to Lower California, inspevning cOd lights, and carrying snpplies to them, an^l surveying sites tor new ones. In performing this dnty, he was enabled, at the same time, to cv^mplete the exploration of the western iwisi of the continent, which he had partially carried ont sh^ many yeai-s before. In steaming amid the nx^ks and n.^rivw channels of these <.Y>mp;iratively nnknown shoivs. he had several nai"*- i\^w escapes fix^m shipwreck. He was thus engfiged when the rebellion bwke ont. Commander Boggs now ft^nnd himself in an unpleasant position, and Ins feelings ivsptvting it, as well as his views of the n>I>ellion, may 1^ gathei\H] fnnn the t'oUow- ing extracts tixT»m a letter written at the time to a triend : I sun besui-^Jek of ih© st?»t«j . to prv>teet. I am vl»sa^rt>?aWy anvl invuliarly siiaatevl — ^m sj^ecial dnty — so that I dare not leave and return East, as my IIIH VJKW:. ON THJ. l;I.I;KJ,J,/Olf. 189 incliiiidUnm would pr'-nipt oiif of I'li/i'ln to oarr> ou tJiii* ;r!<, my forf;« h not ahU: to fn<-/;t, h<;r, and I hav«; no auUiorit.y or in'-.aim t.o 'iticmmc, rny crew, or mount, ;i t/<;avy j^iin, without, whi'.f) 1 hhotdd ii<: ';ut to piece* at long jJiot, f^y ^iny thin;,' t.l.ut nilt'ht c'liin; along, I h;),v<: of/tained a very excellent mUer-uionui/'i Sh x'lc-.u, ■■■,:,.< UiU:. v;,.Ju<;'i at over two hundred and H/'ty dollar**, bridle, »prir /. ' ".mpicu:. J winh you would pr<5«ent it to the omM daring and gall . ,1 ,< r from our little W;unty of MiddhiH'ix, K. J,, or from tli'; Ht.at,*;, 5f you |(:;irn who d/wting-uishea himiv<;lf on th<; nid'; of the Uon;tit.ut.ion and th'; (Jnion. * * * (Jive my r<;gard.H to all who k/io-.v ii,<:, ;).fid ■,;i.y tji;,.t, I -.an i'',i t.h'; Cjon-.tj- tution and Union, and down witJj l;aito;ii ! I only v.i.-,h Ih'; (iovdiiniKuti would order me home, * * * 'rilll.-;, IVoffi t.}i<; \))V <>\y (iOmt Oi' (y-.lWi'ntll'iii^ wllicjj W'.lH t,)-f;)i) l/l]|j;_' ]/j tl;c, \);i\;i.n(:<; \ )>:t,W<;t;n t.|j(; .\o/'l,li Ufj'l Soulfj (MUiiC, }ji,~i vol''*-, for t,})<; Li))'>n. ,\o wofj'J*;r' h^; clm.i'c/l i/j tjjj«; {;o.~,it,io/i i/j '.vliiolj li'; loiifjiJ ljj/n:-',(;jr -no fund-, t.o ^'o oil vvi(,li hi-, |>«-,;j.'-,<:riil !' 'IcI'-nrCj Ji«; fcif, |>f(;~.~,c,utit-ry, wan iuvoi-at>ly f(:r;(;iv(;d, ;u)'l Ik-, w;i.- (>r'l>:\cA }io/ii«-. Scvi-v w;i.H ;hi of(l<-r fnof*; w(;K;oni'-, ;in'l It, took lilln I'Ut, lltt|<-, t,inj<; to jyf'-));!)-*: f'of li),~, ' i';p;),rf,U r»;. On reach 1 1 j;^' hoin<-. h<'. ■x;\.- j>l;i'-''l in ':on)ni;rn' I of \.\\<: \';irnn;i,, a paHK<;Ji(^(;)- Ht.(;iJ.ni(;f, whi'-h h.i'l Ix'ti hou^hl \)y th'; !)•■■ pnrtjrH;nt,, anr] charigf;*] into ;<, ^.'un l to th': 'itv, h': ^;;i,vf; j>/-f;- cIhc ajifl (hd;i.ilcri oc(J<;r.s to (;Ji.<;Jj of th'-, '^oirjniau'J'-.i-.-,, and abHigned ihorn their respective po.-.iLlon;^. 190 COMMODORE CHARLES STUART BOGGS. Boggs, who knew what a frail thing his gunboat was, sought an interview with him and told him that his ves- sel would never bear any long pounding from the heavy o-uns of the fort, which he would be compelled to endure if he was required to move slowly, and asked permission to go ahead of his station, which he knew he could do, as the Varuna was a very fast boat. Farragut good- naturedly complied with his request, provided he would not run down and sink any rebel craft in the channel, as that might obstruct the free passage of the rest of the fleet. Boggs' plan was now soon formed, and on the morn- ing of the advance he moved up the stream, second from the flag-ship of his division. Ordinary fuel, he knew, would not get up steam fast enough, and he had the pork, which formed a part of his ship's stores, already prepared to throw into the furnace. At the proper time, it was cast on to the hissing coals — the fires blazed up, and with a full head of steam on, he dashed ahead. When abreast of the forts, he fired his starboard battery, loaded with five-second-shell. " Now ! " exclaimed Boggs, " fire with grape and canister as fast as possible," and the frail boat shot ahead, wrapped in flame, and was soon above the forts. Looking around him in the early twi- light, he saw that he was in a perfect nest of rebel gun- boats, ranged on both sides of the river. He instantly gave orders to " work both sides, and load with gnipe." Cool, and apparently unexcited, the men trained their guns with such precision, that scarcely a shot failed to hit its mark, while the forward and aft pivot-guns also kept up their steady fire. The first rebel vessel that re- ceived his fire, seemed crowded with troops. At the first discharge, her boiler exploded, and she drifted FIGHT OF THE VARUNA. 191 ashore. Three other vessels, in quick succession, were now driven ashore in flames, and blew up. At this Fio- nient, just as the sun had risen above the horizon, lighung up the strange scene, he saw a vessel, iron-clad about the bows, bearing down full upon him. As the rebel vessel approached, she fired a thirty-two-pound rifled gun, which raked the Varuna terribly, killing and wounding thirteen men. The marines now poured in a galling fire, which swept the gunners clear of the piece, so that it could not be fired as-ain. The next moment she struck his vessel in the port gangway, athwart the mainmast, crushing in her timbers, and causing her to careen over in the water. Backing off, she again came on, hitting nearly in the same place, staving in the side. But Boggs ordered the en- gineer to go ahead, and the Varuna, pushing up stream, swung the rebel steamer around, leaving her wooden side exposed. Instantly, Boggs poured in abaft her armor eight-inch shells. Five in quick succession entered her side, bursting with such destructive force, that the cap- tain afterwards said they swept his decks of nearly every living object. " This," said Boggs, " settled her, and drove her ashore in flamep-." The feeble, but gallaat Varuna had hardly recovered from these two staggering blows, when the Stonewall Jackson, an iron-clad, came full upon her, striking her with a tremendous crash, and staving in her sides, so that the water poured in torrents into the vessel. She was also on fire, and there was now no alternative but to run her asliore, and her bow was headed for the banks. The Oneida, Captain Lee, seeing her condition, rushed to her assistance, but Boggs, finding that he could do him no good, waved him on toward the Governor Moore, which, though in flames^ kept up a heavy fire, that swept the 192 COMMODORE CHARLES STUART BOGGS. deck of tlie Varuna. Fast settling in tlie water, as she struggled towards tlie shore, her guns ke]3t Looming over the bosom of the Mississippi, until the water was above the trucks — the last shot just skimming the surface. Cap- tain Bailey saw with pride how the wounded thing fought, and says : " I saw Boggs bravely fighting, his guns level with the water, as his vessel gradually sunk underneath, leaving her bow resting on the shore, and above water." The coolness and foresight of Boggs were strikingly shown in running his vessel ashore. When he saw her gun- trucks under water, and knew the last shot had been fired, he hastened forward, and ordered a chain-cable out, and, the moment the bow struck the bank, he had it fast- ened round a tree, so that the vessel, as she sunk stern first, might not slide oif into deep water and carry the crew with her. At the same time, the chief engineer coolly walked up to him, and, touching his hat, reported : " The engine has stopped working, sii*." With him came the gunner, who, with the same salute, said : " The maga- zine is closed, sir, and here are the keys." This shows with what cool deliberation the vessel was fought, — no huiTy, no excitement, though the hostile vessels were all around her, shells bursting along her decks, iron- clad bows beating in her sides, and fire raging along her decks. In fifteen minutes after receiving the last blow, the Varuna went down, with her guns roaring and her flag proudly flying. During the action, a boy named Oscar Peck, only thirteen years old, whose business was to pass ammunition to the gunners, nan-owly escaped death, as one of the enemy's shells burst along the deck. Just then, Boggs came upon him, begrimed with powder, and seeing him A BEAVE BOY. 193 running, asked him where he was going in such a hui'ry. "To get a passing box, sir," he replied; "the other was smashed by a ball." When the Varuna went down Boggs missed the boy, and thought he was among the killed. But a few moments after, he saw the lad gallantly swimmiuo; towards the wi'eck. Clamberino- on board, the little fellow threw his hand up to his forehead, in the usual salute, for his hat w^as gone, with the simple exclamation "All right, sir, I report myself on board ! " That boy was worthy to be trained under such a man as Boggs. Delight- ed with his gallantry, he said in his report : " I would particularly recommend to the notice of the Department Oscar Peck, a second-class boy, and powder-boy of the after rifles, whose coolness and intrepidity attracted the atten- tion of all hands. A just reward for such services would be an appointment at the Naval School." Boggs was now without a ship, but in losing it had not lost his honor, but, on the contrary, won immortal fame, and showed that he was a worthy nephew of the gallant Lawrence, who lost his life and ship together. Boggs was now sent by Farragut to General Butler below, to request him to bring his army up, as the fleet had passed the forts. Taking the only iron life-boat of the Varima which was saved, he passed around the forts by a bayou, and safely delivered his message. As a reward for his gallantry in this unparalleled naval combat, his native town and state both voted him a sword. Boggs now came North, and was ordered first to the Juniata, and afterwards transferred to the Sacramento, in which vessel he was senior officer of the blockading squadron oif Wilmington. To a man of his enterprise and love of active service, this was a most disagreeable 13 194 COMMODOEE CHARLES STUAET BOGGS. duty, especially as he liad an insufficient squadron, or, at least, an inefficient one, in the speed and power of the vessels that composed it. The constant exposure and fatigue attendant on his duties here, at length broke down his health, and he was reluctantly compelled to resign his command, and return home to recruit and re- ceive that medical treatment of which he was in pressing need. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered, he was ap- pointed one of Admiral Gregory's staff, on duty at New York. Here he was actively engaged in superintending the building and fitting out of a fleet of steam picket- boats of his own planning. One of these. No. 1, was, by him and Engineer Wood, converted into a torpedo-boat. How well it was planned and constructed, may be infer- red from the fact that it was the one selected by Lieu- tenant Gushing to make his memorable attack on the rebel ram Albemarle, in which that dreaded monster was sent to the bottom. The iron-clad torpedo-boat, Spuyten Duyvil, was also fitted out under Captain Boggs' directions. After the close of the war, Boggs was put in com- mand of the squadron ordered to the coast of Maine, to watch the Fenian movement. On returning from this duty, he was ordered, with his vessel, the De Soto, to Join the West India squadron, and in 1869 he was as- signed to the European fleet, and appointed light-house inspector of the third district. He was retired in 1873. Some of the most striking traits in the character of Com- modore Boggs, are clearly exhibited in the manner he fought and handled his vessel in the passage of the Forts below New Orleans. Prompt, fearless, cool, and selfpos- Sessed, dangers cannot daunt him, and no obstacles arrest HIS CHAEACTEE. 195 him. But, added to these qualities as a commander, he has those of a man, which make him unusually beloved by those who know him. Gentle, amiable, and in- dulgent in his family, he is equally so on ship, in every thing that does not interfere with the discipline and good order of the vessel. He overlooks many things that one more of a martinet would notice. Mere technicalities he cares little for, but he exacts the strictest, most thorough, performance of duty. Like many other strong men, he needs a great object to develop his real character. To an ordinary observer, he seems merely good-natured, and in- clined to be lazy ; but place him amid the smoke of bat- tle, and he is like the roused Hon. Kind and sympathizing in his nature, he is very care- ful of the health and comfort of his men, and they repay that kindness by affection and supreme devotion. CHAPTER VIII. REAR-ADMIRAL LOUIS MALESHERBES GOLDSBOROUGH. HIS NATIVITY. — A MIDSHIPMAN AT SEVEN YEARS OF AGE. — HIS FIEST ORUISl. EAELT SEEVICE8 — A LIEUTENANT AT TWENTY. — PEOSEOUTES HIS STUDIES AT PARIS. BATTLE WITH PIRATES IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. — PLACED IN CHARGE OF THE DEPOT OF CHARTS AND INSTRUMENTS AT WASHINGTON. ESTABLISHES A GERMAN COLONY IN FLORIDA. TAKES PART IN THE SEMI- NOLE WAR. TAKES PART IN THE BOMBARDMENT OF VERA CRUZ. EX- PLORES THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA AND OREGON.- COMMANDS THE BRA- ZILIAN SQUADRON. — MADE CAPTAIN. AT COMMENCEMENT OF THE REBEL- LION, MADE FLAG-OFFICER OF THE NORTH- ATLANTIC BLOCKADING SQUAD- EON. — COMMANDS THE EXPEDITION SENT TO THE SOUNDS OF NORTH CARO- LINA. — STORMS AT CAPE HATTERAS. — ITS DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS.- — SAILS FOR ROANOKE ISLAND. BOMBARDMENT OF THE WORKS. — HIS SERVICES IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND JAMES RIVER. — RESIGNS HIS COMMAND. — SHORE DUTY. — PRESENT COMMAND. Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough was born in Washington, D. C, on February 18tli, 1805. His father and friends, living at the very focus of political influences, were not compelled to work, through some Congressman from a remote district, to secure an appointment for him in the Navy, and he was entered as midshipman, at the extraordinary age of seven years. A mere boy, he could learn but little, and do but little in his profession. It is probable that he was appointed at that time, in order to secure a vacancy that might not again occur for a long N BECOMES MIDSHIPMAN. 197 time. At all events, he did not enter tlie service till four years after. When eleven years old, he joined the frigate Independence, under the gallant Bainbridge. From 1817 to 1824, he cruised in the Mediterranean and Pacific, be ing most of the time in the Franklin, commanded by Stewart.^ In 1825, he was made lieutenant, being then but twenty years of age. In a time of peace, to reach so early the grade of lieutenant, was almost unprecedented, and shows that his fi^iends had great influence at head- quarters. This was still further evinced by his obtain- ing leave of absence to visit Europe. He settled himself down in Paris, and prosecuted his studies there for some time, and then joined the North Carolina, in the Mediter- ranean. He was transferred from this vessel to the schooner Porpoise. The schooner, while cruising in the Grecian Archipelago, fell in with a craft that had been captured by pirates. Lieutenant Goldsborough, then only twenty-two or three years old, was ordered to take the boats of the schooner and recapture it. Thirty- five officers and men, were put under him, and the young officer shoved off to execute the order. It was a hazardous undertaking, for the captured vessel swarmed with pirates. He, however, rowed boldly up to her and opened a close, fierce fire. It was returned, and a severe conflict followed. The vessel was at leno-th taken, but not till every officer and man had killed, upon an average, nearly three pirates apiece. The decks were slippery with blood, and a horrible sight met his gaze as he stepped upon them, for ninety men had fallen in the ,' engagement. ^ In 1830, he returned to the United States in the Delaware, and was placed in charge of the Depot of Charts and Instruments. This bureau, or whatever it 198 REAR-ADMIRAL LOUIS 31. GOLDSBOROUGH. may be termed, was changed on his own suggestion into the National Observatory. He had some time previously married the daughter of the distinguished orator, William Wirt. The latter had purchased a large tract of land in Florida, on which he wished to found a German colony, and, in 1833, Golds- borough took charge of the emigrants and moved thithei*. He was there when the Seminole war broke out, and took command of a company of mounted volunteers. He afterwards was placed in command of an armed steamer. Becoming tired of the kind of life he was compelled to lead in Florida, he resumed his profession, and, in 1841, was promoted to commander. When the Mexican war broke out, a few years after, he was placed second in command of the Ohio, which formed a part of the fleet that bombarded Vera Cruz. After the place fell, he took charge of a body of sailors, detached for shore service, at the taking of Tus- pan. At the close of the Mexican war, he was appointed senior naval member of a joint commission, appointed to explore California and Oregon, and report upon various military matters. He showed the same ability here that he had in all the trusts which had heretofore been com- mitted to him, and was, in 1855, made Captain. At the commencement of the rebellion, he was in command of the Congress, on the Brazilian station. He returned to the United States in August, 1861, and was appointed flag-officer ; and, next month, placed in com- mand of the North Atlantic blockading squadron, with the Minnesota as his flagship. Although we had taken possession of Cape Hatteras, thus cutting off one of the channels of ingress and egress EXPEDITION TO ROANOKE. 199 to blockade ruuners, still, the shallow inlets and sounds on the North Carolina coast furnished other avenues of approach, through which arms, ammunition, clothing, and stores were brought into the Confederacy, and cotton taken out ; and hence, it became of vital im- portance that the waters of Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds should be under our control. A joint expe- dition of the army and navy was, therefore, organized with great secrecy, to be sent thither ; and all through the autumn was being assembled at or neai" Hampton Roads — the land force to be under Burnside, and the fleet under Goldsborough. Although it was well known that the coast, in the neighborhood of Hatteras, was very stormy and dangerous in winter, by some strange fatal- ity the expedition lingered out the mild autumnal season in Hampton Roads, and was not ready to sail till near the middle of January, 1862. The fleet consisted of twenty-three light-draught vessels, carrying forty-eight guns. The land force numbered sixteen thousand men, and w^ere carried in thirty transports. Five vessels more carried the horses, eight or ten the siege-traiD, supplies, &c., making in all a fleet of nearl}- eighty vessels. This was an imposing force, and, when it was all assembled in Hampton Roads, presented a magnificent appearance, the like of which had never l3efore been seen on our continent. On Saturday night, the 11th of January, the signal to make sail was hoisted, and by ten o'clock this mag- nificent fleet was in motion. It was a beautiful moon- light night, and, as the vessels in one vast crowd moved off seaward, it seemed as if nothino- along; our coast could resist such an armada. As it approached the Atlantic, however, a heavy fog enveloped it, which continued more 200 REAR-ADMIEAL LOUIS JI. GOLDSBOEOUGH. or less dense all tlie fore part of the next day, Sunday But, in tlie afternoon it cleared up, and just as the sun was sinking in a blaze of glory over the Carolina shore, the fleet swept around Cape Hatteras, and hove-to off the inlet, twelve miles distant, to wait for the morning light, before attempting to cross the bar. Monday morn- inai: dawned brio-ht and beautiful, and a sfentle south wind breathing of spring stole over the waters. Every thing seemed propitious to the expedition. Still, Golds- borough felt some anxiety, as he saw the heavy breakers bursting over the bar — for, although there was but little wind, a heavy swell was rolling in, indicating that a storm was rao-ino; not far distant. The lisrhter vessels, how^ever, one by one passed the bai' safely, and anchored inside of the inlet, under the lee of the land. Thus Mon- day, the 13th, passed, but when night came on several of the heavier vessels were still outside, while a dark cloud in the north, accompanied by a heavy squall, showed that a change of weather must be expected on this tempestu- ous coast. The next morning — the worst of all winds for that region — a northeasterly gale was upon them, lashing the ocean into fury. Goldsborough saw with the deepest anxiety the increasing storm, for the City of New York lay aground on the bar, loaded with ammunition, tents, blankets, and valuable stores, and wallowing amid the })reakers that leaped above her decks, like malignant spij'its seeking her destruction. The foremast had been cut away, which, in its fall, carried away the main top- mast, while amid the blinding spray a signal of distress was seen flying. In this terrible situation, the long, gloomy day wore away, and night closed in around the ill-fated vessel. With the first gleam of da\^'n. Golds- borough cast his eye tt: wards the spot where she lay WEECK OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 201 f and saw lier crew lashed to the masts. All her boats but one had been carried away, and, no help coming from the fleet, two mechanics from Newark, named William and Charles Beach, volunteered to make the desperate at- tempt, with this one, to pull through the breakers and obtain assistance. They succeeded, with three others, in launching it safely, and though, at times, entirely lost to view amid the combing billows, at length reached the fleet. Life and surf boats were now manned, which, impelled by strong arms, succeeded in reaching the vessel and taking off the crew, when she was left to her fate. A transport laden with stores went down on the bar ; the gunboat Zouave sunk at her anchorage ; one transport was blown out to sea, and several got aground. The Anne E. Thompson, with the New Jersey Ninth Volunteers, lay outside in imminent peril of wreck, and Colonel Allen and Surgeon Weller took* a boat and pulled over the bar to ask for help. On their return, the boat swamped, and they both perished. The Poca- hontas, with a hundred and twenty-three horses, was wrecked, and all but seventeen drowned. Gale now followed gale in quick succession, and the ships, in their miserable anchorage, lay grinding against each other and tossing heavily on the swell, while the shrieking of the wind through the cordage, and the thunder of bil- lows tailing with incessant crashes along the shore, con- tinued to make a scene of terror and s;loom sufficient to sadden the stoutest heart. To add to his misery. Golds borough was taken down with the rheumatism, and groaned aloud over his helplessness in this trying hour. The whole week passed wdthout anything being done. Of coui'se, the destination of the fleet, which had so long 202 REAE-ADMIRAL LOUIS M. GOLDSBOROUGH and laboriously been kept secret, was now known, and all hopes of surprise were at an end. When, at last, nearly all the surviving fleet had suc- ceeded in reaching the inlet, Goldsborough found that he still had an almost insurmountable difliculty to over- come, before he could enter the waters of the Pamlico Sound. There was another bar still to be crossed, called the Bulk-Head, or Swash, which, Goldsborough said, under the most favorable circumstances, furnished only seven and a half feet of water, while some of his heaviest vessels drew eight feet. By what strange fatuity vessels were sent where there was not water enough to float them, has never been satisfactorily explained. One by one, however, by taking advantage of high tides, and high winds bringing in a heavy sea, and using every expedient that ingenuity could suggest, Goldsborough finally got his vessels over into deep water. On Monday the 26th, he sent home a despatch an- nouncing that seventeen vessels were safely within the Sound. But other delays took place, and it was not until three weeks after his arrival at the Cape, that the expedition, which was to be a great surprise, finally got under way. On the 5th of February, the same day that Foote was moving up the Cumberland River to attack Fort Henry, the fleet of gunboats and transports carrying the army, sixty-five in all, moved off towards Koanoke Island, on which were erected works that commanded the chan- nel lead! no: into Albemarle Sound. The storms had blown themselves out, and the day was mild and balmy as spring, as the imposing fleet moved majestically forward over the smooth waters. When within ten miles of the southern point of the AITAOK OF THE FORTS. 203 island, it being near sundown, the signal to anchor was hoisted from the flagship, and in a few minutes the fleet lay at rest on the water. It was a beautifiil moonlight night, and as the mellow radiance flooded the scene, it did not seem that death and havoc lay slumbering there. The morning, however, dawned dark and gloomy. Heavy clouds lay along the horizon, as the fleet once more moved slowly onward, and by eleven o'clock a storm broke over the sound, when it again came to a halt. Af- ter some time it cleared up, and the signal to advance was given. The weather, however, was too heavy to undertake to pass the batteries that night, and the vessels came to anchor. The next morning the sun rose in a sky mottled with fleecy clouds, indicating a quiet day, and preparations were at once made to attack the enemy's works. As Goldsborough approached them, he came in sight of the rebel gunboats, eight in number, drawn up behind a double row of piles and sunken vessels, placed there to obstruct the channel. Besides these obstructions, and rebel steamers to defend the passage, there were two strong works mounting t^venty heavy guns — three of them one hundred pound rifle guns — and four other bat- teries mounting twenty guns, together with a garrison of from three to five thousand men. At eleven o'clock the first gun from the flagship broke the ominous silence, and, as the loud report rolled away over the water, Goldsborough ran up Nelson's famous signal : " This day our country expects that every man will do his duty." By noon the combat was raging in all its terror, and the signal for close action was seen flj'ing amid the smoke of the guns that curled lazily up in the atmos- phere. Goldsborough directed his fire at first against the rebel gunboats, wliich gradually fell back to draw his 204 EEAE-ADMIRAL LOUIS M. G OLDSBOROUGH. vessels in close range of the works. The fleet steadily advanced until it reached the obstructions, which had been planter! just where the rebel forts could .pour in their most destructive fire. To these Goldsborough o-ave his exclusive attention, and the ponderous shell of our ves- sels dropped thick as hailstones within them. The enemy replied, and soon one eighty-})ound rifle shell entered the fore-hold of the Louisiana, setting her on fire. In six minutes however the flames were extinguished, and the vessel was ao;ain hurlino; shot and shell into the rebel works. At half past one the barracks behind the fort at Kock Point were set on fire by our shells. All eflbrts to extinguish them proved abortive, and the clouds of smoke that arose, making; a fearful backo:round to the fire of the batteries, imparted additional terror to the scene. The fire raged for nearly an hour before the buildings were wholly destroyed. In the mean time the bombardment went on, and at a little after 2 o'clock a 32-pounder round-shot struck the steamer Hetzel, Lieut. H. R. Davenport commanding, compelling her to haul off to repair damages. In a little over an hour and a half she was again at her position, pouring in her shot as before. The bombardment of the forts, which had commenced before noon, was kept up till dark. Goldsborough says : At 6 p. m. tlie firing of the enemy being only from Pork Point, and at long intervals, darkness coming on, and, not wishing to waste ammunition, I ordered the signal " cease firing " to be made. In the course of tlie after- noon, our six launches, under the command of Midshipman Benjamin H. Porter, landed their howitzers and joined the army, for the purpose of com- manding the main road and its two forks during the night, and assisting in more active operations the following morning. By midnii^'ht some 10,000 of our troops had been safely landed at Ashby's harbor, the Delaware having taken on board from the Cossack some 800, and put them on shore at lOp. m. Februwry 8. — As it was arranged by General Burnside that his forces THE VICTORY. 205 should move, at a very early hour this morning, from where they had been landed, and begin their attack upon the enemy, and, as the direction they were required to take would, in all probability, soon bring them in the line of fire occupied -by the navy, it was agreed between us last night that to-day the vessels should not renew operations until I could receive word from him that their missiles would not be destructive to both friends and foes. At day- light none of the enemy's vessels, except the Curlew, could be discovered. At 9 A, M. a continuous firing in the interior of the island told us that our forces were hotly engaged about midway between Ashby's harbor and Pork Point battery, and, as this intelligence also assured us that our forces were not then in the range of our line of fire, our vessels, without waiting to hear from General Burnside, at once moved up to re-engage the forts. At this work they continued until the firing in the interior evidently slack- ened. Then, taking it for granted that our troops were carrying everything before them, and thus fast approaching the rear of the batteries, I again ordered the signal " cease fixing " to be made. At the time, however, the work on Pork Point was so reduced that it did not use but one gun against us. Shortly afterwards, on being informed by one of General Burnside's aids, of the actual state of things on shore, 1 was induced to order another demonstration on the part of our vessels, but before firing had generally com- menced Commander Rowan came on board the Southfield just from General Burnside, with the suggestion that it would be better to desist, and accord- ingly they were recalled. At 1 p. M., judging that the time had arrived for clearing a passage-way through the obstructions alluded to above, by the accomplishment of which both the battery on Redstone Point and the Curlew might be destroyed, and our advance up Albemarle Sound would be secured, the Underwriter, Valley City, Seymour, Lockwood, Ceres, Shawsheen, Putnam, Whitehead, and Brincker, were ordered to perform the service. By 4 p. m., one of them had overcome the difficulty for herself, and reached the other side, and in less than an hour more a sufficient way for all the rest was opened. This important duty could not have been undertaken one moment earlier than it was without exposing our vessels, huddled together, to the converging and crossfire of the four batteries at Pork, Weir's, and Redstone Points, and another one situated between the former two. About the same time that our vessels succeeded in bursting through the barricades the American flag was hoisted over the battery at Pork Point, and in a few minutes afterwards the enemy himself fired the works at Redstone Point, and also the steamer Curlew. Both blew up in the early part of the evening. These events closed the struggle, which had now lasted throughout two days, and were essentially the last scenes enacted in securing to us complete possession of the island of Roanoke. The casualfies were few, considering the length of 206 EEAK- ADMIRAL LOUIS M. GOLDSBOROUGH. the combat, and showed poor firing on the part of the rebels. The Hetzel suffered most, not from the enemy's shot, but from the bursting of her own 80-pounder rifle- gun. This took place at a quarter past five. The con- cussion was so fearful, that every man at the piece was knocked down and six of them wounded. The muzzle fell on the deck ; a part of the breech leaped into the sea, carrying away the bulwarks in its mad plunge ; another portion rose high in the air, and a third went downward, breaking through the deck, maga- zine, and deck below, and lodged on the kelson. Daven- port, the commander, says : " The magazine was set on fire, and only extinguished in time to avoid an explosion ' by the presence of mind, promptitude, and intrepidity of Lieutenant Charles L. Franklin, Executive Officer." The accident so disabled her, that she had to haul off and anchor out of reach of the enemy's guns. The Commodore Perry was hit seven times, but not materially injured. The Hunchback, Calhoun commanding, was stnick eight times, and fired over three hundred shot and shell, yet not a man on board was wounded. All the commanders handled their vessels with great skill. The Stars and Stripes got aground, and remained so for two hours, under the fire of the battery, and all that time returned shot for shot, her officers behaving with great coolness and courao:e. Goldsborouo-h, who had transferred his flag to the Southfield, remained on deck during the whole of the engagement. The total loss on board the ships was only thirteen, though Midshipman Ported, who com- manded a howitzer-battery on shore, lost twenty-three. The works were finally carried by the troops, which had been landed the night before, and advanced in three columns under the command of Reno, Foster, and Park. ^^S * ly HS .EaJLH-T*- 207 The rebel steamers fled up Albemarle Sound, wbither, the next day, Monday, Rowan pursued them and sunk or captured all but two.* Goldsborough now sent off various expeditions into the bays and rivers, to complete his conquest of the coast. A month later, Newbern fell, under a joint expe- dition of the army and navy ; the latter commanded by Rowan. In the mean time, Goldsborough's presence was needed in Hampton Roads, for the Merrimac had made her daring raid in those waters. After the destruction of the Merrimac, he cooperated with McClellan — keeping vessels in both James and York Rivers. Much hard work was done by the various commanders, but the only engagement worthy of particular mention, was that at Drury's Bluff, eight miles below Richmond. Heavy guns were here mounted, which completely commanded the river, so that our vessels could not ascend above it. In May, Goldsborough sent up the Galena, Aroostook, Naugatuck, Port Royal, and the Monitor, to silence, if possible, the works erected there, called Fort Darling. The Galena in advance, John Rodgers commanding, cleared the shores of the enemy. He says : We met with no artificial impedimeuts until we arrived at Ward's BluflF, about eight miles from Richmond, where we encountered a heavy battery and two sejjarate barriers, formed of piles and steamboats and sail vessels. The pilots both say that they saw the Jamestown and Yorktown among the number. The bar.ks of the river we found lined with ri^e-pits, trom which sharp- shooters^ annoyed the men at the guns. These would hinder all removal of obstructions, unless driven away by a land force. The Galena ran within almost six hundred yards of the battery, as near the piles as it was deemed proper to go, let go her anchor, and with a spring * The particulars of this splendid achievement will be found in the sketch of Admiral Rowan. 208 REAR-ADMIRAL LOUIS M. GOLDSBOROUGH. swung across tlie stream, not more than twice as wide as tlie ship is long. Then, at 7.45 A. m., opened fire upon the battery. The wooden vessels, as directed, anchored about thirteen hundred yards below. The combat lasted for two hours, the heavy echoes of the guns breaking with startling distinctness over Kich mond, fillino; the inhabitants with terror. But the fisrht was too unequal, for the shot of the vessels could not be thrown with any accuracy up the hill, a hundred and fifty feet high, while the plunging balls from the fort went through and through the Galena. The vessel being compelled, on account of the narrowness of the river, to remain stationary, the enemy, when he once got the range, made his shots tell so fatally, that in a short time twenty-four of the crew of the Galena were killed or wounded, and she had been struck some eighteen times. The 100-pounder rifle-gun on board the Naugatuck burst early in the action, and she became useless. She had but two wounded, and the Monitor one. This was the first reverse our iron-clads had met with, and the people of Richmond were highly elated at the result. Rodgers could. not run the batteries, on ac count of the obstructions that were placed across the river, directly under fire of the fort. Admiral Lee, succeeding Goldsborough (who asked to be relieved on account of disagreement with Wilkes), in the command of the North Atlantic blockading squadron in the forepart of September, the latter was employed afterward on shore duty. At Washington, he rendered the Government good service, and was active in his de- partment until the close of the war. He was then placed m command of the European squadron, which position he held three years ; was retired in 1873. He died in Washington, 1877. CHAPTER IX. COLONEL CHARLES ELLEl AMEEIOAN INGENUITY. — ELLEt's NATIVITY EAELY EDUCATION. — BECOMES 8UETET0K. — FINISHES HIS EDUCATION IN PARIS. — BECOMES ENGINEEE-IN- CHIEF ON THE JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL. — PUBLISHES A WORK ON THE LAWS OF TRADE. PROPOSES TO BUILD A WIRE BRIDGE ACROSS THE MIS- SISSIPPI. — BUILDS THE FIRST SUSPENSION BRIDGE IN AMERICA. — PLANS OTHERS. — VISITS EUROPE. PLANS IMPROVEMENTS OF NAVIGATION IN THE OHIO RIVER. J^ENT BY THE WAR DEPARTMENT TO SURVEY THE LOW- ER MISSISSIPPI. PUBLISHES A WORK ON THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS. — PLANS THERE THE RAM. — SUBMITS HIS INVENTION TO THE RUS- SIAN EMPEROR. — ALSO TO uUB NAVY DEPARTMENT. PUBLISHES A PAMPH- LET ON HIS PROJECTS. URGES HIS INVENTION ON GOVERNMENT AT THE BREAKING OUT OF THE REBELLION. — 'ATTACKS m'oLELLAN. — SENT WEST TO BUILD RAMS HIS DIFFICULTIES. HIS FIRST EXPERIMENT AT MEMPHIS. — IS WOUNDED. HIS SICKNESS AND DEATH.-^OHARLES RIVERS ELLET. HIS BIRTH AND EARLY EDUCATION. JOINS THE RAM FLEET. — SUCCEEDS HIS FATHER. HIS BRAVEHY. COMPLIMENTED BY PORTER. — ATTACKS THE CITY OF VICKSBURG. — DESTROYS REBEL TRANSPORTS. — GETS AGROUND, AND LOSES HIS VESSEL. — COMMANDS THE SWITZERLAND.— RUNS THE VICKSBURO BATTERIES. — AFTER SERVICES. HIS SICKNESS AND EARLY DEATH, American ingenuity is proverbial ; and, though it is often wasted on worthless objects and impracticable schemes, yet, in great exigencies, it is sure to originate something to meet them. And often what in ordinary times seems useless or impracticable, then becomes of immense value. The inventor may find no encourage- 14 210 GEISTEEAL CHAELES ELLEI ment from his countrymen, and the Government decline to furnish means to test his proposed experiments, so that he frequently dies without seeing his plans tried — com- forted only by the belief that the time will arrive when they will be adopted with gladness. Of these inventors, Charles Ellet was one who bid fair to die without seeing his favorite scheme carried out. The war however into which we were precipitated, gave to his applications a force that in times of peace they did not possess, and he saw the " Ram " finally adopted as a war vessel by his Government. Charles Ellet was born at Perr\- Manor, on the Dela- ware, about twenty-five miles above Philadelphia. His boyhood was passed on his father s farm, but at sixteen he was sent to Bristol school, where he at once developed his love for mathematics, and indicated clearly his future profession. At eighteen, he became assistant surveyor of Maryland. Here he husbanded his earnings so that he might finish his education in Europe, and at twenty-one he went to Paris, where he remained for two years. Re- turning to Maryland he was appointed assistant engineer on the James River and Kanawha Canal, Avhich was then being built, and eventually became engineer-in-chief. He proposed to build a wire suspension bridge across the Potomac, but his proposition was declined. Being now fairly launched in his profession, he mar- ried the daughter of Judge Daniel, of Lynchburg, Vir- ginia. In 1837, he published a book on "The Laws of Trade in Reference to Works of Liternal Improvement," which showed great study of the various methods of inland com- munication. In 1840, he made to the authorities of St. Louis the bold proposition to build a wire bridge across ENGAGED IN PUBLIC WORKS. 211 the Mississippi, at that point, but it was rejected. The next year, however, he constructed the wire suspension bridge across the Schuylkill, at Fairniount, the first erected in America. He was now extensively employed and consulted on the great public works going on throughout the country. In 1847, he began the suspension bridge at Wheeling, for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and also threw a temporary bridge over the Niagara River, just below the Falls. In the intervals of his la- bors he visited Europe several times, to enlarge his ex- perience, and was received there as a distinguished man in his profession. In 1846 and 1847 he was president oi the Schuylkill Navigation Company. In 1848 and 1849 he devoted himself a part of the time to making observa- tions and calculations on the Ohio River, for the purpose of devising some method of improving its navigation. Though his plan Avas not adopted, the results of liis labors were published in the Transactions of the Smithsonian Institute. Soon after, though not belonging to the army, he was selected Ijy the War Department to survey the Lower Mississippi, in consequence of complaints being made to Congress, that the spring floods of the river were injur- ing the State, and destroying a vast amount of property. He performed the work assigned him with great ability, and published his report, together with the observations he had made on the Ohio, in a book form, entitled, " Ellet on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers." This is not the place to go into the details of his plan, which was on a gigantic scale, for the improvement of those rivers. By many it was thought chimerical, though he fully believed it would eventually be carried out. In 1854, Mr. Ellet was in Laiis£^nne, and there being 212 GENERAL CHARLES ELLET. mucli discussion at the time respecting the siege of Se- VjastopoJ, and the blockade of the harbor by British vessels, his scheming mind was directed to war vessels, and then and there was born in his brain the new and famous ram, which hereafter is to bear such an important pai-t in river and harbor defence. He submitted his plan to the Russian Emperor, declaring that with such ves- sels the Russians might sink the fleet of the allies. It was well received, though never acted on. The next spring he submitted it to John T. Mason, then our Min ister at Paris. Ellet forwarded it to the Navy Depart- ment, but he received no encouragement, and in 1855 published his plan, together with the correspondence with the Government, in a pamphlet form. The grand idea on which his invention was based, is thus given in the preface of this book : " People are ac- customed to re^"ard the art of naval warfare as the art of manoeuvering cannon, and throwing shot and shell. I wish them to reflect upon the power of a moving steam- boat driven against the enemy, who has no means of re- sistance but his batteries, and to decide which is the more certain warfai'e." Again he says : '' My plan is simply to convert the steamei' into a battering-ram, and (mable her to fight, not with her guns, but with her momentum." He proposed to strengthen it. so that it " could run head into the enemy, or burst in his ribs, or drive a hole into his hull below the water line." "This," he said, " would make the combat a short one ; for," he added, " a hole only two feet square, four feet under water, will sink an ordinary frigate in sixteen minutes. The pamphlet goes into all the details of his plan, shows how vessels could be converted into rams, and says : " I hold myself ready to carry it out, whenever the day PRESSES HIS PLAN ON CONGRESS. 218 arrives that the United States is about to become en gaged in a naval contest." To Ellet's proposition, Mr. Welch, then acting Secre- tary of the Navy, said, that " the suggestion to convert steamers into battering-rams, and by the momentum make them a means of sinking an enemy's ships, was proposed as long ago as 1832, and has been renewed many times since by various officers of the Navy." He added that no practical test had been undertaken, but acknowledged that, " with the necessary speed, strength, and weight, a large steamer on the plan proposed would introduce an entire change in naval warfare." Ellet subsequently urged his plan afresh, but Mr. Dobbin, Sec* retary of the Navy, said that the Department had no power to build vessels for such experiments, except by special vote of Congress. Mr. Ellet did not go on mere theory — he cited numerous cases of accidental collision at sea — some where merely a sailing vessel had sunk large ships, to show what deadly work might be done with a vessel built on purpose to run down an antago- nist. He cannot claim originality for his invention, for it had been discussed both here and abroad for years ; but it differed from all others in that he did not believe as they did, that great weight was necessary in order to make a ram efficient ; he insisted that the momentum re- quired could be obtained by speed, and that river steam- ers, steam-tugs, and even ferryboats might easily be con- verted into formidable engines of destruction, and suf- ficiently strong to sink the heaviest vessels of war that England might send against us. He was living at Washington at the time of the oreaking out of the rebellion, devoting much time to the perfecting of his plans, and urging their adoption. The 214 GENERAL CHARLES ELLET. commencement of war, of course, increased his desire to have them tested, and he vehemently pressed on the Gov- ernment and Congress the importance of putting them into practical operation. When he learned that the rebels along the coast and on the Mississippi v^^ere turn- ing steamers into iron-clad rams, his excitement over the inaction of our Government made his friends almost dread his presence, for his importunity knew no bounds. He printed a memorial to Congress, and laid it on the tables of the membei's. In it he stated what the rebels were doing, while the Navy Department had not taken the first step to meet this new and threatening evil. In speaking of the Merrimac, then in course of construction, he uses the following remarkable words : " If the Merri- mac is permitted to escape from the Elizabeth River, she will be almost certain to commit great depredations on our armed or unarmed vessels in Hampton Roads, and may be even expected to pass out under the guns of Fortress Monroe and prey upon our commerce in Chesa- peake Bay. Indeed, if the alterations have been skilful- ly made, and she succeeds in getting to sea, she will not only be a terrible scourge to our commerce, but also may prove to be a most dangerous visitor to our squadron off the harbors of our southern coast." Mr. Ellet's active mind, not content with its legiti- mate work, also undertook to direct the war, and he formed a plan for cutting off the rebel army at Manassas, and submitted it to McClellan for adoption. The latter treating it as he did numerous similar plans which he received, Ellet was very indignant, and wrote two pamphlets against him, in which he spoke in harsh and severe terms of the general-iu-chief. The sinking of the Cumberland and Congress by the SENT WEST TO BUILD RAMS. 215 Merrimac, finally woke up the Government to tlie im- portance of Mr. Ellet's project and propositions, respect- ing the building of iron-clad rams. Still, the Navy De- partment had its hands full, and was spending the ap- propriation made by Congress for the increase of the Navy, in the building and purchasing of vessels of a dif- ferent kind. But when Foote reported fi^om Island No. 10 that the rebels had several gunboats on the Missis- sippi that could be used as rams, the Secretary of War took the responsibility of commissioning Ellet as Colonel of Engineers, and sending him west to buy and convert into rams such vessels as he could find there fit for his pur- pose. He set out in the latter part of March, and at Pittsburg purchased five heavy tow-boats, and at Cin- cinnati four side- wheel steamers. The bows of these he strengthened with heavy timbers, and sheathed with iron bars, and built strong bulkheads of oak around the machinery and boilers. The pilot-houses of each were also plated sufficiently thick to protect the pilots from musketry. But though he was able to get his boats in a proper condition, he found it very difficult to obtain crews and officers for them. Neither engineers nor pilots liked to serve on such kind of craft, destined for such new and hazardous work. He finally obtained permis- sion to recruit from the army, and, his brother Alfred being a captain of volunteers, he sent for him. The latter came, bringing his own and another company with him. Ellet's energy and perseverance obtained also pilots and en- gineers, and he was at last in a condition to test his theory practically. In the mean time, before he had brought down his rams to join the fleet, commanded by Davis before Fort Pillow, the rebel flotilla attacked our gunboats, and seri- 216 GENERAL CHARLES ELLET. ously damaged the Cincinnati and Mound City with their rams. What further mischief might be done no one could foretell ; and EUet hastened forward some of his ves- sels, under the charge of his brother Alfred, and a few days after followed himself with the rest of them. The rebel fleet lay at this time below the fort, and under easy range of its fire, so that Davis could not attack it without at the same time encountering the batteries on shore. Ellet, on his arrival, asked Davis to give him the aid of a couple of gunboats, and he would steam past the fort, and attack the whole rebel flotilla of the enemy. This was a bold proposition, for at this time he had not a single cannon on board of his rams. The fighting force con- sisted of twenty-three sharpshooters, who were to fire through loo[)holes. Soon after, the rebels evacuated Fort Pillow and retired to Memphis, followed by their fleet. Davis now advanced Avith his gunboats, and when near Memphis was attacked by the latter. Ellet had been detained up the river, but at this time was coming down under a full head of steam, ^vith his ram fleet, each one of which was painted black, to make it look as formidable as pos- sible. The Queen of the West was his flagship, and, standing on her deck as the heavy caimonading from below broke on his ear, he stretched out his arm towards the Monarch, which his brother commanded, and shouted out : " Follow me and attack the enemy." Crowding on all steam that the boilers would bear, he, swept like an arrow past the fleet, and, steering for the nearest rebel boat, named the General Lovell, struck her with such awful force, that her sides were crushed in like an egg- shell, and in five minutes she went to the bottom with most of her crew. The Queen of the West staggered Aa?TACK O^ THE RAMS. 217 back like a drunken man from the shock — her chimneys reeling almost to the water — whUe the splinters and shiv- ered timbers of her upper works made her deck appear like a wreck. Before she could recover herself and once more get under headway, two rebel rams came full upon her — determined to send her to the bottom after the General Lovell. One struck her near the wheel-house, but inflicted only a glancing blow, and in turn received from her own consort, which ran into her, one which so disabled her that she was compelled to run ashore, when she sunk. The sharpshooters, in the mean time, were busy, while the heavy broadsides of the gunboats shook the shores of the stream. Alfred, in the Monarch, following his brother, struck the Beauregard, but inflicted no seri- ous damage, though the latter soon after blew up, the shot of the gunboats having pierced her boiler. The combined attack proving too strong for the rebel fleet, it tui-ned and fled. The Monarch and Lancaster gave the Van Dorn a hot chase, but the latter flnally got ofl: In this sharp encounter, not a man on board the rams was injured but Colonel Ellet. After he struck the General Lovell, he stepped forward to see the amount of injury he had done her, when he was hit in the knee by a bullet, which lodged in the bone. The wound proved to be a dangerous one, for inflammation set in, and the only chance of saving his life was amputa- tion of the limb. This he would not consent to, declar- ing that he would rather die ; at all events, he preferred to take his chances. His experiment, as far as it went, was successful, but he determined it should have a fuller, more complete trial, and though suflering intensely, prepared to move 218 CHARLES RIVERS ELLET. down with the fleet to Vicksburg. But even his strong will could not resist the inroads the wound had made on his delicate, nervous frame, and he was compelled to abandon his project. Finding himself rapidly sinking, he sent for his family, by whom he was nursed with the greatest care, but he continued to grow worse. In the mean time, the fleet moved down the river to win new laurels, leaving him behind, to mourn the fate that had laid him aside just as he was on the threshold of his great enterprise. The command of the ram-fleet now devolved on his brother Alfred, and he told the latter, as he came to bid him farewell before he started, to carry out his plans, saying, as they parted forever : " Alfred^ stand to yowr postP He was now placed on board the Switzerland, and carried to Cairo, but just as the boat reached the whai-f he expired, breathing out his gallant spirit in serene composure. Thus, on the 21st of June, 1862, at the age of fifty-two, this ardent, enthusiastic man passed away, leaving to others what he had fondly hoped to do himself. His broken-hearted wife soon followed him to the grave, leaving a gallant son, only nineteen years of age, to uphold his fame and carry out his project. CHARLES RIVERS ELLET. The son followed in the daring footsteps of his father, in command of one of the rams built by the latter, and followed him too, alas ! to the grave. Born in Georgxj- town. District of Columbia, in 1843, he was but eighteen years old when the war broke out. He had foimerly accompanied his father to Europe, and remained two THE SON SUCCEEDS THE FATHER. 219 years in school at Paris. He was studying medicine wlien the first battle of Bull Run took place, and volun- teered to act as assistant surgeon and nurse to the wounded that came pouring in from that disastrous bat- tle-field. When his father had just completed at the West the first of his rams, he joined him, and was given a place on board as medical cadet. He was in the battle before Memphis, and witnessed the first triumph of the rams. After it was over, he was sent by his father to demand the surrender of that city. When the fleet commenced its movement down the river towards Vicksburg, Charles reluctantly left the side of his wounded father, to accompany it. Selected by Davis to carry a despatch to Farragut, anchored below the place, he made his way through swamps and stagnant pools in the darkness, and, after a night of incessant peril and labor, at length in the morning stood on the shore opposite the Hartford. Firing his pistol to attract attention, he was taken on board, where he delivered his message. While on duty with his uncle Alfred up the Yazoo, he received on the 10th of July the melancholy tidings of the death of both father and mother, and the sickness of his only sister. He, however, felt it his duty to remain with the fleet, and, on the 5th of November, was placed in command of the rams, his uncle Alfred being given the command of the marine brigade. When Admiral Porter determined to force the Yazoo River at Haines Bluff, he directed young Ellet to destroy a raft of timber that obstructed the stream. Fit- ting a torpedo-raft of his own invention to the Lioness, the latter, after getting everything ready, reported himself 220 CHAELES RIVERS ELLET. to Porter sayiDg, tliat he had two tons of powder in the bow of his boat and asked for directions. Porter replied, that he must steam directly up to the raft, which lay right under the enemy's guns, and blow it up. " But," said young Ellet, " don't you expect that the enemy will be firing as I do so, into my two tons of powder ? " " Oh yes ! " replied the Admiral, " but yoa must'nt mind bul- lets and shells, you know." Ellet, a little piqued at the answer, replied that he was not afraid of them — he desired only to know how he wished him to proceed. A more desperate undertaking could not well be imagined, yet Ellet was ready for it and would doubtless have per- formed it or been blown up, had not a dense fog set in as he was about to start, compelling the expedition to be abandoned. Porter was delighted with the pluck of the youth, for he saw in him a spirit kindred to his own, and wrote to the Department : " I have great confidence in the commander of the rams and those under him, and take this opportunity to state to the Department how highly I appreciate the commander and his associates." This was very extraordinary praise to bestow on a youth only nineteen years old. The next February, young Ellet was sent down with the ram Queen of the West, to sink, if possible, the " City of Vicksburg," that lay under the guns of the batteries. One of his guns was loaded with turpentine balls, de- signed to set the rebel vessel on fire. He boldly steamed down into the enemy's fire, and laid his vessel alongside of the City of Vicksburg, and opened on it with his guns, while the batteries on shore played furiously upon him. Although he set the rebel craft on fire, his own vessel also caught fire, and it was with great difficulty that the flames were extinguished. LOSES HIS VESSEL. 221 He did not succeed in destroying the ram, but the manner in which he handled and fought his vessel as- tonished those who served under him. Soon after, he was sent down to the mouth of Red River, to destroy rebel transports there, and in three days captured and destroyed three large steamers, valued at nearly half a million of dollars. On the 15th, he started again for the Red River, accompanied by the De Soto, and, learning that three steamers were lying under the guns of a battery stationed where soon after Fort De Bussy was erected, he deter- mined to capture them. But as he came within range of the guns, their fire was so destructive that he ordered the pilot to back the Queen of the West out of it. But in doing so he ran her aground, where she lay a helpless target. The rebels had the exact range, so that nearly every shot struck the doomed vessel. A frightful scene now followed. Ellet was unable to bring a gun to bear, and he ■ could therefore only stand and see his vessel torn into fragments. On every side shells were bursting — tkree thiity-two-pound ones exploded one after another on the smoking deck, while one crashed through the ma- chinery below, and another carried away the lever of the engine. The steam-pipe went next, and last, the steam- chest was fractured, letting out a cloud of steam, and prisoners, crew, and engineers, who had crowded into the engine-room for safety, now rushed aft and began to tumble overboard cotton bales, on which they leaped, hoping to float down to the De Soto, a mile below. The negroes with loud cries jumped overboard and were drowned. Some ran for the yawl that was tied to the stern, but a man stood on the bow with a loaded pistol, and threatened to shoot the first man 'that attempted to 222 CHARLES RIVERS ELLET. enter it. The De Soto steamed up as near as slie dared and then sent her yawl to take off those who re- mained, but the fire of the batteries was so terrific that she had to drop down stream again, before the boat returned. Ellet escaped on a cotton bale, and sorrowfully made his way back to the squadron, blamed by some for his rashness, for the rebels captured the Queen of the West, and soon had her repaired and at work in the Confederate service. He was soon after put in command of the Switzer- land, which, with the Lancaster, commanded by his cousin John A. Ellet, was sent below Vicksburg to cooperate with Farragut. In passing the batteries, the boiler of the Switzerland, just as she got opposite the city, was pierced by two shots. In an instant the vessel was enveloped in a cloud of steam. EUet's first care was for the crew — when they were safe in the boats he drew his pistol and fired into the cotton bales, for the purpose of setting the vessel on fire, so that she might not, like the Queen of the West, fall into the enemy's hands. He then stepped into the boat and rowed to the Lancaster. The Switzerland however escaped, and, being repaired, acted afterwards as a despatch boat between Generals Grant and Banks. The exposure and excitement, together with the hot summer, at length proved too much for the constitution of young Ellet, and, obtaining leave of absence to recruit his shattered health, he retired to the residence of his uncle Dr. Ellet, at Bunker Hill, Illinois. He sufiered severely from neuralgia in the face, for which he was in the habit of taking some opiate. On the night of the 16th of October, he complained of feeling very unwell, and said to his aunt as he retired, that he thought he would take something to relieve the HIS DEATH. 223 pain in his face. In the morning he was foui/d dead in his bed. He had probably taken an overdose of mor- phine and fallen into a sleep from which he never awoke. Thus at the early age of twenty, this youth of so much promise closed his labors for his country. Gentle and tender as a woman, he was nevertheless bold and fear- less as a lion. His countenance was full of poetic senti- ment, to which his large brilliant eyes and long black hair gave additional expression. Though the career of father and son was so brief, it was glorious, and their names will go down to posterity linked with the navy, and embraced in the same halo ot glory that encircles its brave commanders. I CHAPTER X. REAR-ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY. HIS NATIVITY. — EARLY IMPRESSIONS. — APPOINTED MIDSHIPMAN. — SENT TO THB COAST OF AFRICA. — CRUISE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. — PLACED ON THE WEST INDIA STATION. — MADE LIEUTENANT. VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. SECOND VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. — STATIONED AT THE BROOKLYN NAVY YARD. ^ASSUMES AN INDEPENDENT COMMAND. — SAILS IN THE LEX- INGTON FOR THE COAST OF MEXICO. SHERMAN, HALLECK, AND ORD, THEN LIEUTENANTS, ACCOMPANY HIM. — THEIR APPEARANCE. — ^AN INCI- DENT OFF GAPE HORN IN A GALE. — ARRIVAL IN CALIFORNIA. — MEETS COMMODORE STOCKTON AND FREMONT. — HIS SERVICES ON THE COAST DURING THE MEXICAN WAR. — A PRACTICAL JOKE — CORRESPONDENCE WITH A BRITISH CAPTAIN, ON BLOCKADE RIGHTS. — CRUISE IN THE PACIFIC. COMPELS ISLAND CHIEFS TO DO JUSTICE. — AT PANAMA AFTER THE MASSACRE OF AMERICANS. COMMANDS THE COLORADO IN COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR. — BLOCKADES PENSAOOLA. — PLACED SECOND IN COMMAND IN THE EXPEDITION AGAINST NEW ORLEANS. UNABLE TO GET HIS SHIP OVER THE BAR. — DETERMINES TO LEAD IN SOMETHING. — ANECDOTE OF HIM. LEADS IN THE CAYUGA. THE COMBAT. DEMANDS THE SURREN- DER OF NEW ORLEANS. INTERVIEWS WITH THE MAYOR, LOVELL AND SOULE. — SENT HOME WITH DESPATCHES. PLACED IN COMMAND OF THE EASTERN GULF BLOCKADING SQUADRON EXHIBITS GREAT ENERGY AND EFFICIENCY. — COMPLIMENTED BY THE DEPARTMENT. HIS HOSPITALITY. — ASTONISHES A 8ECESH VESTRY. SMITl'EN DOWN BY THE YELLOW FEVER. — ATTEMPT TO BRIBE HIM. — RETURNS NORTH. Theodorus Bailey was born in Franklin Co., New- York State, in 1805, and received his education in Platts- burgh academy. Although a lad of but eight or nine years of age, when McDonough won his great victory VAEIOUS CEUTSES. 225 over the British fleet off this place, the excitojneiit caused by the battle and the thousand and one stories connected with it must have made a lasting impression on his mind, and perhaps had more to do with his eventually entering tlie navy than he himself is aware of. The fame and deeds of such a hero were well calculated to excite the ambition of a boy, living, as it were, in the very focus of the excitement. Be that as it may, four or five years after, in 1818, he entered the naval service as midship- man, and for the next two years and more he was learn- ing his profession off the coast of Africa. He was then transferred to the Franklin, which had been ordered to the Pacific Ocean. He was absent on this cruise a little over three years, when he was transferred to the Shark, and sent to the West India station. On her and the Natchez he was on duty nearly two years more. In 182*7, he was promoted to lieutenant and placed on board the Grampus, in which he served for six months. He was then ordered to ^e Vincennes, about to start on a lori^ cruise in the Pacific Ocean, and thence to China, and so home by the Cape of Good Hope. He was absent three years and two months, and made his first voyage round the world. He was afterwards transferred to the Constellation, which was ordered on the same cruise. This time he was gone three years and eight months, and made his second voyage round the world. He also served on board receiving ships ; and from 1838 to 1841 was stationed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He afterwards cruised in thfe East Indies, and also saw much shore duty. In 1846, in the 21st year of his lieutenancy, Bailey assumed for the first time an independent command. 15 226 REAR- ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY. We were then at war witli Mexico, and he was ordered to the Lexington, which had been fitted up for the re- ception of troops and military stores, to be conveyed from New York to a certain point on the western coast of Mexico. On the morning of sailing, writes one who accom- panied him, the F company of artillery, a fine body of men, came on board at New York, under the command of Captain Tompkins. The first lieutenant was a tall, spare man, apparently about thirty yeai's of age, with sandy hair and whiskers, and a reddish complexion. Grave in his demeanor, erect and soldierly in his bearing, he was especially noticeable for the faded and threadbare appearance of his uniform. That lieutenant is the pres- ent renowned Major-General Tecumseh Sherman. He was characterized at that time by entire devotion to his profession in all its details. His care for both the com- fort and discipline of his men was constant and un- varied. There was another lieutenant, short, rather " pony- built," yet lithe and active as a cat — his intellect bright and keen as his eyes — his movements indicative of nerve and spirit — his name was Ord — Edward O. C. Ord, now Brigadier General, United States Army. A heavy-built, middle-sized man also came on board, with cases containing chronometers, transits, and other instruments. His black velvet trimmings and flat but- tons, together with the single bar upon his shoulder- straps, indicated his rank as First Lieutenant of En- gineers — Henry Wager Halleck is his name. His high forehead was then smooth, his complexion dark and rud- dy, his black hair and ample beard were not yet frosted by time and thought. He was never idle at sea or in OFF CAPE HOEN. 227 port, in fair weatliei or in storm, he was ever at work with book, chart, and pen — for he always read with a pen in his hand. Whether in Brazil, Chili, Mexico, oi California, he examined everything with a military eye, taking copious notes and drawings, especially of fortifica tions and their approaches. Twenty-six days off Cape Horn, in the winter season, in a succession of gales from the southwest, is not a pleasant experience, even with the best of company. Here Captain Bailey exhibited conspicuously those high qualities which have ever secured for him in the Navy a reputation for capital seamanship, which implies every phase of judgment, coolness, perseverance, and pluck, with a ready command of resources under all cir- cumstances. Always cheerful and urbane, while full of humor, he never overstepped the line of personal and official dignity, and gentlemanly courtesy. The decks and lower rigging were encased in ice ; the Lexington was deeply laden with heavy guns, shot, shell, le tragedy now guard the lives and property of the transit passengers. The " Jendarmena " who, with the same philosophy as your Excellency, deemed it best, in the late emergency, to destroy the foreign " element," are the reliable means of protection which your Excellency will furnish us to any extent for the future, and it, no doubt, should be a source of gratifiction. that they have, since the 10th inst., permitted the passengers and treasure of the steamers " Uncle Sam " and " Golden Age," to make the transit with- out murdering the one, or plundering the other. I am, with the force under my command, but from eight to ten days removed from communication with my Government, and am, therefore, bound to submit to their judg- ment the manner in which the fearful accountability that you have incurred shall be investigated, and to their discretion the indemnity that shall be demanded for the past and security for the future : meanwhile, I shall do all in my power to avert any danger that may occur to the transit pas- sengers, from whatever quarter it may come, and under every emergency. In directing my fl-rst communication to your Excellency, I had no desire to listen to apologies for certain parties or certain acts, but an earnest wish to know what you did towards punishing the parties concerned in this fright- ful atrocity. I wanted not sophistry but action ; the names of the criminals an-ested — the officers dismissed — and some allusion to plunder restored. That I have not been thus gratified, I have no reason to doubt, arises from the fact that you deem the origin of the affair a sufficient justification for its frightful conclusion. AT NEW OELEANS. 235 I shall here take my leave of your Excellency as a correspondent, and shall have the honor to submit your two communications to my Govern- ment, presuming that they will not be more satisfactory to them than to me. I am respectfully, sir, Your obedient servant, (Signed,) T. BAILEY, Commander TJ. 8. If. At the breaking out of tlie rebellion, he was in the latter part of 1861 ordered to the steamer Colorado, blockading Pensacola, and took part in the subsequent bombardment of the fortifications. After a nio;ht recon- noissance he sent a boat expedition to cut out the priva- teer eJudah. The vessel was destroyed, and the battery on shore spiked. The three lieutenants commanding the boats, Russel, Blake, and Sproston, received the highest commendation for their gallantry. He was subsequently sent to the passes of the Missis- sippi, second in command under Farragut in the contem- plated movement against New Orleans. Although the general plan of attack had been deter- mined on, Farragut called a council of war just before it occurred, in which Captain Bailey suggested that an attack in the daytime would draw on them the fire of the enemy the moment they came in sight — also, that the advance in double lines would expose the vessels to get fouled. It will be seen that these ideas received the approval of the commander-in-chief. The way in which Bailey happened to lead his divi- sion of eight vessels in the little Cayuga is not generally known. The Colorado was a heavy vessel and one much better calculated to withstand the honible fire of the bat- teries than this little gunboat. But it was found impos- sible to get her over the bar, and so he brought up his men, determined to lead the fleet in the passage of the 1 at- 236 REAR-ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY. teries if lie did it in his launch. He was at the time suffering under a painful disease, and the surgeon re- ported that — His health would not permit Mm to take part in the fight. For this act of kindness, he was anything but grateful, and fumed and swore he was not sick, and would go. But the surgeon was firm in the performance of his duty, and asked for a " Medical Survey " upon him, which was ordered in due form. The "Board" assembled in his cabin, examined his case with great care, retired, talked it over, and made out a written report of his case, closing with the opinion that it would be very dangerous for him to take part in the coming fight, and finally recommended that he should remain quiet, and that severe medical treatment be applied as soon as practicable. The Board returned to the cabin, (where were assembled Admiral Far- ragut and other officers, awaiting the result of the examination,) and com- municated in due form the result of their consultation. All remained quiet, waiting to see what effect it had upon " Old Bailey,'' expecting to see Mm fume and rage at being prevented from taking part in giving those " d d rebels a lesson which they would not soon forget." But instead of this, he quietly rose, and in the most dignified manner, said : " Admiral, I am very much obliged to the gentlemen, and am very grate- ful to them for their solicitude in regard to my health, for their attention to my case and their kind and considerate recommendation ; but, by , Vll lead youT fleet up the river, if I 'burst my toiler.'''' Farrasrut o;ave him a division and assis-ned him the sloop-of-war " Oneida," to carry his flag. The latter had not been lono; on board when certain matters occurred, which need not now be discussed, but which rendered it unde- sirable for Bailey to remain on that ship. Lieutenant- commandino; Harrison havins; dined on the " Oneida " on that day, and seeing, in this hitch, a chance for himself, his gunboat having been asigned a place in the rear, he offered Bailey the " Cayuga" and urged him to lead up in her. He promptly accepted the offer, and be- fore sunset was aboard the little vessel, bag and baggage. Now this was an act of the purest patriotism and most LEADS THE FLEET. 23? unselfish courage ; it was giving up, voluntarily, a new, strong, and fast ship (and in this instance speed was of the utmost moment) for a vessel of trifling force and speed, scarcely sufficient to stem the current of the Mississippi ; but it was done to prevent agitation, and to produce har- mony among the commanders of tHe fleet, on the eve of a great and uncertain conflict. The signal for attack was made at 2 a. m., on the morning of the 24th April, 1862. There was too much anxiety on board for sleep ; part of the night was spent in steaming up and down the division, in order that Bailey might satisfy himself that nothing was amiss — the river was continually lighted by fire-rafts, as they came down with the current, snapping and crackmg with their in- tense heat — great fires Avere built at the barrier chains, makino' the scene and the hour one never to be forgotten. The signal lights had scarcely reached the peak of the Hartford before the " Cayuga" had her anchor atrip, and was heading up stream. The heavier ships were longer in securing their anchors. Much anxiety was felt as to the precise locality of the opening that had been made in the barrier ; he, however, steered fairly into it, and just then his vessel was discovered, and the forts opened. The "Cayuga" was now put upon her speed, not much at best, and pointed close under the guns of San Philip, so as to have the shot strike her rio-o-ino;. Emeroino- from the dense smoke that filled the river between the forts, Bailey encountered a new, and a most unexpected enemy, noth- ing less than a flotilla of gunboats, having among them the "Louisiana" and "Manassas," with iron ar- mor. The Cayuga was quite unsupported at this time, and things wore an anxious look. It was now that Cap- tain Bailey exhibited that quiet courage and calm con- 238 REAR-ADlVnRAL THEODORUS BAILEY. fideiice that told so finely on the crew. He could look in no direction without seeino' an enein\ cose aboard. The " Gov. Moore," the best-fought ship of the enemy, was bearing down on his starboard bow, and to her Harrison gave most of his attention. At the same moment a gun- boat ap})roached irom nearly astern, with the evident intention of ramming. Captain Bailey called to Harrison to " send aft the boarders." The latter replied: " I have no men to spare just now, you must take care of that end of the vessel."" With that, Bailey stepped on the arm-chest, and singing out " Surrender, you fool, or TU blow you out of water!" he opened with his revolver. Almost immediately the reply came back, " Don't shoot ! we surrender." " Then stick your d — d nose in the mud until I take possession." The vessel sheered off, ran ashore, and was soon in flames. About the same time a fearful discharge of grape was delivered from the large dahl- gren into the " Gov. Moore," raking her from stem to stern, killing many of her men, and causing her to sheer off. Two other vessels of the rebel flotilla were forced to surrender and run on shore before Bailey knew that any other of our ships had succeeded in coming through the fire of the forts — then came the " Varuna" into action, followed in quick succession by the fleet. This was the last effort of the rebels. The victory was com- plete. " You can fancy the scene, now," says our correspondent, " as the bright day broke over the river, disclosino; fourteen vessels of our fleet above the forts, oailv bedecked with the "old flao;s," while eleven burning hulls were all that remained of the rebel flotilla." As soon as objects on shore were visible Camp Lovell was discovered, having the Chalmette regi- ment in tents, commanded by Col. Szymanski. Anchoring AT NEW OELEANS. 239 in front of the camp, and ordering the Colonel on board, Captain Bailey received the surrender of the regiment, He could not but smile at the idea of a regiment on shore captured by a gunboat. He had now no specific orders ; but knowing New Orleans to be the objective point, he determined, if possible, to be first before the city. Steam- ing at full speed, he found himself next day, suddenly, in a tremendous cross fire ; this came from the Chalmette batteries, situated on either bank of the river. The Cayuga endured this fire until Farragut could come up and divert it to his own ship. The little gunboat suffered severely here, but her bow was never turned down stream. In speaking of the passage of these latter forts, Farra- gut says, " Captain Bailey was still far in advance, not havino; noticed niv sional for close order." We rather sus- pect the gallant captain did not look in the direction where he could see it. His eyes were turned up stream towards New Orleans. N. B. Harrison, the lieutenant command- ing the Cayuga, than whom a cooler, braver, and more gallant officer never trod the deck of a battle-ship, reported that his vessel was struck forty-two times^ and that both her masts were so cut up as to be unfit for farther service. Strange as it may appear, only six of his crew were wounded. The river was now clear to New Orleans ; and at one oVlock, on the 25th, the fieet came to anchor in front of the city. The rain was coming down in torrents ; but the crowd on shore was dense and turbulent, and blind with futile passion. Directly, a boat was seen to put ofl:' from the flagship, and swept towards the shore, impelled by the strong arms of well-dressed sailors. In tlie stern sat Captain Bailey, with his lieutenant, Perkins, by his side, and Actino-.^Iaster J^iorton, in charg-e of the boat. He was on his way to demand the surrender of the city. As 240 REAR-ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY. he approached the levee, the drenched and waiting crowd grew more excited, and deafening cheers wore sent up for Jeff. Davis, and groans uttered for Lincoln and the fleet. Now and then a sudden eddy would be seen in some portion of the black, dark mass, as a man was col- lared or shoved about, who dared to express a Union feeling. Bailey saw at a glance that it was not a pleasant reception that awaited him ; but he stepped calmly and firmly ashore, and said he wished to see the mayor of the city. A few came forward, and offered to conduct him. As the little handful moved oft", the crowd surged after them, yelling and shouting like demons. A single word, and Bailey and his lieutenant would become the victims of its fu]*y ; but they showed no alarm, and reached the City Hall in safety, when the passions of the crowd broke forth. At one time it seemed that they would be set upon by the most infuriated ; but some well- dressed citizens, who were aware of the wholesale destruction of the city that would follow such an act, interfered. Bailey, on being presented to the mayor, and ex- changing salutations, said : "I have been sent by Caj)- tain Farragut, commanding the United States fleet, to demand the surrender of the city, and the elevation of the flag of the United States over the Custom-House, Mint, Bost-Office, and City Hall." The mayor, Munroe, was in company with Bierre Soule, and was evidently prompted by him as to questions and replies. Among other things, the mayor wished to know what credentials Bailey had from Flag-Ofiicer Farragut. He replied that he was second in, command, had led the fleet by the forts, had forced the surrender of three gunboats, and captured the Chabnette regiment ; rNTEEVTEW WITH THE MAYOE. 241 and as such needed no other credentials — which they appeared to consider sufficient. l^Iunroe replied that he was not a military man, and had no authority to surrender the place, but that he would send for General Lovell, the military commander, who was out of the city. While the messenger was gone, Bailey engaged in free conversation with those in the mayor's office, interrupted now and then by the yells of the crowd surging to and tro in the pouring rain with- out. IMuch property had been destroyed in the city after the news of the passage of the forts was received, and Bailey expressed his regret that it had taken place. The Mayor rudely replied that the property was their own, and its destruction concerned nobody but them- selves. Bailey good-humoredly said that such a course looked to him very much like a man biting off his nose to spite his face. The Mayor did not relish the joke, and grew more disagreeable. Soon cheers from without heralded the arrival of Lov"'^ and the next moment he entered the room, and ,■ .iiounced his name and rank. He then shook hands with Bailey, ^vho renewed the demand he had a short time before made to the Mayor. To this Lovell replied, that he would not surrender the city ; that he in- tended to hght on land as long as he could ; and if they wished to shell the city, filled with women and children, they might do it. Bailey courteously replied, that noth- ing was farther from Captain Farragut's intentions than shelling the city ; that he regretted the destruction of property that had already occurred. To which Lovell an- swered, with much unnecessary hauteur, that it was done by his own orders. Lovell leaving the affairs of the city 16 242 REAR-ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY. in the hands of the civil authorities, Bailey determined to return, and report the situation of matters to Far- ragut. But as he was about to leave, he turned to Gen- eral Lovell, and said that he had visited many unci\'- ilized places, such as the South Sea and Fejee Islands — and found even among the savages a decent respect lor a herald and flag of truce, which are regarded by all civ- ilized nations as sacred, but that he had been insulted every step of the way from his boat by an unwashed mob. He therefore demanded a safe conduct to his boat. A carriage was then drawn up at a rear door of the City Hall, and he was conducted to it with his aid, Lieutenant Perkins, by two officers, and driven through certain streets entirely depopulated, their inhabitants having thronged to what they sup|)osed would be the scene of his assassination on the route by which he had come. He arrived without molestation at the landing, where a great crowd was assembled — but the officers, drawing their swords, made way for him", when he shook hands with them and departed. Bailey was now sent home with despatches to the Government, and on arriving at Fortress Monroe for- warded the following telegraph to the Secretary of War : " I have the honor to announce that, in the provi- dence of God, which smiles upon a just cause, the squad- ron under Flag Officer Farragut has been vouchsafed a glorious victory and triumph in the capture of New Or- leans, Forts Jackson, St. Philip, Lexington, and Pike, the batteries above and below New Orleans, as well as the total destruction of the enemy's gunboats, steam- rams, floating batteries (iron-clad), fire-rafts, obstruction booms, and chains. The enem^^ with their own hands destroyed from eight to ten millions of cotton and ship- BLOCKADING THE FLORIDA COAST. 243 ping. Our loss is tliirty-six killed, and one hundred and twenty-three wounded. The enemy lost from one thou- sand to fifteen hundred, besides several hundred prisoners. The way is clear, and the rebel defenses destroyed from the Gulf to Baton Rouge, and probably to Memphis. Our flag waves triumphantly over them all. I am bearer of despatches. Theodorus Bailey." The important part that Captain Bailey took in the capture of New Oi'leans clearly entitled him to receive from the Navy Department some signal recognition of its sense of the value of his services, and, in the fall of 1862, Actino- Rear- Admiral Lardner, commandins; Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron, suiFering greatly from the weakening eifeets of an attack of yellow fever, having applied to the Navy Department to be relieved from duty on that station, and ordered North, Commodore Bailey was at once directed to assume the command, and in November, 1862, proceeded to Key West. The limits of the command comprised a stretch of sea-coast extending nearly a thousand miles, embrac- ing the entire Peninsula of Florida, from Mosquito Inlet on the eastern coast, to St. Andrew's Bay on the western. The headquarters of the squadron were at the important island of Key West — the key of the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, this squadron was the only one, except the West India squadron, that did not contain within its limits some stronghold to be captured. The North Atlantic squadron had its Fort Fisher — ^the South At- lantic its Sumter — the West Gulf squadron its Fort Morgan — but the East Gulf squadron afforded no suf- ficient scope for the restless courage that was so distin- guishing a t]-ait in the character of its commander-in-chief. Bailey's orders were to blockade the Florida coast, and 244 REAR-ADMIEAL THEODOEUS BAILEY. as there was no more active work at hand, lie set himself to do this thoroughly. The means at his disposal he found very inadequate to the work, for the squadron had been greatly thinned out by the yellow fever, and a num- ber of the vessels infected with the contagion had been ordered Nortli b}^ Admiral Lardner. The Navy Depart- ment found it impossible at that time to supply their places with others, the pressure upon them for vessels being so great for other squadrons, and the material from wdiich to supply this demand, so limited. In this emergency, finding it useless to apply to the Government for aid. Admiral Bailey set zealously to w^ork to make additions to his force from such materials as he could command. As the Department could not supply him with vessels, he proposed to supply himself The blockade-running from the Florida coast was, at this time, carried on mostly by swift-sailing schooners that slipped quietly out of the creeks and rivers, under cover of the nis-ht, and made for the coast of Cuba. Admiral Bailey determined to make this class of vessels useful, and accordingly, as soon as he caught a particu- larly fast one, instead of allowing it to be sold at auction, and bought in by the blockade-runners, to be again put upon the contraband line, he took it for the use of the Government at an aj)praisement, and having sent car- bines, cutlasses, a howitzer, and a sufficient number of " blue-jackets " aboard, the American flag was run up at the peak, and the little craft sailed off to astonish her old allies by appearing in her entirely new and unex- pected character of a United States vessel. These tenders, for they were all attached to one or another of the larger vessels of the squadron, soon became a distin- guishing feature of the Eastern Gulf squadron, and a THOEOUGH DISCIPLIITE. 246 fcen'or to all tlie contrabandists along tLe coast. It was not long before a complete cordon of tliese vigilant little sentinels was formed, stretching along tlie entire coast, the cruisins^-OTound of one dove-tailino; on to that of the next, and they became the heroes of many bold adven- tures. Their light draft of water enabled them to run into the creeks and inlets that mark the Florida coast, and they would frequently pounce down upon a nest of blockade-runners, — loading theii* vessel with cotton up some quiet river, and almost before the latter could recover fi'om their astonishment at the apparition of the unwel- come " Yankees," their vessel would be towed out to sea and under sail for Key West, with a prize crew on board. Admiral Bailey, by his prompt recognition of every act of gallantry, and of every important service on the part of his officers and men, soon imparted a portion of his own energy to his squadron. There was no more " loafing " on the blockade. It was understood that the vessels were stationed to make captures, and not for fish- ing purposes, and if a vessel set to guard a particular pas- sage allowed the blockade-runners to slip in and out, the commanding officer was held responsible at head- quarters for his negligence ; and if, on the other hand, he showed constant vigilance and attention to duty, his good conduct did not fail to receive notice, and to be reported with commendation to the Department at Washington. The vessels of the fleet were likewise, from time to time, personally visited by the commander-in-chief, and his able and vigilant Chief-of-Stafl^, Commander Temple, and thoroughly inspected. Their efficiency in drill at the great guns and in small arms, and at fire quarters was carefully noted, and every commanding-officer felt that the exact 'Status of himself and his ship's company was 246 REAR-^DMIKAL THEODORUS BAILEY. known and kept in mind at lieadquarters. In fact, it is not too much to say that the discipline of this squad- ron was so perfect that tlie Department highly com- plimented Bailey, saying : " It was so well governed that it gave them no trouble — it took care of itself." It certainly did its work thorou2:hly. The coast of Florida was hermetically sealed, and vessels were spared to cruise at large in the Gulf, and intercept the blockade- runners that plied regularly between Mobile and Havana. Few persons are aware what a very essential part the blockading vessels performed in crippling and dispiriting the enemy. Their work was noiseless, and attracted but little of the public attention ; but the pressure brought to bear upon the South was tremendous, and grew every month more intoleraljle. It was not so much that the rebels were put to the greatest individual discomfort and inconvenience — that indeed was a result, but not the aim or intention of the blockade. The principal pressure was felt where it was intended that it should be — in thek military movements — in their armies. They could not purchase military supplies abroad, and they had no ade- quate means of manufacturing them at home. Their troops were therefore ill-equipped, poorly shod, poorly clothed, and destitute of many of the articles that are necessary to the efficiency of armies in the field. In 1863, the limits of the East Gulf Squadron were increased by. the addition to its jurisdiction of an im- portant part of what had l)een the cruising-ground of the West India, or Flying Squadron ; to wit : the Bahama Banks. The difficulty of communicating by boats with the Admiral, where vessels were lying often at a distance of two miles from the flagship, became so great,' that in the spring of this year headquarters were moved ashore, MARKS HIMSELiF BISHOP. 247 and the flagship was sent to cruise in the Gulf. By this change, the commander-in-chief became rapidly acces- sible to all those under his command. Whether it was that twenty-odd years on " ])lue water" had had its effect upon him, or whether Nature in the beginning had implanted in him a kindly heart, certain it was that the Admiral possessed all of those qualities of a large- hearted and open-handed nature that belong tradition- ally to the sailor. He was the very embodiment of the poetic idea of a son of Neptune, and every human being who crossed the threshold of the great rooms at which headquarters were now located, was sure to find there a hearty, cheerful welcome — except one class, the enemies of his country. When any of the membei^s of his staff heard from their adjoining apartments an unu- sual noise and declamation, ending with calls for " Or- derly," they were pretty certain that one of this class was about being marched out from the indignant pres- ence of Bailey, at the double-quick, and it was usually some time before the waters fairly subsided after one of these storms. The devotion of a sailoi- to the flag he has served for nearly half a century, has in it an ardor that landsmen fail to appreciate. An amusing instance of the Admiral's dislike of the sympathizers with seces- sion, occurred shortly after the headquarters were moved on shore. It happened that the principal church at Key West was the Episcopal, and that, though the rector was loyal, a majority of the vestry were secessionists, who reelected themselves to office year after year. This state of things coming to the Admiral's knowledge at the time that the annual election for vestrymen oc- curred, he resolved to " purge the temple," and, sum- moning his officers (it being a free church, all who at- 248 REAE- ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY. tended tliere were entitled to vote), lie marclied up to the annual meeting, on the first Monday after Easter, to the great consternation of the close corporation, who had assemliled to vote each other in. As a matter of course, a heavy " Union " vote wsis cast, and for that yeai", at least, the church was officered by loyal men, from rector to sexton. The Admiral used laughingly, after this incident, to proclaim himself ex-officio " Bishop of that Diocese." Though the Admiral and his staff were always on duty, and business was transacted at any hour, from ei2;ht in the mornino; till midnio-ht, there was no lack of mirth at headquarters, and the Admiral's hospitality became so well known throug-h the sei-vice, that alono; the whole coast, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, there w\as no naval station visited with more pleasure by officers than that at Key West. As that post lay in the direct track of all vessels bound to the West Gulf Squadron, or from that squadron North, and as the vessels of the West India Squadron were accustomed to put into Key West for provisions and their mails, it often happened that from twelve to fifteen men-of-war were in har])or at the same time. On these occasions, the table of the Admiral's mess was stretched to its largest capacity, and the lieadquarters became a scene of great animation. In the summer of 18G4, however, all this was changed, for the port was again visited by that scourge, the yellow fever. The epidemic connnenced in June, and extended from vessel to vessel, and what had shortly before been a scene of bustle, activity, and mirth, became now one of desolation and mourning. A few hours was sufficient to hurry the victims from a state of apparently perfect health to the grave. The vessels were A HEAVT BitUiJBJ. 24 b" sent North as fast as the infection appeared upcm tliem, and before long the dreaded port of Key West was itself as completely blockaded by the invisible but fearful forces of Yellow Jack, as was any port along the coast by the most vigilant of our cruisers. For weeks there was scarcely any communication with the outer world. No vessel was bold enough to venture in, and there were none to venture out. In the mean time, those on the island sickened, and very many died. The Admiral, after a severe illness, rallied, and, thanks to a fine constitution, recovered. After the abatement of the fever, the De- partment thought it due to his long service in a sickly climate, to transfer him to a healthier station, and ac- cordingly, in the fall of the same year, he was ordered to the command of the Navy Yard at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There is one anecdote told of the Admiral, while en- gaged in the blockade, which not only illustrates his character, always noble and incorruptible, but explains satisfactorily how so many of our officers, in the South and Southwest, got rich during the war. One day the Admiral received a letter from a merchant in Havana, stating that he desired a personal interview with him, as he had an important communication to make. Not long after, the former, having occasion to send a vessel to Havana, directed the commanding officer to call on the merchant and learn what the important communication was. It turned out to be a proposal to him that he should so arrange his squadron as to allow a vessel to be run into port with contraband goods, the Admiral to receive for so doing forty thousand dollars a trip for six trips, and then have vessel, cargo, and all. The money was to be paid in gold, which then being at $2.50 250 REAR-ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY. would have netted the Admiral the nice little sum of* about a million of dollars. He could have carried out this nefarious scheme without being detected, with the utmost ease. To most men such a sum of money would seem a large bribe, but to the Admiral a five-dollar bill would have been just as great a temptation. It is need- less to say that he took no notice of the j^roposal, but it would have fared hard with the traitorous merchant, if he had fiillen into his clutches. That many officers on land were not superior to much smaller bribes, the military records furnish, alas ! too much evidence. The best proof of the efficiency of the blockade during the period that the Eastern Gulf squadron was under Admiral Bailey's command, is found in the number of prizes captured. With a fleet of some thirty vessels, of which not more than six were steamers in any way tit for cruising, he captured in the course of a little more than a year and a half, more than a hundred and fifty blockade runners of all rates and sizes, from sloops to large and heavily loaded Mississippi steamers. In pro- portion to the time and the number of vessels employed, this is a larger capture list than is exhibited by any other squadron. Admiral Bailey remained for a time after the war the commandant of the Portsmouth station, and by a law of Congress he was, from his age and length of service, placed on the retired list in 1867. He died in Wash- ington in 1877. The character of Admiral Bailey is clearly devel- oped in the foregoing sketch. To see him dispensing hospitality at his table, and keeping his guests often in a roar of laughter, one would hardly know him for the same man when leading his line into battle. On the HIS CHAEACTEE. 251 • deck of his ship, amid the raining balls of the enemy, he was altogether another being. Stern and inflexible, his orders rang sharply out, and all the lineaments of his kindly countenance revealed the great commander and the fearless man. The confusion and carnage of battle seemed to quicken his perceptions, and he was never so much at home as when, amid the thunder of his own broadsides, he pressed where the boldest hold their breath. Of great energy, untiring perseverance, quick perceptions — fearless in action, and wise in counsel, he has won a place in the foremost rank of those naval heroes who are at once the pride and glory of the land. CHAPTER XI. REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES HENRY DAVLH BCIENTIFIO ATTAINMENTS IN THE NAVAL PROFESSION. — BIETH AND PhOKSI- AGE OF DAVIS. — HIS EAELT EDUCATION. — ENTEE8 THE NAVY. — THREE TEAES' OETJISE IN THE PAOIFIO OCEAN. — VISITS ITS EEMOTE ISLANDS. — ON HIS EETTTEN EEOEIVES HIS "WAERANT AND CEUISES IN THE "WEST INDIES. IN THE MEDITEREANEAN. — MADE LIEUTENANT. — ENTERS ON THE STUDY OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES. — FOURTH CRUISE IN THE PACIFIC. SAILS FOE ST. PETERSBURG. — APPOINTED TO THE COAST SUEVET. HIS SUEVET8, INVESTIGATIONS, ETC. — HIS REPORTS AND MEMOIRS. — HIS MAERIAGE. — SUPERINTENDS THE PEEPAEATION OF THE AMEEICAN EPHEMERI8 AND NAUTICAL ALMANAC. — HIS TRANSLATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS. — ONCE MOEB AFLOAT. — RECEIVES THE CAPITULATION OF THE FILIBUSTER WALKEE. — SHOEE DUTY. — BEEAKING OUT OF THE REBELLION. — DAVIs' SERVICES AT WASHINGTON. — PLACED ON A COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE SUBJECT OF AEMOEED SHIPS. — DUPONT's CHIEF OF STAFF IN THE POET EOYAL EXPEDITION. — HIS GEEAT SERVICES. — COMMANDS THE STONE FLEET SUNK IN CHARLESTON HARBOE. — SENT UP THE LITTLE TTBEE. ENGAGES TAT- NALl's FLEET. BELIEVES FOOTE IN COMMAND OF THE MISSISSIPPI FLOTIL- LA. — COMBAT OF FOET PILLOVT. DESTEOYS THE REBEL FLEET OFF MEMPHIS. — BATTERY OF ST. CHARLES CAPTURED. — DAVIS' DESPATCH. — BEFORE VIOKS- BUE6. AFTER SERVICES. EECALLED TO WASHINGTON. — EECEIVES THE THANKS OF CONGEESS, AND MADE EEAE-ADMIEAL. — CHIEF OF BUREAU OF NAVIGATION. SUPERINTENDENT OF NATIONAL OBSEEVATOEY, ETC. The naval profession is not favorable to strict scien- tific pursuits. Its duties are active and practical, requir- ing the application rather than the investigation of the principles of science. It is rare that we find the practical accomplished sailor and the abstruse scientific man com- I HIS ANCESTEY. 253 bined. It is only now and then, in any department ot life, that the deep thinker and the effective worker are united in one person. Admiral Davis, however, is one of these men, — combining rare scientific ability with great practical skill and power. But scientific attain- ments, largeness of view, and thorough knowledge of all the branches and details of the naval profession, being rarer than those qualifications which will make a good commander afloat, they are needed at the centre of influ- ence to guide, direct, and perfect. Hence the man possess- ing them often performs a greater service to his country than if he won a battle. Yet, that service is wholly un- appreciated by the popular mind. So far as mere fame is concerned, his rare endowments are a misfortune to him. Chaeles Heney Davis was born in Boston, Massa- chusetts, January 10, 1807. His father was the late Hon. Daniel Davis, for thirty-two years Solicitor-General of that State, and the son of the Hon. Daniel Davis of Barnstable, who was a representative of his town in the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, during the Rev- olutionary War, and subsequently Judge of Probate, and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas of his county. His . mother was the daughter of Constant Freeman, Esq., a merchant of Boston ; and among her brothers were Colonel Constant Freeman, of the Revolutionary Army, and Rev. James Fi-eeman, of King's Chapel, Bos- ton. Thus on both sides he came of good Revolutionary stock. He received his early education at the Boston Latin School, and entered Harvard College in 1821; but remained there less than two years. In 1841, he received from the University the degrees 254 REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. of Bachelor and Master of Arts, and his name may be found in the list of his class of 1825, in the triennial catalogue. After leaving college, he was appointed an acting midshipman in the United States Navy, by President Monroe, on the 12th August, 1823, being then sixteen years of ag^, and received in the following October orders to join the frigate " United States," in which vessel he sailed on a cruise of thi'ee years and a half in the Pacific Ocean, in the squadron of Commodore Hull. During the cruise, he became one of the officers of the schooner Dolphin, commanded by the late Captain John C. Percival, on the somewhat famous expedition into the remote, and, at that time, little known seas of the West- ern Pacific, in pursuit of the mutineers of the whaleship Globe. The Marquesas and adjoining group of islands were then almost terra incognita to the civilized world, and revealed an entirely new phase of life to the young midshipman. On his return Acting Midshipman Davis received his warrant, and was ordered to the Erie, Commodore Turner, to do duty in the West Indies. After a year's service in these waters, he again returned and passed his examination for lieutenant ; and, on this occasion, re- ceived a very handsome letter of approbation from his first commanding officer, Commodore Hull. In 1829, a few months later, Mr. Davis joined the, Ontario, sloop of war, Captain Thomas H. Stevens, aa Master, and sailed for the Mediterranean in the squad- ron of Commodore Biddle. While on board the Ontario, he entered upon the study of the modern languages, especially French and Spanish ; and began a life-long friendship with his shipmate, the late Rear-Admiral I VARIOUS CRUISES. 255 (then Lieutenant) S. F. Dupont. His commission as lieutenant was received during this his third cruise, and dated March, 1831. His fourth cruise was again in the Pacific, in the Vincennes, the flagship of Commodore Wadsworth. It was on this vessel that Lieutenant Davis began those mathematical studies which have since given him such distinction in the scientific world. On this cruise he was employed as interpreter between Commodore Wadsw^orth and the authorities of the State of Ecuador, which had sought the aid of the former in settling the embarrassments of a civil war then raging. He returned to the United States in command of the whaleship Vermont, her captain having been killed by a mutineer. Li October, 1836, two years and a half after his return from the Pacific, he was ordered to report for duty to the late Commodore Nicholson, and in the fol- lowing year sailed in the razee frigate Independence, the Commodore's flagship, for St. Petersburg, carry, ing Mr. Dallas, the American Minister to the Imperial Court of Kussia. While the Independence was in the harbor of Cronstadt, she was visited by the Czar, Nich- olas I., who sought to improve his own navy by study- ing the finest specimens of foreign naval architecture. The . Independence, after leaving St. Petersburg, pro- ceeded to her own station, the Brazilian, where she cruised for two years. On his return to the United States from this fifth cruise, Lieutenant Davis, at the age of thirty- three, had completed seventeen years of service in the Navy, and during more than twelve years of that time, liad been on active duty at sea. His command- ing oflBcer on every cruise had been a hero of the war of 181 2. The names of Hull, Turner, Stevens, Biddle, Wads- 256 EEAR-ADMIRAL CHAllLES HEISTRY DAVIS. wortli, and Nicholson, are inseparably associated with the exploits of our early naval history ; and, as before remarked of other commanders, these associations must have had a strong effect upon the character and patri- otism of Davis. After an interval of repose. Lieutenant Davis, in 1842, was appointed to the United States Coast Survey, then under the superintendence of Mr. Hassler ; and he continued on that work under his successor, Mr. Bache, until 1849. The principal investigations which he con- ducted for seven years in this service, in the command of a Coast Survey vessel, belong more especially to the department of science, and can only be briefly enumer- ated as follows : 1. Ascertaining the direction, &c., of currents in New York Bay and vicinity, and in the en- trances of New York harbor. 2. Hj^lrographic and physical examination of the Gulf Stream. 3. Surveys and soundings off Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Islands, resulting in the discovery of shoals and banks in the direct line of navigation between New York and Europe, of which mariners had been hitherto entirely ignorant, numerous losses having thereby occurred ; and in the discovery of the rock on Cash's Ledge, which had been long sought for by that eminent British surveyor and hydrographer. Admiral Owen. 4. A memoir commu- nicated to the American Academy in 1848 on the "Geo- logical Action of the Tidal and other Currents of the Ocean " — the result of most careful observations of the formation of shoals, especially on the Nantucket coast ; and a second memoir, on the " Law of Deposit of the Flood-tide," published in the Smithsonian OontrihUions in 1851. Durino; his services on the Coast Survev, Lieu- tenant Davis commenced those investigations into the SCIENTIFIO LABORS. 257 laws of engineering in tidal harbors, the fi'uits of which are shown in the numerous reports upon the great har- bors of the United States, written by himself and his associates. General Totten, Chief Engineer United States Army, and Professor Bache, Suj^erintendent United States Coast Survey, either as members of an independent com- mission, or, as in the case of New York harbor, as ad- visory council to the State commission. The harbors of Portland, Boston, and New York, have been particu- larly benefited by these investigations and discussions. In 1842, Lieutenant Davis was married to the young- est daughter of the late Hon. Elijah H. Mills, of Nor- thampton, United States Senator from Massachusetts. He has three sons and three daughters ; the second son, bear- ing his father's name, is a midshipman in the United States Navy, and now serving (May, 1866), on the United States Steamer Colorado. In July, 1849, Lieutenant Davis was relieved from duty on the Coast Survey, receiving on his departure a strong official expression of appreciation and regret from the Superintendent, Prof. Bache, and was immediately assigned to the duty of superintending the preparation of the American ephemeris and nautical almanac. Up to this time, the United States naval and merchant marine had been obliged to use the nautical almanac of the English, and this necessity had proved especially annoying in the labors of the United States Coast Sur- vey ; so that the establishment of a national ephemeris had long been urged, and by none more earnestly than by Lieutenant Da^ds. Accordingly, in the last session of the Thirtieth Congress (1849-50), a law was passed authorizing such an establishment ; and in accordance with its provisions Lieutenant Davis was appointed by 17 258 KEAR-ADMRAL CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. tlie Secretary of the Navy, Hon. William B. Preston, to superintend it. In this undertaking were encountered some formidable obstacles to success ; but all were at length overcome by energy and perseverance ; and the Nautical Almanac, once established, not only fulfilled all the purposes contemj^lated in its creation, but fostered and stimulated the mathematical and astronomical abili- ty of the country in an eminent degree. The names of Pierce, Cbauvenet, Walker, Winlock, Runkle, Bartlett, Wright, and Newcomb, are necessarily associated with the success of an undertaking; which their Q^enius and labors so materially assisted to perfect. It is sufficient to say that this work, which, from its nature, must be regarded as a fair exponent of the science of the country, was everywhere abroad received with unqualified ap- proval. Lieutenant Davis, having triumphantly organ- ized the Ephemeris, retained his position as Superin- tendent for seven years, and during that time, besides the duty of administration, occupied himself in prepar- ing a translation of Gauss' " Theoria Motus," (published in Cambridge, 1857,) as well as treatises on " Mechanical Quadratures," the computation of a planetary orbit, and other mathematical tracts. In 1854, Davis received his commission as com- mander, and in 1856, at his own request, prompted by a desire to renew the regular duties of his profession, a love of which he had never relinquished during his sci- entific pursuits, he was appointed to the command of the slo(jp-of war St. Mary, to cruise in the Pacific Ocean. — Piofessor Winlock, United States Navy, having been named to succeed him as Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac, he sailed for Aspinwall, and joined his ship at Panama in the autumn of 1856. During this cruise, IRON-OLADS. 259 Commander Davis received the capitulation of General Walker, while besieged by the allied armies of Central America, in the town of Rivas, and reduced to the ex. tremest necessity. He also took possession, in the name of the United States, of Jarvis and New Nantucket Islands, in the remote Pacific, and cruised for some time on the western coast of Mexico, at that time, as usual, distracted by civil wars. After commanding the St. Mary for two years and a half, Commander Davis returned home from his sixth cruise, and resumed the superintendence of the Nautical Almanac, in which office he remained until the breaking out of the rebellion. Immediately upon the commencement of hostilities, the Government and the Navy Department perceived the urgent necessity of calling to their aid the counsels of expei'ienced officers, in deciding questions of immediate practical importance, and in forming plans for future conduct. In May, 1861, Commodore Davis was ordered to Washington on duty connected with the efficiency and discipline of the Naval service, and at about the same time was appointed member of two boards. On one of these he was associated with Commodores Paulding and Smith, with orders to investigate the subject of armored ships and floating batteries. To them wei'e sub- mitted some fifteen or sixteen proposals, of which they a'ccepted but three — one for the building of the Monitor — one for that of the Galena, and the other for the Iron- sides. The result showed the wisdom and sagacity of the commissioners. The other board — of which Captain S. F. Dupont, United States Navy, Major (now Major General), J. G. 260 EEAE-ADMIRAL OHAELES HENEY DAVIS. Barnard, United States Engineers, and Prof. A. D. Baclie, were tlie otlier members- — was organized for the purpose of considering not only tlie general blockade of the southern coast, but the seizure of available harbors along it. The result of the labors of this second board, of which Commander Davis was junior member and secretary, was the organization of several combined naval and military expeditions against southern ports. Of one of those, directed against the coast of South Carolina, Captain Dupont was appointed flag-officer, and Commander Davis his chief of staff, and captain of the fleet. There was no oflScer in the fleet of more importance to Dupont than Davis, and of this he was folly conscious. In his report from Port Royal, he says ' The De^")ail- ment is well aware that all the aids to aavigatioii have been removed, and the bar lies ten miles seaward, \^dth no features on the shore line with suflficient prominence to make any bearing reliable. But owing to the skill of Commander Davis, the fleet captain, and Mr. Boutelle, the able assistant of the Coast Survey, the channel was immediately found, sounded out, and buoyed." And, again, he says : " By three o'clock, I received assurances from Captain Davis that 1 could send forward the lighter transports, those under eighteen feet^ with all the gun- boats, which was immediately done." As before, so in the terrific battle that followed, Davis exhibited the same skill and coolness that subsequently distinguished him. He was of more service to Dupont in achieving this great victory than half a dozen gunboats. The next winter he was placed in charge of the ex- pedition sent to sink the stone fleet in Charleston harbor, and block up the main channel by which blockade run- THE STONE FLEET. 26] ners evaded our squadron. He took sixteen old whale- ships loaded with stone ; and, towing them into the chan- nel, scuttled and sunk them. This caused an outcry from the people of Charleston, and provoked a remonstrance trom the English Government, which seemed to be shocked at the barbarity of a nation that (!Ould thus forever, as it was said, destroy a great seaport. - It was no easy task to get these old, heavily-loaded vessels from Port Royal to Charleston, and sink them in che right spot ; but a better man could not have been found to perform the labor than Davis, who, from 1842 to 1849, was chief of a hydrographic party in the toast survey, and who, in 1851, was one of the commanders appointed by the Government, at the request of South Carolina, to superintend the improvement of Charleston harbor, in which work he was engaged for several years. No one knew the channel better ; and hence, though his present work stood in singular contrast to the one he was then eno;ao;ed in, his knowledo;e was none the less valu- able, A witness of this extraordinary scene says : "It was sufficently novel and striking to satisfy any one. At half- past ten the last plug was drawn, and every ship of the sixteen was either sunk or sinking." None of the vessels wholly disapjDeared from sight, and those which keeled over farthest, and were most under water, had subsided in a very deliberate manner. An impassable line of wrecks was thus drawn for an eighth of a mile across the channel. All but two or three were soon under water — some on their beam-ends, some down by the head, others by the stern, and the masts, spars, and rigging of the thickly-crowded ships were mingled and tangled in the greatest confusion. They did not long remain eo. The boats which had been 262 EEAR-ADMTRAL CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. swarming about the wrecks were ordered to cut awa;^ the masts. The snapping of stays and shrouds, as one after another tumbled into the sea, sounded like irregular vollies of musketry. For two hours this work went on, while the heavy boom of cannon from Fort Sumter, as it came down the bay, sounded a requiem to the djdng fleet. One ship out of the sixteen had her masts left standing, adding by contrast to the desolation of the scene. As night came on, this was set on fire, and blazed up over the waters of the bay like a funeral pyre. The rebels from Sumter, Moultrie, and Sullivan''s Island, could see what was going on, but were powerless to prevent it, and could only vent their indignation in unavailing curses. A witness of the operation said, "An effort to block- ade a tidal harbor like this presented a wholly new prob- lem, which was worked out by Captain Davis, with great ingenuity and scientific skill." In the following January, Davis was sent by Dupont with some ten vessels, accompanied by three transports, which carried twenty-four hundred men, to flank Fort Pulaski, by the Little Tybee river. On the 26th he passed the fort., the commander of which was so taken by surprise to find vessels on that side of him, that he did not even fire upon them. The telegraph wires were cut leading to the city, and all the surveys and examinations made, necessary to form a conclusion as to the propriety of seizing Wilmington Island. While he was engaged in this work, Commodore Tatnall, with five rebel steamers, attempted to pass down the river to the fort. Davis at once opened tire upon them, and, after a half hour's engagement, drove two ofl". The other three succeeded in reaching Pulaski. In two or three hours the latter returned and renewed the attack, SINKING OF THE IRON-CLAD "MONITOR," Of Merrimac fame, off Hatteras, Dec. 31st, 1863. GtN-BOAT FIGHT, FORT PILLOW, TENN. FIGHT AT FORT PILLOW. 263 and though there was heavy firing, owing to the interven- tion of the banks of the river Avhich separated the vessels, but little damage was done. Early in the following month he accompanied Dupont on an expedition against Fort Clinton, and Fernandina, Florida, which were captured with little hghting. In March, 1862, Captain Davis was detached from the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and in April ordered to relieve Flao'-Officer Foote, and assume the command of the Mississippi flotilla. He entered upon this duty on the 9th of May. On the following morning. May 10th, he gained the naval victory off Fort Pillow. Soon after daylight, the mortar-boats were towed down to open on Fort Wright, and had hardly taken their positions, when the rebel ram, Louisiana, appeared round a point below, accompanied by four other gunboats, and made for the Cincinnati, which was in advance. The ram endeavored to run the latter down ; but the cap- tain turned the vessel's head, so that his powerful antag- onist, instead of striking him, came fairly alongside, when the former opened his batteries ; and, drawing his pistol, coolly shot the rebel pilot dead at his wheel. At the same time, however, he himself was struck on the shoulder by a musket-ball, and severely wounded. The opposing crews, now in close proximity, opened a fierce fire of small arms, while shouts and curses helped to swell the din and tumult. The next moment the Cincinnati opened her steam batteries, which sent a cloud of hissing, scalding vapor into the rebel vessel, clearing her decks instantaneously, and causing her to haul off in consterna- tion. Three other boats now joined in the attack, and among them the Mallory ; but before she could inflict 264 EEAR-ADMIEAL CHAELES HENEY DAVIS. any damage, the St. Louis, obeying Davis' signal, came clo^vn on her under full headway, and, striking her amid- ships, cut her almost in two, sending her to the bottom with most of her crew. The rest of Davis*" fleet now came up, and a close, fierce conflict followed, in which the tiring was so rapid, that the loud explosions seemed like one continued report. In a few minutes, there came out of the clouds of rolling and enfolding smoke a report louder than the explosion of cannon. A rebel gunboat had blown up, and in a few moments went to the bottom, leaving only scattered fragments, covered with struggling swim- mers, to tell where she had gone down. But a short interval elapsed, when there came out of the bosom of the sulphurous cloud, another report, telling that another rebel vessel had gone to join her consort. Davis, on the flagship Benton, directed every movement — making no mistake from first to last. He handled his fleet amid all this confusion and obscurity, with a coolness and sagacity that elicited the warmest admiration, and showed that Foote had left a worthy successor. The action lasted for an hour ; and, when it was over, the remains of the rebel fleet were seen steaming back to their old position. After the evacuation of Fort Pillow, Davis passed on down to Memphis. He led the squadron in the Benton, which swept majestically down the river towards Fort Randolph, that lay between it and the city. As the fleet approached it, Davis was seen pacing his quarter-deck with a measured yet impatient step, turning his eye in the direction of the fort. As he drew near, he saw the stars and stripes floating above it — the garrison having fled to Memphis. The city was only twelve miles dis- tant ; and yet there were no signs of the enemy, except the FIGHT AT MEIVrPHIS. 265 smoke and flames along the shore, arising from the burn- ing cotton, which they had set on fire to prevent its fall- ing into our hands. At a little after four o'clock, as he swung around a bend, he saw ahead the rebel steamer- transport Sovereign. The next moment an eighty-four- pound shot passed over her to bring her to. She not obeying the summons, Davis said : " Fire again, Captain Phelps ; bring her to." The Benton now fired nine shots in rapid succession, when the Sovereign, unhurt, swept around a bend, and was lost to view. The tug Spitfire startr ed in pursuit ; and, after a'l exciting chase, overhauled and captured her. Davis, in the mean time, kept steadily on with the fleet ; and, a little before nine o'clock in the even- ing, came in full view of Memphis, the lights of which could be seen twinkling along the banks. He then sig- nalled to anchor ; and the vessels soon lay gently sleeping on the bosom of the Mississippi. It was a beautiful night; the air was mild and balmy, and the moon sailed quietly above amid her islands of stars. In the mean time the transports landed troops on the Arkansas shore, to serve as pickets during the night, while the men slept beside their guns, ready at a moment's notice to receive the enemy, should he venture on a night attack. The quiet, however, remained unbroken until midnight, when a bright light was seen down the river, near the Tennes- see shore, where a rebel tug, which, having got so hard aground, it was found impossible to heave off, had been set on fire by the crew, and now blazed brightly up in the darkness. At five o'clock in the morning, Davis, ft^om the Ben- ton, which was lying only a mile and a half from Mem- phis, cast his eye towards the city, glittering in the early rays of an unclouded sun, and saw the bluffs black with 266 REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES HENRY PAVIS. citizens, who at that early hour had come forth to wit- ness the battle that they knew was soon to come off. A little before six, several dark gunboats were seen coining around the bend below. A few minutes later, and Davis issued his orders : "All hands to quarters !" and soon the entire fleet (Davis, in the Benton, leading the van) slowly advanced. Eight rebel rams, commanded by Commodore Montgomery, steamed boldly up to meet him, while the shore was lined with thousands of spec- tators, gazing with breathless interest on tbe exciting spectacle. The " Little Rebel," as she came opposite the city, fired the first shot, to which the Benton replied. A moment later, and another of her heavy shot went booming along the Mississippi, and then the conflict opened. In the midst of the heavy firing, down came Colonel Ellet, with the two rams Queen of the West and Monarch ; and, passing through the fleet under a full head of steam, drove straight on the rebel boats. The hostile rams now dashed furiously into each other, while the guns of the other vessels poured in their heavy shot and shells. Swift-rolling clouds shut out the morning sun, and out of their involving folds came the crash of colliding vessels, and cries and shouts of men. In an hour and twenty minutes it was all over. The General ' Beauregard and Little Rebel were blown up, the Gen- eral Lovell sent to the bottom, while the rest of the fleet was clapping on all steam to escape destruction in flight. Davis, the victory being won, now pressed after the fleeing enemy, chasing him for ten miles down the river. One vessel after another was captured, until the Van Dorn alone was left of the entire rebel squadron that moved so confidently to battle scarce an hour before She escaped only by her superior speed. EXPLOSION OF THE MOUND OrTT. 267 It was a great victory, and Mempliis now lay at tlie mercy of Davis, and soon tlie national flag was waving above it A few days after, lie received tlie news of tlie cap- tui'e of two batteries at the St. Charles, sixty miles up the White River, by a portion of his fleet under Captain Kilty. The steamer Mound City had her steam-drum ex- ploded in the fight, and blew up, killing and wounding over a hundred and fifty, out of a crew of a hundred and seventy-five. Davis, in reporting the victory to the Department, says : The victory at St. Charles, which has probably given us the command of White River, and secured my communication with General Curtis, would be unalloyed with regret, but for the fatal accident to the steam-drum and heater of the Mound City. * * * After the explosion took place, the wounded men were shot by the enemy while in the water, and the boats of the Conestoga, Lexington, and St. Louis, which went to the assistance of the scalded and drowning men of the Mound City, were fired into, both with great guns and muskets, and were disabled, and one of them forced on shore to prevent sinking. The forts were commanded by Lieutenant Joseph Fry, late of the United States Navy, who is now a prisoner and wounded. The Department and the country will contrast these barbarities of a savage enemy, with the humane efforts made by our own people to rescue the wounded and disabled, under similar circumstances, in the engagement of the 6th instant. Several of the poor fellows who expired shortly after the engagement, expressed their willingness to die, when they were told that the victory was ours. Davis now kept on down to Vicksburg, where he met FaiTagut, who had, with a portion of his fleet, run the batteries from below. With him he planned an expe- dition up the Yazoo, to procure correct information con- cerning the obstructions and the defences of the liver. The Carondelet and Tyler, with the ram Queen of the 268 REAE-ADMIEAL CHAELES HEIOIY DAVIS. West, composed the vessels, but they had entered the river only a short distance, when they encountered the rebel, ram Arkansas coming down. Their shots had scarcely her- alded her approach, when she appeared at the mouth of the stream, steering straight for Vicksburg, although her course lay right through the combined squadron. Guns opened on her from every side, but she passed on unhurt, and anchored safely under the batteries, much to the cha- grin of Farragut and Davis. The Benton pursued after; but, as Davis said, " at her usual snail's pace, which renders any thing like pursuit ludicrous." He, however, attacked the batteries, maintaining' the bombardment for half an hour. In the course of the morning he renewed the attack with Farragut on board — his object at this time being to reconnoitre the rebel works. Farragut now determined to run the batteries again, for the double purpose of joining the rest of his squad- ron below, and destroying the ram Arkansas in his passage. In the mean time, to cover the movement, Davis steamed up, and again engaged the batteries. The attempt to destroy the ram having failed. Porter, in the Essex, determined to try his hand on her, and the next morning, shortly after daylight, started on his peril- ous mission, while Davis diverted the rebel fire on him- self, by moving boldly against the upper batteries. This attempt also failed, and, Farragut having gone down the river, followed by General Williams with the army, Davis abandoned his position before Vicksburg as useless and untenable, and moved up to the mouth of the Yazoo River. He here sent out an expedition under , Captain Phelps, which succeeded in destroying the fort at Haines' Bluff, and capturing its guns. With his force now materially reduced by sickness. MADE ADMIRAL. 269 he moved up tlie river to Helena, to close up his lines, now too extended, to open again the sources of com- munication and supply, and resume his conjunction with the army. During this time, Davis was occasionally Flag- Officer, Commodore, and Acting Rear-Admiral of the naval forces, on the Mississippi and its tributaries, sending off expeditions here, and cooperating with the army there, until autumn. In July of the same year, Com- modore Davis was confirmed by the Senate as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation. After having effected the transfer of the Mississippi flotilla from the army to the navy, under the provisions of an act of Congress, he returned to Washington in November, 1862, and entered upon the duties of his new office, in which he remained until the spring of 1865. On the 7th Feb., 1863, Commodore Davis received a vote of thanks from Cono;ress, for his services in the war; and, on the same day, was commissioned Rear- Admiral in the U. S. Navy. He also received a vote ol thanks for his services from the legislature of his native state. In Ma}^, 1865, Admiral Davis was appointed Super- intendent of the National Observatory, a position which he held till 1869. He died in Washington, 1877. He had been a member of the Light-House Board, chairman of the Permanent Commission of the Navy De- partment, and chairman of a Joint Commission of Offi- cers of the Army and Navy on Harbor O'bstructions. He was also one of the United States commissioners of Boston harbor, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the American Philo- sophical Society of Philadelphia, and of the National 270 RE AK- ADMIRAL CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. Academy of Sciences. Although it seems hard to take a commander from active service, in which he is winning distinction, and confine him to shore duty, while his companions in arms are winning fame, yet, men of marked ability must be had at the head of aifairs, and personal preferences yield to the public good. As before remarked, there were many afloat to whom our vessels could be trusted without fear, yet, there were few pos- sessing the scientific attainments of Admiral Davis, or those qualities so much needed in the successful adminis- tration of affairs at Washino;ton. THE IRON-CLAD 'OZARK." Built at Mound City, 111., 1863. 2 guns, 578 tons. The three vessels of this class comprised the " Ozark," "Neosho," and " Osage "—8 to 7 guns. THE IRON-CLAD "MANAYUNK." Built at Pittsburg, Pa. 2 guns, 1034 tons; length 224 feet, breath 43 feet. There were eight vessels of this class. Designed for harbors and rivers. CHAPTER XII, • COMMANDER HOMER C. BLAKE. 1 QEEAT EXAMPLE WOBTH MORE THAN AN ORDINAEY VICTOEY. — BLAKe's NATIVITT ASTD EARLY EDrCATION. ENTERS THE NAVY. HIS FIRST CRUISE ROUND THE WORLD. — KEEPS COMMUNICATION OPEN BETWEEN OUR VESSELS IN THE CHINESE SEA. — SERVES ON THE COAST OF AFRICA. ENTERS THE NATAL SCHOOL. — PASSED MIDSHIPMAN. — SERVES IN THE WAR WITH MEXICO. — CRUISE TO THE EAST INDIES. SENT HOME TO RECRUIT HIS HEALTH. — JOINS THE PARAGUAY EXPEDITION. ANECDOTE. SECOND CRUISE TO THE AFRICAN COAST. — BREAKING OUT OF THE REBELLION. BLAKE JOINS THE PORT ROYAL EXPEDITION. COMMANDS THE R. R. CUYLER. — TRANSFERRED TO THE HAT- TERAS. — A DESCRIPTION OF HER. — ON BLOCKADE DUTY OFF GALVESTON. — SENT IN PURSUIT OF A STRANGE STEAMER. — HIS FIGHT WITH THE ALABAMA. — OOERESPONDENCE WITH AN ENGLISH CAPTAIN IN KINGSTON.— IS EX- CHANGED. HIS CREW ASK THE GOVERNMENT TO GIVE HIM ANOTHER VESSEL TO CRUISE AFTER THE ALABAMA. COMMANDS THE EUTAW IN THE JAMES RIVER. HIS GREAT SERVICES HERE. NOW OVER THE BUREAU OF NAVIGA- TION IN PORTSMOUTH, N. H. It is a curious fact, in our naval history, that a com- mander never lost a vessel in an engagement not only without being acquitted of all blame, but absolutely winning laurels by his misfortune. The manner in which he fought his ship, the heroism he displayed, and the desperate nature of the contest, made the defeat, })y the ^eat example it furnished, worth as much to the coun- try and the navy as a victory would have been. 2''72 COMMAifDER HOMER C. BLAKE. Thus Lawrence, crying out on tlie verge of death, " Don't give up the ship," although victory was hopeless, furnished a motto that has been worth more than a dozen victories to the Navy. Porter, standing on the deck of his shattered vessel, in the harbor of Valparaiso, with his colors struck, was a hero greater than any ordinary victory could have made him, while the example he set of how an American commander should fight his ship, has awakened a spirit of emulation in our commanders that will exert a powerful influence as long as our. navy exists. The same is true of the gallant Blake, caiiyiDg his frail vessel into a hopeless combat, and then fighting her till she was a wreck and fast sinking. Homer C. Blake was born in Dutchess County, New York State, on the 1st day of February, 1822. His father's name was Elisha Blake, and his mother's Merilla Crane. When he was but a year old, his father moved into what was then considered the far West, Ohio, and settled in that section called the Western Reserve. Here he grew up from boyhood, attending the schools common to that part of the country, and laboring at intervals, as the youth of that time around him were accustomed to do. Through the influence of fiiends, he, at the age of eighteen, March 2d, 1840, received the appointment of midshipman. In the following December, he joined the Constellation frigate, and in her made a cruise round the world. A mere lad, the chano-e from a secluded life in a remote town in the West, to the wide field opened before him in this extended cruise, could not have been greater, and it matured him fast. Active, alert, and always ready for any dut}^ he showed at the outset that he had chosen the profession for which he was designed. EAELY CEUISES. 2Y3 His first voyage lasted for over three years, and he did not reach home until 1844. lu that time he had become a man, having lived twice three years in ex- perience. When the Constellation reached China, all communi- cation was cut off between the spot where the vessels anchored and Canton. But it was all-important that this should be kept open ; and the duty of doing this was committed to young Blake, who, in an open boat, with only twelve men, performed it to the entire satis- faction of his commander. At this time, the price of an Englishman's head was a thousand dollars and as the Chinamen were not very scrupulous what kind of head they brought to market, and no one could distinguish between that of an Englishman and an American, it required the utmost care and vigilance on the part of the young midshipman to keep his head from going into their basket. On his return, he was allowed only a short furlough, in which to visit his friends ; and in a few weeks was ordered to join the sloop-of-war Preble, about to sail for the coast of Africa. He remained for a year on this inhospitable coast, engaged in the arduous, annoying, and often dangerous duty of suppressing the slave-trade. On his return from this cruise, he entered the United States Naval School, to add scientific to his practical knowled2:e, and thus enable him to make the latter broader in its application, and enlarge the field of his future influence. Here he showed the same devotion to study that he had to practical duties, and the same facility in mas- tering whatever he undertook. Having completed his education, for which his four years of actual service had 18 274 COMMANDER HOMER C. BLAKE. been an admirable preparation, lie graduated in 1846, as passed midsliipman. Six years of practical and scien- tific training seems a long time before one passes the the threshold of his profession, but none too long to make the accomplished officers we need in the navy. The war in Mexico now breaking out, young Blake, ambitious of distinction, applied for active service, and was attached to his old vessel, the sloop-of-war Preble, and sent to the coast of California. He would have pre- ferred a different vessel and a destination which placed him more directly in the vicinity of the army, where the hard lighting was expected to take place. As a rule, officers do not like sloops-ofwar. In the first place, they are too small to perform any great work, while their armament makes them top-heavy^ and anything but pleasant craft to be in in a heavy sea. His duties were various on the coast of California, but furnished no opportunity for distinguishing himself. In the mean time the war drew to a close, and in 1848 the Preble was detached from that station, and ordered to the East Indies. But scarcely had the vessel, after her long voyage, reached Canton, when Blake's health became so feeble that he was unfit for duty. There seeming to be no prospect of recovering on board the sloop and in that unfavorable climate, he was permitted to return home. He was now employed for a short time on shore in the coast survey. But, in 1850, we find him again afloat in the frigate Raritan, bound once more for the Pacific. He did not, however, complete his cruise in her, but was transferred to the sloop-of-war St. Mary. In this vessel he kept on to the China Seas, and so home by way of tlie Cape of AN INCIDENT. 275 Good Hope — tlius, in about nine years, making three voyages around the world. In 1856, lie again joined the Raritan frigate, and sailed for the coast of Brazil. This vessel formed a part of the Paraguay expedition. The expedition was de- void of interest ; but a little incident occurred, while Blake's vessel lay at Rio Janeiro, which would have been forgotten had it not been related by one of the Russian officers, who visited our country a short time since, and were received with so much display in New York. Several English and French men-of-war were in the port of Rio Janeiro at the same time that the St. Lawrence was there. Soon after, the Russian ship-of-war Diana came into harbor — one of the vessels that bore a prominent part in the repulse of the English and French on the Asiatic coast. One day, some ten or twelve of her crew came ashore on leave, and were walk- ing leisurely along, when they were suddenly set upon by a large party of French and English sailors. Near by, a group of American officers were standing, spectators of the scene. The Russians were getting badly beaten, when one of the officers stepped quickly forward amid the combatants, and, laying his hand on his sword, soon turned the scale, so that the Russian sailors came off victors. It was only a passing incident, forgotten by that officer the next hour, and never perhaps recalled again, till, five or six years after, it was told by a Russian officer on our own soil, to show the friendly relations that existed between the two nations. Forgotten by us, it had been repeated in the Russian navy, and made every sailor who heard it our fast friend. That officer was Homer C. Blahe. On his return from this cruise, in 185T, he was em- 276 COMMANDER HOMER C. BLAKE. ployed for a while on shore duty. He was then again sent to the coast of Africa, returning in the latter part of the next year. For twenty years Blake had now been almost con- stantly afloat, enriching his experience by almost every species of navigation, till he was fit to command any vessel, yet apparently without any prospect of reaching the grade of captain until he should be almost old enough to be put on the retired list. But the election of 1860 precipitated the long threatened collision between the North and South ; and when, in 1861, the war actually broke out, Blake applied for active duty. No doubt or vacillation disturbed him in choosing the coui'se he should take. His sword and his life he wished to cast together, if need be, to sustain the old flag he had sailed under in every sea on the globe, and whose folds had been his protection in nearly every harbor of the world. He was first ordered to the Sabine, which was em- ployed on the coast of South Carolina. This vessel formed a part of the Port Royal expedition ; but, being detained in rescuing the crew of the Governor, during a violent storm, she did not arrive in time to take part in the engagement. The Sabine being soon withdrawn from this station, and employed on recruiting dut}-, Blake, who could not brook such a tame employment amid the vast preparations for deadly combat going on around him on every side, requested to be detached fi-om her and placed at the post of danger. He was ordered to the command of the R. R. Cuyler, and, though the vessel was not one which he would have selected for active service, it was with feelings of pride that he found himself in separate command. THE HATTEEAS. 2T7 He was, however, soon transferred from her to the command of the Hatteras. As this vessel went, with all her armament and her brave dead, to the bottom of the sea, a brief description of her may not be out of place, especially as the southern press called her an iron- clad, and the rebel congress passed a vote of thanks to Semmes, for sinking so formidable a ship, and achieving such a transcendent victory. She was originally built at Wilmington, as a passen- ger vessel between Galveston and New Orleans, and of the slightest construction, for an iron ship. She was of a thousand tons burden, and drawing but seven feet of water. The government, which in its sore need purchased everything that could by any transmutation be called a war vessel, bought this also, and, removing the after cabin, put an extra planking on her slight pine deck, to enable it to bear the light guns which were to be placed on board. These consisted of four thirty-two .pounders, two thirty-pounder -rifles, and one twenty-pounder rifle. The total weight of metal she flung at a single broadside was only one hundred and fourteen pounds, against the Alabama's four hundred and thirty-six, or within a frac- tion of a quarter as much. The heaviest gun of the Hatteras was a 32-pounder ; the heaviest of the Alabama was a 110-pounder rifle gun, and a heavy 68, weighing nine thousand pounds — a gun which could not have been used on the Hatteras without knocking her to pieces. The Hatteras, however, was strong enough for ordi- nary blockading duty, to which she was ordered off Gal- veston, and formed a part of the fleet under command ol Commodore Bell. On Sunday, January 11th, in the afternoon, Blake saw 278 COMMATTOEE HOMEE C. BLAKE. a signal from the flagship Brooklyn, directing him to sail to the southward and eastward. After steamino- in this direction for an hour and a half, the lookout reported a steamer bearing to the southward. Blake immediately or- dered all steam on, and took a long and scrutinizing survey of the stranger. As he gradually lessened the distance between them, he saw clearly that she was the far-famed Alabama, and at once ordered his vessel cleared for action — being determined to close with her. She did not try to escape, but kept under easy waj^^ to decoy the Hatteras so far from the fleet that no assistance could reach her before the conflict would be over. Blake knew that his frail vessel would not stand her fire more than fifteen or twenty minutes. Almost his only hope therefore in closing with her, was, that he could carry her by boarding before his vessel was hopelessly crippled. — Failing in this, he hoped — though he knew it was only one chance out of a thousand — to be able, by a lucky shot, to detain her until some of the rest of the fleet could come to his assistance. Although the heart of a brave commander exults at the prospect of an even-handed encounter with a foe, it requires the loftiest heroism and the most unselfish patrotism to carry him into an encounter where he knows that defeat awaits him. We cannot conceive of a more trying position, and it awakens the deepest sympathy to see this brave officer steadily and sternly moving up to grapple Avith his superior enemy. One may look death, but not de- feat, calmly in the face. He had said in a private letter to one of his friends, when going down to Galveston : "I have much to live for, but I could not be happy to purchase my life with any neglect of the duty I owe to my country. I shall not seek danger ; but if it comes SATTEEAS and ALABAMA. 279 I shall take it in the line of my duty, and endeavor to do credit to myself, family, and state." That hour had now arrived ; and, what adds immeasurably to the interest of this combat, the crew knew perfectly well that it was the Alabama that now lay-to, waiting for them ; and knew, moreover, that it was a hopeless contest on which they were about to enter. We all are aware how the hope of suc- cess braces men for the combat, and how depressing it is to enter on one when defeat is certain. Blake, fully alive to this, scanned the countenances of his crew with an anxious heart. It was enough for him if he could leave a great example to those who should come after, but would the sailors share his feelings ? It was with heroic pride, therefore, that he saw every face calm and firmly set for the struggle. He could read there the determination to tight while a plank would float them, and then sink with their brave commander, and their colors flying. No eulogy on the latter could be pronounced so gi'eat as this quiet, deep devotion of his crew. He must be a rare officer who can win it. As the Hatteras pressed forward, night began to gather over the water, and Blake saw that his antagonist had ceased steaming and was lying "broadside on," await- ing his approach. The stranger was now only about four miles off, and loomed clearly up in the darkness. Blake, however, kept silently on, the men at quarters with strings in hand and with orders to fire at the slightest hostile movement on the part of the enemy. When with- in seventy-five yards, he hailed, " What steamer is that ? " Back through the gloom came the hoarse reply : " Her Britannic Majesty's ship Vixen." Blake then said he would send a boat aboard, and, turning, gave the order to have one lowered immediately. But scarcely had the 280 COMMANDER HOMER 0. BLAKE. boatman's shrill whistle rung over the water, when the stranger shouted, " We are the Confederate steamer Ala- bama," followed instantaneously by a full broadside. The darkness had hardly closed over the flash, when the guns of the Hatteras replied, and the terrible conflict com- menced. Although almost within pistol-shot, Blake kept straight towards the Alabama, knowing that his only chance was to close with her. If he once could grapple her firmly, he knew his brave crew would sweep her decks like a storm. He at length got within thirty yards, when muskets and pistols were used, and he hoped in a minute more to hear the shout of his boarders. But Semmes knew his advantage too well, and penetrating Blake's design, shot ahead with his swifter craft and poured in his broadsides. Blake continued to hug him close, strain- ing every nerve to lock him in a death grapple, but in vain. With his greater speed Semmes easily avoided it, while his heavy shot was doing fearful execution. A barrel of turpentine lay in the lower part of the hold of the Hatteras, covered with stores ; and a shell, entering the vessel, exploded near it, setting it on fire. In an instant the hold was a mass of flame, roaring along the vessel's sides. The alarm was sounded, and the firemen sprang below to extinguish the fire. Blake in a moment saw that this was impossible, and ordered the firemen to re- turn to their guns. With the promptness of men on drill they wheeled into their places, and began to load and fire coolly as ever, though the flames were coming fiercely up the hatchways. The magazine and shell room were above the water-line, and constiucted of nothing but thin pine plank, and in a few moments the first lieutenant came on deck and reported that the fire was burning the bulk- heads. Blake, with his heroic nature now thoroughly THE COMBAT. 281 aroused, replied: "Never mind — she won't blow up for fifteen minutes yet, and we must fight on if we all go to the bottom," — and they did fight on, firing with a rapidi- ty probably never" before equalled in a naval combat Being close alongside, no training of the guns was neces- sary, and Blake knew that he must try to make up for disparity in weight of metal^ by rapid firing, and so ordered the guns to be fought from a tight heading and not sponged. Before they were ao fouled as to be useless, he knew the conflict would be over. In a few minutes the Hatteras was in flames fore and aft, her walking-beam was shot away, her port wheel smashed to fragments, her decks a mass of splinters, and the brave vessel a hopeless wreck. Blake stood amid the ruins around him calm and collected — determined that the flag, which the flashes of his guns still revealed flying above him, should never be struck — but the next moment, he saw that his vessel was fast settling in the water, and firing his last gun, just as the water was coming on deck, he, out of feelings of humanity for his brave crew, ordered a gun fired to leeward, in token of surrender. The firing at once ceased, and Semmes hailed to know if he wanted help. Blake replied in the affirmative, and at the same time lowered his own boat. Other boats were soon in the water, and the entire crew, with the exception of Blake, were safely placed aboard them. He, with two dead men, remained alone on the wreck until all were out of her, when he also stepped off the submerged deck into a boat and was taken on board the Alabama. The fight had lasted less than twenty minutes. Scarcely were the prisoners secured, when the Hatteras, with a heavy lurch, went to the bottom, her flag still proudly flying. 282 COMMANDER HOMER C. BLAKE. Commodore Bell saw the flashes of the guns more than twenty miles distant, and heard the rapid explosions, and immediately sent off three vessels to aid the Hatteras. But utter darkness and silence soon settled over the water, and they cruised at random all night. Next day they found the mastheads of the Hatteras standing upright, and out of water, " tops and gaves awash, and the hurri- cane-deck adrift." This told the story ; but whether her brave commander and crew were below with her, and this was the monument above their watery graves, they could not tell. In the mean time the Alabama bore away for Kings- ton, Jamaica, with her prisoners. Blake, who knew that the short but terrific cannon- ading of the two vessels must have been heard by our fleet off Galveston, hoped that the Alabama would be over- hauled and captured, and every day scanned the waters with an anxious eye. But no help came, and in nine days the crippled pirate reached port. The British steamer Grreyhound was in the harbor at the time, and, when she heard that the Alabama had airived, the band struck up "Dixie's Land." Blake, who was chafing under his captivity, could not brook this fresh inp^ult, and imme- diately sent the following note to the commander of that vessel. "January %i, 1863. " To the Commander of H. B. M. ship GhreyTiound : "Lieutenant- Commander H. 0. Blake, of the United States Navy, i)re- sents his compliments to the Commander of II. B. M. sliip Greyhound, and desires to learn whether or not he may consider the playing of ' Dixie's Land' by the band of the Greyhound, upon the arrival of the Confederate steamer Alabama, on the evening of the 21st instant, as a mark of disrespect to the United States Government, or its officer? wlio were prisoners on board the Alabama, at the period indicated. Lieutenant-Commander H. C. Blake respectfully requests an early response. ^'United States Consulate^ Jamaica.^* AN APOLOGY. 283 To this the former returned the annexed handsome, frank, and satisfactory reph'. " Commander Hickley, E. N., presents his compliments to Lieutenant- Commander Blake, U. S. N., and has to acquaint him tliat on the evening in question he was on board the A , dining with Captain Crocroft. Shortly aftei: the time of the officer of the guard reporting the Alabama's arrival, he heard the drums and fifes of H. M. S. Greyhound playing, among other tunes, the tune of 'Dixie's Land.' He immediately repaired on board, causing other national tunes to be played, among which was the United States national air, and severely reprimanded the inconsiderate young officer who had ordered ' Dixie's Land ' to be played, calling for his reasons, and writing and forwarding them forthwith, with his report to Commodore Hugh Dunlop, O.B., who severely reprimanded the officer. " As the officer in question had no idea tliat any U. S. officer or man was on board the Alabama, it must be evident to Lieutenant-Commander Blake that no insult was intended. '■'• H. M. S. Greyhound^ Port Royal, Jamaica, J COMMODORE JOHN A. WENSLOW. of any others of the oflBcers and crew, whose good conduct on this occadon entitle them to especial mention. Very respectfully, GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Na/oy. "Oaptaix John A. Winslow, Comcfg. U. 8. Steamer Eearaarge, Gherlourg, France.'''' But if the Government was delighted and Europe ex- cited over the result of this naval conflict, the people of this country were filled with unbounded enthusiasm. This vessel had seemed as ubiquitous as the Flymg Dutchman — so erratic were her movements, and rapid her transitions, that the most experienced officers that were sent in pursuit of her invariably returned baffled. The swiftest steamers scoured the ocean in search of her, but always failed to find her. Yet she did not hide away in obscure places, but boldly stood along the track of our commerce, and made the ocean lurid with the flames of our merchantmen, which she burned because there was no port that dared to receive the prizes. One day she would be on the Atlantic seaboard — the next, lost in the intricate mazes of the West India Islands, and, when the search for her was about to be abandoned, news would come that she was flaunting her flag in the Indian Ocean, sending terror amid our vessels in that remote part of the world. The people were irritated, indignant, and mortified, that this bold rover should so put to defiance our fleetest steamers and best commanders. But now her career was ended — not by the storms of heaven, or hid- den sea-rocks, nor yet by being ignominiously shut up in a neutral harbor — but in fair, open combat had been sent to the bottom by a vessel inferior in size — in a fight, too, not forced on her by circumstances, but one of her own AN UNJUST CENSUEE. SI*? choosing. Her commander had sent an open challenge, thus inviting spectators to come and witness our defeat. The national feeling was satisfied, and the name of WinsloAv was mentioned with pride by every tongue. Yet, right on the top of this, the Secretary of the Navy wrote to Winslow : " I notice by the last mail from England that it is reported that you have parolled the foreign pirates, captured on board the Alabama. I trust you have not committed this error of judgment." And again : "In parolling the prisoners, however, you com- mitted a grave error." How did the Secretary of the Nav}' know this, for he had never yet received Winslow's report of his proceedings ? What right had he to censure a gallant officer on mere rumor ? It never occurred to him that this brave commander, whose whole life had been spent in the naval service, knew vastly better what was proper and right under the circumstances than he could who had been but three jeaYs, or so in the Navy Department. It always has been a source of annoy- ance to our naval commanders that they are under the orders of an officer wholly ignorant of the naval profes- sion. A lawyer, or editor, or politician, is placed at the head of the navy, and, seemingly thinking that all neces- sary qualifications come with the office, conveys or gives orders or proposes measures that a naval officer would never think of doing. That the War and Navy Depart- ments of this great country should, every four years, be put under a new man, to whom the duties of both are wholly unknown, is an error that has cost us and will cost us in the future millions of treasure and oceans of blood. Winslow, in reply to this censure, said that his decks were crowded with the bedding of the wounded and pris- 318 COMMODOEE JOHN A. WINSLOW. oners under guard ; moreover, the ship was damaged both in rigging and hull. A shot had entered the stern- post, raising the transom frame and binding the rudder so hard as to require four men at the helm. It was there- fore important that an examination should be made of the damages sustained. This, of course, could not be done without clearing the ship. This was the more im- portant, as he continued, " I received information from our consul, in London, that the Florida was in the chan- nel on the French coast, and at the same time informa- tion came that the Yeddo was out, and the Kappahan- nock was expected to follow." He had heard that the sea around him was alive with rebel cruisers, with no vessel but the Kearsarge to take care of them. " It therefore became," he says, " in my mind, of the utmost importance that the Kearsarge should at once be put in a state to meet these vessels and protect our commerce. This could not be done with prisoners on board equalling half of our crew, and the room occupied by the wounded, to the exclusion of our own men ; to have kept them would have required a quarter watch as guards, and the ship would have been wholly ineffective as a man-ot- war to meet this emergency which threatened. Under these circumstances, and without an American vessel hi port, by which arrangements could be made for tranship- f ])ing the prisoners outside, I felt it my duty to parole '. them." Of course it was his duty to do so — not to act as jailor to thirty or forty men, but strip his vessel for an- other fight, and keep rebel cruisers from these waters. Commodore Winslow had all the qualities that go to make up a great naval commander — a naturally strong intellect, cultivated by careful training and long practical experience. Quiet in his manner, yet he vras capable of HIS CHARACTER. 319 intense excitement, but which showed itself only in in- creased energy and determination. Apparently desti- tute of fear, he was, notwithstanding, never rash. When once fairly roused, no obstacles could stop him, no dangers daunt him. Of great powers of endurance, and a courage that nevei* flagged, there seemed no limit to his exertions. Rock-fast in his resolution, he moved to his purpose with a firmness before which everything had to give way. His remark that he was just getting ready for " warm work " when the Alabama surren- dered, reminds one of Paul Jones, who, when asked if he had surrendered, replied that he had just begun to fio;ht, and throws a flood of lio-ht on the character of the man. Without being vain, he had a supreme con- fidence in himself — a self-reliance growing out of the consciousness of power. Scorning cant, trickery, and humbug in others, he never blew his own trumpet, and, instead of overestimating, underrated his own actions. He saw only the simple performance of duty where others were dazzled with the hi roisui of his conduct, and hence did not fully appreciate the enthusiasm ot the people at his victory over the Alabama. His fame was secured, and his name, which in one hour he made known the world over, will go down to posterity on the same historic roll with Hull and Bain bridge, and Perry and McDonough, and other naval heroes of the nation. After the war he was put in command of the Gulf squadron, and was made Rear- Admiral in 1870. He died in Brooklyn, Sept. 29th, 1873. CHAPTER XIV. VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. HT8 BIRTH AND EARLY EDITOATION.— ACCOMPANIES HIS FATHER TO THE WEST INDIES IN SEARCH OF PIRATES. — ENTERS THE MEXICAN NAVY AS MID- SHIPMAN. — HIS FIRST FIGHT ON THE CUBAN COAST. — IS TAKEN PRISOIT- ER AND PLACED IN CONFINEMENT. — PAROLLED AND RETURNS TO MEXICO. — RETURNS HOME. — ENTERS THE NAVAL SCHOOL. — MIDSHIPMAN IN THE U. 8. NAVY.— HIS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES AND CRUISES. — SENT BY BUCHAN- AN TO HAYTI TO INVESTIGATE THE CONDITION OF THE DOMINICAN RE- PUBLIC. — MADE FIRST LIEUTENANT ON THE SPITFIRE IN THE MEXICAN WAR. — AT VERA CRUZ. — HIS GALLANT ATTACK OF TOBASCO. — AT TUS- PAN. — COMMANDS THE PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP PANAMA, AND SAILS THROUGH THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. — COMMANDS THE GEORGE LAW STEAMER GEORGIA, FOR THREE YEARS. COMMANDS THE STEAMER GOLDEN AGE. — REMARKABLE VOYAGE TO AUSTRALIA. — SENT BY THE SECRETARY OF WAR TO IMPORT CAMELS. — BREAKING OUT OF THE RE- BELLION. — SENT TO RELIEVE FORT PICKENS. — A CURIOUS PIECE OF HIS- TORY. — BLOCKADES THE MISSISSIPPI. LONG CHASE AFTER THE PRIVATEER SUMTER — COMMANDS THE MORTAR FLEET UNDER FARRA6UT IN THE AT- TACK ON NEW ORLEANS. — THE BOMBARDMENT. — GOES TO PENSACOLA AND MOBILE. — AIDS FARRAGUT IN PASSING THE BATTERLES OF VICKSBURG AND PORT HUDSON. PUT IN COMMAND OF THE MISSISSIPPI FLEET. — CO-OPER- ATES WITH FARRAGUT, SHERMAN, AND GRANT, — ARKANSAS PORT. — WHITE RIVER. — BATTLE OF GRAND GULF. — AIDS GRANT IN THE SIEGE OF VICKS- BURG. — EXPEDITION TO THE SUNFLOWER COUNTRY. — FALL OF VICKS- BURG. RECEIVES THE THANKS OF CONGRESS. — MADE ADMIRAL. — SUBSE- QUENT OPERATIONS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. — THE RED RIVER EXPE- DITION. — A NEW CHAPTER IN ITS HISTORY. PASSAGE OF THE FALLS NEAR ALEXANDRIA BY THE FLEET, — BAILEY, ENGINEER OF THE DAMS, REWARD- ED BY PORTER, — RENDERS SHERMAN VALUABLE AID IN HIS MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA. — VARIOUS OPERATIONS IN HIS EXTENSIVE DISTRICT OF COMMAND. — RETURNS NORTH TO VISIT HIS FAMILY. PLACED OVER HIS EARLY EDUCATION. 321 THE NOETH ATLANTIC BLOCKADING 8QTTADEON. — THE FIEST EXPE- DITION AGAINST FORT FISHER. — THE BOMBAEDMENT.— SECOND EXPEDI- TION.— THE ATTACK. THE VICTOEY. — AIDS 6EANT IN HIS LAST MOVE- MENT AGAINST LEE. — HIS CHAEACTEE. — PBESENT COMMAND. The saying has almost passed into a proverb that great men seldom beget great sons. The renowned Commodore Porter of the war of 1812, however, is a notable exception, for he gave to his country two sons as famous as himself, David D. and William D., and distinguished too for the very traits of character that made him so remarkable. The former, in addition to the great qualities of his father, had the advantage also of being trained in his profession directly under his eye, where he could feel the force of his example. He was born June 8th, 1813, in the town of Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. He received the first rudiments of education at that place, and entered Colum- bia College in the city of Washington, at the early age of eleven years. His college course, however, was a short one, for, in 1824, he accompanied his father. Commodore Porter, to the West Indies, where the latter was sent by the Government to break up the gang of pirates that infested those seas, and there imbibed his first taste for sea life. In 1826, Commodore Porter, at the solicitation of the Mexican Government, took command of the Mexi- can Navy, and appointed his son David a midshipman in the service. The latter spent one year in the city of Mexico, learning the Spanish language, and at the end of that time reported himself for active service afloat. His father was about to sail with the Mexican fleet for the coast of Cuba, but it being unable to go to sea, for want of supplies, he fitted out several small prizes, in one of which, the Esmeralda, with his cousin, D. H. Porter, 21 322 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. POETEE. as captain, youDg Porter sailed to destroy tlie Spanisli commerce around the island of Cul>a. After a cruise of sixty days, in wMcli lie liad many narrow escapes, tlie schooner, laden with a caro;o of suo;ar and coffee taken from thirty captured vessels, sailed for Key West. But the crew, consisting of twenty-nine men, mutinied while the vessel was on her way, and attempted to take pos- session of her. The captain, however, D. H. Porter, a powerful and determined man, cut some of them down, and shot several others, and finally succeeded in getting the remainder in irons, and, with Midshipman Porter and a faithful Swede, brought the vessel into Key West. In 1827, Commodore Porter returned with the Mexi- can fleet to Vera Cruz, and fitted out afresh for a new expedition, having in the first one almost destroyed the coast commerce of Cuba. Midshipman David D. Porter was detailed to the brig Guerrero, with his former captain, D. H. Porter. The Guerrero, built in New York, by Henry Eckford, was a fine vessel and mounted twenty guns. She sailed in June, 1827, for the coast of Cuba, and on sighting the island, the fourteenth day out, discovered a large convoy in shore, in charge of two brigs-of war. The Guerrero was immediately cleared for action, and chase given to the enemy. The Spaniards and their convoy ran into the port of " Little Mariel," fifteen miles west of Havana. This snug harbor was defended by shoals and a two-gun foi-t ; but, although the two brigs ran in and got springs on their cables, the Guerrero boldly followed them, and, anchoring outside, opened with her guns, to which the brigs and the fort both replied. The action lasted one hour and a half, in which the brigs were completely dismantled and cut to pieces by FIRST BATTLE. 323 the Guerrero's shot. The fort still kept up a galling fire, and the latter had to haul out of range — the captain intending to go in at night with boats, and finish the combat. In the mean time, the heavy cannonading had been heard in Havana, and a large sixty-four-gun frigate, the Lealtad, slipped her cables and put to sea. The Guen^ero was standing in shore to take posses- sion of her prizes, when the frigate hove in sight, coming on with a fresh breeze, while the former lay becalmed. The names of the two brigs were the Marte and the Amelia, and they were so knocked to pieces that they were never used again in the Spanish Navy. They mounted, together with the fort, six more guns than the Guerrero. The frigate finally came up with the Guerrero, and one of the most desperate and unequal battles on record took place between the two vessels, which ended in the capture of the brig, but not till she had bravely held her own against her huge antagonist for two hours and a half. The brig did not surrender until all her masts were shot away, and she was in a sinking condition. Eighty-six men were killed and wounded, out of one hundred and eighty in this desperate conflict. The cap- tain was killed, and all the officers wounded, and there was not a shot left in the locker to fire. Young Porter was badly hurt in the first fight, but perfoiined the duty of captain's aid in the second battle, where he was also wounded. A mere lad, he had, like Farragut, under his father, received a bloody baptism into the naval service, and in his first combat learned how a ship should be fought. The vessel, after her capture, was towed into Havana, 324 VICE- ADMIRAL DAVID D. POETEE. where tlie officers and crew were imprisoned in a filtTiy hulk, at tlie base of the Moro Castle, and kept in close confinement many months, suffering a great deal both in mind and body. They had the consolation, however, of knowing that the Spanish frigate had lost more men than they, and was finally dismasted at sea, owing to the injuries to her spars, received during the fight. Midshipman Porter, owing to his ill-health, was final- ly allowed to go to Vera Cruz on parole, where, finding no chance of getting exchanged, he returned to the United States. After going to school for a year, he obtained, in 1829, an appointment as Midshipman in the United States Navy, and sailed with Captain Alexander Wadsworth, in the Constellation, for the Mediterranean. In 1832, he joined the frigate United States, flagship of Commodore Patterson, and spent three years in her, when he returned to the United States to stand his ex- amination. From the time of passing his examination, until his promotion to lieutenant, he was employed on the Coast Smvey. In 1840, he sailed in the frigate Congress to the Mediterranean and coast of Brazil. On his return from this cruise, he was employed at the Naval Observatory, under Lieutenant Maury. In 1846, he was sent by Mr. Buchanan, then Secretary of State, to the island of Hayti, the Dominican Republic, to ascertain the exact condition of affairs in that country. He was three months on the island, and during that time travelled nineteen hundred miles on horseback, taking the census of every town, and returning with much information useful to the Government. While Lieutenant Porter was absent on this duty, EST MEXICO. 325 the war between tlie United States and Mexico broke out, and lie applied for immediate service afloat. He was ordered to proceed to New Orleans and raise men for Commodore Conner's fleet. This duty lie per- formed, and carried the men to Vera Cruz, where he was made First Lieutenant of the steamer Spitfire, Captain Tatnall. Lieutenant Porter had great difiiculty in get- ting Commodore Conner to order him into service, the latter not liking his full whiskers, which the lieutenant declined to part with, never having shaved more than once or twice in his life. Lieutenant Porter was with Tatnall, as First Lieu- tenant of the Spitfire, when the latter attacked the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa, and the town batteries. A few days after, the Spitfire attacked the bat- teries again, and did material service to the army, by withdrawing the Mexican fire from our batteries on shore. No vessel performed more active service than the Spitfire while Lieutenant Porter was in her. When Com- modore Perry moved on Tobasco, the Mexicans barri- caded the river, and so it was determined to land the troops, or sailors, eighteen hundred in all, and attack the city by land. But the Spitfire, disregarding the obstruc- tions, made a dash through them, and pushed on up the river, in advance of the landing party, amid the hearty cheers of all. Eight miles up, the vessel encountered a heavy fort, commanding the river. It mounted eight large guns, while the Spitfire had only one heavy gun (8-inch), and two thirty-two-pounders. The first shot from the fort cut the Spitfire's wheel in two, but the little steamer sped on, firing rapidly, and 326 VIOE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. gained tlie rear of the battery, where, letting go her anchor, she soon cleared the works. Lieutenant Porter, under the fire of the steamer's guns, boarded the fort with sixty-five men, and can'ied it with a shout. The landing party arrived four hours afterwards, and found the town and batteries of Tobasco in possession of the Spitfire, and the Scorpion, a steamer commanded by Captain Bigelow, which vessel came up behind the former. Lieutenant Sidney Smith Lee, who commanded the Spitfire, being ordered to the steamer Mississippi, Lieu- tenant Porter was given the command of her, which he retained while the American forces held Tobasco, and until ill-health obliged him to go home after the fall of Vera Cruz. He was engaged in every operation that took place during the Mexican war, and was first lieutenant of the steamer Spitfire, the leading vessel when our little fleet of steamers fought their way up Tuspan River and cap- tured that place. On his return to the United States, he was again ordered to the Coast Survey, but, having been offered the command of the Pacific Mail Company's steamer Panama, he took charge of her and sailed for the Pacific, through the Straits of Magellan. He left the steamer at Panama, after a most successful voyage, and returned to the United States, when he was placed in command of George Law's steamer, the Georgia, which vessel he suc- cessfully commanded for three years, without an accident of any kind. Having got into a difficulty with the Spanish authorities at Havana, in which he made them respect the American flag, he left the service of the com- pany by which he was employed, and took command of A CURIOUS PIECE OF HISTOEY. 327 the steamer Golden Age, belonging to the Australian Steamship Company. Proceeding to England, he made a successful voyage thence to Australia in fifty-six days, thirty days quicker than it had ever been made before. He ran the Golden Age six months on the Australian coast, and then ci'ossed the Pacific with a load of English passengers, and arrived safely at Panama. Having taken the Chagres fever, he was obliged to return home, and it was many months before he re- gained his health. The Secretary of War, Jefterson Davis, then selected him to go abroad to import camels. He performed this duty successfully, bringing over two loads, eighty-four in all, and then (1859) was ordered to the Portsmouth (N. H.) Navy Yard. Just before the breaking out of the war of the rebel- lion, Lieutenant Porter was directed to bring the old frigate Constitution to Annapolis. This being done, he was about to proceed to California, to take charge of the Coast Survey vessels there, when the Southern States seceded. Sumter was now threatened by the rebels, who had seized upon many of our best forts. Fort Pickens was also in great danger, although gallantly defended by Lieutenant Slemmer of the artillery. And here occurs one of the most curious pieces of history that has ever seen the light. It really reflects on no department of the Government, but it illustrates the total confusion into which everything was thrown at the commencement of the rebellion : It may be recollected that Mr. Fox, Assistant Sec- retary of the Navy, identified himself with an expedition tliat was fitted out by the Government and some mer- chants in New York, to throw supplies into Sumter. 328 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. POUTER. The expedition was badly planned and worse executed, and it was necessary to lay the blame on some one. Mr. Seward came in for the greatest share, when in fact he had nothing whatever to do with it. While at dinner, on the very day Porter was to have started for California, he received a letter from Captain (now General) Meigs, asking him to call on Mr. Seward, who wished to see him. He did so without delay, and, after some preliminary conversation, Mr. Seward asked him if he thought it possible to get a ship into the harbor of Pensacola and reinforce Fort Pickens, and thus pre- vent the rebels from making use of the most important harbor on the Atlantic. He replied that there was no difficulty about the matter, provided he could have his own way. He then unfolded his plan, when Mr. Seward took him to see Mr. Lincoln, with whom he discussed the whole matter thoroughly. His plan was, for the President to give him authority to proceed to New York and take command of the Powhatan, then lying partly dismantled at the Navy Yard ; also to invest him with power to give such orders in the Navy Yard as he deemed proper — in fact, placing for the time being the officer in command there under his directions. This was perhaps a high-handed measure — going over the head of the Sec- retary of the Navy, and fitting out a ship without his authority or cognizance. Still, it was the only way to accomplish the object. Secretary Welles was new in the office, and had no knowledge of the men about him. Half of them were traitors ; and had a single individual in the Department known that such an expedition was fitting out, it would have been flashed along the wires in a very short time, and Bragg, the rebel commander at Pensacola, would at once have overpowered Lieutenant OKDEE OF THE PEESIDEIfT. 329 Slemmer with his handful of men, and taken possession of the fort. The President, after carefully weighing all the circum- stances of the case, and listening to all the arguments offered him, finally took the responsibilitj^, and wrote an order directing him to proceed to New York without delay, and take command of the "Powhatan," or any other vessel that he deemed necessary for his purpose. The Commandant of the Navy Yard and the naval officers were directed to give him all the aid and facilities he desired, to enable him to get the vessel to sea with the least possible delay. In conclusion, the President said, "You Avill not show these orders to any naval command- ing officer superior in rank to yourself, unless there is danger of your being interfered with. When inside of the harbor, you will call upon the senior naval officer at Pensacola for such reinforcements as you may deem suffi- cient to hold the place." Other orders were also issued, one to the commander of the Powhatan, Captain Mercer, ordering him to give up his vessel, and one to the commandant of the yard at New York, ordering him to give him secret despatch, &c., &c. Armed with these extraordinary orders, he hastened at once to New York. In the mean time, Captain Meigs, who was the originator of the scheme to relieve Port Pickens, also proceeded to New York and chartered one of the Atlan- tic steamers, which he prepared for sea without delay, to carry two thousand regulars. Under the guns of the Powhatan these were to be thrown into Port Pickens, to reinforce Lieutenant Slemmer. When Porter reached New York, he found the Pow hatan had just been put out of commission, her crew 330 VICE- ADMIRAL DAVID D. POETER. sent to tlie receiving-ship, and all her officers detached. Her sails were unbent, her machinery all apart, her powder and gun-gear on shoi-e, and her coal-bunkers empty. A survey had been held on her, her boilers and hull had been condemned, and she was to go in dock for repairs, when Porter presented his orders to Commodore Foote, who then commanded the Yard. The latter was quite taken aback at the unusual, extraordinary proceed- ing, and Porter had very great difficulty in getting him to pay that attention to them which they demanded. Foote considered it impossible to send the vessel to sea, she was so unseaworthy, and her boilers were actually dangerous, while her rigging was all rotten, and her boats would not float. However, there was no other vessel, and Porter, with that determination which charac- terizes him, shoved the President's orders at Foote. so hard, and insisted so pertinaciously on a compliance with them, that the latter finally had to give in, and went to work with a will to get the ship ready for sea. She was, without question, in a horrible condition, but there was no remedy, and she had to go. For six days and nights, Porter sat in Commodore Foote's office, directing the difi^erent operations, and urging on the work. Foote, in the mean time, telegraphed for the officers the former wanted to go with him. Captain Mercer, who was let into the secret, took charge of the vessel for the time being, and made it appear that he was going out in her, and it was rumored that she was getting ready to carry a Minister to Mexico. In fact. Porter's boxes and trunks, labelled as the property of the Minister to Mexico, were sent on board in open day, no one suspecting even that he was going out in the ship, or had any connection with her. BOLD ACTION. 331 On tlie sixtli day after commencing to fit her out (working night and day, including Sunday,) the vessel was ready to sail. But just as Porter was about going on board, an order came from the Navy Department to '"''fit the Powhatan for sea with all despatch^ and report her when ready to proceed^ Here was a dilemma. The Secretary evidently knew nothing of what was going on, and to give up the ship would be to imperil the whole expedition, for Captain Meigs depended on the guns of the Powhatan to cover his landing. Besides, the vessel had a large part of the artillery and ammuni- tion belonging to the troops, on board. On receiving the Secretary's order. Commodore Foote sent for Captain Mercer, and showed it to him, but he agreed with Porter that the order of the President was paramount to all others, and it was decided that the ship should proceed on her destined mission. Porter at the time supposed that the order of the Secretary was given as a matter of form, and that he had been made ac- quainted with the whole affair. In half an hour after this, he stepped on board the ship, as if to bid the captain good-by, and in the con- fusion was unnoticed. He remained in the cabin until the Powhatan reached Staten Island, where the captain (Mercer) left her to go on shore. But just as they Were hoisting the boat on board, and about to proceed, a swift steamer came puffing alongside with an officer on board, who delivered Porter the following despatch : " Qite up the Powhatan to Captain Mercer. (Signed,) Sewaed." But Porter still held grimly to the President's order; no other order, he said, could take precedence of that. It 332 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. was no time to stand on trifles, tlie country was in dan ger, and, if lie gave up the ship, the expedition would have to be abandoned, and Captain Meigs, who had sailed just ahead, would go on a bootless mission. It took but a moment for Porter to decide, and he tele- graphed back : " My orders were from the President, and I must look to him to support me," explaining at the same time how matters stood. It will be seen from Mr. Seward's telegraphic de- spatch, that he threw no obstacle in the way of the Pow- hatan's going to the relief of Fort Sumter, which he at the time was accused of doing. The Powhatan could not have been got ready for the expedition to relieve Sumter, had she commenced preparations at the time Mr. Welles' order came to fit her out. That order (as things were going on) would have found her all in pieces, and in dock. In five days after Porter sailed in her. Fort Sumter fell. The Powhatan, under any circumstances, would have been of no use in such an expedition, for she could not cross the bar at Charleston, while her boats were worth- less, as they would not float ; and when Porter lowered them into the sea off Pensacola, the seams were so open that they all filled with water. The shi]^ could only have laid off the harbor, and her oflacers and men would have witnessed the bombardment as others did, without being able to do any good. It will be seen, therefore, that it was a very unjust thing to lay the blame of the failure on Mr. Seward, who, in saving Fort Pickens, performed a more import- ant service than the relieving of Sumter would have be< u. Porter had heavy weather all the voyage out, and FORT PICKENS RELIEVED. 333 the ship was almost knocked to pieces, yet in eight days he appeared oif the harbor of Peusacola, disguised as an English steamer, and so altered that, with English colors up, the officers of the fleet lying off the place did not know the vessel. ' The troops in the Atlantic Company's steamer ari'ived just before him, and had got close to the beach, ready to be landed. Porter was standing in over the har^ with the batteries all manned, and would have been inside or sunk in twenty minutes more, when General Meigs intercepted him in a tug, and wished him to cover the landing;. He still cluns; to the President's order, to go inside and take the place, but Meigs showed him another order from the President, directing him to comply with any requisition made upon him by tho army landing party, and he was reluctantly obliged to give up his plan, of going inside. He proceeded at once to cover the landing, and in half an hour Fort Pickens was safe in our possession. With a strong force of regulars thrown in, there was no longer any chance of General Bragg's attacking it. Thus the most important fort in the South was kept in our possession. Had the rebels succeeded in getting into it, (which they would have done that night, but for this opportune arrival,) Pensacola would have proved a greater thorn in our side than either Charleston or Wilmington. In justice to Mr. Seward, he deserves all the credit of the achievement, notwithstanding the abuse heaped upon him. As soon as Porter got all the troops on shore, he urged the senior naval officer. Captain Adams, to block- ade the port, and permit no vessels to go in with sup- plies. He would not do so himself, but told Porter that he might. The latter fitted out at once a small pilot- 534 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. boat, and, lying in close with the Powhatan, closed the port effectually. He could have gone into Pensacola at any time, ten days after his arrival, and anxiously desired to do so, but the army officers in Fort Pickens protested against it, urging as a reason, that the fort was not in a condi- tion to resist the fire of Bragg's batteries, which Porter knew he could silence. He had made a reconnoissaiice inside the harbor, on a bright moonlight night, and with a night-glass saw that there were very few guns. It was a great disappointment to him not to be able to take the place, when he knew how easily it could have been done, but he could not attempt it with the army and navy commanders (both his seniors) opposed to it. He has, no doubt, since regretted a hundred times that he paid any attention to such timid counsels, and did not take the responsibility. On the arrival of Commodore McKean, the Powhat- an was ordered to blockade the mouth of the Mississi])- pi, at the Northwest Pass, which she did successfully for ten months, no vessel getting in or out. Finally, the Sumter ran by the United States steamer Brooklyn, at Pass a I'Outre, and escaped to sea. A shoi't time afterwards, the Powhatan's boats captured a prize to the Sumter, endeavoring to get into Barrataria Bay. From the prisoners, Lieutenant Porter learned that the Sumter was on the south side of Cuba, committing depredations on our commerce. By permission of Commodore McKean, he went in pursuit of her, and finally arrived at the mouth of the Surinam, the day after the Sumter sailed from there. He then concluded to steer for Maranham, but met with the same disappointment at the latter place. Thence he MORTAE FLEET. 335 tracked the privateer all the way back to the West In- dies, where she escaped among some of the French islands. The Powhatan, having steamed over ten thousand miles with her condemned machinery, was now obliged to return to the United States, where she was laid up at about the time of the Dupont expedition to Port Royal, and Lieutenant Porter was detached. He immediately sought other active service, and, the capture of New Orleans being proposed by him, he was put in communi- cation with General J^IcClellan and General Barnard of the engineers, to talk the matter over. They were unan- imous in their opinion that the city could be taken, and preparations were accordingly made to attempt the capture of the forts at or near the mouth of the Missis- sippi Hiver. Admiral Farragut was ordered to command the naval forces, and Lieutenant Porter, having recom- mended a large force of mortar vessels, was directed to equip them without delay. In thirty-six days thereafter, twenty-one mortar schooners and seven gunboat steamers sailed from New York for Key West, to join the New Orleans expedition. Only the mortars were cast. The iron carriages had all to be made, twenty thousand shells to be cast, and the vessels to be fitted. The fleet arrived at Ship Island, and found the squadron still there, and not over the bar of the Mississippi, as Porter feared it would be, and so was in time. After entering the river, the gunboats of Commander Porters flotilla were constantly employed in helping the large vessels over the bar. He devoted himself person- ally to the matter, and when the pilots failed, time after time, he succeeded in getting the Mississippi and Pensa- oola over, and up to Pilot Town. His fleet being all 336 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. ready to move, lie sailed up to within three miles of the forts, and tied up to the bank. As stated in a previous chapter, under the order of Porter, Messrs. Harris and Oltmanns were detailed by Mr. Gerdes, assistant on the coast survey, to make a minute survey of the river, from "Wiley''s Gap," as it was called, up to the forts. Lieutenant^commanding Guest, in the Owasco, was detailed to protect them in their work. These brave engineers surveyed and triangu- lated over seven miles of the river, taking in both Forts Jackson and St. Philip. A part of the time they were un- der fire of shot and shell from the batteries, as well as exposed to riflemen concealed in bushes on shore, yet rhey finished their work successfully, and established with great precision the positions which the mortar-boats were to occupy. Before these took their assigned places, Porter di- rected the masts to be dressed off with branches, which would intermingle them so with the trees or vines, behind which they were to be placed, as to render them invisible to the enemy. This showed admirable foresight, and afterwards so distracted the fire of the enemy that it was far less destructive than any one expected it would be. The wood behind which Porter concealed his mortar, boats, was three hundred yards across, and so dense that the rebel shot could with difficulty pierce it, while Porter's shells rose over it to drop with mathematical accm*acy into the hostile works. The fleet was divided into three divisions, under the command of Lieutenants Watson Smith, K. P. Breese, and W. W. Queen, and when the signal to "commence action" was made, they opened in order, each one firing everj^ ten minutes. The forts immediately replied with all the guns they could bring to THE BOMBARDMET^. 337 bear, and the rebel shot crashing through the forest, and the shells of the mortars rising in graceful curves above it, presented a magnificent spectacle. About noon. Porter, seeing that the enemy was get- ting the range of Queen's division, and the shot falling too near, went on board to move it, and found that a hundred-and-twenty-pound shot had passed through Queen's vessel, damaging the magazine. At five o'clock the fort was discovered to be in flames, and the fire of the enemy ceased. Night coming on and the wind rising, Porter ceased firing, having sent over fourteen hundred shells into and around the rebel works. On the south shore, the mortars could be pointed only by sights fixed to the mastheads, "and many curious experiments," remarks Porter, "were resorted to, to obtain correct firing." The next morning, the 19 th, he opened fire again and kept it up steadily all day. During the day the schooner Maria G. Carleton was sank by a rifle shell passing through her deck, magazine, and bottom, while Porter was alongside. Each day now was a repetition of that which pre- ceded it. Porter, seeing that the fuses of the shells were bad, ceased timing them, and ordered full-length fuses, so that they would burst after they had entered the ground. Although there were great disadvantages in this arrangement, it prevented shells from bursting in the air. The ground being wet and soft, they descended eighteen and twenty feet into the soil, and, exploding some time after they were landed, lifted the earth up in huge masses. The effect was like that of an earthquake. For three days and nights the conamanders and crews got 22 338 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTEE. but little rest, and few meals, and hence would often be found by Porter in bis rounds fast asleep, even while a mortar beside them was thundering away, and shaking everything around like an earthquake. Seeing that this strain could not be borne long he ordered each divi- sion into three watches of four hours each. By this arrangement the firing was more accurate, and fifteen hundred shells were thrown every twenty-four hours. Under this tremendous explosion, windows were broken in Balize, thirty miles distant. On the night of the 20th, Porter covered the expedi- tion sent to break the chain across the channel, with a tremendous fire from his mortar fleet. On the 23d, he urged Farragut to commence the attack with his ships that night, as ammunition was getting low, and the crews were well nigh worn out, while the enemy was daily adding to his naval force and power of defence. As the fleet of Farragut, towards morning, steamed past the batteries, Porter's flotilla of steamers, the West- fleld, Owasco, Clifton, and Merwiu, moved up and main- tained a galling fire with shrapnell on the forts, until the last vessel had got beyond range of the rebel guns. Porter had hardly ordered the firing to cease, when it was reported to him that the celebrated ram Manassas was coming down to attack him. She was steaming slowly along shore, as if preparing for a dash, and fire was opened on her. But Porter soon saw that she was a dying monster, and ordered the commanders to spare their shot. The smoke now began to pour from her; showing that she was on fire, while her hull, badly cut up with shot, slowly settled in the water. Porter tried to save her as a curiosity, and got a hawser around her, but just before she readied the bank she exploded, and. COOL CONDUCT. 339 " like some liuge animal, gave a plunge and disappeared under the water." Next came a steamer on fire, followed by two others, burning as they slowly drifted by, while " fires seemed to be raging all along up river," sho^viug what wild work Farragut's fleet was making with the rebel vessels. Porter now sent a flag of truce to the forts, demanding their surrender. The answer was, " the demand is inadmissible." Giving the men a day to rest, and, having heard in the mean time from Farragut, Porter again opened on the foi*ts. He then sent another demand for their sur- render, with the terms he would grant. This time the answer indicated a great change in the temper of the commander, for he replied that, after receiving instruc- tions from the authorities of New Orleans, he probably would comply with his summons. On the 28th, a flag of truce came on board, the bearer of which announced that the terms offered by Porter would be accepted. While he was engaged in the capitulations, an officer approached him, and reported that the iron floating battery Louisiana, of four thousand tons burthen, and mounting sixteen heavy guns, had been set on fire. Porter turned to the rebel commander, and quietly remarked that the act was in no way creditable to him. The latter replied that he was not " responsible for the aets of naval officers." Porter then went on with the negotiations, when an officer again approached him, say- ing that the ropes which fastened the vessel to the bank had been burned off, and that all in flames she was di'ifting slowly down on them. Porter turned to the commander and asked if the guns were loaded, and if there was much powder on board. The latter replied, " I presume so, but I know nothing about the naval 340 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. POETER. matters here." At tliat moment tlie heated guns began to go off, throwing shot and shell, as though engaging a battery. The heavy thunder of the explosions, foretelling what would happen when the magazine was reached, aroused a little of the sleeping tiger in Porter, and, turn- ing to the rebel military officers, he coolly said : " If you don't mind the explosion which is soon to come, we can stand it," and went on with the conference, amidst the stern music, as calmly as though nothing else was going on. In speaking of it afterwards, he said : " A good Providence, which directs the most unimportant events, sent the battery off towards Fort St. Philip, and, as it got abreast of that formidable fort, it blew up with a force which scattered the fragments in all directions, killing one of their own men in the fort, and when the smoke cleared off it was nowhere to be seen, having sunk immediately in the deep water of the Mississippi. The explosion was terrific, and was seen and heard for many miles up and down the river. Had it occurred near the vessels, it would have destroyed every one of them." Porter denounced this dastardly act in scathing language. Like all brave, magnanimous men, mlling to accord the high qualities they possess to others, even though fighting in a bad cause, he said, the " military com- manders behaved honorably to the end. * * * The most scrupulous regard was paid to their promises. They defended their works like men. Had they been fighting for the flag under which they were born, instead of against it, it would have been honor enough for any man to have said, he had fought »by. their side." After the capitulation of the forts, and tlie surrender of the few remaining steamers, Porter visited the former EFFECT OF THE BOJIBARDMENT. 341 to see what had been the effect of his bombardment. He found that one thousand three hundred and thirteen bombs had struck in the centre and solid parts of the works, two thousand three hundred and thirty in the moat, near the foundations, shaking the whole structure to its base, nearly one thousand exploded in and over the works, and one thousand three hundred and fifty- seven struck about the levees, and in the marsh close around, and in the paths and near the water s edge, where the steamers attempted to come. Porter says : It was useless for them to hold out ; a day's bombardment would have finished them ; they had no means of repairing damages ; the levee had been cut by the thirteen-inch bombs, in over a hundred places ; and the water had entered the casemates, making it very uncomfortable, if not impossible, to live there any longer. It was the only place the men had to fly to out of reach of the bombs. The drawbridge over the moat had been broken all to pieces, and all the causeways leading from the fort were cut and blown up with bomb-shells, so that it must have been impossible to walk there, or carry on any operations with any degree of safety. The magazine seems to have been much endangered, explosions having taken place at the door itself, all the cotton bags and protections having been blown away from before the magazine door. Eleven guns were dismounted during the bombardment, some of which were remounted again and used upon us. The walls were cracked and broken in many places, and we could scarcely step without treading into a hole made by a bomb-shell ; the accuracy of the fire, is, perhaps, the best ever seen in mortar practice ; it seems to have entirely demoralized the men, and astonished the officers. A water battery, containing six vei7 heavy guns, and which annoyed us at times very much, was filled with the marks of the bombs, no less than one hundred and seventy having fallen into it, smashing in the magazine, and driving the people out of it. On the night of the passage of the ships, this battery was completely silenced, so many bombs fell into it, and burst over it. Many remarkable escapes and incidents were related to us as having happened during the bombardment. Colonel Higgins stated an instance, where a man was buried deep in the earth, by a bomb striking him between the shoulders, and directly afterwards another bomb exploded in the same place, and threw the corpse high in the air. All the boats and scows ground the ditches and near the landing, were sunk by bombs ; and when 342 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. POETEE. we took possession the only way they had to get in and out of the fort to the landing, was by one small boat to ferry them across. Porter did full justice in his report to Ms brave com- manders Kenshaw, Guest, Wainwriglit, Hauell, Baldwin, and Woodworth, of the steamers, and Smith, Breese, and Queen, of the flotilla. Unstinted praise of others connected with him, whether military officers or subordinates, who perform their duty nobly, is a peculiarity of Porter. His im- pulses are so generous and noble that he always seems afraid that he shall take too much credit to himself, and not do full justice to others. The flotilla now took on board General Butlei''s troops, and conveyed them to New Orleans, where the mortar vessels were also orderd to assemble. Commander Porter was anxious to push on to Vicks- burg with his force, which he thought would have result- ed in the capture of that place, but he was sent to Ship Island, to await the attack on the Mobile forts. In the mean time, he sent the mortar schooners to cruise off the coast, and captured several prizes loaded with cotton. As Admiral Farragut was detained in New Orleans, Commander Porter determined to attempt the capture of the forts at Mobile, alone, and for this purpose got under way from Ship Island, with the mortar vessels and gunboats, and steered for Mobile Bay. The wind however dying away, and the weather looking bad, the schooners put back into port, but the gunboats went in and tried their range on the works, hitting them almost every time, while only a few shots were flred in return. Not designing to do anything more than exhibit a little practice, the gunboats retired at sunset. Some BEFOEE VIOKSEtJRG. 343 went back to Ship Island, and the Harriet Lane drifted along up to Pensacola. Next day, two deserters came off in a boat, and informed tbe blockading officer tliat there was only a small fire-company in the fort, who had all intended to surrender. The day after, it was strongly reinforced. In the mean time, the telegraph conveyed the news to Pensacola that a strono; force of sfunboats was comino- to that place, upon which the rebels set fire to every- thing, and evacuated it. Commander Porter arrived off there while this was going on, and ran in and assisted to transport the troops across from Santa Rosa Island to the mainland. The mortar fleet all rendezvoused at Pensacola, but their anchors were hardly down when Porter re- ceived orders from Admiral Farragut to join him at Vicksburg. He immediately proceeded thither and bom- barded that place on the passage of the fleet, as he did at Forts Jackson and St. Philip. One of his steamers, the Jackson, being disabled by a rifle shell, the Clifton went to her assistance, when a shot pierced her boiler — the escaping steam scalding six men and wounding many others. The mortar fleet laid two weeks before Vicksburg, at a distance of eighteen hundred or twenty-two hundred yards from the batteries, and always succeeded in silenc- ing them when they opened fire. Porter had three of his vessels disabled, and twenty- nine men killed and wounded on his steam flotilla, dur- ing the passage of the fleet, accompanying each vessel as far as the water batteries, where they were exposed to a heavy fire. In July, 1862, Commander Porter was ordered by 344 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. the Secretary of the Navy, to proceed with twelve mortar boats to Fortress Monroe, and there await orders. He arrived there in ten days, and there being nothino; for the vessels to do, he obtained leave of absence, and was finally detached from the com- mand of the mortar flotilla, a little fleet of which he was very proud, and which had rendered most excellent service. Wilkes took the command, and eventually broke it up, an act, in Porter's judgment, very injurious to the navy. In September, 1862, he was ordered to command the Mississippi squadron, as Acting Rear- Admiral, and en- tered upon his duties the next month. Admiral Porter found the fleet quite inadequate for the defence of such long rivers. There were only thir- teen good vessels in all, and these required heavy repairs. He immediately improvised a navy-yard at Mound City, and in a short time his fleet numbered one hundred vessels. These were common river boats, armed with heavy guns, and covered with light iron to resist field pieces and rifle balls. Admiral Porter, immediately on his arrival in the west, notified General Grant that it was proposed at head-quarters to send General McClernand to attempt the capture of Vicksburg, which would have been an invasion of his (Grant's) command. In consequence of this information, the General hastened to Cairo and arranged a plan of attack on Vicksburg, which was at once carried out. He marched from Holly Springs, while Sherman embarked thirty thousand men in trans- ports, and, under cover of the gunboats, proceeded to surprise Vicksburg. The gunboats under Admiral Porter joined Sherman COOPERATES WITH SHExlMAN. 345 at Memphis, from whence they proceeded together direct to Vicksburg, while General Grant was marching on with 50,000 men from Holly Springs. The rebels had filled the Yazoo River with torpedoes, and the gunboats were sent in at once to clear them out, which they did, under a murderous fire of musketry from hidden sharpshooters. On the 12th of December, 1862, while this work was going on, the Cairo, one of the finest vessels, was blown up by a torpedo, and sunk out of sight in three minutes. The ofl&cers and men deserved great credit for their successfiil effbrts in clearing out torpedoes, and, on the 18th of December, two landings had been secured for General Sherman's troops, both well protected by the gunboats. In the mean time, the rebels had burned the army stores at Holly Springs, so that General Grant was obliged to fall back again to protect his base and obtain further supplies. The force that had left Vicksburg, under Joe Johnston, to meet him, now fell back again on Sherman, who, in- stead of finding about ten thousand men, found forty thousand in possession of the place. The army, after landing and meeting with great suc- cess, had to retire with loss. The rains, setting in very heavily at the same time, obliged them either to reem- bark or swim for it. Admiral Porter made an attack on the Yazoo bat- teries ; but, owing to a heavy fog that set in, accompanied by heavy rains, it was not successful. General Sherman now proposed to the Admiral to with- draw from before Vicksburg and attack Arkansas Post — 346 VICE-ADMIEAL DAVID D. POETEB. a strong work up the Arkansas River. In the mean time, General McClernand came down and assumed command ; but the army virtually remained under the control of Sherman, and Admiral Porter refused to cooperate unless it was so. The fleet and transports arrived in the Arkansas River about the 2d of January, 1863, and, after the army had gained its desired position, the gunboats went in and attacked the fort at close quarters — seventy-five yards. After a sharp and sanguinary fight of three hours, all the enemy''s guns being dismounted, and our army sur- rounding it ready for an assault, the rebels surrendered. The fort surrendered to the navy, and the troops on the outside to the army. Porter had twenty-six killed and wounded in the engagement. He showed here, not the long practice of mortar vessels, but the close combat of vessels when lying broadside to broadside. After the capture of the fort, destruction of all war material, and embarkation of the prisoners — seven thousand in all — the army and navy returned to Vicks- burg. Previous to this, Admiral Porter sent his vessels up White River and captured all the enemy''s remaining batteries, which left the Arkansas and White Rivers open to the gunboats whenever they chose to go there. For his success on this occasion, he received the thanks of Congress. On the return of the fleet and army to Vicksburg, regular operations were commenced against it — the Ya- zoo being held by the navy. Fifteen heavy mortar floats were towed down from Cairo, gunboats were fitted out and added to the fleet as fast as possible, and, finally, the whole river was so well protected, ft-om Cairo to Vicks- THE YAZOO PASS. 347 burg, that transports came and went with perfect se- curity. General Grant now came in person to take com- mand of the army, and there was from the first the most perfect accord between him and Admiral Porter, the lat- ter being at all times ready to carry out his slightest wish. Never did a military commander have the aid of a more persevering, energetic, unconquerable, tireless, and able naval commander than Grant, in the long and ardu- ous work that followed. Great patience and endurance were shown on both sides ; but nowhere can history exhibit a more indomit- able spirit than that manifested by our navy. Admiral Porter led his fleet into almost inaccessible places. The heart of the Yazoo or Sunflower country was reached in a great overflow of the Mississippi, by pulling up and cutting down the forest trees, and the gun- boats traversed a distance of one hundred miles over ground where the keel of a canoe even had never before been seen. The Yazoo pass was opened by cutting the levee, and a fleet passed through in that direction, to meet the one working its way through Steele*'s Ba)ou. This last expedition was a most arduous one and full of peril. Leaving the Yazoo below Haines"" Bluff, it entered Steele's Bayou, designing to keep north into the" Rolling Fork, then eastward through it into the Sunflower River, and pass in a southerly direction into the Yazoo, ao-ain strikino; it above Haines' Blufi" instead of below, where it started from. Such inland navigation was never before attempted by war vessels. The expedition consisted of four gunboats, four mortars, and four tugs. For tliirty miles the little fleet passed up Steele's Bayou, 348 VICE-AD>nRAL DAVID D. PORTER. then a mere ditch, to Black Bayou, in which, for four miles, the trees had to be torn out or pushed over by the iron-clads, or the branches cut away, when Porter at last reached Deer Creek. It took twenty-four hours to make these four miles. Some idea of the difficulties of the route may be obtained when it is remembered that, with the utmost exertion of the crews, the vessels for twenty- four consecutive hours averaged a speed of only about fifty rods an hour. Up this stream to Rolling Fork it was thirty-two miles. To the same point by land, was twelve miles, over which Sherman marched, in order to cooperate with him. The channel was narrow and filled with small willows, which so retarded the progress of the boats that with his utmost exertions Porter could average only about a half a mile an hour. At length he got Avithin seven miles of the Kolling Fork, from whence there would be water enoug-h to the Yazoo. The inhabitants were filled with amazement to see a war fleet sailing through the heart of a country where a vessel of any kind had never before been seen, while the negroes flocked in crowds to the shore to gaze on the un- wonted spectacle. But as soon as the Confederate offi- cial in that section was informed of the expedition, he gave the alarm and ordered the torch to be applied to all the cotton along the shore, and Porter was lighted on his strange course by a continuous conflagration. Negroes were also set to work cutting down trees to arrest his progress, until troops and guns could be brought up. Porter, made aware of the movement, pushed on the tug Thistle, with a howitzer on board, which reached the first tree before it was cut down. The tug then kept on to keep the way open, but the enemy at length succeeded in getting one large tree across the STRANGE NAVIGATION. 349 creek, and thus for a time stopped all further progress. Being now safe from our guns, the negroes^ under the orders of their masters, continued to chop down trees until it was thought that Porter could make no farther advance. He, however, by working night and day — chopping and sawing them in two, or hauling them one side, at length cleared the channel and pushed on until he got within three miles of the Rolling Fork. Here he saw smoke rising over the tree tops in the direction of the Yazoo, and learned that the enemv was Ian din sf troops to dispute his passage. He immediately sent Lieutenant Murphy, with two boat howitzers and three hundred men to hold E-olling Fork until he could reach it with his boats. After working all night, (says Porter,) and clearing out the obstruc- tions, which were terrible, we succeeded in getting within eight hundred yards of the end of this troublesome creek ; had only two or three large trees to remove, and one apparently short and easy lane of willows to work through. The men being much worn out, we rested at sunset. In the morning we commenced with renewed vigor to work ahead through the willows, but our progress was very slow ; the lithe trees defied our utmost eflbrts to get by them, and we had to go to work and pull them up separately, or cut them off under water, which was a most tedious job. In the mea^ time, the enemy had collected and landed about eight hundred men, and seven pieces of artillery, (from 20 to 30-pounders,) which were firing on our field pieces, from time to time, the latter not having range enough to reach them. I was also informed that the enemy were cutting down trees in our rear, to prevent communication by water, and also prevent our escape ; this looked unpleasant. I knew that five thousand men had embarked at Haines' Bluff for this place, immediately they heard that we were attempt- ing to go through that way, and, as our troops had not come up, I con- sidered it unwise to risk the least thing ; at all events, never to let my com- munication be closed behind me. I was somewhat strengthened in my determination to advance no further, until reinforced by land forces, when the enemy, at sunset, opened on us a cross-fire with six or seven rifled guns, planted somewhere ofl' in the woods, where we could see nothing but the smoke. It did not take us long to dislodge them, though a large part of 350 VICE-ADMIRAL BAVIB B. PORTER. the crew being on shore at the time, we could not fire over them, or until they got on board. I saw at once the difficulties we had to encounter, with a constant fire on our working parties, and no prospect at present of the troops getting along. I had received a letter from General Sherman, informing me of the difficulties in getting forward his men, he doing his utmost, I know, to expedite matters. The news of the felling trees in our rear was brought in frequently by negroes, who were pressed into the service for cutting them, and I hesitated no longer about what to do. We dropped down again, unshipped our rudders, and let the vessels rebound from tree to tree. As we left, the enemy took possession of the Indian mound, and in the morning opened fire on the Carondelet, Lieutenant Murphy, and Cincin- nati, Lieutenant Bache ; these two ships soon silenced the batteries, and we were no longer annoyed. The sharpshooters hung about us, firing from behind trees and rifle pits ; but with due precaution we had very few hurt — only five wounded by rifle balls, and they were hurt by being imprudent. On the 21st, we fell in with Colonel Smith, commanding Eighth Mis- souri, and other parts of regiments ; we were quite pleased to see him, as I never knew before how much the comfort and safety of iron-clads, situated as we were, depended on the soldiers. I had already sent out behind a force of three hundred men, to stop the felling of trees in our rear, which Colonel Smith now took charge of The enemy had already felled over forty heavy trees, which Lieutenant-Commander Owen, in the Louisville, working night and day, cleared away almost fast enough to permit us to meet with no delay. Colonel Smith's force was not enough to justify my making another effort to get through ; he had no artillery, and would frequently have to leave the vessels in following the roads. ♦ On the 23d, we came to a bend in the river, where the enemy supposed they had blockaded us completely, having cut a number of trees altogether, and so intertwined, that it seemed impossible to move them. The Louis- ville was at work at them, pulling them up, when we discovered about three thousand rebels attempting to pass the edge of the woods to our rear, while the negroes reported artillery coming up on our quarter. We were all ready for them, and, when the artillery opened on us, we opened such a fire on them, that they scarcely waited to hitch up their horses. At the same time, the rebel soldiers fell in with Colonel Smith's troops, and after a sharp skirmish fled before the fire of our soldiers. After this we were troubled no more. Although he now met Sherman^s advancing forces, he i LOSS OF THE rNTDIANOLA. 351 saw it would be folly to attempt to retrace his steps, and the expedition, after having sailed for upwards of a hun- dred and forty miles, right through the plantations of rebels, at length found itself once more at the starting point ; and the last attempt to get around Vicksburg from the north had been made and abandoned. Porter made several efforts to send vessels past the batteries at Vicks- burg, to cut off the enemy's supplies from Red River, but, owing to mismanagement; they fell into the hands of the enemy. The Queen of the West and the Indianola were both lost to the squadron, but this did not deter the Admiral from pursuing his intentions. The orders issued on these occasions show how well he calculated, and what would have been the consequences had they been carried out. The particulars of the less of the Queen of the West, under Ellet, are given in the sketch of him. The Indianola was sent down past the batteries at Vicksburg, to cooperate with Ellet, but met liim returning in the Era, and the commander. Lieutenant Brown, thus learned, for the first time, that he had lost his vessel. The Indianola then proceeded down the Mississip- pi to the mouth of Red River, and blockaded it for several days, when Brown, having learned that the Queen of the West had been repaired, and was on her way, with several other rebel boats, to attack him, he started to join Porter s fleet above Vicksburg. He was, however, overtaken on the night of the 28th February, and two vessels struck the In- dianola at the same time, bows on. A tierce eno-ag-ement followed, but crash succeeded crash as the I'ebel vessels kept driving on her, and in a short time Brown found that she was sinking, when he ran her ashore and surrendered her. The rebels immediately began to repair her, as they did the Queen of the West. The two boats would make a 352 VIOE-ADMIEAL DAVID D. POKTEE. formidable addition to their navy, and interfere seriously with some of Porter''s plans. A ludicrous incident, how- ever, broke up this part of their programme, and almost repaid Porter for the mortification he felt over the loss of the vessel. To break up the monotony of the siege, and iurnish some amusement to the men, as well as play a good joke on the enemy, he rigged up a sort of scow as a mon- itor, and set her afloat down the river. The strange craft so alarmed the rebels that they blew up the Indianola, and fled. We will, however, let the Admiral tell his own story. He says — " Ericsson saved the country with an iron Monitor — why could I not save it with a wooden one ? An old coal barge, picked up in the river, was the foundation to build on. It was built of old boards in twelve hours, with pork barrels on top of each other for smoke-stacks, and two old canoes for quarter-boats. The furnaces were built of mud, and only intended to make black smoke and not steam. " Without knowing that Brown was in peril, I let loose our Monitor. When it was descried by the dim light of the morn, never did the batteries of Vicksburg open with such a din. The earth fairly trembled, and the shot flew thick around the devoted Monitor. But she ran safely past all the bat- teries, though under fire for an hour, and drifted down to the lower mouth of the canal. She was a much better looking vessel than the Indianola. " When it was broad daylight they opened upon her again with all the guns they could bring to bear, without a shot hitting her to do any harm, because they did not make her settle in the water, though going in at one side and out at the other. She was already full of water. The soldiers of our army shouted and laughed like mad." The news of the safe passage of the batteries by this "Turreted Monster," was sent down to Warrenton, un- der the batteries of which the Queen of the West and Indianola were lying, causing the greatest consternation. The Queen of the West instantly got up steam, and hur- ried off" as fast as her wheels could carry her. The Indianola, left alone, was, by direction of the authorities, A GOOD HOAX. 353 at once blown up, to prevent her falling a victim to the slowly and majestically approaching Monitor. When the rebels found out the hoax that had been played on them, their rage and niortihcation knew no bounds. The Richmond Examiner, after reporting the fact, said — "Laugh and hold your sides, lest ye die of surfeit of derision, O Yankeedom ! Blown up, because forsooth a flatboat or mud-scow, with a small house taken from the back garden of a plantation put on top of it, is floated down the river." The Dispatch said, grimly, " Truly, an excellent joke; so excellent that every one connected with the affair should be branded with a T. M. 'Turreted Monster.' " The whole affair reminds one of the famous "Battle of Kegs" in our war of Independence, and should be immortalized in as stirring a ballad. Everything had been tried that the ingenuity of man could suggest, and there seemed no prospect of the capture of Vicksburg, until General Grant, in opposition to the views of the most of his officers, determined to turn it by landing his troops below. To Admii'al Porter was entrusted the task of getting the gunboats and transports past the batteries, which he succeeded in accomplishing (only losing one trans- port) under a tremendous fire of an hour and a half's duration. His escape seemed almost miraculous, for the enemy had collected a large pile of combustibles on the bank, which they set on fire, just as f he vessels came to a point, on which the fire of the batteries was concen- trated. The conflagration lit up the whole bosom of the stream, throwing into distinct outline every dark hull. The Forest Queen was riddled with shot, and had to be towed down stream. The Henry Clay was set on fire, and blazed like a beacon through the gloom, while 33 354 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. the crew, leaping into the boats, made their escape on the western bank. Of the three transports, the Silver Wave, alone, escaped unhurt. Porter, howe\^er, suc- ceeded in getting others through, by lashing barges to their sides, and Grant, who had marched below inland, had now gunboats and transports to take him oyer the river. But, thirty miles below Vicksburg, he found another obstruction in his path, the batteries of Grand Gulf, of which it was necessary to get possession, before the army could proceed. At General Grant's request. Admiral Porter attacked these batteries with six heavy gunboats, and, after a fight of five hours and a half, completely silenced them, took all the transports by in safety, and next morning with his gunboats and transports, conveyed the army to Bayou Pierre, where commenced that march which, after a series of beautiful moves, ended in the de- struction of the city of Jackson, the dispersion of Joe Johnston's forces, and the investment of Vicksburg in the rear. The fight at Grand Gulf was one of the hardest, if not the hardest stand-up fight during the war. The enemy's guns were very heavy, and placed in most com- manding positions for a mile along the river, and al- though some of the gunboats were literally cut to pieces, there was not one that did not get at close quarters. The current was very powerful, and would whii'l them around like tops, distracting the aim, and exposing every side to the rebel batteries ; but they maintained a dis- tance of from forty to three hundred yards, and never retired until the enemy was silenced. The severity of the battle is shown by the heavy loss sustained in three ships — ^seventy-nine killed and A CURT LETTER. 355 wounded. Tweuty-six were killed and wounded on the flagship Benton, though iron-clad. After the army was landed at Bayou Pierre, Admiral Porter got under way again with his fleet, to end the matter of the Grand Gulf, but the rebels decamped on seeing him coming, and their guns and munitions of war fell into the hands of the navy. Thirteen guns were {he fruits of this victory. The same day of the capture of Grand Gulf, the Admiral pushed on down the river, with six gunboats, to communicate witli Admiral Farragut, at the mouth of Red River, where, learning that General Banks was marching on the town of Alexandria, he pushed up the river to await him. Fort de Russey and Alexandria fell into the hands of the navy, and. General Banks arriving a day or two after, the city was delivered over to him. After this successful raid, in which much valuable property belonging to the rebel government was de- stroyed. Admiral Porter returned to Vicksburg, to co- operate with General Grant. He destroyed the works and town of Warrenton, a place that had given our vessels considerable trouble, and deserved no mercy. While the Admiral was below at Grand Gulf, he had all the upper fleets to regulate, one on the Tennes- see, one on the Cumberland, one on the Yazoo, cooperat- ins: with General Sherman, while one Ions; line Rtretched from Vicksburg to Cairo, the various reports of which would of themselves make a lengthy article. All his plans were carried out, and there was not an instance of any mishap to any of his vessels, or to the transports. Guerilla warfare was kept down on all the rivers, and 356 VICE-ADMIEAL DAVID D PORTER. tlie gunboats were dreaded by the rebels far and near. Wlien General Grant put himself in the reai of Vicksburg on the 18th of May, 1863, Admiral Poiter immediately placed himself in communication, and sup- plied him with all the necessary stores wanted in his army. On the evening of the 21st of May, the Admiral received a communication from General Grant, informing him that he intended attacking the rebel works on the following morning, and asked his cooperation. At seven o'clock next day, the gunboats moved against the batteries. Admiral Porter leading in a small tug. The firing was kept up until one o'clock, at which time all the batteries along the river were silenced ; but General McArthur was not permitted to take advantage of the naval success, and, General Grant's plans having been thwarted in other respects, the combined attack was a failure. The naval operations in the siege that followed, were chiefly confined to occasional attacks on the batteries, which could be of little avail without a cooperating force from the army. One of the noblest spectacles of the war was the attack of the Cincinnati on the rebel batteries, when there was scarcely a hope that slie could stand for five minutes the fire of the hundred g^uns which were concen- trated on her. This was done at the request of General Sherman, who wished to get possession of that flank of the rebel works. He thought the heavy guns had been moved into Vicksburg, but was mistaken. Porter feared that he was, but with that readiness to make any sacrifice for the army, especially for such leaders as Sherman and Grant, which characterized him, he packed LOSS OF THE CIlVCrNTSrATI. 35*7 the steamer with logs and hay, and sent her down. Bache, her commander, carried her gallantly into the temble lire, but in a few minutes she was completely riddled with shot, and began to sink. The flagstaff being shot away, Bache had the colors nailed to a stump of the foremast, and himself steered his vessel up stream towards the right-hand shore, but before she could be made fast, she went down, carrying fifteen of the crew with her. These, with the killed and wounded, made his loss over forty men. Sherman from a hill top saw the terrific engagement, and its sad termination, and, in a letter to Porter, said the conduct of the Cincinnati " elicited universal praise, and I deplored the sad result as much as any one could." Porter, at the request of Grant, now landed twenty 9-inch, 8-iuch, and hundred-pounder rifles, in an incredi- bly short space of time, and transported them to the rear of Vicksburg. Most of them were worked by sailors and their officers, and did excellent service. That was a glorious Fourth of July, 1863, when the rebel flag was at last hauled down at Vicksburg, at 10 A. M., and the stars and stripes floated in its place. Admiral Porter, in his flagship, and the fleet follow- ing, passed down until he came abreast of the town, the guns firing, and the flags waving from every mast- head. As he rounded to at the levee. General Grant and all his general officers came on board, and the warmest felicitations^ took place. It was a beautiful sight to see so many gallant men of the army and navy assembled too-ether. The country was electrified, when the telegraphic despatch of Admiral Porter announced that Vicksburg was in possession of the Union forces. Grant was re 358 VICE-ADMIKAL DAVID D. POETER. warded, as lie deserved to be, vt^itli a higli position, and witli votes of thanks, and Acting Rear-Admiral Porter again received the thanks of Congress, and was created a full Rear-Admiral, the commission dated July 4th, which intelligence was conveyed to him in an auto- graph letter from the President. The Secretary of the Navy, in his public despatch to him, complimented him highly, and in conclusion said : " To yourself, your officers, and the brave and gallant sailors who have been so fertile in resources, so persistent and enduring through many months of trial and hardship, and so daring under all circum- stances, I tender, in the name of the President, the thanks and congratulations of the whole country, on the fall of Vicksburg." After this great event, there was much to do to keep the banks of the Mississippi River free from guerrillas. Fourteen different districts were constituted with a regular naval officer in command of each. The White, Arkansas, and Red Rivers, were traversed by the gunboats as far as water would permit them to go, and the most dogged perseverance was shown by them to kill all rebels, or make them quit the country. In no part of the country did harder stand-up fight- ing take place than in the Mississippi fleet. The rebels would bring numerous batteries on the rivers to block- ade them and stop commerce, but Admiral Porter always had gunboats ready to drive them off or capture them. In but one instance did a " tin-clad " succumb to the rebels. On several occasions they went down fighting, with colors flying, but they kej^t the river clear. When the rebels marched suddenly into Helena with ijighteen thousand men, under Price, and surprised the HIS PROMOTION. 359 weak garrison there, and were putting them to the sword, Admiral Porter, who had heard of the move, and pre- pared for it, sent his gunboats up at the right mo- ment, and defeated the rebels with great slaughter. This occurred on the 4th of July, at the hour when our flag was just going up on the flagstafl-' at Vicksburg. General Prentiss wrote Admiral Porter a strono- let- ter commendatory of the officer, Lieutenant Prichett, who had carried out the Admiral's orders. Porter also sent an expedition to Yazoo city, and, though the Baron De Kalb was sunk by a torpedo, the frightened enemy set fire to five of their largest boats and left one to be cap- tured. Active operations were carried on in the heart of the enemy's country in the seizure of Confederate cotton and steamers, by which the sailors were stimulated to renewed zeal, and secured a snug little sum of prize money. It is impossible in a single article to go over the whole field occupied by the forces under Porter. The fleets in the upper Ohio and Tennessee, were kept very actively employed, and, owing to the persever- ance of Lieut. -Commander Fitch and his attention to orders, the rebel guerrilla Morgan, and all his gang, were captured. Strange to relate, all the artillery and wagons fell into the hands of the navy, one of the gunboats sur- prising them and causing the men to stampede. After the fall of Vicksburg, Admiral Porter went to work raising from the bottom of the river the different vessels that had been sunk, among them the " Cincinnati." He refitted her, and she subsequently formed a part of Commodore Thatcher's fleet in the attack on the enemy's works at Mobile city. The year 1864 opened with aj^parent quiet all along 360 VICE-ADMIEAL DAVID D. PORTEE. the Mississippi river, from Cairo to New Orleans. Oc- casionally there would be an attack of guerrillas or field pieces on a harmless merchant steamer, but the gunboats kept everything quiet. The rebels could not stand the shrapnell which was poured into them whenever they came in sight, for Porters fleet was ubiquitous and his blows fell on every side. Sometime in the month of February, General Banks Avrote to Admiral Porter and informed him that he was going up E-ed Piver as far as Shreveport, and asked the cooperation of the gunboats. This matter had been dis- cussed by Porter and General W. T. Sherman, and it was proposed that, after the general made his first raid near Atlanta, he would suddenly return, and with the admiral make a dash up to Shreveport, destroy the rams and forts, bring off the cotton, and be back in Mem- phis on the 10th of April. General Sherman, who was an old campaigner on Ped Piver, and knew all about the rise and fall of water there, suggested that as the only feasible plan — consequently, the plans of the admiral were made to conform with this ar- rangement. General Sherman had agreed to meet the admiral at Vicksburg, on the 29th of February, and so confident was the latter of the general^ s punctuality, al- though he had hundreds of miles to travel with his army, that he made his arrangements to meet him at that time. Sherman arrived exactly on the day he said he would, and was quite surprised to learn that Banks was about to go to Shreveport. As McClernand was to be second in command, and he would not serve under him, he (Sherman) determined to go to New Orleans. On his return, General Sherman told Porter that he would have to give up the expedition, but that he would send Gener- BED EIVEE EXPEDITION. 361 || al Andrew J. Smith, along with ten thousand men, to represent him, and that Gen. Banks had promised to be in Alexandria on the seventeenth day of May, and to j: push right on to Shreveport without delay. It was w necessary to be governed by the height of water in F Red River. Porter landed General A. J. Smith, in the Atchafa- laya, while gunboats pushed up Red River, to clear out the obstructions. The army and navy arrived about the same time, at Fort de Russey, which had been rebuilt since Porters destruction of it the preceding year, and heavily armed. The army assaulted and carried it as the sheUs of the leading gunboat drove the enemy from the water batteries which they had turned upon our troops. This was on the fifteenth of May. Porter then at once pushed on up to Alexandria, with the naval part of the expediti.on, and captured it on the 16th, one day before he promised to meet General Banks there. General A.. J. Smith came up shortly after, and held the town while Porter prepared to get the vessels over the " falls." The water was very low though rising slowly, but he saw that it was too late in the season for the gunboats to go any further. He supposed that Banks would give up the expedition when he got to Alexandria, and allow Sherman to have his troops again, with which to carry out General Grant's plans. These plans were, for General Sherman to push on to Atlanta, while Banks made an attack on Mobile, open the Columbia railroad, P and join the former in his march through the South. This plan was defeated by Banks pushing on to Shreve- h port, after cotton, and allowing the rebels to hold ^ ' Mobile. Had the latter place been captured, Sherman's march 362 VICE-ADMIBAL DAVID D. PORTER. — supplied, as he would have been, with provisions from Mobile — would have been an easy task. Banks, how- ever, cared for no plans but his own. Instead of being as he had promised, in Alexandria on the 17th of May, he did not leave New Orleans until the 22d. His army, under General Franklin, reached the place on the. 20th ; but. although well organized and ready to proceed, they could do nothing until the arrival of the general com- manding. On the 20th the water was rapidly falling, and Porter told General Stone (Banks^ Chief-of-Staff) that it would be impossible to reach Shreveport, if he de- pended on the gunboats. Stone asserted (for Banks) that the gunboats were a necessity^ and that without them the expedition could not succeed ; and that all the fail- ure to wipe out the rebel army in Louisiana would be due to the navy. Porter, who never allowed an army man to call on him in vain, determined at once to get the gunboats over the " falls," if he broke all their backs. So he went to work, trying to pull the Eastport, the largest boat, over, and after great labor succeeded. In the mean time, on the 20th of May, General Banks ar- rived in a steamer loaded with champagne and ice, cot- ton speculators and brandy, and professing to be in a great hurry to get away on his march. Porter had all his vessels over, ready for a start ; but instead of moving right on. Banks started an election ! He forced all the male inhabitants to go to the polls, threatening those who were supposed to be disloyal with his displeasure if they refused to vote, and promising the loyal to stay in the country and protect them, if they did vote. This affair occupied several days, and was the fin- ishing blow to the expedition. When at length the army started. Porter pushed the FATAL DELAYS. 363 gunboats up to Grand Ecore, and captured that place before the arrival of the troops. Five or six more days were wasted in electioneering at Grand Ecore, the water in the river still falling. Porter now did all he could to persuade General Banks to give up the hope of getting the gunboats up, and to push on to Shreveport by himself; but the latter dared not move Avithout them. Selecting vessels of the lightest draft, and the proper kind of transports, drawing little water. Porter now pushed on to a point where Banks proposed to meet him with his army, having it perfectly understood that no other transports would follow. But he had not gone twenty miles, when six large transports joined the expedition, for the purpose of taking on hoard cot- ton. This delayed the vessels ; but Porter could not get rid of them without sending a couple of gunboats back to protect them, and not a single gun could be spared, so he dragged them through. No one can imagine the difficulties of that river for two hundred miles, as without pilots Porter had to thread his way through snags and shoals. It was a wonder he ever reached the appointed place, where he expected to find a victorious army. He was much annoyed with rebel sharpshooters on his way up ; but, by maintaining a fire of shells into the brush, he kept them at a respectful distance. When he arrived at the landing where Banks ex- pected to meet the fleet, he found a large steamer thrown across the river, from bank to bank, to stop his progress, while the silence of the grave reigned around. Porter had with him, in command of the troops, General Smith, who landed with him and proposed 364 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. POETEE. landing his men. The former said, " No, General, there is sornething wrong ; an army like that of Banks should have been here, and he has met with a check." So they rode out to the front to reconnoitre, and at a short distance perceived a number of rebel horsemen watching their movements. Porter made up his mind that our army was nowhere near, and so they returned on board the vessels. He there met a messenger who had left General Banks the day before, and who in- formed him that the whole army was retreating. Here was an awkward dilemma for Porter — fifty ves- sels in a narrow river, and a victorious rebel army, with some fifty pieces of artillery, between him and safety. But there was no time to be lost, and, al- though the night was coming on, he ordered a return, issumo; the most strino;ent instructions about the move- ments of the vessels. He also distributed the dif- ferent gunboats among the transports, to protect the latter. One has observed how a rain shower comes on — first a drop or two, then a slight pattering rain, then a heavy shower, and, finally, a torrent. So now com- menced the bullets from the rebel sharpshooters — first a few, then in companies of twent}', then by hundreds, then by thousands. The soldiers and sailors, screening themselves as best they could, drove ofi" these fellows with their bullets, while the gunboats kept shelling them all day and night. It was a most tedious and harassing retreat. Porter had succeeded in getting about half-way down the river, when a heavy fire of artillery and musketry was opened on the middle of the line by the rebels. For- tunately this happened to be where Porter had two good THE EliTEMY KEPULSED. 365 gunboats, the Lexington, under Lieut. George M. Bache; and a small iron-clad, under Lieut. Commander Thomas O. Selfridge. Some of the army boats had field-pieces on their upper decks, and all these vessels opened heavily on the rebels. Porter was just getting his gunboats below in position to attack a battery that the enemy had thrown up to stop him, when he heard heavy firing behind him. He at once left his work to return and see what was going on, and arrived just in time to see the army retreating in all direc- tions, and comj^letely routed. The rebels had made their attack at the most difficult part of the river, where four or five of our vessels were fast in the mud, and others alongside of them trying to pull them oft: The advance consisted of three thou- sand men, with a reserve of seven thousand a mile back, ready to come to their assistance. They were com- manded by General Green, their best general, and one who had given our people a great deal, of trouble. He soon found that his men could not stand our fire ; but he determined not to retreat, and forced his troops up to the edge of the bank, where our gunboats fairly mowed them down. He finally got his head shot off", and, nearly all his officers having been killed around him, the rest retreated in disorder, cut up as they fled. Their artillery and all the killed and wounded were left on the field of battle. The seven thousand in reserve never ad- vanced at all, and soon followed the retreating fnob, los- ing a number of men by our far-reaching shells. This was the victorious army that had defeated Banks the day before, and, flushed with victory, pounced on Porter. They calculated that the high banks and low water, and t' e gTOunding of his vessels, would give them 366 VTOE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. an easy victory. They were then to fall on Banks' army again, and capture the provisions and medical stores, and thus compel its surrender. The death of General Green defeated this plan. The management of the rebel army now fell into the hands of drunken Dick Taylor, who was entirely incompetent to conduct it. He did really nothing, ex- cept hang on Banks' rear and pick up a few barrels of whiskey, and a few stragglers. When Porter arrived at Grand Ecore, three days after the above fight, he found the army perfectly demoralized, and Banks ready to run any where. He advised him to hold on, and not retreat, and to occupy the country until the spring rains, when they could go up again. He told him that he could supply him with his light vessels ; but Banks chose to retreat, and, finally, reached Alexandria in safety ! Porter knew he could not get out of the river then without help. But, in a conversation with Colonel Bailey, a plain, common-sense man, the latter assured him he would have no difficulty about getting the vessels over the " falls." The Admiral now had to fight his waj^ back, over- coming difficulties that would have disheartened any other man. He finally reached Alexandria, with all his gunboats, except the Eastport, and his own "-tin-clad" steamer, the Cricket, which was so cut up that there was scarcely any of her left. Half her crew were killed and wounded, and some of the other vessels had fared almost as badly. Porter's efforts to save the Eastport show, not only the indomitable character of the man, but that chivalric feeling which belongs to the whole race. After she had FIGHTS HIS WAY BACK. 367 been lightened and got afloat she again grounded. Al- though she was taken several miles down the river, grounding in all eight times, he would not abandon her. Had he acted on his own judgment he doubtless would have blown her up before he did ; but, seeing the deter- mination of her commander, Lieutenant E. T. Phelps, and his crew to save her, and admiring the ceaseless her- culean eflbrts they put forth, he stuck to them like a brother. He said : "I determined that I would never leave this vessel to her fate, as long as her commander felt a hope of getting her down." The army was sixty miles ahead of him, and a snaggy, shallow river, with its banks tilled with sharpshooters, lay between. The Eastport was finally brought down sixty miles from the place where she first sunk, and he had strong hopes of getting her through, when she ran fast aground, with a bed of logs under her, and had to be blown up. Phelps himself applied the match. Porter now fought his way back to Alexandria, at one point under a heavy fire. Finding (he says) the guns not firing rapidly , I stepped on the gun- deck, to see what was the matter. As I stepped down, the after gun was struck with a shell and disabled, and every man killed or wounded. At the same moment, the crew from the forward gun were swept away by a shell exploding, and the men were wounded in the fire-room, leaving only one man to fire up. I made-up a gun's crew from the contrabands, who fought the gun to the last moment. Finding that the engine did not move, I went into the engine-room and found the chief engineer killed, whose place was soon supplied by an assistant. I then went to the pilot-house, and found that a shot had gone through it, and wounded one of the pilots. I took charge of the vessel, and, as the battery was a very heavy one, I determined to pass it, which was done under the heaviest fire I ever witnessed. The moment he arrived at Alexandria, and found that he could not get over the falls, he called to see 368 VICE-ADMIEAL DAVID D. POETER. what Greneral Banks was going to do. He found him determined to leave as soon as he could gather all the cotton in and about Alexandria, and talked to Por- ter about blowing up his gunboats, which the latter laughed at. Seeing how things were going, he sent a bearer of dei^patches to Washington, which were telegraphed from Cairo. On Porter's representations, General Canby was sent out to relieve Banks, and with orders to stay with the army in Alexandria, until the gunboats were re- lieved. The same orders came to Banks, much to his surprise, as he knew nothing about Porter's action. In the mean time, the latter called on Banks and laid Colonel Bailey's proposition, for getting the boats over the falls, before him. He looked at it kindly enough, but took no steps towards doing anything, until General Franklin urged it. Then, after three days' vacillation, he gave the proper orders, placing at Colonel Bailey's disposal three thousand men, and two or three hundred waggons. All the neighboring steam-mills were torn down for mate- rial, two or three regiments of marine men were set to work felling trees, which soon were coming down with great rapidity, teams were moving in all directions bringing in brick and stone, quarries opened, flatboats built, and the forest became a human hive, while the shouts of men resounded on every side. In the mean time. General Hunter came up to see how matters stood, and he and Banks called to see Por- ter. General Hunter said to Porter : " Admiral, which of your vessels above the falls can you best afford to blow up ? " He answered, " Not one of them, sir ; not even the smallest. If I can't get over the ' faUs,' and PASSAGE OF THE FALLS. 369 the army leave me, I can take care of myself, and will get out at the first rise." Still, it would have subjected him to great inconve- nience for a couple of months, but he knew that before that time had elapsed, General Sherman would come up there, if he was in danger. We cannot do better than give the account of the building of the dams and passage of the falls, in Porter's own graphic and eloquent language. These falls are about a mile in length, filled with rugged rocks, over which, at the present stage of water, it seemed to be impossible to make a channel. The work was commenced by running out from the left bank of the river, a tree-dam, made of the bodies of very large trees, brush, brick, and stone, cross-tied with other heavy timber, and strengthened in eveiy way which ingenuity could devise. This was run out about three himdred feet into the river ; four large coal barges were then filled with brick, s.nd sunk at the end of it. From the right bank of the river, cribs filled with stone were built out to meet the barges. All of which was successfully accom- plished, notwithstanding there was a current running of nine mile;? an hour which threatened to sweep everything before it. It will take too much time to enter into the details of this truly wonder- ful work. Suffice it to say, that the dam had nearly reached completion in eight days' working time, and the water had risen sufficiently on the upper falls to allow the Fort Hindman, Osage, and Neosho, to get down and be ready to pass the dam. In another day it would have been high enough to enable all the other vessels to pass the upper falls. Unfortunate- ly, on the morning of the 9th instant, the pressure of water became so great, that it swept away two of the stone barges, which swung in below the dam on one side. Seeing this unfortunate accident, I jumped on a horse and rode up to where the upper vessels were anchored, and ordered the Lexington to pass the upper falls, if possible, and immediately attempt to go through the dam. I thought I might be able to save the four vessels below, not knowing whether the persons employed on the work would ever have the heart to renew their enterprise. The Lexington succeeded in getting over the upper falls just in time, the water rapidly falling as she was passing over. She then steered directly for the opening in the dam, through which the water was rushing so furi- ously that it seemed as if nothing but destruction awaited her. Thousands 24 %.,- X. 370 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. of beating hearts looked on, anxious for the result. The silence was so great, as the Lexington approached the dam, that a pin might almost be heard to fall. She entered the gap with a full head of steam on, pitched down the roaring torrent, made two or three spasmodic rolls, hung for a moment on the rocks below, was then sv/ept into deep water by the cur- rent, and rounded-to safely into the bank. Thirty thousand voices rose in one deafening cheer, and universal joy seemed to pervade the face of every man present. The Neosho followed next ; all her hatches battened down, and every precaution taken against accident. She did not fare as well as the Lexing- ton, her pilot having become frightened as he approached the abyss, and stopped her engine, when I particularly ordered a full head of steam to be carried ; the result was, that for a moment her hull disajDpeared from sight under the water. Every one thought she was lost. She rose, however, swept along over the rocks with the current, and fortmiately escaped with only one hole in her bottom, which was stopped m the course of an hour. • The Hindman and Osage both came through beautifully without touch- ing a thing, and I thought if 1 was only fortunate enough to get my large vessels as well over the falls, my fleet once more would do good service on the Mississippi. The accident to the dam, instead of disheartening Colonel Bailey, only induced him to renew his exertions, after he had seen the success of getting four vessels through. The noble-hearted soldiers, seeing the labor of the last eight days swept away in a moment, cheerfully went to work to repair damages, being con- rident now that all the gunboats would be finally brought over. These men had been working for eight days and nights, up to their necks in the w^ater in the boiling sun, cutting trees and wheeling bricks, and nothing but good humor prevailed among them. On the whole, it was very fortu- nate the dam was carried away, as the two barges that were swept away from the centre swung around against some rocks on the left, and made a fine cushion for the vessels, and prevented them, as it afterwards appeared, from running on certain destruction. The force of the water and the current being too great to construct a continuous dam of six hundred feet across the river in so short a time. Colonel Bailey determined to leave a gap of fifty-five ftet in the dam, and build a series of wing-dams on the upper falls. This was accomplished in three days' time, and on the 11th instant the Mound City, Carondelet, and Pittsburg, came over the upper falls, a good deal of labor having been ex- pended in hauling them through, the cliannel being very crooked, scarcely wide enough for them. Next day, the Ozark, Louisville, Chillicothe, and two tugs, also succeeded in crossing the upper falls. Tmmediately after- wards, the Mound City, Carondelet, and Pittsburg, started in succession to pass the dam, all theii- hatches battened down, and every precaution taken THE FLEET SAEE. 371 tt prevent accident. The passage of these vessels was a most beautiful sight, only to be realized when seen. They passed over without an acci- dent, except the unshipping of one or two rudders. This was witnessed bj all the troops, and the vessels were heartily cheered when they passed over. Next morning at 10 o'clock, the Louisville, Chillicothe, Ozark, and two tugs, passed over without any accident, except the loss of a man, who was swept off the decks of one of the tugs. By 3 o'clock that afternoon, the vessels were all coaled, ammunition replaced, and all steamed down the river, with the convoy of transports in company. A good deal of difficulty was anticipated in getting over the bars in lower Red River ; depth of water reported only five feet; gunboats were drawing six. Providentially, we had a rise from the back-water of the Mississippi, that river being very high at that time ; the back-water extending to Alexandria, one hundred and fifty miles distant, enabling us to pass all the bars and obstructions with safety. Words are inadequate to express the admiration I feel for the abilities of Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey. This is, without doubt, the best engineering feat ever performed. Under the best circumstances, a private company would not have completed this work under one year, and to an ordinary mind the whole thing would have appeared an utter impossibility. Leav- ing out his abilities as an engineer, the credit he has conferred upon the country, he has saved to the Union a valuable fleet, worth nearly two mil- lion dollars. More, he has deprived the enemy of a triumph, which would have emboldened them to carry on this war a year or two longer ; for the intended departure of the army was a fixed fact, and there was nothing left for me to do, in case that event occurred, but to destroy every part of the vessels, so that the rebels could make nothing of them. The highest honors the government can bestow on Colonel Bailey, can never repay him for the services he has rendered the country. The Signal and Covington were unfortunately lost below Alexandria, altliougli they were fought to the last. The commander of the latter was compelled to blow her up, but the former was surrendered, as her decks were so covered with the wounded, that Lieu- tenant Morgan refrained, from feelings of humanity, from blowing her up. Porter not only complimented Bailey in his repoi*t, but got him promoted to Brigadier General. Not satisfied with this, he presented him with a splendid 372 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. sword, costing seven hundred dollars. He also, \vitli tlie officers of the fleet, presented him with a silver vase, emblematic of the event, that cost sixteen hundred dol- lars, and has never lost Lis interest in him from that time to this. It was the opinion of the army and of the countr}^, that the fleet would have been destroyed in case the army left ; but this was a mistake. The fleet had near- ly four months' provisions, and could have maintained itself easily until the next rise of water, which took place two months afterwards. Porter did not attempt to discourage this belief; for he was determined not to stay there. His fleet was needed on the Mississippi — in fact, the Government could not do without it. There was a stretch of river above the falls, of forty miles extent, where the vessels could have gone up and down without hindi'ance. * The guns of the fleet were too heavy and too numerous to permit the rebels to erect any batteries, and they had no heavy guns of any kind with which to do the fleet much harm. Some inconvenience might have been felt from sharpshooters, but the rebels had too wholesome a dread of gunboats and shrapnell, to venture within reach of the navy bat- teries, and Porter would have stood at bay there till the last ounce of provision was gone. The friends of General Banks attempted to break his fall, by laying a part of the blame of the failure of the expedition on the navy ; but it would not do, and praise instead of censui'e is meted out to Porter for the management of his part of the unfortunate under- taking. The latter part of Admiral Porter's command on the Mississippi, was spent in chasing tlie rebels from river AIDS SHERIVIAN. 373 to river, giving tliem no rest by night or day. He also opened communication with the army, and supplied it with provisions.- While General Grant was preparing to attack the rebels at Chattanooga, Admiral Porter accidentally heard that General Sherman had left Memphis with thirty thousand men, to join him by the Corinth road. It was usual with General Sherman to keep the Admiral notified of his movements, in case he should want assistance ; but the former supposed that he would have no difficulty in crossing the Tennessee, as it was the stage of low water, and he did not think, moreover, that the light-draught gunboats could get up to Florence, a place somewhat above where he intended to cross. But Admiral Porter thought otherwise. The moment he heard of Sherman's move from Memphis, he selected the lightest-draught gunboats, and took off some of their guns, so that they would draw the least possible water. He then planked over some empty coal barges to serve as bridges, and sent along a light-draught ferry- boat. Light-draught transports were also added with stores for the army, and the fleet was despatched up the Tennessee, under the command of Captain Phelps, an able officer. When the advance guard of General Sherman arrived at Corinth, he rode over to the Tennessee and found the river rising. A heavy rain-storm set in, and in a few hours it was booming. All efforts to construct a bridge tailed, while the wagons that attempted to ford the stream were damaged and had to give it up. Fmally, the cur- rent became so strong that Sherman felt that he would have to wait patiently for the waters to subside. He rode back to camp quite disheartened, and throwing him- 374 VICE-ADMIKAL DAVID D, PORTER. self on his camp bed, felt, he said, " as if he had a thirty- pound shot in his stomach.*" He was thinking of the mutability of human affairs, when an orderly rode up at full speed and informed him that the admiral was in sight, coming up with the gunboats. The orderly had mistaken the divisional flag of the district commander for that of the admiral. It was like an electric shock to Sherman, and jumping up he rode over immediately to the river, when Captain Phelps, in the name of the ad- miral, placed the vessels at his disposal. With the flatboats, ferryboats, gunboats, and trans- ports, only a few days were occupied in crossing the river, and, with a fi"esh supply of stores and forage. General Sherman marched \vith elated spirits forward. As it is well known he did not arrive at Chatta- nooga a moment too soon. But for Porter s forecast and thoughtfulness, what a different result might have been reached. After the great victory of Missionary Ridge, the state of Tennessee became comparatively quiet. Still the up- per part of the Tennessee River was much infested with rebels, and Admiral Porter armed and equipped four steamers that had been built by the army above Muscle Shoals, and formed a little squadron there under a lieu- tenant of the regular navy, which did good service during the campaign, and rendered material aid to our forces. He also sent fifteen vessels of different kinds to Admiral Farragut, some of which performed an important part in the attack on Mobile. Admiral Porter found it necessary to rule on the Mississippi with an iron hand. He constantly came in contact with dishonest speculators, cotton stealers, and swindlers of all kinds, to whom he showed no mercy FORT FISHER. 375 These persons hired hostile presses to abuse him, which liad about as much effect on him as pouring oil on fire to put it out. He performed his duty faithfully and fearlessly, to the satisfaction of the government. After an active and harassing service of two years on the Mississippi, Admiral Porter was invited by the Secretary of the Navy to pay a visit to Washington, and see his family, with whom he had only been a few days during the war, and then under circumstances where he could not enjoy their society. He now spent three months at the North, quietly enjoying the rest he so much needed, and, when his health was somewhat im- proved, started, via Washington, to return to his duties in the West. But while at the capital, he was tendered the command of the North Atlantic squadron, which he disliked to accept, as it interfered with another officer, but the matter was not left to him. The capture of Fort Fisher, long a cherished object with the Secretary of the Navy, was now taken up again, and Porter and Mr. Fox, assistant secretary, were sent to City Point in September, 1864, to confer with Grant about it. The latter agreed to furnish eight or nine thousand men to be placed under Weitzel. A large fleet was at once ordered to assemble in Hampton Poads. A powerful force was soon gather- ed and organized into hve divisions, under five commo- dores, each of whom had charge of the fitting out of his own squadron, and in a few days Porter was ready to move. But long delay followed, as General Grant just then could not spare the troops. This delay, however, did the navy no harm. It gave the commanders an opportunity to discipline and exercise their crews, and to 376 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. become familiar with the plans of the Commander-in- chief, which were given in full to every officer in com- mand. The smaller vessels were in the mean time placed on blockade duty, off the Cape Fear inlets, and the system adopted by Porter almost broke up the blockade running. The steamers were placed in three half-circles, one outside of the other. The first circle was near the bars, the second about twelve miles outside of that, and the third one hundred i::iles outside of all. All the vessels in the circles were within signal distance, so that a steamer could not pass between them without being seen. If a blockade runner got out of Wilmington at or before daylight, she would be seen by the middle circle. If she left Wilmington after sunset, she would be picked up by the outer circle at daylight the next morning, &c. This plan succeeded admirably, and, in less than thirty- five days, over seven millions of the enemy's property were either captured or destroyed. Other portions of the squadron were actively engaged during the time the larger vessels were lying in Hamp- ton Roads. He sent Lieutenant Cushing to Plymouth, N. C, to attempt to blow up the rebel ram Albemarle, and, at the same time, gave instructions to Commander Macomb, the senior officer in the Sounds, to assist him with boats, and to take advantage of the opportunity if he succeeded. Cushing did succeed ; and Macomb, like a brave officer, availing himself of the consequent confusion, attacked the forts at Plymouth with his small force, capturing them and everything in the town. The fruits of this victory were : twenty-two heavy cannon, thirty-seven prisoners, and over lour hundred stand of arms. There THE BOIVLBAEDMENT. 371? were more guns in the forts than were carried by the fragile vessels that made the attack. In the middle of December, the fleet, which had been lying all winter in Hampton Koads, sailed. No American commander, and scarcely any Euro- pean one, ever led so imposing a fleet as Porter now had under him. Over seventy vessels of various kinds composed it ; and, when it was all assembled near Fort Fisher, it presented a grand and imposing spectacle. And never did a fleet have a nobler captain at its head. Before the attack commenced, a powder-boat, with suflicient povvder aboard, it was thought, to blow up the magazine of the fort, was towed up to the neighbor- hood of the works by Commander A. C. Rhind and Lieutenant S. W. Preston, and fired. These gallant men never expected to return alive, yet they unflinchingly per- formed the perilous task assigned them, and received the warmest commendation of Porter. No adequate description of the bombardment that followed can be given. The attack was made with thirty-seven vessels, with nineteen more in reserve ; and when they took up their respective positions, and opened fire, the spectacle was one of the grandest ever witnessed on earth. The shells, crossing and recrossing each other in every direction, made the heavens one great fretwork of fire, while the explosion of so many cannon made land and sea tremble. The hostile batteries at first responded, but as soon as Porter got all his guns to bear, he poured such a horrible, ceaseless storm of sheik into the works, that the gunners took refuge in their casements, and the fort stood and received the remorseless pounding in silence. The bombardment was kept up for five hours, and 378 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTEE. during that time six one-hundred-pound Parrott guns burst on board the vessels, killing and wounding several men. The troops not all having arrived, Porter, at night, withdrew his fleet The next morning, Christmas, he again signalled to form line of battle, and the awful fire ol the day before was rej^eated. Under cover of it, part of the troops were landed, and some daring soldiers actually walked inside the works. But Weitzel, after a recon- noissance, pronounced them too strong to be carried by assault, and Butler, who had taken command, resolved to abandon the attempt, and reembark the troops. When this decision was reported to the Admiral, he was at the table, after a hard day's work, eating a Christmas turkey. " Well," said he, " that don't spoil my appetite," and, turning to an officer near him, quietly asked, " What part of the turkey will you have?" and said no more about it. The fact was, he thought the sooner General Butler went back the better. He continued filling up with ammuni- tion, confident that Grant would not let the affair end so. In reporting it to the Department, he said that he did not wish to put his opinion against so able an engineer as Weitzel. " But," he dryly added, " IcanH help thinh- ing it was wortli ivJiile making the attempt after coming so farT In an after report he said, "there never was a fort that invited soldiers to walk in and take possession more plainly than Fort Fisher." It is useless, in the light of subsequent events, to go over Butler s report, and show how false Porter found his statements to be. A charlatan, and ignorant of military matters, the former never should have been allowed any command in the expedition. With such men as Grant and Sherman, Porter could always act with perfect ac- SECOND ATTACK. 3T9 cord, but, with military leaders like Banks and Butler, it was impossible — for gallantry and ability cannot harmon- ize ^vith cowardice or imbecility. Porter now went on to prepare for another attack, which the government determined should be made. In fh^ :„iean time a succession of gales swept over him, which the enemy thought would drive him off, but they little knew the man. He held on, though at times it seemed impossible to do so. On the 13th of January, another military force hav- ing arrived under General Terry, preparations were at once made to take the fort, and, under cover of the fire of the iron-clads, the troops were landed. The next day Porter again formed his line of battle, and, with all the ships carrying eleven-inch guns, opened on the fort. He rained a horrible tempest on it till sunset, when, as he said, "the fort was reduced to a pulp, and every gun silenced." That evening Terry came on board his ship, to arrange for the assault next day. It was determined that Porter should furnish sixteen hundred seamen and four hundred marines, to constitute a storming party against the sea side, while Terry as- saulted the land side. The next day, at eleven o'clock. Porter was again in line of battle, and, with his anchors down, once more rained his shells into the fort. A fire that nothing hu- man could stand was kept up till three o'clock, when the long-expected signal fi'om shore came, that the troops were ready to assault. The vessels then changed theii- fire to the upper batteries ; all the steam- whistles were blown, and the troops and sailors dashed ahead, nobly vying with each other to reach the top of the parapet ; we had evidently (we thought) injured all the large guns, so that they could not be fired to annoj 380 VICE-ADMIRAL DAVID D. POETEE. any one. The sailors took to the assault by the flank along the beach, while the troops rushed in at the left, through the palisades that had been knocked away by the fire of our guns. All the arrangements on the part of the sailors had been well carried out ; they had succeeded in getting up to within a short distance of the fort, and lay securely in their ditches. We had but very few killed and wounded to this point. The marines were to have held the rifle-pits and cover the boarding party, which they failed to do. On rushing through the palisades, which extended from the fort to the sea, the head of the column received a murderous fire of grape and canister, which did not, however, check the officers and sailors who were leading. The parapets now swarmed with rebels, who poured in a destructive fire of musketry. At this moment, had the marines performed their duty, every one of the rebels would have been killed. I witnessed the whole aflair, saw how recklessly the rebels exposed themselves, and what an advantage they gave our sharpshooters, whose guns were scarcely flred, or fired with no precision. Notwithstanding the hot fire, officers and sailors in the lead rushed on, and some even reached the parapet, a large number having reached the ditch. The advance was swept from the parapet like chaff ; and notwithstand- ing all the efforts made by commanders of companies to stop them, the men in the rear, seeing the slaughter in front, and that they were not covered by the marines, commenced to retreat, and as there is no stopping a sailor if he fails on such an occasion on the first rush, I saw the whole thing had to be given up. The troops, however, kept on ; and, fighting from traverse to traverse in the darkness, at length cleared the works. Terry's signal torch blazed fi'oin the ramparts, announcing the victory, which Porter, with rockets in turn, announced to the fleet, when there arose such thun- dering cheers as never before shook the waters of that bay. The fleet in this bombardment had thrown tifty thou- sand shells ; its great loss was in this assault. Among the killed, were the gallant lieutenants, S. W. Preston and B. H. Porter General Butler was in "Washington, before the Com- mittee on the Conduct of the War, giving the reasons why it was unwise and hopeless to attempt to carry Fort Fisher by assault, when the astounding news came that HIS CHARACTER. 381 it had fallen. His able exposition was cut short, and the country lost the benefit of the whole argument he had planned. The shout of victory that went up closed the controversy that had been carried on between him and Porter, and raised the latter still higher in the popular estimation. A greater triumph, after all his harassing difficulties, could not have been awarded him. The navy captured in the various works here one hundred and sixty-eight cannon. After the capture of Fort Fisher and the adjacent works, Admiral Porter, by direction of the Navy De- partment, sent off all the vessels he could spare to points where they were most wanted, and, leaving proper officers in command, proceeded with an increased force to join General Grant, at City Point. There was little that the navy could do there, except to keep the rebel rams in check, for a heavy barricade in the river barred all pro- gress toward Pichmond. Porter remained at City Point until Lee surrendered and Richmond fell, giving what aid he could. When the war was ended, he applied to be detached from the North Atlantic Squadron, having seen the first and last gun of the war fired. During the whole war he was con- stantly in service ; and, although at times his mind and body required rest, he never applied for leave of absence. He received the thanks of Congress for the Fort Fisher affiiir, and those of many of the State legislatures ; this beino; the fourth vote of thanks received from Congress during the war, including the general one for the capture of New Orleans. Admiral Porter possesses in an eminent degree all those distinguished qualities found in a great and success* ftil commander. Of consummate nautical skill, he adds to 382 VICE-ADMIEAL DAVID D. PORTER. it an originality of conception and a boldness of execu tion that always ensure success. Joined to all these is an inflexibility of purpose that nothing can move. Having once made up his mind to a course, he will admit of no impossibilities, but drives toward his object with a fierce- ness and power that bear down all opposition. Buona- parte said that moral force is half, even when every thing seems to depend on hard blows. All this is true ; yet it is a force which few can calculate. The power to do this. Porter possesses in an eminent degree. A bold and confident bearing, where others would fail — the assur- ance of victory which he exhibits to his own men, and at the same time to the enemy, impart courage and strength to the former, and corresponding doubt and vacillation to the latter. He is aware of this, and acts on the knowl- edge. Hence, his plans and attempts sometimes seem rash to those who do not comprehend this quality, and they attribute to luck what is due to genius. He is the heau ideal of a commander to sailors, who never seem to doubt that he will accomplish every thing which he un- dertakes. He takes care of his subordinates, and delights in their promotion as much as in his own. Just and generous to the brave, he is severe and unsparing to the timid and reluc- tant. Frank and outspoken, one always knows where to find him. A strong writer, his reports and journal he has made the basis of an interesting volume entitled "The Naval History of the War." The government appreciated his great services and abilities by making him Vice Admiral in 1866. He served as Superinten- dent of the Naval Academy at Annapolis till 1869, when he was detailed for duty in the Navy Department at Washington. August 15th, 1870, he was appointed Admiral of the Navy. A CHAPTER XV. COMMANDER WILLIAM B. GUSHING. HIS NATIVITT. — ENTERS THE NAVAL ACADEMY. — HIS RESIGNATION. — ENTBE8 THE NAVAL SERVICE. — EXPEDITION AGAINST FRANKLIN, IN VIRGINIA. — A SECOND EXPEDITION. LOSES HIS VESSEL. ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE WIL- MINGTON PILOTS. TAKES A FORT BY ASSAULT. — COMMANDS A GUNBOAT IN THE NANSEMOND. A SEVERE BATTLE. CHARGES REBEL CAVALRY.— ANECDOTES OF HIM. DESTROYS A BLOCKADE-RUNNER. PLANS THE DB- 8TRCCTI0N OF THE ALBEMARLE BY A TORPEDO. — HIS BOLDNESS AND SUC- CESS. — MIRACULOUS ESCAPE. COMPLIMENTARY LETTER OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. — SENT TO DESTROY THE RALEIGH. TAKES PART IN THE BOMBARDMENT OF FORT FISHER. — HIS PRESENT POSITION. It is seldom that a man is given the command of a ship who had seen so little sea-service as Gushing did be- fore one was entrusted to him. William B. Gushing Avas l)orn in Wisconsin, in the year 1842, and entered the Naval Academy in 1857, where he remained four years. He received his appoint- ment from New York State, though he claims Pennsyl- vania as his residence. In March, 1861, he resigned, under circumstances that did not promise much for his naval fame. But the breaking out of the war opened to him a field of distinction, and he applied for service, promising the Secretary of the Navy that he would prove worthy the confidence reposed in him. From that time, the Secre- 384 OOMMANDEK WILLIAM B. CUSHDfQ. tary took a personal interest in him, seeming to regard him as his protege. Attached to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, he soon exhibited that daring spirit and love of perilous adventure which marked his career throughout the war. In October of this year, Acting Rear- Admiral Lee put him in command of the gunboat Ellis, in the expedi- tion against Franklin, Virginia, and for his bravery and skill he was recommended by him to the Department. The next month he entered the New River Inlet, for the pur- pose of capturing vessels, with the town of Jackson- ville, and destroying salt-works, &c. He was completely successful, capturing the place and three vessels ; but on his return he got aground, just after he had driven the enemy from two pieces of artillery with which they had opened on him at close range. After trying in vain to o;et the steamer afloat, and knowins; that the enemv would soon be on him, in overwhelming force, he took every thing out of her but her pivot-gun and coal and ammu- nition, and, sending it aboard one of his prize schooners, told the crew to follow. He then called for six volun- teers to remain \\ ith him and fight that single gun to the last. They at once stepped forward, though the}" knew that certain death awaited them. He then ordered the schooner to drop down the river, and, if she saw he was overpowered, to proceed on her way back. Early next morning, the enemy opened on him from four different points, ex230sing him to a terrible cross-fire which cut him up fearfully. It was an heroic spectacle to see that little band of half a dozen stand in that fiery tempest, and work that single gun which had to be turned in every direction. Gushing soon saw it was a hopeless fight, and he must decide on one A GALLANT FIGHT. 385 of two alternatives — surrender, or pull in an open boat for a mile and a half under the hostile fire. Scorn ing to do the first, he resolved on the second — and train- ing his gun on the enemy to go off vv^hen the flames reached it, and firing the steamer in five places, he left her with her battle-flag still flying, and started down the river. The brave fellows bent to their oars with a will and he succeeded in reaching the schooner in safety, and made sail for the sea. It was low water on the bar over which the surf was rolling with a deafening sound, and the schooner struck bottom several times ; but the wind forced her over, and in four hours she reached Beaufort in safety. He was again commended to the Department for " his courage, coolness, and gallantry." Early next January, Acting Rear- Admiral Lee al- lowed him to undertake an enterprise that he himself had planned — which was the capture of Wilmington pilots. He failed in the attempt, owing, as he said, to his schooner getting becalmed three times in shore, at the points where he desired to act. He, however, determined not to return without accomplishing some- thing, and, learning that there was a pilot station thirty miles below Fort Caswell, made sail for it, reaching it on the 5th. At eight o'clock that night, he took three cutters and twenty-five men, and crossing the bar kept on quietly up the river in hopes of capturing pilots, and also some schooners which he heard were there. But he had proceeded but a half mile, when he was observed from shore, and a volley of musketry poured into his boats. He immediately ordered the prows turned to the beach, and landing his men formed them about two himdred yards from the point from whirh 25 386 COMMANDEE WILLIAM B. CUSHTNGh. the fire came, and shouted ; " Forward, double-quick, charge ! " He did not know on what he was charging in the darkness, but he pressed forward with his brave two dozen, till he cleared a piece of wood in front, when he suddenly came upon a fort, with camp fires blazing brightly through the gloom. Nothing daunted at this unexpected sight, he still shouted, " Forward, charge !" The enemy thinking that at least a regiment was upon them, turned and fled — escaping over one side of the fort, as Gushing entered the other. He never fired a shot. He found he had captured an earth- work, surrounded by a ditch ten feet broad, and five feet deep — with a blockhouse in the centre, pierced for musketry. It was held by a company of infantry, who fled in such haste, that they left all their stores, clothing, ammunition, and part of their arms. Destroy- ing what he could not bring off, he then proceeded up the river, where he had another skirmish, when, getting out of ammunition, he returned. Id the spring, General Peck, stationed at Norfolk, heard of the advance ao-ainst him of Lono-street with a heavy force, and telegraphed to Lee to send him some gunboats. These were immediately forwarded, under the command of Lieutenants Lamson and Gushing. Here, on the 14th of April, the latter had a severe engage- ment with a rebel battery, which he at last silenced, though with the lr>ss of ten of his crew. He received eight raking shots in this fierce contest, but fortunately his engine was not injured, and he reported : " I can assure you, that the Barney and her crew are still in good fighting trim, and will beat the enemy, or sink at our post." He and Lamson did Peck good service and prevented the enemy from crossing the river. A BOLD EXPEDITION. 387 Hearing on the 21st that a boat from the Stepping Stones had been decoyed on shore by a white hand- kerchief and then fii-ed into, he determined to avenge the treacherous act. Organizing a boat expedition, com- posed of seven boats, and manned with ninety sailors, he in the afternoon put off, and, under cover of the fire of the vessels, landed with one 12-pound howitzer. Leaving a part of his force to guard the boats, he boldly marched inland, and, setting on fire three houses with their adjoining barns, moved towards Chuckatuck Vil- lage, three miles distant, where four hundi-ed cavalry were posted. Driving in their pickets, he secured a mule cart, and, " toggling the trail-rope of the howitzer to the rear," started the animals on a trot and shouted " Forward, double-quick ! " Driving everything before him, he at half past four entered the town. Suddenly he saw a body of cavalry coming down the street at a sabre charge, and shouting like madmen. Quickly un- limbering his howitzer, he poured in a round of grape, while at the same time his little band gave a volley of musketry. This frightened the mules, which rushed, cart and all, directly into the rebel ranks, taking all the ammunition with them. Giving them the charge already in the howitzer. Gushing again cried, " Forward ! " and with a cheer the sailors drove down the street, clearing it with a bound, and recovering the cart and ammunition. Re- maining master of the town the rest of the day, he towards evening returned leisurely to his boats, having lost but one man. For his services here, in the ISTansemond, he received a congratulatory letter from the Secretary of the Navy, in which the latter said : " Your conduct adds lustre to the character you had already established for valor in 388 COMMANDEE WILLIAM B. OUSHma. the face of the enemy." Lamson also gave him high commendation. Many anecdotes are told of him while in service here, illustrative of his daring, energetic spirit. Uneasy at General Peck's quietness, he urged him to make some decided move. The latter replied that he could not, for lack of information. Gushing replied that he would furnish him with some ; and organizing a party he sur- prised and captured a small force of the enemy, and forwarded the prisoners to Peck with his compliments, saying, that he sent him some information. At another time, he, with Lamson and the quarter- master, were out reconnoitering, when they came upon three cavalry men, whom they captured. Mounting the horses, they kept on and soon came in sight of the main force. The commander of it, thinking them to be the advance of a large body of cavalry, ordered the bugle to sound the recall. Lamson and Gushing at once halted, but the horse of the quartermaster, hearing the bugle-call, immediately started off towards the rebel line. Being no horseman, the sailor could not manage him, and, tinding that he was taking him straight to the enemy in spite of all his efforts, drew a pistol from the holster, and, placing the muzzle to the animal's head, shot him dead. He then took off the bridle and saddle, and shouldering them moved back to Lamson and Gush- ing. The latter laughingly asked him what was the matter. The quartermaster replied, with a sailor's usual emphatic language, that he never again would have any- thing to do with a craft that he could neither steer, turn about, nor stop. The cavalry men Gushing sent to Peck, saying, that he forwarded more information. He was afterwards -RAM ALBEMARLE. 389 placed in command of tlie United States steamer Sho- kokon. In August, a few miles ft'om Fort Fislier, he saw the Anglo-rebel steamer Hebe ashore, and the Niphon near by, making preparations to board her. But it was blowing a gale from the northeast, so that the Niphon's boats were swamped, and their crew drowned or taken prisoners. He at once sent a boat in, and rescued two of the men. He then lay off, and, under a tremendous fire from the rebel artillery, continued to throw shells into the steamer, until he set her on fire, and left her a wreck. He also destroyed another blockade runner about the same time, and exhibited a vigilance and energy that brought the highest commen- dations fi'om his superiors. But the achievement that has won for him the greatest renown, both for the skill with which it was planned, the consummate daring and coolness with which it was carried out, and the great residts accomplished by it — entitling him to a place among those so much above him in rank — was the destruction of the rebel tarn Albemarle. This powerful iron-clad had, in the spring, come out of the Roanoke River, and boldly attacked our naval force near Plymouth, sinking the Southfield, disabling the Miami, and killing the gallant commander Flusser. One hundred-pound rifle shot had no effect on her mailed sides, and she threatened to get control of the waters of the Albemarle Sound. At all events, her presence there required a large naval force on our part. Melancthon Smith had an engagement with her in May, and an attempt was made to destroy her with torpedoes, but she bade defiance to all our efforts, and was a con- stant menace to our fleet in the Sound. It was, there- 390 COMMANDER WILLIAM B. GUSHING. fore, of the utmost importance she should in some way be disposer' :>f. Nothing, however, was effected, and in the summer Lieutenant Gushing was sent to New York to Admiral Gregory, to have a torpedo boat constructed, with which he proposed to put an end to this appar- ently invulnerable monster. He found one contrived by Boggs, who was under Gregory in the port of New York, which, with such alterations as he suggested, he thought would answer the purpose. Having completed it to his satisfaction, he took it to Albemarle Sound, and, on the 27th of October, prepared for his desperate undertaking. The ram, at this time, was lying at Ply- mouth, and, after dark, he with thirteen officers and men, part of them volunteers, started in a steam-launch for that place. The distance from the mouth of the river to where the ram lay, was about eight miles. The stream was only about a rifle-shot across, and lined with pickets, which rendered his chance of reaching the ram undiscovered very improbable. He took with him a cutter, so that in case he was not observed he could land at the wharf, board the ram, and, cutting loose her fastenings, bring her safe out of the river. The night was dark and rainy, just fitted for his pur- pose, and he put off with strong hopes of success. He proceeded cautiously on his way, passed the pickets with- out giving any alarm, and arrived within a mile of the place without being discovered, when he came upon the wreck of the Southfield, sunk the spring previous by the Albemarle. This was surrounded by schooners, and he knew it was very doubtful if he would be able to pass them unseen. If he did not, he ordered the cutter to cast off and board the wreck, which he understood was mounted with a gun that commanded the bend of the ATTACKS THE ALBEMARLE. 391 river. But, by an extraordinary piece of good fortune, he passed unnoticed, though he steamed so near he could have thrown a biscuit a])oard. All seemed locked in sleep, for a dead silence reigned. Fnte thus far had smiled on his desperate undertaking, and, keeping cautiously on, he soon saw, by the light of a large fire on shore, the dark form of the ram tied up to the wharf, and surrounded by a pen of logs thirty feet broad, placed there on purpose to keep any daring craft from running into her while at her moorings. He now steered straight for her, but, as his boat came within the circle of light from the fire on shore, it was seen, and im- mediately the guard hailed, " What boat is that ? "" Gush- ing returning an evasive answer, they sprung their rattles, and, rushing to the rope of the alarm-bell, startled every sleeper with its clang. It was now about three o'clock, and dark as Erebus. Gushing immediately ordered the cutter to cast loose and drop below. In the mean time the guard poured a volley of musketry into the shadowy object that was moving so swiftly and in such mysterious silence towards them. The next moment the dark waters gleamed in the sudden blaze of a cannon, and a shower of grape whistled over the heads of the gallant little crew Every minute now was fraught with destiny. The crew of the ram were already at their quarters, and Gushing knew that he had not a minute to waste. The air was alive with shot, and shouts, and cries of alarm ; but, as he approached the black mass, towering high above him in the gloom, he saw by the course he was going that he would not strike her fair, and perhaps not reach her, over the intervening logs — so he gave the quiet order to steam past. As he stood in his little launch, amid that wild uproar, his men saw by the flash of the enemy's guns 892 COMMANDER WILLIAM B. GUSHING. that his face, though set like iron, was calm and tranquil. Paymaster Swan fell by his side, three bullets pierced his clothes, but not a movement of haste or alarm was seen in him. The scene, the hour, the issues at stake, and the deadly peril awaiting them, made that boat, with its gal- lant commander and crew, an object at once fearful and sublime. Steaming swiftly past the huge structure, after giving the crew one charge of canister, Gushing, though he knew it gave the enemy time to prepare to receive him, shot up the river till he could make a complete circuit, then wheeling, came down with all steam full on the ram. As the launch struck the logs it forced them half way back to the ram by the severity of the blow, and running up on them, rested there. In an instant, the torpedo boom was lowered, and Gushing, by a vigorous pull, suc- ceeded "in diving it under the overhang," and at the same time exploded it. At the same moment a heavy gun, which had been depressed so as to bear on him, was fired, and the huge shot crashed through his boat, while the water flung up by the torpedo came rush- ing like a cataract into it, filling and completely dis- abling it. The rebels, now only fifteen feet off, poured a terrible fire into the little crew, and a hoarse voice shouted out, " Do you surrender ? " " No ! " thundered back Gush- ing, and the firing went on, dropping the men on every side, yet, strange to say, missing Gushing. Again came the call to surrender, and ag-ain Gushino; with a shout of defiance refused. Finding the launch useless, and seeing that to remain in it longer was madness, he told the men to save themselves the best way they could. Then, coolly taking off his coat and shoes, he sprang overboard into A NARROW ESCAPE, 893 the water, and swam with others for the middle of the river, while the shot fell like hailstones around him. He now struck boldly down stream, and was soon out of the reach of the fire. When about half a mile below the town, he came upon Acting-Master 's-Mate Woodman, also swimming, but much exhausted. Gushing cheered him up, and with his fast-failing strength strove to get him ashore. But the poor fellow at length gave entirely out, and, bidding his commander " good-by," sank to the bottom. Gushing at length reached the shore, but so completely exhausted that he was unable to drag him- self out of the water, and rested with his head on the beach till daylight. He then crept into a swamp near the fort, and lay down, wet and weary, to recover his wasted strength. A path ran a few fc^.t from where he lay, but the autumnal foliage hid him from view. While reclining there, he heard voices approa,ching, and soon two officers from the Albemarle passed him, and he judged, by their conversation, that he had destroyed the vessel. Tliis somewhat revived him, and he soon arose and started on, still keeping the swamp, and travelled for several hours, till well below the town, when he came out. Meeting a negro, he questioned him, and, finding he could trust him, sent him back to Plymouth to find out the truth about the ram. One would think that he might have waited a few hours for the news, and made use of the negro to aid him to escape, or furnish him with food to strengthen him. He was beset with foes, — a rebel prison, and perhaps death, awaited him ; but these he could not think of until he had heard whether his desperate enter- prise had succeeded. Nothing shows the indomitable character of the man more than this. Death alone can 394 COMMANDEK WILLIAM B. CUSHIKG. conquer such an iron will. Right there on the edge of the swamp he lay, until that negro returned and told him the ram was at the bottom of the river. He then got his direction, and, taking to another swamp to avoid capture, kept on down the river until he came to a creek, where he found a skiff belonging to a picket of the ene- my. Loosing this, he shoved off, and, keeping the stream, finally came out into the bay. Footsore and Aveary he had toiled on, and now, as night approached, pulled slowly towards the ships. It was a long row, and he did not reach tiie Valley City till eleven o'clock at night. His appearance on board, all alone, created the greatest astonishment. He was the bearer of his own despatches, and reported the Albe- marle destroyed. Only one man escaped besides himself, and he in another direction. The rest were all killed, drowned, or taken prisoners. When it is considered that Gushing at this time was only twenty-one years of age, one is astonished at the coolness, nerve, and desperate daring of the man. The act would have been the sublimest heroism in a veteran ; but in this youth it was almost miraculous. The Secretary of the Navy wrote him the following complimentary letter : Navy Dbpartmbnt, ) November 9, 1864. J Sm : Your import of October 30th has been received, announcing the destruction of the rebel iron-clad steamer Albemarle, on the night of the 27th ultimo, at Plymouth, North Carolina. When, last summer, the Department selected you for this important and perilous undertaking, and sent you to Rear-Admiral Gregory, at New York, to make the necessary preparations, it left the details to yourself to perfect. To you and your brave comrades, therefore, belongs the exclusive credit wliich attaches to this daring achievement. The destruction of so A COMPLIMENTARY LETTER. 395 formidable a vessel, which had resisted the combined attack of a number of our steamers, is an important event touching our future naval and mili- tary operations. The judgment, as well as the daring courage displayed, would do honor to any officer, and redounds to the credit of one of twenty- one years of age. On four previous occasions, the Department has had the gratification of expressing its approbation of your conduct, in the face of the enemy, and in each instance there was manifested by you the same heroic daring and innate love of perilous adventure ; a mind determined to succeed, and not to be deterred by any apprehensions of defeat. The Department has presented your name to the President for a vote of thanks, that you may be promoted one grade, and your comrades, also, shall receive recognition. It gives me pleasure to recall the assurance you gave me at the com- mencement of your active, professional career, that you would prove your- self worthy of the confidence reposed in you and of the service to which you were appointed. I trust you may be preserved through further trials ; and it is for yourself to determine, whether, after enteriag upon so auspici- ous a career, you shall, by careful study and self-discipline, be prepared for a wider sphere of usefulness, on the call of your country. Very respectfully, «fec., GIDEON WELLES, Seoretary of the N