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Catesby Jones (search for this): chapter 1.51
vile treachery, I instantly recalled the boat and ordered the Congress to be demolished by hot shot and incendiary shell. About this period I was disabled and transferred the command of the ship to that gallant and intelligent officer, Lieutenant Catesby Jones, with orders to fight her as long as the men could stand to their guns. * * * An effort was made afterwards by Federal writers to convict Admiral Buchanan of wanton cruelty in firing upon a dismantled ship after the white flag had beechannel, where, by reason of the receding tide, the Virginia could not win a near approach, but the smaller steamers of the Confederate fleet got within effective range and inflicted, says Secretary Welles, considerable damage on that ship. Lieutenant Jones says of the latter operations that the pilots having declared it to be unsafe to remain longer near the middle shoal, we returned by the south channel, and again had an opportunity of opening upon the Minnesota, receiving her heavy fire in r
W. H. Parker (search for this): chapter 1.51
y were not totally destroyed I did not then and do not now understand. Admiral Buchanan says that their escape was miraculous; for they sustained for several hours a galling fire of solid shot, shell, grape and canister, at close quarters; and the hull of each ship was perforated time and time again. It was particularly fine to see how Webb, with his mite of a Teaser, romped and frolicked in the very teeth of the enemy's batteries, while nothing could have exceeded the gallantry with which Parker and Alexander repeatedly came into the closest conflict. The gallantry of all appeared to border on recklessness in the eye of an inexperienced spectator. By this time we had come to look upon the flagship as invulnerable, but watched with painful interest the bold manoevering of her comparatively unprotected consorts. Only the highest skill, in conjunction with superb courage, could have saved one or all of them from utter disaster. Meanwhile, amid the gathering smoke, the ill-starred
William H. Parker (search for this): chapter 1.51
trick Henry and Jamestown (formerly plying as freight and passenger steamers between New York and Richmond, and caught in Southern waters at the commencement of hostilities); the former under Commander John R. Tucker, carrying twelve guns of modern force; the latter under Lieutenat Barney, with a battery of two heavy pieces; and three tugs metamorphosed into gunboats and carrying a single gun each; the Teazer, the Beaufort and the Raleigh, commanded respectively by Lieutenants W. A. Webb, W. H. Parker and J. W. Alexander. Early in March these vessels made rendezvous at a harbor in the lower James, convenient for communication with Norfolk, and on the 7th of that month the senior officer was notified to be in readiness for action on the following day — a day to be forever memorable in naval annals. The events are yet fresh in a mind which was filled with pride and enthusiasm while witnessing them, but in this attempt to reproduce the leading features I shall verify and enlarge my re
Mansfield (search for this): chapter 1.51
ls of the Minnesota and her consorts. The Cumberland and Congress were kedged around to present something like a broadside to the approaching antagonist, nearest in the path of which the Congress lay. After this I took no note of time; but General Mansfield commanding the port at Newport News, in his report to General Wool, says that it was just 2 o'clock when the Virginia opened her bow gun. This was the signal for general engagement. The noise was terrific and the spectacle grand. Under fias made afterwards by Federal writers to convict Admiral Buchanan of wanton cruelty in firing upon a dismantled ship after the white flag had been hoisted, but the question is settled in his favor by the following extract from the report of General Mansfield, commanding the Federal forces at Newport News: The enemy then sent two steamers to haul the Congress off or burn her. As soon as I saw this I ordered Colonel Brown, of the 20th Indiana Regiment, to send two rifle companies to the beach,
Sewell (search for this): chapter 1.51
their iron throats. Even after her hull had disappeared, the smothered echo of one gun was heard mingling with the cries of strong men in their agony. So absorbed had we become in this supreme tragedy that other stirring episodes were about to pass unnoticed. Deep-mouthed cannon away to the eastward were now braying their hoarse contributions to the terrible din. The steam frigates at Fortress Monroe were under way at last to give succor to their weaker consorts; there were the guns at Sewell's Foint throwing shot and shell in the pathway of the Minnesota and Roanoke, and in reply the giant ordnance at the Rip-Raps were lending deeper voice to the discordant chorus. Just at this juncture the excited accents of one of my companions rose clear above the tumult of detonations and concussions: What a glorious sight! Just see the splendid fellows coming into action! he exclaimed, at the same time tugging at my coat sleeve like mad. I turned, and it was indeed the sight of a life
Henry A. Wise (search for this): chapter 1.51
ted against Federal marine by batteries at Fort Powhatan, Drewry's Bluff, Day's Neck, Hardin's Bluff, Mulberry Island, Jamestown and other defensible points on James river. Such was the situation of affairs in the early spring of 1862. The Federals had, however, made previous descent upon the coast of North Carolina with a powerful armada under General Burnside, and having captured Roanoke Island, after a gallant though hopeless resistance by the combined land and naval forces of General Henry A. Wise and Commodore Lynch, were making heavy demonstrations at the back door of Norfolk, while General McClellan, having determined on a campaign against Richmond via the peninsula, between the James and York rivers, was urging naval occupation of those streams as an essential protection to the flanks of an army executing that movement. To guard against the occupation of these waterways (as well as in prosecuting a cherished scheme in dominating the mouth of the Mother of Waters, destro
Gideon Welles (search for this): chapter 1.51
scharged. Her career closed towards the morning of the 9th, when, with a deafening report, her magazine exploded. It was now past 4 o'clock. The Confederate fleet steamed off towards Fortress Monroe, and after that our personal observation was unworthy of note. The Minnesota grounded in the north channel, where, by reason of the receding tide, the Virginia could not win a near approach, but the smaller steamers of the Confederate fleet got within effective range and inflicted, says Secretary Welles, considerable damage on that ship. Lieutenant Jones says of the latter operations that the pilots having declared it to be unsafe to remain longer near the middle shoal, we returned by the south channel, and again had an opportunity of opening upon the Minnesota, receiving her heavy fire in return, and shortly afterwards upon the St. Lawrence, from which vessel several broadsides were received. It had by this time become dark, and we soon afterwards anchored off Sewell's Point. The r
Lynch (search for this): chapter 1.51
ine by batteries at Fort Powhatan, Drewry's Bluff, Day's Neck, Hardin's Bluff, Mulberry Island, Jamestown and other defensible points on James river. Such was the situation of affairs in the early spring of 1862. The Federals had, however, made previous descent upon the coast of North Carolina with a powerful armada under General Burnside, and having captured Roanoke Island, after a gallant though hopeless resistance by the combined land and naval forces of General Henry A. Wise and Commodore Lynch, were making heavy demonstrations at the back door of Norfolk, while General McClellan, having determined on a campaign against Richmond via the peninsula, between the James and York rivers, was urging naval occupation of those streams as an essential protection to the flanks of an army executing that movement. To guard against the occupation of these waterways (as well as in prosecuting a cherished scheme in dominating the mouth of the Mother of Waters, destroying the Federal shippi
Merrimac (search for this): chapter 1.51
oon as I saw this I ordered Colonel Brown, of the 20th Indiana Regiment, to send two rifle companies to the beach, while two rifled guns and a Dahlgren howitzer went into action from a raking position on the beach. We here had them, at about 800 yards, to advantage, and immediately they let go their hold on the Congress and moved out of range with much loss. They then endeavored to approach her again with a steamer and rowboat, but were beaten off with severe punishment, until finally the Merrimac, finding her prize retaken, fired three shots into her and set her on fire. This is conclusive, and needs no comment. The Congress may now be disposed of in a few words. Far into the night the heavens were illuminated by the reflection from the blazing timbers, while from time to time, as the heat penetrated to her hold, her shotted guns were discharged. Her career closed towards the morning of the 9th, when, with a deafening report, her magazine exploded. It was now past 4 o'clock
April, 1861 AD (search for this): chapter 1.51
s starving out the garrison at Fortress Monroe, and ultimately obtaining free ingress and egress via the capes for ships of war and commerce), the Confederates had spent the previous winter in fitting up at a captured navyyard a marine structure of such impervious strength and destructive armament as to justify the most extravagant hopes. For this purpose the United States steam frigate Merrimac, which had been abondoned by the Federals when they hastily evacuated the Elizabeth river, in April, 1861, was utilized. She was cut down, heavily armored with railroad iron laid on a stout and sloping deck roof, was provided with a steel snout or ram for offensive purposes and carried ten guns of a calibre hitherto unknown in naval warfare. She was rechristened the Virginia, and entered upon her brief but glorious career under the flag of Admiral Franklin Buchanan. Simultaneously the Confederate government had improvised from the scant materials at hand what was known as the James river f
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