148 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



problems which confronted the State in her time of great 

 need. In the summer of 1861 he was appointed Chief 

 of the "Naval Bureau of Coast, Harbor, and River De- 

 fense", and began to plan the construction of submarine 

 mines to be placed in the rivers and harbors of the South. 

 These were to be exploded under enemy ships by elec- 

 tricity, and insulated wire was needed for this purpose. 

 He accordingly sent a Richmond merchant to New York 

 to secure a large quantity of such wire. The merchant 

 failed in his mission, but Maury undismayed set about 

 devising mines which could be exploded in a different 

 way. Each mine consisted of an oak cask filled with 

 200 pounds of powder, in the head of which was a trigger 

 attached to a fuse. The casks were joined together 

 in pairs by 500 feet of rope, and when in a favorable 

 position were let go to be carried by the tide down upon 

 an enemy ship in such a way as to have the rope catch 

 across the cable of the vessel. As the mines drifted near 

 the ship, the strain on the rope would release the triggers, 

 ignite the fuses, and explode the mines. 



Early in July, 1861, Maury himself commanded an ex- 

 pedition from Sewell's Point near Norfolk, which made 

 an attempt to destroy the Union vessels Minnesota^ 

 Roanoke, and Cumberland, then off Fortress Monroe. 

 The attacking party in five boats set off about ten 

 o'clock. Maury was in the first boat with the pilot and 

 four oarsmen ; while each of the others carried an ofhcer 

 and four men, together with one of the mines. It was a 

 very quiet Sunday evening, and as the enemy had no 

 guard boats, the attacking party was able, under mufifiied 

 oars, to take up a position near enough for their purpose 

 just as seven bells struck on board the intended victims. 

 The mines were immediately set adrift, and the boats 



