XAVY. U. S., OPERATIONS OF. 



571 



the array movements in Florida in the spring, 

 and subsequently in demonstrations against 

 James's Island, Bull's Bay, and other places. 

 On Feb. 17th the gunboat Housatonic was de- 

 stroyed by a torpedo off Charleston, and two 

 small armed steamers, the Columbine and 

 "Water "Witch, fell into the enemy's hands in 

 he course of the year. 



3. East Gulf Squadron. "With the excep- 

 tion of a few boat expeditions and armed in- 

 cursions for the destruction of salt manufac- 

 tories on the Florida coast, nothing occurred 

 during the year in this department to interrupt 

 the routine of blockading duties, which were 

 effectually performed. In the summer months 

 the squadron was temporarily reduced by the 

 withdrawal of a number of vessels infected with 

 yellow fever. 



4. West Gulf Squadron. The chief events 

 in the history of this squadron were those con- 

 nected with the capture of the fortifications 

 guarding the entrance to the bay of Mobile, 

 and the consequent closing of that port against 

 the blockade-runners. Although in many re- 

 spects it was desirable to obtain possession of 

 these works, the exigencies of p the service in 

 other quarters had not previously permitted 

 the cooperation of so large a body of troops as 

 was needed for the undertaking. The rebels 

 availed themselves of this circumstance to con- 

 struct several iron-clads and armed vessels, and 

 threatened to raise the blockade of Mobile. 

 Early in the year Admiral Farragut recon- 

 noitred the approaches to the city, and offered, 

 with the assistance of an iron-clad or two and 

 a few thousand troops, to gain full posses- 

 sion of the bay ; but as neither of these could 

 at once be obtained, he was forced to confine 

 himself to threatening demonstrations, although, 

 as he privately informed the Xaval Department, 

 should the rebel iron-clads come out to attack 

 his wooden fleet, the issue would necessarily be 

 a doubtful one. He, however, expressed him- 

 self in readiness to measure his strength with 

 Admiral Buchanan, whenever the latter should 

 venture to offer battle, and kept his fleet in con- 

 stant readiness for such a contingency. 



At length, in the latter part of July, Admiral 

 Farragut received an addition of four moni- 

 tors to his squadron, the Tecumseh, "Win- 

 nebago, Manhattan, and Chickasaw, and a co- 

 operative land force under Gen. Granger was 

 promised by Gen. Canby, commanding the 

 military division of the Southwest. The en- 

 trance to Mobile Bay is divided by Dauphin 

 Island into two passages, the easterly of which 

 is about four miles wide and twenty feet deep, 

 and the other a shallow strait of not above five 

 feet depth. On either side of the main chan- 

 nel stand Forts Gaines and Morgan, the former 

 occupying the east end of Dauphin Island, and 

 the latter the end of a long, sandy point which 

 makes out into the bay directly opposite. The 

 channel runs close under the guns of Fort Mor- 

 gan, and a large part of it had. been obstructed 

 with piles and torpedoes. Fort Morgan was a 



powerful stone, casemated work, mounting 

 forty-eight guns, including some of very heavy 

 calibre, and the armament of Fort Gaines con- 

 sisted of twenty-one guns. About a mile dis- 

 tant from Fort Gaines, on Dauphin Island, was 

 Fort Powell, a lesser work, adjoining which 

 were a water battery and some earthworks. 

 On the evening of Aug. 4th the monitors and 

 wooden vessels were all assembled off the bar 

 of Mobile Bay, and at 5.40 A. M. of the oth the 

 whole fleet moved up the bay in the following 

 order, two abreast and lashed together : the 

 Brooklyn with the Octorara on the port side, 

 the Hartford and Metacomet, the Richmond 

 and Port Royal, the Lackawanna and Seminole, 

 the Monongahela and Kennebec, the Ossipee 

 and Itasca, and the Oneida and Galena. Be- 

 tween the four first couples and Fort Morgan, at 

 a distance of about two hundred yards from the 

 latter, moved the monitors, headed by the 

 Tecumseh, for the double purpose of keep- 

 ing down the fire of the water-battery and 

 parapet guns of the fort, and attacking the 

 rebel iron-clads when the fort was passed. 

 The object of coupling the wooden ships, an 

 expedient as novel as it was ingenious, was to 

 insure mutual protection by enabling each to 

 tow along its consort, in case the latter should 

 be crippled. The Admiral was on board his 

 flag-ship the Hartford, and in order to get 

 an unobstructed view of operations, and to give 

 his orders with clearness, caused himself to be 

 lashed to the main top. 



At about seven o'clock, as the head of the 

 column came abreast of the fort, the latter 

 opened fire, and the action soon became gen- 

 eral. The enemy confidently expected, from 

 the close quarters at which the fighting was to 

 take place, to be able to sink or disable several 

 of the attacking vessels. ' But here, as at the 

 passage of the forts in Mississippi, in 1862, Far- 

 ragut converted what might well have seemed 

 a disadvantage into a positive advantage to 

 himself, by pouring such continuous broadsides 

 into the fort as to drive the gunners from their 

 guns, and enable the ships to pass with com- 

 paratively slight damage. At 7: 40, while the 

 firing was at its height, and the fleet making 

 rapid progress in spite of the obstructions in its 

 path, the monitor Tecumseh struck a torpedo, 

 which blew a large hole through her bottom, 

 just under the turret, and almost immediately 

 she filled with water and sank. At this mo- 

 ment the Brooklyn, by backing her engines to 

 avoid torpedoes, temporarily arrested the pro- 

 gress of the fleet, and the Admiral, regardless 

 of torpedoes, at once dashed to the head of the 

 column, first despatching a boat from the Meta- 

 comet to pick up the survivors of the Tecum- 

 seh. Of these only four officers and seventeen 

 men were found ; four swam ashore, and wer 

 made prisoners, and the rest, with her com 

 inander, T. A. M. Craven, were drowned. 



Soon after eight o'clock the whole column 

 liad passed the forts, with no serious disaster 

 beyond the loss of the Tecumseh. The Oneida, 



