572 



NAVY, U. S., OPERATIONS OF. 



which brought up the rear, and was conse- 

 quently more exposed to the fire of the fort 

 than the rest of the fleet, had her hoiler pene- 

 trated by a 7-inch rifle-shell, and was deprived 

 of motive power; but she was towed safely 

 along by her consort, the Galena, and made 

 good use of her guns until the fort was passed. 

 Meanwhile the rebel fleet, consisting of the iron- 

 clad ram Tennessee and the gunboats Selma, 

 Gaines, and Morgan, had held a position inside 

 the bay, a little north of Fort Morgan, whence 

 they poured a galling fire upon the fleet. The 

 Tennessee, under the immediate command of 

 Admiral Buchanan, made a dash at the Hart- 

 ford and several other ships, during the passage 

 of the fort, but subsequently sought shelter un- 

 der its guns; and under the supposition that 

 she had retired from the fight, Admiral Farra- 

 gut ordered the fleet to cast off their couplings 

 and come to anchor, with the exception of the 

 light-draught gunboats, which were directed to 

 pursue and destroy the Selrna, Morgan, and 

 Gaines. The Metacomet captured the Selma 

 after a brisk engagement, but the Morgan and 

 Gaines succeeded in getting under the protec- 

 tion of Fort Morgan. The former subsequently 

 crept along the shore during the night into Mo- 

 bile, but the latter was so seriously injured that 

 she had to be destroyed. Several of the large 

 ships were already at anchor, when, shortly be- 

 fore nine o'clock, the Tennessee was seen stand- 

 ing toward the Hartford, with the desperate 

 intention apparently of fighting single-handed 

 the whole fleet. Of the singular combat that 

 followed, the following description is given by 

 Admiral Farragut : 



I was not long in comprehending his intentions to 

 be the destruction of the flag-ship. The monitors, 

 and such of the wooden vessels as I thought best 

 adapted for the purpo.se, were immediately ordered 

 to attack the ram, not only with their guns, but 

 bows on at full speed, and then began one of the 

 fiercest naval combats on record. The Monongahela, 

 Commander Strong, was the first vessel that struck 

 her, and in doing so carried away his own iron prow, 

 together with the cutwater, without apparently doing 

 her adversary much injury. The Lackawanna, Cap- 

 tain Marchand, was the next vessel to strike her, 

 which she did at full speed; but though her stem 

 was cut and crushed to the plank ends for the dis- 

 tance of three feet above the water's edge to five 

 feet below, the only perceptible effect on the ram 

 was to give her a heavy list. The Hartford was the 

 third vessel which struck her, but, as the Tennessee 

 quickly shifted her helm, the blow was a glancing 

 one, and as she rasped along pur side, we poured our 

 whole port broadside of 9-inch solid snot within 

 ten feet of her casement, The monitors worked 

 slowly, but delivered their fire as opportunity ofl'er- 

 od. The Chickasaw succeeded in getting under 

 her stern, and a 15-inch shot from the Manhattan 

 broke through her iron plating and heavy wooden 

 backing, though the missile itself did not enter the 

 vessel. Immediately after the collision with the 

 flag-ship, I directed Captain Drayton to bear down 

 for the ram again. He was doing so at full speed 

 when, unfortunately, the Lackawanna run into the 

 Hartford just forward of the mizzen-mast, cutting 

 her down to within two feet of the water's edge. 

 We soon got clear again, however, and were fast ap- 

 proaching our adversary, when she struck her colors 

 fcad run up the white flag. 



She was at this time sore beset ; the Chickasaw 

 was pounding away at her stern, the Ossipee was 

 approaching her at full speed, and the Monongahela, 

 Lackawanna, and this ship were bearing down upon 

 her, determined upon her destruction. Her smoke- 

 stack had been shot away, her steering chains were 

 gone, compelling a resort to her relieving tackles, 

 and several of her port-shutters were jammed. In- 

 deed, from the time the Hartford struck her until 

 her surrender, she never fired a gun. As the Ossi- 

 pee, Commander Le Roy, was about to strike her, 

 she hoisted the white flag, and that vessel imme- 

 diately stopped her engine, though not in time to 

 avoid a glancing blow. During this contest with 

 the rebel gunboats and the ram Tennessee, and 

 which terminated by her surrender at 10 o'clock, 

 we lost many more men than from the fire of the 

 batteries of Fort Morgan. 



The Tennessee, as was effectually shown by 

 the determined resistance which she made, was 

 perhaps the strongest vessel ever constructed 

 by the enemy. She was 209 feet in length, with 

 a breadth of beam of 48 feet, had in the centre 

 an external casemate, with sloping sides, about 

 80 feet in length by 30 feet in breadth, and 

 drew about 14 feet of water. Her deck was 

 plated \\ith' 2 inches of wrought-iron, her 

 sides with 4 inches, and her casemate with 

 from 5 to G inches. Her armament consisted 

 of 4 C-inch broadside rifles, and 2 7-inch pivot 

 rifles, all of the Brooks pattern. But one shot, 

 a 15-inch one from the Manhattan, penetrated 

 her armor, and, in view of the hard pounding 

 which she received, her injuries were on the 

 whole inconsiderable. Admiral Buchanan lost 

 a leg in the action, and ten or twelve of the crew 

 were killed and wounded. The prisoners sur- 

 rendered numbered 20 officers and about 170 

 men; and those on the Selma, 90 officers and 

 men. The casualties in the fleet, exclusive of 

 those on board the Tecumsch, were 52 killed 

 and 170 wounded. 



Meanwhile, on the 4th, a cooperative body 

 of troops under Gen. Granger had landed on 

 Dauphin Island, in accordance with an arrange- 

 ment between Admiral Farragut and Gen. 

 Canby, and commenced the siege of Fort Gaines. 

 The rebel commander, Colonel Anderson, seeing 

 that the Federal fleet held uninterrupted pos- 

 session of Mobile Bay, concluded that further 

 resistance was hopeless, and on the 7th sur- 

 rendered his garrison of 818 men uncondition- 

 ally. Fort Powell had been blown up by the 

 rebels on the 'evening of the 5th. These ob- 

 structions being removed and Grant's Pass 

 secured, the fleet was relieved from any appre- 

 hensions with regard to obtaining supplies ; but 

 it was nevertheless determined to complete the 

 work originally undertaken by the capture of 

 Fort Morgan, which still held out. The troops 

 were accordingly transferred to the rear of the 

 fort, and lines of investment drawn across the 

 sandy spit on which it is situated. On the 22d, 

 fire was opened from the shore batteries and 

 the fleet, and on the next day Gen. Page, the 

 rebel commander, surrendered unconditionally. 

 When possession was taken of the work it was 

 found that, with what Admiral Farragut called 

 " childish spitefulness," he had destroyed many 



