Arrival of Seamen

NEW YORK, March 18. – The steam frigate Roanoke which arrived to-day from Hampton Roads, brought 149 of the crew of the frigate Congress, and 119 of the Cumberland.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 4

Neglect Of Com. Goldsborough’s Orders

In justice to Flag Officer Goldsborough, it should be stated that he ordered the senior officer left in command of the fleet at Hampton Roads to keep tugs constantly alongside of the Cumberland and the Congress, that they might be prepared for such contingencies as the coming out of the Merrimac.  Other precautions which he ordered were also neglected.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 3

The Scene Of The Late Naval Fight

There is talk about blocking up the entrance to Norfolk with a stone fleet, which can be easily done, as the channel is narrow, and so rendering the Virginia useless.  Since the fight the Monitor has been improved by making the fronts of the pilot house spherical, so that her balls may glance from it as from the deck.  Her crew oppose the stone blockade project, as they want another chance at the Virginia, and are confident that they can sink her.  Charles Ellet, Jr., civil engineer, republishes a paragraph from his pamphlet of February 5, on “Military Incapacity,” in which he pointed out the danger threatened by the naval batteries of the rebels as follows:

It is not generally known that the rebels now have five steam rams nearly ready for use.  Of these, five, two are on the lower Mississippi, two are at Mobile, and one is at Norfolk.  The last of the five, the one at Norfolk, is doubtless the most formidable, being the United States steam frigate Merrimac, which has been so strengthened, that in the opinion of the rebels it may be used as a ram.  But we have not as yet a single vessel at sea, nor, as far as I know, in course of construction, able to cope at all with a well built ram.  If the Merrimac is expected to escape from Elizabeth river, she will be almost certain to commit great depredations on our armed and unarmed vessels in Hampton Roads; and may even be expected to pass out under the guns of Fortress Monroe, and prey upon our commerce in Chesapeake bay.  Indeed, if the alterations have been skillfully made, and she succeeds in getting to sea, she will not only be a terrible scourge to our commerce, but may prove also to be a most dangerous visitor to our blockading squadrons off the harbors of the southern coasts.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 3

A letter from Fortress Monroe states . . .

. . . that it is ascertained that the rebels intended to attack our camp at Newport News simultaneously with the assault of the Virginia on the fleet and were approaching under Magruder, some 10,000 strong, but the swollen creeks prevented their approach.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 2

Speech Of Senator Grimes

On the Joint Resolution tendering the thanks of Congress to Commodore Foote and his officers and men.

The joint resolution is as follows:

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress and of the American people are due, and are hereby tendered to Captain A. H. Foote, of the United States Navy, and to the officers and men of the western flotilla under his command, for the great gallantry exhibited by them in the attacks upon Forts Henry and Donelson, for their efficiency in opening the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Mississippi rivers to the pursuits of lawful commerce and for their unwavering devotion to the cause of the country in the midst of the greatest difficulties and dangers.

Sec. 2.  And be it further resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause this resolution to be communicated to Captain Foote, and through him to the officers and men under his command.

Mr. GRIMES.  Mr. President, I conceive it to be my duty, and it certainly is a great pleasure to be, to call the special attention of the Senate to the achievements of the newly created naval flotilla on the western waters, and to the gallant part borne by its officers and men against the armed rebels in Kentucky and Tennessee.  Surely no one could more properly be proud of the deeds of our Army in that quarter than a Senator from Iowa.  Yet, I know that whatever adds to the glory of our Navy in the recent conflicts in the West, adds also to the glory of the Army, and that the two branches of the service have been and are so conjoined that no rivalry ought to exist between them, except a virtuous emulation in the performance of patriotic duty.  No examples can be found in the history of any country of more important results attained in an equal time, in an untried field of naval enterprise, than those we have lately witnessed on the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers; and I feel assured that the successes that have thus far been achieved, will be surpassed by the same forces whenever they can find an enemy with whom to cope between Cairo and New Orleans.

On the 16th day of May last, Commander John Rodgers was ordered by the Secretary of the Navy to proceed to Cincinnati and to purchase or commence the construction of several gunboats for service on the western rivers.  Under his auspices the three boats, Taylor, Lexington and Conestoga, were purchased and fitted up for war purposes.  They were put in commission and reached Cairo, after some delay arising from the low stage of water on the Ohio river, on the 12th of August, Commander Rodgers taking command of the Taylor, and assigning Commander Stembel to the Lexington and Lieutenant Phelps to the Conestoga.  The Taylor carried seven guns, of large caliber, the Lexington six, and the Conestoga four.  Here was the beginning of the western flotilla.  We all remember the unfavorable criticisms indulged in when these three stern-wheel steamers, with oak casings, arrived at that military post.  Some said they would be shake to pieces by the recoil of their own guns’ others that they would be speedily sunk by the shore guns of the rebels; while not a few were alarmed by visions of Hollins’ ram butting them to pieces with impunity.  From the day they reached their destinations to the present no rebel craft has shown itself ten miles above Columbus and no rebel force of any description has harbored on the two rivers in proximity which could be deemed threatening to their navigation or to the two cities of St. Louis and Cairo.  A few experimental trips dispelled all doubts of their efficiency; and when the people became assured that they would do the work they were intended for, all fear of rebel incursion into any of the northwester States, other than Missouri, was also dispelled.  A band of Jefferson Thompson’s robbers did, indeed, make a demonstration of crossing the Mississippi river, in August last, from the town of Commerce, Missouri; but at the first intimation that the gunboats were coming, they fled with what booty they could lay their hands on, pillaged impartially from friends and foes on the Missouri shore.  The boon of security to the people of the northwestern States is a debt due, in no small degree, to these wooden gunboats, for  however numerous and brave our armies, it would have been impossible with them alone to have guarded all points on our river line.  Thus, our people were not only protected from danger of invasion but they were enabled to give all their time and energies to preparation for those offensive movements which have reclaimed so much important territory from the domination of the enemy.

On the 23d of September, Commander Rodgers was detached from service in the West, and Capt. A. H. Foote was ordered to take command as flag officer.  Since that time the following boats, with iron-clad bows, have been built or prepared for service, and added to the flotilla under his command; St. Louis, thirteen guns, Lieut. Paulding; Carondelet, thirteen guns, Commander Walk; Pittsburg, thirteen guns, Lieut. Thompson; Louisville, thirteen guns, Commander Dove; Cincinnati, thirteen guns, Commander Stembel; Essex, five guns, Commander Porter; Mound City, thirteen guns.

The first engagement of the gunboats with the enemy took place on the 9th of September at Lucas Bend, in the Mississippi river, a short distance above, and in full view of the rebel stronghold at Columbus.  In that engagement, the Lexington, Commander Stembel, and the Conestoga, Lieut. Phelps, silenced two shore batteries, dispersed a large body of rebel Cavalry, and so disabled the rebel gunboat Yankee that she has not been heard of since.

On the 29th of October, the Conestoga, Lieut. Phelps, proceeded with three companies of Illinois volunteers, sixty-two miles up the Tennessee river to Eddyville, Kentucky, where they jointly attacked and routed a rebel encampment, bringing away their horses, arms, camp equipage, and negro slaves.

There could hardly have been an occasion where the presence of an efficient naval support was more necessary than at the battle of Belmont, fought on the 7th day of November last; and there has been no conflict during the war where this support, when finally called into requisition, was more effectively and opportunely rendered.  Nothing but the well directed fire of grape and canister from the guns of the Taylor and Lexington saved our land forces from being utterly cut to pieces while retiring on board their transports.  Every effort of the enemy to bring his artillery to bear on our columns was defeated by the storm of iron that assailed him from the boats.  His pieces were dismounted and his horses and men swept down as fast as they were placed in position.

A great [deal] has been said about the origin of the proposition to take possession of the Tennessee river.  The credit of originating the idea of a military campaign in that direction has been claimed, first by one, and then for another military commander.  I desire that impartial justice should be done to every man; and acting upon the intention to do justice, I must be permitted to say, that so far as I can learn, the project of turning the enemy’s flanks by penetrating the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, originated with Commodore Foote.  The great rise of water in those rivers was providential, and with the quick eye of military genius he saw at once the advantage that it might secure to our arms.  Accordingly he sent to Gen. Halleck, at St. Louis the following dispatch:

CAIRO, January 28, 1862.

General Grant and myself are of the opinion that Fort Henry and the Tennessee river can be carried with four iron-clad gunboats and troops, and be permanently occupied.  Have we your authority to move for that purpose when ready?

A. H. FOOTE.

To this despatch no reply was vouchsafed, but an order was subsequently sent to General Grant to proceed up the Tennessee river with his troops under convoy of the armed flotilla, and attack Fort Henry, directing General Grant to show to Commodore Foote his orders to this effect.  Commodore Foote was at once ready for the expedition, and advised the Department to that effect, in the following despatch:

PADUCAH, February 3, 1862.

SIR:– I have the honor to inform you that I left Cairo yesterday with this vessel, having ordered the armored gunboats Essex, Carondolet, Cincinnati and St. Louis to precede me to Paducah, and arrived here last evening.

To-day I propose ascending the Tennessee river with four new armored boats and the old gunboats Taylor, Conestoga and Lexington, in convoy of the troops under General Grant, for the purpose of conjointly attacking and occupying Fort Henry and the railroad bridge connecting Bowling Green with Columbus.  The transports have not yet arrived, although expected last night from Cairo, which causes detention, while in the mean time, unfortunately the river is falling.  I am ready with seven gunboats to act offensively whenever the Army is in condition to advance, and have every confidence, under God, that we shall be able to silence the guns at Fort Henry and its surroundings, notwithstanding I have been obliged, for want of men, to take from the five boats remaining at Cairo all the men except a sufficient number to man one gunboat for the protection of that important post.

I have Commander Kitly, as senior officer in charge of the guns and mortar boats.  It is peculiarly unfortunate 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.  The volunteers for the Army to go in the gunboats exceed the number of men required; but the derangement of companies and regiments in permitting them to leave, as the reason assigned for not more than fifty of the number having been thus far transferred to the flotilla.

I inclose a copy of my orders to the Commanders of the gunboats, in anticipation of the attack on Fort Henry; also a copy of the orders to Lieutenant Commanding Phelps, who will have more especial charge of the old gunboats, and operate in a less exposed condition than the armored boats.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. H. FOOTE, Flag Officer,

Com’g Naval Forces on the Western Waters.

Hon. GIDEON WELLES.

Sec’y of the Navy, Washington, D. C.

P. S.  – Several transports with the troops have just arrived.  A. H. F.

I proceed up the Tennessee early in the morning, and there make the Cincinnati my flagship.  A. H. F.

On the preceding day he had issued the following order to Lieutenant Phelps:

[Special Orders, No. 3.]

UNITED STATES GUNBOAT TAYLOR,

PADUCAH, February 2, 1862.

Lieutenant Commanding Phelps, will, as soon as the fort shall have surrendered, and upon signal from the flag ship, proceed with the Conestoga, Taylor, and Lexington, up the river to where the railroad bridge crosses, and if the army shall not already have got possession, he will destroy so much of the track as will entirely prevent its use by the rebels.

He will then proceed as far up the river as the stage of the water will admit, and capture the enemy’s gunboats and other vessels which might prove available to the enemy.

A. H. FOOTE, Flag Officer,

Command’g Naval Forces on Western Waters.

The fleet, consisting of the iron-clad boats, Essex, Carondelet, Cincinnati, and St. Louis, and the three wooden boats Taylor, Lexington, and Conestoga proceeded to Fort Henry and reduced it in one hour and twenty minutes, Commodore Foote being, as is his wont, in the forefront of the battle.  It appears from the order to Lieutenant Phelps, (which that gallant officer promptly executed,) that Commodore Foot knew before leaving Paducah that he should take Fort Henry, no matter what might be the force or the resistance he should meet there. – He was thoroughly inspired by the great idea of victory.  The contingency of failure did not enter into his calculations.  He, therefore, addressed himself to plans for reaping the fruits of victory, rather than to pans for repairing the consequences of defeat.  It will be observed from the foregoing letter to the Secretary of the Navy written before the battle of Fort Henry, that the efficiency of the flotilla was much impaired by the want of seamen, or by a neglect in some quarter to have those transferred from the military service who had been selected for that purpose.

After reducing Fort Henry and sweeping the Tennessee river as far up as Florence, in Alabama, Commodore Foote returned to Cairo to prepare the mortar boats for operations against Fort Donelson.  He was aware of the formidable character of the rebel works at Donelson, and he desired to delay a few days to complete the mortar boats, by which he believed the garrison, however extensive, could be shelled out without much loss of life on our side.  General Halleck believed an immediate attack to be a military necessity.  In this, I doubt not, he was right, and I only refer to it to show that the crippled condition of the fleet and the heavy loss of life on our side are not to be attributed to rashness or bad management on the part of the flag officer.  Of the gallant attack on Fort Donelson no one need be reminded.  Subjected, as our vessels were, to a long-continued and hot fire of three rebel batteries at four hundred yards’ distance, they continued the fight for one hour and thirty minutes, and not until the wheel of one and the tiller ropes of another of his boats were shot away, did the well managed guns of the commodore cease to scatter death and consternation among the foes of this country.  Although wounded himself, and his gunboats crippled, but with the glory of the combat on his brown, he indulged in no repinings for his personal misfortunes or laudations of his successes; but like a true Christian hero, he thought only of his men.  In a letter written the morning after the battle to a friend, he said:

“While I hope ever to rely on Him who controls all things, and to say from the heart, ‘Not unto us, but unto Thee, O Lord, belongs the glory,’ yet I feel sadly at the result of our attack on Fort Donelson.  To see the brave officers and men who say they will go wherever I lead them fall by my side, makes me feel sad to lead them to almost certain death.”

But he obeyed what was believed to be the military necessity of the situation.

The Senator from Massachusetts nearest me has this morning kindly furnished me with a letter from a trustworthy friend of his who has from the beginning been with the army of the West, from which I am permitted to read the following extracts:

“When Fort Henry surrendered, the gate was opened by which the rebellion will be finally and utterly crushed.  In a few days Com. Foote will open the Mississippi, provided he is not hampered, and also provided he is properly supported by Government.  He has done a great work for his country – a work which, I am sorry to say, has not been properly appreciated.  He has improvised a navy with almost insurmountable obstacles against him.  I see it stated in the papers that the gunboats did but little service at Donelson, which is a monstrous mistake.  The silenced nearly all the enemy’s guns, and had not the wheel of one boat and the tiller ropes of another been shot away, in fifteen minutes more the batteries would have been flanked and the entire rebel army exposed to the broadsides of the fleet.  He would have mowed them down like grass.”  * * * * * * *

“As it was, he made the work of the army in the fight of Saturday much easier than it would otherwise have been.  Several of the Mississippi officers (prisoners) informed me that the shells of the gunboats had a demoralizing effect upon their men.  The Memphis Appeal sys it dispirited them.”  * * * *  “I have had a fair opportunity to observe the operations of both army and navy, and I can say with emphasis that there are no more self-denying, patriotic hard working, faithful men than the flag officer and his captains, Stembel, Pennock, Phelps, and others.”  * * * *  “I make these statements from my own sense of justice and honor, and not from any man’s prompting or request.”

The next movement of Commodore Foote with his floatilla, was to take possession of Clarksville, where he arrived on the 19th day of February, and issued his proclamation to the inhabitants three days before the arrival of the land forces, though that fact, from some unexplained cause, nowhere appears in the official reports of the military commander of that department.

On the 21st of February, 1862, Commodore Foote telegraphed to General Cullum, the chief of General Halleck’s staff, then at Cairo, as follows:

PADUCAH, February 21, 1862.

General CULLUM, Cairo:

General Grant and myself consider this a good time to move on Nashville; six mortar boats and two iron-clad steamers can precede the troops and shell the forts.  We were about to moving for this purpose when General Grant, to my astonishment, received a telegram from General Halleck, “not to let the gunboats go higher than Clarksville;” no telegram sent to me.

The Cumberland 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.

A. H. FOOTE, Flag Officer.

It may be that there was some great military reason why General Grant was directed “not to let the gunboats go higher than Clarksville,” but up to this time it is wholly unappreciable by the public.  Had they been permitted to go, as was proposed by Commodore Foote, Nashville would undoubtedly have capitulated some days earlier than it did, and an immense amount of rebel stores been captured, which were destroyed or removed before the army reached there, the value of which has been estimated at $2,000,000, and would probably have intercepted a part of the rebel Johnston’s army.

I ought not to omit to mention the gallant attack by a part of the Western flotilla under Lieutenant Gwinn, upon the enemy at Pittsburg on the Tennessee river, where fifteen hundred rebel infantry and cavalry were completely routed, with a loss of twenty killed and one hundred wounded.

The next fact of importance in the campaign at the West, and indeed the most important of all, was the evacuation of Columbus.  Why was this stronghold, which cost so much labor and expense, abandoned without firing a shot?  It is not for me to underrate the advantages of position secured by the valor of our troops at Fort Donelson; yet I undertake to say, from the knowledge I have been able to obtain of the defenses of Columbus, that there was nothing in the mere fact of the capture of Donelson and Nashville, and exclusive of our command of the river, which need have caused the evacuation except after a long and bloody siege.  From the letter of a correspondent writing on the spot, I obtain the information that the forts at Columbus

“Were so located and construct as to be almost impregnable to an assault by storm.  The capture of one by no means involved the capture of the balance.  A fresh assault must be made in each instance.  At the main fort, and many of the earthworks, stockades, crossed the trenches, exposing the assaulting party to a storm of bullets from riflemen firing through loop-holes.  Every ravine and ditch was thoroughly protected, and the various approaches of the river commanded for a long distance in every direction.  It is sufficient to say, that an unusually strong natural position was seized upon, and so improved by rare engineering skill, that the equal of the Columbus fortifications, in extent and perfection of detail combined, can hardly be found in the United States.”

Another correspondent, describing the fortifications after the evacuation says:

“The fortifications were strong – perhaps stronger than any other in the South – but they were injudiciously constructed, and could not have stood an hour’s bombardment by the gunboats and mortar fleet.  The water battery stood out in such relief from the bluff that a well-directed mortar shell would have buried it under a hundred tons of earth from above.  There were no casemates to protect the artillery from the galling fire of seven gunboats; and how long could men, unsheltered, have stood a continuous hail from twenty-one guns, throwing eight-inch shell?”

It is well understood that Commodore Foote was opposed to giving the rebels an opportunity to leave Columbus.  He felt sure of his ability, with his gun and mortar boats, to shell them into a speedy surrender, but was compelled to give way to counsels of military commanders.

When we couple the strategic position acquired by our occupation of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers with the completion of the mortar boats and the absolute command of the river given us by the armored gunboats, there remains no mystery about the evacuation of Columbus.  The two arms of the public service are equally entitled to the credit of frightening the rebels from their strongest position on the Mississippi river, if not the strongest in their whole military jurisdiction.

Yesterday the intelligence reached us that the western floatilla, composed of ten gunboats and ten mortar boats had started for new scenes of conflict and to achieve, I doubt not, new and greater triumphs.  The country is assured that whatever can be accomplished by gallantry and nautical experience will be performed by Commodore Foote and the brave officers and men under his command.  We await the announcement of new victories.

I have thought it proper, Mr. President, as a western Senator, in some degree charged with the examination of naval affairs by this body, to bear this testimony to the worth of that branch of the public service in the western campaign, and to the noble deeds of the flag officer in that command.  On one can over-estimate their services to the country, and to the Northwest in particular; and in the name of that great section and of the whole country I thank them one and all, officers and men.

But I would avail myself of this occasion to accomplish another purpose.  I am anxious that the people of this entire country may feel that the exploits of the Navy wherever performed are their exploits, that its glory, and that while they are taxing themselves to support it, they are supporting the right arm of the national defense.  I desire the citizen of the most remote frontier to feel that he is equally protected and equally honored by the brave deeds of our naval officers with the citizen of the Atlantic coast.  I wish the men of Iowa and Minnesota to know that they are as effectually defended in their liberties at home and in their honor abroad, by the achievements of Du Pont and Goldsborough and Stringham and Foote on the water, as they can be by any victories won by our armies on the land.

Mr. President, ours must be a great maritime nation.  Heaven has ordained that it should be such, and we could not make it otherwise if would.  We have a coast, both on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which, with its numerous indentations, is many thousand miles in extent, occupied by a hardy, nautical population, and flanked on either side by soils and climates that furnish the most valuable productions of the globe, and which must be supplied to other nations.  On the north we have a succession of great lakes already bearing upon their bosoms a registered commercial tonnage of nearly half a million, and navigated by a race of daring, industrious, northern seamen.  Unlike any other maritime nation, ours is traversed by navigable rivers, thousands of miles in length, floating an inland commerce unequalled by that of any other country in the world, except, possibly, that of China, and capable of navigation by armed vessels of great capacity.  With a country of such extent, a soil and climate furnishing such productions, and a population along our ocean, gulf, bay, lake and river coasts, accustomed to navigation, who does not see that ours must, from the very necessities of our geographical position, and the conformation of our continent, become a great commercial people?  Our products must be borne to remote nations in our own ships, navigated by our own seamen, and protected wherever they may go by our vessels of war.

I know not with whom originated the phrase that the “Navy is the right arm of the public defense;” but I know that a truer sentiment was never uttered.  In my conviction it will always be in this country the most efficient and far least dangerous arm of the public service by which to maintain the national integrity and to defend the national honor.  History teaches us that every nation that has depended upon a navy for protection has been comparatively free by the side of those which placed their reliance upon armies.  I need not go back to antiquity to prove this.  I point to Holland and England in modern times.  The former, while she continued to be the greatest naval power on earth, was the freest Government on earth, and only began to be shorn of her liberties and of her territory when she neglected to maintain her fleets. – England, the most liberal all Governments save our own, is in no small degree indebted for her present position to the fact that she maintains only a small military force in the British Islands, and relies upon her wooden walls as a means of attack and defense.  She puts no faith in large standing armies, and will not until her people shall be prepared to surrender their freedom.  With her garrisoned possessions encircling the globe, her entire military establishment does not exceed one hundred and twenty thousand men.  France, Austria, Russia, Prussia maintain large standing armies on their soil; and in those countries the liberties of the people is measured by the will of the sovereign.  The freedom they enjoy is the gratuity of the emperors and kings; the servitude they endure is enforced by the presence of standing armies.  The people of this country can never accept the rights which they enjoy as the gift of any being inferior to their creator.

I do not believe that anybody but the public enemy has had anything to fear from the numerous and well appointed armies we have raised, yet no one of us is prepared to say that with an army much longer isolated from home scenes and home ideas, concentrated in large bodies, and taught the duty of most implicit obedience, danger to our free institutions may not arise.  No such danger can arise from the existence of a navy, however, large or however commanded.  Seamen are cosmopolitans.  Always employed and generally afloat, they never become, as armies sometimes do, as dangerous to friends in time of peace as to enemies in time of war.

I might go on and show that situated as all of our large cities are, upon arms of the sea or upon navigable rivers, the Navy might be made more efficient in suppressing domestic insurrections, as well as in repelling a foreign invasion, than the Army.  I might show, too, that, notwithstanding what is said by professed statisticians, the support of a navy is less expensive, in comparison with the service it renders to a maritime nation, than that of an army; but I shall not detain the Senate by attempting to enter upon such an exposition at this time.

As I said at the outset, Mr. President, my purpose in rising to address the Senate at this time was to call the attention of the country to the successful operations of the western flotilla; but I cannot refrain from alluding, for one moment before I close, to the success of our Navy elsewhere in this war.  The whole south-western Atlantic coast has been swept by the fleet of the gallant Du Pont, and is now effectually held by both and inside and outside blockade.  The enemy have been driven from the waters of North Carolina by Goldsborough, their whole navy in that quarter destroyed, and their coast towns occupied.  Such progress has been made in the Gulf of Mexico, that I venture to predict that in a few days at furthest intelligence will reach us that the forts at the mouth of the Mississippi river have been captured, and that Farragut and Porter are now or soon will be in possession of New Orleans.  But the startling events that have recently occurred in Hampton Roads attract, as they ought, the attention of all.  It would be well for us to reflect upon what those events have clearly demonstrated.  They are – first, that in modern naval warfare, wooden sailing vessels of war are perfectly harmless and helpless; second, that the strongest stone fortifications can be no obstruction to the entrance of iron clad vessels of war into any of our harbors, and that one or two such vessels, unopposed by vessels of a similar character can hold any commercial city on the continent at their mercy; third, that we can now commence the creation of a proper navy upon a footing of comparative equality with all of the naval Powers of the world.

Mr. President, no man sympathizes with the relatives and friends of the gallant dead who perished on the Congress and Cumberland more deeply that I do.  Perhaps, however their loss was necessary to teach us that our true path of duty to the country.  Let us not suffer more valuable lives to be periled upon such worthless vessels; and while we deplore the loss of so many brave men, let us rejoice that so many more are left to the service who are willing to do and die for their country.  Especially let us give thanks for the brilliant example of courage, seamanship, and patriotism furnished to the country and to the world by that matchless officer, Lieutenant John L Worden, and the officers and men under his command on board the Monitor.  In that unexampled engagement of Sunday last, after a terribly suffocating and dangerous passage from New York, without having slept, with an undrilled crew and handling an untried experiment, Lieut. Worden and his crew performed prodigies of skill and valor that will render all on board the Monitor immortal.  They will be immortal not for their valor alone.  Who shall undertake to estimate the influence that ballet will exert upon all of the maritime powers of the earth?  Who shall undertake to tell the number of homes to which the news of its successful result carried quiet on that eventual evening, which had been for hours disturbed by the most distracting fears?  Is it too much to say that it rescued our commerce and our commercial cities from ravage, and in one hour completely revolutionized all systems of naval architecture and naval warfare?  Captain Ericsson, too, may well be proud of the place his name will henceforth occupy in the history of nautical science, and we may well be proud that the country of our birth is the country of his adoption.

But, Mr. President, while I would thus honor the gallant living, I would bear my tribute of affectionate respect for the memory of the heroic dead who fell in the engagement in Hampton Roads.  Let the remembrance of that brave young officer, whose obsequies are now being performed in another part of this city, who, when his vessel was sinking beneath his feet, replied to a summons to surrender, that he would never give up the flag [entrusted] to his keeping, and the next moment met death with composure, be cherished by his countrymen. – The name of Smith, already illustrious in the annals of the American Navy, will be added to the bright galaxy of those who have freely laid down their lives at the call of their country.

Mr. President, the nation has cause to be proud of the Navy; let it be honored and maintained.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 1

The New York Chamber of Commerce . . .

. . . has passed a resolution charging the Naval Department with “culpable neglect” in not preparing in Hampton Roads, of the better reception of the Merrimac.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 1

The rebels have displayed great cunning . . .

. . . in respect to the Merrimac.  They have taken great pains to produce the impression that she had proved a failure, and thus to put the Federal commanders off their guard.  And this trick succeeded perfectly, for she was generally considered a failure, and no fears were entertained that she could do any serious damage, consequently no care was taken to prevent such a disaster as occurred on Saturday.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 1

While every heart must feel deeply the loss of . . .

. . . the thousands of our gallant soldiers who are laying down their lives in hospitals and upon battle fields, yet we cannot but glory in their heroism and feel proud that our flag has so many legions of true men willing to die for it.  History never recorded deeds of more heroic daring than those which have recently been enacted upon various battle fields.

The fidelity and bravery of John Davis, gunner’s mate, on board the steamer Valley City, on the occasion of the attack on Elizabeth City, in covering with his body an open barrel of gun powder in a magazine, while the flames kindled by an exploding shell were burning around him, is an act of self-sacrificing courage, the recital of which thrills every heart.  It is near akin to the act of the Dutch officer at the siege of Antwerp, who fired the magazine and perished in the explosion.

The account which is brought us of the naval engagement at Fortress Monroe, where our brave sailors, on their wooden hulks, fought at such fearful odds against the iron-clad Merrimac, will impress all readers with the gallantry and heroism of our tars.  We are told that the Merrimac lay off at easy point blank range and discharged her broadsides alternately at the Cumberland and Congress, both helpless, every shot telling fearfully upon them, while they were unable to penetrate the iron plating of their adversary.  The Cumberland began to sink.  Her forward magazine was under water, but powder was still supplied them from her magazine and the firing kept steadily up by the men who knew the ship was sinking under them.  Amid the din and horror of the conflict, the decks slippery with blood and strewn with dissevered legs and arms and chunks of flesh, the men worked unremittingly and cheered the flag and the Union, the wounded joining in.  Some of the men in their eagerness remained in the after magazine passing up ammunition and several were thus drowned.  When the water had reached the main deck it was felt hopeless to continue the fight longer and the word was given for each man to save himself as best he could.  After this, Matthew Tenny, whose courage had been conspicuous throughout the fight, fired his gun, the one next it being under water.  As his port was left open by the recoil of his gun he jumped to scramble out, but the water rushed in with such force that he was washed back and drowned.  While we contemplate the fearful and needless sacrifice of life at Fortress Monroe, the exhibition of courage and heroism such as this must challenge our admiration and inspire our confidence in a Government and a country thus devotedly loved and served.

But the gallant conduct of our tars at Fortress Monroe is equaled by the small force of our regular army at Fort Craig, New Mexico, in a recent battle with the Texan desperadoes who had determined to overrun and conquer that territory and annex it to the C. S. A.  We are told that a force of picked men charged desperately upon our artillery – the Mexicans run panic-stricken, of course – but Capt. Plympton’a infantry stood and fought desperately till half were killed.  Lieutenants Michler and Stone were killed.  With his artillerymen cut down, his support either killed wounded or driven from the field, Capt. McRae set down calmly upon one of his guns, and with revolver in hand, refusing to fly or desert his post, fought to the last and died the death of a hero, the last man by his guns.  If we are to credit this account, Capt. McRAE exhibited on this occasion a courage and devotion never surpassed in any age or country.

Capt. Alexander McRae was a graduate of West Point and a native of North Carolina, about thirty years of age.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 1

What Is Said Of The Monitor By Officers And Men

FORTRESS MONORE, March 10. – The officers and men of the Monitor speak in the highest terms of her performance, and think they might have destroyed the Merrimac without much difficulty if they had been allowed the opportunity.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 15, 1862, p. 4

From Fortress Monroe

Further particulars of the Naval Engagement.

FT. MONROE, March 10. – The Minnesota yesterday returned to her usual station at the entrance to the roads; she is again ready for action.  The Monitor came down early this morning, and was greeted with enthusiastic cheers by the various vessels in the harbor.  Gen. Wool and staff, and assistant Secretary Fox of the Navy went on board this morning.  She was found not to be damaged in the slightest degree, and is as well prepared as ever she could be for another action.  Her performance was perfectly satisfactorily [sic] to her officers and men, and they all speak of her in the highest terms of praise.

The gunboat White Hall took fire at 2 o’clock this morning and was totally destroyed.

The French sloop of war Rinaldo arrived here this morning from off Charleston.  No news.

The latest estimate of the number of killed on the Congress is fifty including three officers – Lieut. James Smith, commanding, Acting Master Thos. Moore, and coast pilot Wm. Rounds.  Twenty-seven are reported wounded and forty were taken prisoners – none of them officers.

On board the Cumberland Rev. Sothard, the Chaplain, was drowned, and Master’s Mate Harrington was killed.  But few of the wounded escaped to shore.  The number of killed and wounded is about one hundred and fifty.

On the White Hall Third Assistant Engineer Andrew Nesbit and Robt. Wough and Charles O’Connor, seamen, were killed, and two or three wounded.

The Wm. Wheldon received a shot in her boiler, and the rescue was damaged in her machinery.  The former was towed to Baltimore by the Adelaide.  Six men were killed and seventeen wounded, not including any officer.  So far as known she is said to have received quite a number of shots.

The Roanoke received but two shots and little damage was occasioned by them.  No casualty occurred on board except the falling of a man from aloft.

It is generally believed now that the Minnesota must have received serious damage.  It is the testimony of some that she was considerably stove in the side as she went behind Sewall’s Point.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 15, 1862, p. 4

The New Treasury Notes – What General Wool Says of the Naval Engagement

WASHINGTON, March 10., The Secretary of the Treasury has awarded the Contract for the ninety million legal tender Treasury notes engraving to the American and the National bank note companies of New York.

The following is copied from an official report of General Wool, dated Tuesday:  Nothing of importance has occurred today.  The chief Engineer of the Monitor says that three balls from that vessel passed through the Merrimac.  The Monitor suffered very little although she was truck twenty-three times.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 15, 1862, p. 4

The Naval Engagement

FORTRESS MONROE, March 9. – The long expected Confederate steamer Merrimac made her appearance here yesterday p. m., with the assistance of two gunboats, which came out with her from Norfolk, made an attack upon Newport News, and the naval vessels stationed at that place.  The Merrimac was first seen from the ramparts of Fortress Monroe on her way to Newport News, at about a quarter before one o’clock.  Two rebel gunboats followed her.  They all carried a rebel flag at the stern, and had a French flag at the masthead.  The Merrimac had a flag at her bows, which was discernible by some as the Commodore’s blue flag, and by others as a black flag.  The sides, bows, and stern of the Merrimac were covered with sloping iron plates, extending about two feet below the water line, and meeting above like a roofed house.  On her bows on the water are two sharp iron points resembling plows, about six or seven feet apart.  The number of guns is stated at twelve, but she might not have had so many. – At her bows were seen two guns, projecting from long elliptical ports.  The design of the enemy did not become apparent till between 1 and 2 o’clock, and by that time the Minnesota had got under way to the scene of action.  The Roanoke, the flag ship, being disabled by the breaking of her shaft some time since, was taken in tow by two gunboats, about the same time the alarm gun was fired at Fortress Monroe, and the whole garrison turned out.

The Rebel boats slowly pursued their way to Newport News, and the Merrimac soon turned the point and was lost to view from the Fortress.  The first shot was fired from the frigate Cumberland at a little past 2 o’clock.  The Sewall’s Point battery then opened on the Minnesota, which was passing, and the Sawyer gun from the Rip Raps replied with a few shots at Sewall’s Point.  A thick smoke was now seen to rise above Newport News point, indicating that the battery there as well as the Cumberland and Congress were engaged.

The action could not be seen from the Fort, but a telegraph dispatch was received in the morning that the Cumberland and Merrimac were in close quarters.  After firing two guns at the Cumberland the Merrimac closed, her sharp bows making a whole in her at the waterline some seven feet in extent.  The Merrimac backing a short distance ran into her a second time, making another terrible hole in her, causing the water to run in at a furious rate.  The Cumberland continued firing until the water entered her portholes, when she careened over slowly and finally sunk about three o’clock.  The Newport News battery and the Cumberland fired continuously upon the Merrimac, but no apparent effect was produced upon her.

The Minnesota got aground upon her way up and could afford but little assistance.

Shortly before 8 o’clock the Yorktown and Jamestown arrived from up the James River. – The former was disabled early in the p. m. and put in shore for repairs.  After sinking the Cumberland the Merrimac turned her attention to the Congress and in less than an hour afterwards a white flag was hoisted on the Congress.  A rebel gunboat immediately went alongside and took the officers and marines prisoners.  The seamen where allowed to escape to shore.  The frigate St. Lawrence arrived in the p. m., and without delay at once proceeded up the river and followed the example of the Minnesota and Roanoke in firing on the battery at Sewall’s Point, but, like the rest, her shot fell short.  The gunboat Mystic was also towed up in the p. m., but soon the Roanoke, St. Lawrence and Mystic all returned.  The Merrimac continued to throw shells into the camp ant Newport News, while the Jamestown and other rebel gunboats commenced firing on the Minnesota.  The latter replied as vigorously as possible and the conflict was continued without any apparent effect until dark.  During the evening the Congress was set on fire.  At midnight she was blown up, making a terrible explosion.  During the evening the Monitor arrived and at once proceeded to take part in the action.  During the night only an occasional gun was fired.  Reinforcements and men and ammunition were sent to Newport News early in the p. m.  Little serious damage was done and no one was killed.

This morning the Confederate was near until the presence of the Monitor was known to the Merrimac.  The latter was engaged with the Minnesota, and but for the fortunate arrival of the Monitor the Minnesota might have been lost.  The Monitor and Merrimac engaged each other for two or three hours at long and short range without perceptible effect upon either.  They went alongside of each other once or twice and seemed almost to run each other down, but they soon appeared again to renew the action.  The battery finally succeeded in forcing a long hole in the port side of the Merrimac, and she retired with the whole revel fleet to Norfolk.

At about 1 o’clock the United States gunboat Oregon was struck by the Merrimac in her boiler and was blown up.  This morning the U. S. gun boat Scioto was also seriously damaged and was obliged to return.

The principle loss of life was on board the Cumberland, where it is thought as many as one hundred and fifty must have been killed or drowned.  But few lives were lost on board the Minnesota according to account of her officers.

A rebel gun boat was cut in two yesterday by the Cumberland.

The Merrimac is understood to have been under Commodore [Buchanan], last of the Navy Yard.

Further Particulars.

WASHIGNTON, March 10. – Lieut. Wise, commander of the Potomac flotilla, in his official report to the navy Department, confirms the Rumor of the abandonment of the rebel batteries at Cock Pit, Shipping and other points along the Potomac, and also the burning of the steamer Page, and other rebel craft.

Lieut. Wise arrived this p. m., bringing dispatches from Fortress Monroe.  But few particulars have yet transpired, as his interview is not closed.  The following items are reliable:

Capt. Radford was engaged on a court martial and not on board the Cumberland.

Lieut. J. B. Smith, son of Com. Smith, was on board the Congress, and is killed.

The loss in killed, drowned, wounded and missing, is supposed to be over one hundred.

Lieut. Worden, who handled the Monitor so skillfully, is here in the hands of a Surgeon. – He was in the pilot-house of the Monitor when the Merrimac directed a whole broad-side at her, and received his injuries from the minute fragments of shell and the powder, which were driven through the look out holes.

Lieut. Worden was stunned by the concussion and was carried away.  On recovering, he asked, “Have I saved the Minnesota?” the cry was “yes, and whipped the Merrimac!” to which he replied: “Then I don’t care what becomes of me.”  His injuries are not supposed to be dangerous.

The Minnesota was eventually got off and towed under the guns of Fort Monroe.

The loss of 100 killed, given you in a former dispatch, was on board the Cumberland.  And the crew of the Congress is scattered and there are no means of ascertaining her loss at present.

The Naval authorities expect to hear soon that the Merrimac is disabled and that the Monitor is adequate to her in every respect.

There is no longer any doubt that the rebels have evacuated Centreville, Winchester and other important points, indicating a general falling back of their forces.

The telegraph to Fortress Monroe has been fully occupied on Government business all day, which has prevented the associated Press despatches.  There has been no change in the state of affairs at that point.

Every effort will be made to give the names of the killed and wounded at the earliest moment.

FT. MONROE, March 10. – With the assistance of the steamer Spalding, the Minnesota has been got off, and she is now on her way here.  She has received several shots but no serious damage.

The Congress is supposed to have lost over 100, men, including but one officer.  The released crews of the Congress and Cumberland have arrived here.

The Monitor has come up to the expectations that were formed of her, and has proved herself impregnable to heavy shot at close quarters. – She behaved remarkably well on her passage from New York.  She did not seem to be at all disabled.  To her presence may be attributed the safety of the Minnesota and other vessels in port, and final disabling of the Merrimac, which had previously been proof against ever thing.

Capt. Worden of the Monitor, was wounded in the head.  No other accident of any kind occurred to the battery or crew, who have an accurate list of the killed and wounded.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 15, 1862, p. 4

First Session -- 37th Congress

WASHINGTON, March 7. – HOUSE. – Mr. COLFAX concluded saying that while Fremont was hunting rebels his enemies in St. Louis were hunting evidence to overwhelm him.  As the gentleman from Missouri had preferred charges against Fremont, it was but just for the Secretary of War to put him on his defense.  The meanest man in the world was entitled to a fair hearing.

SENATE. – The Senate to-day confirmed as Brig. Gens. Bell, Paine, and W. A. Richardson of Illinois, W. T. Ward, Lockwood and W. K. Strong and St. George Cook.

WASHINGTON, March 10. – SENATE. – Mr. HARRIS presented a petition, asking that the Democratic newspapers, now excluded from the mails, whose editors are not convicted of treason, be allowed the same privileges as are allowed loyal newspapers.

Mr. SUMNER presented several petitions in favor of the emancipation of the slaves.

Mr. HOWE presented a memorial asking Congress to permit no abridgement of the freedom of the press.

Mr. COLLAMER, from the Committee on Post Offices, reported back the bill to provide for carrying the mails.

The House considered the Senate bill providing for the appointment of sutlers in the Volunteer service and defining their duties.

Mr. BLAKE made a successful motion to abolish such sutlership.

Mr. LANE, from the Committee on Military Affairs, reported a bill to provide for the payment of bounty and pensions to soldiers actually employed in the department of the West.

Mr. GRIMES offered a Joint Resolution, that in the opinion of the Senate, no person should be appointed commander of a division, except such as exhibit superior competency in the command of men, or gallantry in the conflict against the enemy.  Referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. KING moved to take up the Cavalry bill.

Mr. GRIMES objected.

Mr. GRIMES offered a resolution tendering the thanks of Congress to Com. Foote.

Mr. KING objected, as the Senator had needlessly objected to the Cavalry bill.

Mr. GRIMES said he hoped it would go to the country that the Senator from New Jersey objected to giving thanks to a brave and gallant officer.

Mr. WILSON, of Mass., offered a joint resolution tendering aid to the States of Maryland and Delaware for favoring voluntary emancipation.

Mr. SAULSBURY objected.

The joint resolution was laid over.

On motion of Mr. WILSON the bill to encourage enlistments in the army was taken up.

The question being on the motion of Mr. Fessenden to amend by adding the bill to organize the Cavalry.  It was adopted.

On motion of Mr. THOMPSON the number of Cavalry Regiments was reduced to 30.

Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts said there was a story going abroad in the newspapers that there was something wrong in the bill.  The fact is the bill was reduced before to 37 Colonels, 37 Lieut. Colonels, 111 Majors, 450 Captains and 940 Lieutenants, making a saving of $2,900,000 to the Treasury.

The Senate passed the bill to encourage enlistments in the regular army, and the bill in relation to Staffs, and the bill to organize the Cavalry, put in as amendments.

The Senate then took up the confiscation bill, Mr. BROWNING speaking against it.

HOUSE. – The Sutler question was discussed a long time.  The bill passed after being amended.  It requires a schedule of articles permitted to be sold, together with prices thereof, to be prominently posted.  Sutlers are prohibited from leasing out their offices, nor are they allowed to sell to the soldiers an amount exceeding one-fourth their monthly pay, nor shall a sutler have lien on the same.

Mr. POMEROY asked leave to offer the following:

Resolved that the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State at its discretion, to compensate for inconveniencies, public and private, produced by such change of system.  Adjourned.

WASHINGTON, March 11. – HOUSE. – Mr. BAKER introduced a bill, which was referred to the Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, for the establishment of National foundries at Chicago, Ill., Pittsburg, Pa., and Poughkeepsie, N. Y., for the fabrication of cannon and projectiles for the Government.  It proposes the appropriation of half million dollars for each foundry.  It also provides for the establishment of an Armory and Arsenal at Columbus, Ohio, appropriating half a million dollars therefore.

Mr. KELLOGG of Michigan, introduced a bill for the establishment of a Naval Depot and Navy Yard on the Lakes.  Referred to the Select Committee on Lake Defences.

The House concurred in the report of the Committee of Conference on the disagreeing Judicial appropriation bill.

Mr. STEVENS reported back from the Committee on Ways and Means, the bill to establish a Branch Mint at Denver City.  Referred to the Committee of the Whole.

The Speaker announced the next business in order to be the motion to postpone until Thursday the resolution introduced yesterday, providing for co-operation with any State for the abolishment of slavery, with pecuniary compensation.

Mr. CRITTENDEN of Ky., asked permission to make a statement.

Mr. STEVENS of Pa., and Mr. LOVEJOY of Ill., objected.

Mr. STEVENS said, if consent was given to Mr. Crittenden, the House would have to give similar consent to others.

The House refused to postpone the resolution till Thursday, by one majority.

The House, by two majority, refusing to postpone the resolution till Monday next, left the resolution open to debate.

Mr. BLAIR, of Mo., offered to following proviso that nothing therein shall be construed to imply that Congress will consent to any portion of the Territory now held by the United States, but that on the contrary it is again offered as the unalterable resolution of the House, to prosecute the war until the Constitution is restored to all supreme, every every State rightfully a part of the Union.

Mr. PENDLETON suggested an amendment which was read for information as follows: – And that Congress, in order to redeem this pledge at the present session, ought to pass a bill for the levying and collection of a tax within the current year for the payment of the pecuniary aid so tendered to the State.

Mr. WICKLIFFE, of Ky., Opposed the pending resolution as unwise and unconstitutional.

SENATE. – Mr. SUMNER presented a petition for emancipation.

Mr. LATHAM gave notice that he should introduce a bill to repeal all acts providing for foreign vessels carrying the mails to Panama and Aspinwall.

Mr. WILSON, of Mass., offered a resolution that the Committee on Naval Affairs be instructed to inquire into the late engagement with the rebels steamers near Fortress Monroe, and the destruction of property there, and all the circumstances.

Mr. HALE said he did not wish to make any objection, but so far as he knew or had reason to believe, since the commencement of the rebellion, no matter what disasters occurred on sea or land, that neither the War or Navy Department, except in a single instance, has made the least enquiry in regard to the matter.

Mr. WILSON said from his absolute knowledge, the attention of the Department has been called to the rebel ship Merrimac.  It has been known for months that she has been fitting out, and people everywhere felt anxious, and the notice of the Government was called to it over and over again, and he thought the matter ought to be looked into.

Mr. GRIMES said in regard to the disaster a Month of the Mississippi, Government had done all it could.  The responsibility of the late disaster rests on the Government for not long ago sending a military expedition against Norfolk.  Officers of the Navy had been ready at all times to break to Potomac blockade, and the flotilla was under orders for several days for that purpose, but the supineness of a military officer, who commanded all the forces provided for the expedition prevented, and the responsibility did not rest on the Naval Department.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 15, 1862, p. 4

The following from the New York Post . . .

. . . was published while the Ericsson steamer Monitor was being constructed, and is a full and accurate description of the engine of war that defeated the rebel iron-clad vessels, that made such havoc with our old wooden ships off Fortress Monroe:

A New Engine of War -- Description of the Ericsson Battery -- Its Peculiarities and Uses

There is now building at the Continental Iron Works, Green Point, a formidable iron battery, which will probably prove a novel and efficacious implement of war.  Congress at its last session made an appropriation of one million five hundred thousand dollars, for building iron-clad vessels, and Captain Ericsson submitted to the commissioners who were appointed to examine the proposals, a plan for an impregnable iron battery, which should be novel, yet simple in its construction.  His plans were approved, and the contract for building the battery was awarded to S. S. Bushnell & Co.  By the terms of the contract it is to be finished and equipped for active service in one hundred days from the 5th of October.  It is not to be accepted if, on being subjected to the enemy’s guns at the shortest range, it fails to fulfill the pledges made in regard to it.  So confident are the inventor and contractors of its success, that one of these gentlemen remarked that he should be perfectly ready to enter into a contract to take any city that can be approached by water.

THE HULL.

Avoiding as far as possible technical terms and phrases, let us examine the vessel and gather as clear an idea as possible of its structure.  The hull is sharp at both ends, and instead of the gradual curve of a cut water the bow projects, and coming to a point at an angle of eighty degrees, the sides instead of the ordinary bulge, incline at an angle of about fifty one degrees to the vertical line.  This hull is flat-bottomed, six feet six inches in depth, and built quite light, of three-eighth inch iron.  It is one hundred and twenty-four feet long and thirty four feet wide at the top.

Resting on this is another, or upper hull, also flat bottomed with perpendicular sides and pointed ends.  It is forty one feet and four inches wide, so that it juts over the lower hull on each side three feet and seven inches.  It is one hundred and seventy-four feet long, thus extending twenty-five feet beyond the hull at each end.  The sides are five feet high, and when in fighting order the lower hull will be entirely immersed, and the upper one sunk three feet six inches, thus leaving but eighteen inches both fore and aft above the water, the battery drawing teen feet of water.

The sides of this upper hull are composed of an inner guard of iron; outside of this is a strongly fastened wall of white oak thirty inches thick, and covered with an iron armor six inches in thickness.  The bottom of this vessel is joined to the hull, so that the interior is open to the bottom, as in a sloop.  The deck comes flush with the top of the upper hull, and is bomb proof.  First is a frame of oak beams, ten inches square and twenty six inches apart covered with eight inch plank and protected with two layers of iron, each an inch thick. – There will be no railing or bulwark of any kind above the deck.

The ends of the upper vessel projecting over the hull, fore and aft, serve as a protection to the propeller, rudder and anchor.  The propeller is of course at the stern; and the equipoise rudder behind that, and they are so protected by the upper vessel that they cannot be struck by a ball.  The anchor is in front, and is short but very heavy.  It is hoisted by a chain running into the hold, up into a place fitted for it, outside of the lower hull, but within the impregnable walls of the upper hull.

The inclination of the lower hull is such that a ball to strike it in any part must pass through at least twenty five feet of water, and then strike at an inclined iron surface, at an angle of about ten degrees.  It is, therefore, absolutely protected yet so light as to give great buoyancy.  A ball striking the eighteen inches of exposed upper hull, to do material damage, must pass through six inches of iron, thirty inches of white oak, and then about half an inch more of iron.  It is exceedingly doubtful whether southern ingenuity has invented a gun that will accomplish it.

The Hull being finished, we will go on board.  Only three things are exposed above deck.  In the center is the turret or citadel, the wheel house and possibly a box around the smoke escape.

THE WHEEL HOUSE.

The battery will be steered from the front, and the wheel house will stand before the turret.  It will be of iron, very strong, though during action, it is not intended that is should be exposed.  It can be lowered into the hold like a bale of dry goods on one of the Broadway sidewalk falls.  When lowered, the top, which is bomb-proof, is level with, and forms part of the deck.  The joints are water-tight.  The house will be pierced for sharp shooters.

THE CHIMNEY.

The draft for the furnaces is a forced one, and in action no chimney will be used, as the smoke will pass through the bomb-proof gratings in the deck as the deck will be continually washed by the sea, the accumulation of cinders, &c, will be of no consequence.  Probably a small guard will surround the gratings, to prevent heavy seas breaking over them, and a contrivance is made to prevent what water may dash over from going into the furnaces.

THE TURRET.

The whole vessel thus described is but a bed to support the castile.  The turret, is the important feature of the structure, is a round cylinder twenty feet in interior diameter and nine feet high.  It is built entirely of iron plates, one inch in thickness, eight of them securely bolted on, one over the other with the joints over lapping each other.  Within this there is a lining of iron one inch thick, thus giving nine inches of solid iron.  It rests on a bed plate, or rather ring made of composition, which is securely fastened to the deck.  To help support the weight, which is about a hundred tons, a vertical shaft ten inches in diameter is attached and fastened to the bulkhead. – The top is covered with forged iron beams and perforated iron, shell proof.  The top is perforated to allow the smoke from the guns, and even more, the concussion of air to pass off.  The concussion from a gun fired in a small close room would kill the inmates as quickly as though the ball had struck them.  In small casemates men cannot work for more than a couple of hours at a time, the concussion of the air causing sometimes bleeding at the nose and ears.  Frequently the men have to be rubbed down as carefully as a race horse after its victory.  The top has also some small sliding hatchways composed of two inch plate iron, to serve as entrance ways.

The turret has two circular port holes, three feet above the deck and just large enough for the mouth of the gun to be run out.

THE ARMAMENT.

The Battery will carry two very heavy rifled guns.  The carriages of wrought iron, will run back on iron slides, are made to fit very accurately.  The whole turret, by an arrangement worked by a special engine, is made to revolve.  The operator within, by a rod connected with the engine, is enabled to turn it at pleasure.  It can be made to revolve at the rate of sixty revolutions a minute – a speed which would be uncomfortable to endure.  It is so accurately made that it can be regulated with within half a degree.

THE WORKING.

In action the guns will be loaded and run out while the port holes are away from the enemy.  When ready the turret will be turned as nearly accurate as possible.  By nicely adjusted wheels, a very precise aim is quickly obtained the gun fired, and instantly the turret is turned to bring the gun out of danger.  The gun is then drawn in and loaded as before.  While one gun is being aimed and discharged, the other is loading so that almost a continuous discharge is taking place.

THE MACHINERY.

There will be two engines, one for the propeller, with 40-inch cylinders and 22-inch stroke.  The battery is not built for speed. – It is a battery, not an iron-cased ship.  The ventilation is obtained by blowers worked by another smaller engine, which also works the blowers for the boilers and turns the turret.  They are built very compactly; yet of great power.

THE UTILITY.

The battery, so far as can now be judged, seems to have no vulnerable part, save the port holes which are exposed only for about half a minute in firing.  Its sharp and massive iron prow will enable it to sink any ordinary vessel with perfect ease.  In case it is boarded no harm is done.  The only entrance is at the top of the turret, which cannot be easily be scaled and even then but one man at a time can descend.  There are no places in the deck where an entrance can be forced, so the boarding party may stay until the sea washes them off, or the sharp shooters assist in their departure. – The mechanics who have it in charge are all very sanguine of its success.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 15, 1862, p. 3