. . . 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.
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