[
436]
The
Carondelet was the first in and the last out of the fight, and was more damaged than any of the other gunboats, as the boat-carpenters who repaired them subsequently informed me. She was much longer under fire than any other vessel of the flotilla; and, according to the report of the
Secretary of the Navy, her loss in killed and wounded was nearly twice as great as that of all the other gunboats together.
She fired more shot and shell into
Fort Donelson than any other gun-boat, and was struck fifty-four times.
These facts are given because a disposition was shown by correspondents and naval historians to ignore the services of the
Carondelet on this and other occasions.
In the action of the 14th all of the
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|
Map of the region of the flotilla operations. |
armored vessels were fought with the greatest energy, skill, and courage, until disabled by the enemy's heavy shot.
In his official report of the battle the
flag-officer said: “The officers and men in this hotly contested but unequal fight behaved with the greatest gallantry and determination.”
[For losses, see p. 429.]
1
Although the gun-boats were repulsed in this action, the demoralizing effect of their cannonade, and of the heavy and well-sustained fire of the
Carondelet on the day before, must have been very great, and contributed in no small degree to the successful operations of the army on the following day.
After the battle I called upon the
flag-officer, and found him suffering from his wounds.
He asked me if I could have run past the fort, something I should not have ventured upon without permission.
The 15th was employed in the burial of our slain comrades.
I read the
Episcopal service on board the
Carondelet, under our flag at half-mast; and the sailors bore their late companions to a lonely field within the shadows of
