[95]
President Jefferson Davis, with General Robert E. Lee, having galloped down from Richmond, came to Gun No. 2, soon after the firing ceased. The General showed us how to replace the sand-bags, and both seemed well pleased with the results of the engagement.
Thus the writer of this who had never been absent from duty since the company had been mustered in, must have made it clear to the reader that Captain Drewry, with his company, of most all Chesterfield men—he and most of them plain farmers—had by his indomitable pluck, skill and daring, almost unaided, as has been shown-won a remarkable victory that day.
As has been said, the guns not disabled had also been made in the county. And so:
The Monitor was astonished,
And the Galena admonished,
And their efforts to ascend the stream
Were mocked at.While the dreadful Naugatuck,
With the hardest kind of luck,
Was very nearly knocked
Into a cocked-hat.
And the behavior of the officers and men of the company on that occasion, under the circumstances, was extraordinary.
Captain Drewry and Lieutenant Wilson, at my gun, were alert and aggressive, and seemed to be devoid of fear, and the men, judging from those that worked Gun No. 2 (and were not relieved during the four trying hours), could not have been excelled by veterans or regulars for coolness, cheerfulness, skill and courage of a high order.
It was true that some of the sick ran home, and many of the unemployed were dreadfully demoralized. But that kind of timidity is usual among men in all commands, while receiving their baptism of fire and unable to defend themselves.
The disabling of Gun No. 1 (ten-inch), in charge of Captain Jordan's company, has been alluded to, but I will state further that it was badly disabled at the time of the first fire, by a too severe recoil, and for some time we thought that it had been handled awkwardly, and the mishap had been caused by its
